We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a feather-bed.
–Thomas Jefferson
I am calling for revolution! A bloodless, ballot box coup de’ tats! It is long past time.
Okay, this is the last blog of this series. This blog has been a long time coming. The reason why is well, I am very disappointed.
Too many (and even one is too many) readers met my last blog with the proverbial “not in my back yard sentiment.” You know that sentiment, when everyone thinks a group home for the mentally ill is a great idea, but not if it is too close to them. A group home is only a great idea if it is in your cross-town neighbor’s backyard.
Sadly, this is the same approach that too many have to government funding. Take away the other guy’s entitlement, boondoggle or earmark, but DON’T TOUCH MINE!
Well, then. Let me enlighten you. We have a lovely pedestrian bridge across the Missouri river. I have walked it and it is lovely. So thanks! Even though it is absolutely unnecessary and in a few years will be graffiti-ed, rusted, and forgotten. And while most of you will never, ever get any use out of it, your tens of millions of tax dollars went into building it (That is eight figures worth of money). Thank you so much! It must be okay with you, because if you want to preserve you earmark, you can’t say no to mine.
Or
You can let the oxygen back into your brain; admit that the federal government has no business building foot bridges (or any other boondoggle, entitlement or earmark) for the few with the money of the many; and go to the polls and vote the bums out. Quit protecting your piece of the pie and do what is right and honorable--leave the money in the blistered hands of those that earned it.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Not Part IV
If it was easy, everyone would do it. The hard..is what makes it great.--A League of Their Own
Okay, this is not the fourth part of the series. This is a follow-up to the last blog. The response I got to the last blog was mixed. Some said, "That's too hard." Others found it unrealistic. My response is "really?" (Actually my knee-jerk response was "waaaah.")
Yes it's hard. It's like losing weight, we didn't add all that weight at once and we will not lose it over night, but we better do something because it is killing us. Likewise, the bureaucracy (first time I spelled that right without spell check) that we have sold ourselves to, is also killing us as a nation.
Personally, I am ready for a crash diet from the Federal Government trough, but if you find it too hard or unrealistic at least consider this: every time you or your representatives take Federal dollars, at least ask yourself whose pocket it is coming out of, because it is coming out of someones pocket...maybe yours. Then ask yourself if the expenditure is justified beyond the value of getting an incumbent re-elected. You will probably find that it is not. Especially if you take a real hard look at it.
Finally consider this, just as we have seen in Municipal and State governments throughout the country, consider how we can manage on a forced fiscal diet if we don't have the self-discipline to curb our appetite for government dollars, because the forced fiscal diet is coming.
So quit whining about how hard it is, quit moaning about how unrealistic it is and start reprogramming your thought processes regarding the amount of money you are willing to let the Federal Government spend on you.
A PLACE TO START REPROGRAMMING YOUR VIEW ABOUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING:
1. When the Federal Government withholds taxes, they use our money interest free.
2. When we get a Tax Refund it is our money, (that the government used without compensating us) we are not getting anything from the government,they are just giving back what we did not owe in the first place.
3. If we are going to have a Federal Income Tax, then taxes should be paid on a flat rate, across the board, no deductions, at a rate lower than a tithe. (10% for all you Godless readers).
4. Tax deductions = Government control.
5. When we get on the government dole, we are dependant on a system that cannot be sustained.
6. When we look to the government for our financial salvation (being on the dole), we close our eyes to the source of our true salvation.
Okay, this is not the fourth part of the series. This is a follow-up to the last blog. The response I got to the last blog was mixed. Some said, "That's too hard." Others found it unrealistic. My response is "really?" (Actually my knee-jerk response was "waaaah.")
Yes it's hard. It's like losing weight, we didn't add all that weight at once and we will not lose it over night, but we better do something because it is killing us. Likewise, the bureaucracy (first time I spelled that right without spell check) that we have sold ourselves to, is also killing us as a nation.
Personally, I am ready for a crash diet from the Federal Government trough, but if you find it too hard or unrealistic at least consider this: every time you or your representatives take Federal dollars, at least ask yourself whose pocket it is coming out of, because it is coming out of someones pocket...maybe yours. Then ask yourself if the expenditure is justified beyond the value of getting an incumbent re-elected. You will probably find that it is not. Especially if you take a real hard look at it.
Finally consider this, just as we have seen in Municipal and State governments throughout the country, consider how we can manage on a forced fiscal diet if we don't have the self-discipline to curb our appetite for government dollars, because the forced fiscal diet is coming.
So quit whining about how hard it is, quit moaning about how unrealistic it is and start reprogramming your thought processes regarding the amount of money you are willing to let the Federal Government spend on you.
A PLACE TO START REPROGRAMMING YOUR VIEW ABOUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING:
1. When the Federal Government withholds taxes, they use our money interest free.
2. When we get a Tax Refund it is our money, (that the government used without compensating us) we are not getting anything from the government,they are just giving back what we did not owe in the first place.
3. If we are going to have a Federal Income Tax, then taxes should be paid on a flat rate, across the board, no deductions, at a rate lower than a tithe. (10% for all you Godless readers).
4. Tax deductions = Government control.
5. When we get on the government dole, we are dependant on a system that cannot be sustained.
6. When we look to the government for our financial salvation (being on the dole), we close our eyes to the source of our true salvation.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Part III: Who Is In Control?
The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them the power at all times...--John Adams
Who is in control? The cheap and dirty answer is: WE ARE--the reality is: we are supposed to be but...hmm?
Who is in control? The cheap and dirty answer is: WE ARE--the reality is: we are supposed to be but...hmm?
(All of you Godless people ignor the next simile.) The Federal Government is like the Devil; it only has the control and power over us that we give it. And boy have we given it control and power. Yep, we gave our power to the Federal Government when we sold our souls to the twin Devils of Tax and Spend.
Among the things you aren't taught in History class is that the majority of control and power that the Federal Government has over the States and the Citzens is the money. It's called Tax and Spend and the Feds have refined it into an art. The Feds take your money so they can give it people who will give up their control and power to the them. If we don't take the money, they can't grab the power. Ergo, the only way to get the power back is to quit taking the money. Stated once again for emphasis: IF WE DON'T TAKE THE MONEY, WE KEEP THE POWER!
So when you bellyache about how the Federal Government is controlling your life, ask yourself how did you let that happen? I have to confess the Feds make it easy to do, take the money I mean. The Feds are willing to give us money for anything we "need", for the State, for the County, for the School System, for the Individual. All we have to do is sign our rights, power and control away on the dotted line and they will show us the money.
If we truly want the power of government back in the hands of the people it is time to show the Feds the door. We have got to say no to every penny, nickel and dime that the Federal Government hands us. JUST SAY NO TO THE MONEY!$!
Next: Part IV Revolution!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Part II: The Big Lie
Bureacracy is the death of all sound work.--Albert Einstein
The BIG LIE started for me when I was taught in school about the great depression…the financial one (the disco era was only the little depression). Many of you can relate. Great Depression-Bad. New Deal-Good. The stock market crashed due to people buying stocks on margin. Margins were called, people could not pay, banks failed, jobs lost; SEC, FDIC, WPA, Social Security etc. were born. Wonderful! We are saved!
Saved? So after that time there were no more bank failures, no more stock crashes and no more jobs lost? Certainly, you could argue that it hasn’t been as bad as the Great Depression, but I would then argue that if government programs are the answer, then they should work 100% of the time, not only be occasionally efficacious.
Likewise, I would argue that it was not these Government programs that have kept us safe-ish, but instead it was the individual who chose to be financially prudent and educationally prepared that lessened the blow. The people who have best weathered the subsequent financial follies, are not those on the government dole, but those who heeded the lessons of the past. In short, as far as I can tell, the only thing the government programs have done is taken the credit and thickened the quagmire.
The government has layered bureaucracy upon bureaucracy resulting in intolerable taxation and unfathomable regulation. Did anyone see any personal benefit mentioned in the previous sentence? If you did, you must be a bureaucrat.
Part III: Who is in Control?
The BIG LIE started for me when I was taught in school about the great depression…the financial one (the disco era was only the little depression). Many of you can relate. Great Depression-Bad. New Deal-Good. The stock market crashed due to people buying stocks on margin. Margins were called, people could not pay, banks failed, jobs lost; SEC, FDIC, WPA, Social Security etc. were born. Wonderful! We are saved!
Saved? So after that time there were no more bank failures, no more stock crashes and no more jobs lost? Certainly, you could argue that it hasn’t been as bad as the Great Depression, but I would then argue that if government programs are the answer, then they should work 100% of the time, not only be occasionally efficacious.
Likewise, I would argue that it was not these Government programs that have kept us safe-ish, but instead it was the individual who chose to be financially prudent and educationally prepared that lessened the blow. The people who have best weathered the subsequent financial follies, are not those on the government dole, but those who heeded the lessons of the past. In short, as far as I can tell, the only thing the government programs have done is taken the credit and thickened the quagmire.
The government has layered bureaucracy upon bureaucracy resulting in intolerable taxation and unfathomable regulation. Did anyone see any personal benefit mentioned in the previous sentence? If you did, you must be a bureaucrat.
Part III: Who is in Control?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Part I: I Believe
If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.—Alexander Hamilton
According to the body of the United States Constitution, there is one area where our government is required to protect us and can protect us: national defense, period.
But now I am must make a confession to provide some context for my viewpoint. I am a Hamiltonian Federalist (I have even visited Hamilton’s gravesite; yes, I am a true believer). After my introductory blog, you might find that hard to believe, but truly, if the Federalist Party existed today, I would be a card carrying member.
Hamilton believed in a strong central government and so do I, but strong and centralized should not be confused with big and intrusive. Like Hamilton I believe that the original Constitution, sans Bill of Rights and other amendments, was, in its strict construction, the perfect vehicle for creating just the right size of Federal government. A Goldilocks’ government: not to strong and not to weak, but just right.
That Government was simple. It was neither pretentious nor paternalistic. It provided for the common defense. It apportioned the taxes from the various states. It was as Utopian as a government could be in this earthly existence.
The Constitution was a fence that kept big government contained and individuals protected. Then, due to fear, fear that we continue to nurture, amendments, progressive idealisms, and judicial decisions broke through the Constitutional fence that protected the individual from intrusive government. Soon we the people found ourselves at the mercy of big government once more. Part II: The Big Lie.
According to the body of the United States Constitution, there is one area where our government is required to protect us and can protect us: national defense, period.
But now I am must make a confession to provide some context for my viewpoint. I am a Hamiltonian Federalist (I have even visited Hamilton’s gravesite; yes, I am a true believer). After my introductory blog, you might find that hard to believe, but truly, if the Federalist Party existed today, I would be a card carrying member.
Hamilton believed in a strong central government and so do I, but strong and centralized should not be confused with big and intrusive. Like Hamilton I believe that the original Constitution, sans Bill of Rights and other amendments, was, in its strict construction, the perfect vehicle for creating just the right size of Federal government. A Goldilocks’ government: not to strong and not to weak, but just right.
That Government was simple. It was neither pretentious nor paternalistic. It provided for the common defense. It apportioned the taxes from the various states. It was as Utopian as a government could be in this earthly existence.
The Constitution was a fence that kept big government contained and individuals protected. Then, due to fear, fear that we continue to nurture, amendments, progressive idealisms, and judicial decisions broke through the Constitutional fence that protected the individual from intrusive government. Soon we the people found ourselves at the mercy of big government once more. Part II: The Big Lie.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Down With Big Government in Four Parts
The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. --Henry Louis Mencken
This country was founded on a healthy suspicion and reasonable loathing of big, intrusive government, so how have we come to a place where our government is now exponentially bigger and more intrusive than that government we fought to free ourselves from? The answer is: FEAR.
This gargantuan government was fed on fear. Fear of spoiled food=USDA. Fear of bad medicines=FDA. Fear of failing banks=FDIC. Fear of terrorist attacks=Homeland Security. You see the pattern.
Some event, isolated or systemic occurs; we fear; politicians feed our fears; new government program (with its regulations and taxes) is created. I know. You truly believe that such institutions are necessary and so did I, but on further scrutiny I believe I was brain washed into believing it is so and believing that these institutions protect me. They do not. They only protect me from taking personal responsibility for my own life.
I now believe that government institutions are the opiates of the masses and that if we really are intent on freeing ourselves from the big and intrusive Federal Government we need to reprogram our belief that the government can protect us. Next-- Part I: I Believe.
This country was founded on a healthy suspicion and reasonable loathing of big, intrusive government, so how have we come to a place where our government is now exponentially bigger and more intrusive than that government we fought to free ourselves from? The answer is: FEAR.
This gargantuan government was fed on fear. Fear of spoiled food=USDA. Fear of bad medicines=FDA. Fear of failing banks=FDIC. Fear of terrorist attacks=Homeland Security. You see the pattern.
Some event, isolated or systemic occurs; we fear; politicians feed our fears; new government program (with its regulations and taxes) is created. I know. You truly believe that such institutions are necessary and so did I, but on further scrutiny I believe I was brain washed into believing it is so and believing that these institutions protect me. They do not. They only protect me from taking personal responsibility for my own life.
I now believe that government institutions are the opiates of the masses and that if we really are intent on freeing ourselves from the big and intrusive Federal Government we need to reprogram our belief that the government can protect us. Next-- Part I: I Believe.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Measure Honor
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. --J.C. Watts
I know that the old SPEW has been rather spew-less of late, but that’s because I am a reactionary blogger and I just haven’t felt the need to react. Not that we should let our guard down, but until the liberal left makes an overt move, it is fruitless to comment. I have been asked to comment on the “don’t ask don’t tell” controversy, but I don’t really feel qualified since I am not a member of the military. However, since I am rarely any more qualified on other subjects, I will say this: I have no problem with any honorable person serving in the military regardless of gender, religion, race or sexual orientation. The word honorable is the key.
Past history and recent past history prove that the military is typically incapable of determining who is honorable and who is not, hence the Fort Hood shooting among other tragedies. So it is more important that the military carefully scrutinize every recruit without concern for political correctness in order to determine rather or not the candidate is honorable. And if the candidate is not honorable, the military must be steadfast in denying the candidate access to a military career regardless of gender, religion, race or sexual orientation.
Also a short-ish comment on the Westminster Kennel Club Show. Yea for the Scottish terrier! (I am completely biased since we used to have one named Jocko Bon Barberry. What interesting little souls they are.) But ,even more YEAs to the broadcasters of the dog show. It was almost impossible to tell that protesters attempted to disrupt the show because neither the cameras nor the commentators brought them the attention they so crave. Their protests are petty, inane and baseless and they deserve no forum. Good for USA Network for not giving them one.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
God Bless Gridlock, God Bless Checks and Balances, and God Bless the Republic!
Why is it always New England that disturbs the King’s peace?—From the musical 1776
Happy Independence Day! Independence once again has been declared from the home of the original tea party. Personally I cannot remember a brighter day since that dark day when Obama was elected over a year ago.
This is a great victory for the Republic. I do not see it necessarily as a referendum on any one issue as much as a message to Barak Obama that he is not king! Now that the people of the bluest of the blue states has elected a Republican, maybe Obama’s kingly aspirations will be put to rest and Obama will become the public servant that he promised to be.
God Bless Gridlock, God Bless Checks and Balances, and God Bless the Republic!
PS Many people have commented that they are unable to keep up with current political concerns, so here is my suggestion. If don’t have time for in-depth (and often repetitive coverage) at least try to watch The Panel on Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier. The Panel is made up with a variety of view points and airs in the last 20 minutes of the broadcast.
If you have time to watch one other show, then John Stossel’s weekly report on Fox Business Channel will make you think. It is broadcast several times during the week. I don’t always agree with Stossel, but he always defies accepted wisdom on a variety of subjects.
Happy Independence Day! Independence once again has been declared from the home of the original tea party. Personally I cannot remember a brighter day since that dark day when Obama was elected over a year ago.
This is a great victory for the Republic. I do not see it necessarily as a referendum on any one issue as much as a message to Barak Obama that he is not king! Now that the people of the bluest of the blue states has elected a Republican, maybe Obama’s kingly aspirations will be put to rest and Obama will become the public servant that he promised to be.
God Bless Gridlock, God Bless Checks and Balances, and God Bless the Republic!
PS Many people have commented that they are unable to keep up with current political concerns, so here is my suggestion. If don’t have time for in-depth (and often repetitive coverage) at least try to watch The Panel on Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier. The Panel is made up with a variety of view points and airs in the last 20 minutes of the broadcast.
If you have time to watch one other show, then John Stossel’s weekly report on Fox Business Channel will make you think. It is broadcast several times during the week. I don’t always agree with Stossel, but he always defies accepted wisdom on a variety of subjects.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Reactive Anti-Terrorism
The impact of terrorism, not merely on individual nations, but on humanity as a whole, is intrinsically evil, necessarily evil and wholly evil.—Benjamin Netanyahu
Wow, I have got to do a better job at keeping up this blog because I am tired of getting scooped. Just the other day I was saying that the so-called “Underwear bomber” was actually quite successful. Sure he did not get his bomb to work, but while he did not succeed at bringing down a commercial airplane, he was successful at making the TSA add more onerous, expensive (and useless ) layers of security measures to air travel. Two days after I expressed this, Ted Koppel was broadcasting the same sentiments in an interview…as usual, I am a day late and a dollar short.
Oh well, I still am going to comment. I am not saying that security is not important in air travel. Unfortunately it is a necessary by-product of the times we live in, however, I am tired of so-called security that has no effect, evidently, on the terrorists’ activities. Instead punishes the honest traveler. Like me, the TSA is a day late and a dollar short; never pro-acting, just reacting. There is no real safety in that.
Consider the TSA measures prior to September 11, 2001, despite considerable safety measures in place, the 9/11 hijackers accomplished their fiendish goals. It was not the lack of safety measures, but the abject lack of common sense by those who were implementing those measures. I mean what did the TSA gate security think when they saw all those men carrying box cutters, “Wow they must be going to a grocery stock boy's convention!” Well we don’t have to conject, since we have been told what those TSA gate security people actually thought, “Uhhhh, box cutters aren’t on the list of things they can’t carry on a plane, so it must be okay…” Since 9/11 we are told that the TSA has hired a better class of person. Certainly they are given higher pay and prettier uniforms, but if that makes you feel safer then, you are easily assuaged.
My concerns are these. First, that we are never proactive in our approach to terrorist threats. We are always one step behind what the terrorists are planning. This makes us increasingly vulnerable to whatever these evil people design instead of being prepared for their devious actions. Second, that most of the security measure in place are only for show to comfort the masses with little value of protection. Do you really feel safer taking your shoes off at a TSA gate? Will you feel safer now taking your underwear off at a TSA gate? (Relax they have not said they will require this…yet) Then you are easily appeased. Third, that the most effective way to fight terrorists is actively pursue them. Our money should be used in effective intelligence gathering and in effectively taking the fight to the terrorists. Then we must be comitted to follow through with that fight until the fight is done, not just until the terrorist is temporarily injured.
It’s time to enact true measures of safety, and quit reacting to what a terrorist did yesterday.
Wow, I have got to do a better job at keeping up this blog because I am tired of getting scooped. Just the other day I was saying that the so-called “Underwear bomber” was actually quite successful. Sure he did not get his bomb to work, but while he did not succeed at bringing down a commercial airplane, he was successful at making the TSA add more onerous, expensive (and useless ) layers of security measures to air travel. Two days after I expressed this, Ted Koppel was broadcasting the same sentiments in an interview…as usual, I am a day late and a dollar short.
Oh well, I still am going to comment. I am not saying that security is not important in air travel. Unfortunately it is a necessary by-product of the times we live in, however, I am tired of so-called security that has no effect, evidently, on the terrorists’ activities. Instead punishes the honest traveler. Like me, the TSA is a day late and a dollar short; never pro-acting, just reacting. There is no real safety in that.
Consider the TSA measures prior to September 11, 2001, despite considerable safety measures in place, the 9/11 hijackers accomplished their fiendish goals. It was not the lack of safety measures, but the abject lack of common sense by those who were implementing those measures. I mean what did the TSA gate security think when they saw all those men carrying box cutters, “Wow they must be going to a grocery stock boy's convention!” Well we don’t have to conject, since we have been told what those TSA gate security people actually thought, “Uhhhh, box cutters aren’t on the list of things they can’t carry on a plane, so it must be okay…” Since 9/11 we are told that the TSA has hired a better class of person. Certainly they are given higher pay and prettier uniforms, but if that makes you feel safer then, you are easily assuaged.
My concerns are these. First, that we are never proactive in our approach to terrorist threats. We are always one step behind what the terrorists are planning. This makes us increasingly vulnerable to whatever these evil people design instead of being prepared for their devious actions. Second, that most of the security measure in place are only for show to comfort the masses with little value of protection. Do you really feel safer taking your shoes off at a TSA gate? Will you feel safer now taking your underwear off at a TSA gate? (Relax they have not said they will require this…yet) Then you are easily appeased. Third, that the most effective way to fight terrorists is actively pursue them. Our money should be used in effective intelligence gathering and in effectively taking the fight to the terrorists. Then we must be comitted to follow through with that fight until the fight is done, not just until the terrorist is temporarily injured.
It’s time to enact true measures of safety, and quit reacting to what a terrorist did yesterday.
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