Fool me once…

We do love this expression which our beloved #43 had some trouble expressing.  As you know, the full comment is – fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  It is a fundamental, or used to be, if you subscribe to the fundamental of “caveat emptor”, which we do.

One thing we have learned about the current fellow, #44, is this – he lies; he prevaricates; he deflects, distract, distorts and is just plain untrustworthy.  Does he sound good?  Well to some, yes.  Does he package his lies and prevarications for the gullible with competence?  Yes.  So, the yellow caution flags – the clouds forming on the horizon – the early earth tremors – the facial tics – the excessive eye movements – yep, they are all there to advise us – better watch out, we are about to fooled a second, third, fourth time so it’s really on us if we go along with his nonsense.

His big fool me once was Affordable Care Act (ACA).  It was appropriately named for a few – not for those who pay for care – but for those who don’t.  For those who pay, either individuals or employers or taxpayers (that’s those of us who pay for all the government employees at the public trough), the ACA is not just misnamed – it is an outright nightmare.  Perhaps we should apply what we have learned from the ACA to this latest well packaged, oh, so emotional appeal to our better selves.  This proposal to honor those in the shadows; the gal in Las Vegas who is doing oh so much to improve herself; the mom hard at work – blah, blah, blah.

He wants them out of the shadows, he says.  He wants them to pay taxes, he says.  He wants them to join the rest of us in pursuit of the America dream, he says.  What doesn’t he say?  Un and underemployment, about 12% of work age eligible citizens, he doesn’t say.  In his own community, African Americans, youth unemployment approaches 50%, he doesn’t say.  Wages for the bulk of us who don’t feed at the public trough, down $5,000.00 per year under his regime, he doesn’t say.  But he wants those in the shadows to come forth and sign in – pay their taxes – don’t worry about deportation for violating the law.

We focus on this “pay their taxes” nonsense. He did say that they pick our fruit and make the beds; clean the houses.  He didn’t say – how much tax revenue would be forthcoming when they sign in – which we gather means, get a social security number so their every financial movement can be tracked just like the rest of us.

We are inclined to say – okay, how much will they pay?  How much will they get?  But we know better.  He would just lie again to us.  We have been fooled before (he’s like any liar; he believes we are fooled by what he is saying).  But we have seen this character a hundred times before.  He is just a hustler – a grifter – a con man with enough practice to pull it off because he has learned this one thing about those who vote for him – an awful lot of people just like to fooled over and over again.  They actually enjoy being fleeced by a smooth con artist.  Go figure.

Here we go again.  The fooler and his jesters know all the moves, quick and slick.   The American taxpayer loves to have their pocket picked. 

In case you are interested, here is what you get from the American taxpayers based on your "earnings" and family size:

Earned Income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:

• $46,997 ($52,427 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children
• $43,756 ($49,186 married filing jointly) with two qualifying children
• $38,511 ($43,941 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child
• $14,590 ($20,020 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children

Tax Year 2014 maximum credit:

• $6,143 with three or more qualifying children
• $5,460 with two qualifying children
• $3,305 with one qualifying child
• $496 with no qualifying children

In other words, you don't pay - you get.  He lies.