One of the hazards of writing a weekly column is that no matter what I plan or do, I always seem to be a few days behind the times. So, keeping that in mind…
America’s armed forces, her veterans, and Veterans affairs, are a subject that I quite easily get upset about. Particularly so when I feel that Veterans are being mistreated, or just plain forgotten, in the rush of “politics as usual” in Washington. Locally, I get involved in veterans organizations, and I take part in the Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. As the high point of Veterans Day a couple of weeks ago, I attended the assembly at Grangeville High School where Pat Sullivan’s gang did their usual fantastic job of honoring our local veterans, reminding everyone that freedom is not free, and that which many Americans take so lightly was paid for with the blood of a veteran. (Thanks kids, this old soldier certainly appreciates your efforts.) As an additional item, I took it upon myself to present the County Commissioners with ‘Buddy Poppies’ on the 10th, as a reminder that the following day (Nov. 11th) was Veterans Day. Being a merciful type guy, I kept my “presentation speech” short; as I’m sure they have better things to do than listen to me rant and rave. For those of you who aren’t familiar with them, “Buddy Poppies” are those small red artificial flowers you’ll often see old soldiers handing out as they solicit donations to aid their less fortunate buddies, American veterans who did not come home whole. They originated shortly after WW I in memory of the poppy fields of Flanders, where so many young soldiers were laid to rest, and they provided a reminder of the terrible cost of that war. Today they are a symbol of the service… and sacrifice… of American veterans of all wars.
We usually celebrate Veterans Day, no less so than Memorial Day, with parades, speeches, civic ceremonies, and what have you. Usually the references are, as they should be, of WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq/Afghanistan. But not much is said about the Cold War unfortunately. No, it was not a declared war, but it could get just as deadly, and it started right after WW II. It included such challenges as the Berlin airlift and the Berlin Wall, the U-2 incident, nearly a hundred US military aircraft shoot-downs, the Cuban missile crisis, the Quemoy / Matsu / Formosa confrontations, the KAL airliner shoot-down, and many, many, other incidents. It finally ended when the Berlin Wall came down and the Evil Empire collapsed. For forty-five years America’s cold warriors stood watch, day and night, over political borders world wide. They served hundreds of feet below the arctic ice aboard nuclear submarines. They stood alert duty at countless fighter bases, bomber bases, and missile silos. They suffered endless hours of boredom at remote radar sites around the world watching the skies for an attack that never came, or perhaps they sailed the stormy seas on seemingly endless patrols. Her warriors stood ceaseless watch over America, never knowing if, or when, the Cold War was going to turn blazingly hot. While they may, or may not, have heard shots fired in anger, they too endured mind-numbing hardship, privation, loneliness, and personal danger. They, more than anyone else, kept the Soviet bear at arms length. They too are veterans, as much so as those who fought our countries better known declared wars.
A veteran is often described as an individual who, at some point in his life, wrote a blank check to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life’. During these two-hundred and forty-three years of our nations’ existence, millions of young Americans have written those checks and worn the uniform, placing themselves between our homeland and war’s desolation. Well over a million of those checks have been cashed in that time, leaving many bright futures cut short, because, for one reason or another, our politicians failed in their duty.
To our elected officials at every level, I’ll say this… The Republic will always produce soldiers who will stand in her defense, risking all, and paying that terrible price, as long as we remain a nation of free men. We form a long and sometimes ragged line stretching through time from Lexington and Concord to Antietam and Appomattox Courthouse, we were at San Juan Hill, the Marne, Chateau-Thierry, and Belleau Wood. We fought at places like Midway, Iwo Jima, Normandy, and in those terrible skies over Berlin. We well remember the blood soaked ground of Pork Chop Hill, Hamburger Hill, the Ia Drang valley, and Khe Sanh. Today our Brothers and Sisters stand fast in Iraq and Afghanistan. We live by the honored motto of West Point; Duty… Honor… Country. We’re immensely proud of our history, and that of our nation. When called, we fight for an ideal, that of America being a nation with freedom and justice for all.
But do not waste our young lives on political theories, notions, or whims. Do not allow vacuous rhetoric, the politics of your election, or those of your particular party to intrude on your decisions, lest you fail your solemn duty. Remember that our lives are, as are those of all Americans, a quite precious treasure, not to be thrown away lightly. When, and after serious consideration, much soul searching, and hopefully prayer, you conclude that we must go to war, we will do your biding, we will fight your battles, we will slay your dragons. But remember too, that if the object is not to win, then the problem is hardly worth risking our lives over. We in our turn only ask that you give us the wherewithal to accomplish our assigned mission, and that you be our guardians in taking every step to avoid unnecessary loss of life, so that we might return home safe and whole.
We, America’s veterans, willingly signed those checks and went in harms way, to buy time. That is, after all, what soldiering is about; buying the precious time for you to correct the political mistakes that brings on war. We signed those checks, we gave it our best, and we paid the butcher’s bill so that you, the leaders of our nation could, in relative peace and safety, sit in your seats of power and give our people and our nation your best. I charge you, never forget all those young lives cut short, and never let that sacrifice and suffering have been in vain.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Socialism's back
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." --Thomas Aquinas
Socialism marches on in America, despite the wishes of our citizenry expressed at the ballot box, despite the results of opinion polls too numerous to mention, and despite the vivid lessons of history.
Karl Heinrich Marx was a well educated German philosopher (and budding communist revolutionary), whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism and socialism. Marx published his thoughts in 1848, and summarized his approach to society, the economy, and politics in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto. It reads: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. Marx argued that capitalism, like all previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. As capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would eventually replace capitalism. The end result would be a stateless, classless society called communism. In his characteristic turgid prose, Marx determined that the means of production and exchange owned by the middle classes was highly unfair to the working classes. From this, he concluded that revolution was inevitable, and from that, once everything was owned by the people and that all work would be evenly shared, world-wide peace and niceness would result. (I wonder what he thought when, instead of armed rebellion against the “bosses”, labor unions arose, and started getting a fair shake for the working stiff.)
Unfortunately for us, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and a lot of other wanna-be communists decided that Karl’s theoretically necessary revolution would need some assistance, and the world was soon faced with the problems brought about by the rise of the USSR. Under Lenin the USSR was an interesting (although somewhat bloody) social experiment and a minor annoyance to the rest of the world. When Stalin assumed power, things changed. The planned (and command) economy did, with a lot of help from the despised capitalist world, turn Russia into an industrial economy of sorts. But “supply” (the basis of every successful economy in history) never kept up with “demand”. As I understand it, by 1960 the Soviet standard of living had yet to reach the level Russians enjoyed in 1916, the eve of the Russian revolution! Stalin demanded heavy industry as a demonstration of Soviet Power, forgetting that heavy industry is a luxury of the economically well developed nations… there’s little nutritional value in armored combat vehicles and battleships, and they make lousy agricultural tractors. The mad effort to catch up with and surpass the capitalist west cost the USSR millions of lives and untold human suffering. Eventually it also brought about the downfall of socialism’s showpiece. Now the showpiece of capitalism is trying to become a socialist nation.
Apparently our home-grown intellectuals don’t believe what they can see with their own eyes. Marxism and its associated government control of every part of social, economic, and industrial life has failed miserably everywhere it’s been tried, and still our countries progressive “leaders” insist that “government can do a better job”! Hey guys, every socialist nation in history has collapsed, changed their ways, or wound up in abject poverty! But the folks in Washington are, unfortunately, still trying to follow the game plan found in The Communist Manifesto. So far they’ve made a mockery of civil law unless they can use it to enforce “their” will on the rest of us. They are trying to convert our Constitution into so much waste paper. The Bill of Rights is completely ignored, and with the Dept. of Homeland Security they’ve turned us into a police state. The practice of one’s religion (unless it’s Islamic), has nearly become a violation of federal law. We’re taxed unmercifully, and “who knows where the money goes”. Now we have ObamaCare, and we’re taxed… “Fined” if we fail to purchase government approved medical insurance. Cap-and-trade is dead and buried I’m told… but I’ll bet a dollar to a stale donut that version 2 is waiting in the wings.
Within the notorious “individual mandate” of ObamaCare lies a grand opportunity for government. As it now stands, anyone can be forced to buy any specified product for any reason. Corporations can quit wasting their money on advertising and political fund raising while the Federal Government could balance the budget on the fines people would have to pay to get out of a purchase they don't want.
According to the Wall Street Journal, we may have to start paying for grossly inefficient wind or solar energy schemes, even if we don't have access to them! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission apparently has a plan to spread out the costs for the transmission lines to bring wind and solar projects to the national grid. A price likely to top $160 billion, and US residents will have to pay the utility bills even if they don't even use the lines! Since Mr. Edison’s magic lamp first went commercial, users would pay for the service, and if you didn’t use it, you didn’t pay for it. But that is changing under socialism. The individual mandate removes “any meaningful limit on Congress’ power to regulate its citizens under the Commerce Clause.” The clause has already been used to capture any activity that might conceivably involve a transfer of power across state lines. Forcing individuals to buy anything inflates Congressional power to “a general police power, all but eliminating the constitutional distinction between federal and state regulatory authority in our federal union.”
Yet another gem from the dank, dark chambers of the Federal Department of Nefarious Plots and Plans… a secret Bureau of Land Management discussion paper leaked to Senator Jim DeMint and Rep. Rob Bishop labeled “Internal Draft — NOT FOR RELEASE,” confirms the federal government’s desire for physical enlargement. BLM advocates enlarging federal landholdings, and “acquiring parcels adjacent to its current holdings…” This mob of environuts argue “Should the legislative process not prove fruitful… BLM would recommend that the Administration consider using the Antiquities Act to designate new National Monuments by Presidential Proclamation.” Which means that if Congress fails to grab even more federal acreage, Mr. Obama should grab it by decree. The BLM lists “Treasured Landscapes” representing approximately 12.85 million federal acres that would shift from mixed-use to virtually untouchable status. They also cite prospective “land-rationalization” efforts to nationalize at least 1.8 million acres. And what do “we the people” get? Even more high dollar failed federal stewardship, and even less access to OUR federal lands.
Is it time to start screaming at our congressional representatives yet?
Socialism marches on in America, despite the wishes of our citizenry expressed at the ballot box, despite the results of opinion polls too numerous to mention, and despite the vivid lessons of history.
Karl Heinrich Marx was a well educated German philosopher (and budding communist revolutionary), whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism and socialism. Marx published his thoughts in 1848, and summarized his approach to society, the economy, and politics in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto. It reads: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. Marx argued that capitalism, like all previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. As capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would eventually replace capitalism. The end result would be a stateless, classless society called communism. In his characteristic turgid prose, Marx determined that the means of production and exchange owned by the middle classes was highly unfair to the working classes. From this, he concluded that revolution was inevitable, and from that, once everything was owned by the people and that all work would be evenly shared, world-wide peace and niceness would result. (I wonder what he thought when, instead of armed rebellion against the “bosses”, labor unions arose, and started getting a fair shake for the working stiff.)
Unfortunately for us, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and a lot of other wanna-be communists decided that Karl’s theoretically necessary revolution would need some assistance, and the world was soon faced with the problems brought about by the rise of the USSR. Under Lenin the USSR was an interesting (although somewhat bloody) social experiment and a minor annoyance to the rest of the world. When Stalin assumed power, things changed. The planned (and command) economy did, with a lot of help from the despised capitalist world, turn Russia into an industrial economy of sorts. But “supply” (the basis of every successful economy in history) never kept up with “demand”. As I understand it, by 1960 the Soviet standard of living had yet to reach the level Russians enjoyed in 1916, the eve of the Russian revolution! Stalin demanded heavy industry as a demonstration of Soviet Power, forgetting that heavy industry is a luxury of the economically well developed nations… there’s little nutritional value in armored combat vehicles and battleships, and they make lousy agricultural tractors. The mad effort to catch up with and surpass the capitalist west cost the USSR millions of lives and untold human suffering. Eventually it also brought about the downfall of socialism’s showpiece. Now the showpiece of capitalism is trying to become a socialist nation.
Apparently our home-grown intellectuals don’t believe what they can see with their own eyes. Marxism and its associated government control of every part of social, economic, and industrial life has failed miserably everywhere it’s been tried, and still our countries progressive “leaders” insist that “government can do a better job”! Hey guys, every socialist nation in history has collapsed, changed their ways, or wound up in abject poverty! But the folks in Washington are, unfortunately, still trying to follow the game plan found in The Communist Manifesto. So far they’ve made a mockery of civil law unless they can use it to enforce “their” will on the rest of us. They are trying to convert our Constitution into so much waste paper. The Bill of Rights is completely ignored, and with the Dept. of Homeland Security they’ve turned us into a police state. The practice of one’s religion (unless it’s Islamic), has nearly become a violation of federal law. We’re taxed unmercifully, and “who knows where the money goes”. Now we have ObamaCare, and we’re taxed… “Fined” if we fail to purchase government approved medical insurance. Cap-and-trade is dead and buried I’m told… but I’ll bet a dollar to a stale donut that version 2 is waiting in the wings.
Within the notorious “individual mandate” of ObamaCare lies a grand opportunity for government. As it now stands, anyone can be forced to buy any specified product for any reason. Corporations can quit wasting their money on advertising and political fund raising while the Federal Government could balance the budget on the fines people would have to pay to get out of a purchase they don't want.
According to the Wall Street Journal, we may have to start paying for grossly inefficient wind or solar energy schemes, even if we don't have access to them! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission apparently has a plan to spread out the costs for the transmission lines to bring wind and solar projects to the national grid. A price likely to top $160 billion, and US residents will have to pay the utility bills even if they don't even use the lines! Since Mr. Edison’s magic lamp first went commercial, users would pay for the service, and if you didn’t use it, you didn’t pay for it. But that is changing under socialism. The individual mandate removes “any meaningful limit on Congress’ power to regulate its citizens under the Commerce Clause.” The clause has already been used to capture any activity that might conceivably involve a transfer of power across state lines. Forcing individuals to buy anything inflates Congressional power to “a general police power, all but eliminating the constitutional distinction between federal and state regulatory authority in our federal union.”
Yet another gem from the dank, dark chambers of the Federal Department of Nefarious Plots and Plans… a secret Bureau of Land Management discussion paper leaked to Senator Jim DeMint and Rep. Rob Bishop labeled “Internal Draft — NOT FOR RELEASE,” confirms the federal government’s desire for physical enlargement. BLM advocates enlarging federal landholdings, and “acquiring parcels adjacent to its current holdings…” This mob of environuts argue “Should the legislative process not prove fruitful… BLM would recommend that the Administration consider using the Antiquities Act to designate new National Monuments by Presidential Proclamation.” Which means that if Congress fails to grab even more federal acreage, Mr. Obama should grab it by decree. The BLM lists “Treasured Landscapes” representing approximately 12.85 million federal acres that would shift from mixed-use to virtually untouchable status. They also cite prospective “land-rationalization” efforts to nationalize at least 1.8 million acres. And what do “we the people” get? Even more high dollar failed federal stewardship, and even less access to OUR federal lands.
Is it time to start screaming at our congressional representatives yet?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sorry
I’ve got some catching up to do, and I ‘spect some apologizing as well. I’m kinda late at getting last weeks column posted, mostly because of a serious case of stomach flu. (??) In this case, I was laid low for nearly four days by some sort of bug. I rather felt sick enough to die, and was afraid I wouldn’t! I guess I’ll live, but I wouldn’t wish this stuff on even Mr. Obama… but don’t tempt me to much, particularly in my present mood.
On Nov. 10th, I attended an abbreviated County Commissioners meeting, and presented the Commissioners with VFW Buddy Poppies. This is the mercifully short “speech” I gave ‘em with those Poppies:
“Gentlemen, let me remind you that tomorrow is Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor America’s veterans. These are “Buddy Poppies”, originally a reminder of World War One and the terrible cost of war. Today they are a symbol of all American Veterans.
A veteran is sometimes referred to as an individual who, at some point in his life, wrote a blank check to ‘The United States of America’, for an amount “up to and including my life”. In the two-hundred and forty-three years of our nations’ existence, well over a million of those checks were cashed.
Gentlemen, we willingly wrote those checks, and gave it our best, in order that you, our nations leaders, could sit here in relative peace, and give our people and our country your best. I charge you, always remember those cashed checks, and don’t let us down.”
Must have done alright, ‘cause I didn’t break down and cry, as I so quickly do when we bury another vet, and they play last ‘taps’.
Huh… didn’t get thrown out either.
On Nov. 10th, I attended an abbreviated County Commissioners meeting, and presented the Commissioners with VFW Buddy Poppies. This is the mercifully short “speech” I gave ‘em with those Poppies:
“Gentlemen, let me remind you that tomorrow is Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor America’s veterans. These are “Buddy Poppies”, originally a reminder of World War One and the terrible cost of war. Today they are a symbol of all American Veterans.
A veteran is sometimes referred to as an individual who, at some point in his life, wrote a blank check to ‘The United States of America’, for an amount “up to and including my life”. In the two-hundred and forty-three years of our nations’ existence, well over a million of those checks were cashed.
Gentlemen, we willingly wrote those checks, and gave it our best, in order that you, our nations leaders, could sit here in relative peace, and give our people and our country your best. I charge you, always remember those cashed checks, and don’t let us down.”
Must have done alright, ‘cause I didn’t break down and cry, as I so quickly do when we bury another vet, and they play last ‘taps’.
Huh… didn’t get thrown out either.
Mr. Congressman
The election’s over, and most folks are busily trying to clean up the trash and wreckage that inevitably follows. A good many loosing candidates are sitting around trying to figure out what went wrong, while an equal number of winning candidates are trying to figure out what went right I would suspect. At any rate, there are a lot of folks that were “to busy to get involved” that are now sitting around and wondering just what happened. At any rate, most of us are picking up the assorted “vote for me” signs that clutter our yards, tossing out the excess campaign literature cluttering the place, and thinking “Thank God that’s over”! The politico’s on the other hand (winners and losers alike), are busily thanking their supporters, and starting the planning sessions for the next campaign. I don’t see anything wrong with all this, remembering that it’s been part of the American political scene for the last couple of hundred years. As part of the “thank you” notes passed about I received the following e-mail from Idaho's Sen. Mike Crappo. I think it’s a form letter, as I’m sure that Mike wouldn’t remember talking to me in the past. (Funny, Larry Craig did remember speaking to me previously, on several occasions. Must have been my ugly mug that he remembered.) Anyway, Mike’s note went as follows:
Dear Robert,
Thank you for your help in our success on Election Day! Your active role in my campaign for the U.S. Senate was a big part of why I was able to win the election.
All across America, voters demanded a return to the bedrock conservative principles of limited government, lower taxes, less spending and the preservation of our Constitutional freedoms.
America is the greatest country in the world. We will get her on the right track by working together.
I can't thank you enough for your support of my campaign. I will continue to work hard for Idahoans to ensure America has a limited government and unlimited opportunity.
Thanks!
So Mike, you’re quite welcome even though I didn’t do anything to promote your campaign except grind my teeth at the Obama crowd, but I’m pleased that you won. However, as you look forward to the next six years on the hill, don’t forget why you’re there. Idaho has spoken… Or more accurately, we’ve shouted at Washington that we’ve had quite enough wasteful spending, enough over-regulation, enough vote trading, enough bills that “spread the wealth”, and certainly enough undermining the foundations of our free country. Keep in mind that Harry Reid still suffers from his “god complex”, as the morning after the election he clearly stated that tax cuts “aren’t going to happen”. Perhaps, perhaps not, but we didn’t send you back to the Senate to cooperate or negotiate with either Harry or Mr. Obama on the subject of taxes or spending. Stick to “our” guns, and if the Democrats want to call you guys the “Party of No”, so be it. I for one would rather see the forecast congressional gridlock occur, rather than see Mr. O’s plan to change America go even one step further. I’ll guess that in two years Mr. O will find out the hard way just what most Americans think of his changes, and so will another batch of congressmen who support him!
Nothing in today’s world ranks lower in the public’s esteem than Congress, and you guys are going to have to work overtime turning that around. One on-line news story came up with a pretty good list of things the new Congress might do to win the confidence of Americans, and I’d suggest that the entire Idaho delegation seriously consider them. Some of those suggestions included federal term limits, rescinding ObamaCare, reining in the EPA, and the creation of a bipartisan congressional committee to streamline the government. To those, I’ll add cleaning up the mess Homeland Security is making of our Constitutional rights, straighten out the immigration / illegal alien situation, and rewrite the Endangered Species Act. These are my suggested starting points, and while not everyone will agree with them some common sense changes will at least reassure the American public that they are once again in charge. That’s a pretty full plate I’ll agree, and while I wouldn’t expect to see it all happen in two short years, I would expect to see progress between now and 2012. So guys, don’t just talk about it, DO IT!
With the elections over, a lame-duck Congress comes back to deal with a lot of unfinished business, and the question here is how much they'll get done. Such sessions tend to be unproductive as the losers are in a bad mood and just want to go home; while the winners prefer to wait until their reinforcements arrive in January. But for the moment the Democrats still command a big majority. Mr. O said he would invite both Democratic and GOP leaders to the White House later this month to negotiate, but were I a Republican congressman, I’d remember that as the party in control for the past few years, the Democrats weren’t at all interested in negotiations, instead preferring to enact their legislation despite the stated wishes of the electorate. I don’t really expect to see that policy change over the next few weeks, and a defeated Democratic Congress could use its remaining weeks of post-election power to vote in even more of Barrack Obama's agenda for a "fundamental transformation" of America, particularly with a somewhat vindictive team of Harry and Nancy running the show.
The current Congress returns to a lot of taxing and spending issues, both dear to the Democratic heart. Both parties are ready to address the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on Dec. 31, and none of the 12 current spending bills have passed. Some lawmakers are planning to wrap those 12 spending bills into yet another massive $1.1 trillion catchall bill, and I’d expect to see them include a lot of favored earmarks and pork projects included as well. But they might also consider that the voters did send a message in the election, and some congressmen heard it. The message? "We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem." Sen.-elect Rand Paul suggested reducing the size of government, freezing federal hiring, and reducing the federal payroll by 10 percent. "The average federal employee makes $120,000 a year. The average private employee makes $60,000 a year. Let's get them more in line, and let's find savings."
I and many others can agree with him Mike, so perhaps you guys on the hill should seriously consider doing just that, starting with a lot of overpaid elected officials!
Dear Robert,
Thank you for your help in our success on Election Day! Your active role in my campaign for the U.S. Senate was a big part of why I was able to win the election.
All across America, voters demanded a return to the bedrock conservative principles of limited government, lower taxes, less spending and the preservation of our Constitutional freedoms.
America is the greatest country in the world. We will get her on the right track by working together.
I can't thank you enough for your support of my campaign. I will continue to work hard for Idahoans to ensure America has a limited government and unlimited opportunity.
Thanks!
So Mike, you’re quite welcome even though I didn’t do anything to promote your campaign except grind my teeth at the Obama crowd, but I’m pleased that you won. However, as you look forward to the next six years on the hill, don’t forget why you’re there. Idaho has spoken… Or more accurately, we’ve shouted at Washington that we’ve had quite enough wasteful spending, enough over-regulation, enough vote trading, enough bills that “spread the wealth”, and certainly enough undermining the foundations of our free country. Keep in mind that Harry Reid still suffers from his “god complex”, as the morning after the election he clearly stated that tax cuts “aren’t going to happen”. Perhaps, perhaps not, but we didn’t send you back to the Senate to cooperate or negotiate with either Harry or Mr. Obama on the subject of taxes or spending. Stick to “our” guns, and if the Democrats want to call you guys the “Party of No”, so be it. I for one would rather see the forecast congressional gridlock occur, rather than see Mr. O’s plan to change America go even one step further. I’ll guess that in two years Mr. O will find out the hard way just what most Americans think of his changes, and so will another batch of congressmen who support him!
Nothing in today’s world ranks lower in the public’s esteem than Congress, and you guys are going to have to work overtime turning that around. One on-line news story came up with a pretty good list of things the new Congress might do to win the confidence of Americans, and I’d suggest that the entire Idaho delegation seriously consider them. Some of those suggestions included federal term limits, rescinding ObamaCare, reining in the EPA, and the creation of a bipartisan congressional committee to streamline the government. To those, I’ll add cleaning up the mess Homeland Security is making of our Constitutional rights, straighten out the immigration / illegal alien situation, and rewrite the Endangered Species Act. These are my suggested starting points, and while not everyone will agree with them some common sense changes will at least reassure the American public that they are once again in charge. That’s a pretty full plate I’ll agree, and while I wouldn’t expect to see it all happen in two short years, I would expect to see progress between now and 2012. So guys, don’t just talk about it, DO IT!
With the elections over, a lame-duck Congress comes back to deal with a lot of unfinished business, and the question here is how much they'll get done. Such sessions tend to be unproductive as the losers are in a bad mood and just want to go home; while the winners prefer to wait until their reinforcements arrive in January. But for the moment the Democrats still command a big majority. Mr. O said he would invite both Democratic and GOP leaders to the White House later this month to negotiate, but were I a Republican congressman, I’d remember that as the party in control for the past few years, the Democrats weren’t at all interested in negotiations, instead preferring to enact their legislation despite the stated wishes of the electorate. I don’t really expect to see that policy change over the next few weeks, and a defeated Democratic Congress could use its remaining weeks of post-election power to vote in even more of Barrack Obama's agenda for a "fundamental transformation" of America, particularly with a somewhat vindictive team of Harry and Nancy running the show.
The current Congress returns to a lot of taxing and spending issues, both dear to the Democratic heart. Both parties are ready to address the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on Dec. 31, and none of the 12 current spending bills have passed. Some lawmakers are planning to wrap those 12 spending bills into yet another massive $1.1 trillion catchall bill, and I’d expect to see them include a lot of favored earmarks and pork projects included as well. But they might also consider that the voters did send a message in the election, and some congressmen heard it. The message? "We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem." Sen.-elect Rand Paul suggested reducing the size of government, freezing federal hiring, and reducing the federal payroll by 10 percent. "The average federal employee makes $120,000 a year. The average private employee makes $60,000 a year. Let's get them more in line, and let's find savings."
I and many others can agree with him Mike, so perhaps you guys on the hill should seriously consider doing just that, starting with a lot of overpaid elected officials!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Morning After
The 2010 mid-term election is over, for better or for worse, depending on your viewpoint. Personally I’m glad it’s done with, as I’m getting almighty tired of trying to write about team Obama and the Democrats without excessively elevating my blood pressure (which my Doctor seems to think is a bad thing). So, until we see what the current Congress is going to do to us in their Lame Duck session, and just how much devilment the new Congress can get into when they take over, I think I’ll just kick back and discuss some political generalities for a change.
Two years ago, the democrats pretty well seized the reins of government in this nation. They grabbed the white house, the senate, and the house, in what they mistakenly assumed was a “mandate” to change our government to something resembling Mr. Obama’s version of a democratic-socialist government. That democratic majority started hitting us with changes well enough, by driving us to the verge of national bankruptcy, cramming “ObamaCare” down our protesting throats, expanding the size of the federal government, and stripping us of many cherished freedoms, all in the name of “the common good”. In reality their 2008 win was more of a voters knee jerk reaction to the faltering policies of the Bush administration than a demand for any massive change. Now, two years later, commentators are speaking of the 2010 “tsunami” (or “landslide”) being a repudiation of those democratic efforts, and I note that many sitting politicians are agreeing with that descriptor. Nothing could be further from the truth! If the Republicans had received a mandate from Tuesday’s midterms, they’d have won a lot more than the House majority! I would hope that they understand this.
The election of 2010, momentous as it was, marks the beginning of a bigger battle — not the end. It presents, in the words of Florida's winning new Senator Rubio, "a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago." That is, the party of smaller solutions and less spending rather than some sort of lynch mob angrily cleaning up in Washington. Certainly we need some cleaning, but going at it like the proverbial bull in the china shop isn’t the answer either.
The American voter reset our politics on Tuesday. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is no more, nor is one-party control of the Federal Government. Mr. Obama’s landslide doesn’t exist either, and I rather hope he realizes that simple fact. "Yes, we can" collided head-on with "Oh, no you don't", and the days of shoving things down our throats are about over. Well, if they aren’t over, the new crop of Republicans can be replaced as well, as every one of them had better remember. America woke up this morning with all the same problems we had yesterday, but now we have a good many more possible solutions on deck. And the 2012 presidential election campaign starts today. The voters who flocked to Obama two years ago have turned against his bright ideas, and have elected a wave of new Republicans to Congress, along with trimming the Democratic majority in the Senate to a minimum. As the House seats captured by the GOP climbed toward 60, Democrats could wonder why, but the historic loss of seats captured by the GOP suggests that anger over the government's handling of the economy fed the firestorm. That tsunami was a wave of discontent, nothing more or less than a vote of no confidence in the Democratic powers that be, with their loss in the House being the largest since 1948. Not only did the Republicans seize the House, they also moved it much further to the right, pushed by the anti-tax, anti big government, and certainly anti-compromise members of the Tea Party movement. A leader of the movement, Rand Paul delivered the message in his acceptance speech as the new Kentucky Senator, saying that "I have a message ... that is loud and clear, that does not mince words: We've come to take our government back," Paul promised his supporters "fiscal sanity," and a limited constitutional government, along with balanced budgets. I hope Paul, and our new House can deliver, because the American people are real unhappy with what's been going on in Washington of late. The Tea movement may not have won as spectacularly as many of us had hoped, but the politicians, all of them, had best remember that the movement is still there, still angry, and still quite capable of replacing everybody in Washington if they don’t see a whole lot of improvement in the immediate future. Lord high mucky-muck of the Senate Harry Reid is already indicating that he’s not going to cooperate with a Republican House, or abide with the will of the American people. If that’s the case, Harry, and Mr. O as well, might want to remember that the House controls the purse strings… and yet another group of those democratic senators come up for re-election in two years. (Not a threat Harry, just a promise.)
Exit polls pretty much confirm what we already knew, that eighty-six percent of the voters say they're worried about the direction of the economy, and forty percent say they're worse off financially than they were two years ago. About forty percent also say they support the Tea Party movement. And guess what, they voted overwhelmingly for the GOP. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed say they're angry, while another forty-seven percent are “merely” dissatisfied. As expected, about half the voters think democratic policies are hurting the country, while fifty-six percent say the government is doing too much interfering in our lives. Those are not promising numbers Mr. Reid. When John Boehner takes the speakers gavel it will seriously change the face of Congress, and result in either gridlock or a somewhat grudging cooperation. Well, at least Mr. O will have will have someone to blame when things skid to a halt! But the activist phase of Mr. Obama's term is over at any rate, and he’ll soon be fighting to preserve his health care plan.
As for the self proclaimed Democratic “majority” in this country, Tom Jefferson said: “The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest, [which] breaks up the foundations of society.” John Adams told us: “Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Our nations founders envisioned us with a republic, but as Benjamin Franklin warned, “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” None of this bodes well for the Peoples Socialist Republic of Amerika, as it’s envisioned by the “progressive” left.
Two years ago, the democrats pretty well seized the reins of government in this nation. They grabbed the white house, the senate, and the house, in what they mistakenly assumed was a “mandate” to change our government to something resembling Mr. Obama’s version of a democratic-socialist government. That democratic majority started hitting us with changes well enough, by driving us to the verge of national bankruptcy, cramming “ObamaCare” down our protesting throats, expanding the size of the federal government, and stripping us of many cherished freedoms, all in the name of “the common good”. In reality their 2008 win was more of a voters knee jerk reaction to the faltering policies of the Bush administration than a demand for any massive change. Now, two years later, commentators are speaking of the 2010 “tsunami” (or “landslide”) being a repudiation of those democratic efforts, and I note that many sitting politicians are agreeing with that descriptor. Nothing could be further from the truth! If the Republicans had received a mandate from Tuesday’s midterms, they’d have won a lot more than the House majority! I would hope that they understand this.
The election of 2010, momentous as it was, marks the beginning of a bigger battle — not the end. It presents, in the words of Florida's winning new Senator Rubio, "a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago." That is, the party of smaller solutions and less spending rather than some sort of lynch mob angrily cleaning up in Washington. Certainly we need some cleaning, but going at it like the proverbial bull in the china shop isn’t the answer either.
The American voter reset our politics on Tuesday. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is no more, nor is one-party control of the Federal Government. Mr. Obama’s landslide doesn’t exist either, and I rather hope he realizes that simple fact. "Yes, we can" collided head-on with "Oh, no you don't", and the days of shoving things down our throats are about over. Well, if they aren’t over, the new crop of Republicans can be replaced as well, as every one of them had better remember. America woke up this morning with all the same problems we had yesterday, but now we have a good many more possible solutions on deck. And the 2012 presidential election campaign starts today. The voters who flocked to Obama two years ago have turned against his bright ideas, and have elected a wave of new Republicans to Congress, along with trimming the Democratic majority in the Senate to a minimum. As the House seats captured by the GOP climbed toward 60, Democrats could wonder why, but the historic loss of seats captured by the GOP suggests that anger over the government's handling of the economy fed the firestorm. That tsunami was a wave of discontent, nothing more or less than a vote of no confidence in the Democratic powers that be, with their loss in the House being the largest since 1948. Not only did the Republicans seize the House, they also moved it much further to the right, pushed by the anti-tax, anti big government, and certainly anti-compromise members of the Tea Party movement. A leader of the movement, Rand Paul delivered the message in his acceptance speech as the new Kentucky Senator, saying that "I have a message ... that is loud and clear, that does not mince words: We've come to take our government back," Paul promised his supporters "fiscal sanity," and a limited constitutional government, along with balanced budgets. I hope Paul, and our new House can deliver, because the American people are real unhappy with what's been going on in Washington of late. The Tea movement may not have won as spectacularly as many of us had hoped, but the politicians, all of them, had best remember that the movement is still there, still angry, and still quite capable of replacing everybody in Washington if they don’t see a whole lot of improvement in the immediate future. Lord high mucky-muck of the Senate Harry Reid is already indicating that he’s not going to cooperate with a Republican House, or abide with the will of the American people. If that’s the case, Harry, and Mr. O as well, might want to remember that the House controls the purse strings… and yet another group of those democratic senators come up for re-election in two years. (Not a threat Harry, just a promise.)
Exit polls pretty much confirm what we already knew, that eighty-six percent of the voters say they're worried about the direction of the economy, and forty percent say they're worse off financially than they were two years ago. About forty percent also say they support the Tea Party movement. And guess what, they voted overwhelmingly for the GOP. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed say they're angry, while another forty-seven percent are “merely” dissatisfied. As expected, about half the voters think democratic policies are hurting the country, while fifty-six percent say the government is doing too much interfering in our lives. Those are not promising numbers Mr. Reid. When John Boehner takes the speakers gavel it will seriously change the face of Congress, and result in either gridlock or a somewhat grudging cooperation. Well, at least Mr. O will have will have someone to blame when things skid to a halt! But the activist phase of Mr. Obama's term is over at any rate, and he’ll soon be fighting to preserve his health care plan.
As for the self proclaimed Democratic “majority” in this country, Tom Jefferson said: “The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest, [which] breaks up the foundations of society.” John Adams told us: “Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Our nations founders envisioned us with a republic, but as Benjamin Franklin warned, “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” None of this bodes well for the Peoples Socialist Republic of Amerika, as it’s envisioned by the “progressive” left.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Vote
The Obama administration is crusading to remake America, as they have said since long before the 2008 election, and despite the overwhelming opposition of the American people. Bailouts and stimulus have effectively nationalized a large part of American “big business”, while the “health care overhaul” added the entire medical industry to the list. Now, adding to that, the proposed “Card Check” legislation will, for all intents and purposes place the fate of every American business and every employee at the mercy of the Obama Socialism / George Soros / Trade Union Bosses triad! (Understand that I’m not anti-union, but I am opposed to the idea of forcing people to join.)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state of Nevada has been hit hard by falling home prices, foreclosures, and unemployment. But Reid insists that despite his senate leadership post he had "nothing to do" with the economic downturn, contending that the recession was the fault of the Bush administration, and saying "You know that I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here," Reid said. "You know that I had nothing to do with these unemployment figures. I tried to rein that in"… Well, perhaps Harry, if you say so. But still, even though President Bush was mightily involved with the bailouts, there were plenty more under Mr. Obama, and Senator Reid was up to his ears in the passage of that unnecessary mess. He did however, save the world, or so he says. That’s right, the highest ranking member of the United States Senate is taking credit for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, also known as the Bailout of Wall Street Bill, and thus personally saved the world economy with his efforts. Humm… Have you heard the term “God Complex” before?
As Mr. Obama swung through Las Vegas to rally support for his buddy Harry, new economic data showed Nevada's jobless rate at 14.4 percent, the worst in the nation. With his usual democratic logic, Harry might call that an improvement, as it’s the first time Nevada unemployment hasn’t increased since January! The numbers are in doubt though, as despite the official claim of nine point something percent of our population being unemployed, some Washington officials are saying that the true number is closer to 17.5%. Add the national debt to those figures, and we’re now in the hole for some $48,000 a head, a figure that’s projected to get a whole lot worse over the next two years. (Thank your grandkids for the next stimulus funded highway project you see, they’re paying for it.) Of late, Congress did not seem to have the time to pass a budget, recessing early to run home and campaign for the mid-term’s. Well, that democratic controlled Congress also missed out on extending the Bush era tax cuts for all of us, which is going to get expensive come April. But they did have the time to propose new pork barrel spending for 2011, with House bills containing almost 3,000 earmarks and Senate bills adding another 3,700 earmarks. Every year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than what’s raised in federal tax revenue. But never fear, led by team Obama, Harry and the Democrats are saving the world… and flushing the United States down the drain while they’re at it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being blamed for blindly following a radical “Big Government, Big Brother” socialist agenda despite the expressed wishes of the American people. Nancy is running a Congress that has allowed warrantless wiretapping, torture, assorted military tribunals, the Patriot Act, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" cancellation, and the open-ended war in the Middle East, to go on unabated, despite a history of objection from the American people. Ahh… Nancy does represent those people does she not?
Along with Harry’s God Complex, we have the mind-set of the far left, which, as one commentator said, "Liberals don't think they have any politics. They think they are in a state of nature. Only those who disagree with them are unnatural." That comment tells you just about all you need to know of the cultural and political war in America today. Progressives are supposed to be the “best educated” and most thoughtful among us, but I often wonder… Along with a good many on-line news articles we will find numerous sections devoted to reader comments. Often those comments are well thought out, by readers from both sides of the political spectrum. But by far the majority of the witticisms from the left are more comparable to the tantrums we might expect from angry children who don’t get their way, and have no real reason to object other than they’re not getting their way. They regularly prove the comment that all arguments with liberals take the same course, in that first a liberal will make a ridiculous statement. Then, after proving the liberal statement is stupid, the liberal will try to change the subject. And finally, when all else fails, the liberal will resort to name calling or outright lies. It generally seems to work that way in my view.
Another left wing “statement” that pretty well had this old soldier going ballistic was the comment by Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran. According to Mr. Moran, his opponent in the current election is totally unqualified for the job. Mr. Moran was heard telling a Democratic gathering that his opponent, Republican Patrick Murray, is just another unqualified GOP candidate, and that "What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed in any kind of public service." Moran said that "My opponent is typical, frankly." Well, Okay, that sounds like little more than typical election time posturing and rhetoric. BUT, Mr. Moran’s opponent is a retired Army colonel with 24 years of service that includes combat in Iraq. The idea that such a military record doesn't qualify as "public service" has left a sour taste in Murray's mouth, to say nothing of mine! Col. Murray wrote in reply that "It is unconscionable to me how a member of Congress from a District with so many Veterans, who also sits on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, could make such shameful and offensive comments about the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform." He added that “This kind of disrespect to our service members not only offends me, but is insensitive to the sacrifices made by our dedicated military families as well." In a typical Dumbocrat response, Mr. Moran told a local news outlet that he simply misspoke, and his constituents know that isn’t what he meant. Huh, more “misunderstanding” of leftist rhetoric I guess, although there seems to be a lot of that going around lately.
We’ve seen how the left operates, and we’ve seen examples of what they plan for our country. Despite the promising numbers of the polls, and the claims that the left is “falling off the cliff”, we haven’t stopped Barrack Obama, and we have not made this country safe. We have not stopped the advance of socialism, and we have not stopped the Democrats from destroying our country. And we, with all our efforts to date, have won nothing, unless we get out and vote on Nov. 2ed, by proving our determination, and putting an end to the left’s goal of totally dominating our country.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state of Nevada has been hit hard by falling home prices, foreclosures, and unemployment. But Reid insists that despite his senate leadership post he had "nothing to do" with the economic downturn, contending that the recession was the fault of the Bush administration, and saying "You know that I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here," Reid said. "You know that I had nothing to do with these unemployment figures. I tried to rein that in"… Well, perhaps Harry, if you say so. But still, even though President Bush was mightily involved with the bailouts, there were plenty more under Mr. Obama, and Senator Reid was up to his ears in the passage of that unnecessary mess. He did however, save the world, or so he says. That’s right, the highest ranking member of the United States Senate is taking credit for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, also known as the Bailout of Wall Street Bill, and thus personally saved the world economy with his efforts. Humm… Have you heard the term “God Complex” before?
As Mr. Obama swung through Las Vegas to rally support for his buddy Harry, new economic data showed Nevada's jobless rate at 14.4 percent, the worst in the nation. With his usual democratic logic, Harry might call that an improvement, as it’s the first time Nevada unemployment hasn’t increased since January! The numbers are in doubt though, as despite the official claim of nine point something percent of our population being unemployed, some Washington officials are saying that the true number is closer to 17.5%. Add the national debt to those figures, and we’re now in the hole for some $48,000 a head, a figure that’s projected to get a whole lot worse over the next two years. (Thank your grandkids for the next stimulus funded highway project you see, they’re paying for it.) Of late, Congress did not seem to have the time to pass a budget, recessing early to run home and campaign for the mid-term’s. Well, that democratic controlled Congress also missed out on extending the Bush era tax cuts for all of us, which is going to get expensive come April. But they did have the time to propose new pork barrel spending for 2011, with House bills containing almost 3,000 earmarks and Senate bills adding another 3,700 earmarks. Every year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than what’s raised in federal tax revenue. But never fear, led by team Obama, Harry and the Democrats are saving the world… and flushing the United States down the drain while they’re at it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being blamed for blindly following a radical “Big Government, Big Brother” socialist agenda despite the expressed wishes of the American people. Nancy is running a Congress that has allowed warrantless wiretapping, torture, assorted military tribunals, the Patriot Act, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" cancellation, and the open-ended war in the Middle East, to go on unabated, despite a history of objection from the American people. Ahh… Nancy does represent those people does she not?
Along with Harry’s God Complex, we have the mind-set of the far left, which, as one commentator said, "Liberals don't think they have any politics. They think they are in a state of nature. Only those who disagree with them are unnatural." That comment tells you just about all you need to know of the cultural and political war in America today. Progressives are supposed to be the “best educated” and most thoughtful among us, but I often wonder… Along with a good many on-line news articles we will find numerous sections devoted to reader comments. Often those comments are well thought out, by readers from both sides of the political spectrum. But by far the majority of the witticisms from the left are more comparable to the tantrums we might expect from angry children who don’t get their way, and have no real reason to object other than they’re not getting their way. They regularly prove the comment that all arguments with liberals take the same course, in that first a liberal will make a ridiculous statement. Then, after proving the liberal statement is stupid, the liberal will try to change the subject. And finally, when all else fails, the liberal will resort to name calling or outright lies. It generally seems to work that way in my view.
Another left wing “statement” that pretty well had this old soldier going ballistic was the comment by Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran. According to Mr. Moran, his opponent in the current election is totally unqualified for the job. Mr. Moran was heard telling a Democratic gathering that his opponent, Republican Patrick Murray, is just another unqualified GOP candidate, and that "What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed in any kind of public service." Moran said that "My opponent is typical, frankly." Well, Okay, that sounds like little more than typical election time posturing and rhetoric. BUT, Mr. Moran’s opponent is a retired Army colonel with 24 years of service that includes combat in Iraq. The idea that such a military record doesn't qualify as "public service" has left a sour taste in Murray's mouth, to say nothing of mine! Col. Murray wrote in reply that "It is unconscionable to me how a member of Congress from a District with so many Veterans, who also sits on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, could make such shameful and offensive comments about the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform." He added that “This kind of disrespect to our service members not only offends me, but is insensitive to the sacrifices made by our dedicated military families as well." In a typical Dumbocrat response, Mr. Moran told a local news outlet that he simply misspoke, and his constituents know that isn’t what he meant. Huh, more “misunderstanding” of leftist rhetoric I guess, although there seems to be a lot of that going around lately.
We’ve seen how the left operates, and we’ve seen examples of what they plan for our country. Despite the promising numbers of the polls, and the claims that the left is “falling off the cliff”, we haven’t stopped Barrack Obama, and we have not made this country safe. We have not stopped the advance of socialism, and we have not stopped the Democrats from destroying our country. And we, with all our efforts to date, have won nothing, unless we get out and vote on Nov. 2ed, by proving our determination, and putting an end to the left’s goal of totally dominating our country.
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