We were just subjected to a six-month session of the serially recurring Debt Ceiling Clown Show.

The Debt Ceiling Clown Show is:

The federal government continues to endlessly add trillions of dollars to our national credit cards.

The Feds, you see, are the people who keep scrambling to take out additional cards.  Transferring ever-larger balances as quickly as the creditors will allow - to delay the inevitable implosion.

And while they juggle the plastic?  They periodically reach their arbitrary, self-set credit limit.

And the nation goes into toxic shock - as The Feds negotiate the terms under which they will continue to barely make the minimum payments.

Meanwhile, they continue to endlessly add trillions of dollars to our national credit cards.

And when the titanic tab finally comes due?

The Feds responsible for the collapse - will have vanished into the ether.  With lavish government pensions - and hundreds of billions in accrued lobbying, insider trading and bribery dollars.

We the Morons will, of course, have to pay for The Feds’ flagrancy.

This is absolutely not a federal one-off.  We pay for government stupidity - every second, of every minute, of every day, of….

We are forced to pay for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s monumental stupidity.

Many years ago, the great Stephen Moore founded and ran a great group - the Club for Growth.  (Full disclosure: I ran the Texas branch for a couple of years in the early 2000s.)

As an exercise, the Club called the IRS 20 times - to ask the exact same tax question 20 times.

The IRS - gave them 18 different answers.

Now, it is distinctly possible that NONE of those 18 answers was the correct one.

But: Let’s pretend 1 of the 18 answers - was actually the correct one.  And let’s pretend the correct answer - was the one they gave three times.

That means (at least) 17 of the 20 times, you would file a tax return based upon the information the IRS gave you - that would trigger an IRS audit.

That certainly makes the 87,000 new IRS agents sound even more fun, does it not?

I’m now self-employed.  Thus I have to send the IRS estimated quarterly tax payments.

The Feds have set two of the four payment due dates - before those quarters actually end.  Because The Feds are exceedingly stupid.

If I make any money after those due dates - but before those quarters actually end?  I have to rush in an additional payment - and hope they don’t fine and penalize me for being late.  For the date - they set too early.

That certainly makes the 87,000 new IRS agents sound even more fun, does it not?

Then there’s the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - and Congress’ 2010 legislative addition thereto, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Patent-Stealing China and Big Tech Are the Biggest Beneficiaries of DC’s Patent 'Reform'

PTAB: DCs Latest Unaccountable, Power Grabbing Government Board:

“DC has reverse-engineered the government entity responsible for issuing patents - to now destroy patents.

“Patents that government entity its own self had issued - are now destroyed by that same government entity.

“This is insane. This is the USPTO saying ‘Congratulations, you have a patent.’  And then saying ‘Psyche. We were just kidding.’

“But not until after you took them and the patent they gave you at their word. And done what the Little Guys mentioned above did - spent even more time and money to start businesses and hire people.

“And then the government comes back and yanks the rug - they themselves weaved - out from under you.

“Far too frequently - at the behest of huge companies far larger than are you or I.

“Big Government and Big Business win. We the Little Guys - We the People - lose.

“As does our nation - and our nation’s economy."

Get that?  You spend lots of time and money - jumping through lots of USPTO hoops.  To FINALLY get them to issue you a patent.

And then Big Business immediately unleashes avalanches of challenges at the USPTO - to the patent the USPTO just issued you.

Does the USPTO pay to defend itself - and the work it did verifying and validating your patent?

Heavens no.  It conducts the trial - for which you have to pay.

PTAB Challenges Are a Costly, Uphill Battle for Patent Owners:

“PTAB challenges are very expensive, often topping 1M+ USD through Federal Circuit appeal. They add 2-4 years to most district court suits. Proceedings can be remanded to the PTAB by the Federal Circuit, causing additional delay. District courts often stay the lawsuit pending completion of the PTAB proceeding."

The government ink isn’t even dry on your patent.  And you’re already wasting years and millions of dollars - defending the government’s work.  In government courts.

The first of which, by the way, is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court Finds PTAB Judges Unconstitutional

But that ruling couldn’t have mattered less in DC.  The PTAB show trials go on.

And how do those unconstitutional PTAB show trials go?

Great - if you’re a patent thief.  Horrendously - if you’re a patent owner.

Are More than 90 Percent of Patents Challenged at the PTAB Defective?:

“Only 4 percent of all PTAB petitions for review proceedings end with a final written decision in which all claims are upheld as patentable."

So 96% of the patents the USPTO issues - do not survive scrutiny in the USPTO’s own PTAB kangaroo court.

Which means:

The PTAB is a ridiculous, one-sided, anti-patent farce.

The US Has Institutionalized Intellectual Property Theft

And/or:

The USPTO needs to tighten up its patent approval process.

USPTO Has Opportunities to Improve its Patent Examination Process and to Advance Patent Decision-Making

I’m going with “and” - rather than “or.”

So:

The government is stupid in its patent approval process.

And the government is stupid in its patent trial process.

But the government doesn’t pay for any of its stupidity.

We pay - for all of it.

Because of course.