Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

This past week was another one rich with possible Lexicon topics, but one person dominated the week, as well as Leftist twits on Twitter. I’m speaking of Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and Space-X and recent critic of Leftist ideas. It’s the latter one that has gotten him in hot water with Leftists, namely Senator Elizabeth Warren and MSNBC host Joy Reid, who recently had some not-so-kind things to say about Musk and what they think he should be doing with his billions of dollars.

Because they’re experts on spending other people’s money, apparently.

As much fun as it appears Musk is having giving the Left the business, I’m afraid the Left is more than willing to take it from him, literally. So, while he’s still in the public eye instead of the poorhouse, let’s take a look at the man who makes Leftists froth like Cujo drinking a frothy root beer float in the middle of a bubble run.

Elon Musk

What the Left thinks it means – an evil billionaire who cheats the system and doesn’t pay his fair share in taxes

What it really means – the man who built a better mousetrap, but has people beating a path to his door…to tar and feather him

People’s reactions to success are fun to observe. Some love to see others to succeed. Others hate to see it. Still others take personal offense at someone else doing better than they are and think it’s unfair. Those who fall in the latter category tend to hate the successful with a hatred that burns hotter than a million suns.

Guess which category Leftists fall into.

On paper, Elon Musk would be a billionaire Leftists should love. He’s a big advocate of alternate fuels. He produces electric cars that people want to buy because they look cooler than a Prius. A low bar, I know, but it should be underscored anyway. He takes up (or at least used to) support Leftist ideas on climate change. He’s greener than a sea-sick leprechaun.

But it’s a different kind of green the Left cares about here. He’s broken the cardinal rule of Leftist climate change advocacy: he’s figured out how to fix the problem and make money doing it. See, Leftists don’t really want to fix climate change because it makes them too much money ginning up fear, so they prolong actually doing something about it. And no matter how much eco-weinies like the Socialist Socialite whine, the recycled aluminum can keeps getting kicked down the road, well past the numerous end times that have been predicted for decades. By the way, Leftists, the estate of Dr. Harold Camping would like a word. Something about stealing their act.

Although this chaps Leftists’ hides (Musk’s success, not the Harold Camping thing), their hatred of him stems from the wealth he’s amassed by being good at what he does, Tesla truck notwithstanding. To them, anyone else who is wealthy did so through dubious means. You know, like purposely tanking the currency of a country. No, wait, that’s George Soros, a billionaire Leftists love. So, why do Leftists hate Musk again? Oh, yeah, he’s making “too much money” and took government subsidies to help Tesla get started and grow. Normally, Leftists don’t care if you take subsidies and, in fact, encourage it. But when you use subsidies and, you know, realize the Left’s ideas are nuttier than squirrel shit, then you’re a freeloader. At least that’s what Joy Reid said, in response to Sen. Warren saying Musk isn’t “paying his fair share.”

Those statements alone were enough to get Leftist Twits…er, Twitter users up in arms. In response, Musk told the world he was paying $15 billion in taxes due to him selling shares. Maybe a little TMI, especially to people who would find fault with anything he did outside of prostrating himself before Chief Running Mouth and begging for forgiveness. And even then they wouldn’t trust him. Having said that, Musk used it as the jumping off point for a serious question Reid and Warren aren’t ready for: what constitutes someone’s fair share?

That’s when Leftist number crunchers started talking about percentages rather than actual payments because the percentages make Musk look worse, thus fitting the narrative. What the Left fails to realize here is…they’ve just made the case for a flat tax rather than the current progressive tax rate. Of course, then they’ll complain about Musk paying the same percentage as lower class people, so the tax rates have to be adjusted so people who make more have to pay more.

Which just goes to show Leftists won’t be happy no matter how you try to appease them. Oh, and they suck at math.

The thing that irks the Left the most is what Musk did is perfectly legal. He accepted federal funds and pays his taxes within the current tax oppression…I mean code. In both cases, Congress made these things possible for Musk to use to his advantage, but they’re going to wash their hands of their role in this matter and simply accuse Musk of skirting the law when he’s actually following it. And it’s easy to do because it feeds into the Left’s disdain for the wealthy (except for their wealthy donors, of course) and into feelings of jealousy we all have. It’s a perfect system.

At least, until someone decides to break it.

That’s what Musk is doing here. He’s defending himself and his business practices while letting the Elizabeth Warrens and Joy Reids of the world throw accusations at him that he’s a no-good-downright-rotten-evil-rich-guy. Although Leftists will rally behind Warren and Reid, the rest of us who are paying attention see what’s happening: Leftists are throwing anything they can think of at the wall and seeing what sticks. When you boil down their objections, they have nothing substantive. Elon Musk is a man walking the walk while they talk and talk.

And for the purpose of transparency, I admit I am an Elon Musk fan, but I liked the cut of his jib before he started to be the bane of Leftists’ existences. I’ve found him to be visionary, forward-thinking, and brilliant in the way he looks at problems. The Twitter trolling he does is just the icing on the cake. Maybe someday the Left will realize what I’ve seen and come around to my point of view. Needless to say, I’m not holding my breath.

Besides, Musk is originally from South Africa, which makes him a literal African-American. And from what I’ve heard from the Left, if you hate an African-American, you’re a racist!

Don’t look at me. I didn’t make the rules!

The Return of Fuzzy Math

It’s finally here, kids! Democrats have put together a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill that, according to them, will cost us zero dollars. If you’re like me, and God help you if you are, you’re reaching for your brown BS flag to challenge the math. Now, if we only had a press corps that would do that job for us…oh, well. We can’t expect the media to stop cheerleading for the Biden Administration and start doing their jobs, right?

Anyway, the infrastructure bill is full of Leftist pet projects, including (and I’m not making this up) “tree equity.” The Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of the idea is it’s not fair poor people don’t have trees in their neighborhoods, so the federal government is going to fight the problem by planting trees. A noble idea, to be sure, but I’m not sure if I trust the same government that can’t figure out how to pass an actual budget to plant a flower bed, let alone a tree.

Oh, but don’t worry! All $3.5 trillion is accounted for thanks to tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. That means, according to Leftist logic, it won’t cost us a dime. Wellll…not exactly.

I will admit this next part of this entry is as boring as an Al Gore speech, but it’s important to understanding the situation and the lies surrounding it. I promise not to go into too much detail because, really, there isn’t any need for it. Like your appendix or another “Scary Movie” sequel.

The zero-cost claim is based on a bit of creative bookkeeping on the government’s part. What they do is spend the money over a few years and attempt to “pay it off” through increased income, i.e. taxes. Slap a popular idea on it and everything works out for the best.

Except when it doesn’t, which is most of the time.

A glaring problem with this approach is the fluidity of money. Thanks to market forces, inflation, and confidence in the strength of the dollar, what you buy today may not be able to buy as much tomorrow, and that includes government spending. And when you’re dealing with the kind of numbers we are now, it gets expensive.

Then, there’s a looming tipping point when the takers outpace the givers. For now, we’re on the positive side of that, but we’re a lot closer to the edge than we think. Leftists will reply, “Well, that’s because the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share,” and for once I agree with them. The rich and powerful in America are not paying what they owe to keep this country afloat.

They’re paying much more.

As of this writing, the wealthiest 1% pays around 40% of the tax burden. Although the Left says this is only reasonable given how much money they’re making, the fact we expect such a small percentage of Americans to support close to half of our tax burden is concerning. By the time you get to the top 25%, the tax burden is almost completely paid in full. I don’t know about you, but that seems a bit…unfair.

And the Biden Administration wants the rich to pay more than their fair share so they can pay their fair share?

I’m just as confused as you are.

The other thing to keep in mind regarding government spending is it’s never enough. There will always be some new wrinkle that only the government can screw up…I mean fix. And what’s the best way the Left can come up with to fix problems? That’s right, kids: throw more money at them! I mean, it’s worked with public education, right?

Let’s take the “tree equity” part of the spending bill, for example. During the rollout phase, invariably someone will say “This is great, but what about X?” And, just for the sake of an example, let’s say X is Antarctica. The sensible thing to do is realize trees may not grow there because, well, it’s Antarctica. The Leftist thing to do is create Make Antarctica Green Again and send millions of taxpayer dollars to whatever Leftist think-tank came up with the dumb idea in the first place. And, surprise surprise, it will always find a way to get funded year after year, even after it’s been determined trees don’t grow in Antarctica.

But I’m sure this infrastructure bill will be different…

The biggest underlying flaw with the no-cost idea is it defies common sense. No matter how many offsets you claim will occur, there will still be costs involved. Time, effort, sweat, and, yes, even money go into every endeavor we undertake from putting trees in Antarctica to getting up in the morning. And, yes, I know Leftists are trying to make a distinction between net and gross costs in trying to justify the zero-cost statement, but remember these are the same people who think free college is going to be a thing. Of course, I wonder who’s going to tell college professors they will be working for free…

Regardless, there is a lot of room to doubt the Biden Administration’s claims the proposed infrastructure bill will cost us nothing, mainly because the Left and economic literacy aren’t on speaking terms. Meanwhile, we will be adding more debt to future generations to address long after we’re gone.

But at least we’ll get “tree equity.”

The President’s Taxes

What we are seeing with the released income tax information of President Trump is exactly why the present system doesn’t work. Our current system of income tax creates far more issues than it ever solves. And it took a Constitutional amendment in order to even enact it.

The taxation of income is morally wrong. It wastes taxpayer money on enforcement and compliance. It is unfair to the working class and poor. It is over complicated. It has been weaponized against political opponents. And the list goes on and on.

As for the President’s taxes. I don’t care. It isn’t an issue. His income is his business and not mine or yours. Unless you have envy in your heart and covet his wealth. The President’s taxes have nothing to do with how well he will be president or is fit for the job.

Due to our current tax code. President Trump doesn’t do his own taxes. He hires professionals to do that who find all the possible exceptions he can take. Thus reducing his tax burden to mere pennies. I say good for him. I would do the same thing if it was within my means to do so.

This isn’t an impeachable offense at all. This is following the current tax laws and having it benefit the taxpayer. Anyone is able to do this if they either know the tax laws themselves or hire the appropriate professionals. This isn’t an issue with the President. This is an issue with the current tax code.

If you don’t like that the President paid only $750 in taxes. Have the law changed. Abolish the IRS and get the FairTax going. Then you get to keep all of your paycheck and don’t have to report any of it to the government. Or get a better tax professional.