A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
Trump Will Eliminate Income Taxes, Trump’s List Targets?, Family Stuck On A Hotel Rooftop
The economic fantasy of Trump's tax elimination proposal takes center stage as I dive into the mathematical impossibility behind his claim that tariffs will replace income taxes. The numbers don't lie – replacing $3 trillion in tax revenue would require tariffs of 100-200% on ALL imports. Ridiculous!
Far more chilling is the revelation that Trump's administration is now creating lists of Jewish Americans. Why? You have to listen to this, it’s disgusting and will make you mad!
Against this backdrop of political madness comes a story about a family of 7 who had no reservation become stranded on a hotel rooftop.
The world may seem mad, but our collective resistance through awareness, action, and occasional moments of joy matters now more than ever. Share your thoughts on these issues – your engagement is crucial as we navigate these challenging times together.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. Hello, I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe. I give my commentary on national and world news and politics. This is definitely a world gone mad. If you're listening to this podcast, then you are part of the resistance and I welcome you. Let's get right to the heart of things.
Speaker 1:Trump says he'll eliminate income taxes. Donald, it's not that easy and there's several problems with that idea. President Donald Trump on Sunday night reiterated an extraordinary ambition he and members of administration have voiced from time to time throughout his young second term One day, americans won't pay any more income tax and you'll have Trump tariffs to thank for it. We're going to make a lot of money and we're going to cut taxes for the people of this country, trump said before boarding Air Force One for his return from Pope Francis's funeral in Rome. It'll take a little while before we do that, but we're going to be cutting taxes and it's possible we'll do a complete tax cut, because I think the tariffs will be enough to cut all of the income tax.
Speaker 1:Look, no one likes paying income taxes, but any plan to replace them with tariffs as a source of government revenue would be riddled with problems. To start, tariffs would need to be exceedingly high, significantly higher than the already historic levels at which the Trump administration has set them. Today. The federal government raises about $3 trillion a year from income taxes. The United States also happens to import around $3 trillion worth of goods annually, so that means tariffs would have to be at least 100% on all imported goods.
Speaker 1:For the levies to replace income taxes, said Torsten Slocke, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, in a note to investors. The United States' effective tariff rate now stands at 22.8%, according to Fitch Ratings. So to take the place of income taxes, tariffs would need to be more than four times higher than they are now, and America's new tariff rate is already by far the highest of any developed country and has threatened to plunge the US and global economies into a recession. But replacing all that tax revenue is not even as simple as doubling the price of everything that comes into America. Slott notes. As prices rise, demand trails off. That's why America's largest companies this earning season have said that Trump's trade policies are raising costs and leading consumers to spend less on practically everything from airline tickets to burritos. So the government would have to find the right fulcrum point to balance his revenue needs with consumer demand. Now that could mean much higher prices. The challenge is that it's unclear what will happen to sales if all imported products double in price. Slock said, given the higher prices results in lower sales, it may require as much as 200% tariffs on all imported goods for the total tariff revenue to replace income taxes, in other words, to fully replace income taxes, tariffs may need to be set so high that they quadruple the price of everything that comes into our country from abroad. Now Trump in an interview with Time last week, suggested that tariff rates as high as 50% a year from now could be considered a total victory because the country will be making a fortune, trump said, even if consumers were to accept much higher prices in exchange for zero income taxes.
Speaker 1:The plan still faces another potential problem. One of Trump's stated reasons for higher tariffs is to incentivize companies to make stuff in America. If that happens en masse and imports fall through the floor, where will America's revenues come from? The notion that tariff revenue could fully replace income taxes isn't new. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has repeatedly said that was one of the administration's objectives. Donald Trump announced the external revenue service and his goal is very simple to abolish the internal revenue service and let all the outsiders pay, lutnick told Fox News in an interview in February.
Speaker 1:Now Trump acknowledged Sunday that income tax elimination is a goal, but not necessarily one that could be achieved overnight. I'll be able to reduce taxes to a very large extent, maybe almost completely, trump said. The president said his administration would begin by cutting taxes for people who make less than $200,000 a year. All right, where to begin? First, donald's promising something, and then he does the caveat of saying I don't know if I can achieve this right away. Hey, everyone, it would be like me saying to you, the listeners my podcast is getting more successful and when it gets even bigger, I'm going to give every one of my listeners a free dinner. I don't know if I could do that overnight, but eventually it's something I'm looking to do. It's empty promises. We are all sick and tired and burnt out with Donald, the false god, the snake oil salesman supreme. Here's one. When I say it, if you haven't seen or read this yet, your jaw will drop.
Speaker 1:Trump is making a list of Jews. Let me repeat that Trump is making a list of Jews. In a chilling move that echoes Nazi Germany, the Trump administration is making a list of Jews, supposedly for their own good. The Intercept reported on Wednesday that professors at Barnard College in New York City received a text message to their personal cell phones with a survey from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that asked recipients if they identify as one of the following options I'm Jewish, I'm Israeli, I have shared Jewish-Israeli ancestry, I practice Judaism or other. Professor Debbie Boettcher, who is Jewish, told the outlet the federal government reaching out to our personal cell phones to identify who is Jewish is incredibly sinister. The questions on the Barnard text were written under the guise of the Trump administration purportedly trying to root out anti-Semitism on college campuses, but this excuse is a Trojan horse for attacking dissent on college campuses to the point of disappearing people and pushing an anti-immigrant agenda. The Anti-Defamation League recently noted that Trump's attempts to withhold funding from Harvard University under the guise of combating anti-Semitism was a ruse, even though the school had taken steps to combat anti-Semitism. Trump is trying to deny billions of dollars in aid that would help Boston area hospitals affiliated with the school.
Speaker 1:None of that protects Jews from anti-Semitism, but the government making a list of Jews certainly raises questions. In the 1940s, jewish people were forced to register with the German government in areas of Europe controlled by the Nazis. This registration was a precursor to one of the worst episodes of ethnic cleansing in all of human history Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The ultimate purpose of the government's list is unclear. The EEOC is currently led by Acting Chair, andrea R Lucas, who was appointed by the position from Trump in 2020. While the traditional mission of the EEOC is the enforcement, rather, of civil rights law, lucas is an open critic of diversity efforts. When she was appointed, she said her priorities were rooting out unlawful DEI motivated race and sex discrimination, which is how the right inaccurately characterizes pro-diversity programs. She also said she would be defending the biological and binary reality of sex, which is how conservatives refer to policies that strip the civil and equal rights of transgender Americans. As for Trump, his posturing as someone hoping to combat anti-Semitism is not a believable premise.
Speaker 1:Trump loves to use anti-Semitic language and tropes. He has argued that Jews in America have a dual loyalty to Israel, referring to the leader of Israel as your prime minister. While speaking to Jews living in the United States, he has repeatedly referred to globalist forces controlling world events, a frequent citation used by Nazis and white supremacists. In a 2019 speech to the Israeli-American Council, trump told the audience you're brutal killers and not nice people at all. Trump infamously referred to neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville, if you remember, as very fine people, and hosted anti-Semitic figures like rapper Kanye West and conservative activist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago. And, of course, there's co-president Elon Musk's Nazi salute twice. Conservatism has embraced Trump's anti-Semitic behavior for over a decade now, and this list-making is the next phase in his escalation.
Speaker 1:If any of my listeners are not appalled by this story I just shared with you, then I don't know what would actually make you react. This is incredibly appalling. This is reminiscent of Germany's Hitler and, yes, I went there. Where is the outrage from not just the Republicans, but everyone? What the hell has our country become with Donald Trump in charge? We need to be fearful of this idiot in the White House and ever vigilant against anything happening from here on out today with him and his lunatic and mainly dangerous ideas. This is where you, the listener, need to call your senators and his lunatic and mainly dangerous ideas. This is where you, the listener, need to call your senators and congressmen and congresswomen and scream bloody murder. We need to stand up collectively and protest, and I'm sorry I'm going to piss off some of my listeners when I say this, but the protests happening around the country are nice, it's a start, but it needs to be 10 times more the amount of people out there protesting. The crowd sizes now are okay, but not what it should be. It needs to be massive protests. Everyone needs to wake up and protest.
Speaker 1:Do you agree? Do you have a different opinion? If you have any comments on today's episode or any feedback at all, say hello. Okay, you have the email. You have the phone number. You can reach me on Blue Sky. If you're not sure on my contact information, look in the previous episode, look in the transcripts. Take a minute out of your day to send me a text, an email or voice message. I'm not asking for a lot, but I talk about a lot of issues that you should get reactions to. I do like hearing from you, the listeners. Thank you in advance.
Speaker 1:And finally, feathered family stuck on a rooftop gets a fairytale ending. A family of seven recently overstayed their welcome at a swanky boutique hotel in Atlanta's trendy Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. They didn't have a reservation, but that wasn't the problem. This was a gaggle of Canadian geese nesting on the hotel's rooftop garden patio. Mom and dad had been on the rooftop for a while but their five goslings, who were too young to fly, had no way to follow their parents down to a nearby pond four stories below. Michael Waters, a longtime volunteer with AWARE Wildlife Center, came to the rescue. Even as an experienced wildlife rescuer. Waters said saving the geese was tricky due to their behavior and strong gusts of wind. On the rooftop there were five little goslings. They were all running in a fright, waters said their mother and father goose were both present and they both were sort of in their guardian mode and were being very protective.
Speaker 1:The goal of the rescue, waters said, was to collect the entire family, to keep them together and relocate them to the pond below. The first thing I thought was to collect the little ones because I was just so concerned about them. At the edge of the rooftop ledge, he said. After Waters collected the goslings in a box, he tried to capture the father goose. He fought me off his wing and flew off the building. Waters said he flew all the way down to the ground and was just honking like a little horror at the base of the building. Next Waters tried to save the mother goose, but he realized she was also trying to escape. To prevent her from leaving, waters released the goslings he had just collected and she came after him trying to protect her babies. I was then able to secure her in her enclosure. Then I was able to recollect all the babies again.
Speaker 1:Waters said, with the goslings and the mother goose captured, waters took them outside to release them in the pond. And who was waiting there at the pond? But the father goose? Waters said so it was just perfect. While the rooftop goslings had never been on the ground or in the water before, waters said they adjusted quickly. It was so lovely to see their little instincts step forward. He said they immediately became amphibious and just waddled out and went out with mom and dad and they all went to go live their wild lives.
Speaker 1:But how did the geese get themselves into this situation? Why would they want to nest on a hotel rooftop? Well, kara Nitschke, migratory and game bird biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said Canada geese are very adaptable and easily assimilate In urban and suburban areas. We keep our grass short, said Canada geese are very adaptable and easily assimilate In urban and suburban areas. We keep our grass short, like golf courses, parks, neighborhoods, nitschke said. Geese like that because they can walk through them easily. As she said, it's a bonus for the geese if these green spaces have a nearby pond. They can run to the water, hop in if they feel threatened and they feel perfectly safe and comfy, she said.
Speaker 1:Now the state of Georgia is home to about 250,000 Canada geese. According to Nitschke, being a migratory species, the birds would make their yearly trips south from Canada. But in the 1970s and 80s, when migration slowed, nitschke said, the state stocked the environment with around 8,000 geese. Since then the population has boomed. Canada geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. That means if someone comes across an injured or orphaned goose or wants to relocate a goose, that person would need a permit to handle it, nitschke said. If anyone finds a goose or any wildlife that might need help, nitschke and Waters recommend they call their state wildlife department or a local wildlife rehabilitation center, like Atlanta's AWARE, before interacting with the animal. For Waters, who regularly works with and rescues animals, idealism keeps him motivated to continue his work In any way that we can ameliorate or make better the effects that have consequences for these other beings. Waters said, I want to be someone who gives at least the effort for things to be made better.
Speaker 1:Hopefully you enjoyed this story as much as I did. Hopefully you enjoyed this story as much as I did. The battle with the geese on top of a hotel rooftop Great story and, thankfully, with a happy ending. Please don't forget to check out my sub stack. It's entirely different from this podcast you're listening to. I write articles on different topics. I'll be back again Wednesday. This is A World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolf and without your comments, your feedback, your engagement, I'm sitting in a room talking to myself and feeling lonely. Stay hopeful. There is chaos in the world, can't you see? Stay hopeful.
