Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Biden’s Money Spigot Is Crippling American Businesses; Democrats Voted For Joe Biden And Got Bernie Sanders

Anyone in America that doesn’t have a job doesn’t want one.

We recently returned from a 2,480-mile driving trip that took us from Amelia Island through north Florida, the southern halves of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas and back home through the upper halves of those states.

All along our mostly state and county highway routes we were exposed to a variety of businesses desperately seeking employees.

Motels, hotels, restaurants, gas stations, hardware, grocery, department stores and more had signs plastered on their doors and windows announcing immediate job openings. Some larger companies had billboards announcing hiring programs. The backs of eighteen-wheeler trucks had stickers seeking divers and advertising “high pay, good hours” and a slew of benefits. A Mississippi McDonalds had a huge sign out front advertising jobs starting at $11.00 an hour. Other restaurants and businesses offered signing bonuses and recruiting bonuses to current employees who recommend applicants that will stay employed at least 90 days.

The motels and hotels we checked into had signs saying they needed workers and had job applications stacked on their counters. So did the restaurants and bars.

Many restaurants had sections closed off because they didn’t have enough workers to keep their businesses operating at full strength. Others were closing early or making do with skeleton staffs. At a Marriott Courtyard in Tupelo, Mississippi it took us 15 minutes to find someone to check us in.  Help there was as elusive as Elvis. The next morning the front desk was empty again. The restaurant was closed and a sign on a lobby table lined with brown paper bags that contained muffins indicated that this was breakfast and instructed guests to take one.

These rural areas and small towns were not Biden-friendly. Based on the Trump signs and flags we witnessed along our route you’d have thought the election was tomorrow. American flags, Christian crosses, pro-life signs, and a smattering of Confederate flags were also planted alongside the roadways. In Texas fences were painted with “Build The Wall” and “Stop Illegal Immigration” among other similar sentiments.

Missing from the “Help Wanted” signage were “For Sale” signs. I don’t recall seeing any. The U.S. housing market is hot and many people are being left out.

The people we talked with in eateries, bars and social settings expressed their displeasure with the Biden administration without being prompted.

In Wharton, Texas I couldn’t resist pulling into a beer joint with the enticing name of “Beer:30”, a beer only bar with no air conditioning, large fans, and ice-cold bottled beer. The bartender – a pretty young Latino gal named Mia – told me her dad owned the place and she bartended while attending the local junior college. The bar’s clientele she said was mostly Latino and barbeque grills and food trucks were fired up on weekends to serve tacos and other Mexican-style street food while Latino tunes entertained the crowd.

Mia told me that the bar’s patrons work in the area and are mostly conservative and fiercely anti-open borders. They sympathize with those coming across the border illegally but expect them to enter the U.S. the same way their parents and grandparents did – legally. Build the wall and close the border is their mantra. The Beer:30 folks are also very pro-gun with a banner over the door picturing an AR-15 saying: “Come and take it.”

If there were Biden supporters anywhere in the southeast or southwest we didn’t see or meet them. We didn’t spot a single Biden sign or bumper sticker. Not one. Local Democrats were obviously keeping to themselves. Maybe they were all sitting home waiting for their next government check to arrive.

While we were on the road Biden made it even tougher for these small businesses to attract workers by announcing that in addition to its outrageous unemployment checks, his administration would send families $250 to $300 a month for each kid depending on their age.

It’s hard for businesses to compete with the federal government that encourages people to sit on their duffs while it mails them tax money that it extracts from you and me.

Businesses on Amelia Island are suffering Biden-induced labor shortages as well. Sliders Seaside Grill on Fletcher and Sadler has a sign posted saying it’s hard to compete with “government handouts” and they are short-staffed because of the government’s ineptitude and Biden’s bumbling indifference, well not exactly in those words, but close.

 “America has a record 8.1 million job openings. The media call it a ‘labor shortage.’ But it’s not a labor shortage; it’s an incentive shortage.” says John  Stossel.

Oh, during our trip not once did we encounter a gas line or have trouble finding open gasoline stations. In Louisiana and Texas we witnessed plenty of gas tankers and trains ensuring that stations were full. I’m confident the Biden administration will soon attempt to sabotage that supply chain.

This has nothing to do with anything but it’s worth mentioning that I spotted a zebra in a corral in southeast Texas.

***

Speaking Of Bumbling Indifference:  He’s only been President for a little more than three months but in that short period of time the damage Joe Biden has caused is breath taking.

Many are comparing Biden to Jimmy Carter. That’s probably unfair to Carter, who mishandled crisis after crisis, while Biden has CREATED crisis after crisis.

Following are just a few examples of the man’s total ineptitude:

  • During the past two weeks alone the Labor Department’s employment report fell short of predictions by 750,000 jobs.
  • The shutdown of the Colonial oil pipeline left the entire eastern seaboard in a panic. Biden’s response: “We’ll look into it.”
  • While war is breaking out between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, Biden sends Hamas $10 million.
  • A record number of illegal aliens from Venezuela, Central America, Iraq and Romania continue to flood across our southern border. Romania? Iraq?
  • The Biden administration is working hand-in-hand with the Mexican criminal cartels that are trafficking drugs, guns, and humans across what used to be the U.S. border and the U.S. tax payer is stuck with the bill and the consequences.
  • The evil gnome, Anthony Fauci, the mentally ill CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, the evil witch of Congress, Nancy Pelosi, and clueless Biden have convinced most Americans that politics is taking precedence over science in their totally confusing “wear-one-don’t-wear-one-wear-one, oh never mind” mask mandates.
  • Inflation is here and it’s getting worse impacting those that can least afford it. Gas prices have increased by almost 10 percent; food prices by 3.5 percent; building materials such as lumber and copper are through the roof and restaurant prices are on the rise. But you already know all that. Just wait. It’s getting worse.
  • Housing bubbles are forming, and Biden continues to push outrageous multi-trillion dollar spending bills to send us deeper and deeper in debt and attempt to make Americans dependent on government for all their needs.
  • Teachers unions – supported by Democrats – in many states continue to keep schools closed and refuse to let their teachers go back to work.
  • Crime rates in major Democrat controlled cities that actively promote defunding of their police departments have hit record highs and their law enforcement agencies are experiencing trouble recruiting candidates and retaining experienced officers.
  • The military has been ordered to fight a war against pollution and be more inclusive in its recruiting efforts. Feel safer now?
  • The Biden administration has rejoined the worthless Paris climate agreement that gives China and India, the world’s largest polluters, a free pass while Americans pick up the bill and their businesses suffer under suffocating restraints.
  • Biden is lifting sanctions against the terrorist Iranian regime that Trump had on the financial ropes, providing them with cash to buy weapons to support their worldwide terrorist surrogates and build nuclear weapons.
  • Race relations have hit an all time low. Everything is racist. The Schools are teaching crap like “Critical Race Theory”. Certain images are racist. Standardized tests are racist. Math is racist. Children’s books and American classics are racist. Dress a certain way and it’s racist cultural appropriation. The Georgia election law is “Jim Crow 2.0”. Dangerous militant and racist groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa are applauded by Democrats while the National Rifle Association is condemned. Biden says systemic racism is rampant in America.

In a nutshell Biden — a creature of the D.C. swamp the past 50 years — is an incompetent, addled old fool that needs to be in a nursing home not the White House. His administration is populated by far-left fanatics that easily manipulate this empty suit. Americans and America are suffering the consequences. Let’s hope we can survive the next three years and nine months without a major catastrophe.

***

Speaking Of Biden: A recent meme shows Joe Biden seated at his desk, his sleeves rolled up, saying: “Well, I‘ve got to get back to work.  Those jobs aren’t going to kill themselves.”

***

Things I Wish I’d Said: “You don’t appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older.  Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman. Stuff you pay good money for later in life.” – Bob Hope

***

Good News Department: Bill Maher tested positive for Covid, forcing him to shut down his HBO show for at least two weeks.

***

Wait! What? Aren’t Democrat Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib guilty of anti-Semitic “hate crimes” as they openly cheer on Hamas and the mullahs firing rockets at Israeli civilians? This week lunatic socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders proposed ending all military funding to Israel.

On a related topic hate crimes are intended to punish crimes motivated by racial bigotry. But it’s only white people who ever have the charge leveled against them.

When a thug mugs somebody, does he really have to pistol-whip the victim after the guy hands over his wallet, no matter what race either party happens to be? Isn’t that hateful?

In today’s convoluted world if I threaten a black man, I’m guilty of assault and a hate crime. But if a black man murders me, it’s not a hate crime. What’s up with that?

But back to Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East. When Israel is under attack by these savages why does Biden feel he has to say that Israel has the right to defend itself?  It is never said about other nations under attack. Biden is obviously terrified of the fanatical anti-Semitic Squad of crazed women and nutty Bernie. Why?

Does anyone else find it strange that Israel, the only Jewish state in the world,  is expected to abide by the Christian principle of turning the other cheek?

***

Speaking of Racial Issues: Does anyone recall what  Keith Richburg, a black reporter for the Washington Post wrote about going to Africa about 30 years ago?

What he said he found was a continent rife with violence, poverty, slavery and genocide.

He wrote: “We were told by some black leaders that Mother Africa is a black Valhalla, where the descendants of slaves would be welcomed back and where black men and women can walk in true dignity.  Sorry, but I’ve been there.  So, excuse me if I sound cynical, jaded.  I’m beaten down.  And it’s Africa that has made me this way. Thank God that my ancestors got out, because now, I am not one of them. Thank God I am an American.”

Robert Woodson, a black Civil Rights leader and founder of the Woodson Center, put it thusly: “The search to find bigotry in everything is making our race relations worse, not better. When you equate today’s frivolous accusations of racism to what went on in our country even two generations ago, you trivialize everything we accomplished in the Civil Rights movement.”

***

Phantom Citizens: Have you ever met anyone over 16 years old that doesn’t have an ID? You know, the kind of proof that’s required of people boarding planes, buying liquor or cigarettes, cashing checks, opening a bank account, checking into a hospital, getting a mortgage, renting an apartment, connecting utilities, getting a driver’s license, or entering a courthouse, school, or a corporate headquarters. Where are these ID-less phantoms hiding that the Democrats say are unable to vote because of Republican sponsored legislation? If you can actually find any of these recluses wouldn’t you be doing them a favor by helping them get an ID instead of fighting legislation that prevents illegal voting?

***

Speaking Of Statistics: I saw a statistic the other day stating that eleven teenagers die each day because of texting while driving. Perhaps it’s time to raise the age of Smartphone ownership to 21.

***

News Bulletin! The CDC says you can read this blog without a mask.

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Speaking Of Masks: Cloth masks have been found to cause a higher rate of contamination among those who wear them than among those who go mask-less. They absorb whatever might be floating around, plus the masks trap whatever you’re exhaling, and they deny you oxygen.

***

Got Gas? Last week AAA released an update on the gasoline supply in Florida saying: “The Colonial Pipeline is still down, yet Florida remains well supplied with fuel. While there is not considered to be a gasoline ‘shortage’ in Florida, there are reports of fuel outages at various gas stations, due to unusually strong demand,” AAA noted. “Florida is not heavily reliant on the Colonial Pipeline. Ninety percent of Florida’s gasoline flows in through our ports on cargo ships. That gasoline is then driven to the pumps on tanker trucks.” Please don’t tell Biden!

***

Gypto Currencies? In the wake of the ransomware shutdown of the Colonial oil pipeline, an oil executive named John Catsimatdis pointed out the danger of bitcoin and crypto currencies. He explained that these currencies are how these criminals who hack the computer systems of companies and government agencies are being paid off.

Aren’t these bizarre new currencies today’s version of Switzerland’s numbered accounts — a place for dictators, drug cartels, tax evaders and extortionists, to conceal their ill-gotten gains? It seems to me they should be outlawed, and the perpetrators indicted for counterfeiting.

***

Another Thing I Wish I’d Said: “People who get what they want are often surprised when they get what they deserve.” – actor James Wood.

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Time To Go? Isn’t it time for the United States to totally get out of the Middle East except to protect Israel. If some middle eastern backwater hellhole tries to attack Israel we could join with the Israeli military and crush them.

That was probably the plan when Donald Trump was President. Now with Biden in office when one of those Arab/Muslim countries goes to war with its neighbors instead of sitting back cheering for both sides to lose we’ll probably send American troops in. Why?

Why should the United States military be involved in these hellholes where Stone Age groups of tribal Kurd, Taliban, Turk, Shiite, Sunni, and numerous other savages have been slaughtering each other for centuries? Why send American troops to countries whose populations are controlled by a Muslim cult of homicidal fanatics whose psychopathic surrogates target school children and maternity wards for slaughter with suicide bombers, mutilate women, and demand they dress up to look like plastic bags of trash to be dragged to the curb twice a week.

When Donald Trump was President, and the U.S. was the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world we could have let those medieval savages have at each other. However, under the Biden administration we will no longer the world’s greatest producer of fossil fuels and he and his manipulators will be delighted to sacrifice American lives for Middle Eastern causes that feed the coffers of their corporate sponsors.

Except for broadcasting the exact date, Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan is the only thing he’s done so far that makes much sense. Once these 12th Century stone-agers begin blowing each other to pieces again, let’s hope American troops aren’t sent back. If these cretins attack the U.S. then we can return and finish what we should have finished 20 years ago. American soldiers don’t have to be stationed there to handle that job.

***

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch: The survey on this site asking if pompous, gasbag Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross should be recalled stands at 89 percent saying “yes” and just 11 percent saying “no.” I think I’ll keep it up for a couple more weeks. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that this boisterous blowhard has been unusually quiet recently? Has the self-appointed city mouthpiece been told to put a lid on it or is he exhibiting some atypical self-restraint?

  • Comment (11)
  • Dave, when my mother decided to give up her car the insurance company told her she would have to insure her license even though she wasn’t driving. She did, but needed an ID. So I collected all her info and we loaded up her wheelchair and went to the license office. Getting an ID is like getting a license with all the needed info, and then they charge you $60 for the privilege. Not every elderly person has the advantage of a daughter to handle the paperwork and transportation to make an ID possible, and many more can’t afford the $60, food, and meds are more important. To vote my mother had to use her ID to get a mail in ballot, she was helped to fill it out, her fingers didn’t work so well and those are small ovals to fill in. Now the new voting rules say she would need an ID every few years to receive a ballot. My mother is gone now but I still think every time someone says ID’s and voting restrictions only effect low income, wrong. Going old is hell unless you have someone to stick up for your rights. Remember that, you’re getting there fast!

    • Peg, not a lawyer or an insurance agent but I think you and your mom got some inaccurate information. An automobile policy insures the vehicle and the authorized drivers of the vehicle. You only need non-owner insurance if you don’t own a vehicle and drive someone else’s car including a rental car. There is no such thing as insuring a license if you don’t drive a motor vehicle. I contacted the folks at John Drew’s office and they said that if your mom had a valid FL driver’s license that was REAL compliant (had the gold star), then they would simply take a new picture and collect $31 and issue her an ID card to replace the driver’s license. No other documentation required. Now if her DL was issued years ago and was not REAL compliant, they would require additional identity verification as per federal guidelines.
      The reality is there are plenty of elderly and voter support organizations that will gladly assist people get an ID card. Yep, getting old can be hell, but it can also be a lot of fun!

  • The outrage of our vote system that has gone on over the past 20 or so years is beyond reason. Because of the complaints, we now have almost a continuous voting cycle: pre voting, off site voting, voting days that seem to run 24 hours, and mail in and absentee voting. Prior to 1900, I believe you got to the polling place on the day of voting and you produced ID. There were no telephones, e mail, drop boxes or excuses for why you were not there. There were paper ballots or rudimentary voting machines. Today, there are any number of excuses for extended voting times and methods plus complicated computers and software to accumulate the votes. Yet that is not enough for some. Perhaps, because it is not easy to manipulate the results if one has to prove whom they are.

    I’ve voted in every election since 1967. I’ve voted in large cities, rural areas, suburbs and even while in the Army. Until recently, I’ve never thought my vote was not counted or that someone else was voting illegally. I thought that way because I had to show whom I was when I voted, even by mail as I had to file an application which contained my signature. To me, not needing ID to vote is tantamount to allowing illegal voting. Furthermore, using complicated machinery through an easily hacked internet is another concern.

    The political parties look at voting as a contact sport. It is not. Free, accurate, and incorruptable voting is the foundation of our political society. I consider illegal voting as a murderous attack on this system. Anyone caught illegally voting or manipulating the system should be exiled from our country.

  • Very fine blog this a.m., Dave. Good deconstruction of the left-wing revolution going on right now. Sleepy Joe has been a total disaster. Far worse than we had any reason to believe pre-election. He has no ideas or thought-out point of view of his own. Never has. He’s simply a conduit for every crack-pot idea and aggressive tactic of the hard Left. Fine point about Jimmy Bob only botching crises while Sleepy Joe creates them. It’s hard to determine which is more depressing, what this wee-tiny creep is doing, or that every poll shows a majority of Americans approving of his disastrous performance.

  • Funny how’d you don’t hear from the left as to what great a job their Democrats are doing!!

    Perhaps they’re having Biden Remorse.

  • The biggest threats to our elections come from Russia, China, Iran, and Iraq in the form of misinformation spread via social media; all designed to influence and sow discord among voters. Then of course are the enemies from within who propagate and believe in the myth that the election was stolen despite zero evidence to back up the claim. But hey, let’s instead focus on finding ways to prevent the largest display of democracy we’ve witnessed this century in the form of voter turnout by making sure it doesn’t happen again in 2024. We’ve become a nation hell bent on showing the rest of the world what idiots we are.

  • I copied and pasted these cartoons to Facebook pages I frequent.

    I suggest you do the same.

    Scott hit another grand slam homekr.

  • Remember when Trump was the POTUS and Dave took such joy in watching the Dems complain about him? Well let’s just say that Karma is alive and well. Until next week! 🙂

  • Dave,
    Thoroughly enjoyed the blog. Observing my surroundings on a daily basis helps me realize that I am not the only frustrated American out here. Hearing about your recent travels and observations gives me hope that if we can fix the fraudulent voting problem, we still may have a chance to survive.

    Hard to believe there are still people out there who can’t seem to see the truth. They seem to be stuck in the I’m Dumocrat mode and can’t think or observe for themselves. They also seem to believe the MEDIA and every Dumocrat that speaks.

  • If voting for a obviously impaired old
    man that often forgets what office he was
    running for and at times is not sure what
    state he’s in is reason for celebration I am
    not sure about you folks on the left.
    I have voted in every election since 1967
    and never seen such a mess my country is
    in. Biden has caused more crisis than any
    potus I have seen and his administration
    is a perfect example of on the job training.
    Actually,he is a stand-in for Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama. Who’s really
    pulling the strings. All you lefties should
    thank the good lord the Vaccine in your
    body is the work of many dedicated Labs
    and the Trump Administration. Nuff said!!

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