I’ve been wandering through the stocks I follow on “Yahoo Finance” – I don’t own stocks and don’t intend to own stocks (although, I’m tempted to by Ford stock, just sayin) but there’s a lot to learn by following the news regarding corporate interests via websites like the one mentioned above. So, today, I decided to “get into the weeds” of some of the more “robust” stocks – Microsoft and Tesla, for example (also a quick look at Amazon) and the results make a great case in support of Elizabeth Warren’s “wealth tax.” I have to wonder how much time – or money spent to others – does the corporate “bigwigs” spend trying to avoid taxes? When you look at their compensation, it’s really a bit, well, sad – for lack of a better word.

Take for example the CEO of Microsoft: in the past week he’s “unloaded” half his stock holdings which has raised him a quarter BILLION dollars in the space of two days. What on earth do you think may have motivated such a significant sale – when you consider he’s already received something in the neighborhood of $200 MILLION this year? Could it be the impending Capital Gains tax set to begin on January 1 in the state of Washington? (Both Microsoft and Amazon are based in Seattle) Or maybe the threat of the new tax laws regarding Joe Biden’s domestic agenda? Of course, Jeff Bezos did him one better – or, maybe well more than one. He unloaded $3.3 BILLION worth of his stock in the past week or two.

Maybe Bezos was simply planning to buy another gazillion foot Yacht. Paying taxes, of course, seems to be something he really doesn’t like despite the FACT his holdings are around $200 BILLION the last time I looked. These people really are a bit disgusting. Then there’s Elon Musk, another “jewel” when it comes to tax avoidance – but, well, for whatever reason he’s unloaded $10.2 BILLION in Tesla shares recently. Apparently, he’s said he’s going to sell HALF his “stake” in Tesla – do you think it might be because of the impending tax hikes?

Here’s a bit of the little I know about Musk and Bezos. They routinely have “squeezed” local governments in order to put their businesses in “tax friendly environments” – and, Tesla managed to “get off the ground” thanks to the generous $7500 tax credits they received from the federal government – OK, purchasers of their cars got the tax credits, but it works out the same. (Full disclosure: I’ve received federal tax credits to buy electric cars and to install solar panels on my home – in my case, it couldn’t have happened otherwise and, I’m sure, many people who’ve purchased Tesla’s wouldn’t have done so without the credit.)

And, here’s the deal regarding Tesla: the new Biden agenda includes a reintroduction of those tax breaks for Tesla and GM for which they have expired. These people want it on both ends. And, in the case of Bezos, he’s famously paid ZERO taxes in multiple years despite being the richest man in the world (I believe that “honor” may now fall to Musk – not including Putin in this, of course – we don’t put amateurs in the same category as professionals) yet, for Amazon to agree to build distribution centers, they first need a “pound of flesh” from the local taxpayers. They expect communities to PAY THEM to open a center in a particular place. It was so bad in New York, the community (Queens?) rejected their offer to place “HQ 2” there.

Here’s what happens when companies like Amazon and Microsoft move into your “neighborhood.” The long term residents slowly get pushed out. Seattle is a great example of what I’m suggesting. The price of housing in Seattle is outrageous – my niece lives in a home built in the 1920’s, remodeled in the 40’s, and, to me, ready for another “face lift.” It’s present value is somewhere between $1.2 MILLION and $1.5 MILLION. There is a HUGE homeless crisis in Seattle and, apparently, leaders are struggling with how to deal with it. It doesn’t take much of a “jolt” to a families income to put them out on the street – and, “getting back on your feet” when it requires a couple minimum wage jobs (in Seattle, the minimum wage is $15 per hour, just to afford an apartment.

Of course, that is a scenario being repeated all across America which is why progressive democrats are so desperate to pass President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. They call it the “bottom up and middle out” approach to the economy. Heck, where I live, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon things seem to be headed in the same direction. There are apartments “popping” up virtually everywhere you look, but young people and those working for the minimum wage can’t afford to rent them.

I started this a month ago: It seems my brain runs faster than my ability to type our my thoughts. Since then, just as progressives in the House feared, Joe Biden turned on their “pet” agenda, the “Build Back Better” plan of Joe Biden’s which is designed to provide those Americans who are struggling to improve their “place” and is now either “on hold” or, well…………… I don’t want to consider the alternative. Ironically, Joe Manchin comes from the state with possibly the HIGHEST need which would come from this legislation, but it appears his connection to the fossil fuel industry is just too great for him to support anything with the “Climate Crisis” parts of Biden’s plan. Manchin has been reported to believe families receiving the Child Tax Credit will be spending the money on drugs. How disgusting can one man who lives on a Yacht while in D.C. and drives a Maserati to work be? To me, the worst part is the going back on his word to see the “Build Back Better” plan to completion. He broke a promise!

I have to add, I have no problem with Manchin playing a moderating role in formulating this legislation, but he already had extracted a “pound of flesh” trimming the bill from $350 BILLION per year, less than HALF the Defense Departments’ budget, to around $180 BILLION per year – over the next 10 years. This is money which is aimed at the “least of these,” in the words of Jesus Christ, and, to me, our “rich” society has a moral obligation to those who are suffering and struggling. For some reason “conservatives” don’t believe in helping those at the bottom.

Remember, there are 50 Republicans in the Senate as well and not a SINGLE one of them is showing any willingness to help formulate legislative policy – they did help get the “infrastructure” bill – meaning physical infrastructure – through as the so-called “bi-partisan infrastructure bill” – but, apparently, they don’t believe in “human infrastructure.” I was reading an article today about the reality there are an untold number of women who want to be in the workforce but can’t be due to the issue of child care – which is a key component of the “Build Back Better” plan being blocked by Manchin (and, also, maybe Kyrsten Sinema) in the Senate. Are there not a couple republicans who believe in “bottom up” government?

I was born right after WW II and I’ve seen the contrast between “bottom up” government (ie the “New Deal” and the “Great Society”) and it has proven to be the best thing the “Middle Class” in America has ever known. The “New Deal” was preceded by the “Gilded Age” – where there was a HUGE disparity in income inequality, kind of like, well, you can guess where I’m going with this can’t you? Ronald Reagan’s “Trickle Down” economy has led to a 40+ year SCAM where the wealthy in America have been pilfering tax dollars to the point where we’re in another “Gilded Age” – or teetering there. I’ve always called Reagan’s “plan” “Trickle Up” economics and I believe the FACTUAL data would support that contention.

Joe Biden’s “Covid Rescue Plan” has led to the fastest job growth, wage growth, and growth of our economy in GDP (which I don’t fully understand) in something like 50 years – that is back to the days of the “Great Society” fueled growth from LBJ’s “war on poverty.” Republicans HATE the thought of this type of economic policy because it threatens to put them into the History Books OR cause them to actually participate in the process. Right now, republicans will be taking credit for the policy which has fueled this GROWTH while forgetting to point out NOT a SINGLE one of them voted for the policy. (The same thing happened back at the beginning of Bill Clinton’s administration)

I’m not one to base by belief in the economy via the ups or downs of the Stock Market – but, it is a reality and it does reflect, to a degree, the health of the economy. (Obviously, we’ve seen a lot of days where the stock market is up and Main Street is down) However, if you’ve forgotten, let me remind you – individual 1 predicted if Joe Biden won the election the stock market would “tank,” “your 401-K’s would tank,” and “Biden’s policies will cause a depression.” Does anyone ever hold these republicans (and QAnon wack jobs and other conspiracy theorists) to account when their predictions are PROVED to be, well, for lack of a better word, HUEY? I mean when is JFK REALLY going to “return?” I’ve reluctantly used this word for republican “rank and file,” STUPID – and, I hate that word, but, well, what other term describes this nonsense? If you’re a republican – the ELECTION wasn’t “stolen” (individual 1 continues his attempt to STEAL it) and neither JFK or his son are coming back! So get your heads our of your…………. (fill in the blank)

Final Thought: What I wanted to talk about today – before I decided I needed to finish this post, was the so-called “Omicron” variant of the coronavirus. I’ve read numerous articles suggesting “Omicron” isn’t as “deadly” as the “Delta” variant although it’s much more transmissible. The second part of that statement is easy for me to believe as I know of MANY people who’ve contracted COVID in the past month or so. And, fortunately, MOST of the people I know are vaccinated and BOOSTED so, with one exception, they’re getting very mild symptoms.

However, when you watch the statistics on Worldometer.info you can see the numbers of “Serious/Critical” patients in America are going up rapidly. As of Yesterday there were almost 24,000 people in that category across the nation. As a comparison, prior to the “Delta” variant that number was around 6,000 and going down – prior to “Omicron” it was around 16,000 and has spiked up about 50% in just this past week or so – and, likely going higher from the statistics I’m seeing – which suggests to me, if you’re unvaccinated, it’s as “deadly” as the original version of this terrible virus. Experts have always said, deaths will follow the “spike in cases” by about two to three weeks. It appears that is what is happening, and again, the great majority of those who perish will be unvaccinated.

I don’t believe there’s much more can be said to encourage those who have refused the vaccinations so, in essence, our country faces, likely, at least a couple more years of this pandemic until it subsides to where it can be referred to as “endemic.” Hopefully, at that point, the “spikes” will be fewer and less severe. My daughter is a RN and my niece works in a COVID ICU at one of the University of Washington Hospitals in Seattle – and, they’re tired of dealing with this – especially when so many severe cases could have been avoided. I daily pray for those who are working in our Health Care Industry because so many are being pushed to the “brink.” Even the “Primary Care Physicians” are being “stretched” and, as an old person who holds his PCP dear – it worries me. What happens when ENOUGH of these people say “ENOUGH?” To me, that is the “nightmare scenario.”

I’ll finish with my thoughts about all the “anti-vaxx” conspiracy theories I’ve read about, all the articles I’ve read and videos I’ve seen of right wing wack jobs harassing Health Care professionals, those who make malleable decisions based on the changing circumstances of the pandemic. along with the disturbing reality around 50 – 60 MILLION Americans who refuse to get the FREE vaccination – while in many cases participating in the aforementioned GARBAGE – and REFUSE to “mask up” while in public. Where’s the FIRST place they go after they’re having trouble BREATHING once they’ve contracted the virus? Of course it is! The local Hospital!

And, I know this from first hand reports – some of them, even while in the Hospital – continue in their HARASSING ways – toward the people attempting to, in many cases, save their lives. And, there continue to be Nurses and other Health Care professionals who want to keep their jobs but don’t want to take the “jab.” My daughter works as a “Hospice” Nurse and has shared with me virtually every one of her patients (this would be in nursing homes) who has contracted the virus got it from one of the caretakers who refused to get vaccinated. I can totally understand why our governor (Washington State) imposed a Vaccine mandate on health care professionals. The curious part to me is, why was that necessary? Stay tuned……………..