Democrats have nothing to offer

Metaphorically speaking, the “Circus has left town!” Not that the Brett Kavanaugh/Democrat charade will change much of the Democrats’ attitude toward anything that President Donald Trump or the Republican Congress members propose.

By now we have learned that Democrats in Washington have nothing to offer to solve America’s problems other than to oppose our president’s and other Republicans’ policy initiatives. Well, other than higher taxes, more regulations, open borders, laissez-faire foreign policies and continued unfair trade practices against America. Plus others.

It is both fortunate and timely that even after destroying the reputations of both Judge Kavanaugh and Christine Ford, the Democrats lost not only the battle but hopefully the war.

Any American voter who was paying attention knew that the sole purpose of opposing Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation was to delay it until after the midterm elections in the hopes of regaining the majority in the Senate. They would then block any nominee offered by President Trump, leaving the Supreme Court with only eight justices until after the 2020 presidential elections.

The polls now indicate that Americans are evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats for the midterm elections. Well deserved.

Troubling is the notion that judges are either conservative or liberal. A better definition should be that they are constitutionalists or they are not. By now, we certainly know how Justice Kavanaugh stands and President Trump who nominated him. The Constitution has a provision to change it. However, it should not be a choice of the Supreme Court.

GOP con helps rich get richer

According to a Sept. 25 article by Christian Weller in Forbes, “Budget Estimates Show New Tax Cuts for Wealthiest Americans Threaten Middle-Class Retirement”:

Not satisfied with the temporary individual tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 – which gave the top 10 percent of taxpayers (incomes over $216,800) 52 percent of the benefit – House Republicans are seeking new tax cuts favoring the richest Americans. Doing this would increase the annual budget deficit – which had been high during President Barack Obama’s early budgets because of the need to stimulate the economy but had been dramatically decreased during Obama’s last two years in office.

Republicans, led by President Donald Trump’s economic advisor Larry Kudlow, will use the growing deficit to push through cuts in programs like Social Security and Medicare (affecting retirees) and the social safety net (on which the poor rely).

While tax cuts to corporations and the rich have created a lot of wealth for them, little of it has “trickled down.” Unemployment for September was 3.7 percent, the lowest it has been since 1969, and yet there have not been significant pay raises to workers, nor have we seen the greatly increased investment and economic growth that would be expected. Instead, most of the added income has gone into corporate stock buybacks and increased dividends, both benefiting the rich but doing nothing to lower deficits or stimulate economic growth.

The rich get richer and the rest get conned by Trump and the Republicans.

A welcome perspective on Sea Pines

It was so refreshing to read a Sea Pines resident be completely open and transparent about the gate charges for visitors. A recent letter stated that during restructuring, property association fees were capped and property owners’ fees in Sea Pines are among the lowest on Hilton Head Island.

Visitors and commercial interests are expected to pay for infrastructure improvements. Costs borne by property owners have decreased, while revenue from gate fees have increased. The letter stated that property owners should accept their responsibility without fracturing outside relationships. What integrity.

Except for the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing golf tournament, there is nothing to see or do that is not available outside their gates and we assure our many guests of that. Absolutely nothing. Unknowing visitors are not so lucky.