Mulct (məlk(t))–Monday Musings on Saturday

Of government and sports

January 13, 2024

Today’s word daily was mulct. I repeated the word a couple of times and placed it in my short-term memory; whether it migrates to my long-term memory is of little concern. I don’t think mulct fits into my vocabulary. As a verb, mulct means to extract money from someone by fine or taxation. As a noun, it means a fine or compulsory payment. Most people I know have never used the word mulct, but they fully understand the meaning. I don’t know if I have ever heard the word, but I understand its meaning.

We don’t need the word mulct; we have an excellent verb that means to extract money from someone, usually dishonestly and covertly. What is that word? Oh, you will be familiar with this one, milked. That guy milked the system dry with his various stories and despicable tales. The board of directors milked the company for millions of dollars. The government has milked the taxpayer nearly dry to fund an unending parade of massive, unsustainable, and often idiotic programs.

What organization can fail to report billions of dollars? We can find several if it is the US government; however, let’s pick on the EPA. Kevin Bogardus, in his article, EPA watchdog finds billions in underreported spending, Greenwire, January 9, 2024, gives us a great example.

EPA’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released Tuesday that the agency underreported its fiscal 2022 award-level obligations by $1.2 billion and its award-level outlays by $5.8 billion that same year on USAspending.gov. In addition, EPA also didn’t report its outlays under the infrastructure law and underreported outlays related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is an example from 2022 from the USAspending.gov website. Oh yeah, it is a website that offers transparency in government spending. I looked at it a bit. It was so depressing; I just said this is a bunch of mulct. I am not sure if I used that word correctly, but you know I had to do it. We may not always know when we are taken advantage of, but we have a good idea.  

• Yes, we offer free returns. Oh, that doesn’t include the restocking fee. You must fill out this form in triplicate, use an old Commodore 64, and pay the restocking fee.  
• Oh, yes, sir, that was a free trial, but it was for only 23.3 hours. It has now been 23.5 hours, and you owe us $85. It is very clearly stated in your no contract—contract.
• Why do I owe an extra $200 for my license plates this year? Well, sir, you bought an electric vehicle, so you will use less gas, which means less tax for us, so we need to make it up at license plate time.
• Some politicians: We need open borders; who will gather our veggies in Chicago and New York City? (A slam against migrants and common sense.)
• Of course, no one has read the Affordable Care Act; it is 11,000 pages long! Silly you, we must pass it before we know what is in it.

As I await the playoffs with my beloved Browns this Saturday, I can only pray that the officials today aren’t in a mulcting mood. They have been less than awesome this year, but at least the NFL is not milking people by placing games on a pay-only streaming service to get extra money and deny fans their right to see their team play.  I didn’t realize it, but yes, I knew what mulct meant long before I heard the word.

James D. Allen

Overflowinghope180.com