‘Twarn’t Me

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President Joe Biden (D), in a backhanded acknowledgment that classified documents in his possession got mishandled as he left office in January 2017, now is blaming his staff for the…error.

One of the things that happened is that what was not done well is, as they packed up my offices to move them, they didn’t do the kind of job that should have been done, to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature that’s there. To the best of my knowledge, the kind of things they picked up are things, they’re from 1974, stray papers. There may be something else, I don’t know.”

Couple things about that. One is that it was Biden’s office, not theirs; it was his responsibility to see that the packing was done properly. That’s not a responsibility he can pass off onto others.

The other thing, the larger thing, is why Biden still had those classified documents still in his possession at that late date? Why hadn’t he already returned them, signed them back into their vault?

And: now he’s saying he might still have classified documents from as far back as 1974? Might? Doesn’t he know?

Whatever. Those will be somebody else’s fault, too.

Not Too Circular….

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During last Wednesday’s House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing regarding the Federal government’s collusion with social media, social media powdered wigs were asked whether they had used disappearing message apps to talk with government officials.

Twitter’s ex-Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gaddee’s response:

Not to the best of my records.

Which, of course, her records would not indicate, her messages with government officials (like another “witness” in front of the committee, then-FBI General Counsel James Baker) having disappeared via those apps.

Incidentally, Baker, in front of the Committee in his role as ex-Twitter Deputy General Counsel, claimed I don’t recall whether he had used disappearing message apps.

Go figure.

Idiocy

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The Washington Post published an op-ed about the cost of eggs, and how they’re really cheap, and both WaPo and the writer were serious. Why eggs are cheaper than you think goes the headline. Then, with a straight face,

If you look at old cookbooks, you will notice that the authors seem to view eggs and chicken as almost a luxury good. My 1950 “Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook book” contains recipes for making mock chicken dishes—out of veal. Go back further and the 1896 Fannie Farmer cookbook sternly informs readers that, “eggs, even at twenty-five cents per dozen, should not be freely used by the strict economist.”

The writer then went on in great length about how much incomes have risen in those 125 and more years since, the time committed to cooking has decreased in those 125 and more years since, and on and on.

All true, too.

However.

We don’t live those 125 and more years ago; we live today, and we’ll live tomorrow. Yesterday is gone. And as even the writer of this WaPo op-ed admits:

…the price of eggs has spiked so much—from $1.79 in December 2021, to $4.25 a year later….

That price spiked far higher—over $11 the dozen—in some places. That’s today’s money for today’s eggs. The real world is today, not yesterday. Regardless of those old timey prices, we’re still paying today’s inflated prices for our eggs, and for all of our food, for which eggs are only a stand-in in this context.

This is the idiocy of the Left.

Lies of a Progressive-Democrat President

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President Joe Biden (D) has long claimed that his tax-raising plan and his IRS would not target anyone making less than $400,000 per year. He repeated that claim in his State of the Union speech last Tuesday.

Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in taxes.

Never mind. His IRS’ latest proposed rule:

The proposed SITCA [Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement] program is designed to take advantage of advancements in point-of-sale, time and attendance systems, and electronic payment settlement methods to improve tip reporting compliance.

Not even that vaunted and highly successful barkeep, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pulled down 400 stacks in a year when she was working saloons in New York City.

The IRS claims the program is “voluntary,” but watch what happens to the hapless waitress or waiter, or any other low-wage person for whom tips are a significant fraction of his income, who doesn’t report his tips in a manner that suits the revenooers.

Biden has lied again.

Separately, I’ll no longer include my tip on the charge card receipt that’s increasingly often offered to patrons as a “convenient” way to tip wait staff on their presentment of my bill. Instead, I’ll return to an earlier practice of leaving my tip on the table as cash. The busboy is more trustworthy than this President and his IRS. That’s an appallingly low bar for the busboy, but I do not mean the comparison as faint praise for him. Far from it. I may go a step farther, and pay the whole bill with cash.

A Couple of Questions

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In an article centered on ballot paper shortages in the 2022 mid-term elections in Harris County, Texas (County Seat: Houston), and De Kalb County, Georgia (County Seat; Decatur), accepting $2 million of Zuckerbucks in the 2020 Presidential election, there was this bit from KHOU 11 regarding the Harris County shortage:

“After reviewing help desk logs and calling presiding and alternate election judges, the county estimated 46 to 68 voting centers ran out of their initial allotment of paper[.]” However, comparing ballot paper packets distributed to the total number of votes cast, KHOU 11 “discovered 121 voting centers did not initially receive enough ballot paper to cover voter turnout[.]”

And Governor Gregg Abbott’s (R) tweeted reaction:

Harris Co. election ballot paper shortage far bigger than initially estimated. It’s so big it may have altered the outcome of elections. It may necessitate new elections. It WILL necessitate new LAWS that prevent Harris Co. from ever doing this again.

Invalidating the just completed elections and holding replacement ones may be beyond the Governor’s authority, but the thrust of his beef is valid. And beside my point here. The problem—and questions—flow from this:

[W]hile [Harris c]ounty Elections Administration Office told KHOU 11 that historical data was used for determining ballot supply needs for voting locations, the news outlet found that 52 voting centers received less ballot paper in 2022 than the number of ballots cast in 2018.
Election Administrator Clifford Tatum had told county commissioners that supplemental paper supplies were sent by his office throughout Election Day. When KHOU 11 asked Tatum where the supplies were sent, he didn’t provide any details.

The larger problem and my questions are these:

Where did they get the supplies?

If historical records actually were used, why weren’t those supplies sent at the outset instead of being withheld?