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Almost-but-not-quite-billionaires Adam and Jeff consider whether a national wealth tax on billionaires would be a good way to balance the federal budget. After considering the extent to which the $38 trillion national debt is compounding upon itself and the limited supply of billionaires, they are not optimistic that such an approach will work. They also point out that the fundamental problem is not a lack of tax revenue with tax collections totaling $5 trillion per year but persistent overspending which is now in excess of $7 trillion per year. So even if you tax every billionaire into abject poverty, it will only be a drop in the bucket and the annual shortfalls will continue to compound. Jeff offers the radical idea that maybe, just maybe, the solution might be that we spend no more than we receive in tax revenues each year. Adam pointed out that Jeff was suffering from a high fever and probably needed to go home until his hallucinations went away.

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Global strategists Adam and Jeff ponder the historical cycles that have seen empires in the past decline when their commitments exceed their ability to project economic and military power. Jeff talks about the rise and fall of the British Empire and marvels that such a small island with such poor food choices and regrettable dental hygiene was able to assert control over much of the known world when colonization was all the rage. Adam and Jeff bemoan the structural deficits that are adding $2 trillion dollars per year to the national debt even though almost all of the $38 trillion debt has accrued in the past 4 decades. Of course this was at a time in which the United States was not threatened by another power; instead it has been a structural deficits fueled by increased entitlement spending. Adam points out that in a few years the entire budget will be consumed by spending on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt. In other words, all other spending including government subsidies to the Omaha Bugle will be crowded out. However, Adam and Jeff agree that in the event the dollars become tight, the Fed can always starting running another printing press 24/7.

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Adam and Jeff discuss the state of Russia's 4-year misadventure in the Ukraine and point out that this conflict has lasted longer than Russia's involvement in World War II. Jeff points out that Russia has suffered about 1.2 million military casualties. This conflict has taken a toll on the Russian economy because there is a severe shortage of young workers to man the factories. The war has also exposed the poor state of the Russian military and highlighted the "fight to the death" mentality of the Ukrainians. Jeff points out that Ukraine's tenacity is rooted in part in Russia's repeated invasions and engineered famines of Ukraine over the centuries. Adam and Jeff also discuss the fact that Texas-sized Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe and should not have been viewed as a low-risk high-reward adventure like Putin's previous outings in Georgia and the Crimea. Ukraine's historical animosity toward Russia has fueled unprecedented nationalism and drained Russia's military capacity while also causing both Sweden and Finland to join NATO. Even though Russia may end up occupying a strip of territory on Ukraine's eastern frontier indefinitely, it is hard to see how this conflict has helped Russia in any way, particularly as it has become ever-more reliant on its "eternal friend" China.

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Almost-billionaires Adam and Jeff discuss the recent proposal in California to implement a "one-time" 5% tax on the net worth of all persons with assets in excess of $1 billion. Despite the repeated failures of such taxes in other parts of the world, California seems determined to press ahead with this ballot initiative. Adam believes many billionaires will choose to move to a state other than California in order to evade this tax if it should become law. Jeff points out that most billionaires do not necessarily have the cash or liquid assets to pay a significant tax because much of their value is tied up in their own companies and other illiquid assets. He also points out that other politicians seeking to tax "unrealized gains" on stock holdings are strangely quiet about the idea of issuing refund checks on "unrealized losses." Adam notes that New York's current $12 billion budget deficit could be fixed right away if only each of its 120 or so billionaires would write a check for about $100 million. Adam and Jeff believe that there are far too few billionaires to make a dint in the revenue shortfalls on either the state or the national level and that people will actually have to start living within their means--which is not a very popular solution. However, Adam and Jeff urge that the threshold for any wealth tax be just above the combined amounts of their individual portfolios of assets in order to be "fair."

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Always ready to spotlight instances of government waste and folly, Adam and Jeff turn their attention to the boondoggle that is the government effort to purchase electric mail delivery vehicles from a defense contractor that has never built trucks for the civilian market. As about only 612 vehicles have been delivered at a cost of $3 billion, which is equal to a price of almost $5 million per vehicle, Jeff and Adam wonder if there is a better way to deliver the mail. They consult the want adds and find out that there are numerous lightly used trucks available for $20,000 to $30,000 each that could be used as mail vehicles. However, Jeff takes it one step further and proposes that the nation's children become mail carriers and deliver the mail on their bikes--offering a solution that is environmentally green while getting the kids outside for some fresh air.

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Adam and Jeff discuss whether they think Congress should spend its time promulgating non-binding resolutions. A recent resolution passed by the House condemning the horrors of socialism is considered. Adam and Jeff wonder if the Congress might have better spent the time on other things such as ending the recent 6-week government shutdown. They also discuss whether it makes any sense for Congress to concern itself with something that is not legally binding as there is already so little time for members to devote their attention to matters of great importance such as their own re-election campaigns. This resolution leads Adam and Jeff to consider the achievements of the greatest mass murderers in history and to wonder why people of each successive generation think socialism will solve all of their problems--despite the attendant historical wreckage.

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Cultural anthropologists and nude volleyball magazine collectors Adam and Jeff gather at the desk of the Omaha Bugle to talk about those people who yearn for the “good old days.” As most people who yearn for the fun of subsistence living and widespread disease and death have no idea how bad things were back then, Adam and Jeff waste no time in describing some of the fun when life was “nasty, brutish and short.” They also point out that everything in the good old days took so much time to do whether it involved collecting wood for a fire or trapping animals or even drawing water for a bath that there was no time to contemplate the lack of leisure time.

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Noted coinage experts Adam and Jeff convene in an effort to calm down the public, which is panicking over the halt in production of the penny after 232 years. Jeff points out that there are almost 300,000,000,000 pennies floating around and that there is very little likelihood that we will run out of pennies anytime soon. Adam also notes that younger people do not use cash much at all, preferring to carry out their financial transactions with debit and credit cards. As the end of penny production will save an estimated $56 million per year, this awe-inspiring example of financial brilliance will doubtless help the government get its $2 trillion in deficit spending under control in the next few weeks.