How Kind, Mr. Ryan …

Posted on by under Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

Paul Ryan’s net worth is reported to be $7 million.  Not a lot by the standards of the top 1%, but a figure that is beyond imagining for most of us … the other 99%.  Yesterday, Ryan was apparently attempting to convince his Twitter followers how wonderful the tax bill passed by Congress in December was, when he tweeted …

Ryan-tweet$1.50 per week, $78 per year.  Mr. Ryan likely throws away $78 without a thought on any given day. I doubt there is an article of clothing in his closet that costs less than $78.  I am willing to bet that some members of Congress have paid that much for a pair of bloomin’ socks!  This, as much as anything, offers proof that our elected representatives are completely oblivious to the needs of those they supposedly represent.

After he came under fire from some of us in the 99%, he removed the tweet, but once seen, it cannot be forgotten, and fortunately it was seen by enough, recorded by the media, that it is not going away anytime soon.

A recent comment on one of my posts noted that the ever-widening gap between “us” and “them” is likely to lead to the next civil war in the United States.  They may be right, for it is clear the people who are making the laws under which we all must live are not only out of touch with We The People, but that they plan to stay that way.

gianforteDo you know who the wealthiest member of Congress is?  Greg Gianforte, with a net worth of $315 million.  You remember Greg, right?  He’s the one who, on May 24, 2017,  the night before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, beat up a reporter from The Guardian who was only doing his job, asking a question.  Gianforte didn’l like the question. He was conviceted of a misdemeanor, but was nonetheless elected and still has his $315 million.  If I had done that, I would still be in jail, and would still be poor.

Mind you, I have no problem with people who work hard, are innovative and earn their way, having millions of dollars.  None at all.  There surely must be rewards for hard work and innovation.  However, we do not need people representing us, people making decisions that affect our very lives, who cannot even comprehend what it is like to have to decide between paying the telephone bill or putting food on the table.

To see Mr. Ryan patting himself on the back for passing a bill that will benefit his wealthy friends to the tune of millions of dollars, while giving the secretary an extra $78 in a year is sickening and disgusting.  And it’s even worse than it appears on the surface, for in early 2019, when that secretary sits down to prepare her income tax return, she will find that $78 and possibly more is going right back to Uncle Sam, for she will no longer be allowed to take certain deductions that she was once able to.

The really sad part is that those who are seeing an extra dollar or two on their paychecks may well praise the republicans for their tax bill, may go to the polls in November, before they have seen the ultimate outcome of their “tax cut”, and vote the same rich candidates right back into office.

The upper 1% see the rest of us as fools, and perhaps we are.  It is time for us ‘fools’ to awaken from our dream where we believed that our elected officials were actually looking out for us, for our best interests, for they are not and perhaps never were.

We did not need that extra $1.50 nearly as much as we needed Congress to work toward fixing what was wrong with ACA, but instead they have fractured it to the point that it no longer guarantees affordable healthcare to all.  We did not need that $1.50 nearly as much as we needed regualtions on fossil fuels that would put us on the path to a cleaner environment.  We needed regulations on the banking industry that would prevent the likes of the Koch brothers from causing another crisis such as we saw in 2008, where many of us in the 99% lost a significant portion of our retirement funds.  We needed reforms in our education system that would make college more affordable for all, not just those in the upper echelons.  No, we did not need an extra $1.50 on our paychecks that is but an illusion to begin with.

Paul Ryan,  Mitch McConnell and most of all Donald Trump are so out of touch with the reality of the people they purport to represent that it is unconscionable.  I wonder how these people can look themselves in the eye when they shave or brush their teeth in the mornings.  I wonder how they fall asleep at night.

Think about this, republicans, as you boast and toast the fact that your guys have a majority in Congress, that your guys are in charge and leading the way toward “making America great again”, that your guys have those ‘liberal snowflake democrats’ under their heels.  They aren’t doing you any favours, and the only people for whom they are making the nation great are themselves.

As for you, Mr. Paul Ryan, you can take that $1.50 and put it you-know-where.  A civil war of the 1% vs the 99%?  Think it’s impossible?  I wouldn’t be too sure.  We in the 99% may be fools in believing you and your cohorts actually represent our best interests, but eventually the day will come when we say, “ENOUGH!!!!”

ryan-home

Paul Ryan’s home

Other homes in Ryan’s hometown

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52 thoughts on “How Kind, Mr. Ryan …”

  1. The hold they have is actually fragile and accomplished with smoke and mirrors. They say they are in charge, and people believe it because it is happening now, but they do not have an army or a secret police force to hold the people of the USA in check.
    Leave off attacking Trump, it’s all been said and go for the real jugular, the disparity in wealth and the double standards when it comes to paying taxes, keep on, keep on, keep on…..

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    • Yoj are quite right! But, I suppose the ‘official’ net worth figures at least provide a point for comparison. And here I am happy to have a ‘cushion’ of a few thou! 😀

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  3. Dear Jill,

    That needs to be another AD to be used against Paul Ryan by his democratic opponent Randy Bryce in the upcoming November elections. He just has to ask the voters how they feel electing a man who is proud of passing a tax cut bill that he bragged about a secretary saving $78 per year.
    He truly deserves to lose.

    Hugs, Gronda

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, at times I have thought that perhaps Ryan wasn’t so bad after all, but he has licked Trump’s boots as hard as any, and he needs to go. Rumour had it a while back that he wasn’t planning to run again this year, but I haven’t heard anything lately, have you? Hugs!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Well put, Jill. I honestly believe that as the Republicans continue to shoot themselves in their feet, the majority of voters who disapprove of them now will vote Democrat in November. You see, guys like Ryan are arrogant fools and they aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. They’ll continue to turn off lots of voters between now and November. Civil war? I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that extreme outcome.

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    • I agree with you, John, gut I still keep coming back to the thought that … look who is sitting in the Oval Office. Was there ever a more arrogant fool than he? And yet, he somehow got elected. And look how very close Roy Moore came to a Senate seat in December. It seems that there are many in this country who still have on their blinders and their ear buds are tuned to all evangelical. A cynic? Yeah, I wasn’t always, but today … yeah, I am. Sigh. However, I haven’t given up, obviously, on fighting the good fight, and i do hope you are right and that common sense and humanitarian values will, at some point, prevail.

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  5. Jill, my first take on the $78 story was she was being sarcastic and the Speaker bit hook, line and sinker. Either way, he realized the error of his ways and pulled the comment.

    I am hoping that the corporate tax break will pass through to employees in a tangible way. I must confess, I am underwhelmed by these bonus payments that phase up to $1,000. I feel they are more for the press than the people. These tax cuts are permanent, so raises of substance would be appropriate. Yet, as a retired manager and HR consultant, companies find reasons to keep lids on what they do. My fear is more money will be used to buy back shares and increase dividends, especially if the stock market pulls back even more. Keith

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    • Y’know, I thought she was being sarcastic too, until I read Suze’s comment. And I have a couple of friends who have told me similar stories of seeing increases of $1, give or take a few pence. And the ‘bonue’ payments were offset by layoffs by a number of companies. If anybody is holding their breath waiting for that trickle down effect, I hope they are holding an umbrella, for what trickles down is not likely to be pleasant.

      I doubt the tax cuts are permanent, as the stock market begins to correct, and the deficit and national debt increase, the republicans, and even Trump, will realize that something has to give. Heck, I learned this back in Econ 101 under Professor Peter Yun. 🙂 Surprisingly, I can remember that small trivia, yet cannot remember what the heck I went into the kitchen for! 😀

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  6. God! Tone deaf doesn’t even begin to describe his tweet.🤦🏻‍♀️ I worked from the time I was 16 years old until I was forced to retire early at the age of 46 because of my health. Despite having a 26 year career as a children’s librarian, the combination of my so-called pension and monthly disability stipend isn’t enough to pay for health insurance and day to day living expenses. So yes, I’m a little resentful.

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    • I hear you, for I am in a similar boat, and I am a lot resentful. Hang in, my friend … we keep on fighting, yes? Sooner or later people will wake up and realize that these dolts they have elected to Congress are not … NOT … looking out for our best interests, but only their own.

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  7. If democracy falls in the US, I fear what will take its place. Pure Corporatism? A hegemony of big corporations doing openly what they’re doing now behind closed doors?
    I have no problem with anyone working hard and becoming successful. That’s the dream for all of us. But the top 1% never got their hands dirty. They’re the beneficiaries of a system in which money breeds money. Once you have enough of the stuff, it’s not hard to make more, and more, and more.
    Have a look at the richest /people/ and ask yourself what great innovation did they usher in? What process? What anything?
    The only two I can think of at the moment are Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Elon Musk, founder of Tesla. Them I admire. They’ve actually created something and deserve their riches. The rest?
    What actually distinguishes this era in the US with, say, the feudal system that used to exist in the UK?

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    • You are quite right when you say the majority of that 1% never got their hands dirty. To your list of two, I would add a third and fourth: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Both have created something and … most importantly … are sharing their wealth with those in need. To me, that is the dream, to leave the world just a little bit better in some way. Some of us can only do so in small ways, others have the wherewithal to do so in bigger ways. But when I look at the likes of Trump, Gianforte, Ryan, and the Koch brothers, I am sickened by their lack of humanitarian values.

      As to what form of government will replace our democratic republic? A plutocratic oligarchy. And it’s not in the future … it is already here.

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      • I’ve heard of Warren Buffett – isn’t he the billionaire who warned about the growing gap between the wealthiest and poorest in the US? I may have the details wrong though.
        I would have included Steve Jobs but he’s dead. I didn’t include Bill Gates because I was in the computing business at the start of pcs and I remember CP/M and PC-DOS. Just looked it up again. This is pretty succinct:
        ‘In 1974, Dr. Gary A. Kildall, while working for Intel Corporation, created CP/M as the first operating system for the new microprocessor. By 1977, CP/M had become the most popular operating system (OS) in the fledgling microcomputer (PC) industry. The largest Digital Research licensee of CP/M was a small company which had started life as Traf-0-Data, and is now known as Microsoft. In 1981, Microsoft paid Seattle Software Works for an unauthorized clone of CP/M, and Microsoft licensed this clone to IBM which marketed it as PC-DOS on the first IBM PC in 1981, and Microsoft marketed it to all other PC OEMs as MS-DOS.’
        And the next bit:
        ‘In 1991, Gary Kildall and the other shareholders of Digital Research Inc., which Gary & Dorothy Kildall had founded in 1975, sold the closely-held private shares of Digital Research Inc. (DRI) to Novell, Inc., and then on July 23, 1996 all of the Digital Research, Inc. assets were acquired from Novell Inc. by Caldera Inc., a company founded by Bryan Sparks with the assistance of Ray Noorda, former Chairman/CEO of Novell Inc., and on July 24, 1996, Caldera Inc. filed a private Federal Antitrust Lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. for alleged illegal activities and unfair practices in the marketing of MS-DOS and its successors, including Windows 95 and Windows 98, both of which are still Digital Research CP/M at their essential core. The lawsuit was settled out of court in January 2000 at which time Microsoft Corporation agreed to certain terms and paid certain funds to Caldera Inc.’
        Gates was ruthless and clever, but his hands aren’t clean and he /didn’t/ ‘invent’ Windows. He seems to have become humanized in the last 15 -20 years.

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    • Knocking politely on the door all the way from the UK and saying ‘If we are being literal quite a lot actually’, but you don’t want me to drone on about that, as drone I will.
      This situation you are in at present seems to resemble either:
      A) The run up to the Civil War, where dialogue has collapsed and monumental braggarts are being lauded as heroes.
      encouraging more excesses by their supporters
      or
      B) The situation before the War of Independence where the ruling power had lost touch with a sizeable proportion of the local population.
      If the current legislature and executive do not wise up and become more intent on dialogue they could well start a process by which states or large cities begin to experiment with how detached they can become from Washington’s influence.
      It’s a common enough historical process.
      Take care over there, look after your Constitution, it might not be perfect, but it’s a good try!

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        • Indeed they do.
          There are other more hopeful patterns which show the USA can work through these divisions once the majority of folk realise how bad things are getting.
          At the present Trump is merely a freak of the voting system brought on by dissatisfaction with the antics of the legislature. They of course try and blame the staff who have to make sense of the laws the legislature passed. It’s a tried old move.
          I heard today on the news the US stock market took a dip, since Trump was claiming a rise was down to him, will he take the blame for this?

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          • lol – the news and current affairs programs here in Australia are all about the Wall St slump. There’s a delicious irony about the slump occurring so soon after Trump’s big speech, but I’m sure he’ll spin it somehow.
            Let’s try this on for size:
            ‘The Fake News was so mean to me. See what they caused!’
            For the sake of all the people who are already struggling in the States, I hope this isn’t the first crack that precedes a much steeper decline.

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            • Hopefully it will simply be a few days wonder and all will go back to normal (if you can call the stock markets normal).
              I see he’s telling the military to organise a parade, well that’s one way to cause a distraction. With his predilections and would have thought he’d be opting for a mass display of cheerleaders.

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              • This market plunge and following instability is but a blip for the moment. BUT … as I keep preaching to those in the U.S. who aren’t wearing blinders and drinking Kool-Aid … what goes up, must come down. Eventually the market will correct itself, be it this week, next year, or in two years. With banking regulations being removed, with little foundation to support the market rise, and with the willy nilly increase in our deficit,t is inevitable that we will revisit 2008 … in spades. And sure, the 1% will lose far more than we, but we will lose a greater percentage of our life savings. And why? Because capitalism and corporate greed were allowed to take precedence over all else. I am stepping off the soap box now. CRASH!!!

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                • And history re-plays itself. Terminal Stupidity is rife in the Trump Court, they really don’t have a fribbin’ clue do they.
                  So it goes wrong, so someone comes in and puts in the regulations again.
                  In the meantime we hope that because Trump brand revolves around instability wiser heads in the financial world will be making their own arrangements to nullify his toxicity.
                  But worry not! He is going tell the military to have a Big Parade!! That will so help!! (pffft!)

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                  • You are quite a fribbin’ clue, and those who are trying to educate them are largely ignored or threatened with banishment. The rule is that if you don’t like the message, shoot the messenger. And then have a Hitler-esque military fribbin’ parade to show that Trump has all the power and we are but pawns. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Perhaps the parade will give the military a venue for a coup whereby they take Trump & co into custody and give him what he deserves. I’m going back to watching Bugs Bunny now. 🐰

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                    • A wise choice Jill.
                      Another suggestion:
                      A National ‘Let’s Not Take The President Seriously’ day…just laugh at him….he’d hate that!

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                    • I’ve actually tried that suggestion … not taking the Idiot-in-Chief seriously, knowing he would hate it. And I can laugh, for just a minute, but then the laughter turns to a strange growling sound in the back of my throat and my upturned mouth turns downward, and … well you know … it just doesn’t work for more than a few seconds. 😀 😐 😕 ☹️ 😡

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      • Sigh I think … no wait … it is far better not to. think, that is. Here, drink some more water, please … it will mak … what’s that you … e you feel better and we can all go back to … those pretty blue bubbles in the lawa lamp. (somebody please shoot me now.)

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        • There’s an old 1970s song by a UK band called Arrival, who were around for a short while the refrain from the song went:
          ‘And through all this,
          Through all this,
          I will survive’
          C’mon you 7 cats, Mom needs a feline fuss!! 😽😽😽😽😽😽😽

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  8. My husband is salaried so we know each and every biweekly period what he will bring home. his pay went up…I was bumfuzzled to note by a whopping 78 CENTS! yes, that $0.78 will go a LONG way towards helping me purchase my cardiac medications! It will be an ENORMOUS help when we need to pay our rising propane bill so we can remain warm in our home! I can’t stop giggling from the absolute RELIEF I feel knowing Mr. Ryan is looking out for me with his tax bill!

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