Days before the Election

So its late Saturday night. Just a few days before the election.  I'm pondering.  I'm thinking about what is to come.  My vote would be for Trump.  This is a no brainer.  I'm a shocked that certain people wouldn't agree with me on this.  Hillary has done some things that should land her in prison for a very long time.  But that has nothing to do with my vote.  I'll assume she is innocent.  Doesn't really matter.  Reasons to vote for Trump and not Hillary.  Come on people....

1.  Obamacare - Let's get rid of this please!  This is costing Americans so much more in healthcare
2.  Taxes - Vote Hillary, get your taxes raised.  Vote Trump, get your taxes lowered.  Hmm
3.  Jobs - Trump is keyed in on creating more jobs in our country.  He has a great plan in lowering American's taxes and raising import taxes.  Businesses will not leave with Trump.  Businesses and jobs will leave with Hillary.
4.  Government Spending - Vote Hillary and our spending will stay high and inefficient.  National debt will increase.  She, like Obama, has no clue on money and how to manage it!  Trump is one of the most successful business people in American history.  He knows a little about how to manage money! With Hillary Social Security will be a sure fail within years.  Trump may have a plan to save this.
5.  Abortion - Hillary fully supports killing innocent babies.  Not cool at all!  Trump wants to elect supreme court judges who will support pro life.  Who wouldn't be for life!  Please don't allow any more murder.
6.  Illegals - Trump will get tough on those people who have come to America illegally and will do what he can to keep those people out of our country.  If you do something wrong and "illegal" you really should have to pay the consequence for those actions.  Right? Sorry.
7.  Trump isn't going to steal money from American tax payers.
8. Trump knows how to negotiate.  This is a good thing for our country when dealing with other countries.  Trade is going to be improved for sure.  Hillary loves giving money away.  Not good!
9.  Hillary wants to raise the minimum wage.  That is not a good thing.  Yes it will help some people but will also hurt many more. That would only cause more jobs to be lost.  More unemployment should not be the goal.
10.  Hillary has taken money from countries who support things like killing innocent people, gays, etc.

Reasons to vote for Hillary:

1.  Government paid college.  It's a great idea in theory.  The downside is nothing is truly free so someone will pay for it.  However, I would gladly pay a higher tax if those tax dollars would go to pay to let someone go to college!  Now if they can do this without raising taxes by eliminating some of the programs that are worthless then I'm all for it.

Under Obama, the national debt doubled.  Hillary has been in office for 30 years.  She fully supports Obama.  She gets in office, nothing will change.  Its only going to get worse!  We need someone who can make a change.  Trump can change this and help reduce the national debt, lower taxes and create jobs.  And he supports not killing innocent little babies.  He's a proven leader who has been successful in business.  This should be a no brainer vote.  Look past the personality and look at the visions and the potential positive changes.  Vote Trump!!! Let's Make America Great Again!

Jonny G

Clinton Vs. Trump Debate #2

A day after the debate I wanted to give some updated views on the presidential race and politics in general.  I tend to like to wait a day after the debates to express my thoughts.  Gives me some time to think and reflect. 

I'll get to my points but first I just wanted to share my obvious observations.  Yes it was a train-wreck but again entertaining..  No shaking hands.  This didn't surprise me.  These two people hate each other more than we hate them.  Trump sure seemed like he had a cold but wasn't making any excuses.  Red Sweater guy really got all that attention?  Lots of awkward "your time is up" moments.  Seriously?  I really liked that Trump called the mediators out on that..  Either you stick with the rules or you don't but let's just let the candidate talk and not disrespect them in the middle of a sentence.  Those mediators really did a bad job.  Really.  The questions basically sucked.  Especially from the audience.  Seriously?  Ask a serious question?  Let's not waste our time.  Why not ask them what their favorite movie is?  Actually I'm interested..  There was a really awkward moment when Trump stood right behind Hillary and started moving closer.  That was weird and really creepy.  Hillary kept smiling in this condescending arrogant way.  Trump looked arrogant as usual.  I do give him credit for standing tall after what happened Friday..  It is impressive that he is so arrogant that he can just brush that off.  I loved that "Cause you'd be in jail" comment.  haha.  Bill sitting in the front row getting his ass handed to him..  interesting.  I really liked that Trump played like he had nothing to lose.  He knows he probably won't win so why not just be yourself and do your thing right?  

The first thing I wanted to address were the comments made by Trump 11 years ago in a private discussion with Billy Bush.  When I heard that video I was in complete shock.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from Trump.  I thought it was extremely disrespectful to women and I was disgusted by what I heard.  I had the instant reaction to think Trump should be replaced as the GOP nominee and that he should step down.  It was hard to understand how a respectable married man could just blatantly say those things to an acquaintance in a sort of business / media setting.  And yes words do matter.  I could tell he was trying to impress Billy and the whole thing was just really disturbing.  

With that said, I can’t judge someone for saying something stupid or disrespectful without thinking.  I certainly have said stupid things and have made many huge mistakes in my life.  I realize that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes.  And I understand that I’m not running for president.  However, not one president in history has been perfect.  Trump certainly isn’t the most moral person and it can be hard to respect him in certain ways.  However, I would have to say that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, is certainly no saint.  Some of the things that she has done seem to be much worse than those words said by Trump.  The cover ups, the lies, the deception.  I may not know all of the details but it sure seems she should have been indicted and investigated in much more detail.  And I certainly know there have been past presidents who did much worse than Trump. It’s a really tough subject for me because I certainly can’t believe what I heard him say 11 years ago but at the end of the day there are bigger issues that need to be focused on.  He’ll have a fresh slate with me and I don’t hold things people have done in the past against them.  Some of the most respectable and honorable people have done horrible things in the past.  We can’t change the past we can only focus on today and the future. 

Next point, Trump’s tax returns.  Come on people please let this go.  Trump should have nothing to hide.  Do I have a problem with him not paying income taxes even though he had income???  Absolutely not.  Now if he actually broke the law and didn’t pay taxes I would have a huge problem with it.  However, he didn’t break any laws.  Tax laws are there for a reason and put into law by government.  We can’t blame Trump for following the tax laws.  Trump made/makes most of his money in real estate.  There are certain things you can deduct when you own real estate/rental properties.  I have a rental property and I take advantage of those tax “benefits” as well.  Last year I didn’t pay any tax on my rental income either.  I actually showed a small loss even though I had a small monthly income.  Tax laws allow rental property owners to deduct depreciation.  This means we can depreciate the value of the property over time.  This doesn’t mean they will never have to pay tax on the income they make.  This just means they are delaying paying taxes on that income.  By depreciating the property an owner’s cost basis will decrease so when they sell the property the profit they pay taxes on will be much greater.  Come on people.  Just relax on this.  Why do you care anyway?  Take advantage of the tax laws for yourselves.  No one does their taxes trying to pay as much as they can, you do your taxes and try to deduct as much as you can so you pay as low as possible within the law.  That’s just common sense and being smart. Oh, and I bet he pays millions and millions in property tax and other taxes.  

Next point, Taxes.  I have been just shocked that Hillary continues to use “raising taxes” as a selling point to Americans.  Why would any American actually think that’s a good thing???  She has a strong desire to raise taxes substantially on large businesses and the wealthy.   Do people understand that these businesses and wealthy people already pay a much higher percentage in taxes than the middle class?  They are paying 39.6% while most American’s are in the 15-25% range.  When you make more income you pay more in taxes even if the tax rate was the same.  However, currently when you earn more money you not only pay more in taxes but you pay a much higher percentage.  Is this fair?  I would say absolutely not.  Its definitely not fair for someone who works extremely hard to earn a higher income that they have to give much more of that earned income away in taxes.  Do I think wealthy people should give more of their hard earned money away to charities, etc?  Yes but why is that forced on them?  Let them make those decisions.  Let’s get a somewhat flat tax rate.  Trump is proposing that and that, I believe, is the best selling point he has and something most American’s should be jumping for joy about!  Hillary wants to raise our taxes and Trump wants to lower our taxes.  Hmm?  I wonder which side I would pick on that issue?  It frustrates me that people are so concerned with getting rich people to pay more in taxes.  Again, why do you care what they pay in taxes?  How can a 39.6% tax rate really be increased?  You want it to be 50% Hillary?  Do you understand how devastating that would be to the middle class? 

Raising taxes on large businesses will hurt the middle class substantially.  It will kill jobs, it will cut salaries and it will cut retirement accounts.  Do I really need to explain this one?  Oh and please don’t raise the minimum wage.  That would kill jobs even more and raise prices for everyone.  If the goal is to create jobs then we need to make the appropriate decisions to do that.  A free society is what we need.  We don’t need more government intervention.  The tax rates are just fine as they are but I agree that lower taxes on corporations would be a huge benefit to the middle class.  Stock company’s main focus is on growth, earnings and their stock price.  Raising taxes means less profits, less profits means lower stock prices, which means layoffs…  And which could also mean companies moving businesses to other countries.  More jobs moving to other countries.  Less taxes means higher earnings, higher stock prices, higher 401K balances, more jobs.  Do you guys get this now? 

I’ve always said we need someone in office who understands money.  Hillary has no clue about money.  I mean she sure knows how to spend it.  Of course she wants higher taxes.  She has more spending to do.  At the end of the day I want to see changes that are actually going to benefit Americans.  More jobs, higher income, less government spending, lower taxes.  I don’t want higher taxes, less jobs and a depression. 

Next point, Healthcare.  I’ll have to do more research on Obamacare but I never was a fan of this program from the start.  I think everyone has seen massive increases in their health insurance premiums since Obamacare was put into place.  I’m currently on a $5,000 deductible plan just because of how outrages the premiums are through my employer.  The insurance companies are not my problem.  My problem is with doctors, hospitals, clinics, etc.  For someone on a high deductible plan I’ve seen first-hand with how outrages the costs of medical procedures can be.  Something has got to be done about this.  Most people go to the doctor and everything is covered by your insurance plan.  $20 co-pay no biggie.  However, how many people have actually asked the clinic how much your insurance is going to be billed for your simple check-up, CT scan, MRI, etc?  Most people don’t know and don’t care.  However, this is the main reason why our insurance premiums are so outrages.  These hospitals and clinics charge whatever they want.  There’s a contracted discounted rate with the insurance company but these outrages prices are why insurance premiums are so high.  For example, I had a small accident a few years ago.  I slipped and bumped my head.  I felt perfectly fine but at the hospital they basically forced me to get a CT scan and a bunch of other tests.  Everything came back just fine.  A few weeks later my bills start flowing in.  Cost of the 5 minute CT scan, $6,000.  I was completely in shock.  What can be done to stop this?  My suggestion is to create some competition.  I would require every medical, dental, or other health facility to post the cost of every procedure on their website and at their office location.  I think people need to be aware of what they are paying for and how much it actually costs.  This would also give people an opportunity to shop around.  Why is providing prices on procedures/appointments so difficult?  I know there are circumstances where a specific quote would be needed but most things could be priced up front.  Let’s make this a law.  Seems pretty easy but would lower those premiums pretty quick. 

I'm tired of the all talk no action politician.  Hillary has been in politics for 30 years.  She's promised a lot and nothing has gotten done!  Nothing has changed with her.  You are so upset that Trump followed the tax laws and didn't have to pay income tax?  Why didn't you do something to change them?  Iran Deal?  Really?  Spend Spend Spend Hillary.  Let's change America finally.  

Ok that’s all I got for today. 

Clinton vs Trump Debate #1

I watched the debate last night like everyone else.  Just wanted to give a few thoughts.  I thought it was pretty entertaining.  I thought both candidates made pretty good arguments.  As expected, both candidates disagreed with each other.  They did agree that racism seems to be a problem in America and that bad people get guns when they shouldn’t.  I thought the questions were a bit biased.  Asking Trump about his tax return and some really stupid question about Obama’s birth certificate.  Nothing negative was asked to Hillary, especially about the email deletion (Trump had to bring that up).  Hmm.  Trump said some mean things and Hillary Lied a few times…  Overall, it was a good debate and no matter what they said, 98% of American citizens aren’t changing their vote. 

I really liked Trump’s plan on job growth/creation.  Reducing taxes for ALL businesses will help increase jobs in my opinion.  Layoffs happen when margins and profits decrease so reducing taxes will improve profits and therefore increase jobs and decrease layoffs.  Lowering taxes will also keep those businesses in America and will give them less incentive to leave the country.  More profits also mean higher stock prices which help anyone who invests in the stock market!  Hillary’s plan to raise taxes on big businesses will cause layoffs and will cause some businesses to leave the country where tax incentives are better. 

This is simple economics people.  So you ask, with less taxes we have less money to spend on government programs?  Yes and no.  With less taxes, we can create more jobs therefore reduce government spending on things like welfare…  Welfare is a necessary program and we can never turn our back on our fellow American…  But I’m sure most people don’t want free handouts… 

We need people in government who understand money and how to use those tax dollars effectively.  We need to stop overspending those tax dollars.  We got into a deficit because most politicians don’t understand money and how to cut costs.  I watched American Greed and saw how the government basically just gives out money when a vendor asks with no auditing.  For a $1 product, the government was paying $5K, $20K, 50K plus and didn’t even know it for years…  Wow.  Let’s make sure those tax dollars are spent wisely.  Please!  Billions could be saved with the right people making those decisions. 

Let’s stop the stupid unnecessary spending.  I know there have been breakthroughs in solar and clean energy but let’s be smart people.  Millions and millions have been lost on those programs.  Time to quit that.  I’m all for alternative energy but if it’s not working let’s stop giving away tax dollars.  Let those private company’s thrive with their businesses without handouts. 

Those are my main two issues.  We need to cut taxes and we need to cut spending.  Our world and economy would be so much better if we could come up with a solution to accomplish this.    

So now for the other issues. 

Hillary has stated on her website how we can defeat ISIS.  Really?  Not a great strategy to tell the enemy what we are going to do.  Did she really do this???

Something most people probably didn’t think twice about was when Hillary said that police need better training.  I think most Americans probably think that too, HOWEVER, I felt this was one of the most disrespectful things someone could have said in a debate.  It’s like saying everyone in America needs to learn to be less racist.  Its generalizing cops saying they all need to change.  When I’m guessing 99% of cops have been trained right and are not racist.  So my guess is that cops felt extremely disrespected by that comment.  Probably a good thing to say to America but oh man she lost some votes from cops when she said that.  I hate seeing people get killed but please don’t say all cops need to change.  Wow

Another thing Hillary said that was crazy was that she said that we should eliminate mandatory minimum sentences and keep criminals out of prison.  Wow.  No!  We have those mandatory minimums for a reason.  And yes, I agree that jails or prisons may not rehabilitate people but treatment and other means do not either!  I’m sorry to say this but punishments are there for a reason.  You do the crime you need to do the time.  I do agree with Hillary that we need to abolish private prisons.  That’s a no brainer.  Who wouldn’t agree with that?

Gun control.  Wow, why was this even brought up in the debate?  “Bad People” already can’t buy guns.  But no way can we prevent anyone from getting guns.  Just like drugs.  This can’t be fixed, ever. 

Police killings have happened over centuries.  We are finally now seeing some of them on video.  It appears most of the time the police made mistakes in killing those criminals.  However, these videos are only creating more racism and more division between blacks and whites.  It’s sad that there is that struggle.  Racism is very real in America.  I know firsthand.  When I was in Atlanta five years ago because of a flight delay we tried to go into a restaurant to eat and watch the NCAA basketball game.  We were turned away at the door and told we were not welcome because we were WHITE.  Apparently only black people were welcome.  Hmm.  There is a lot of racism and it’s not just white against black.  I know black people have a harder time and unfortunately that may never change but my hope is we can come together and treat everyone as equals.