Why did Liz Cheney climb into bed with Nancy Pelosi, and become part of Pelosi’s partisan January 6th commission? Why is she so intent on branding all of Trump supporters “domestic terrorists”? Why would she go after tens of millions of the very same Americans who voted for her father for Vice President twice? Why would she go after her voting base? We, all have seen the video from January 6th – most of the people at the Capital, the people that Liz Cheney is calling “domestic terrorists” were middle-aged Americans going to a rally to support a President they loved in his last days in office.
And that is the problem, they supported Donald Trump. That’s their crime. Republicans like Liz Cheney, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, and Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Adam Schiff claim they opposed Trump because of the “vitriol” that he brought to American Politics. His mean tweets, and his arrogance were a threat to our democracy. But there are plenty of politicians who tweet inappropriate things, and have an over-inflated ego. And vitriol existed in Washington long before Trump entered the ring. Republicans used personal attacks to go after Clinton and Obama, and the Democrats did the same to Reagan and the Bushes.
The vitriol was widespread in hardball Washington politics for decades but it only became out of bounds when Trump directed his not solely at the opposing party, but at the establishment swamp on both sides. They hated Trump, and used every lever of power at their disposal, legal and illegal, to run him out office because Trump was a direct threat to their corruption.
Trump reconfigured the fight from Democrat vs Republican, and Left vs Right into outsider vs establishment, non-corrupt vs corrupt. His bipartisan attacks were a direct threat to the Washington establishment because they would no longer be able to play one side against the other to fool the voters and hide their corruption. As soon as the vitriolic attacks threatened the collective power and money in Washington, the vitriol suddenly became a “threat to democracy”.
What has been happening in our Federal Government is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people. Between Ronald Reagan’s last term in 1988, and Donald Trump’s election in 2016, we have had four Presidents: George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama – the four served a total of 7 terms, spanning 28 years.
In those 28 years, our Federal Government spending went from $1.14 trillion per year to $3.85 trillion, an increase of $2.71 trillion, up 237%.
Our Federal income tax revenue jumped from $991 billion to $3.25 trillion, a $2.26 trillion increase, up 220%.
Our national debt ballooned from $2.85 trillion to $19.57 trillion, an increase of $16.72 trillion, up 580%. We doubled our debt’s percentage of GDP from 51% to 105%.
Our tax revenues outpaced inflation by 259%, our spending increased 241% faster than inflation, and our National Debt swelled 625% above inflation.
Our revenue increased 220%, yet our debt went up 580%? That’s like your boss doubling your salary, and a year later you have five times the debt. It makes no sense. These unsustainable increases all occurred under the watch of both parties, Democrats and Republicans.
From the 1980’s until today, the private sector has experienced massive innovations in technology, medicine, energy, food production, all designed to make our lives better, easier, more prosperous, yet the Federal Government continues to take more of our money, and more of our freedom as if they are the answer to our “problems”. Government is making us more dependent on them, and making our collective lives worse and worse while the lives of those in power, the politicians and the billionaire donor class, have become extraordinarily better.
From 1990 to 2020, the number of billionaires in the United States went from 66 to 614, yet America has accrued over $16 trillion of debt. You do the math. The majority of the members of Congress are millionaires, and many are so as a result of their time in Washington. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) was worth less than six figures in 2008. After ten years in congress, her estimated net worth had grown to $7.1 million. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) increased his wealth from $602,000 to $10.7 million over the last decade working as a congressman.
On Friday night, the Democrats in Congress with the help of 13 Republicans pushed through a $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill which Nancy Pelosi called, “major, transformative, historic, and bigger than anything else”. She was right. This spending bill is bigger than any spending bill in history. This so-called “paid for” $1.2 trillion bill, will increase spending by $4 trillion, taxes by $1.5 trillion, and the National Debt by $2.5 trillion. And no one life who is not in on the scam will get better from it.
Washington is one big elaborate charade. Our national politics is akin to professional wrestling, and the political supporters/voters are like professional wrestling fans, totally invested, living and dying based on results that are pre-determined. All of the participants are in on the scam of the sport. The offenses are contrived, the outrage is fake. It is all done for the benefit of the audience. Washington is one big game, trade power back and forth, get the voting bases riled up every 4 years, thinking that something is actually going to change or get better, but in reality, over those years nothing gets better, everything stays the same, except everything just gets more and more expensive, and we become more and more in debt.
The combatants are all in on it together for the benefit of those behind the scenes. Remember, Vince McMahon who never “fought” in the ring made billions off of WWE, just as the billionaire donors who remain outside the political fray are the ones who cash in the most from our outlandish Government’s spending. Do you ever wonder why politicians never do what they claim they’re going to do during the campaign? They are not beholden to the voters; they are beholden to the donors. This is why with our so-called “progressive” tax code people like Warren Buffet pay a smaller percent of income tax than his secretary. The system is set-up to benefit the rich and the powerful, or more precisely those who are financing the scam.
Trump entering Presidential politics was like an actual Olympic wrestler stepping into a professional wrestling ring. He was a threat to expose the fraud, and that’s why Trump had to be taken out. Trumps’ attacks were not fake haymakers, that look viscous but hurt no one, they went directly at the jugular. He went after the Bushes, John McCain and Mitt Romney, as hard as he went after Hillary Clinton and Obama. Trump was not beholden to the donor class, he was beholden to the people, and by doing so was exposing the Washington scam, and that’s why the powerful in both parties, the intelligence agencies, and Washington Bureaucrats came together to take Trump down. He was exposing the scam they all are in on. So, when they come after Trump, they are really coming after you. That’s why these people are labeling Trump supporters “domestic terrorists” to give themselves the power to force you to remain silent about their scam.
It’s hard to deny Donald Trump’s results as President; lowest unemployment in 30 years; lowest black and Hispanic unemployment in history; highest real wages in history; re-negotiating trade deals with Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia to favor the United States; Energy independence; 5 Middle East peace deals. The methods may have been uncomfortable, but the results were clear and real. Donald Trump did all the things that Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, John McCain claimed they were for, yet all three oppose Trump across the board, and we all know why. Somebody is getting rich from us paying $4.00/gallon at the pump, and somebody’s bottom line is skyrocketing by importing 1.7 million cheap laborers. It’s just not you or I.
Think back on how Barack Obama weaponized the IRS against the Tea Party. It would make more sense if he weaponized the IRS against all Republicans. That could be viewed as hard ball partisan politics. But he reserved that tactic exclusively for the Tea Party – the group the was demanding lower taxes, lower spending, more fiscal accountability and responsibility, in essence, a direct threat to the Washington scam, and the Democrats and establishment Republicans cannot have that. They are all riding the gravy train of Washington DC.
As long as you’re a Republican like the Bushes, the Cheney’s, Mitt Romney, John McCain who are completely on board with more taxes, more spending, more endless foreign wars, they can continue to play the DC game, live a very cushy life, and even get rich. This what the founders feared the most, and the main reason why they set up the balance of power of our government in a three-pronged fashion to triangulate out this type of cabal from being established. But when powerful factions of both parties are in cahoots, and the Supreme Court has been politicized, and the media climbs on board with all this, a true outsider does not stand a chance, and will be run over by all sides. And now, you and I are the outsiders.
Judd Garrett is a graduate from Princeton University, and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website Real Clear Politics. He has recently published his first novel, No Wind.