A few people commented on yesterday’s post. I was reminded of another event earlier in my life that might cast light on the subject. The commenter basically said that the rich don’t deserve their tax breaks and corporate welfare. I would agree except we have a fundamental problem with that line of thinking.

I remember going to downtown Fort Worth with some classmates to go watch a movie. They came upon a homeless guy and agreed to buy him a Whataburger. However, there was a string attached. He would have to accept a Bible before he would get any of the food. The bargain seemed cruel, but even worse was the assumption behind it.

See, why does he need a Bible? We are assuming that his plight is somehow connected to a lack of faith. If he had more faith then maybe he would be more successful. The Old Testament is full of these stories. Success is tied to virtue. The virtuous have success and the poor and destitute lack virtue. So, you see a homeless man that is hungry and down on his luck and it must be because he has angered God somehow. Therefore, he needs religion to get back on his feet.

Therefore, captains of industry have earned their success through virtue. They’ve earned it through hard work. They’ve earned it through doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong things. Therefore, if someone brings up corporate welfare and whether they deserve their tax breaks the answer will undoubtedly be yes. See, they do right by God and therefore they will do right if we give them the breaks. They’ve earned their reward.

What we understand is that this is really not the case. The successful people are not necessarily the best people. They may not be the most talented people. They may have just been lucky. The reverse is also true of those that struggle. Maybe they made some key mistakes or made bad choices. Maybe they were just the victims of bad luck. We have no way of knowing one way or the other just by looking at them.

Government spending can’t be about who deserves what. Government spending has to do the most amount of good for the most amount of people. Government is charged with protecting our life, liberty, and property. Government is charged with making us better people. They do that through a social safety net. They do that through public works like education, endowment of the arts, or scientific study. They do that by protecting consumers, workers, and citizens from those that would prey on them. They do that by providing security through police and our legal system.

So, the question of corporate welfare vs. welfare for the poor isn’t a question of who deserves it. It is a question of how sound an investment it is. If we help poor people escape poverty we benefit society. If we give rich people more money they usually pocket it or funnel it to stockholders. So, it is ultimately about benefit.

If we forgive college loans, offer free community college, or eliminate interest then we allow young people to spend more. They might be able to afford that first home. That first home is the start of building generational wealth. When we elevate more people out of poverty or into the middle class we benefit more. So, it is ultimately about benefit and not about being deserving.

Texas is hitting 110 degrees today but we weren’t too worried because last year our Governor told us he had fixed the crappy power grid that failed over the winter.

With @quorumreport reporting there's a "high possibility" of rolling blackouts between 2-6 p.m. the next three days, here's Gov. Abbott guaranteeing in November "no one will face danger again from a power failure": https://t.co/obd9SQkjgD pic.twitter.com/8sqcSx2TAj

— Christian Flores (@CFloresNews) July 11, 2022

See, he was confident.

Last night we were warned that the grid could go down over the next three days.  They specifically warned us about the hours of 2:00 to 8:00 pm.  Hourly, I get texts from the grid itself almost hourly telling me I better conserve because … they might go down.

Okay, all that is bad enough.  But, this took the cake.  Just a couple of minutes ago, around about 2:00, I get this important message from Greg Abbott.

I need to send him more money so he can spend my money to build a damn wall around the border, which nobody but him and the Proud Boys even want.

You know it seems to me that if you think you state is so damn fancy that you should secede and be your own country, you ought to have a dependable power grid.

I was reminded of a time during my childhood when a family of strangers rang our doorbell. They came in beaten and bloody and told my parents that they had an accident and didn’t have any money. I may have been nine or ten at the time. It’s hard to remember precisely when this happened. I just remember my parents giving them a little bit of money and a black and white television we didn’t use anymore. I think my sister and I gave the children some toys we didn’t play with. At the end of the day it didn’t amount to very much.

Jt didn’t occur to me until much later that no one bothered to verify their story. They could have easily gone door to door using the same act and raked in numerous toys, used televisions, and small amounts of cash that add up to large amounts of cash. We certainly didn’t discuss it as a family. We just gave a little of what we had and didn’t need.

The question of whether they deserved the help didn’t come up, but it certainly comes up today. When confronted with our politics it seems I have fluctuated between the nine and ten year old me and the attitudes of young adult version of me that questioned those we gave to. There are many instances where I just can’t identify with conservative ideology. Sadly, this is one where I definitely can relate because I used to think the same way.

The breakdown occurs when we ask the question of whether someone deserves assistance. It’s an innocent enough question at the outset. No one wants to be taken for a ride. No one wants to give up their hard earned money to someone capable of surviving on their own. No one wants to comfort the comfortable. We want to know that we are helping people that really need our help. It’s simple enough and yet it leads us to a very dark place.

You can imagine the simple mention of the dreaded “Obama phones” that people supposedly got. It gets us started on a cycle that spirals out of control. Why do they get free phones? Are they nice phones? How many free minutes and how much data is free? How come I have to pay for my phone, my minutes, and my data? What did they do to deserve this?

When you hear any mention of free tuition or college loan forgiveness that is the number one response. Why do THEY deserve it? It is the same overwhelming emotion older Americans have when they return to their high school or college alma mater. Why did this get so nice? How come they are spending all this money on them? What did they do to deserve this? Why didn’t we get this stuff? Decades later, I couldn’t tell you exactly what that family in the beginning got. I certainly can’t say that we missed any of it. The better angels of our nature certainly would like to know that they turned out okay, but those darker angels might have appeared had we learned that we were just another easy mark on their way to easy luxury. Even those of us that have generous hearts give into that line of thinking on the other side. What does Exxon/Mobile do to deserve all the tax breaks they get? Why don’t billionaires pay their fair share? What did they do to deserve this?

I’m certain some don’t really need assistance and are taking advantage of the situation. It took me a long time to get to the place where someone’s free phone, free lunch, or free health care shouldn’t concern me. At the end of the day, what exactly does any of us deserve anyway?

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Now that he’s leaving congress, Louie Gohmert has changed treasurers.  Please meet Darin Cowart in Tyler, Texas.

Very odd to change treasurers now that he is on his way out the door. Unless, of course, he was under investigation. Like for moving money through his campaign account to pay for the January 6^th Insurrection.

And, to add a little intrigue …

Gohmert actually hired two separate accounting firms last December – just when the January 6^thCommittee was sending out subpoenas.

Then he hires two people who are not accounts but do accounting services.

And then all of a sudden, he stops filing reports with the FEC.  Just stops. No reason given yet.

And yeah, the Astros won.

I am not talking about politics.  I’m talking about the weather. We are going to hit triple digits for the next week so I am taking the day off to watch the Astros this afternoon while drinking the last of my Limoncello mixed with Topo Chico over a couple hunks of ice.

Until later, I do have some fun stuff for you. I up and donated $25 to John Fetterman yesterday because dammit he deserves it. I like him just fine but the best part will be when he shows up in Washington, seeks out jacketless-and-damn-proud-of-it Jim Jordan and says, “Here, Jimbo, hold my hoodie and watch this.”

But, the thing that got me to Act Blue is this.

Apparently Dr. Oz is having trouble raising money. He’s gotten to the point to belly-aching and even offering to personally match 300% any donation that comes in. How does that work? Why doesn’t he just give himself the damn money? Why do I have to give him a buck fifty so he can give himself $4.50? It seems to me that he can just give himself $4.50 and not really miss my money at all. I dunno about this guy making the federal budget.

But this Twitter made me snort. Little Bubba sent it to me. You can enlarge it by clicking on it.  It starts off with this guy named Chris getting a fundraising email from Dr. Oz.

That’s funny.

Okay, if the Astros win, I’ll be back to tell you some hanky-panky Louie Gohmert is still doing.  If not, you gotta wait until tomorrow.