It's come to this.
Dear J,
Thanks for your email.
Your most recent note arrived just before my departure to Chicago where I've been involved in a flurry of activity while "settling in" for a six week stay.
I still think it would be good campaign strategy for Kamala to -- at least -- propose a "bipartisan study group" to look at legislation that prevents corporations from buying residential property. If she did, she would have something to gain; nothing to lose; and might even cause Republicans to shoot themselves in the foot by expressing their opposition to an idea that (I'm confident) a decisive majority of Americans approve.
But now, we've both looked at the idea, and determined that it is not a recommendation Josh would undertake.
*****
However, yesterday, while chatting with my partner, Cynthia, I was reminded of a tactic that has even greater likelihood of moving the needle in Kamala's favor - a needle that has been ominously tilting toward Trump this past week. (It may interest you that 58 years ago, Cynthia and I were sweethearts at the University of Toronto. In the summer of 1967, we hitchhiked from Chicago to Managua.)
The gist of the new idea that Cynthia planted in my brain -- an idea elaborated and documented in the link immediately below -- is that Big Money has bafflegabbed us all.
It took a capitalist of Warren Buffett's stature to "spill the beans."
Remarkably, when Buffett first "let the cat out of the bag," neither I, nor the nation's "fact-checkers," believed what he said.
Then, one fact checker after another probed Buffett's "absurd" comment, and found that it was true.
By Concentrating Our Electoral Efforts On Warren Buffett's Revelation At Berkshire-Hathaway's Shareholders Meeting Earlier This Year, We Now Know That Income Tax Deception Burbling From The The Right-Wing Noise Machine Is Entirely Fictitious Propaganda Whose Purpose Is To Keep "Everyday Americans" In The Dark, Squabbling Among Themselves, Never Giving A Thought To The Origin Of The Ruse
Of course, The Noise Machine went into overdrive to "prove" Buffett wrong.
But who are you inclined to believe - Warren Buffett, or "The Wolves of Wall Street?"
If nothing else, Josh will be interested to know that Buffett's revelation is now part of the public record, and that it constitutes low-hanging fruit waiting for the Harris-Walz team to put to good use.
*****
Buffett has a habit of putting American finance in perspective.
You may recall when Warren triggered "The Buffett Rule" which was featured by the Obama White House.
Warren detailed the fact that his secretary pays more income tax -- as a percentage of income -- than he does.
The Buffett Rule as set forth by the Obama administration.
If you want to "cut to the chase," here is the original videotape of Buffett announcing (at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting earlier this year) that NO American citizen would need to "pay a dime" of federal taxes of any kind -- including income tax, social security tax, estate tax, "and right down the line". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJzTsTU1xL8
I experience agonizing pangs of conscience that we are not doing everything in our power to inform everyday people that they're being abused - that their lives are being trashed - by The Ultra-Rich.
To borrow Eric Fromm's term, in a "sane society" the behavior of American corporations (and their operatives) would be considered criminal.
The Sane Society: The Great Humanistic Philosopher and Psychologist Erich Fromm on How to Save Us From Ourselves.
I'm not talking about financial-economic misdemeanors.
I'm talking about heavy-weight, industrial strength felonies.
It is no secret that a hugely disproportionate percentage of very wealthy people -- including His Malignancy himself -- are sociopathic.
"Is Wall Street Full Of Sociopaths?"
It is time that these deranged people stopped pushing America around, in the process demeaning huge swathes of society by the inexorable grind of poverty.
Meanwhile...
Wishing you all good things,
Alan
