Theo is on his way to work at
the White House. Not much really changes
for him whether the President is in or out of the White House as he doesn’t
really see him anyway. It is noticeable
how much more security there is when the president is present but, at this
point, all the security guard know Theo and Theo knows the routine. Right now, the president is in India, which
Theo believes is pretty cool. He’s
unsure how many presidents have been to India but he feels that the president
owed a trip after the Indian President came to America and had some of the
nicest words ever said about President Trump from a foreign leader. This is one of the things Theo most respected
about President Trump; he rewards loyalty and he never takes it for granted
when someone has the courage to stand by his side. He’s always had the ability to make you feel
important in his presence, which is in stark contrast to his reputation made
normally by people whom have never met him.
After he’s done with work, he heads
to Catholic University and walks into a bar. In his inside pocket of his
jacket, he’s carrying something that is unheard of and will stun the patrons of
the college bar made up of predominantly 20-23 years old; at least that’s what
their ID’s say. It is a note pad of
paper and a pencil. He orders a drink
and overhears a discussion about Bernie Sanders and his economic plan. Theo turns and blurts out, “You know that
agenda is going to cost $97.5 Trillion over 10 years?”
A boy turns to him and snaps
back, “Yea, but think of the money we’ll save on insurance premiums. That’s what’s going to pay for it.”
“Apparently you’re not very good
at math. You really think that people
pay $ 9.75 Trillion in insurance premiums”
“There are a lot of people in
America”
“About 330 Million, which
includes children and people who have other people pay their premiums for
them.”
“I’m an engineering major, I
know math.”
“So do the math! 97.5 Trillion
divided by 330 million.”
The boy thinks about it and
declares “A little over 290,000”
“You think that’s how much
people pay in premiums every year?”
“It’s not a year, it’s over 10
years.”
“Okay, so what is that in a
year?”
“A little over 29,000”
“Do you think people spend that
much on health insurance premiums in a year?”
“I don’t know”
“No, is the answer. Remember, that is every person in the United
States. That means that everyone would
have to pay the additional tax.”
“Well no, Bernie said only the
rich will.”
“Then you have to severely
reduce that 330 million number and what do you think would happen if you did
that?”
“The burden’s a lot higher”
“You already have to take out
everyone below working age; I think it’s 16 so the burden keeps getting higher
and higher.”
“The government makes a lot of
money.”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s not a corporation. They don’t produce anything. They get money by taking it from you. There’s no money fairy, it has to come from
Americans through taxes.”
“I like not having to pay for my
student loans.”
“That’s nice but through
Bernie’s plans you have to pay your and everyone else’s student loans.”
“At least people will be able to
live in America. He’s raising the minimum wage to $15/hr.”
“You know he admitted he’s
taxing everyone that makes more than 29,000 a year right?”
“He said we’d all be happy to.”
Theo pulls out his pad of paper
and asserts, “Bernie claims he’ll only have to tax people 52%. Right now, people who make minimum wage
aren’t taxed anything.” Theo goes on to
break down how 15/hr at a 9-5 job will give you $31,000 so therefore
taxed. After taxes, you will only make
$7.20 an hour, which is lower than the current national minimum wage of
$7.25/hr.
“That can’t be right.”
“Check the math engineer.”
The boy does and frowns. A girl comes over, “Wait, I saw this trick on
Snopes. Bernie never said he’d tax
people 52% so that formula is faulty.
It’s already been fact checked and it was wrong.”
“And you don’t believe it’s
possible that Snopes could be wrong? Did
you fact check them?”
“Well, no but it’s their job to
debunk things.”
“It should be your job to think
for yourself.”
“Well why should I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t. Let’s think about it logically shall we?”
“Okay, how are we going to do
that?”
“How much is Bernie’s plan
estimated to cost?”
The engineer replies, “97
Trillion over 10 years.”
“What is the current GDP of the
United States?”
The girl looks it up, “$20.513
Trillion”
“So, 97 trillion over 10 years
equates to 9.7 Trillion a year.”
“Yes, that is correct”
“Do you know what GDP is?”
Again the girl checks her phone,
“Gross Domestic Product. The value of
everything that a country produces and makes.”
“Alright, so that’s representative
of what we all make. We already
established that the only way the government makes money is by taking it from
its citizens through taxes so it has to come from you. We already spend $ 4
Trillion a year so we will have to add the 9.75 to that. What do you get when you divide 13.7 by
20.513?”
The engineer responds “Well, if
you round up, the math is easier. 14 out
of 21 is two thirds, so it’s about 66%.”
“Looks like the 52% is low
then.”
The girl and guy look at each
other dumbfounded and rehash the conversation in their head. The engineer speaks, “Wait, so you’re making
even less than 7.20 an hour!”
“Don’t forget that I’m being
nice. Under Bernie’s plan, half the
workforce would be working for the government so the burden is on the other
half.”
The girl states, “Yea, but under
Trump, we’re running deficits of a Trillion dollars so it’s not like he’s
perfect.”
“You’re making my point. Right now, we spend $4 trillion a year and
run a Trillion dollar deficit with the highest revenue in history. You think that adding 9.7 Trillion to that is
not going to be a problem?”
The engineer’s tone was much
less defensive. “Wait, so every income
group would have to have a tax increase; not total, but increase of 67%.”
“Yes”
“That fucking sucks.”
“Would you rather do that or pay
your student loans?”
The girl articulated, “It’s just
the rich.”
“Where do you think most of the
GDP Is?”
“With the rich.”
“False, it’s the middle
class. Just think of it logically. If most of it was at the top then the middle
wouldn’t really be average, it would raise the average higher right? By definition a majority of people would have
to be around the average or in the middle.”
Both of them nodded but the girl
was not going to give up, “Look, I’m studying to be a neurosurgeon so I know
math and science and I’m not dumb.”
“I never said you were. I was asking you to do math with me. I admit, I did include logic and that’s more
for lawyers but check the numbers.”
“The rich have all the
money. Bernie Sanders said on 60 minutes
that he can pay for all this if we tax capital gains.”
Theo sighed, “What is the value
of all the assets combined in the American stock and bond market?”
“What are you some Wall Street
guy?”
“No, I work in accounting but bear
with me.”
Pre-med again researches it, “82
Trillion.”
“Even that doesn’t cover it and
I’m not even doing gains. I’m doing
everything they’re worth.”
The engineer inquires, “I saw
that 60 minutes too. Bernie said 30
trillion for Medicare. Where’s the rest of
it?”
“30-40 Trillion for Medicate for
All. His Climate Change bill is 16.4
Trillion. The jobs guarantee at 15
dollars an hour with benefits is another 30 trillion. Your favorite one, student loan forgiveness
is another three trillion. Expanding the
ponzi scheme Social Security gives you another 1.8 Trillion. Declaring Housing a right is another 2.5
Trillion then for paid family leave piles on another trillion. He also has clean and environmental
infrastructure with another trillion.
Public schools get 800 Billion more and helping the poor teachers by
giving them all raises gives us 400 Billion dollars as the cherry on top.”
The engineer was writing down
the numbers, “That’s 87 Trillion.”
“Medicare was 30-40 Trillion.”
“Bernie said 30”
“He’s already lied. Economists estimate 40 but does that really
change the point that much?”
“No, 87.5 – 97.5 trillion is
still an astronomical price tag.”
“It’s not just a price tag; it’s
an addition to what we pay now. It is
extra.”
The pre-med student pronounces,
“Well, my conclusion is that Snopes is full of shit.”
“Yea, that’s mine too.”
The engineer was still running
numbers in his head, “Alright, so you keep saying it’s extra and you seem to
have all these numbers in your head.
What is our current spending for the next 10 years?”
“60 Trillion”
“And we’re going to add 87.5 to
that”
“If you want to take the low end
then yes.”
“That’s 147.5 Trillion over the
next 10 years.”
“Don’t worry. Bernie is saving you 3 Trillion.”
“Fine, so 144.7 Trillion.”
“Yes”
“That’s almost 44,000 per person
a year.”
“You’re the engineer.”
“No, that’s what it is but a lot
of people don’t make that much.”
“You also included kids.”
“There are a lot of people who
don’t make that much. You’re telling me
that a couple with two kids has to pay $175,200 in taxes!”
“If Bernie gets his way.”
“That will bankrupt more than
half the country.”
“Yea, but you don’t want to pay
your student loans so this is what has to happen.”
“Fuck that, tuition is $45K a year,
that’s 180K for a four year degree. With
the extra 29K I get from not having Bernie president, I could pay that off in
6-7 years depending on which Medicare number you go by. Since presidents seem to get two terms
lately, it’ll be before he would have been out office.”
“That’s just the money you
saved; not even including any additional money you just happened to make.”
“I think I should pay you the
45K. I learned more from you than I do
in my classes.”
Theo laughed at this but given
his opinion of American universities, he actually thought there was some truth
to this.
The engineer left and the
pre-med student sat next to him.
“Alright, so maybe the numbers don’t work out but Bernie does have some
good points?”
“He praised Chavez and Castro
when they took power.”
“No, he condemned
totalitarianism. He just pointed out
that Castro’s literacy program worked really well. They had near 100% literacy. Are we going to say reading is bad because
Castro did it?”
“Well then Hitler wasn’t so bad
because of all the Medical advancement we got from his experimentation on the
Jews. They discovered penicillin so why
is everyone always so focused on Hitler being a totalitarian?”
“Invoking Hitler is a good way
to make people stop listening to you. He
was a mass murdering psychopath.”
“So was Castro. They would line people up that disagreed with
him against a wall and shoot them. They
actually named the wall. You had Cubans
who made make shift boats and tried to paddle and float the 90 miles to
Florida. Your message to them is that
‘at least they can read’?”
“Are you a graduate student?”
“No, I don’t go here. I just like laying down truth on unsuspecting
college kids.”
This forced the girl to shake
her head and walk away. Theo was used to
this treatment so he ordered another drink.
The gauntlet was set; now all he had to do was wait for someone to take
the challenge. A black haired girl who
had an hour shaped body but a face that looked much older than the rest of her
approached him. She confidently shoved
her hand forward and announced, “Hi, I’m Athena.”
“I’m Theo”
“Do you just hate Bernie or are
you a Trump supporter?”
“I’m a Trump supporter.”
“Even though Lawrence O’Donnell
has already confirmed that he is a Russian agent and Russia is going to get him
re-elected?”
Theo burst out laughing. Athena gave him a dirty look and Theo took
some deep breaths and retorted, “Wow, even CNN had to back off that shit by
calling it overhyped and exaggerated. I
can’t believe people are still falling for that bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit!”
“Yes it is. The man who gave the brief told the
intelligence community that Putin thinks he could make a deal with Trump and
the fake news media ran with that as a confirmation of Russian collusion but
President Trump has said, and proved by action, that he thinks he can make a
deal with anyone.”
“Well, yea because he met with
Kim Jung Un twice at this point and China and Mexico after all the shit he’s
said about their country so yea I do think he thinks that.”
“Funny thing is, he’s done a
good job with the deals.”
“It’s all to help Russia.”
“Are you joking? President Trump increased sanctions on
Russia, armed their enemy Ukraine and crippled their economy and you think they
like him more than Bernie Sanders, who has given speeches about how much he
loved communist Russia? He even
honeymooned there. He talks very
affectionately about the massive theaters and amazing muppet shows they had for
next to nothing in price because of communists.
He didn’t care about the gulags, because he had muppet shows.”
“Trump is an asshole.”
“Bernie wants to kill half the
country.”
“I bet you’re pissed about how
the FBI spied on Trump and his campaign.”
“Yes, I am.”Athena laughed and
Theo could tell it was payback for him laughing at her but unlike hers, his
wasn’t forced. Athena’s seemed
ridiculous. Theo elaborated, “I see you
read the New York Times”
This shut up Athena. “Yea, what’s wrong with that?”
“Adam Goldman is a Russian
collusion hack. He’s embarrassed he was
so wrong about it so he has to keep writing articles to desperately try to
convince what few people still believe it.
This is after Horowitz and Mueller confirmed no collusion and political
bias by the Democrats.”
“All you need is the headline,
‘National Security Wiretap System was Long Plagued by Risk of Errors and
Omissions.”
“They’re just trying to get
ahead of the Durham report, which will expose them and embarrass them just like
the IG report did.”
“What does that mean?”
“After three years, they’re
going to admit that they did spy on Trump but they’re going to spin it and say
that it was an accident and that it wasn’t actually president Trump that was targeted. He was just one of many so this shit happens
all the time.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Besides being false? They’re going to throw lower level agents
under the bus. They’re going to call it
a cultural problem with the FBI.”
“Well, I do have a problem with
shit running downhill.”
“Yea, especially when the
reality is it was the upper level of the FBI that made sure that the rank and
file people knew nothing about this.
They wanted to spy on President Trump and the campaign without many
people knowing about it. It happened at
the highest levels.”
“Why would the New York Times
say that?”
“It switches the pressure on the
investigators. I bet you somewhere in
that article is ‘Emperor New Clothes’ talk.”
“What?!”
“Emperor’s New Clothes is a children’s
story in which…”
“I know the fucking story but
how does that have to do with this?
Trump is president so he’s the emperor.”
“Remember what the makers of the
robe told the emperor.”
“Yea, they’d make him a robe but
really they pretended to make it and made nothing.”
“How did they get away with
that?”
“They said that it was made of
such a special material that if you were stupid you couldn’t see it.”
“Stupid or unfit for your
office.”
“Yea, right?”
“How did that go over with the
people?”
“They all came out to the parade
and talked about how beautiful the robe was because they didn’t want to admit
to being stupid or unfit for their office.”
“That is why whenever I hear
someone say ‘you can’t believe… you must be an idiot to think…or, ‘if you do
this then that’ I think of the story and know that I’m about to be fed complete
bullshit.”
Athena pulls up the article and
reads and her shoulders slump. She reads
in a dejected voice, “If you investigate the FISA court than you are a partisan
and biased because this is a common occurrence and politicizing it is wrong.”
“There you go. Democrats at their best; using Emperor New
Clothes Talk and projection. They took
out a FISA on Carter Page for political and partisan purposes so they accuse their
investigators as being partisan to intimidate them not to investigate further.”
A boy came up from behind Athena
and snapped, “You can’t say that because even the IG report said that the FISA
wasn’t politically motivated.”
“Wrong”
“No, that’s right.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Eric”
“Hi, Eric, I’m Theo.” Athena had
walked away and Eric sat in her seat.
“Did you read the Horowitz
report?” Eric posed
“I did, but apparently you
didn’t. I can give you his sworn
testimony to congress if you’re confused.”
The arrogance on Eric’s face was
gone, “I didn’t see that.”
“Well, now you can”
Theo showed him a video where
Horowitz tells Republican congressman that he believes the FISA was politically
motivated.”
“That’s just the way the
Republican framed the question. What
about when the Democrats asked.?”
“See for yourself.”
Eric listened through and fast
forwarded till he saw a ‘D’ in front of the questioner. As he played, he heard the Democrat declare
that there was no political bias and Horowitz responded by telling him how
Bruce Ohr admitted that Steele told him that Steele was desperate to stop Trump
from becoming president, which leads him to believe that since the FISA was
heavily based on the Steele dossier, whether or not there was political bias is
murky when it comes to the FISA.”
Eric looks confused, “Wait, so
what was that with Barr yelling at Horowitz and disagreeing with the
assessment?”
“Keep watching”
Eric does and sees another
question from a Democrat where Horowitz clarifies that he didn’t find any
evidence of political bias as to why the investigation was initiated but the
FISA was a different story. Eric
revealed, “Oh, so that’s what I remember.”
Theo grabs the phone and scrolls
to another section and plays it and Horowitz’s voice informs Eric that in
January 2017, the Crossfire Hurricane team found out from Steele’s sub-source
that the dossier was a hoax and that the FISA was based solely on the Steele
dossier despite what Comey and Brennan told everyone. Theo took back his phone and uttered, “The
timing of those questioning the investigation is a little suspicious too.”
“Why? Because the Durham
report? That’s not coming out for like
three months?”
“Which does give them time to
frame the narrative but no, that’s not what I mean. Three investigative powers are about to
expire and be re-evaluated soon. One
about whether the FBI can collect business records. It just seems this defense is trying to sway
the decision makers to extend the time so they keep having this oppressive
power.”
“What do you think should be
their responsibilities?”
“If you want to spy, get a
warrant. FISA’s should only be for
international people who shouldn’t be protected by our Constitution.”
“I thought you were going to say
to disband the FBI.”
“Not there yet.”
“Some conservatives are.”
“Yes, they are and it’s more
difficult debating with them than it is with liberals.”
Eric got the insinuation and
walked off with his head down. Theo was
shocked that that comment hurt his feelings so deeply. A highly energetic boy came gliding over with
a big smile on his face. This put Theo
off because usually the college kids that approached him were angry and itching
for a debate but this one was lighthearted.
Theo smiled and offered, “Hi.”
“Hey, I’m a Trump supporter too
and I am highly enjoying those liberals coming over here and leaving so sad.”
This made Theo grin wider, “That’s
why I’m here but I’m glad there are some Trump supporters in the next
generation.”
“There are more than you think.”
“I don’t know, they operate on
Hitler tactics. Hitler went after the
youth so he could control the population in a generation. The liberals have done exactly that.”
“Yea well, some youth are
resisting the brain wash. One issue I
have with President Trump is he should just fire everyone that was a holdover
from Obama.”
“As extreme as that sounds, I
kind of agree with that. Look how much
trouble the NSC caused from the members that were present for Obama.”
“Eric Ciaramella the
whistleblower you mean.”
“Among others but yea.”
“Why isn’t anything being done?”
“The president may be waiting
till after the election so he has nothing to lose. Things are happening though. Ginny Thomas is compiling a list with me and
other conservatives of everyone in the deep state. She is also recommending people to take their
place.”
“That’s awesome!”
“Well, calm down. It’s more like a wish list than a reality.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, I don’t like FBI Director
Christopher Wray so I want him fired and replaced with someone who I know has
law enforcement experience; Dan Bongino.”
“Whoa, that would be amazing.”
“Well, Ginny wants him for a
counter-terrorist role.”
“I can see that.”
‘Yea, everyone can. The problem is she’s a Supreme Court
Justice’s wife and I’m just a low level employee at the White House. We have no pull. This is how rumors start so I should clarify
that nobody at the White House has approached Dan Bongino about this so it’s
not even in the realm of possibility.”
“Yet”
“No, not really. Even Bongino said that if he was asked, he’d
say ‘no’ so why bother asking?”
“What a fraud! He always talks
about how he wants to serve the country yet he would turn down this
opportunity.”
“He can do more damage outside
the system. He has the 2nd
highest rated podcast in the country.
Trust me, he’s more effective right where he is than working for the
government.”
“I thought it was your idea to
have him as FBI director.”
“I told you what I think would
be cool; not what’s practical and most efficient and effective.”
“Fair enough.”
Theo closes his tab and heads
out. The lights on the platform start
blinking indicating the approaching train and he boards it on his way home to
Rockville, Maryland. A couple around his
age is on the train and discussing the Democrat debates. The main point of their conversation is that
Bloomberg had a horrendous performance.
Theo interjected, “Well, there’s a rumor that it’s an elaborate scheme
by Hillary.”
The man gave him a quizzical
look, “What do you mean?”
“Bloomberg is going to stay in
the race to get delegates away from Bernie so he doesn’t get the majority. This would lead to a second ballot in which
the superdelegates take over. It’s hear
that Hillary Clinton enters the race and since the super-delegates are all
pro-her and anti-Bernie, she wins the nomination and we have ourselves a
re-match.”
“Did you hear this from
somewhere?”
“Dick Morris. He used to work for Fox. I know him from when the O’Reilly Factor was
still on.”
“I don’t know how I would feel
about that. I mean, I admire the
comeback story but it seems odd.”
“That’s why I don’t think it’ll
work.”
“The optics are bad?”
“Yea, people already think she
bought the nomination in 2016 and screwed over Bernie. Now, there would be no denying that she
sabotaged Bernie. Remember, Democrats
love protesting and Bernie’s supporters will probably take to the streets to
voice their displeasure. Riots will
break out.”
“That’s a little hyperbolic.”
“I’m not so sure. People in this country like fairness and to
have someone not go through the primary season and just swoop in at the end and
get handed the nomination is going to like very unfair to a lot of people. This may cause people to take to the
streets.”
“Well, then I think you just
explained why it won’t happen.”
“Yea, people would walk out of
the convention and that would really look bad.”
“The crowds have been a little
lacking to begin with; especially if you compare them to Trump who gets easily
over 20,000 in there and then people waiting outside.”
“President Trump got 100,000 in
India to hear him speak.”
“There are a billion people in
India so 100,000 there is like 20,000 here.”
“Still impressive.”
“I’m inclined to agree.”
“I’m inclined to agree.”
The couple got off and expressed
their happiness to have meet Theo even though they never properly met. Not too long after, Theo returned home and
got ready for bed and then lied down. He
fell asleep quickly thereafter ready to start the next day fresh.
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