Tag: Economy

Republicrats are scrambling

July 21, 2026

Donald Trump is preparing to accuse every state of rigging the election this year when his party is defeated in Congress and the Senate. His bill would allow him to violate our Constitution and force the court system to, once again, keep him from overstepping the powers that this document gives the president.

He has announced that he will not sign any more of the bills that our legally elected legislators have approved until they give in to his childish temper tantrum. Parents, how much of your time is spent fighting to get your children to listen to you? Is our Chief Executive acting like a spoiled brat?

Let’s look at the problems in our country. Skyrocketing inflation, severe weather, poverty, the breakdown of our families, and the list goes on. These are the things that we want our government to address. The question is how? How do we go about solving these problems?

This bill that President Trump wants passed will solve which of these difficulties? That’s correct, none of them. Its purpose is to give our federal officials more control over elections. According to our Constitution, that right falls to the state governments. We are The United States of America.

We will start with our economic problems. Many people are having trouble paying rent, providing food, and maintaining their homes. Our Missouri state legislature has given us the opportunity in our Amendment Five to eliminate our state income tax and save a lot of the citizens a great deal of money.

The problem is that to accomplish this, all we the people must do is revoke a Constitutional Amendment we passed decades ago that does not allow them to tax us without asking us first. I would like my taxes reduced. I am retired, and my wife is also. Our state taxes on income are practically nonexistent.

This would have been great when we were working, or would it? How much money is left at the end of your month? For us, it was little to none. Another way of putting this is to consider how much must be paid each month when the paycheck is spent. For us, that was often a week or more. If you stop taking my state taxes out of my pay each week and increase the cost of food, fuel, and rent by an equal amount, you have not helped me, the taxpayer.

This bill won’t help me; it will aid elected officials in raising more money from people who can afford to finance their election campaigns. They are the ones who are paying for the ads where a little old lady says that she will have more money for her grandchildren.

Give me a break. Do I look that stupid? Whether it is in the national legislature or our state houses, we need to see a lie when we are told one. Stop the ones who are lying to us by voting them out of office. Here in Missouri, August fourth is our primary election. Do not allow these corrupt individuals to keep their jobs.

Let’s give someone else the chance to represent us, and do not listen to the names that their opponents are being called. I am talking about “woke,” “liberal,” and “Democrat,” here in the seventh district of Missouri.

What names are your incumbents calling others where you live? And what are they trying to get you to believe that is not true? If you look closely, you will see their lies as well.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

Trujmpy bear is back.

March 11, 2022

Have you seen the latest TV commercial for the new and improved Trumpy Bear? He still has the long hair that looks like a toupee’. He now sports a tie that says America First. If you have ever wondered why things like these special stuffed animals are marketed, I will give you that answer.

In Economics 101 my freshman year in college the instructor told us about the concept of supply and demand. This is the basic tenant of the American idea of free trade. Manufacturers make what they want. Stores buy what they think they can sell.

The price is set by the manufacturer in the form of the MSRP. That means the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. Many retailers use this price as their price. When you see items on sale for 20% or more off, they mean that is off the MSRP. Most retail stores want to make a minimum of 45% profit on their sales. Often the suggested price allows the stores to make up to 80% off.

If the items sell as the producer hoped they would, they and the wholesalers and retailers are all happy. The customers are also happy unless they believe the manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer is overcharging them. Those of us who don’t want to pay that high a price will wait for a sale or buy them on clearance if any are left.

Supply and demand sometimes don’t work well for the companies that make products or sell them. That is why they have marketing departments that work with advertising agencies to promote their wares. That brings us back to the new version of Trumpy bear. It is directly marketed. That means the distributor sells it to consumers.

This method allows the company to sell products even before they receive the shipment of goods. A six-to-eight-week lead time is usually enough to allow for judging the demand for the goods. Personally, I would not purchase most of these TV-only items. I prefer shopping sales and online dealers who buy unsold goods and sell them at reduced prices. When I really need or want a particular item, I purchase it at the regular price. That doesn’t happen often.

Our current explosion of gasoline prices is explained by the fact that three percent of our gas comes from Russia. Other prices are going up because Ukraine produces a lot of wheat. Crude oil prices went up the day the invasion began. There was absolutely no delay in the oil companies waiting for their cost to increase.

The oil companies use any excuse they can find to increase the price to their stations and in turn to the customer. The supply has not gone down. The cost of production is not changing yet. They want to make more money from you and I. What can we do about it? Any Congressperson, Senator, or other elected official that does nothing to stop them should be replaced.

Force those who are running this year to declare now what they will do and give them one month to stop this rape of the American public or vote them out in the primaries and in November. Remember that they must do this in a month, not wait until they are home for the election, and we must wait until the next Congress is seated.

The next time you hear someone explaining this travesty is caused by the Russian/Ukrainian war remember that they are wrong. The prices soared the day this battle began. The gas price increased due to the greed of the oil companies. They finance both Republican and Democratic candidates. The third-party candidates won’t get these funds until you elect them.