Common Sense: by Jerry Kassar each week in Home Reporter
August 6th, 2017 | 
Author: (read Jerry Kassar’s column and this one on August 11th 1tr brooklynreporter.com)
Posted in 
Common Sense: Stay Home! by Jerry Kassar in Home Reporter
“I am just one of a loud, large and bipartisan chorus that has been criticizing Mayor de Blasio’s trip last week to Hamburg, Germany to join in the G20 protests………
It is almost as though Mayor de Blasio does not care about New York City unless it fits into his political agenda.”
Read more in Home Reporter@http://brooklynreporter.com/story/common-sense-stay-home
Annual American Heritage Dinner will Salute Lee Zeldin – Aug 8 Russo’s on the Bay- Reserve
The Conservative Party of Kings County and the Queens County Conservative Party will hold its annual American Heritage Dinner on August 8, 2017 7pm at Russo’s on the Bay – 162-45 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, New York. This event brings out the best of the boroughs and this year is no different. We are proud to jointly present Lee Zeldin with the Thaddeus Dabrowsky Award.
Lee Zeldin is a Congressman for the 1st Congressional District and has distinguished himself. Congressman Zeldin is a featured guest at this event and is not soliciting funds.
Come support the Parties, hear great speakers, interact with elected and candidates, witness presentation of the well-deserved award and enjoy great food and company. $175pp regular rate. Party rate available, contact us at brooklynconservativeparty@gmail.com or 718-921-2158
A View from a FARR: THEY Are the Killers
THEY Are the Killers. Ed Farr – Contributor, Read other articles by Ed Farr on this blog. Join the Conversation, find the post on Facebook. Written contributions may be emailed to Brooklynconservativeparty@gmail.com
THEY Are the Killers. Ed Farr
Al Franken, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi are making the rounds telling everyone that people will die if the Republican health plan is passed. Everyone dies, but they want to claim it’s our fault. Next they will be calling us murderers.
Democrats like over-the-top hype. They are notorious for brilliant feats of rhetoric to inflame the stupid. That’s why William Jennings Brian won the Democrat nomination after the “cross of gold” speech. They aren’t interested in reasoning together. They only respect belligerence. When your son-in-law announces that conservatives want poor people to die, try saying this:
“YOU want EVERYONE to die. Look at Sanders, Schumer, Franken, Warren, Pelosi—every one of them is for single-payer socialized medicine. You know what that is? That’s death. That’s an automatic cap on care. That’s people dying on waiting lists. That’s death because of poor equipment. Want a preview of socialist medicine; look at the VA.
“If health care is a necessity then so are food, transportation, housing and other stuff. Must they be socialized too? Guess what the world’s greatest killer is. Socialism! It has killed more people in a shorter time than war, disease or natural disaster.
“Obama-care has failed. Do you want to keep a failed system? Democrats designed it to fail and leave the country crying for single-payer. If they did then they bear the guilt for those who have died already. If they didn’t then it’s time for conservatives to go in and clean up the mess before they kill anyone else.”
Read Common Sense: Passing of a Legend by Jerry Kassar in Brooklyn Reporter
By JERRY KASSAR
I was saddened to read of the passing of legendary political journalist Gabe Pressman. I first met Mr. Pressman when I was a young man working on Barry Farber’s mayoral race in 1977. Gabe Pressman was the most important political reporter working that year’s races from the perspective of a respected byline.
I remember being impressed by the serious nature of his interviews and the great insight he exhibited. In my opinion, he was fair and nonpartisan. He was already a legend.
Over the years, our paths crossed many times on campaigns and in government. He in particular filed many a piece on local Assemblymember Florence Sullivan’s campaign for U.S. Senate in 1982.
Even in what should have been retirement, he remained active with a podcast. In fact, he interviewed Mike Long only a few months ago. When Mike mentioned it to me, I was surprised Pressman was still working. Mike and Mr. Pressman went back more than 40 years in terms of interviews. Mike commented to me that Mr. Pressman was as sharp as ever. It was great to talk and catch up.
May he Rest In Peace!
***The Obamacare repeal that passed the House is now being actively discussed in the U.S. Senate. As expected, some of the more controversial sections, especially those relating to Medicaid, are encountering opposition……. http://brooklynreporter.com/story/common-sense-passing-legend
Common Sense: Open for business by Jerry Kassar- Read in Home Reporter
By JERRY KASSAR
The New York Times had an interesting front page piece recently about the new positive attitude small and medium size businesses are having towards the Trump administration and emerging federal economic and tax policies.
Most Americans are employed by small (under $50 million in annual revenue) and/or medium size businesses ($50 million to $1 billion in annual revenue). Of course, they run the gamut from industrial and manufacturing to service and finance and much more.
For them, the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Accord was another sign that the United States was once again open for business. The same can be said of the House’s repeal of Dodd/Frank.
The several executive orders reducing regulation and easing the pressures on the energy industry have been well received. And the belief that the Congress and the president will eventually do both tax and health care reform is music to their ears.
These companies are hiring once again right here in the United States. And in a number of reported instances, American companies that had moved all but their headquarters to a foreign land – most notably Mexico – are returning.
This is not happening in the vast commercial valleys of midtown Manhattan or in Chicago’s business loop but in places like Toledo, Dayton, Rockford, Davenport and Grand Rapids, Rust Belt cities whose residents believed President Trump’s campaign message regarding the economy would benefit them and in turn voted for him. These are places that have liked what they have seen and heard both in actions and stated policy positions since he took the oath of office less than six months ago.
As much as government and politics can be about the Senate hearings concerning what the president said or did not say, for the workers who are seeing their paychecks become fatter or the families that once again have a breadwinner in their household or the union that has been encouraging people to buy American for decades in hopes of keeping American jobs and are finally seeing it happen, the hearings are more of a distraction from a government that they see working just fine.
***I do look at Facebook off and on each week. And I have a Twitter account too. And as much as it has been accurately reported that they have become cesspools for fake news, I am always surprised by the number of people who, based on the comments, seem to believe the information that is published on fake news sites.
Recently, there was a piece that reported former President Obama as a former president ordered the shooting down of a foreign airliner. Amazingly, there were many comments suggesting this was clear proof that he was a murderer and with Hillary Clinton had been engaged in murderous activities during his administration.
It was absolutely shocking to me that so many people could have outright bought into something far crazier than anything the National Enquirer would have thought to publish.
This was one of the more outrageous things among the posts that I see two or three times a week. I don’t understand how “news sites” that do not exist, which make up stories for the purpose of gathering clicks or simply looking to distort, receive a serious look from people who should know better. Sometimes I think to myself, What do they tell their children?
I would suggest that all Facebook and Twitter users take a moment to think about what seems like a really odd story before they buy into it with a like or comment
A View From A Farr: Inflation keeps the Poor Poor and the Rich Rich by Ed Farr
Brooklyn Conservatives welcomes commentary from its Board and members. This is 3rd in a series by Ed Farr. Please comment on Facebook
Inflation Keeps the Poor Poor and the Rich Rich. by Ed Farr
In the old days you could build wealth by stuffing coins under the floor. The gold dollar that bought a goat on Tuesday could buy a cow later. Under capitalism, production gets better and cheaper. The longer you hold your money, the better and cheaper products become. At least that is how it should be. Inflation screws it all up. Inflation keeps the poor poor by making this kind of saving impossible.
If you want to save in an inflationary economy you dare not stash money away. Money loses value. You must invest or your dollars become pennies. Investing, though, is a business. You must constantly go over your accounts. Bonds and mutual funds carry risk. You are taxed on your gains. You must learn about Roth IRA’s, simple IRA’s, collectables, annuities, cost basis, depreciation and Janet Yellen’s latest speech.
Investing is fun, unless you’re poor. If you are an over-worked widow, an ascetic intellectual or a starving artist you have other things to think about. Still, you must obey the iron law of inflation. Invest or end up with nothing.
The rich are good money managers by definition. At the Wall Street casino they are the card counters. Instead of making stuff, rich investors put their energies into speculating on paper. And when they win who loses? The poor guy who doesn’t understand the game. The rich guys buy when the poor sell out. He sells when poor make bad buying decisions. The poor aren’t clever investors; they’re truckers or roofers or waitresses or yet-to-be-employed kids.
The rich are specialists. They thrive while the poor dive. Inflation clobbers the poor in two ways. It raises prices while it makes saving nearly impossible.
Scroll down to see previous articles by this author–
Malliotakis Slams Brooklyn DA’s Dual Justice System
A View From a Farr- 2 of 3: Inflation is Old as Greed and More Dangerous
The following is contributed by Ed Farr. Please feel free to comment on Facebook
Inflation is Old as Greed and More Dangerous.
Inflation started with the first coins. Coins were created as a way to guarantee value. It was bogus, of course. Emperors started debasing coins as soon as the first budget deficit emerged. Paper money made corruption easier. Just print it and shop ‘til you drop.
Electronic money is worse yet. Central banks can create new accounts out of nothing. Suppose you head a government agency. The Federal Reserve (the Fed) gives you a check book and a balance with no money behind it. You run around writing checks. Everyone accepts your checks because the Fed clears them. Sellers deposit your checks in their banks and make other purchases. Nobody asks to see the money. Everyone just keeps on writing checks.
Prices rise as a result. Your agency buys while prices are low. Your spending takes goods from the market, causing scarcity. Scarcity pushes prices up for the “little guy.” The government sucks value out of the nation’s real wealth. Creating money takes buying power from citizens. It’s a hidden tax. Unlike a direct tax, a hidden tax can be raised whenever the government wishes.
We let it happen because they feeds us this Big Lie: “Inflation is necessary while deflation is dangerous. Creating new money doesn’t cause excessive inflation; greed or something else does. The Fed protects the economy. We must have a flexible currency so we can adjust its value. Quantitative easing is not the same thing as wantonly printing money. Only a highly trained economist from one of the great institutions can understand all this. The rest of you should shut up.”
This Big Lie is popular because it tells the politicians what they want to hear. It gives them an excuse to expand borrowing and spending. The government buys everything, from ships to Obama phones but most spending really buys the politician’s favorite commodity: Votes!
Brooklyn Chairman Jerry Kassar’s Column:”Common Sense: Icing the issue” in Brooklyn Reporter
Common Sense: Icing the issue
- By JERRY KASSAR
- editorial@brooklynreporter.com
- Thursday, April 6, 2017
- 4:33 PM
Mayor DeBlasio went after Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis on radio recently saying she “loves to spew right-wing rhetoric.” Besides the fact that I can see nothing wrong with being right-wing, it is worth noting that he is upset with her legal efforts to protect the documents used in the NYCID program from destruction and her criticism of the city’s sanctuary city status. Nicole — and for that matter Assemblymember Ron Castorina, who has also weighed in on these issues — is absolutely right.
New York City’s sanctuary city status might cost it millions in federal dollars based on an executive order by the president and Attorney General Sessions’s pronouncement that the Justice Department in accordance will begin to withhold funding. This action is consistent with many past federal actions designed to get a local government to comply with a federal rule or law.
In order to keep the funding, the city needs to follow the law. The federal law says if you are an undocumented alien and you have committed a crime, the city will provide ICE with information so that you may be located and deported at some point. This makes sense. The city, on the other hand, is putting our lives at risk by not informing ICE and by fighting with the Justice Department.
Neither Nicole nor Ron are running for mayor. Possibly one should be since, among all the declared candidates, only one — Michael Faulkner — shares this view. Paul Massey and Bo Dietl seem to be all over the place on this issue. Anyone and everyone who has shown an interest in challenging de Blasio in a Democratic primary has the identical position to him.
This is a big issue for the Conservative Party in the city. Whoever the party eventually nominates (and I serve as Brooklyn chairperson) will need to be willing as mayor to comply with the federal mandate. Mr. Mayor, I know that makes us right-wingers in your view. All I can say is, thank you.
* * *
I talk a lot of politics. Sometimes, I think, too much. There are many more important things happening, particularly this time of year. The next few weeks are a very blessed time for the world’s Christian and Jewish believers. It is an excellent time to reflect on the world and the role you play in it. It is also the perfect time to focus on the Judeo-Christian traditions and teachings that make many of us who we are, spiritually and morally.
The practice of religion can be an excellent anchor in one’s life. I am a practicing Roman Catholic and strongly feel that the years I spent in Catholic schools and the time I spend involved in my religion have been of great benefit to me.
Regardless of your beliefs, thinking about one’s existence and the role a higher being plays in it I feel is important. It certainly helps to frame a long term purpose for many of us. And it provides a certain calmness when confronting late-in-life issues for yourself and loved ones.
I have no interest in sounding like I am lecturing. I am just suggesting that this would be a great time for Christians and Jews who have fallen away from the practice of their beliefs to consider returning.