A Few Thoughts on Ukraine

 

First, this is not the time for criticism of Joe Biden or his administration and arguing over decisions made in the past that people might believe have led to the predicament we find ourselves in today.  There will be plenty of time for a critical analysis when this particular crisis is over.  We should all be praying for Joe Biden and hoping that he makes good decisions for The United States and the world today.  Previous Presidents should take a hint from the George W. Bush and Barack Obama who have been completely silent far.  They understand how difficult that job is and I’m sure that they would privately offer advice if it was solicited, but silence for now is the best policy for them.

Given that, however, there are a few pieces of advice that I would offer President Biden if I were asked.  First, I think we should quickly shift to an all-of-the-above energy strategy.  This would include approving the completion of the Keystone Pipeline and opening up federal lands for more oil drilling and exploration.  This would not have an immediate impact on the supply of oil here, but it might actually have an immediate impact on the price of oil around the world.  It would certainly lower the global price of oil in the future, which would punish Russia whose primary source of income comes from oil and natural gas.  Right now, as the price of oil hovers at around $100 a barrel, it rewards and strengthens Russia’s ability to finance aggression against Ukraine or other countries he fancies should be part of a new Soviet Union.

This is similar to what is happening on our southern border.  Our current open border policy is enriching the cartels, some very bad people.  So, while strengthening our southern border would not affect Ukraine, it would apply the same principle to both situations.  Make sure US policies don’t reward bad people, particularly our geopolitical foes.

Another message needs to be sent to Russia, and that is that the world cannot continue to just watch what is going on in Ukraine.  This is an unprovoked attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty, and if we allow this today, where does it stop?  How long will Taiwan be safe?  Israel?  Lithuania?  Latvia?  Estonia?  South Korea?  This would take a masterful effort to unite the key players in the world, but it would be worth the effort to insure a more peaceful future.  It could start with the NATO countries to come to the defense of Ukraine as if it were a member.  

This would take real leadership, but as the long-accepted maxim suggests, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  Right now, the world is watching evil triumph.  When will we all conclude that “We” are the good men that this adage is referencing.

OH CAN-A-DA

 

I have been watching the Canadian Convoy Protest for almost a week now and decided that I had to convey my observations to my readers.  First, this protest is serious.  While there have been wild exaggerations about the size of the crowds, there has been very little written about any accurate estimates of crowd sizes.  Let me clear up some of the confusion.  There are thousands of vehicles and tens of thousands of people involved, non-stop for over a week now.  These people are paying a price, literally and figuratively.  They believe in their cause, and that cause is freedom of choice.

These men and women are also not confused about what they are fighting for – Liberty.  They are articulate and consistent with their message and they are incredibly peaceful.  I haven’t seen one Canadian small business or automobile on fire, in fact the only fires I have seen have been in grills or in campfires to keep people warm.  They actually have “bouncy houses” for kids to play in, something I can’t say was found in any of the 574 riots in “the summer of love” in 2020.  While the riots of 2020 were described as “mostly peaceful”, these protests could and should be described as completely peaceful.

Maybe the biggest question is, are the truckers’ demands reasonable?  At a time when eight entire countries including the UK, France and Italy are canceling restrictions and returning their citizenry to normalcy, Justin Trudeau is punishing and demonizing Canadians, his own people, for even suggesting a similar position in their own country.  Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, is judging the protestors beliefs as “unacceptable”.  Is this even consistent with Canada’s Bill of Rights?  Does Canada even have a Bill of Rights?  The answer is – Yes and no.

In 1960, Canada established a Canadian Bill of Rights, which was proven to be ineffective because it applied only to federal statutes and not to the Provinces.  It was replaced by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 which is still in effect today.  Interestingly, section 2 of that charter states that all Canadians have “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression”.  That section also guarantees Canadians’ “freedom to peacefully assemble”.  It seems that Trudeau’s statement in front of their Parliament violates these truckers’ freedom of thought, belief and opinion, and his hostile handling of the protestors violates their right to peacefully assemble.  It all depends on how you define “peaceful”.  These protests are clearly not violent, but they are making inter-province and international commerce inconvenient.

Trudeau also seems to be misreading the growing support for the truckers.  The latest polls show that 46% (almost half) of Canadians support the protestors.  Is Trudeau suggesting that nearly half of his constituents, about 18 million people, have “unacceptable” thoughts, beliefs or opinions?  And this support is growing.

Finally, is this the right time to take this stand or group of people to attack.? At a time when infections are plunging in Canada and the US and entire countries and states here in America are eliminating vaccine passports, is now the time to be so stubborn?  Eighty per cent of Canadians are fully vaccinated, one of highest rates in the world and well above the 64% level here in the US.  And according to Johns Hopkins, 90% of the Canadian truckers are fully vaccinated.  Are these the people Trudeau should be demonizing?  Clearly these people are not anti-vaccination.  They are simply anti-mandate.  Plus, truckers practically define the concept of self-isolation.  They are in their trucks by themselves for most of their working days.  Do we really need to take away their livelihoods and destroy their lives when they pose virtually zero risk to anyone else in Canada or the US?  These truckers were our heroes just a year ago when they kept our stores supplied when the vaccines were not available.  They have not turned into racist, Nazi demons since then.

The only question anyone might have about this strike is if it is causing too much financial damage to Canada and the US.  Clearly it is not violent.  Is it too inconvenient?  That’s a good question.  But in addition to that question I would add a couple more.  Given Justin Trudeau’s disdain for the truckers’ opinion and plight, what is the likelihood that he would even listen to them without the financial pressure?  Also, do you support the right of unions to strike here in America which always includes the shutdown of plants and facilities with the intent of causing financial discomfort?  It is this discomfort that our unions and these truckers depend on to force negotiations.

Given an impartial analysis of this situation, I support the truckers and see Justin Trudeau as a stubborn, out of touch elitist who will only yield when his personal legacy is in jeopardy.  Come on, Justin.  Just talk to the truckers before you try to destroy all of their lives.

Biden Becomes Republican's Critic & Counselor

 

During his first press conference of 2022, Joe Bidden turned into a chief counsel for the Republican Party.  He started by accusing Republicans of not standing for anything and just being against everything, the party of “NO”.  It is an easy claim to make in front of a friendly media corps, especially when he would get no push back because he didn’t take any questions.  If he had been in a debate, he would have been crushed by his Republican opponent who would have delivered a long list of tantalizingly good policies they plan to pursue.  Joe also, unwittingly, revealed the Democrat plan to try to hold on to the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms.  They plan to paint the Republican Party as the party of no.  This gives plenty of time to prepare their campaign.  It’s the equivalent of giving Tom Brady two minutes and three timeouts in the fourth quarter to deliver a field goal to win the game.

There are actually a number of bills Republicans (conservatives) should not only talk about, but promise to pass and put on Joe’s desk in 2023.  Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Contract with America included 10 pieces of legislation that he would bring up if and when Republicans were at the helm.  He used the contract to position his party as the party that was fiscally responsible, pro-police and anti-criminal, and for welfare reform and lower taxes.  Newt’s Contract with America gained 54 seats in the House and 10 seats in the Senate and flipped both the House and the Senate from Democrat to Republican majorities which they maintained for the next 12 years. Interestingly, some of those issues are still important even today, but there are, in my opinion at least four areas that conservatives should focus on for 2022, and do so publicly and nationally.

Amazingly, I believe one of the biggest issues in this next election will be border security.  While President Trump made this a big issue in 2016 and did deliver much of his wall, it is clear that there is more to be done.  I believe the wall needs to be completed in strategic areas but given the record two million apprehensions and an estimated 600,000 got-aways this year it shows that the wall is not enough.  We need more technology and boots on the ground, but we must also eliminate “catch and release” and other incentives to cross illegally.  This is still a huge issue with Americans and even 50% of Hispanic Americans favor a secure border.

Any discussion on border security, however, should include a promise to address the millions of people still living here illegally.  According to Pew Research, 74% of Americans favor giving legal status for children brought here by their parents without their knowledge or consent (the DACA persons).  I believe we should offer them a path to citizenship, but whatever border security legislation becomes part of this new contract it needs to address hard working Hispanic Americans that are still living in the shadows in America.

Another plank for this new contract needs to be a pro-police, anti-crime piece of legislation.  While much of law enforcement is controlled at the state and local levels, there is still much that the federal government can to do help.  Interestingly enough, this was also a part of the Newt’s contract with America back in 1994.  The original contract promised more federal money that could ONLY be used to put more police on the streets and required harsher penalties for violent crimes.  The same could and should be promised today.

Next, the contract needs to be a pro-parent document.  Between local school boards and the Biden administration, parents today are under attack.  Two things finally put a spotlight on this issue.  First, the pandemic forced children into remote learning and parents finally saw for themselves what was being taught in schools and were shocked.  Then, Glenn Youngkin made parents’ rights a key topic of discussion in the Virginia Governor’s race.  He sided with parents vs the teachers’ unions and he won.  Then, Merrick Garland, Biden’s Attorney General, created a special task force to investigate parents who attended school board meetings at the behest of the NSBA (National School Boards Association).  This drew the line of demarcation in this battle.  The Democrat party was siding with the campaign money provided by teachers’ unions, and Republicans have chosen parents.  While money will always be important for politicians, there are WAY more parents in this country than teachers and I believe Republicans will be on the right side of history here.

Finally, Republicans should grasp the mantle of fiscal responsibly and promise to balance the budget and stop piling mountains of debt on to the backs of our children.  They are the ones who will have to pick up the tab for today’s mindless spending.  And I disagree with Nancy Pelosi who famously said that, “we don’t have a spending problem” in America.  She suggested that our government can tax its way out of our fiscal problems.  To cure our deficit spending disease, we will have to make some tough spending reduction decisions on discretionary spending like Defense and the size of government and even mandatory spending like Social Security and Medicare.  These cuts, however, are not just good ideas, they are unavoidable.

There could be other planks to this new Contract with America, but the important thing is that the Republican Party needs to become the party of promise, hope and action and not just the party of “no”.

Our Hyperbolic, Divider in Chief

             It will probably not shock my reading audience to hear that I did not vote for Joe Biden, but it may surprise some as to why.  You would think that I made my decision based on policies, but that would not be true.  I knew very little about Joe Biden’s proposed policies because he spent most of the Presidential campaign in his basement masked even when isolated.  The few positions I did know about (rejoining the Paris Accord and re-engaging with Iran) I didn’t like.  But to be honest, I didn’t vote for Joe because of his advanced age.  

            Joe is 78 and will be 82 by the end of his first term.  The few times I did see Joe, I was convinced that he had lost his fastball and was just not capable of handling the challenges of the toughest job in the world.  When he eventually won, the one ray of hope that I had was that Joe promised to work across the aisle and unite America in the process.  It didn’t take him long, however, to break those promises and dash the little hope I had that he could unify the country.

The 2020 election left us with the most evenly split Congress in our nation’s history.  We now have a 50-50 split in the Senate and a 51% to 49% division in the House where Republicans actually picked up 13 seats in 2020 despite the fact that Joe Biden won the Presidency.  That almost never happens.  If the 2020 election was a mandate for anything it was a mandate for cooperation, consensus, and working across the ideological aisle. Yet, in his first month in office President Biden set a record for executive orders which didn’t even require working with his own party, let alone Republicans.  This is the action of a king, not a President who promised to work with representatives of both parties.  Then he and his party in the House and Senate excluded Republicans from the planning processes for his big pieces of legislation.  This early partisanship further shattered my hopes that Joe would deliver on his promise of unity.

Since then Joe has managed to divide the country in more ways than I thought was even possible.  He has blamed the unvaccinated for Covid-19 results and has, for all intents and purposes, let the Chinese Communist Party off the hook.  This has turned the vaxed against the unvaxed even though many of his own voters in the Black community are the most hesitant.  He has pitted Blacks against Whites and vice versa by ignoring the violence and destruction of BLM and Antifa during the “summer of love” and then obsessing over white supremacy which is virtually nonexistent in this great country.

He has turned the rich against the poor or should I say the poor against the rich?  I guess it’s best for Joe if we all hate each other.   He certainly leaned towards the rich, however, since he took tons of money from them to win the Presidency.  But, they need not worry.  Even if Joe increases tax rates on the wealthy, Congress will build in plenty of loopholes for them to wiggle through.  And certainly, Joe has turned Democrats and Republicans against each other.

His recent hyperbolic speech attempting to sell his Freedom to Vote Act was a character assassination of the vast majority Americans.  There are legitimate and thoughtful reasons to oppose this bill.  First of all, it violates the 10^thamendment to the constitution which limits the power of the Federal Government to those inumerated in the Constitution, and establishing voting rules for every state is not enumerated.  The 10^th amendment puts the power to establish those rules in the hands of the states.  Despite that fact, Joe compared people who oppose this bill to George Wallace, Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis (all Democrats BTW).  I don’t know the hearts of any of these men, but most people would connect their names with segregation and slavery.  So, Joe is suggesting that anyone who wants voter ID is a racist.  Now, I’m sure he intended this insult to land on Republicans, but voter ID is supported by 81% of all Americans, 77% of Black America, 78% of Hispanics and even 65% of Democrats.  81% of America is racist?  Really?  

But Joe still wasn’t finished with his campaign to divide America.  He headed back to Washington to kill the last vestiges of civility and collaboration left in the Senate and maybe all of Congress.  Yesterday, he attempted to convince Democrats in the Senate to eliminate the filibuster.  First, let me explain what the Filibuster is.  It is a rule in the Senate that requires 60 votes in the Senate (a supermajority) to end debate on a bill so that it can come to a vote.  This concept has been in the Senate since its establishment so as to make the Senate a cooling off chamber and a more deliberative body than the fiery and passionate House of Representatives.  It has also been in the actual rules of the Senate for almost 200 years and the super-majority cloture vote has been in the rules for over 100 years. The Founders favored this process to avoid what they called “the tyranny of the majority”.  The filibuster was intended to protect the minority party from total impotence and force our two parties to work together to create solutions that would work for the country as a whole.  Eliminating the filibuster would leave half of the country today voiceless.

My advice to President Biden would be to make good on the promises he made during the campaign.  Be the President of all Americans.  Realize that many patriotic Americans may legitimately have different opinions than you, Joe, but you represent them all.  Understand the good in all of them.  For all Americans, I suggest that we reject the cancel culture which demands “thought compliance” and delivers hatred and character assassination without it.  Most Americans are good, generous and patriotic people.  As soon as Joe Biden and the rest of us realize this, we will come together as a nation.

Is Testing a Good Strategy

                                                               The View from the Middle 

If your goal is to keep America in panic mode, then a massive testing effort is a great idea.  If you increase testing by 1,000%, do you know what you are going to get?  You are going to get more positive test results, and according to the CDC about 20% of those results are going to be false positives.  This increase in cases will be captured by the news media and dominate front pages and lead stories on TV because fear sells papers, ratings and clicks around the world.  

What you won’t hear much about on the news is that there has only been one death in the US due to the Omicron variant, and that person died “with” Covid, not “from” Covid.  You will also not hear that hospitalizations are not increasing nearly as much as infections and the main reason for increased hospitalizations is that people are finally getting some of those elective surgeries that they have been postponing for over a year.  This variant is less lethal than the original virus or the Delta variant and, if it follows the same steep increase and almost immediate steep decline seen in other countries, it may be ushering in the end of this pandemic.

It also makes me laugh to watch the coverage of incredibly long lines of people waiting to get a test standing outdoors in the freezing cold and sometimes in the pouring rain, reading books or their phones.  Obviously, these people aren’t experiencing any symptoms, or they would (and should) be at home in bed.  Given these “lack of symptoms” testers, we are getting many asymptomatic infected or false positives.  Now, is it important to find these asymptomatic carriers?  Yes and no.  First, these people are not showing symptoms, so they aren’t out there sneezing and coughing on people.  Can they spread this much milder version of Covid to others.  It is possible, but not likely.  In fact, I can find no data on what percent of transmissions are caused by the asymptomatic.

And how often should we test when a person can be exposed to Covid within minutes of testing negative?  Should we test multiple times a day?  Three times?  Four times?  To test three times a day we would need a BILLION tests per day just here in the US, yet we have only ordered half a billion to be delivered in mid-January.  Can you understand how ludicrous a massive testing effort like this will be?  Finally, if we get the same quick peak and decline experienced by other countries, the tests that Biden is planning to deliver in mid-January will most likely be too late anyway.  

Imagine if we had mandatory tests for the common cold, which is also a coronavirus, every year and then mandated five-day quarantines for everyone who tested positive and everyone who was exposed to them.  And the same for next year’s seasonal flu.  Our economy would never recover.  Our children would be taught remotely every day of every year and they would suffer academically, emotionally and socially for the rest of their lives.  At some point the regression students experience would become irreversible.

When are we going to accept the fact that this virus is in control and we must learn to live with it?  If you look at the pattern of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the US the virus has exploded during times of economic shutdowns and mask mandates just shrugging off these feeble attempts to kill it.  And Joe Biden’s message of doom and gloom has done nothing to kill the virus or motivate our citizens.

If we want to defeat this virus we must stop the counting, which is a big lie in and of itself.  The infection numbers are full of false positives and double counts.  The deaths are exaggerated by at least 25%, and that is according to Dr. Deborah Birx from the original Covid-19 task force.  The death toll continues to include people who die “with” Covid, but not “from” Covid.  If we had used the same methodology for the great Influenza of 1918, the US would have reported the equivalent of eight million deaths back then. 

There are a few of things, however, that we can do, as citizens, to mitigate the spread of this virus.  First, we need to wash our hands multiple times a day.  In my article “Do Masks Even Work” I point out that some of the Randomized Controlled Trials do show a positive correlation between hand washing and mitigation of virus’.  So, wash your hands.  Second, if you are sick, if you are actually experiencing symptoms, stay home.   Third, consult your doctor and ask if the vaccine is appropriate for you.  Despite the fact that there have been many examples of cross-over infections (people who have been vaccinated but still were infected with Covid), the vaccine has shown evidence of protecting people from infection and of becoming seriously ill if they are.

And there are also a few things that the government should be doing to guide the country out of this pandemic.  First, we need a positive message from the top instead of this “winter of severe illness and death”, which is not only depressing the country, but is also inaccurate.  The Omicron variant actually delivers mild cases and virtually no deaths.  Stop the fearmongering.  Stop the lockdowns.  Stop the mandates, and stop ignoring natural immunity.  Follow the science.  Lockdowns don’t work, but natural immunity does.  Second, the federal government should be executing a “warp speed” version of therapeutics to help people get through the disease quickly and safely once they are infected.  Finally, get our kids back in school (without masks) before it is too late.  They are the least vulnerable and the least likely to spread the virus, but the most likely to suffer the long-term consequences of the current emotional deprivation effort currently in place.

Biden Takes a Tiny Step Toward Unity

 

During his Covid-19 plan update, President Biden took a baby step towards uniting country he has tried to divide for the last ten months.  He finally gave the Trump administration some credit for developing the Coronavirus vaccine and even (hold your breath here) mentioned Trump’s name as he did so.  To be absolutely honest, this is the second time I have heard the President recognize the Trump administration for its “Warp Speed” effort in developing the vaccine.  The last time, however, Mr. Biden couldn’t bring himself to actually mention Trump’s name. 

Then, as if to prove that miracles actually do happen in today’s world, Donald Trump responded in a positive way.  Between Joe’s recognition and Donald’s response, the administration might convince a few more people to get the vaccine.  

But Joe couldn’t help himself, and later in the speech he had to attack the unvaccinated and suggest that they are unpatriotic.  He has also implied that the unvaccinated are stupid, uninformed rubes who just don’t understand all the benefits of taking the vaccine.  I must add at this point, that the opposite is actually true.  I have found that people who are not taking the vaccine are actually very curious, thoughtful and well-informed people.  They have studied the benefits and risks involved with the vaccine and the benefits of natural immunity and just made a different decision.  In fact, I have found that it is the vaccinated (which includes me) who have not studied the situation and have taken the shot without understanding the risks or the benefits especially for the least vulnerable (anyone under age 65 and especially children).  This is just my observation.

One thing that disappointed me about President Biden’s new Covid-19 plan is his lack of emphasis for therapeutics.  I support the vaccine (I have been vaccinated) and testing, but what happens when someone tests positive?  The current plan seems to be go home and cross your fingers that you have a mild case.  Where is Joe Biden’s “Warp Speed” effort to develop and distribution of the medicines that can treat the disease and minimize its effects?  There are shortages of monoclonal antibodies, which has driven Florida’s low hospitalization and mortality numbers.  Pfizer’s new pill (Paxlovid), which has been shown to cut hospitalization or death by 89% still needs to get approved by the FDA and then a plan for mass distribution is needed.  There are other therapeutics that need approval and distribution, and I’m looking or Biden’s plan to accelerate that process?  If Covid is going to become a part of our lives, like the seasonal flu current is, it is therapeutics that will allow us to cope.

Finally, I have a cure for the current “smash and grab” robberies that have been plaguing our cities.  The answer to this problem is “Mask Prohibitions”.  I have heard all kinds of excuses for this phenomenon including the pandemic, which may indirectly be correct.  What we have now an atmosphere that allows people to walk around with masks on their faces, hiding their identities and enabling casual shoplifting and coordinated smash and grab, felony robberies.  When we accept the fact that masks don’t work (read my August article), and we are allowing professional thieves to walk around obscuring their identities, we may have some high-end stores and even some entire cites PROHIBIT masks.  At least our many, many cameras will capture the identities of these thieves and allow authorities to arrest them – so that they can be released before the end of the day

Psaki v Graham - Who Has the Fake BBB Bill?

The purpose of this article is to clear up any confusion you might have about Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (or Broke) bill.  The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) finally scored the original $1.7 Trillion bill that has already passed The House and is being considered by the Senate right now.  President Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have all said that this bill would cost ZERO, which is actually a ridiculous statement.  The fact is, that version of the bill would cost $1.7 trillion over 10 years.  The “zero cost” statement, that the President, et al, were making was suggesting that all of those costs would be covered by increased revenue (taxes) and none of that spending would add to our country’s debt.

Unfortunately, the CBO scored that bill as it was written and found that it would actually add $367 billion dollars to our debt over that 10-year period.  While some might not find that amount of debt concerning, it still reveals that the “zero cost (debt)” promise was a lie.  Personally, I’m a debt-hater, so I would at least find a way to reduce that bill’s cost to $1.2 Trillion and make good on the zero-debt promise.

Regrettably for the President and Nancy Pelosi and all of the Democrats who voted for this bill before it was scored by the CBO, and without even reading it, Lindsey Graham asked the CBO to score that same bill with all of its provisions extended for the full 10 years of the bill’s life.  You see, what Democrats have been hiding is that while this bill brings in revenue for 10 years, it only applies the costs of many programs for one or two or three years, and so on.  If that was the actual intent of the Democrats for these provisions (to only last one year, etc.) that would be one thing.  However, all of the Democrats have already announced their intention to extend all of those provisions for the full 10-year period.

When the Graham score came in, it shocked the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and should at least startle the rest of us.  The CBO found that the total cost of this bill would be $5.0 Trillion and it would add $3.0 Trillion to our debt.  That is almost three times the total cost originally advertised by the President and over eight times the debt of the bill that passed in the House.  This is a far cry from “zero”.

Just yesterday, Jen Psaki suggested that the Graham score was a “fake” score on a “fake” bill.  Is she right?  That depends on how you define the word “fake”.  It is true that what Lindsey Graham asked the CBO to score is NOT the bill that was passed by the House and is being considered by the Senate now.  In that sense, Jen Psaki is telling the truth.

However, if the bill that Lindsey Graham had scored better reflects the intent of Democrats in Congress, then Jen Psaki is being duplicitous in her claims and the bill that has already passed the House is the fake bill.  I will let my readers decide for themselves, however, you need to be aware of both scenarios being offered by the two sides.

There is one more aspect of the BBB bill that is inconsistent with the President’s promise not to increase taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.  There is a provision in this $5.0 Trillion monstrosity to spend $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, which would more than double the ranks of this most hated government agency.    These 87,000 new agents will be performing 600,000 more audits (doubling the number they do today) and half of those new audits will be performed on people making less than $75,000 per year.   I would expect that virtually all of these new audits would be done on people making less than $400,000 per year.  The Treasury Department estimated that these audits will generate $40 billion in new taxes (revenues) every year.  That means that LOTS of people making less than $400,000 per year will be put through the horrifying experience of an audit, and will also be paying higher taxes as a result.

So, you can decide which bill is fake.  The one that is actually being debated right now but hides critical facts, like how long these programs will last, and where the revenues will come from.  Or, the one that Lindsey Graham had the CBO score which is not in front of Congress, but offers a much more realistic understanding of the true costs and debt burden we will all experience.