Category Archives: Politics

Importante, Politics, Villains

Where’s the Money Going?

We saw one of the network (that is to say, MSM) news programs glowing about the Congressional passage of the $1.2 Trillion infrastructure bill which includes spending for:

  • Roads, Bridges, Major Projects: $110 Billion
  • Transit: $39 Billion
  • Railways: $66 Billion
  • Broadband: $65 Billion
  • Water Infrastructure: $55 Billion

Wow! That’s sure a lot infrastructure. However, just from eyeballing the numbers, it seemed to come up short. So, since they didn’t do it it, we took a moment to add up all those Billions of Dollars.

It’s $335 Billion.

Which prompts us to ask this burning question:

Where’s the other $865 Billion going?

Besides the specific items, the list included Major Projects. Does this mean the other $865 Billion is for Minor Projects?

On another MSM news program, we heard a Senator say that when he thinks of infrastructure it means roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Okay, airports and seaports probably qualify as infrastructure. They weren’t on the list of what the other program seemed to think were important items, although they could certainly fall under Major Projects. We think it’s unlikely $865 Billion is going to airports and seaports.

I reckon we’ll have to take a look at the bill to see how much is allocated to what category of infrastructure. It would be easier if somebody willing to publicize it has already done so. Now that it’s apparently “bipartisan”, we suspect there’s an awful lot of stuff in the bill that neither party really wants us to scrutinize.

UPDATE: We just saw a news report that $47 Billion is earmarked for Climate Change. So, $382 Billion identified, only $818 Billion still a mystery. We’re still wondering, though, what is “transit” if it’s not railways, roads, bridges and airports? Subways and buses, maybe? What about electric vehicles, or are they under climate change?

Health, Politics, Society

Trump Was Right, of Course

In the fall of 2020, President Trump announced that all Americans would be able to get a COVID vaccine by April of 2021. The media promptly trounced his assertion as being unsupported by evidence and reported that nobody knew when sufficient data would be available from clinical trials to make such a prediction. Well, Trump was right. The Biden administration inherited Trump’s Operation Warp Speed and, thankfully, hasn’t botched it up. And now all Americans are able to get vaccinated just like Trump said. We can’t take all the credit for this observation. We saw this in Steve Krakauer’s Fourth Watch Newsletter of April 25, 2021. Krakauer also suggested that a good way to reduce vaccine hesitancy on the right would be to hire Trump – bring him to the White House and put him to work. Frankly, we would support such a move. Does anyone besides Bandolero note the irony in all this? COVID-19 cost Trump the re-election he so richly deserved and now Biden owes his high marks to the success of Trump’s efforts to beat the virus. Biden could also use help from Trump in dealing with the immigration crisis at our southern border. Frankly, if Biden really wants to have a successful administration, he should adopt quite a few more of Trump’s policies. We don’t hold much hope for this, sound as it would be. The Biden administration has found a better way of garnering public approval than actually addressing our problems with real solutions. The Biden way? Give away free money, of course! We just got a letter from Biden. It came in an envelope from the IRS, for some reason, telling us we’ll soon see another $2400 magically appear in our checking account! Oh boy!

Energy, Politics, Society, Villains

Kansas Oil

Bandolero has learned of distressing news about the oil industry in Kansas. Not only is the industry in dire straits due to depressed oil prices, depressed availability of services and supplies, and depressed oil patch workers, but it is being vilified, stalked, persecuted, and suppressed by the government regulators charged with the responsibility to ensure its robust health. And they are not the usual government persecutors, the EPA. To read about what’s happening, visit the industry experts at GasKan, and read about the KCC Killer Kops.