Buying Used Cars Over the Internet? Really?

What could possibly have happened to America's youth?

When I was a kid the thing we lusted after most wasn't Little Suzie, who lived next door, but a License to Drive.  With which I could take Little Suzie to the drive-in.  And do all sorts of unmentionable things.  

To, and with, and for, Little Suzie.    

When we turned about 14 back where I lived, and our chemistries began to change, all we wanted was four wheels and some of that Freedom!  To go and do and be!  Wherever, whenever we wanted!  Because we were 'Muricans!    

Those of us who lived in town were so very jealous of our buddies who lived on farms because they'd get to drive tractors, and trucks and combines and other motorized vehicles.  Almost from the time they could walk.  And getting our ticket to take the wheel was on the tippy top of our list of things to obtain.  

Or at least it was on mine.  And everyone I knew...

But then the good ol' Army snatched me away from my blissful existence playing pool for $Big Bucks and drinking cheap beer and racing cars and playing poker, and romancing Little Suzie, and forced me to accept that others weren't like me.  Many others, as it turned out.  

Like my wife-to-be when I learned she was 25 before she got her D.L.  But then again, she was from New Yawk City, where you could take the train or a cab or even walk and get anywhere.  Unlike moi, who lived in a farming community.  Where everything was way far away from wherever you happened to be.  So she was forgiven.  Because she had other redeeming virtues.  

Ahem...

But then the Internet introduced us to tens of millions of those "Gen-Z" people throughout our Fruited Plain who not only didn't have drivers' licenses...but had no intention of acquiring one!  

And worse yet, we learned that people were actually willing to consider buying a car from over that same Internet!  Without first seeing it!  And touching it!  And kicking the tires!  They'd fork over $Tens of Thousands of borrowed money for a car from way far away!  From sites like Cars.com.  And Autotrader.com.  And Vroom!  Even as several of those used car sellers were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.  

Buying a car from over the Internet?  Really?

And how about this?  People who are dumb enough to give Elon Musk $100,000 of their money for an electric car, have been willing to give him another $15,000 for its "Supercruise" feature.  This enables their car to operate using GPS to take you to your destination using a satellite.  From 435 miles up in space.  So you don't have to drive at all!  You can take a nap!  You can knit!  You can do the N.Y. Times crossword puzzles!  

If you're dumb enough to buy the N.Y. Times, that is...  

Or you can simply bow your head in prayer and hope that God will get you through this life and softly into the next, even though you're dumber than a bag of rocks!

P. T. Barnum once said that "A fool and his money are soon parted."  I'm guessing good ol' P.T. must have known the Internet was on the horizon.  And that those caught in the throws of "Gen-Z" would become a marketplace for the slimiest underbelly of our culture; used car salesmen (and women, and now thanks to Taxifornia, "others").

Musk can be forgiven.  Even though he's sold some 2,000,000 of his growed-up golf carts, mostly to inveterate idiots in Taxifornia, at least they're new.  Time will tell whether his early-adopters of plug-in electric cars are complete, unmitigated, insufferable idiots (as I would argue).  But we can know for sure that those willing to send off a cashier's check to somebody somewhere they've never even met, for a used car, A FRIGGIN' USED CAR, should be forcibly removed from the gene pool.

Nothing personal...

I Remember Each of My Audits...

I've been asked a time or two why I'm so indelibly strident in my dislike of all things "Big Government."  And Medium-Sized Government.  And even Small-ish Government.  And the answer is:

"Because I was audited 11 of my 38 years in business." 

I remember each of those eleven escrutiating IRS audits vividly. 

                               VIVIDLY!

My wife and I were entrepreneurs, which means we just had to work for ourselves.  So we started a little specialty fast-response medical services company in the then-free Country of Orange, California in 1979.    

On April 20th, BTW.  Just a happy coincidence.  Very happy...

Anyway, we ran our company for over 38 years.  During which we had as many as 5 specialty Nephrologist Medical Doctors on the payroll, and 50+ Registered Nurses working for us, and several Technicians keeping our highly-specialized blood purification equipment humming, and a couple of trucks delivering it to our local hospital clients at all hours of the day and night.  

During that time we treated more than 10,000 desperately and acutely-ill patients in 40 hospitals.  With a guaranteed, 2-hour response time.  Across L. A. traffic.

In short, a Big-ish Small Bizzzness.  Or a small-ish Big Bizzzness.  You decide.

Our patients loved us.  Our client hospitals loved us.  And our employees loved us.  You know who didn't love us?

                                The IRS!

Even though we had our Certified Public Accountants prepare both our personal and our company tax returns for every year we were in business, at an enormous $cost, BTW, we were audited 11 of those 38 years.  Whatever we sent them just wasn't enough, doncha' know.  Or, they just wanted us to knuckle under to their dictats and give them a bunch more of our $Money.  But we believed - and I still believe - that we should pay the Gubmint every dollar it is due, and not a dollar more.  So they'd send us a little love note letting us know they'd be out to visit in a few short weeks. They'd be bringing their greedy paws to paw over boxes of receipts, so we had to gird our loins and prepare for battle.

Dedicating even more of our time to try and defend ourselves against their attempts to pry open our piggy bank.  Each of these audits cost us $Thousands.  More Good $Money after Bad.

Now then, I don't mean to complain, but in each and every one of those cases the auditor who chose to visit us was a...get ready for it...tiny little, very young and very green, Vietnamese female.  Usually cute ones, BTW.  Usually weighing in at at 90 pounds or less.  All speaking a language remarkably similar to English, but not quite.  Making understanding them an added feature of our almost annual audits.  Especially once we started pulling in the $Major Bucks.  

Perhaps the local IRS office had only Vietnamese young babes as its employees.  Or maybe they were all members of the same family.  Or maybe they just thought that it would somehow either soften up bizzness types like me, being a Viet Nam War veteran, or enrage me, or cause me to write a check.  I simply do not know.  Nor did I ever learn.  Just one of the Major Road Blocks associated with doing bizz in Taxifornia.

However, I'm please to report that the Score Card for those 11 audit contests is as follows:

*     The Chuckmeister & Family   -   9

*     The Infernal Revenue Service   -  2

And if memory serves the result of all those individual audits over the years was a net-net of $129,000+ to Me and Mine.  Even after hiring attorneys and all the incidental costs.  And the years I lost?  Yeah, well, we wrote checks totaling $1,545.00 for those two years to make things right.

I'd say our accountants did okay by us, right?  Although I pissed and moaned a bit over having to write those checks...  

Now do you understand why I hold the IRS, and the Federal Gubmint writ large, in such disdain?  We live in a State which penalizes success by picking its pocket.  So that the money can be spread among losers and hangers-on.

As my entrepreneur Dad liked to say about the IRS, "They're a rabid pack of bottom-feeding thieves."  And we're now hiring another 87,000 of these pirates, all equipped with firearms, BTW.  We, you and me, just spent $1,500,000,000 (that's with a "B") to pay for those firearms.  

I'd like to remind my Fellow Patriots at about this time that only 48.8% of our citizenry pay income taxes.  Those $Dollars our Country uses to build stuff and buy stuff and defend ourselves.  Less than One in Two.  Don't you think it's about time we rewrote our laws so that Every Single American pays Federal Taxes?  However small a contribution it would insure we all had some of that figurative "skin in the game."  

But until or less that happens, I'd like to leave this unassuming little blog posting right about here with this comment:  

                        Screw the IRS!

And oh yeah, screw the Gubmint!

P.S.   So for those who want me to say something nice about our Gubmint drones, in the interest of fairness, doncha' know, I'd say they don't sweat much for fat people...

The World's 6th Largest Standing Army.

It might surprise you to learn where we can find the World's 6th Largest Standing Army.  

And here is a list for your convenience:

     -  China - 2,185,000

     -  India - 1,445,000

     -  United States - 1,400,000

     -  North Korea - 1,300,000

     -  Russia - 1,014,000

     -  Missouri Deer Tags, 2022 - 810,673

     -  Wisconsin Deer Tags, 2022 - 771,365

     -  Illinois Deer Tags, 2022 - 547,736

Wha...?  

In fact, not just the 6th largest standing army, but the 7th and 8th as well.  And not "standing," exactly, but maybe lazing away in a Barcalounger, awaiting deer season to open.  But armed to the teeth and likely available to answer a clarion call to defend their Country, should one come, or their way of life.

Which just might happen.

How did we go from countries and their standing armies, meaning how many soldiers a country has in uniform and holding their rifles, ready to blow other folks to smithereens, to hunters buying the right to shoot a deer?   

Because, fellow Patriots, that gives you an indication that on any given mid-November day in our Heartland States, upwards of 10% of their population could be ready for the bell to ring.  To head out into the woods in search of Bambi's dad and some delicious backstraps.  Dressed all up in camos and Day-glo hats, lurking around in their forests, searching for meat for the freezer.  

In Missouri's case, it's above 15%, as its population is 6,200,000.  In fact, growing up there I could say I didn't know anyone who didn't skip work on my birthday (November 12th) and go deer hunting.  Many school districts declare it a Day Off.  In Wisconsin it's an even higher percentage, as its population is but 5,910,00.  

I'd like you to get your mental arms around that fact for a moment.  On any given day in the Fall we have three-quarters of a million folks, almost exclusively men, in half of our states, with firearms, and willing to pony up cash to show up and go hunting.  For something we should be able to shoot without paying The Man a tax, BTW, but we do.  Which makes my rant even more relevant.  

Just imagine a time in the future when "The Balloon Goes Up."  We are at war.  Declared or otherwise, military action, whatever.  Even North vs. South again.  But not White vs. Black, or even White vs. White, but Big Blue Cities vs. The People.  Or Uncle Joe's DOJ vs. Us, The People, which is becoming ever more likely.  They keep on telling us our Modern Sporting Rifles* are only for "combat," so maybe we'll find out for ourselves.  But whatever, People are shooting at each other.  Sooooo....

Whose side would you rather be on?  The Gubmint's, coming after our freedoms, or The Peoples,' who are armed and considered dangerous.  Some 510,000,000 firearms are in our gun cabinets, owned by more than 110,000,000 of our People.  110 Million God-fearing, freedom-loving, America-defending People.   

Now then, don't you feel better?  I just knew you would...

*    That would be AR-15's, with more than 22 million of them in our hunters' hands.  Ready to be called into action to hunt...or to Defend our Freedoms.  

      

Reimagining a Flawed System...

Having served in the United States Army where the term "Sergeant" meant something, I feel it necessary to comment on what I believe is a flawed system.  So bear with me as I offer up my observations...

Remember the movie, "Fort Apache: The Bronx?"  It was a 70's Paul Newman and Brian Dennehy movie in which the crime wave in New York City was so bad the cops were scared to leave the station house.  Which was located deep into "enemy" territory.  As in, that part of NYC where you didn't go if you wanted to continue living.  I believe it was the "Bed-Sty," or the Bedford-Stuyvestant neighborhood.  That territory where the "Indians" were running wild.  That was the cops' name for the Black gangs in charge back then.

Sort of like it is now?

So with that as a backdrop, here goes:

I wonder what would happen if our police were required to wear Polo shirts, sport coats and khaki slacks in the course of their duties?  No dark uniforms, no array of scary weapons, no mirrored sunglasses, just business casual.   

You know, present themselves in a totally non-threatening, non-paramilitary, non armed-to-the-teeth, non-lieutenant and -sergeant and -corporal sort of hierarchy, but still exhibiting a professional manner?  

Oh, they could and should hide their bulletproof vests under their shirts, and we all know how to hide a concealed carry piece, now don't we?  I've carried one for years without a problem.

And they could keep extra mags and tasers and their other "Batman" stuff in their pockets.  Out of sight, sort of.  Just keep it from being the centerpiece of their existences.  To make themselves look a bit less like an expensive traffic ticket or a trip to the slammer.  

Or maybe even a bullet to the spleen.

Or perhaps stop carrying so much of it.  Maybe have a two-tiered corps.  One displaying a bit less of what some have grown to fear or even hate as the face of policing, and others behind them to bring in the firepower, if needed.  At the other end of a radio call.  If the "casuals" can't handle the problem, then bring in SWAT.  And everyone would know of that capability, should it prove necessary.  Just might be a little less overtly threatening, doncha' think?

Now grab an adult beverage and stay with me here...

I used to design war strategies for Army Intelligence.  The sort of chess we play with real men.  Chess pieces which can bleed.  We moved them around on the "chessboard" of men and tanks and bombers.  I'm used to thinking things out past one or two moves.  I know, for instance, that you shovel $Hundreds of Millions of Dollars to HAMASS over a 25-year period, with no oversight, knowing their stated goal is to destroy Israel, and it should not be a big surprise to see them growing such hate within their offspring.  We are reaping that whirlwind. 

And so are they. 

And with permitting our oldest and most prestigious colleges and universities to hire the most politically radical teachers over the past decades, knowing their disdain for America, it shouldn't come as a surprise we wind up with a generation of Israel- and Jew-hating (and capitalism- and oil and gas- and the rich- and Republicans- and hunting and fishing- and guns-hating) Americans.  

So for a multitude of reasons we Americans have grown a paramilitary* force within our ranks which we pay to hassle us.  At every given turn.  We pay them to stop us.  And question us.  And subject us to all sorts of indignities.  To detain us.  To put us in cuffs, on the side of the road, for "officer safety."  Without oversight, seemingly.  And in many cases just because they can.  

And they are, I believe, in many cases expected to.  The revenue of literally hundreds of our smaller cities across the fruited plain depend upon it.  AAA reported more than 3,600 "speed trap," wide-spot-in-the-road, cities awaiting your pass-through.  And your $Dollars.  We have hired and trained and armed 3% of us to police the other 97% of us, who pay dearly for that 3% (the average misdemeanor traffic ticket here in Taxifornia is now $789.00).  

For the 97% of us who obey the laws, that's sorta' like having to pay the priest as he beats you for the sins...you've yet to commit. 

And we all know that our recent Great Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus Pandemic, coupled with the hard-Left's campaign to Defund the Police, plus permitting BLM and Antifa and the other gangs to burn down our Biggest and Bluest Cities,** without any sort of police response, caused all the good, young cops to run like bandits.  To flee to the suburbs, mainly, where they'd be loved, treated better, paid more, and be much, much safer. 

They left behind an older, more "seasoned," but far more hardened, cadre of police.  Deeper into their careers, closer to retirement, more ingrained in the "Thin Blue Line," and perhaps a bit less schooled in the Constitution and its limitations on their activities.  

Or as I've learned, fearing no retribution, perhaps many of them just don't give a damn. 

So what we have left may well be an "Us vs. Them" mentality, where "officer safety" becomes paramount.  To them.  If they think they're gonna' get shot if they leave the station house or pull over a car, then their value to us is lost.

Remember, they're not paranoid if they think we're really after them.  And I think they think we're really after them!   

The good cops welcomed body cameras.  And FOIA open records requests.  And permitting citizens to lodge complaints against bad cops.  And dash cams, with the video immediately available to the public.  It was the bad cops that fought so hard against transparency.  And still do...

Right now our police look like that guy from Robocop.  All loaded down with gun and taser and pepper spray and baton and camera and radio and cuffs and cuffs and cuffs.  And a half-dozen extra mags for their Glock.  With each having a 16-round capacity where us citizens only get 7 in most states (NY chief among them).  All suited up in a dark blue and ominous looking uniforms.  Mirrored sunglasses.  Enough to make us all afraid of them.  Which I believe is their desire.  Intimidation is their stock in trade.  To intimidate us out of our civil Rights.  

Not only might these cops take money from our wallets, overexcited, poorly-trained cops might take our lives.   

Maybe we could ratchet all this down a notch.  Maybe we could try and make the cops look a little less like they're our enemies and more like the friendly public servants they're supposed to be and used to be (but often aren't).  "Adam 12" may be long gone, but that doesn't keep us from trying.  And maybe we ought to institute a rule that the police need to be out of their precinct houses and out among those they're sworn to protect.  Making visits to churches and schools and parks and city centers and old folks homes.  Let's try and bring back that "friendly policeman" guise, if at all possible.  Try and defuse the bomb before it gets built.

I wonder what would happen if some this newfangled thinking were to somehow creep into local policing?  Not "cop on the beat," exactly, but maybe cop dressed like a friend in a car that looks a little less threatening.  

Maybe cruisers painted a nice light tan instead of the ominous black and white...

We have cops trying to enforce more than 366,000 laws here in Taxifornia, while having only been trained on a couple dozen of them.  The ones that bring revenue into their city's coffers, chief among them, I'm guessing.  Each DUI they charge not only takes a drunk off the road, which is good, it puts $Thousands in fines into their cities' coffers.  And puts a big Check Mark next to the arresting cops' names come promotion time.  This policing for profit has got to change.  

I'm not a cop.  Never was, and don't want to be.  I assume it's a calling, I don't know.  I love good cops.  They fulfill a much-needed and often thankless job.  They take out society's human trash.  They are charged with doing so.  Sworn to do so.  Often at a direct risk to their own lives.  But those good cops, the ones that obey the laws when they're off duty, even, when nobody's watching, need to stand with us mere citizens who are being "mugged" by our own civil servants. 

Let's face it: a small percentage of us need to be eliminated from the gene pool.  Physically.  Or if we cannot "disappear" them, at least let us lock them up.  As much as those on the "Progressive" Left would disagree.

I hate bad cops.  And I'd like to try and wring the bad ones out of the system.  I'm guessing that such "institutional change" would have to come from the top.  Remember when Giuliani took over NYC and instituted the "broken window theory?"  Meaning find and prosecute and jail the guys doing the low level crimes and you prevent them from doing even more and greater crimes in the future?  Like we're seeing when the perps have a rap sheet of 30, 40, or even 50 previous charges.  Why?  

The Chief demanding the Captains to force the Lieutenants to make all the Sergeants and Corporals force the Newby Patrol Officers to treat the public like they're in charge.  Like they're civil servants and we're the ones making their paychecks cash.  Because until or unless that citizen breaks the law, he's the cop's superior.  

A little respect for a change...

*     "Para" in paramilitary means, "close ", or "almost," but "not quite" real military.  Maybe they ought to come up with an entirely new designation for their officers.  Or, maybe just "officer" would do...

**    More than $1.5 Billion Dollars in damage was suffered by those  Big Blue Cities in 2020.  More than 1,300 cops injured.  14 killed.  And our "State Media" simply refused to report it.  Why?

Men, Momen, and Women...

If you ever wondered just how far it could go, it has officially gone that far...

Here's a headline from a Canadian news source which just came in over the figurative transom, and I quote:

"Outrage as FIVE trans students dominate the volleyball court at a girls varsity game - as biological females are kicked down to the bench."

This outrage occurred on January 24th at a volleyball match between Seneca College and Centennial College, both in Toronto.  The Great White North.  Seneca played three trans women for the entire game, and Centennial played two.  Female students were substituted in and out throughout the game, but the men, er, uh, trans students played throughout. 

I'm just sitting here thinking, fellow Patriots, that the only reason, THE ONLY REASON that either Seneca or Centennial didn't play all five trans players...is because they didn't have enough trans players.  I'm guessing they're recruiting like crazy to fix that problem...

Something tells me if you're a 6' 5", 230 lb. guy who knows how to play volleyball, and are willing to wear a dress for 4 years in exchange for a diploma, you could get a full-ride at either of these "Progressive" houses of unimportant, irrelevant and ridiculous information.

I'm pretty sure this is the Official Beginning of the End.  I've personally visited the cave on the Island of Lesbos in which Paul wrote "Revelations."  And I don't recall anything in Revelations about boys being confused as girls.  Ancient Rome, perhaps, and maybe Greece.  But not North America. Or maybe it's just me.

Glad I played pool...

I have long advocated for three (3) separate genders when we're talking about collegiate sports (I could give a sh*t what the pros do):  Men, Momen, and Women.  Men against the Men, Men pretending to be Women against Women, and Women.

These three categories may be necessary until all the pantywaist commie socialist dummmasses get their you-know-what together and understand it's not what they want!  Nobody cares what they want!  It's what's real.  

So, to all the Women out there, if you choose to compete against Men, it's now your fault.  Simply refuse to go along with this sham.  Force them to create a Whole New Category:     

A category for the Men who squat to pee...   

The Special Counsel's Report.

For those too busy to follow the happenings surrounding Special Counsel Robert Hur's Report on Joseph Robinet O'Biden's (now proven) mishandling of Classified documents, I, The Chuckmeister, have handled that unpleasant task for you.

What else would you expect from your "Scribe Without Portfolio?"  

And as a guy who owned a 427 cu. in. 1966 Corvette in 1966, I feel qualified to comment on Joe O'Biden's most recent quandary.  Because his '66 Corvette has only 327 cubic inches, meaning it's much SLOWER than was mine, and a donor gave it to him.  I paid for mine, so there!  

Seems like much of what he owns somebody gave to him, right, fellow Patriots?  Perhaps including his two oceanfront mansions? 

So yes, I read every word written about SC Hur's Report.  Can't read the Report yet, as neither the DOJ nor the White House has yet released a copy.  Which presents a quandary, now doesn't it?

O'Biden says the Report is factually inaccurate, but so far has refused to authorize its release.  One wonders why?  Unless he's blowing smoke up our collective as*es and hopes this little "problem" goes away.

And since almost none of our current crop of journalists bother to actually commit journalism anymore (95% admit to being Democrats), and dig deeply into this Report, I did it for them.  I studied all the stuff being reported, and came to the following conclusions:  

It's kind of difficult to laugh off 1,600 boxes of documents, spread all over 9 locations, including behind his (in)famous Corvette.  The one given to him, BTW.  Did I mention that?  But we were previously told there were only "6" Classified documents.  Umm, no.  There were more than 300 of them labeled "Secret" and a few Classified "Top Secret."

Let me once again remind the reader, these boxes of documents and these Classified documents stretched back more than 15 years.  Back all the way to when Mr. O'Biden was just a Senator.  And eight years as Vice President.  And the period after when he was a private citizen.  That is a very long time.

And even thought the Report didn't touch on it, we're told, how the Hell did he get these Classified documents out of the SCIF?*  The Top Secret, special room in the basement of the Capitol where Senators and Congressmen view Classified documents.  Under the watchful eyes of the FBI.  And they MAY NOT be removed from this location!  You can go to jail for doing so!  Unless your name is O'Biden, apparently.**

NOTE:  O'Biden did not have the authority to classify or declassify documents, nor did he have the right to obtain, store, keep or share classified documents.  

Trump, as President...DID!

Regardless of what you hear the White House bleating in an effort to quell this firestorm, POTUS Joe O'Biden was NOT cleared of wrongdoing by Robert Hur's Special Counsel Report.   Here's the "Cliff Notes" version of this damning Report:

     -  The Special Counsel (SC) found that good ol' Joe broke the law.

     -  He found that O'Biden broke the law repeatedly.

     -  He found that O'Biden willfully and knowingly broke the  law.

     -  That he shared parts of these Highly-Classified documents with the ghostwriter of his book.  And told him they were Classified at the time he disclosed them.  Making his ghostwriter guilty of a crime after the fact.  And O'Biden aiding and abetting a Federal crime.

     -  That O'Biden stored these classified documents all over his house and garage, in falling-apart cardboard boxes, with the Classifications clearly noted for all to see.

     -  That O'Biden admitted to willfully breaking the law.

Despite all those crimes, the SC pulled a "Jim Comey."**  The SC decided not to prosecute, even though O'Biden is clearly and admittedly guilty, because:

          - He cooperated. (cooperation with the prosecution is not a defense.  Cooperation is to be considered by the judge only at the time of sentencing, and Hur as SC had to know that).

          - Hur came to the conclusion that O'Biden is "Non Compos Mentos."  That means he's not mentally competent to stand trial.  Plus, he said, the jury wouldn't find him guilty because he's an old man and sympathetic.

                    There is a "Catch 22:" 

     -  If O'Biden's too aged and mentally infirm to stand trial, why is he not too mentally infirm to run the Country?

     -  And second, for those who think there just might be a two-tier system of justice, since Trump's being prosecuted for the exact same crime, is it because he has a good memory and O'Biden doesn't?   

It may be time to take away Grandad's Corvette keys...     

*      SCIF = "Secret Compartmented Information Facility."  Almost impossible to get in, almost impossible to get Classified documents out.  Except for O'Biden and the guy referenced below.

**     Remember FBI Director Jim Comey?  He's the guy that called a press conference 5 days before a Presidential Election and gave us all the multitude of reasons why Hil(liar)y Clinton should be prosecuted, and then told us he was declining to prosecute her.  Because he didn't think a D.C. court would convict her.  The EXACT SAME REASON Hur gave for not prosecuting O'Biden.  Go Figure?

***     Remember Sandy Berger?  He was Clinton's National Security Advisor.  He actually stuffed Classified documents into his socks, fergodssake, and then left the SCIF.  They caught him and prosecuted him, BTW.  He got probation, no doubt because he was a Democrat... 

BTW, if you read all the stuff I write, you're sure to know all the stuff I know.  Which may or may not be a good thing...

The "California Fast Food Workers Union"

For those of you who don't remember, or consciously choose not to remember, there was a time not too long ago when we had a "farm team" here in America.

You know, an ill-defined and completely free-wheeling "Entry-Level Jobs Program" that anyone could access.  That Program in force between, a) lying on your ass and eating bon bons, and b) going to - or back to - work.

The Program required nothing much more than a strong back, or an ability to count and make change, or be capable of helping the ice cream find its way from the scoop into a cone.  Every time.  And all one had to do was visit your local "Choke and Puke" and apply.  Because every single fast-food joint in America is hiring.  

TODAY!

Those were the jobs that little Johnnie got for after school and on weekends at McDonalds.  Or Wendys.  Or Pizza Hut.  So he could earn enough to take little Suzie to the movies on Friday night.  To put gas in dad's "family truckster."  Little Johnnie humped the trash, and mopped the floors, or seated the customers.  Or maybe asked, "Would you like fries with that?"

They earned $7.25 an hour as recently as, ummm, yesterday?  Oh no, I think it was 2020, fellow Patriots.  Three years ago.  Back when a Combo Meal was $5.99.  All the way back then...

Those were NOT jobs one took to earn enough to raise a family.  They were NOT full-time, career positions.  They were NOT designed nor created to pay $20.00 an hour for menial work.  Especially when one considers entry-level U. S. Army soldiers earn...are you ready for it?...$15.00 an hour.  

But Taxifornia's BoyGuv Newsom decided that the "X" thousand 'Muricans (and others) who are of that work strata were a "Target Rich Environment."  That they just might just vote for him if he were to shovel them all of the franchise owners' profits.  For consider this:  the rapid and unexpected and unnecessary increase from the previous $15.00 and hour here to $20.00, will wring out virtually all of the profit from a McDonalds store.  

And it has to be a McD's, or other very large franchisee, because this new law is targeted at franchisors of 60 or more stores.  That's McD's, Wendy's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, and a few others.  I did the math: 

       $250,000 just up and gone.  

Voila!  Transferred from the owner's profits to the pockets of their often illiterate, non English-speaking immigrant workers.  Simply for their (illegal) votes.  I'm guessing BoyGuv knows that these business owners aren't going to vote for him or any Democrat anyway, so screw them.  I can't imagine what this will do to the value of large franchises here, or franchise fees in general, or to the franchisor's stock writ large nationally.  

Are you getting this?  Does this piss you off?  It pisses me off, and I don't get pissed off easily!

An entire class of work wiped out for one reason and one reason alone:  The SEIU (Service Employees International Union).

This is the union that represents the maids that turn down your sheets at the Holiday Inn.  The $10.00 an hour mainly immigrant slaves that toil out of sight and out of mind.  But the SEIU elites needed more dues so they could vacation in the Bahamas in January.  So they spent more than $60,000,000 of their members' dues over the past decade to try and force McD's to pay its workers enough so they could afford to pay the SEIU's dues.    

Are you digging this?  In other words, bump up their income by 50% so you can snake them into paying out 50% of their newly-realized income in dues and INCOME TAXES!  Something they never used to worry about because they didn't earn enough to qualify!

Did the SEIU mention that?  In all its rallies, did it ever mention that?  

Pllluuuuussss, they'll now make so much money they'll no longer qualify for special assistance with rent or food or transportation or child care.  No more free diapers and baby formula.  No more $1,000 a month gubmint help from the "Rental Assistance Program."  They'll now have to pay it all themselves.  So they'll now be earning $40,000 a year, but taking home less money than before.

So the SEIU has formed the "California Fast Food Workers Union," and invited these new $20 and hour types to join.  They hope to have enough dues paying members, at only $20.00 a month to start (heh, heh), so they can force the Gubmint to recognize it.  Get that?  Never been done before.  Completely back-asswards union formation.

And, I predict these newly-screwed owners will do everything they can to keep from going out of business.  They'll reduce hours, run fewer employees on shifts, and they'll immediately look into even more automation.  

Remember those mechanized burger-flippers invented a couple of years back?  The one that cost about $250,000, but would make hundreds of burgers an hour without zero mistakes?  And replace as many as 6 of these $20.00 an hour-types?  Yeah, well they're now selling like hotcakes.

Funny it's exactly the same price as BoyGuv's MinWage fiasco.  I wonder if his uber-rich family owns a piece of this company?    

So now the $5.99 combo meal is yesterday's news.  I told you this would happen, and it did.  Now, with these newly-added costs to operation, we've already heard of $18.99 combo meals, $7.00 Egg McMuffins and $3.00 hash browns.  Start shorting McDonalds stock, fellow Patriots.  Folks will find out it's a whole lot cheaper to eat at home...

And that maybe McD's should begin using white tablecloths...

And lastly, Little Johnnie can no longer get that job at McD's because it can now demand a higher class of worker.  One more skilled, more educated, more dedicated than Johnnie.  The ones it doesn't automate, that is.  So Juan and Juanita get screwed because their job will be automated.  And Little Johnnie gets screwed.  Twice.  First, because this entire class of work has been eliminated, and Second, because he can no longer afford to take little Suzie to the movies. 

Or maybe he only got screwed once... 

Aiding and Abetting...

Since it's clearly, plainly, indelibly illegal for our Federal Gubmint to give or spend money to "aid or abet" illegal entry into our Country,* I was wondering just how these "migrants" wind up with all those cell phones, plane tickets and $Pre-Paid debit cards in their jeans.

And now, as a result of NYC's Mayor Adams, $53,000,000 in pre-paid debit cards.  Is this designed as a reward, or as a deterrent?  

Seems to me it's clearly a reward...

Made no sense, I said to myself.  Unless our Border Patrol folks are performing as "Welcome Wagon"** greeters, signing up the criminals who break in to our Country.  Preparing them to vote in the next General Election.  As Democrats.  But I would guess that most Americans believe that those "migrants" just aimlessly wander on in.

Not so, fellow Taxpayers!

They are then handed off to other folks who give them a bed, feed them, fit them with some new clothes and a cell phone, and then a plane/train/bus ticket to anywhere.  Anywhere at all.  Without Identification!  Except to Martha's Vineyard, of course, but to anywhere else.  They only suffered with their 24 "migrants" for 48 hours.  They then shipped them off to an Army base for them to deal with, effectively washing their manicured little hands.  Just think about that.  

But who's been paying for that?  Since the U.S. of A. CAN'T, legally, then WHO IS?  

That's what I was wondering, fellow Patriots.  Were you wondering that as well?  

So I did some research.  And what I discovered should really piss you off.  Did me.  Here's why.  There are more than 50 non-profit organizations that receive funding from our Legislature.  Most are church-based.  Many are Catholic.  Sort of.  Feed the hungry and homeless, 'cause that's what Jesus would have done, and all that.  Yeah, well I'm guessing Jesus would not have applauded tens of thousands of unwanted "migrants" flooding through Bethlehem.  When he was trying to make a living as a humble carpenter, while all those "migrants" were pooping in his front yard.  Begging him to do that "loaves and fishes" thing.  On a daily basis.  Just sayin'...  

Nope, if the question is, "What would Jesus do?," then I'm guessing, "He wouldn't!"

But "Samaritan's Purse," would.  That's Franklin Graham's ministry run amok.  I think most of the folks who donate to this charity believe the money is helping out because of fire and floods and earthquakes in Pakistan or Haiti or somewhere.  But not helping illegal alien criminals facilitate the breaking of our immigration laws.  

And yet they are.

How much are we spending to help them harm us?  Ready for it?  $1,015,000,000 Dollars.  That's One point One Five Billion of our Dollars!  Somebody wrote the laws so we can screw ourselves!  Orrrr, insure a future guaranteed to install and keep Democrats in political power, forever.

*     Our own Border Patrol estimates fully 95% of all our new "migrants" are ineligible for asylum under our present laws.  So providing them a "parole" and a court date sometimes 10 years out, is proof our lame President is willfully encouraging illegal immigration. 

**    For those of you too young to remember, "Welcome Wagon" was a service that brought a basket of goodies from local businesses to newly-arrived residents.  Those who had bought homes.  Unlike the current criminals who Democrats are rewarding if they break our laws...

P.S.  Tolja' the Chiefs were a shoo-in...

Sniper Football!

There are 32 teams in the National Football League.

And although each of them considers literally hundreds of athletes for their starting rosters, they have to be down to 55 players each by the beginning of the regular season.

That's 1,760 players.  Total.  1,760 enormous, huge, fast, quick, mean, tough, rough, nasty, undereducated and hungry $Millionaires.  And a few tough, wiry, fast, quick and talented 185 pounders who earn $Tens of Millions. 

And although the newly-minted players make less than $1,000,000 (The 'Niners Brock Purdy's making $869,000), the seasoned regulars can make upwards of $10, $20 or even $50 $Million a season.  Star "skills" players, the Tight Ends, the Wide Receivers, the Centers, the Defensive Ends and the Quarterbacks  make the Big Money.  Which is unfair to all those mental midgets beating the crap out of each other on the line.  Unfair, I say!

And hey, why are there only 1,700 pro football players?  Since almost all of them are Black (77%), and all but 17% are "People of Color," I say the NFL should offer up greater employment opportunities to their inner-city residents.  They should get reparations!  To not do so is RACISM, right?  RIGHT?

So I'm proposing a radical new form of our now most-popular game.  In order to give an even greater number of Blacks and Browns and even Yellows to play the Game, I'm proposing we inaugurate...

                     SNIPER  FOOTBALL!!! 

And here's how it would work.  Each team would place a trained sniper with the very latest in high-powered rifles and telescopic sights at each end of the stadia.  Way up high, doncha' know.  I'm thinking behind the scoreboards.  Waaay up!

Each team would get four (4) "shots" per game.  One in each quarter.  Unless there are too many fouls, of course, and then the refs could award a few more "penalty" shots.  And trust me, the players won't want those.  

Anyway, if a particular player was proving to be dominant, then the opposing team might choose to target that player.  If the shot is on target, and trust me, the dominant players will be moving around a lot, you'd hear the shot ring out!  If it's on target, a bunch of clean-up folks would then come out on the field and cart off the body.  He/she/it would then be replaced and the game would start up again.  Just like today after a foul.  Except with blood, doncha' know.  

And transgender players would be welcome.

BTW, this could "open up" as many as 8 additional player opportunities per game.  Plus new jobs as body carter-offers and cleaner-uppers.  Times 32 teams, and x 16 games.  Plus the Post Season.  Not to mention the 32 snipers, plus their back-ups.  You do the math.  

It boggles the mind!  

Wowzer, Batman!   We could literally double the opportunities for minorities in one fell swoop!  I'm guessing Rolls Royce and Bentley and Lamborghini would be big supporters of this plan!  Of course, we might have a slight drop-off in those anxious to play professional football.  Probably in direct correlation with their I.Q.  That'd be expected, given that the NFL would overnight become the single biggest cause of death among Black men between the ages of 21 and 35.  

But then again, there wasn't a drop-off in the number of Roman Gladiators willing to fight in the Big Show, now was there?  The Colosseum!  The Big Show!  Every athlete wants to make it to the Big Show, now don't they?  This would be an added "wrinkle," but I doubt it would seriously limit participation.  And since they've been pushed through school simply because they're all 7 feet tall and can mangle people, many won't be smart enough to run like bandits.  

And I seriously doubt their agents would tell them... 

P.S.  Go Chiefs!

Touche, Fatso!

There's this guy named J. D. Pritzger, see.  You may not have heard of him, and if so, count yourself among the fortunate.    

His family left him a few $Billion Dollars they earned in the hotel bidness, which qualifies him, he thinks, to run a state.  He, himself, has never done anything memorable, except consuming mass quantities of calories and the siring of a few little Pritzgers.  Which as we all know, takes very little intellect.  

That State, BTW, is Illinois.  Unfortunately for them.  For if you have an incredible amount of money, and a significant portion of the voters where you live are both easily swayed and dumber than a bag of rocks, you too can buy yourself a state.  

He did.

Pritzger spent more than $100 Million Dollars winning his first election to Governor.  He then spent more than $100 Million Dollars winning reelection.  And wait for it, he spent more than $100 Million Dollars, forcing a vote to change the State constitution so he could run for a third term.  Which he won.  And then, gulp!  He spent more than $100 Million Dollars, again, to win a third term.  

Either they like him, or are just surrendered to his advertising onslaught by agreeing to vote for him if he'd just stop.  Please, God, make him stop!!!

But this guy Pritzger, in addition to offering free abortions to anyone from anywhere, but especially illegals, just hates so-called "assault rifles" with a passion!  Those ill-defined, scary-looking black rifles that cause "Progressives" to lose their lunch.  And sometimes their load.  He just HATES them!  

BTW, if they're all "black," and he hates them, isn't he de facto a racist?

Maybe one of his staffers told him these evil nasty guns get up in the morning, wash their little metallic faces, load themselves up with .80 caliber armor-piercing magazines, and then go out looking for little girls on tricycles to murder.  Twice.  And since those of us who read and can learn know that less than 2% of all the murders by firearm occur by way of a rifle or shotgun, we're aware this whole campaign is baloney.  Beyond that, no special reason, I think.  Just because he can, and has the money, with nowhere else to spend it, and he can enforce his will upon anyone, for anything.  

Ummm, not so fast...

Last fall he forced his bought-and-paid-for legislature to pass a law forcing his citizens to forcefully register their already-owned AR-15's.  To come to a courthouse near them and willfully register their firearms, including serial numbers (Germany, 1938 anyone?).  Again, the ones they'd already bought and paid for.  Completely illegal, of course.  And unconstitutional.  But he did it anyway.  And the deadline for their gun-owning citizens to register those AR's or be guilty of a felony, was Monday.  January 15th, 2024.  Register or subject yourself to a... 

...$25,000 fine and one year in the county jail.  

Whooooooooohh!  

Did these citizens roll over for their chubby guvner?  Were they scared by Mr. Corpulent into violating their own civil rights?  Did they trudge on down to the local courthouse and inform their civil servant employees exactly what guns they own?  Did they?   

Less Than One Percent (0.69%) complied with the mandate and registered their AR's/AK's.

             LESS THAN ONE PERCENT!

This tells you that the firewall against a takeover of our Representative Republic is and always was a citizenry which will not be bullied.  And is also armed...

One-third of us are armed.  More than 100,000,000 of us own 520,000,000 firearms.  We're armed...and considered dangerous.  And not about to let anyone take from us our absolute Right to defend ourselves against a government no longer subservient to its citizens.

             Take that, you fat bastard!

NOTE:  More than 566,000 Illinois hunters bought and paid for a deer tag last November.  They paid for the right to hunt deer.  More than One-Half Million armed hunters.  I'll be writing more on that in the near future.  But just cogitate on that number for a moment... 

The Darwin Awards.

I have long advocated for culling our herd.  

You know, figure out some way to "remove" gracefully all those miscreants who are screwing it for the rest of us.  The fools and criminals and bums and thieves and rapists and murderers that cause all the trouble and consume all our resources.  The 3% of us who need to be taken out and shot.

Well, maybe not shot.  But having a harsh talking-to, at the very least.

Anyway, I'm a fan of the "Darwin Awards."  Google it if you aren't yet a fan.  I dig these guys because they highlight the most stupid, the most foolish, the very most ignorant activities undertaken by other members of the Homo Erectus family we could well afford to do without.  And they publish the winner annually.  

Each year's story is a hoot, but the one that most sticks in my aging mind was from 1999, I believe.  It had to do with a gentleman from Minnesota who'd just finished purchasing a brand-new Ford F-150 pickup truck.  And to celebrate, he headed off to his favorite pub to meet up with his buds to knock back a few...Buds.  

Which he did.  Perhaps a few too many as it turns out.  Because it was in the dead of winter and the nearby lake was frozen over, so he decided to go ice fishing.  He and his dog Shep drove his new pickup out on the ice.  Way out.  Being too drunk and too lazy to actually cut a hole, he decided to take the quicker method; a stick of dynamite.  

He pulled out the dynamite with a 30-second fuse, lit it, threw it as far as could out on the ice, jumped back in the truck, yelled for Shep to follow him and drove back toward the edge of the lake.  

To await the "Booom!"

Exceeppppttt, Shep was a bird dog, and he ran after the dynamite!  He picked it up and ran as fast as he could back toward our mentally-challenged fisherman.  The guy started yelling at Shep at the top of his lungs for him to stop!  It scared the dog so much he ran under the truck and hid.  Our fisherman ran for his life as the dynamite exploded!  Boom!  A gigantic hole opened in the ice, the truck sank into 12 feet of water, along with what was left of poor dead Shep.

Many, many pieces of Shep.

Our fisherman had owned the truck for less than 6 hours and it was now totaled.  He received a DUI and a ticket for cruelty to animals.  And to top it all off, his auto insurance company wouldn't cover the loss on the truck and he still had 60 payments to go...

It's nice folks like these that really need to be taken out of the gene pool.     

Nomsayin'?

A Trip Back in Time...

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was a friend of the United States.  He was the Shah of Iran.  

Until we knifed him in the back, that is.

Seems like we do that a lot lately, wouldn't you say?  Remember all those folks falling off the C-17's as they departed from Afghanistan?  As we turned tail and ran? 

But our yellow streak didn't start back then.  How about the Korean War (we called it a "Military Action")?  Or even the Viet Nam "Police Action?"  We lost 54,000 of our heroes in Korea and 55,000 in Viet Nam, but stiffing our friends didn't end there.  Let's take a look at Iran, shall we?

We'd long been a friend of, and to, Iran.  Its leader, Shah Pahlavi, maintained a pro-western foreign policy and fostered economic development in his country.  His people were both free and educated.  It's females paraded around wearing Paris fashions.  Tehran was considered the jewel of the Asia.  

The Shah was was both anti-Soviet and anti-Shiite Muslim.  And although a supposed Sunni, he held himself out to be a secularist.  So he was therefore pro-American.  So we gave him $Billions.  Tanks and guns and planes and the training how to use them.  And $Cash.  Which made him rich.  He ran a sort of Western democracy, but was a hard a*s to anyone who represented a threat to his throne.  The "Peacock Throne," upon which he'd sat since 1947.  More than 1,000 years of his family's dynasty.  

So he threw a lot of folks in jail, which caused some of his citizens to revolt.  And some of our uber-Liberals to wring their little manicured hands.  He appealed to America for support, but our President Jimmy Carter was so offended by his human rights record he was willing to sacrifice our Middle-Eastern dominance.  And God help us, he did.  We turned our backs on the Shah, and the rest is history.  

We wouldn't give him the political and military cover he needed to beat back the rebellion.  Jimmy Carter screwed him again by not permitting him to make his exile in the U. S.  We Refused Him Entry!  He was a man without a country.  Literally.

He and his family flew out of Iran on January 17,1979.  He hopscotched all around the globe for more than a month until he found a place to land.  Egypt felt sorry for him and gave him sanctuary.  He then died of cancer a year later on July 27, 1980.   

All he needed was a safe place to die, and we said no.  Do you not think our enemies were paying attention?

Almost immediately, as his plane departed Tehran International Airport, Sheikh Mohammed Ruhollah Khomeini's plane left Paris.  Where he'd been the religious leader of the Shiite Muslims, living in exile.  He flew into Tehran and into his new position as de facto Ayatollah.  Which means "emperor."  A monarch to replace a monarch.  Except this monarch was to strictly enforce Muslim religious dogma.  To the extreme detriment of his people.    

Their freedom was over.  And our troubles were just beginning...

Iran went from pro-American to anti-American overnight.  And the dumbass in the White House had to then devote military and diplomatic resources to defend against it.  So much so that Iran's religious extremists took over our Embassy in Tehran and with it 103 American hostages.  And held them for 444 days.  Thank you President Carter!

And let's not forget that Jimmy sent a couple of C-130's to try and rescue our hostages, but they crashed into each other in a sandstorm and killed a bunch (23) of our troops.  Thank you Jimmy!   

For those of you born after all of this, you now know why Jimmy Carter was the most despised POTUS we've ever had.  I say was, because we're now plagued with O'Biden.  Jimmy will die soon knowing he's no longer the worst.

So Iran is now developing a nuclear weapon, or two or three or eight; and Iran is funding and supplying and arming the Houthi Rebels; which has shot rockets at us and our ships and our planes more than 166 times as of this date; and Iran funded and trained and supplied the HAMAS terrorists that killed 1,200 Israeli settlers on October 7th; and has been providing the military support for the Gaza (and West Bank) fighters for years.  And just killed three of our soldiers in a rocket attack.  The bastards.  

All of this because we wouldn't keep a promise to a friend.  A promise that America needed Carter to keep.  And keeping promises after this date for some of our presidents became, shall we say, "optional."  

I lived through all of this.  If you didn't understand exactly why the whole Middle East is a powder keg, waiting to explode, it's because our pus*y Democrats since Kennedy have been too afraid to show strength.  The military strength that would dissuade our enemies from testing our might.

As an ex-soldier and intelligence annalist, I can tell you they're doing that right now.  We're witnessing our "leaders" misuse and misappropriate and misapply our military strength, potentially igniting the fuse for World War III.  I hope I live to see that fuse fizzle out.  Or if it doesn't, I hope I do not live to see the fruits of their ignorance blossom...

P.S.  With exception of checking on a couple of dates, I wrote this entirely from memory.  Because I lived it.  Like so many other folks my age, and near my age.  And like the guy in the White House, even though his actions bely it.  Unfortunately, our society seems not to have learned by experience.  We're proving it today.  God help us...  

Let's Start a National Lottery!

Those who are infected with the entrepreneurial spirit should get together and start a lottery.  A National Lottery.

No, not the ones we offer our poorest and dumbest citizens every Wednesday and Saturday nights.  A different sort of lottery.  One tied completely to our upcoming... 

                     ...General Election.

You know, a Nationwide lottery like the womenfolk do when they're trying to guess the day and time of a baby's impending birth.  You know, pick a square.  And then plunk down a few bucks.  Or like your local sheriff's department does when they place old Bossie in a closed off area on the high school parking lot, just before the Homecoming Game, and you try to guess upon which square she decides to take a dump.  Hey, $5.00 could maybe get you $1,000!

We could do something like that too.  Except now, what we should do is make it available to every single citizen.  At $20 a chance.  And the winner would be the citizen who guesses the exact day and hour and second a low-level Democrat Congressweenie puts forth legislation to make citizens out of our newly-arrived illegal aliens.  You know, the ones streaming across our southern border as this unassuming little blog is written.  

                            CITIZENS!

You know it just has to happen.  There's no other reason O'Biden is flooding America with permanent Wards of the State.  Twelve Million Thus Far!  From 159 countries!  15,000 from China, fergodssake!  From Tibet!  From Burkina Faso!  From Madagascar! 

That's more than the population of seven of our states!

But these "guests" have no place to go.  No Social Security cards which they must present to any legit employer in order to earn a living.  And putting them both at Federal peril if they choose not to play by these rules.  

No way of making a living, save stealing an e-bike and delivering for DoorDash.  Which they're presently doing in New Yawk City.  Just languishing in high school gyms and airports and city halls waiting for the "American Dream" to materialize.  The one O'Biden promised them, if they'd just make their way to America.  In those wonderful "Sanctuary Cities."  All 259 of them.  The cities stupid enough to actually make it a law that they must, MUST provide food and lodging and clothing and health care and education to illegal aliens,

                             FOREVER!

Beyond the question of "does this make sense," one just has to ask when and who will "pull the trigger" and deliver the goods about their Non-Secret...

             "Great Replacement Theory."

If you watch one of the few real news stations, you've no doubt heard about the train wreck we're facing.  That's where they import millions of new prospective voters 'cause they've so burned their old ones with stupid rules and regulations and policies and procedures, and promises they've failed to keep, over and over, that those citizens are now desperate for somebody to lead them into the light.  Which means they're now available to vote Republican.  Uh oh...

They also know that the 2022 Election was tilted toward the Democrats because of a total of about 75,000 votes in 5 states.  Which scares the sh*t out of the DNC.  They know their aged mumbling goofball of a POTUS has so screwed the pooch they need another plan.  And it's too late to send him to the showers and find a suitable replacement.  Beyond the Most Ignorant Female In America, our current V.P.  

That's why they're importing an entirely new electorate...

And the only thing, THE ONLY THING standing in their way is Donald J. Trump.  The possibility that he might get reelected.  And throw them all in jail.  Where they belong.  And then try and unwind these past three years.  So the question is not if, but when a Dem operative drops that new Legislation.  The one making all those newly-arrived Venezuelans into newly-minted Citizens!  So I'll just hide in the bushes and wait to see how this all unfolds.  Should be very entertaining!

(Note to all those newly-arrived criminals (they broke the law to get here, remember), be sure to vote come November.  Even if you're not yet a quicky citizen.  Your Democrat slave traders are counting on it...)

Some Unsolicited Advice About Cars...

In the market for a new car?  Or a different car?  New versus used?  Wondering how much car you can afford?  Dealer vs. private party?

I just might be able to help.

With the price of an average new (gas) car approaching   $48,000, and their (plug-in) electric cousins coming in at $18,000 more, it behooves one to do their diligence.  Consider this some of that due diligence.  

Right now, you could purchase a luxury vehicle with more than three-quarters of its useful life remaining, for less than half its as-new sticker price.

Uhhh, wha...?

Yeah, pardon the jump-shift, but even though I don't know everything about cars, I know more about cars than anyone I know.  And I've tried to read all I can from every available source about cars since 1957.  Consider it a love affair with anything automotive from a semi-pro road and drag racer.  And yes, I have some opinions about how you, my Fellow Patriots, can avoid getting screwed while engaging in perhaps the second largest purchase in your life.  Read on...

Have you noticed when you drive over the hill into Las Vegas you see all those bright lights?  Beaconing you to come and spend?  As an entrepreneur, my first thought upon seeing this was, I wonder who's paying the light bill?  Well, automobile dealerships are kind of like that.  Acres huge, tall ceilings, plenty of glass, lots and lots of shiny new cars, and an enormous display of bright lights.

And somebody has to pay that light bill.

They do it by retailing something they bought from the manufacturer at wholesale.  Usually hundreds of cars a month.  Usually at about a 12 - 22% markup.  And beyond the built-in profit inherent in that, they also try and pack on such unnecessary items as "custom wheels," "paint protection," "interior wear guarantees," and best of all, "extended warranties."  

First of all, if there was something that would protect your paint or make your interior wear more slowly, or last even one mile longer, don't you think the manufacturer would have done it?  

Oh yeah, and that last one.  Extended warrantees are where they make most of their profits.  Averaging $900 per transaction.  Often more than they make on the sale itself.  No wonder those lights are so bright!  But the whole point of this unassuming little blog is pass along this One Primary Suggestion:  

          Don't ever buy a new car again.

Nope, forego the few weeks or months of euphoria that comes with that sweet smell of newness wafting into your...now poor nostrils.  Because the average new car payment is now...wait for it...$787.00!  And those are your after tax dollars.  Think about that.

And then you drive your brand-new jewel off the dealer's lot, within the first block, and you lose...wait for it...26% - 31% on average in depreciation.  That's all the profit wrung out of the deal.  And by the time you've owned your new car for three years, you've lost about 39% of your car's value.  By five years, it's now worth as little as 45% of its original sticker price.  And you're still paying nearly $800 a month.  For years. 

Gasp!

And here's something to think about: the luxury or near-luxury cars you've always lusted after are the ones that have depreciated the most.  And are now - Ta Da! - more available to your wallet.  Just think of it this way: a $90,000 Cadillac Escalade is a Chevrolet Suburban with a new, and more expensive suit of clothes.  Same frame, same platform, same transmission, same basic engine.  Think J. C. Penney out, Yves St. Laurent in.  And for those nicer leather seats, and puffier carpets, you'd pay $30,000 more.  Almost all profit.  For an average of more than 8 years.

Mercurys, Lexuses, Buicks, and Genesis cars, as examples, cost more new, and sell in lesser numbers, and thus depreciate faster and more.  So you can saunter into your "______" dealership and hold all the cards.  You can own that 5 year-old "______" that's just come back from a lease, with low miles, for the price of a new Toyota Yaris.  

Which you don't want.

I've owned 78 cars.  The current and last one I own was 5 years old when I bought it, it reeks luxury, it had only 22,000 miles on this odo, was in perfect, always-garaged conditioned, and I paid 40% of its as-new price.  And I've driven it for six years without having to spend a single $Dollar on repairs.  

That ain't bad.  

And BTW, the same model, with all the options just like mine, sits on the dealer's showroom floor, right now, priced at $101,238.  That's some 55% price inflation in 11 model years.  You see why it just might be wise to consider buying (good) used? 

And no, I didn't buy the extended warranty.  I want you to think of it as "insurance."  You're buying insurance in case the car breaks down.  But remember this:

Whether it's life insurance of home insurance or car insurance, you're betting what you're insuring yourself against is going to happen, and the folks you're buying that policy from is betting it won't.  And they don't make bad bets...

As to Private Party versus Dealership, assuming you're buying used, I'd say go dealership.  You'll pay about 15% more at a dealership, but you'll have deep pockets to go after if you get screwed.  And there are dangers in buying P.P.  Is it as represented?  You may not know until you buy it.  Remember this:  There's a thing called the "Greater Fool Theory."  The seller was a fool to buy it, and now he's looking for an even Greater Fool to sell it to... 

Try and get out of the dealership's "Finance Manager's" office as soon as possible.  That's your last step before escaping with your new(er) car.  Think of it as the interview room down at the police station.  Right after a live boy or a dead girl was found in the trunk of your car.  Where the detective comes in and says, "So I've just got a few questions."  Everything that bozo wants to sell you is pure profit for the dealership.  The operative word for the police detective, and this pocket-picker, is...

"NO!"

So I gotta' go.  Time for a doctors appointment.  My new social circle.  When I retired I thought my life would be filled with wine, women and song.  No, it's filled with doctors appointments and trips to the lab.  

But oh yeah, one more thing.  When you go into the casin.., 'er, the car dealership, they're gonna' ask you how much you can afford to spend a month on payments, "so they can put you in the right-priced car."  Don't answer that.  They can use it to try and upsell you.  Tell them you're only interested in the "Out The Door Price."  Nothing more, nothing less.  Believe me, it will frustrate the hell out of them.  And take away their primary weapon in this dangerous "sleight-of-hand."

Think of it this way:  It's the Serengetti Plain.  A couple of hundred kilometers straight west of Nairobi.  In the shadow of the Ngorongoro Crater.  You're a gazelle.  Over there is a pride of lions.  They're hungry.  You've been warned.  The rest is up to you...*

As always, Fellow Patriots, these are my opinions.  Take note of them, or don't.  Your choice.  I know stuff that some others don't know, and I'm simply doing a brain-dump in an effort to help others in need.  I've now scratched that "help others" itch.  And as we all know, opinions are like as*holes.  Everybody's got one.  I just expose mine to public scrutiny and potential scorn much more frequently than most...  

*  Got questions?  Ask away.  I'll try and help...