Ventura Family Law

TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT (TCJA) OF 2017 COMPLICATES POTENTIAL SETTLEMENT OF DIVORCE CASES

November 15, 2018

Ventura Family Law Community Property, Division of Assets, Divorce, Family Finances, Family Law, Property Division 2017, divorce, family law, family residence, Heather L. Locus, Settlement, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxes, TCJA Leave a comment

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) enacted dramatic changes to several tax issues that directly impact how divorces are settled. If you are a high wage earner, or you’re married to one and you’re contemplating getting a divorce, there’s almost a sense of urgency toward you understanding the financial aspects of your divorce and when to file your marital settlement agreement, should you and your spouse reach one.

Heather L. Locus, an owner and wealth manager at Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC in Chicago, defines on her Website why this could be important to you. “Many high-net-worth couples may want to move quickly in order to preserve some important financial options,” Locus writes. “Couples who finalize their divorce agreements this year have many more options since the most significant rules impacting divorce go into effect on New Year’s Day 2019.”

In a previous blog we dissected how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 dramatically affects spousal support payments. After January 1st, 2019, all payments between former spouses in executed divorce agreements will be treated in much the same way as shared income was during their marriage. In other words, spousal support and unallocated support payments of any kind will no longer be tax deductible by the payor spouse nor will they be taxable to the recipient spouse. It is similar to how child support payments have always been dealt with in family law. No deductions permitted.

An article written for familylawyermagazine.com entitled, New Tax Law Helps & Hurts High-Net-Worth Divorce Cases, Locus, CPA, CFP, CDFA, reminds us that there are other changes to the new tax laws and how they will impact the way divorces are settled, and they should be kept in mind when negotiating a divorce settlement. They are:

The Personal Exemption. It was reduced to $0 for all taxpayers this year but may return to a $4,000 exemption in 2026 unless laws change again.
State and Local Taxes. Deductions for state income and property taxes above $10,000 combined are gone. However, this results in fewer taxpayers being subject to the AMT.
Moving Expenses. Unless one of the divorcing spouses is a member of the Armed Forces, expenses incurred separating one marital household into two are no longer deductible.
Legal and Professional Service Fees. Tax preparation, investment advisory fees, and your legal fees incurred for tax planning and to obtain taxable alimony are also gone. Some other changes — such as the raising of estate values subject to inheritance taxes — may indirectly impact high-net worth divorce negotiations as the need for advance estate planning vehicles such as Life Insurance Trusts and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) are reduced.

PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED

As Locus stated above, the new tax laws eliminate personal exemptions for the tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, and ending December 31, 2025. During this eight-year period, divorcing parents will not be able to utilize the personal exemption for dependent children, which means there will be no more negotiating which parent will be eligible to take it.

Before this year, tax filers received a deduction from income for their personal exemptions, including themselves, their spouse, and their children. In divorce and separation agreements it was common for parents with children to negotiate who could use the personal exemption deduction for income and in which year, but not anymore.

CHILD TAX CREDIT INCREASES

Even with the changes in the tax laws divorcing parents will still be able to negotiate which parent will be allowed to claim the “Child Tax Credit”, and which parent will not. Similar to negotiating for personal exemptions, someone involved in a divorce would want to negotiate which spouse gets to claim the “Child Tax Credit”. An income deduction merely reduces taxable income. A “Child Tax Credit” provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction of tax owed. It is an important negotiating tool, and the TCJA doubles the “Child Tax Credit” from $1,000 to $2,000 for children under the age of 17.

Possibly of more importance, $1,400 of the $2,000 credit is refundable to the filing spouse, whereas in prior years the “Child Tax Credit” was not refundable. The “Child Tax Credit” might now be more useful than ever in divorce settlement negotiations because it immediately reduces taxes owed and it is partially refundable.

FAMILY RESIDENCE BECOMES MORE EXPENSIVE

The new limits on deductions imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will make the prospects of being able to afford to keep the family residence a more challenging proposition. If you took out a home mortgage to acquire your home after December 15, 2017, the TCJA now requires mortgage interest deduction to only be available for interest paid on up to $750,000 of debt on first and second homes combined. However, if your loans for first and second homes combined was created prior to December 15, 2017, you are grandfathered in. This means you have a $1 million limit for interest deductions.

The 2017 tax laws also affect how divorcing spouses will deduct their home mortgage interest payments. According to the IRS the new law suspends from 2018 until 2026 the deduction for interest paid on home equity loans and lines of credit, unless they are used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s home that secures the loan.

This means the deduction for home equity indebtedness has been repealed, unless the home equity indebtedness qualifies as “acquisition indebtedness” — ie. it was used to acquire, build, or improve a primary or secondary residence. As written, the repeal of the home equity interest deduction does not have a grandfather provision. This means all equity loan interest, regardless of when the loan was originated, will no longer be deductible if the proceeds of the equity line were not used to buy, build, or improve the primary or secondary residence.

THE WINDOW IS CLOSING

Due to the many changes in the tax laws suffused with much confusion that surrounds the new rules, your ability as a divorcing spouse to tailor your divorce agreements to suit your particular financial needs will disappear in 2019. That’s why you might want to seek guidance from a family law specialist now. Please be warned that many otherwise competent divorce lawyers are not up to speed on many of the new tax changes. So don’t assume that just any family law attorney is capable of guiding you to the best tax results in your divorce. Contact a specialist in family law who is up to date on the latest tax changes that might affect you.

WILL GOD’S AGENDA STIFLE DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA?

November 8, 2018

Ventura Family Law Divorce, Family, Family Law, God, Spiritual divorce, evangelical, New York Times, remarriage, Jesus, church, mortal sin, adultery, Catholic Church, 2018 Midterms Leave a comment

Ah, us liberal Californians, you got to love us or leave us, but we’re going to look good either way. That’s because we work hard at it. It takes time and ambition to soak up sun like George Hamilton and remove lines in our faces like Jane Fonda. We like buttocks surgeries because they make us look like Ms. Bumbum and vegan diets because they make us look thin in our mirror’s reflection. Some of us spend lifetimes and fortunes never succeeding but always finding better ways to look even better in our quest to entice the other side.

California lifestyles say “rich” while we work endless hours to make the kind of money it takes to attract a like inclined individual from the opposite sex. This is how it was taught back in the 70s and it’s how it’s still being played out by many today. Once we set our magnet tentacles into this new person of interest, we can then work on what we’ve spent a lifetime being programmed into dreaming about — tying the proverbial knot with a White Knight and living happily ever after.

We see it happen all the time on the Disney Channel. It’s embedded into the romantic subplot of inane stories designed to program underdeveloped minds. Of course eventually, after we’ve grown up and had our own kids and family dissension has set in and everyone’s kind of gone off in different directions; when the lightening juice of love and lust of overrun hearts that got us together in the first place has simply dried up, stark reality can be very painful. That’s when we put the alcohol and pain medications down and get on our PC or mobile phone device and hire the best divorce lawyer our money can buy. We pay her handsomely to undue “it” at all cost. For many, divorce is by far the easiest segment of the cost of doing life here on the Gold Coast.

HAVE THE WINDS OF DIVORCE SHIFTED IN CALIFORNIA?

The skies have changed in California and it has nothing to do with the smell of sun tan lotion and chemtrails. There was a Red Tsunami of Evangelical Christian proportion that has swept through our state along with the 2018 Midterms, overturning tiny little blue umbrellas and flooding castles made of champagne sand. Liberals have been diagnosed with spinning heads and PTSD. With this overtaking of Biblical proportion comes an attempted reform of values centered around Christian Doctrine, of which many Californians generally aren’t really that familiar.

Thus it seems like a good idea for all married Californians – or non married Californians who are thinking about getting married – and all divorce attorneys to understand the divorce game is undoubtedly about to change forever. No matter how we look at it Jesus and Church inspired voters are back in town and there’s no reason to believe they’ll be leaving anytime soon. Thus they promise to spread tremendous influence affecting all aspects of our lives.

THE EVANGELICALS HAVE SET UP SHOP

The New York Times talked about how the Evangelicals have set up shop in and are fighting to retake California. That’s a fact. They say they’re tired of being stepped on and they’re aiming straight for our hearts.

Try to imagine Jesus espousing conservative political undertones, while bringing back his messages to a state with vast evangelical pockets of population. This equated to many Christians recently running for city council seats, mayorships, and every level of government to help effect change in California. Change is happening whether we voted for it or not.

The mission is pretty simple. It’s about faith and Jesus with a parallel message of conservative cause. The conservative approach opposes hot button issues like same sex marriage and abortion. It supports conversion therapy which is intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2012, California passed a law restricting the practice on minors.

How does that bode for other conservative values supported by the Evangelical Christians, and the Catholic Church, that intersect with contradicting liberal values practiced by many longtime Californians? We know those who support abortion and same-sex marriage are willing to march into the streets and protest in support of their beliefs. We also know what Jesus and the Church have always taught about divorce and remarriage, and that makes for great conflict for many who like to divorce and remarry quickly in California.

The teachings expressed by Jesus, the Church, and Evangelical Christians similarly offend many core liberals. Jesus is about sanctity of matrimony. Many Californians are about looking tanned, making money, divorcing and moving on to new relationships, and not necessarily in that order. Something is going to have to give eventually here and no matter what it is we are going to witness change, on many levels, marriage and divorce being a major one.

JESUS, THE CHURCH, DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

It is taught that Jesus elevated the act of matrimony to the status of a sacrament. This means a valid marriage between two baptized people is considered a sacramental marriage that cannot be dissolved, writes Fr. Richard Heilman at romancatholicman.com. Divorce is out of the question if you belong to the Catholic Church.

In an article entitled, What Jesus And The Church Have Always Taught About Divorce & Remarriage, Fr. Heilman writes that if “anyone so married attempts to divorce and remarry, he enters a state of perpetual adultery which is a mortal sin.” This of course can lead to many family problems for Catholics. But how many mortal sinners would those rules make out of us ordinary citizens who live and marry in California? Do we really have to be a church member to be a mortal sinner? Could these rules some day apply beyond the Church into everyday life? And does the rule apply equally to men and women?

Jesus appears to speak on behalf of men when he said: “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18, cf. Mark 10:11-12). That’s a lot of adultery for men to watch out for, transgenders need not apply. This is about a “man” and “woman” who have commingled their lives through holy sacrament. Through the Church’s eyes they are bound for life.

According to God’s law once we make the sacrament of marriage we are bound to it for the life of either party. Paul seems to have spoken for women on the issue when he said: “Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives … Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive” (Rom. 7:2-3).

“Adulteress” is a situation for the Church to be handled from within the institutional framework. It has been through the turn of many centuries and cultures. This does not apply to California divorce courts or “man’s” laws. Fr. Heilman notes that these strictures only apply to sacramental marriages – those between baptized people. For marriages involving an unbaptized party, a different rule applies (1 Cor. 7:12-15).

Although various cultures have allowed for divorce legally Jesus and the Church have always been consistent with their message. The Greco-Roman culture, for instance, allowed for easy divorce and remarriage although Church Fathers proclaimed Christ’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. This is the same thing the Catholic Church has done today in our over-the-counter divorce culture (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1614-1615), Fr. Heilman writes. Many churches have modified their teachings to accommodate the pro-divorce ethos that dominates modern culture, but the Catholic Church remains consistent in teaching what Jesus taught.

Under marriage today a baptized couple can “remarry” after divorce only if the Church finds that a valid sacramental marriage never existed in the first place (a decree of nullity; see CCC 1629), Fr. Heilman writes. The “remarriage” is actually their first marriage. If, however, the parties were genuinely and sacramentally married, they may in some cases live apart and even obtain a legal separation, but they are not free to remarry (CCC 1649). A divorce is simply out of the question.

AN ACT OF GOD

This is “not a command of men”, but one that “comes directly from Jesus Christ”, Father Heilman writes. As Paul said: “To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) – and that the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10-15). This is an important issue that many Californians will be looking at under an entirely different light than they have in the past. Times have changed. “American culture” is transforming back to American culture. After all, we were once a nation created under God.

Divorce will never again be looked at with the same liberal attitude we in America have displayed since the 1960s “cultural revolution”. Things have changed since then and that continued transformation just might begin to accelerate for the good of us all.

2018 MIDTERMS: CIA DEMOCRATS VERSUS GOD’S AGENDA. WHO YOU VOTING FOR? PART 2

November 4, 2018

Ventura Family Law Family, Family Finances, Financial, God, Spiritual 2018 election, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Democrats, family, finance, God, Mark Taylor, midterms, Paul Craig Roberts, President, Red Tsunami, Trump Prophecy Leave a comment

As if the 2018 Midterm Elections aren’t complicated enough consider this factor: The Central Intelligence Agency is in league with the Democrat Party to take control of the United States House of Representatives. At least that’s how economist, columnist and former Reagan Administration Treasury Assistant for Economic Policy Paul Craig Roberts, who was recently banned by Twitter for expressing the wrong opinion publicly, frames it in a guest contribution piece he posted at paulcraigroberts.org entitled, “The CIA in league with the Democratic Party is Moving to Take Control of the House of Representatives.”

This is a very serious issue facing Americans who believe in something called “Freedom”. We do need to come to terms with those with whom we are truly dealing, once we identify who they are.

“An extraordinary number of former intelligence and military operatives from the CIA, Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are seeking nomination as Democratic candidate for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. The potential influx of military-intelligence personnel into the legislature has no precedent in U.S. political history,” writes Patrick Martin in the original article posted by Roberts called, “The CIA Democrats: Part one“.

Writing for something called the World Socialist Web Site Martin notes the Democrats have gone the way of the military intelligence candidate. If the Democrats capture a majority in the House of Representatives on November 6 candidates drawn from the military-intelligence apparatus will comprise up to half of the new Democratic members of Congress. They will hold the balance of power in the Congressional lower chamber.

Democratic party leaders are known to have actively recruited candidates with a military or intelligence background for competitive seats where there is the best chance of ousting an incumbent Republican or filling a vacancy, frequently clearing the field for a favored “star” recruit, Martin writes. “The Democratic leaders are promoting CIA agents and Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans,” he writes. There are far more former spies and soldiers seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party.

The military-intelligence candidates are disproportionately favored by the party apparatus, encouraged to run in districts that are the most likely takeover targets. Military-intelligence candidates account for 10 of the 22 districts selected for the most high-profile attention as part of the “red-to-blue” program, or nearly half, Martin writes. In some cases, military-intelligence candidates have amassed huge campaign war chests that effectively shut out any potential rivals, an indication that the financial backers of the Democratic Party have lined up behind them.

WHAT WOULD A CIA INDUCED DEMOCRAT VICTORY IN 2018 MIDTERMS LOOK LIKE?

Democrat and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi is described as already “plotting her return to the speakership,” laying out an agenda for “when – if – she wins,” Breitbart News reports. The former speaker of the house promises to introduce a package for campaign finance reform as the first bill of the 116th Congress.

Should the Democrats take the 2018 election Pelosi’s next priorities as speaker, she told Politico, would include new gun control laws and amnesty for illegal aliens. “After that, Democrats are looking at lowering drug prices and then will try to work with Republicans on a gun background check bill and protecting so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children,” Pelosi told Politico.

If the Democrats win the House we can expect more gun control measures, open border policy, amnesty and sanctuary cities. The Politico article does not mention impeachment, but other Democrats have, so we can expect that too.

A Democrat victory in the 2018 Midterms promises an attack to impeach President Trump while others like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who will likely head the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats take over, will continue investigating United States Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

If November’s elections put the chairman’s gavel in Nadler’s hand he expects the House Judiciary Committee to immediately subpoena records from the White House and the F.B.I. and try to interview Justice Kavanaugh’s accusers and the dozens of potential witnesses they identified.

BUT WHAT IF GOD WINS THE 2018 MIDTERMS?

All the Democrats have planned for this 2018 election is to gang up with the mainstream media to terminate Trump’s agenda. They have no other platform.

If “God’s Agenda” were to actually affect the 2018 Midterms what might that look like for the average homeless layman on the American street? According to the President of the United States it would begin with more tax cuts. “We are looking at putting in a very major tax cut for middle-income people. And if we do that it’ll be sometime just prior to November … “, POTUS is quoted on Twitter as saying.

Fortune.com cites the president as floating the idea of a 10% middle income tax cut. Critics argue that might be a better idea if there were actually a middle class left in America to tax.

President Trump has also told us that we can expect this election to be about law and order which means he will continue his quest to drain the Washington D.C. swamp. There have also been less than subtle indications that Trump could maneuver to break up corrupt monopolistic institutions like big media, the Silicon Valley, and big pharma.

And what about the national debt that is almost $22 trillion strong and growing, exponentially? We can only imagine how steep the debt will climb after America’s next qualitative easing binge which we are quickly approaching. How much more debt will we then be printing up just to keep our central banks afloat?

President Trump was brought aboard the revolution by American patriots and U.S. military leaders so he could deal with a country in bankruptcy and at never ending war. With tremendous backing he is using a multi-prong attack on our economy by bringing back to the U.S. manufacturing, employment, and tax cuts for the average citizen. He is instilling strength into what would otherwise be a truly bankrupt domestic economy. That’s why we will continue to see heavy finger pointing at the Fed by our presidential Tweeter.

President Trump holds the Federal Reserve Bank directly responsible for our country’s financial problems. He’s been heavily critical of the Fed for raising rates and acting way too independent for any of our good. The central bank operation acts on behalf of central bankers only. There’s no consideration given to us the people of America or the world or the economic realities we face every day. That’s why Trump blames the Federal Reserve for badly damaging the American real estate and automobile markets by pricing out consumer loans.

So what is going to happen to America’s debt problem with the Fed after the election? One option is to default on it. Completely erase the debt like Trump is said to have done with Puerto Rico. But that would wipe out central banking as we know it here in the U.S. and that’s probably not going happen if Democrats win the House and impeach Trump.

So does prosperity ever come into play for our families in all of this? Do we have to drain the swamp in the financial system too just so our children will have a future to live for? And does that mean getting rid of the Federal Reserve might be a good idea?

American politician and former businessman David Stockman believes it does. “There is no need for central bankers at all when it comes to economic growth, jobs, incomes and prosperity,” Stockman writes via contra corner blog.

If there’s no need for the Federal Reserve Bank then what will American families need to do to succeed financially? “Work, effort, production and enterprise are what create both current income and future growth,” Stockman writes. “Demand flows from supply and spending flows from income; capitalism doesn’t need any U-3 obsessed central bankers to make it all happen.”

Simple economics of which President Trump seems well aware. We need to bring U.S. dollars and manufacturing back home, with jobs to run them, of which we are beginning to see the results.

Which is probably why the Chicago Tribune recently called the United States the most competitive economy on the planet. We are beginning to witness prosperity and the mainstream media is reluctantly telling us about it. Maybe that’s how God planned it the whole time.

Like the New York Times declaring in a major headline: “Competitiveness Rank Of No. 1 Makes It Official – U.S. Economy Is Great Again”. God is talking through Trump to the people of the world and the mass media is starting to take notice.

Did you see the World Economic Forum just named President Trump’s America as having the best economy in the world. That’s our America too. Yours and mine. And maybe we will be great again some day. The Midterm Elections are going to play a big part in that. Especially if there’s a “Red Tsunami” that’s all part of “God’s Agenda.”

IS GOD RIDING HIS SURFBOARD TO THE “RED TSUNAMI”? PART ONE

November 2, 2018

Like many of those who suffer from PTSD, former firefighter Mark Taylor knows what it’s like to fight through sleepless nights of sweat while facing an unbearable attack of mind, body and soul from forces greater than oneself. It’s a scuffle to survive, where the will to live can become weak with fever as the desperate struggle for truth becomes paramount for existence. For Mark Taylor it’s always been about him recognizing God’s guidance to truth in time of need to help raise awareness to a greater understanding of The Creator’s relationship with the awakening of the collective human consciousness.

In 2011 Mark Taylor had already predicted Donald J. Trump would become president of the United States. He wrote a popular book about it called Trump Prophecies and they made a terrific movie out of his book.

The humble prophet has also predicted former U.S. President Barack Obama will be going to prison and President Trump is going to appoint a total of 3 to possibly five new “Constitutionalist” United States Supreme Court Justices before he leaves office. The recent political battle against the Democrat Socialist Leftists just to get Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court is Trump’s second of five SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) victories.

Taylor is a proponent of bringing to light the severe PTSD issues firefighters face. He says that firefighters and other first responders suffer from PTSD with similar frequency as do military war veterans and police officers. Taylor speaks publicly to bring about answers to complicated problems that face citizens living in every community in America.

Regarding the upcoming 2018 Midterm Elections Taylor says the conclusion is foregone. “It’s going to be a Red Tsunami,” he says.

IT’S GOING TO BE A RED TSUNAMI

Donald J. Trump has played a major roll in helping to save America from a deep threat stemming from multiple fronts. He has helped stave off a complete collapse of the global financial system, helped reduce unemployment in the African American community, and is helping to bring prosperity to the American economy in ways we haven’t seen in decades.

As promised President Trump is lowering taxes and taking on the Communist Chinese regime with tariffs and a trade war that is helping to balance the world economically. China’s communist regime has been out of control for many years and they have played a major part in the problems that plague America domestically in every facet of our country.

With one hand President Trump is giving tough love to Russia and pulling out of the landmark nuclear weapons treaty over Russia’s new impossible to defend against hypersonic missiles while pointing the big finger of the other hand at the Federal Reserve Bank as a major culprit in the blowing up of our domestic economy, the ever expanding U.S. debt, and the financially devastating raising of interest rates.

Trump has been attacked from the mass media and the left ever since he announced he was running for president back in 2015. The whole focus of the left is to at all costs remove Trump from power. They’ve been citing his agenda as an excuse, the talking heads of the leftist mainstream media distorting facts and disinforming the world to shape a confused public opinion.

So what exactly is Trump’s agenda? Is it to destroy the Democratic party so the Republicans can win the House and Senate? Is it to destroy the Federal Reserve Bank and return printing America’s currency to the United States Treasury?

Actor James Cromwell calls it “nascent fascism,” and warns of “revolution” with “blood in the streets”, which means Trump supporters are nascent fascists and it will be their blood flowing in the streets.

Mark Taylor says it’s all about humility. He says the President isn’t pressing any kind of agenda. Taylor calls President Trump the same type of down to earth human being acting as a servant of God as he turned out to be. President Trump is humbly serving the will of God and this is not about his having an agenda at all. What this is about is God’s Agenda.

GOD’S AGENDA IN REAL TIME U.S. POLITICS

If God’s Agenda applied to present day politics the 2018 Midterms might be a good place to show up. Across America there are major political battlefields for state governorships and the U.S. Senate that are going to need to be taken if God’s Agenda is to be fulfilled.

The U.S. House of Representatives provides a key battlefield that has witnessed President Trump stumping all across the country on behalf of GOP representatives. This might also provide a major window into how God’s Plan might (or might not) be applied this November. There appear to be twenty pivotal races that some political experts say are expected to determine which party controls the House of Representatives after voters go to the polls on November 6. The result of this election will reverberate through our family’s futures for generations to come, so we will want to make it count. It’s that important.

Many experts say Democrats already hold the lead. The generic ballot advantage of Democrats in Congressional races in the midterm elections holds steady at around 7.6 percent, says RealClear Politics. This is slightly above the five percent generic ballot advantage most political experts believe Democrats have needed to win a majority in the House since the gerrymandering of congressional district boundaries by Republican controlled legislatures after the 2010 census.

Breitbart News previously reported that only 95 of the 435 House races are considered competitive. Of the 340 House seats that are not competitive, 150 are safely Republican, while 190 are safely Democrat.

Breitbart News estimates that 66 of the 95 competitive races are now likely Republican, while nine are now likely Democrat. Breitbart has classified the remaining 20 key competitive races as election day toss-ups. Nineteen of those seats are currently held by a Republican. Only one is currently held by a Democrat.

As things stand at the time of this publication 209 seats are likely Democrat, while 206 likely Republican. In order to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives, Republicans must win 12 of these 20 key races that are the remaining toss-ups.

Right now the polls give the Democrats the edge in winning the House of Representatives. The truth is there appear to be a range of outcomes in which either party ends up with a majority in the House.

A best outcome for the Republicans scenario according to Breitbart News would have them winning 14 of these remaining 20 toss-up races and emerge with a narrow five vote margin over the Democrats when the 116th Congress convenes in January. That would make the score 220 Republicans to 215 Democrats.

The best outcome for the Democrats would see them running the table on these 20 “toss-up” races and end up with a 23 vote majority in the 116th Congress, 229 Democrats to 206 Republicans.

To do so the Democrats will need the help of the CIA. We will find out why in Part Two of this Midterm Election special.

DOES U.S. HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE BETO O’ROURKE HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST AMERICAN VETERANS?

October 28, 2018

Ventura Family Law Military, Veterans American, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), U.S. House Representative Beto O'Rourke, Veterans, Veterans Administration Leave a comment

Not to post judgment or anything but it’s inexcusable to think that U.S. House Representative Beto O’Rourke from Texas has repeatedly voted against holding incompetent U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employees accountable for malfeasance and misconduct. Why would O’Rourke do that? What special interests might he possibly be protecting by his way of voting?

Is O’Rourke, who is running for Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s U.S. Senate seat in what figures to be a tight race, posing his anti-American stance against veterans’ better interests because he doesn’t understand the underlying causes to the home and healthcare issues that afflict American veterans today or what important measures could be taken to correct them? Does he not realize that many American veterans have had to suffer with some making the ultimate sacrifice due to unacceptable VA mismanagement and VA employee malpractice in healthcare and we need to acquire the legal means by which to terminate forever those who are responsible?

O’Rourke’s record for responsibility or a lack thereof speaks for itself as he voted against the VA Accountability Act of 2015 which would make it easier for the VA to demote or fire employees based on poor performance and offer increased protection for whistleblowers. All “no” votes except one came from Democrats, Kristina Wong at Breitbart points out. The bill came after a VA scandal that revealed VA employees were doctoring wait times to hide the fact veterans were made to wait months before seeing a doctor.

The next year O’Rourke voted in favor of an amendment to H.R. 5620, the “VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016” that would have entirely removed the bill’s provisions intended to allow the VA to remove malfeasant and poor performing employees for misconduct, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz posts on his blog. All “aye” votes were from Democrats, except one.

Cruz also sites Beto O’Rourke in 2017 as voting in favor of an amendment to H.R 1259, the “VA Accountability First Act” that would strike the provisions of the bill that expand the VA’s ability to demote, suspend, or terminate employees. Again, we ask, what special interests do Beto O’Rourke and like-voting Democrats protect by voting this way on VA employees? Who do they want to keep employed interminably with the VA and why? This certainly isn’t in the best interests of our American veterans who are dependent upon VA for healthcare services.

Senator Cruz claims he has consistently fought to honor veterans, for veterans’ benefits, for reforming the VA, and for holding inept bureaucrats at the VA accountable. Let’s hope that Ted Cruz continues to protect American veterans best interests in all aspects as we head into the 2018 Midterms and beyond.

Let’s make sure Senator Cruz, American politicians, and voters remember the home and healthcare issues aging Americans in both the public and private sectors are experiencing in growing numbers. We will need tremendous financial resources to build a broad enough infrastructure that can support a thorough revamping of government healthcare provisions as they apply to both American veterans and senior citizens.

The Trump Administration is making positive strides for both American sub-populations, and hopefully after the 2018 Midterms we will have a responsible and rational House of Representatives and Senate who will work together to secure the necessary laws that will implement appropriate oversight of those responsible for the healthcare programs within the VA that would actually benefit veterans. The VA must eliminate all quacks and satanists. No more therapy by body-and-mind-blowing-drugs. No more torturing veterans with delayed doctor’s appointments and medical treatment or obsolete therapeutic procedures without holding those in charge at the VA totally and legally accountable.

That’s why Beto O’Rourke doesn’t really pose just a Texas political issue but something that will affect all of us one way or another in this quickly changing world. A true reflection of heart and belief in God and country by an American politician should begin through not only his respect for the American flag but his support for American veterans.

GET OUT AND VOTE

We all abhor war. Every veteran I’ve ever known or represented was totally against the idea of killing another human being. Many veterans detested much of what they experienced while serving our country, but they understood the risks they had signed up for, even if they had been sold a bill of goods by Uncle Sam and military recruiters. Many American veterans have suffered unbearable physical and mental tortures as a result thereof. Making our votes count in the 2018 Midterms by voting into office politicians who understand American veterans’ needs would be a good place to start solving many important problems.

AMERICAN VETERANS AIDING AMERICAN VETERANS, HOW COOL IS THAT! VENTURA COUNTY SHOUT OUT TO 801 MOTORCYCLE CLUB SIMI VALLEY!

October 21, 2018

Ventura Family Law Military, Veterans 801 Motorcycle Club, American, GI Bill, Simi Valley, Turning Point Foundation, Ventura County, Veterans, We Are The Mighty Leave a comment

It’s what they must do. It’s what they did overseas fighting in one of America’s many wars protecting our freedom from foreign tyrants and it’s what they do here today in Ventura County California. The world is on fire as Americans are being goaded into Civil War at home and World War III abroad but our veterans are still coming to the support of needy teammates.

A terrific article by columnist JC Oberst appearing in the Ventura County Star exemplifies this dedication of those who have served. Entitled, “GI Bill benefit is valuable to vets,” the column covers the Post 9/11 GI Bill, a program Oberst calls “one of the most coveted benefits service members earn for serving in today’s military.”

Reading beyond the enlightening discussion of the benefits of the GI Bill, down under the heading, “The award goes to …”, Oberst brings our attention to something else of great relevance, what he calls “This month’s Bravo Zulu” which the columnist awards to the 801 Motorcycle Club. My first question is answered when I flip the Google switch and find the 801 Motorcycle Club Simi Valley is a veteran-based club.

WHAT THE HECK IS A BRAVO ZULU?

It all makes sense in that we’re dealing with American veterans here in Ventura County and Oberst is saying the 801 Motorcycle Club did something terrific I just have no idea what it might be or what a Bravo Zulu is, or who might be authorized to award such a thing to whom. Citing civilian ignorance I again flip the Google switch to find that Bravo Zulu is actually a term of affection meaning “well done.”

Bravo Zulu originates from the U.S. Navy, writes Tim Kirkpatrick in We Are The Mighty. It’s a nautical term that, according to the Navy, comes from the Allied Naval Signal Book that was created by NATO as a system of signals displayed by either a flag hoist or voice radio to communicate and relay messages back and forth between various naval vessels.

Armed with better perspective I can see Oberst’s appreciation expressed toward the Simi Valley based motorcycle club is a military originated kudos that has been used since the early 1950s for Top Guns no matter where they may be found or in what form. In this instance Bravo Zulu says job well done to former brothers at arms. In his column JC Oberst is giving high praise to 801 Motorcycle Club because they supported American veterans by holding a fund-raising event in August with all proceeds from their event going to the Turning Point Foundation’s veterans transitional housing program. This references Turning Point Foundation’s street outreach program that is designed to help address the needs of U.S. veterans by bringing together all the social services in Ventura County California helping to create a safety net of support to those who have given so much.

TURNING POINT FOUNDATION REACHES OUT TO AMERICAN VETERANS IN VENTURA COUNTY CALIFORNIA

The 801 Motorcycle Club also “donated a new smart TV for the 15 veterans who live in the veterans transitional housing in Ventura,” Oberst writes, calling it “a place where homeless veterans get a new chance on life.”

Keep up the great work 801 Motorcycle Club Simi Valley in bringing a little more quality of life to those in need and thank you Turning Point Foundation for all you do to help out Ventura County’s veterans. Hopefully the upcoming holidays will remind all of us that there is much work left to be done.

If we can somehow find the will and heart to dig deep to find the resources that will be necessary to bring adequate aid to all of those who are desperate for our help. American veterans and senior citizens are numbers one and two on that list in no particular order. We will have to work harder to raise their collective voices so their needs can be heard and understood. This is the only way to reach solution to the many problems that face both veterans and the elderly.

American politicians, the House, and the Senate, must open their collective ears and be made aware of the vast and growing housing and healthcare crisis affecting these two growing and vulnerable U.S. sub-populations.

AS PROMISED, AMERICAN VETERANS GIVEN MUCH NEEDED HEALTH RESOURCES BOOST BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

October 14, 2018

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On September 13, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Department of Veterans Affairs fiscal 2019 budget into law. The president’s signature gives the VA a funding boost of more than 6 percent and pushes the agency’s total spending to over $200 billion for the first time, says militarytimes.com.

Surrounded by federal officials and local veterans, President Trump finalized the measure at a ceremony held in the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center. He praised the massive spending bill as another promise made good by his administration.

“With this funding bill we have increased the VA’s budget to the largest ever,” militarytimes.com quotes Trump as saying. “We are delivering the resources to implement crucial VA reforms.”

The bill includes $1.1 billion for the start of the VA electronic health records overhaul and $400 million for opioid abuse prevention within the department, both efforts supported by Trump.

These actions are badly needed as health record storage and synchronization within the VA has been atrocious up until this point. As for the opioid epidemic that has killed more Americans than the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars combined? American veterans of foreign wars have been hit harder than average Americans there too.

Veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to die from accidental overdoses of the highly addictive painkillers, writes Barbara Goldberg at reuters.com. According to federal data, these figures reflect the high levels of chronic pain among vets, particularly those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. government healthcare officials have been struggling to stem the epidemic of overdoses, which killed more than 64,000 Americans in the 12 months ending last January alone, which the Centers for Disease Control sites as a 21 percent increase over the previous year. About 65,000 Americans died in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, Goldberg writes in her reuters.com article entitled, Opioid abuse crisis takes heavy toll on U.S. veterans. This is why the Trump Administration’s work is so important to surviving and disabled veterans. The changes in law give them a fighting chance at survival without torture through the VA healthcare system.

The final deal also includes the $1.75 billion increase in money tied to the VA Mission Act that was passed early this summer. The legislation will rewrite the department’s community care programs, expanding veterans ability to access private health care at taxpayer expense.

PRESIDENT TRUMP THANKED FOR KEEPING PROMISE TO VETERANS

American Veterans were strategic in putting President Trump into the White House power circle and they know he has their back in return. He even said so. “You backed me and I back you, that’s the way it works right?” breitbart.com reports President Trump as telling the veterans in his Las Vegas audience. “That’s the way it’s supposed to work in life.”

The president hailed the success of the VA Choice Act which allows veterans to seek private doctors if they face long lines at the VA facilities.

An American veteran who faced just such a medical dilemma was invited to the podium to speak. His name was Vincent Pitignana, a disabled Vietnam veteran Marine from Las Vegas.

Pitignana spoke of the gratitude veterans have for Trump and the VA Choice Act that allows for disabled veterans to seek medical treatment outside the VA with a private doctor. This is an important step forward in the healthcare treatment of vets and this veteran understands that intimately. He understands veterans will actually have options in the direction they take for their healthcare that go beyond red tape and inadequate VA doctors.

“I must say that I really am impressed that you and your government are focused on making our country’s promise to us a reality because you know what? We earned it,” Pitignana said to Trump. “No longer do they have to stand and wait and not get the proper care… that’s because of you.”

Trump promised to continue supporting veterans and noted that the Veterans Affairs budget was at it’s biggest ever and promoted recent reform legislation to give veterans more choice and to make it easier to fire bad actors in the system.

“We had people that really mistreated our veterans,” breitbart.com quotes President Trump as saying while pointing to “sadists” and “thieves” who used to run the VA system. “They are now being held accountable.”

The letter of the law is returning to American veteran healthcare as it is in greater America and much of that has to do with Trump. “President Trump is the first candidate and the first president to put veterans at the center of his campaign,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie says about the president.

The trend cannot stop now. More money has to be dedicated by lawmakers to the healthcare of those brave men and women who fight for our country through the U.S. military and this needs to be done now while our president is in the White House.

BOTTOM LINE

If this all gets cleaned up before 2020, there may be no need for Mr. Trump to come back. But that will mean the swamp is clean and American veterans everywhere, men and women, will have been provided with adequate funding for state of the art health and homecare that so many of them are still missing.

There’s plenty more work to be done. Our veterans need greater healing alternatives than they presently have, that go beyond basic Western Medicine and Big Pharma that they are still dependent upon. The money that President Trump has signed into law in Las Vegas is just the beginning. It only addresses certain although important aspects of what plagues military veterans who still needlessly suffer physically and emotionally in great numbers, but it is a good start.