The Ill-Informed Electorate

 

    An interesting non-profit organization, Just Facts (justfacts.com), commissioned a voter survey from Triton Polling & Research.  The survey was conducted after the 2020 Presidential election, and consisted of 21 questions in six subject areas.  The results were appalling, for all.

     With two or three possible answers for each question, one could guess and do as well as the average voter (38% correct answers).

    Group                  Best % Correct                  Worst % Correct

    All Voters             Global Warming 53%      National Debt 22%

Biden Voters      Global Warming 51%      Racial Issues 12%

Trump Voters     National Debt 64%          Health 31%

Another appalling result, though revealing, was the number of times the voter group scored less than 10% correct for any of the 21 questions:

All voters              2

Biden Voters       6

Trump Voters     2

 

Bragging rights are few and far between in this survey, but here are some tidbits:

Under 40% correct for a category:

All Voters            4

Biden Voters      4

Trump Voters     1

 

Over 60% correct for a category:

All Voters              0

Biden Voters        0

Trump Voters     1

 

Maybe an ill-informed democracy is the core problem in America.

 

So many problems can be analyzed with this sequence:

People waste water because it is cheap.

It is cheap because governments subsidize it.

Governments subsidize it to buy votes.

They buy votes because they know how to provide for their own needs & don’t know anything useful about the water needs of 40 million people (where to get it, how to transport it & where to deliver it).

They don’t know any of that because they reject market prices.

 President Biden’s Character Has Been Tested

 

Repeatedly, now, President Biden has failed relatively simple tests of his character.  His comments on the pay disparity for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team versus the men’s team are one example.  His claims regarding Georgia’s new voting laws are another.  His remarks on the Second Amendment are yet another example of Biden failing the character test.

 

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team was offered the exact same salary contract as the men’s team, where earnings were solely performance-based bonuses.  The women’s team rejected that risky pay structure and signed instead a package that included a base salary, performance-based bonuses, and a variety of other benefits.  As a result, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team earned more for the year and more per game than the Men’s Team.

 

During the Jim Crow era, black Americans faced lynchings, intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan, poll taxes, literacy tests and segregation.  Pray tell, what parts of Georgia’s new election law even comes close to the obstacles of the Jim Crow era, let alone be the equivalent of “Jim Crow on steroids.”

 

What part of “Congress shall make no law,” or “shall not be infringed” does Biden not understand?  Particularly since the Fourth Amendment protects us from “unreasonable search and seizures,” not all searches and seizures.  Some of our constitutional rights are not absolute, but others are.

 

President Biden has failed the character test in his comments on the unequal pay given the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, the “Jim Crow on steroids” nature of Georgia’s voting law, and the existence of absolute rights.

 ABSOLUTE RIGHTS, OR NOT?

 

President Biden has made clear his belief that our constitutional rights are not absolute.  He would be correct if he was referring to Article 5 of the Constitution, as therein are the details of the amendment process.  He would be correct if he was referring to those of our rights that have limitations spelled out, such as our Fourth Amendment rights against “unreasonable search and seizure.”  Yet, these are not what Biden means by “not absolute.”

 

President Biden assures us that our guaranteed liberties can be restricted without amending the Constitution, but that process is nowhere mentioned in that document.  Is it a 1% restriction that is allowed, 50%, or 99.9%?  Nor does our Constitution explain how this would be done.  Would it take but an Executive Order, by one man, to thoroughly strip us of our rights?  Would it take Congressional action where the whims of 218 Representatives and 51 senators could reduce us to mere subjects, or worse?  Or, would it be the musings of five, black-robbed justices reading between the lines of our Constitution (as they have often done) that trample our lives and freedoms?

 

The First Amendment of our Constitution deals with freedom of religion, freedom of the press and speech, and freedom of assembly and to petition for redress of grievances.  The protection it affords is absolute, “Congress shall make no law.  The Second Amendment is absolute, “… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  The Tenth Amendment is absolute, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

 

The struggle between those who would command obedience and those who demand liberty is eternal.  Our Constitution is an imperfect compromise in that struggle.  The Biden-led Marxists, Progressives and Democrats want total authority to command.  To them, our Constitution is an impediment, to be twisted, shredded, and ignored in pursuit of power.

 

In the end, it is very simple, the only rights a people will ever have are those they exercise and defend.  Now is the time to exercise our First and Second Amendment rights, as to defend them tomorrow will be most unpleasant.

Obama: scary, absurd, false, and misguided

As his address to the nation showed, the Obama fraud is blustering along. How will his $2,500 tax credit for college costs help anyone afford college? In the real world everyone has their hopes and dreams, including colleges and their employees. They want higher pay, longer vacations, better health care benefits, larger offices, newer furniture, and a new football stadium. Are they going to act dumb in the face of the $2,500 tax credit, or are they going to try and get all of it they can? Human nature (economics) suggests that colleges will quickly raise their tuition and fees to absorb the entire tax credit.

Union wage hoax

Let's assume that union workers are as productive as non-union workers. This is dubious as the example of union featherbedding (railroads) clearly shows. But, let's go with equal productivity. If we start with a totally non-union workforce we can see what happens as unionism grows.

The first union workers find that most of the goods they buy are made by the much more numerous non-union workers. This is a bonanza for union workers as their high wages mostly buy less expensive non-union products. But, as more and more workers unionize this advantage is gradually lost. At 40% of the workforce union workers still buy 60% of their goods from non-union sources. At 80% of the workforce union workers are mostly buying expensive union produced goods. Finally, at 100% of the workforce they must buy 100% union products. The higher prices for those products totally offset the higher union wages.

Union workers only benefit to the extent they can take advantage of non-union production. This gives new meaning to the word "scab."

Government disrespects itself

Economics is taught in most every college and university, including those operated by our governments. Surprisingly, the economics taught by government colleges and universities is specifically rejected by most governing bodies. How do they explain their disrespect? Ask them.