The Frankish Reich

So you've gotta have FICA/Medicare deducted from your tips, which means you gotta declare those tips as income (kind sorta nontaxable income) which means ... well, your tax return didn't get any easier, did it. The Party of Filing Your Tax Return on a Postcard.

Come on, the campaign beard has been a thing for a while. Ted Cruz, anyone? (I still say watch out for him, he's lurking. It may be like the pope thing in 2028 - you can't seem like you want it that much)

Talk about flogging a dead horse. It is obvious to anyone that a man at 80 is not as energetic or quick-minded as a man at 40, or 50, or 60. It is even more obvious that a man at 80 is not as physically adept as a man at a younger age. The question was always "Is he competent to serve as president." And again, we had a binary choice (until Biden dropped out). Two elderly men, both clearly past their prime. I say that one's presidency showed a pretty steady hand at the stick. I said Biden was aging out of the public part of the job; the point is he still had a handle - his TEAM had a handle - on the private/policy part. Trump long ago aged out of the private/policy part, which is an utter mess. He is nothing but a pitchman now, whether it's pitching steaks or crypto or real estate or the big beautiful bill. I'd like to have a President who is good at both the bully pulpit part and the policy part. But to be honest, we haven't had that since Bill Clinton.

He has no friends. He's ... an incel.

Maybe the Ambassador nominee shouldn’t be spreading false rumors about a leading candidate? https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/brian-burch-s-catholicvote-spat-italian-media-over-parolin-smear

Did anyone notice that he forgot to sign his own prescription drug EO yesterday and had to be prompted by staff? INCOMPETENT! And incontinent too.

How quickly they forget Deranged Rhino.

Julie Kelly https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kelly-miller-defending-glyphosate-20170427-story.html vs. RFK Jr. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2024/11/24/rfk-robert-kennedy-despises-glyphosate-iowa-farmers/76462478007/ put em in the cage! My money’s on the sharp-fanged Real Housewives of Monsanto star. Whatcha gonna do, Donny? https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-pesticides-agriculture-d23ae280 “Trump officials balk” at RFK’s War on Roundup.

You mean he's going to kill Medicare?

I agree - excellent short series. The kid is a superb actor. And no, that 80/20 crap is crap in real life, but it may be real in dating apps. I'm glad I am old enough to have met women in real life first.

Look at the “I wanna sell some books” grafs they’re running with: 1. Biden didn’t know if he was President of the EU or the USA. An insider joke meant to point out that Biden seemed a lot more interested in foreign policy than domestic affairs. Repeated here as proof that he’s senile. 2. We thought he might need a wheelchair in his second term. Duh. He either has severe arthritis (the official explanation) or Parkinson's (many suspect). At any rate, yeah, he’s 81, has trouble getting around, and it’s time to put rails in the shower or get one of those walk-in bathtubs.

Oh, we're just getting started. So is Barron - officially listed as the "DeFi Visionary" at World Liberty Financial - now fair game for ridicule? All-American Slovenian tot all grown up.

So ... why wouldn't it simply be a gift from Qatar to the people of the United States? Why does Trump personally get it, and then it reverts to the Trump Library Foundation (or whatever) instead of to the next President? Couldn't the current AF1 (to be retired once the Gilded Palace of Sin takes flight) be on exhibit at the Trump Library, and the new and improved Qatari 747 continue to benefit the American people? Just call bs when you hear it. Don't cover up for him.

The Republicans in Congress agree. In a stunning development, it appears that the income tax will survive alongside the beautiful tariffs. In related news, there's a "real chance" the Tennessee Titans will win the Super Bowl this season.

At least those of us living in the low income tax states won't be subsidizing all those tax-and-spend New Yorkers and Californians anymore. Wait, hold my beer:

As a guy getting ready to elect when to take social security, imagine my thrill upon learning that Trump promised no tax on social security. I think my benefit even at 62 will be north of $28,000/year. Since I pay about a quarter of that in federal taxes, I'll have an extra $7000/year in mad money! Oh. Wait. Read the fine print. Turns out my wife and I get ... Nothing. Zero. If we impoverished ourselves to get under the income cap, well, we'd get an additional $4,000 standard deduction. Which would save us the princely sum of ... wait for it ... $1000/year. So with an indent and a subparagraph (A), Trump's minions just took away $6,000/year from me. At least I wasn't one of the old suckers who voted for him because he was gonna put extra money in my pocket ... Next up: the bs no taxes on overtime and no taxes on tips, or when "No Taxes" means "Slightly Reduced Taxes for Poorer Filers." Big win! https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/taxes-tips-big-beautiful-bill

Do I have to take both? To her credit, Charlize has had less cosmetic surgery.

So how's that anti-police state thing working out?

On the Boer refugees: I had a little exposure to this about 15 years ago. I don't know what's in their hearts regarding race, etc, but their outward actions show strong (and often large) family ties, an interest in living the rural life, and a willingness to live in some pretty marginal farmland that is otherwise depopulating. So they seem to be good additions to the United States even if the manner in which they're being allowed to jump the line is questionable at best.

Good thing he didn't say this while on a Harvard student visa: https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/middleeast/saudi-mbs-accuses-israel-genocide-gaza-intl/index.html

Just as the first glimmers of Spring always gives way to full light of Summer, comments about Dalton Kincaid being too skinny will surely give way to comments about Dion Dawkins being too fat. The Great Cycle of Bills Fanlife.

It's funny how that can happen when you get out of your own way and let people who know what they're doing (Bessent) take charge. Kind of like how brain-dead Biden managed it. A good example, I guess, for brain-dead Trump. hey, where's Peter Navarro?

Beside the point. This is about refugee processing abroad.

The point here shouldn't be that white South African farmers are privileged and shouldn't be eligible for refugee status/asylum. Some have been violently targeted based largely on their race and not on some kind of orderly land redistribution law. Rather, the point should be that Trump has essentially shut down refugee processing except for white Boer farmers. Are they really the most victimized people in the world right now? Why the special treatment? I know of only two logical answers: (1) their race; (2) Elon.