C Thomas Printer evaluates the Inflation Reduction Act while also mentioning Zantac’s history.
Good morning, I’m Austerity Jones. I’m back with C Thomas Printer and we are going to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act. Which was approved by both houses of Congress and is headed to Joe Biden’s for signature. The bill is over 700 billion dollars yet somehow is going to reduce the inflation. What do you think C Thomas?
C Thomas: Well it looks like we are getting new legislation that will help us fight inflation. So I was not surprised that this legislation came out as the democrats do have a majority in both the Senate, the House and the White House. Thank goodness for Joe Manchin or this would have been about 7 times as bad. As is at over $700 billion it is plenty bad, but without Manchin I think we would have gotten stuck with Build Back Better and a $5 trillion price tag. Less bad is the new good when it comes to government so we have to be realistic. This is what happens when you behave so horribly that the other party wins in a white wash. Both parties might want to pay attention and act accordingly here, because it wouldn’t take much for it to swing back to the Republicans for their turn at the spending pinata.
So what do we have coming besides more inflation because despite the name – this is government spending and monetized government spending will only force the treasury to borrow more money because we can’t pay for any of this stuff. In the bill, we have 87,000 IRS agents coming with the mandate to be armed and ready with over 4,000 guns and about 5 million rounds of ammunition. I thought that the democrats wanted to ban guns, I guess they wanted to ban non-government guns. The government hates competition, just try and make a phony US dollar bill and see how that works out for you. You can steal $900 worth of stuff from Walgreens in San Francisco without it being illegal, but you print one phony one hundred dollar bill and secret service will drive up your ass like Sherman through Georgia. This will double the number of IRS agents. Did we get double the population somehow? I know there aren’t more people working or paying tax so what are all these people for?
The Democrats got their climate change agenda jump started again, so there will be more windmills, solar panels, and pill usage in America in the future. That is modern day Americana. Yes, sir. With a hand on your hip and a phone recording it all for your social media followers. We are back and better than ever people! This is being said tongue in cheek because I am vomiting. The bill allows for tax credits for electric vehicles or as I shall now call them- supercharged hydrocarbon cannisters made of plastic from hydrocarbons that run on electricity made mostly from hydrocarbons. We are progressing now, like a sloth across a freeway here we go! Look out for that semi. Better yet, we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by the end of the decade based on 2005 levels. Are we going to be freezing and biking at the end of the decade or are we going to be taking cold showers and not using air conditioning in the summer like Europe who is ahead of us in this climate change contest, except for the leader Germany. They have electricity that is 9 times what it was 5 years ago, worries about people freezing to death this winter, and they are firing up their coal plants to try and salvage their decisions.
Don’t let that dissuade you peoples, just pop another pill because the price of prescription drugs was made less high somehow. You think I am joking but this bill actually caps the out of pocket prescription drug costs at $2000. I am scared to think about anyone needing that many prescriptions. Serious question, I’ve heard that Americans use 80% of all the illegal drugs in the world so do we also take 80% of all the prescription drugs in the world? If someone knows the answer leave it in the comments below. But just to show you that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program- there is a 3 year extension on healthcare subsidies keeping premiums at $10 a month for people in the exchange. Did someone say something about someone paying their fair share?
The bill is supposed to reduce the deficit with a minimum 15 % tax for corporations making $1 billion in income or more bringing in over $300 billion in tax revenue. I invest in stocks that bring in over $1 Billion in income, ad I make far less than what was it Mr President?, “you wouldn’t raise any taxes on people making less than $400k in income a year”. Well, I guess that settles that. It also introduced a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. Anyone invest in apple? Anyone on Robinhood for a partial share then? Guess what, tax tax. So these companies will use accounting tricks to get around this and this bill won’t pay for itself at all, but cost American citizens money. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. But please stop with the cheap sales talk, it is really demeaning to people that can read.
I don’t know much about this bill and I only read a couple hundred pages before I gave up, just getting through the prescription drug talk for a hundred pages was yoeman’s work. It is a great big red bull’s eye pointed at the middle class. The rich avoid paying taxes with armies of lawyers and loopholes, and the same goes for the corporations. The poor get to keep their subsidized social programs and the elderly voters still remaining amongst the baby boomers get to lower their prescription drug bills. So who gets to pay for this? That’s right: the dwindling middle class. The people with jobs, and two jobs and three jobs; the people that drive to work and are still paying high gas prices. Remember we are flooding our emergency oil reserves into the market, fighting seasonality, and there is still a hot kinetic war involving one of the world’s largest energy exporting nations. Would anyone like to bet a prescription drug pill that gas is higher next time this year? I have two old Zantacs and a little blue pill. Oh wait, let’s take those Zantac out of the equation because those pills are under tremendous legislative scrutiny for causing cancer or blindness or some malady. Let’s talk and learn a little history about Zantac or Ranitidine shall we say.
This was first created in 1977 and hit the market in 1981 after about 4 years of testing and was used for acid reflux. By 1987 it was the top selling prescription in the world. It was on the World Health Organizations’ list of essential medicines yet in 2019, it was found to a carcinogen called MDMA in it. By 2020, the product was pulled from stores worldwide. Just to add a little more history to the subject: Zantac had sales of $2.4 billion in 1990. Let’s see, 1981- 2019 that was a nice run for Big Pharma. But I hope that it doesn’t bother anyone that 200 million Americans got two vaccines and a booster from big pharma with an 18 month lead time to stop a flu that was really deadly for octogenarians. Fear, it seems is a powerful motivator. I guess that is why the IRS is growing and needs more guns. I have teased big government for foolish spending, but I will not call them a liar today. No, that is reserved for Big Pharma today. They will lie to you, they will lie to you, and they will lie to you some more.
Sincerely yours,
C Thomas Printer
Also born on this date:
Jack Buck,
Bugs Moran,
the lovelies Kim Cattrall,
Alicia Witt,
Hayden Panetierre,
and two people that each have a very good claim on being the greatest athlete to ever live: Wilt Chamberlain and Usain Bolt. Sadly, fellow birthday boy Kenny Rogers can’t make that claim.