The Next War, Biden's Tax Plans & Good Bye Jamal!
- George Bubrick
- Jul 12, 2024
- 8 min read
Warfare experts are unanimous when it comes to how the next world war involving the US will be fought. Not by boots on the ground and guns. It will be fought using satellite controlled missiles, drones and cyber warfare. Both China and Russia have these capabilities and are investing every day to increase potency.
Today, it is believed by many that, through hacking and Electric Magnetic Pulse, certainly China and probably Russia could shut down our electric grid. Imagine that. No internet, no phone service, no refrigeration, no power to life support and other hospital equipment. Life stops as we know it. Food supplies, heating and cooling, transportation, ATMs, banking and so on.
This possibility is becoming likelier each day. For several reasons. First, neither China nor Russia fear Joe Biden. He is not a deterrent in any way. Second, our aging electric grid is woefully unsecure and highly vulnerable. There have already been major outages in California as wildfires rage and brown outs proliferate. And here’s a beauty.
Apparently, many (most?) of the transformers we buy these days come from China and even North Korea. So, if EMP fries our electric system, how willing do you think they will be to supply new ones pronto? Recently, we discovered that some transformers bought from China have kill switches, so – theoretically – China could shut them down with a button.
Another example of how things critical to our very way of life are controlled by enemies. Think exotic materials.
A successful ransomware attack in 2021 on the Colonial Pipeline provided a window into that vulnerability and the many attacks points via the cross-pollination of IT and SCADA networks. The attackers disrupted the supply of oil supplies on the US East coast and demonstrated the lack of a cybersecurity framework for both preparation and incident response.
The gaps for cyber-attackers have been recognized by government and industry. The General Accounting Office (GAO) has explicitly stated that the U.S, Energy Grid is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The GAO notes that the "grid distribution systems - which carry electricity from transmission systems to consumers - have grown more vulnerable, in part because their operational technology increasingly allows remote access and connections to business networks. This could allow BAD actors to access those systems and potentially disrupt operations.”
The GAO also notes that “nations and criminal groups pose the most significant cyber threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, according to the Director of National Intelligence’s 2022 Annual Threat Assessment. These threat actors are increasingly capable of attacking the grid.” Securing the U.S. Electricity Grid from Cyberattacks | U.S. GAO
As far back as six years ago, in an extraordinary and sobering report meant to educate the nation on a growing threat, a U.S. military study warns that an electromagnetic pulse weapon attack (EMP) such as those developed by North Korea, Russia, and Iran could essentially challenge the United States and displace millions.
“Based on the totality of available data,” said the report from the Air Force’s Air University, “an electromagnetic spectrum attack is a threat to the United States, democracy, and the world order.”
The report, titled, “Electromagnetic Defense Task Force,” a product of a mostly classified summit of officials from 40 agencies just outside of Washington earlier this year, is a forceful call for a new focus on preparing for either an enemy EMP attack or a natural hit such as a solar storm.
While it is focused on the devastating impact an EMP hit would have on the military, it supports a congressional warning that up to 90 percent of the population on the East Coast would die in a year of an attack that would dismantle or interfere with electricity, transportation, food processing, and healthcare.
Here is what would happen:
99 nuclear reactors would likely melt down without electricity to cool them.
4.1 million would be displaced from areas around the nuclear plants as the radioactive cloud spread.
Military and commercial jets, such as those built by Airbus, could be degraded. “Alarmingly, aircraft designed to carry large numbers of people and sizable cargo are allowed to operate without certainty about their level of resilience.”
Bases would be cut off, making defense and counter-attacks impossible.
Civil unrest would start in “hours.”
Power and GPS could go dark. “An EMP would cause instantaneous and simultaneous loss of many technologies reliant on electrical power and computer circuit boards, such as cell phones and GPS devices.”
“Failures may include long-term loss of electrical power (due to loss of emergency generators), sewage, fresh water, banking, landlines, cellular service, vehicles.”
18 months or more are required to replace key elements of the electric grid that would be damaged or knocked out. (And then they might have Chinese kill switches.)
Wait...
You don't think Biden would encourage an EMP attack during the Debate, do you. Nah! Maybe?
Appeasement didn’t work in the 1930s
And it sure isn’t working now. To negotiate one must have leverage. Big leverage. The Or Else. We have next to none today. Not because we lack capability (although that is dwindling daily) but because we lack will.
Britain proved conclusively that feckless appeasement does not work. Chamberlain tried it with Hitler and nearly got wiped out. Bad actors smell weakness and will attack at confirmed signs thereof. Our failures to act in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Palestine have served notice. The U.S. ain’t what it used to be.
Scotus Not So Rigged after All.
For all who whine court is rigged and consider Court packing, here are the decisions so far in 2024: 6-3,9-0,9-0,6-3,8-1.
Don't look now, but guess who's getting trounced in elections across Europe?
Left Wingers, Libs, Progressives - yup. All of them. Greens, open borders, high taxes - rejected.
"Tax Armageddon is coming." (Dem senator from VA, Mark Warner)
Here's a rundown of what Biden has in store if he's elected (based on the last budget he put forth):
Corporate Tax - Raise to 28% from 21%, which makes the US corporate rate the second highest in the world behind only that fiscal juggernaut, Colombia.
Top Rung - Raise to 39.6% from 37%.
Tax Capital Gains at Income Rates.
Increase MCR payroll tax from 0.9% to 2.1%, which raises Top Rung (de facto) to 41.7%.
The tax increase that Joe promises is supposed to amount to $5 trillion over 10 years, which would make it the highest in US history. And that's not all, lest you think the Congress is sitting on its hands. A wealth tax and other economy numbing ideas are been fomenting by Pocahontas and others.
Speaking of Pocahontas, here's what she had to say according to the WSJ...
...we should take the middle class hostage, in that we should not extend those tax cuts unless Republicans agree to raise taxes on the so-called wealthy in corporations. So it's not enough just to raise the rates back to 39, what it was before the GOP tax cuts in 2017, raise the top rate back to 39.6%, or raise the corporate rate.
Elizabeth Warren is not even content with a 28% corporate rate. She wants to go back to 35%, and she's also called for a 2% wealth tax on net household income over $50 million, and a 3% on the over 1%.
All of this is so asinine since it's been proven time and again that when taxes get raised on producers, those who can actually pay the taxes find every loophole to avoid them and revenue forecasts from tax increases fall woefully short. Same old, same old. Reward a behavior and that behavior will flourish. Reward tax avoidance and the producers (who are much smarter than the federal government) will avoid them like never before.
Now, in interest of fair and balanced, Trump has some ideas too. Recently he floated the idea of no taxes on tips. In an obvious ploy to court tip earners in LV and Reno. I can see no justification for eliminating this revenue source. Why should those whose income comes largely from gratuities be exempt? It's income after all. It's no different than forgiving student loans. It's CLEARLY preferential treatment for a specific class.
There's also talk/pressure regarding the SALT deduction, which is now capped at $10,000. This relates to the deductibility of State and Local taxes which, are punitive in many Blue States. Naturally, Blue State pols want it raised. What a great idea. A move that will, no doubt, incent Blue State Governors to keep on spending.
Why do all politicians ignore the most basic of human instincts? Reward a bad behavior and you will get a bad behavior. Increases taxes and they will be dodged or passed on to consumers. Duh?
DC Fire Department Breathes Sigh of Relief
You remember the Congressman from NY who got arrested and pled guilty because he got caught pulling a fire alarm in a House Office building last October? That's right - the same guy who declared that Hamas never raped or killed Israeli women or children.
Well, despite campaign appearances by Bernie Sanders, AOC, Talib and millions of $ in support from outside his district plus a "since retracted" article in the NYT claiming AIPAC (Americans for Israel) support was tilting the election, Jamal Bowman was thwacked by nearly 20 points in the June 25 primary.
Good riddance. If you get a chance, watch the video of the campaign stop made by Bowman and AOC a few days ago. And these are adults?
Let's hear it for the Bayou State.
Governor Landry signed into law that all schools receiving government funding must display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Now won't this raise "holy" hell?
Separation of Church and State, etc.
When you think about the Ten Commandments, though allegedly they were given directly by God to Moses, are really much more than a religious manifesto. They are a code for civilized behavior. A compass for moral and ethical conduct that applies to every human being on earth. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, etc.
With all the junk kids get in classrooms today, how is it bad to expose them to the 10 Commandments or the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address?
Either Way, Times Are Growing More Dangerous
If Biden wins, which is what China, Russia, Iran and North Korea will do everything in their power to ensure, we could be in for very rough times as our enemies will be licking their chops at how far they can push Ole Joe around.
Even if he loses, remember he remains in power from November 5th to late January.
And in closing
No Rush to EV
Looks like they'll be plenty left.
Nearly half of American EV owners want to switch back to gas-powered vehicle, McKinsey data shows.
McKinsey & Co.'s Mobility Consumer Pulse for 2024, released this month, found that 46% of EV owners in the U.S. said they were "very" likely to switch back to owning a gas-powered vehicle in their next purchase.
The biggest reason EV owners cited for wanting to return to owning a gas-powered vehicle was the lack of available charging infrastructure (35%); the second-highest reason cited was that the total cost of owning an EV was too high (34%). Nearly 1 in 3, 32%, said their driving patterns on long-distance trips were affected too much due to having an EV.
If you don't drive long distances you can probably steal a used EV. But then, if you don't drive long distances, what do you need an EV for?
Another dumb move by Progressives and the senile bandleader.
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