Category: news

Just what am I paying for?

I got to thinking about this whole college “loan forgiveness” debacle. I’ve ranted quite a bit about how we scrimped and saved from the time the kids were born so there would be money to pay for college, how my kids didn’t get the material things or fancy vacations that others got because I always said we couldn’t afford them.

Not long ago, my 30 something daughter told me that one of the important things I taught her was to differentiate between wants and needs. She asks herself “Do I need this?” or “Do I want this?”. Saving for retirement or big ticket items requires asking these questions throughout life.

But, what lifestyle choices did other people’s parents make? What lifestyle choices are the borrowers making whether parents or students?

Do they stop and buy coffee every morning or make their own at home? Do they make their own lunch or eat out every day? Do they buy all designer clothes and shoes, or shop discount stores? Do they buy $1000 phones or $500 phones? Do they cover themselves in tattoos and piercings? Do they smoke?

If they do or did these things, then that’s what I’m paying for, not their college loans. They made, and may still be making, choices about where to spend their money. But I’m being forced to pay their loans without having any say at all in those choices.

If you smoke, have tattoos or piercings in seen and unseen parts of your body, stand in line for the latest Apple phone or designer sneakers, or spend money on anything else you don’t need, then I shouldn’t be paying off your student loans. You should. It’s called sacrifice.

Your money. Your choice. NOT my money. Your choice.

ESG is not a sugar substitute

ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance. DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
It’s really important that you learn about these things and how they affect your investments, pensions, and ultimately, all your savings.

Consideration of ESG factors in investing means that fiduciaries can place woke politics over profits and stability when making decisions about their client’s portfolio.

FreedomWorks

Is that what you want for your investments or savings?
How do you know if your portfolio is being managed with ESG factors having a higher priority than actually making a profit? Do you want your bank or credit card company to stop doing business with you because you don’t support woke ideologies?

How do you find out where to bank, with whom to invest?
We’re lucky that some states have taken to publishing lists of financial management companies and investment funds that put ESG over profitability when investing.

If you own individual stocks, you’ll have to visit the websites of those companies. For banks and credit cards, check the websites of those companies just as you would any other company. You’ll likely find links in website footers.

Take my professional “alma-mater” IBM, for example. In its footer, under “About IBM” are two entries: Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity & Inclusion. Yup. There it is. ESG. Most Fortune 1000 companies will have similar information on their websites.

State Restricted Investment Lists
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar just published such a list. Learn more about what it took to be on this list. West Virginia published its Restricted Financial Institution List on July 28, 2022.

States invest huge amounts of money through various funds. Think about the amount of money in various Texas state pension funds, the Permanent School Fund, and local government funds. Why would Texas invest in companies that oppose fossil fuels? Why would West Virginia invest in companies that oppose the use of coal? My mother called that “cutting off your nose to spite your face”. Just flat out dumb.

Fund managers make money from investing these funds. Often, investment decisions are made by these fiduciaries (fund managers) and investments in companies provide them with the capital to grow.

In General
Why support the growth of companies that are diametrically opposed to a state’s largest industry and employer? Why invest money in companies that will use your money to create diversity, equity, inclusion departments instead of using your money to support productivity improvements? If you don’t agree with making ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) or DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) or both as high corporate priorities, then invest elsewhere.

Finally states are taking steps to not invest hard earned taxpayer monies in woke funds and fund managers. Should you? Learn and decide.

Supplemental Reading

Is Biden’s college loan scheme Constitutional?

College loan forgiveness is just buying votes with Federal tax dollars. That’s illegal.

College loan forgiveness isn’t “forgiveness”. Those loans have to be paid back by someone. Banks need to be made whole. And that someone on the hook for this money is now the Federal taxpayer who never benefited from those loans. The Federal taxpayer never got the money, or promised to pay it back.

This is an expense out of the Federal coffers. All spending has to originate in the House. Where’s the bill, passed by our representatives, funding this? Without such, Biden’s Executive Order spends money not authorized by our representatives. That’s unconstitutional.

There’s no car loan forgiveness. There’s no mortgage forgiveness. No one is offering money to those who went to vocational schools. No one is offering money to those who paid their way through college. No one is offering money to those who never went to college.

Why should those who promised to pay back college loans now get $10,000 paid by Federal taxpayers? Equal protection under the law? Not even close.

You get money by signing a document, promising to pay it back with interest.

Joe Biden signs a document (Executive Order) forgiving payback of $10,000 of that money.

But Joe Biden isn’t paying that $10,000. Who is? All Federal taxpayers.

Every taxpayer or borrower should be really angry about this. No one benefits.

Conservative? In Name Only

This is shocking! While conservative groups and talk show hosts, including FreedomWorks and Tucker Carlson, are busy informing the public about the dangers of ESG investing and encouraging people to “put their money where their mouth is”, the Bastrop County Conservatives are doing just the opposite.

They’ve denounced a similarly named Instagram account because posts on that account dared to suggest that people should do just that: not spend their money at businesses that don’t share their values. (Article in the Austin Stateman: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/bastrop/2022/08/17/bastrop-conservatives-denounce-calls-for-boycotts-of-pride-events/65404135007/)

The Back Story

On Wednesday, August 10, a release was issued under the name of the Bastrop County Conservatives regarding a name confusion on Instagram.

The August 10 release stated “Mel Cooper, one of the founding members of Bastrop County Conservatives, stated ‘The statements posted on this other Instagram account were not from our group and do not conform with our views or values.'” [emphasis added]

What were those postings that were so offensive that they required a press release?

See for yourself: instagram.com/bastroptxconservatives (no instagram account required to see them).

They are pro-life, anti-mask mandates, pro-constitutional carry, pro-GOP, against the Drag Story Hour held in Bastrop and supported by Bastrop Dems, pro-Trump, anti-liberals.

While Cooper says these don’t conform with the views and values of his group, they do conform to planks of the recently adopted GOP platform.

Apparently people agree with them because that Instagram account has more than 1,100 people following it. Cooper’s group? 50.

Why the divisiveness? What’s to gain by publicly fighting over a name in the social space? And, which posts are so offensive they “do not conform with [Cooper’s] views or values”?

Do Cooper and crew support mandatory union dues allowing unions to donate massive amounts to woke Dem candidates? Cooper’s anti-boycott stance in support of spending money at businesses that diametrically oppose one’s views and values is no different.

The only logical conclusion is the conservative group that issued the press release isn’t so conservative after all.

Do Your Job

To quote Bill Belichick, NE Patriots coach, for a team to win, players must “do your job”. The same applies to precinct chairs.

Precinct chairs are elected by the Republicans in their precincts. Do voting Republicans elect precinct chairs to do their job or just hold the title?

Having been a precinct chair, I know that rarely do they get the opportunity to choose our Republican candidate. They have that opportunity on Saturday.

There are four candidates for the position of Republican candidate for State Board of Ed in District 5, Bastrop County’s district: David Doman of Travis County, Robert Westbrook of Guadalupe County, Perla Hopkins of Travis County, James Dickey of Travis County. Yet, only two (out of 26) Bastrop County precinct chairs were named as participants on the Zoom candidate forum Wednesday night. (The GOP chair also attended.) Two out of 26!

The vote to replace Mark Loewe, who unfortunately passed away after winning the primary, is tomorrow, Saturday August 6 from noon to 3 p.m. at Pinballz Lake Creek, 13729 Research Blvd., Austin.

If Bastrop County precinct chairs don’t show up, they’ll have abrogated their role in choosing our Republican candidate for STATE Board of Education…. the people who set curriculum, who determine text books, who constitutionally are required to manage the Permanent School Fund.

(update 2:45) I’m excited to hear that the County Chair is calling all of them letting them know how important this is. That’s great. Hopefully, our Bastrop County precinct chairs will do their job!

Time to up our game

Bastrop County better up its game or we’ll LITERALLY be run over by this type of ‘in your face’ bullying by developers. Previously, Double Eagle and the change from 1-2 acre density to 6 to the acre. Today, Elon Musk.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-15/elon-musk-s-boring-co-is-feuding-with-texas-over-a-driveway

Commercial, industrial, and large residential developers need to be required to provide traffic studies, sewerage studies, and environmental studies BEFORE they put any shovel in the ground.

I get that Texans want to be able to use their land as they’d like, but once they sell to money-hungry developers, it’s no longer theirs and they don’t have to worry about what happens to their neighbors.

How would you like your water source polluted by unapproved sewerage disposal uphill from you on your neighbor’s property? Can you afford that fight? Can the taxpayers of Bastrop County?

It’s beyond time for legislation to protect CURRENT property owners from developers whose only goal is economic enrichment.

HD-17 Candidate Eval – Stan Gerdes

Runoff Election Evaluation

Well, it’s down to 2 candidates on the Republican side in the May 24 runoff. One of these two will be our Republican candidate against the Democrat opponent. I’ve made it a point to attend candidate forums and events where these candidates spoke. I’ve spoken personally to both Paul Pape and Stan Gerdes about topics of interest to me.

At a recent GOP Club dinner, Gerdes was questioned about his stance on supporting Democrats for Texas House Committee chairs. Multiple attendees expressed their disappointment in this stance. Gerdes held firm to his position that it was okay to vote for Democrats to chair Texas House committees, even with the GOP strongly in control of both legislative houses.

I personally asked him if he understood what a kick in the teeth it was to those of us who work hard for the GOP for him to vote for Democrats. Democrats have stalled GOP priorities as committee chairs and if the shoe were on the other foot, they’d not vote for Republicans to chair their committees. We reminded him of their walk-out last session as evidence of Democrat lack of willingness to work together. Gerdes wouldn’t budge.

Gerdes’ constant use of a 5 year old photo of him with President Trump is a manipulative attempt to make voters think President Trump has endorsed him when he hasn’t. He can’t run on his record (less than a year as a Smithville Councilman), so he’s running, falsely, on President Trump’s.

And, then there’s the money. Follow the money and 80+% of it comes from out of district and from powerful PACs. When push comes to shove and a vote hurts HD-17 but helps Gerdes’ donors, how do you think he’ll vote? When powerful friends of endorser Rick Perry benefit from a vote that would hurt HD-17, which way do you think he’ll vote?

Gerdes’ refusal to reconsider voting for Democrat chairs of House committees says it all: he’ll vote the way the Speaker wants him to vote. Like the elites we’re trying to chase from office, he’ll vote with the money and political opportunities.

Gerdes’ support of Democrats is NOT supportive of the MAGA and America First agenda. It’s evidence of a “political opportunist” candidate.

Stan Gerdes will not get my runoff vote.

Primary Election Evaluation

I admit it. I’m a “political junkie”. So it follows that I do research on the candidates before deciding which candidate will get my vote. I do not base my vote on printed campaign literature which is the current message a candidate wants you to get. I look to past history and a candidate’s decisions. So, here are my thoughts about Stan Gerdes for House District 17 (Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee, Milam counties).