4/16/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Thanks for paying your fair share of taxes. According to the stats provided by the WP, I calculated your tax rate to be 23.5%. I just realized we may have a higher rate for 2024, due to having to remove some $$ from our IRAs to pay for our new condo. I am resisting the prevailing narrative that we should always minimize our tax rate. Worrying about $$ does not make me happy.

            I do wish that my rich friends paid the same tax rate as the rest of us, so I appreciate that you will be discussing tax fairness in Scranton today.

            I am disappointed about your weapons deals yesterday. Selling counter-drone systems to Iraq isn’t too bad, but I don’t think they need helicopters. I was even more disturbed that you gave them a credit schedule so they can defer payments. So basically, they have a rent-to-own deal. That’s the kind of thing that car dealers do when they are desperate to get their sales figures up. It doesn’t sit well with me.

            Nor does your deal to sell Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, 24 F-35s fighter jets.

            Lockheed Martin’s CEO, James D. Taiclet, must be happy because his shares just went up almost 1%. Please make sure he is paying his fair share of taxes!

            In other news, fighting continues on the Thai-Myanmar border which is not only displacing civilians, but also destroying the Dawna Tenasserim (DT). The World Wildlife Fund calls the DT, a perfect ecosystem & they used to work with the local villagers to establish community forest patrols, implement conservation policy in unprotected areas & prevent the poaching of tigers & elephants. Now, experts say, “"It's a free-for-all. The forests are getting destroyed & the Myanmar people aren't having any kind of benefit from this. It's basically theft on a massive scale."

            Please stop selling weapons & glorifying conflict & start protecting the environment.

            BYBS,