Church

Since WW 2 church attendance hovered around 70% but starting in 2000 it begin to decline and last year was at a all time low of 47%. During this time the number of Americans who express no religious preference increased from 8% to 21%. Interestingly enough the decline has twice as many democrats as republicans. The decline is greater among young people. Many people have commented about the large numbers of older people in church. The decline in attendance began in the 1960's and has accelerated in recent years. Church attendance in Europe has seen a similar decline only more so.

Omnibus

Despite the bloated size of this bill and ridiculously short time frame in which the Senate has to consider it, the omnibus does effectively nothing to combat the growing crisis at the Southern Border. In fact, portions of it forbid federal agencies from doing so. Of the additional $400 million given to the Border Patrol, the text requires that none of the funds be used “to acquire, maintain, or extend border security technology and capabilities, except for technology and capabilities to improve Border Patrol processing.” This means that the entirety of the new Border Patrol funding must be used to help process illegal aliens and, in most cases, usher them into the United States. This is more evidence that Biden wants these illegals to come into the country.

Tax audits

Trump's tax returns were released and all was quiet so that got my attention. There are a few things that stand out. First his income varies greatly from year to year which is common for people in the real estate business since they buy and sell to move profits from one year to another. Second he gave a lot of money to charity and third he is not collecting social security. Nothing criminal was immediately obvious but these returns will be gone over with a fine tooth comb over the next few weeks. It is not likely to reveal much because the IRS closely watches his filings and the five years before he was president they audited his taxes every year. Reports in the news show that during Trumps tenure as president he lost somewhere between $700 million and one billion dollars.

Solutions

In the past when people would complain about government someone would ask, what would you do about it. The first answer was I am not elected to solve problems, that is why I vote for people who I believe can solve problems. But this time I can go a step further and offer solutions. The three main problems facing the country are inflation, crime and the border. On inflation we must increase our supply of fossil fuels to the max and increase the exports of natural gas to the max, stop spending money we don't have and increase taxes on the wealthy. On crime follow the program used in NY City in the 90's. The murder rate dropped from over 2,000 per year in the early 90's to less than 900 by 2000. They instituted the Broken Windows concept meaning they arrested people for minor crimes like shop lifting and jumping the turnstile on the subway. They used stop and frisk to reduce the guns on the street. Criminals were sentenced to jail and their was no cash free bail. Judges and DA's followed the laws and put criminals in jail. On the border bring back remain in Mexico, stop catch and release, build a wall and the number of crossings would be 40,000 per month as they were two years ago instead of the 200,000 per month we have today. Now if you don't like these solutions then I put the shoe on the other foot and ask what would do. For some nothing is the answer because they see no problems but for those that do what is your solution. If you don't like my solutions then offer something better don't just complain.

Peace

A letter to President Biden. Continue to let the world know that the US is backing Ukraine as long as it takes but meanwhile start the process to a negotiated settlement. Find a strong person with negotiating skills. Do not use your Secretary of State. Send this person first to NATO headquarters where they can join forces. Let them know that the plan is to end this war by offering both sides something they can call a win. Then meet with the leaders of Ukraine and lay out the plan. Ukraine will give up the Russian speaking territories where the people have already voted to secede including the Donetsk and Luhansk regions plus Crimea. In return the Russians will withdraw from Ukraine and Ukraine will join NATO. This plan will be offered to Putin on a take it or leave it basis. If he chooses not to cooperate then release the plan to the world letting everyone know that the offer was made. We will then be back to where we are today but with a clear conscience knowing that the attempt for peace was made and refused. The Ukrainian leaders are too far into this war to think clear. Right now their position is that Russia will have to destroy the whole country and kill all the people before they give up any part of the country. They need someone on the outside to interfere on their behalf.

Lying

Prosecutors are lawyers who investigate, charge, and prosecute (take to trial) people whom they think have committed a crime U.S. Rep.-elect George Santos of New York was under investigation by Long Island prosecutors on Wednesday, after revelations surfaced that the now-embattled Republican lied about his heritage, education and professional pedigree as he campaigned for office. Now that lying is considered a crime these boys are going to be mighty busy

Speech

Conservatives, especially those on campus, are quiet on many issues for fear of being ridiculed. Liberals face similar problems. Many liberals see the border as a mess but do not want to speak out. The same is true for having drag queens in school, and crime in the street. Free speech is sometimes threatened by government but often times it is shut down by fear. As soon as someone says something that others disagree with they don't challenge with better speech but they start insulting the person. This often times means that they don't have a legitimate counterpoint so they fall back on personal attacks. The idea is illustrated simply with two small boys arguing. My dad is bigger than your dad, no my dad i bigger than your dad , no my dad is bigger than your dad. Your racist.