2012: The Most Important Election Since 1860

As we welcome in the New Year, Americans need to know that the 2012 Presidential election is the most important election since 1860. All Americans need to pay close attention to the issues. We need to put away some of the distractions and at least try to understand what this election is about.

The question is clear. What should be the nature of our government? Should it be a bureaucratic monolith attempting to micro manage every facet of our lives from what we eat to what we drive to how we light our houses to how much money we are allowed to make? Or should it be a government that derives its power from the people, and abides by Constitutional principles limiting its authority? Are we a nation of equal results? Are we a nation of equal opportunity? Are we nation based on “fairness”? Are we a nation based on competition? These are the issues that will define this nation for the next 100 years.

The 1860 election was a scary time. Then, as now, the country was bitterly divided. The issue was slavery, or more specifically, the expansion of slavery into new territories and states. Everybody was angry. Nobody was talking, and compromises turned into even more bitter divisions. The single largest asset class in the United States was slaves…human beings. It was a horrible set of circumstances.

The Democratic Party, the party of Jefferson, had divided in two separate political parties: pro-slavery/pro-secession Democrats in the South; pro-slavery/anti-secession Democrats in the north. And then there was the Constitutional Whig Party and the upstart almost brand spanking new Republican Party. Four political parties bringing this nation to the brink of the abyss!

The results of that election are glossed over in the high school history books. The Republican Party and Lincoln weren’t even listed on the ballots in the deep south. Lincoln won the election with only 39% of the popular vote. He was able to garner sufficient electoral votes by winning big in the hard core northern states. He came in 4th in what is now known as the border states where folks were able to vote for him.

The result of the chaos leading up to the election, and the chaos resulting from the election, was a war in which 500,000 Americans were killed…more than all the other wars fought in American history. Gettysburg alone had 43,000 casualties in three days, almost equal to the number of casualties in the Vietnam War. It was a war that was stumbled into. It never should have happened, and our civil society collapsed.

Once again Americans are on edge. Most of us don’t understand the nature of our discontent. But there are parallels between now and then in the sense that our civil society could be in jeopardy. The President of the United States is leading a class war, claiming that those who are already paying 80% of the federal tax bill aren’t paying enough…their “fair share.” He neglects to tell you that almost 50% of working Americans pay NO income tax. If that is the case, then he is lying to the American public, which bodes the question why?

Americans shouldn’t be surprised. He said he wanted to fundamentally change America. My question is from what to what. He doesn’t tell you that, because you won’t like what he has to say. He and his cronies believe America is a flawed nation with a suspect Constitution that stands in the way of Barack Obama’s vision of “fairness.” For now, he has to pay lip service to what the Constitution stands for. But give him another four years…and you will see him attempt to destroy it altogether.

That’s why his actions aren’t in synch with his words, and he seems tone deaf to the very real problems that are facing the nation. He is following a “higher” vision of world order and income redistribution which is at its best socialism, and at its worst communism. Unemployment, suffering, hunger, homelessness, skyrocketing food and utility bills are just the price one has to pay to achieve the utopian dream of “fundamental fairness.” Those who have studied Russian history understand the dynamic that changed the worker’s revolution into the worker’s worst nightmare. Pop some popcorn and watch Dr. Zhivago. Is this what you want for America?

Whenever one tinkers with the pillars of a society, the danger is always you never know where the roof is going to fall. Things have a habit of getting out of control. This is the debate. America needs to pay attention.

The Mahoning Valley's Second Bite at the Apple: The Need to Come Together

It’s not too often that an area gets a second bite at the apple, but that is exactly what is happening in the Mahoning Valley. What is amazing is the number of people who live here that don’t know or understand what is going on. The economic rebirth is so massive and happening so quickly it is beyond comprehension. Now it’s time for the political, business and union leaders of the valley to come together to educate the public as to the bounty and dangers with which we are dealing so that this area can gain the maximum economic advantage while protecting our slice of heaven from legitimate dangers.

The former steel industrial base of this region had its foundation in coal. Brier Hill coal was plentiful and pure. It was the highest grade of coal available back in the day and fueled the Mahoning Valley’s economic boom at the turn of the 20th century making us among the largest steel producing areas in the world at the beginning of World War 1. Now it is natural gas and oil found in the Marcellus and Utica shale fields a mile underneath us.

New methods of drilling called fracking have been perfected over the years. We are familiar with the natural gas wells that drill straight down until pocket a of gas is hit…and we are off to the races. Fracking involves lateral sideways drilling into an underground rock formation and injection of fluids into the well to actually form cracks in the rock releasing carbon fuels. The shale beneath us holds an abundance of natural gas, and oil, that this method of drilling can now tap into. The amount is mind boggling, and can define the economic future of the United States for the next 100 years.

The good news is that natural gas, although a carbon fuel, burns clean and more efficiently than coal. The bad news is that fracking is a nasty business. Drilling sites aren’t the benign operations we are used to with the flag at the top of the drilling rig. These are industrial operations and produce waste water bi-products filled with brine and other chemicals. On the other hand, technology has progressed to the point where many of the concerns have been addressed.

This is a high stake poker game with hundreds of millions dollars if not billions of dollars poised to flow in the Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. The Vindicator reported last week that Chesapeake and other gas drillers have obtained drilling rights in excess of 80,000 acres of land in Trumbull County alone with signing bonuses in excess of $4500.00/acre. Do the math folks…and this is only the beginning.

In addition, V and M Star is currently building the largest single industrial project in the United States down on the Mahoning River to provide pipe to the gas drillers. While V and M grabs the headlines, numerous smaller support industries are popping up all over from direct industrial supply companies to people providing apartment rentals and temporary housing. It is a boom in every sense of the word.

Casting a cloud over the rebirth is the downright hostility of the Obama administration and his uber aggressive EPA to any carbon fuels. Case in point, Obama is attempting to stall a new economic lifeline to this country by blocking the Keystone Pipeline from Canada to Houston, which would have the effect of making North America almost energy independent. Fracking sends Obama and EPA buddies into a complete rage as they are now beginning the effort to block as much of this economic development as possible.

The current administration is no friend to this kind of development. It is the enemy. That is why it is important that Republicans and Democrats, union officials and businesses, and those legitimate environmental groups who want development with safety rather than no development at all to get together and address the issues this new economic opportunity presents to the Valley.

Whether we like it or not, the future of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania and northwestern West Virginia is in coal and natural gas development. We need to educate ourselves and come together so that we are proactive with a coordinated effort to address the challenges and opportunities that our at our front door. If we watch from the sidelines, we will be throwing it all away.

The Case for Chris Christie

Charles Krauthammer made some interesting observations about the upcoming presidential election and the state of the Republican nomination process. He said on Fox News that the polls tell the story. Republicans shouldn’t take for granted that Obama can be beat next fall. He pointed out that while Obama loses to a generic Republican by at least 7 – 10 points, he is even or beats Gingrich and/or Romney in a head to head matchup. He concluded that if the election was going to be a simple referendum on Obama, everything would be fine. But Obama will demonize whoever runs against him, and a “strong” conservative candidate with baggage will have a tough time beating him. He supports a candidate that would best match the “generic Republican.”  That would be Mitt Romney.

Major uber conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have the opposite view. They advocate for a strong conservative candidate believing that the message will ultimately ring true with the electorate…and point to Ronald Reagan as the example. But are they right if the candidate is Newt Gingrich? Although Newt is this writer’s personal favorite, I also have issues with his electability. And in this election, the most important since 1860, there is NOTHING more important than beating Barack Obama.

So what are we to do? I have written, and still believe, that the Republicans are headed towards a brokered convention. Romney is to “white bread”. He is boring. He would make an excellent President. Following Krauthammer’s theory, he is the perfect candidate. The election would be about Obama with Romney the safe generic alternative. He even looks the part. Call central casting for a President, they will send you Mitt Romney.

But there is an alternative, and I think his candidacy become ever so slightly more plausible every day. Chris Christie has been in the news a lot the past few weeks. He has endorsed Mitt Romney. He has made several public statements regarding Romney and Obama, and even visited Iowa to drum up support for….Romney?

The fact is that the Republicans are looking at two candidates they really don't like. Romney will never cut it with the Evangelicals, and I don’t care what the pundits say. They question isn't will they vote for Obama...of course they won't.  The question is will they turn out for Romney.  Word to the wise, local evangelical churches are giving sermons that Mormanism is a cult.  That is a bad sign.

Gingrich is three times married and has converted to Catholicism the third time around. He worked as a consultant for Freddie Mac and has pocketed $1.5 million from one of the two agencies that were the root cause of the financial meltdown in 2008…just prior to 2008. Yes, you can raise your eyebrows. And now he has Republicans speaking out against him criticizing his leadership skills, threatening to mount 3rd party campaigns if he is the Republican nominee. Let’s face it. That dog won't hunt.

It is clear to me that no candidate is going to into the Republican convention late summer with a lock on the nomination. And the divides will be tough to bridge because there is no ideal candidate in this years bouquet of candidates. Couple that with the threat of a third party run from Ron Paul or Jon Huntsman, the Republicans are going to be looking for a compromise.

And that compromise will be Chris Christie. His politics are moderate like Romney's. His demeanor is tough and abrasive like Gingrich. He is someone that can rally Republicans behind him if not on political positions, then style. He appeals to those who just want to get Obama out of the White House and get someone in there who can clean this mess up.

And Christie has shown in New Jersey he has the ability to “clean the mess up.” A Christie/Rubio ticket would be unbeatable. And the threat of such a ticket may even force Obama not to seek a second term. Christie has paid lip service to not wanting to run, and has dutifully aligned himself with Romney who shares Christie’s political views. But he is out on the trail hammering Obama in a style that conservatives love.

Republicans need to take a second look, and save the party from a Gingrich crash and burn and a Romney milk and cookie fest. Republicans, and the country, deserve better than Krauthammer’s generic Republican candidate. Christie's the one.

America Bails Out Europe

On November 30, unnoticed by most of the American public, the United States began the financial bailout of Europe. It was a big deal, and the financial markets started a sustained move up as the investor class heaved a sigh of relief that Europe wasn’t going to go under…or so says conventional wisdom.

Americans, for the most part, are blissfully ignorant about the problems in Europe and specifically its currency, the Euro. We know that it is there. We know that travel to Europe is expensive. Some of us know that the Eurozone collectively is the largest economy in the world. And even less of us know that it is America’s largest trading partner.

The European Union is NOT a United States of Europe. It was formed by a series of treaties beginning at the end of World War II, culminating in a part time European Parliament and an almost single currency. Britain, for example, is a member of the European Union but declined participation in the Euro opting to keep its own pound sterling currency.

It is a flawed system. It is not a unified system. While there is a single European Central Bank, it cannot issue “Euro Bonds.” Each country maintains its own fiscal policy resulting in different interest rates in each country with no central regulating authority, a function served by the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States (Ron Paul…take note). The result is bonds issued by countries denominated in Euros at wildly disparate interest rates, guaranteed by…are you ready…credit default swaps (sound familiar)…and nobody knows who owns bonds issued by the good countries (Germany and France)…or the bad countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy Greece and Spain…the Piigs). If any of the countries default the currency collapses making all of those bonds denominated in Euros worthless. And there is a lot of debt floating around. When a currency gets into this kind of pickle, the solution is to devalue the currency by printing more money to pay the debt. The Euro has no such mechanism. And politically, the Germans and French citizenry does not want to be in the position of having to pay for the financial indiscretions of the Greeks and Italians.

So…at the end of November the collapse of the Greek and Italian debt markets seemed imminent, and credit denominated in Euros froze in Europe…exactly like in the United States in September of 2008. It was world financial collapse Part Deux. European banks refused to accept overnight loans denominated in Euros and demanded Dollars. Interest rates for dollars soared…the credit default swaps guaranteeing Euro denominated bonds (issued by…get this…AIG) were on the verge of default.

In a panic, the central banks of the world led by the United States, including Russia and China, poured dollars into the European system by freezing interest rates at an artificially low rate for money borrowed in dollars by and between European banks. The system unfroze, and the can was kicked down the road one more time.

The financial markets soared in relief. Unfortunately, the bigger picture is bleak. The debt is still there. The Germans and French are still not ready to devalue their currency to bail out the Greeks and Italians. While there are discussions ongoing to force the Piigs to relinquish sovereignty to a central European authority, the political realities of that happening are still lost in the afterglow of the European bailout by the United States and friends. As it is currenlty structured, the crisis has been averted until January 1st when it will happen all over again.

This is scary stuff, every bit as scary as what happened here in September, 2008. And like here, the debt doesn’t dissipate…it only gets worse.

As the saying goes…never a lender or borrower be.

N-E-W-T Ascending

Now it’s time for Newt. Just a few months ago, legitimate pundits and illegitimate people like me had written off Newt Gingrich as the Republican nomination for the President. His staff quit. He was broke. Press generated pseudo-scandals were swirling about him. No he is for all intents and purposes the front runner. He has jumped to the front of the pack in national polls, and is even money in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Newt Gingrich is the intellectual guardian of the modern conservative movement. He is a brilliant man, and it drives the liberal establishment crazy. Back when he was lost in the pack as his staff deserted him for Rick Perry, Newt said at the end of the day it would be ideas that would win out. He dutifully showed up for all of the debates, and put in stellar performance after stellar performance.  He was right.

Newt has always been my personal favorite, but I honestly felt that he couldn’t beat Obama. Not because he isn’t talented, but because the main stream press would obliterate him. They don’t like him because he is able to tear liberal philosophy to shreds. In simple terms he exposes the fallacy of a nanny state government, and why it hasn’t worked other places, and why it won’t work here. He expresses himself in clear and concise terms, and refuses to take any guff from any of the smart ass reporters that try to give it to him. He does what Ronald Reagan did…maybe not as good…but he’s close.

Gingrich says that this is the most important election in the United States since 1860. I agree. Ironically, like Lincoln, it is his debating skills that are clearing the path to his nomination. I wondered how he could beat Obama flying into the headwind of a vindictive cut throat main stream press. He answered the question himself today. He said tell Obama I want to debate him, and he can bring his teleprompter. If Gingrich is standing at the debate podium with Obama next fall, the emperor will truly have no clothes.

If Newt is nominated, can he beat Obama? I don’t know. Pundits galore are still singing Romney’s praises, which should be a red flag to conservatives. Romney is trying to win the nomination with a 25% solution as the other 75% of the party look for someone other than Romney. From Bachmann to Perry to Cain… each of the candidates has had a turn at the front only to be shot down. Time will tell if the same thing will happen to Gingrich.

What Gingrich has going for him is more debates where he is a star. Then there are the primaries. If he does well in Iowa and New Hampshire coming in at least second in each of those states, then all bets are off. Gingrich may have a shot at the whole enchilada. More likely, the nomination will be thrown into flux and the Republicans will host a brokered convention with Romney having maybe 35% of the delegates and the rest lined up behind the conservative candidates opposing Romney. That opens the way for a Chris Christie, a Rudy Giuliani, and dare I say it…Jeb Bush.

Meanwhile, I hope that America listens to what Gingrich has to say. He is proven politician with the skill to get things done, and the ideological moxie to go with it. His voice is the voice that can save America.

Penn State and College Football

The Penn State sex abuse debacle keeps getting worse. Like a Shakespearean tragedy, the swiftness of the demise of Joe Paterno football and the magical Penn State story is staggering. While things looked great on the surface, underneath the veneer it was rotting away with a secret few could comprehend, or chose not to.

We all operate within the box of our life experience which sets the parameters by which we react to things. If events don’t fit in the box of understanding and experience, folks tend to ignore them because to them it is irrelevant or unbelievable. It couldn’t happen here. Only when the truth hits them on the head like a hammer do they experience an “ah-ha” moment, and the gravity of the situation finally breaks through.

Knowledge of this event had been festering since 1998, at least on current available information. Jerry Sandusky retiring from Penn State as he was investigated by a grand jury is too coincidental for university officials and his close friend and confidant Joe Paterno NOT to have known. Even then, Sandusky was made a professor emeritus, and was allowed full access to Penn State facilities and football program. He made road trips with the team and his boys. The Drudge Report even stated he was recruiting for Penn State as late as this past year…even after new allegations arose in 2002 about which Joe Paterno had full knowledge.

The press has missed the focus. Paterno did what he was supposed to do, he notified his superiors in 2002 of the allegations of the molestation in the shower. The press is focused on the point that Paterno didn’t follow up and call the police under some sort of moral obligation. I am focused on the fact that apparently there was still some kind of ongoing relationship between Sandusky, Paterno and school even after the 2002 allegations. What were they thinking?

Then there is the suspicious disappearance of the county prosecutor…the smell of smoke and the presence of ashes in his car…his computer found at the bottom of a river with the hard drive removed. Rumors are swirling that Sandusky’s foundation was acting as a clearinghouse for pedophiles looking for boys…big money pedophiles. Could some of those people also have been big money contributors to Penn State? Murder is lurking in the background.

This is a mess. Meanwhile, the NCAA is continuing to hound Ohio State taking away 5 scholarships because an alumnus gave some football players $200.00 each for walking around money…so they could afford to buy a lousy pizza. Does the NCAA have its head in the sand?

It’s time for Congress to investigate the operation of the NCAA, and examine what has become a business as big if not bigger than the NFL. It needs to look at its tax exemptions, and set regulations as to how this entity can operate. It needs to standardize procedures for sex abuse allegations so that a situation at Penn State, which followed the letter of the law, does not happen again violating the spirit of the law. And this is important, it’s not clear whether Penn State actually violated any NCAA rules.

Big money breeds corruption. If the NCAA can’t regulate itself and the use of slave labor from football players which generates millions upon millions dollars for the schools and the NCAA itself, the government will have to. If the NCAA can't differentiate moral equivilency between tatoos and child molestation, it has to be done for it. Penn State players praying in the middle of the field before a football game for the “victims” just doesn’t cut it.

It’s time for someone to figure just what is going on here.

Defeat of Issue 2: The Canary in the Coal Mine

The defeat of Ohio’s Issue 2 should give warning to the Republican Party not to count their chickens before they hatch. If the unions were able to defeat a bill which by all calculations should have passed, they can do the same thing in next year’s presidential election. The extreme left and public employee unions play hard, they play dirty and their guns are loaded. Republicans have never been able to compete with those kinds of tactics. They better learn how if they expect to defeat Obama next year.

Issue 2 highlights the weakness of the Republican approach to politics. Senate Bill 5 which went down to defeat as Issue 2 today, should have passed. During the campaign, most polls showed Issue 2 continuously behind in the polls by as much as 22%. Yet when broken down item by item, Ohio citizens were overwhelmingly in favor of everything that was in the bill. How can an issue go down to defeat when citizens are in favor of what’s in the bill?

It’s not hard. The anti SB5 folks ran a campaign based on lies, threats, and emotion. And those in favor of SB5 ran the single worse political issue campaign I have ever seen in my life. You can’t win by rolling over resting on the false assumption the public knows what it is voting for.  Whoever was in charge of this campaign should be fired....and now!!!

Television ads were relentless from the anti Issue 2 folks showing nurses claiming you would die in the hospital corridors if Issue 2 passed. Your house would burn down with you in it if Issue 2 passed. The police would be unable to respond if Issue 2 passed. Your children would not know how to read if Issue 2 passed. Granny would be unable to buy medicine if Issue 2 passed. And all of our firefighters and police would die on the job if Issue 2 passed. Tell the lie long enough and often enough, and people will believe it. That is extreme politics’ oldest trick in the book.

Had the Republicans made half an effort to explain to the public what Issue 2 did, and broke down the components parts in a meaningful fashion, Issue 2 would have passed easily. Even after defeat, Ohioans support what is in the Senate Bill 5 when asked about each item on an individual basis.

Ohio Republicans have handed over to Barack Obama and his leftist cadre their first victory in the 2012 presidential campaign. And it was achieved by using the usual leftist playbook. Lie to the public. Play on emotion. Do it often with feeling. That is going to be the playbook for the next election.

Republicans be warned. The economic mutilation of America by the Obama administration will look like sweet cakes and sugar in the campaign. Republicans can’t assume the public will vote against Obama simply on the disastrous economy and massive debt. Expect more of the Occupy Something movement which is rooted squarely in Obama’s White House and Obama’s training. That is what he did before he became President.  He knows how to turn a sows ear into a silk purse. 

Ohio’s Issue 2 was the canary in the coal mine. Republicans should take heed.

Issue 2 - Imperfect but Necessary

Senate Bill 5 and Issue 2 have nothing to do with Ohio's budget deficit. That issue was addressed in an already passed state budget. The intent of these  initiatives is to deal with budget issues facing local government entities including school systems, townships, villages and cities. Ohio has no more bail out money.  The hope is that Issue 2 will give the local governments the tools by which to better manage local finances.

Let's start with the police and firefighters. Notwithstanding Issue 2, they are not allowed to strike in Ohio. Under the current system, they enter into collective bargaining with their local government. If no agreement can be reached, then the matter is referred to binding arbitration conducted by an outside arbiter. The arbiter then makes a decision which is binding on the parties.

The problem is the arbiters, some of whom come from as far away as California, often decide the issues based on pay scales and salaries from parts of the country where the cost of living is substantially higher than here. The only thing the arbiters DON"T take into consideration is the ability of the local government entity to pay. So when recommendations are made, the local government entity has only two choices, lay off the safety forces at the expense of the less senior employees, or start an endless cycle of property tax levies or sales tax initiatives to get the money. At the end of the day, those are regressive taxes and hurt the poor and the elderly disproportionately. That is the Draconian choice Issue 2 eliminates. It leaves the ultimate decision on wages and benefits to the local government entity.

State university employees also use an arbitration process both for faculty and non-certified unions, but they can strike. YSU is notorious for this, and the end result is ALWAYS higher tuition to pay for what are disproportionate salaries of university professors. The argument is ALWAYS they can make more money elsewhere, and they could leave their jobs for higher pay in New York City. They won't leave though, if they can get New York City salaries and live in Youngstown where the cost of living is among the lowest in the nation. Those are the sweetheart deals Issue 2 wants to eliminate by outlawing strikes by university personnel.

Issue 2 also equalizes benefits for unionized state employees to the private sector.  It requires a minimum of 10% contribution to health care, and 15% to pension.  It also attempts to eliminate the undue burden placed on local governments for cash in pension bonuses from unused sick days and vacation days.  In the private sector, it is use it or lose it.  These types of pension bonuses cost the Cincinnati $93 million this year.  This has to stop.

Secondary schools are directly targeted by Issue 2, also eliminating the right of teachers to strike. But it goes further by ending tenure and salary increases based on longevity rather than teaching ability. This is the most controversial of the provisions. Being married to a teacher, I know about nepotism and favoritism played by local school boards. The popular line for Issue 2 proponents is that the teacher of the year can be laid off in favor of someone who has been there a long time. What they don't tell you is that the teacher of the year is probably a cheerleading coach, and hiring decisions by many school systems is based on what a teacher can coach rather than what a teacher can teach. Not to mention that person who gets a bur up his/her butt and runs for school board because Mrs. Jones gave little Johnny a C in English. Guess who is going to lose her job with no recourse? This is the problem part of Issue 2. Merit pay is a good idea, but in Issue 2 it is ill conceived and not well thought out.

The Plain Dealer, the Columbus Dispatch, and the Cincinnati Enquirer have all endorsed Issue 2, stating that it has its problems, but the issues facing local governments and school systems are critical and we are better off with it that without it.

I agree. While I have major problems with the tenure/seniority for primary school teachers found therein, the balance of the provisions are necessary and timely. My wife retires at the end of next year so she will not have to deal with those seniority provisions and the huge number of lawsuits that I see stemming from the "merit pay" provisions. If what I think is going to happen does happen, teachers will be striking notwithstanding as some of these goofy school boards start to throw their weight around. The law will be adjusted accordingly as the coming abuses begin to surface.

Finally, the main reason I support Issue 2 is that it gives public employees the right to opt out of mandatory withholding of union dues from their paychecks. Union bosses and political slush funds make those involved with big business look like a walk in the park. The abuses are many and well documented. Notwithstanding what the law currently says, unions take money from those who might have a different political view, and support left wing candidates directly and indirectly, not to mention liberal issues and causes including pro-choice and pro-illegal immigrant endeavors. In addition, in Ohio, 99% of all union political contributions go to Democratic candidates, who in turn repay the union by granting excessive pay raises and benefits. It is a racket in a vicious circle.

I am going to vote YES on Issue 2 on November 8.

America's Challenge: Prosperity Through Structural Change

The economic storm clouds have been billowing and blowing around America for the past several years. Record numbers of Americans are living in poverty. Middle class Americans have lost at least $14 trillion in home equity value over the past seven years. Unemployment is rampant among those under the age of twenty five. It is tragic in the same age group within the minority community. Under employment is everywhere you look. 

At the same time, farmers are complaining that the flow of illegal immigrants has slowed to a trickle while Americans are ignoring those now vacated jobs. In addition, many skilled trade jobs are screaming for employees and they just aren't there. On a personal level, I have been looking for someone to install some indoor lighting in my house and it has been like pulling teeth trying to get anyone to come out and do it.

I have been writing for several months now that this is not your father's recession. To use the vernacular, this time it's different. While those responsible for monetary policy have lowered interest rates to almost negative numbers punishing the investment class, and those responsible for fiscal policy have looked at wasted "stimulus" spending while the national debt is at crisis levels as Europe teeters on collapse, the stuff that needs to be done is being ignored either by ignorance or design...and I suspect a good dose of both.

Once again I am raising the hue and cry that the problems with the American economy, and indeed America herself, are systemic. You can tinker with spending and printing money and interest rates all you want, it won't make it better. Unless the structural issues are addressed, we will continue to flounder in ways unknown in the country up until now.

Therein lies the appeal of Herman Cain. He has confounded the pundits with his 9-9-9 plan which even the most cursory inspection demonstrates it would be politically infeasible to implement. On the other hand, the fact that he has proposed a structural solution to a known problem, a disastrous tax code, is enough to make America sit up and take notice. No, America may not like THIS plan, but it at least it satisfies our sense that the problems lie elsewhere than spending money to hire more teachers or police...the "temporary" solution.

Structural change is needed in tax policy, energy policy, trade policy, environmental policy, and foreign policy to make this country work. We need to address social attitudes as well. Getting your hands dirty needs to be elevated to a respected way to make a living. The be all and end all of success is not a college education in liberal arts. As I told my son, a college education entitles you to nothing. It is just another tool in your box to help you make a living. In my practice, some of my wealthiest clients barely finished high school.

The job of American government is to create an environment for individual success. What needs to be done is no secret, and if done correctly, there will be screaming from both sides of the political spectrum. Yes, General Electric and IBM should be paying taxes, but so should the 47% of working Americans who don't. Yes, universal health care is a worthy goal, but suffocating American business and creating an environment where Walmart has ceased providing health care to those who need it most is inexcusable. And energy independence, the cornerstone for future American prosperity, will require silencing the environmental extremists among us while letting those who are doing the fracking know that they better not frack the water tables.

I believe that America is up to the challenge. So let's stop crying in our beer, and go do it.

Occupy Wall Street: Feeding the Mob

The Occupy Wall Street “movement” has been front and center in the media. After watching it for awhile, the only conclusion that can be reached is that it is not the grass roots spontaneous populist uprising the news dudes want to portray. Drooling news commentators like Anderson Cooper and his associates at CNN are harboring memories of the 1960’s. Oh how wonderful. Nancy Pelosi was positively orgasmic as she nominated these folks for sainthood. But they are wrong, and they know it.

Start with the premise that Barack Obama was a community organizer. If you ever wondered what a community organizer did, look at the Occupy Wall Street crowd. That’s what community organizers do. Is Barack Obama behind this thing? Maybe! Are his campaign people and Acorn crowd behind this? Probably! These guys can organize a crowd with a tweet or an email. The demonstrators will show up at the drop of a hat. All you have to do is tell them where and when.

Unfortunately, the Democratic left has a problem. In addition to Nancy Pelosi and GE’s Jeff Imelt embracing these folks, so has the Communist Party and the Nazi’s. The intolerance of the left is rearing its ugly head in some of the most anti-Semitic rhetoric I have heard in a long time. Blaming Wall Street has become equated with blaming the Jewish bankers. One employee of the Los Angeles school system got on television and said the Zionist Jews need to be run out of the country. The signs are rampant at the demonstrations.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid called the Tea Party racist without one shred of evidence. They stated that they must be racist because the Tea Party wanted smaller government and a balanced budget. Now the darling of the Tea Party is Herman Cain, a conservative black entrepreneur. What is the solution to this progressive dilemma? Call Herman Cain racist. One commentator stated that racism is never stronger than when it comes from a black man. Really?

The press has ignored the racist, bigoted, and violent commentary coming out of the Occupy Wall Street folks. Beheading the bankers is my favorite. The press is also ignoring that funding for these activities is coming from every union between the AFL-CIO and the SEIU.  That's certainly not spontaneous. 

It’s called feeding the mob. It’s dangerous. Killing the Jewish bankers and businessmen is a familiar refrain…in Weimer Germany and early 20th century Russia. This is bad stuff. The press can play the populist spontaneity angle all they want, but I know intolerant leftist violent bigots when I see them.

Is it representative of all the people marching in the streets? Of course not.  Many of these folks have legitimate complaints.  Many mirror the opinions of the Tea Party.  But when the left starts to march, watch out.  Feeding the mob is dangerous.  Community Organizers may think they know how to strike a delicate balance between legitimacy and lunacy, but then again.....

Is America in Decline?

Is America really in decline? The Drudge Report posted an editorial from the British paper The Financial Times entitles America Must Learn to Manage It’s Decline. The author claims that America must come to accept its decline in the world or risk having it worse than it is. He cited the United Kingdom in 1945 in coming to terms with the demise of Pax Britannia. He also stated that Britain prospered economically once it accepted its reduced role in the world.

Well, we aren’t Britain at the end of World War II which was dealing with massive destruction of its industrial capacity, an empire torn apart by the war, economically bankrupt, and incapable of reconstructing itself let alone any other part of the world. The British Empire didn’t decline. It collapsed in the war. Just like the Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire did at the end of World War I. War is funny that way.

The fact that this editorial appeared in the Financial Times is indicative of how the world currently views Obama’s America. He views America as being in a zero sum game. Although he says he wants America to be number one, as in all things Obama, his actions are those of a person trying to manage a shrinking economy and shrinking power. And just in case it didn’t happen by itself, he would institute policies to make sure that it does.

America will never be a second class country. We are the third largest country in the world by population (behind China and India). We are blessed with abundant natural resources although Obama and his EPA cronies are doing their best to put them out of reach. The rest of the world still comes here for our universities and educational opportunities. Although the country is broke, most of our citizens are fairly well off and we still maintain a vibrant middle class contrary to progressive rhetoric.

That doesn’t mean other countries won’t advance as they achieve economic success based on one form of capitalism or another…whether it is state capitalism in China or crony capitalism in Russia or hard working capitalism like in India. After World War II, the United States was the only game in town. No one could expect that to last.

But just because other countries are finally achieving success doesn’t diminish our relevance or importance in the world. We have first and foremost a Constitution, Rule of Law, and a stable political system. The current gridlock in Washington isn’t a sign of our weakness. It is a sign of our strength. As the saying goes, we will finally stumble upon the correct policy after all others have failed. Notwithstanding the Standard and Poor’s debt downgrade, America is the ONLY safe haven in the financial world. That is the strength of our system and of our national character.

The risk of American decline will not be found in foreign countries overtaking our hegemony. The risk is found from within. Don’t listen to Obama. Don’t be fooled by utopian promises. Unlike Obama who has preyed on people’s fears, equality in America doesn’t mean that all people should have the same…that’s communism. In America, we are created equal by God who has given us equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our strength is in striving to give everyone an equal opportunity, equal life chances. We obviously don’t always achieve that, but we try. That is the great American quest.

America in decline? That will happen only if we choose to let it happen.

"Occupy" These Three Things to Fix the Economy

In the midst of the Occupy something or other “movement”, I am stunned at the lack of understanding of the American system exhibited by these folks. Some want all debts forgiven. Others want the banks to be dismantled. Still others want all income to be equal. Another group wants doctors to only make $28,000.00/year. Others think that aliens are controlling all the corporations. Oh my. What have we wrought?

Obviously economics is not these folks' strong suit. For that matter, most of us are lacking in the fundamentals as to how our economic system works. That is why the times we are living in are so hard. People don’t know where to look for solutions, so they look in all the wrong places.  Here are two definitions just for the hell of it. Fiscal policy has to do with government spending and taxing policy. Monetary policy has to do with how the Federal Reserve sets interest rates, bank reserve requirements, and the increase and/or decrease of the money supply.  That was simple, wasn't it? 

Our economy cannot be fixed until the powers that be realize that this time monetary and fiscal policy will not work. Under normal circumstance and normal recessions fiscal and monetary policies work to a degree and can be very helpful. But this isn’t a normal recession. Someone has let the air out of the balloon. Changes in monetary and fiscal policy are simply moving deck chairs on the Titanic. Raise taxes on the rich to “stimulate” the economy under these circumstances is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is smoke and mirrors with no substance and may actually be harmful as the most productive in our economy are penalized.

Our economy is in systemic trouble. There has to be a change in priorities in order to fix things. Some of these changes will be painful…and others will be exciting and challenging and will represent a rebirth of American greatness.  All of them will be controversial because many political policies have become dogma and border on religion.  That is dangerous.

Start with fairness. Obama and friends get on television night after night and talk about the rich paying the fair share of taxes. When 50% of working Americans pay no taxes and the top 10% of wage earners pay more than 80% of collected income taxes, Obama is right. Just not in the way he thinks. While the blame game may prove popular to a degree, he is doing a disservice to the country by lying. The tax code needs to be reformed so everybody pays something. I don’t care if it is even a hundred bucks. REVISE THE TAX CODE.

Energy is the lifeblood of America. We are regulating ourselves out of business while our competitors pay lip service at the altar of environmentalism but then do whatever they want. Leading by example doesn’t cut it. We need to normalize energy policy in our country allowing for the production of domestic energy, including coal, natural gas, and off shore oil. I am also for alternative energy development. The government can push the country in that direction with reasonable tax incentives…but it CANNOT continue to regulate our country into oblivion based on some speculative junk science which over and over again is proven to look good in theory, but is not borne out by the empiric evidence. THE CURRENT ENERGY POLICY IS THE DEATH KNELL OF OUR ECONOMY.

As an appendage to our dysfunctional, ideological energy policy, General Electric closed its last light bulb plant in the United States and moved production of the new “green” light bulbs to China. Until the government gets tough with China, requiring it to float its currency like all of the other world players, we will continue to lose business and jobs to the Chinese. Add to that tough, enforceable intellectual property laws, maybe then we can make some headway.

I keep talking and nobody listens. Benanke and crew can continue to quantitatively ease the money supply. Obama and crew can continue to rail against the rich. The “occupy” jack asses can continue to call for dismantling the nuclear power plants. It will make no difference.

1) REFORM THE TAX CODE.

2) ALLOW FOR DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION

3) NORMALIZE FAIR TRADE WITH CHINA

Do these three things, and we are back in business.

Obamacare Meets the Supremes

In a stunning reversal of strategy, this past week the Obama administration changed its health care law strategy by asking the United States Supreme Court to agree to hear the challenge to its constitutionality sooner rather than later. Up until now, the strategy had been stall and delay. The administration believed that a delay in the decision to possibly late 2013 would allow it to get by the election before implementation of its provisions, plus allow promulgation of the associated regulations making it difficult for the court to overturn Obamacare. Now it is expected the Supreme Court will issue a decision on Obamacare around June of next year, just in time for the election.

There have been three appellate hearing on the matter. The 6th Circuit in Ohio ruled 2-1 in favor of the law. The 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled 2-1 against the law. The 4th Circuit in Virginia refused to hear the case stating that the parties had no standing to challenge it because it didn’t take effect to 2014. It took no position on its constitutionality or lack thereof. The Virginia and Ohio decision were straight party line. The fly in the ointment for Obama was the Atlanta decision where a Clinton appointee sided on the side of unconstitutionality.

Originally the administration indicated it would appeal the Atlanta decision to the entire panel of 11th Circuit judges. There are eleven of them. But they counted up the votes, and decided they couldn’t win there, and it would actually bolster the opposition challenging the law. Those of you who followed Bush v Gore in 2000 should feel right at home at the 11th Circuit, which helped Bush be declared the winner of the hotly contested Florida primary.

The Supreme Court is a center right court, with Justice Kennedy being the swing vote between the four liberal justices and the four conservative justices. The issue is simple, can the United States government force a citizen to buy a product it does not want while outlawing all other reasonable alternatives. The liberals have gone orgasmic claiming the Commerce Clause of the Constitution has expanded to such a point that government does have the authority. Those opposing state that if this law stands, the government can force individuals to buy or not buy anything if it serves the “social good”, whatever that means. My money is on the opposition.

This is the big enchilada for Obama. All other issues pale in comparison to his administration’s signature piece of legislation. Everything else he has done is haunted by the shadow of this 2400 page disaster which sets up a bureaucracy the likes of which this country has never seen before, enforced by the power of the Internal Revenue Service.

Obama’s supporters claim this is no different than Social Security and Medicare. They are wrong. In those programs, there was a benefit for everyone where there was none. In Obamacare, there are winners and losers. Most of the country has good health care plans and ends up at the losing end of the stick, and they are unhappy. At the height of the debate, 75% of Americans opposed it. Today, it is around 60%.

Obama’s people believe that it will be a political boon to the President if the law is upheld. And if the law is defeated, it would rally his base to re-elect him in order to make sure the next Supreme Court appointee will be liberal, and shift the balance on the court.

That is a bonehead position, and they are wrong. If the law is upheld, the right will rise up and show up at the polls unlike anything this country has seen before to politically get rid of it. If the law is overturned, the right will be celebrating in the streets, and still show up in droves to get rid of Obama.

One last thing!!! Obama shouldn’t be too sure to count on at least four votes in the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, these folks are independent lawyers and judges. Political leanings are one thing, but they also are trained to enforce and interpret the law according to the Constitution. They don’t live in a vacuum, and are well aware of the problems in the country and the political unpopularity of Obamacare. You may see a 6-3 decision, or even a 7-2 decision against the law. One of my friends who is the most liberal person I know told me that he admires the tea party. I asked him why. He said that there is very little difference between progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans. They wanted the government out of their lives in the era of the 60’s protests, and they want the government out of their lives now.

And of course there was that little matter of the President of the United States dissing the Supreme Court on national television at a State of the Union Address no less. As they say….what goes around, comes around. It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, or the Supreme Court.  Hi boys...good to see you.  Make some arguments.

Descending to Irrelevance

There has been only one other time America has witnessed a presidential meltdown, and that was Richard Nixon. Add to the list President Obama. Not only has he managed to disengage himself from the pulse of America, he has managed to combine it with the arrogance of Jimmy Carter, who also didn’t understand why America didn’t love him. Over the past few weeks, Obama has managed to piss off just about everybody…except the Muslims. Give him time. He will do that, too. Who is advising this guy?

Those of us who work for a living continue to look on with amazement. The surprise isn’t that the economy is so bad. The surprise is that it isn’t worse. While Obama goes traipsing off across the country spewing hatred against the “rich” who pay most of the taxes now, but apparently not enough for Barack, and telling African Americans to quit whining, the business community has quietly deserted him (except for Warren Buffett) and is cautiously making plans for the post Obama era, which will take years of recovery. Who wants to hire anyone when the President of the United States has hammered business with health care, added environmental regulation upon environmental regulation, saddled banks with all sorts of new rules, and refuses to drill for oil while loaning untold sums of money to a green energy company owned by one of his chief fundraisers that went belly up with your tax money? Hello!!! Are you listening?

Even the newspapers are backing away from this guy. The Washington Post is all of a sudden running critical editorials about him. The Chicago Tribune says he should not run for office again. Progressives are scared out of their minds. If Obama loses next fall, and loses big, the Progressive Movement in America will be dead. The grand experiment will be a failure with more poor than ever, and an economy at a complete standstill.  In order to survive, the Progressives will have to disassociate themselves from Obama.

Bill O’Reilly in his talking points on Monday night did an outstanding job of reviewing the history of the Progressive Movement in America. He framed the debate this way. Is this going to be an America built on capitalism and the Judeo-Christian ethic? Or is this going to be a society based on central planning by a secular, all encompassing government? It’s that simple.

Obama told you he wanted to fundamentally change America. He just didn’t tell you how. But if you had looked, you would have seen his friends, most of which were left wing, violent, sixties radicals. Look at where he went to church. Reverend Wright preached a radical religion rooted in violent social justice. That’s what counts to Barack Obama. That is what he knows. In the meantime, his wife is dancing wearing $40,000.00 cuff bracelets, and flying off to Spain for one of her own personal vacations.  Can you say "tone deaf"?

There are those who hoped he would move to the center. Not going to happen!!!! It’s not because he doesn’t want to. It’s because he doesn’t know what the center is. He has led a charmed life of privilege not fed by work, but by his appealing personality. He was the black guy the white folks could behind to show how tolerant they are.  No one taught him anything else.  He is truly living what he believes. 

His poll numbers have yet to reflect his speech to the Black Congressional Caucus. If you think they are bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. His class warfare themes are not ringing true to the American public. They know why there are no jobs and the economy is tanking: No energy. No money. Too much regulation. Too much uncertainty, and a hostile environment for business the likes of which this country has never seen before. 

America has stopped listening to him. Finally America is beginning to absorb what this man has done and who he is. He is descending to irrelvance. For a politician, that is a career death knell.

Here We Go a-Gerrymandering Among the Leaves So Green

Ohio’s new congressional district lines have been drawn. Democrats are howling and Republicans are cheering. It reminds me of Boss Don Hanni’s old line when people complained to him that he only hired his friends. His answer: Who am I going to hire, my enemies?

Unfortunately for the Democrats, Obama’s primary legacy is gerrymandered districts favoring Republicans all across the country. The statewide elections both parties definitely don’t want to lose are in the year of a census. In this case, the historic Republican sweep of state elections in 2010 will shape Congress for the next ten years, and help consolidate Republican power.

There is the usual pissing and moaning. The Democrats complain that we all need to work together for the good of the country. The Republicans retort that elections have consequences. Ironically, both parties were arguing the opposite points of view during the health care debate when the Democrats swept both houses of Congress, and along with a Democratic president, shoved an unpopular health care bill down the throat of an unsuspecting American public. The current Democratic redistricting debacle is a direct result of that sneaky Christmas Eve health care vote by the Democratic Senate. It’s not nice to fool the voting public.

Notwithstanding, it is what it is. The Republicans in Columbus have adjusted Ohio’s districts from 18 to 16 as a result of a stagnant population, and the Democrats are the big losers. Of the new congressional districts 10 are strongly Republican, 4 are strongly Democratic, and 2 are toss-ups but can be characterized as leaning Republican. If I lived in Akron, I would be furious. It was vivisected. God knows who represents whom in Summit County.

In this area, Tim Ryan’s 17th District is now the 13th District. District lines were expanded further into Summit County (Akron), Portage and Stark counties. It lost some of Trumbull County, but gained Boardman and Poland Village in Mahoning County.

The monster 6th District now goes all the way from New Middletown 315 some miles down along the Ohio river to the Southern-most tip of the tip of the state. There is major expansion to the west making it the largest geographic district in the state, and I suspect among the largest in the country. If anyone can figure out what New Middletown and Canfield have in common with Marietta, let me know!!! Nonetheless, there it is. Just so you know, within this monster 6th District, you can’t get there from here. You actually have to drive through West Virginia to reach the southern netherworld of the 6th district.

And to some extent this remodel of Ohio’s congressional districts has received “bi-partisan” support. Several Democratic members of Ohio’s House of Representatives voted to approve it because minority districts remained intact. At least 5 Republicans voted against it on principle opposing massive districts that cross the state like the Ohio 6th.

Next on the agenda is the redrawing of the Ohio state representative and senate districts. My understanding is the plan will be released sometime in October. Rumor has it Gerberry and Hagan’s districts will be combined leaving one of them out of a job. But I am not too worried. Both of these guys seem to have nine lives. No matter what…when they lose one government job, they always walk away with another.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!!!

Obama's Jobs Speech - Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

Is anybody there? Does anybody care? These words taken from the musical 1776 most aptly describe President Obama’s long awaited job speech. As in all things Obama, his handlers tried to raise this speech to mystical heights by calling for a joint session of Congress. He ought to fire those guys. They scored the unassisted triple play against their boss.

1) The scheduling conflict with the Reagan Library Republican Debate was a political maneuver one too cute.

2) He had to talk fast to get the speech over before the NFL opener.

3) The news cycle was completely co-opted by a terrorist warning issued by Homeland Security simultaneously with the speech.

1-2-3 strikes… you’re out! What were his political advisers thinking?

At the end of the day, his speech contained nothing new. The Republicans demurred not offering a response. None was needed. Economics 101 says this will not work. All Obama is going to do is rob Peter to pay Paul…but then he did promise redistribution of wealth, didn’t he? This time next year we will be another year older and deeper in debt. Keynesian economics anticipates that stimulus is a temporary measure that will melt away in an economy in which the government has no permanent debt. Somebody forgot to tell that fine point of economics to the current administration.

In today's American, any stimulus to be successful has to come from unconventional sources that are not already in the economic bubble. For example, a massive relief of regulation to allow the energy industry to boom would generate billions of dollars of NEW revenue from NEW work and NEW private industry jobs. It also would allow money to stay in the country that is currently being converted into petro dollars as we import our oil. THAT would be something that would work.

Obama did have one idea I found appealing. He wants to prod lenders into allowing mortgage holders current with their mortgage to be allowed to refinance their current mortgage to a lower interest rate even if their house is “under water.” It wouldn’t reduce the amount of the mortgage, but simply allow borrowers to take advantage of the record low mortgage rates right now at about 3.75%. This would put hundreds of dollars a month into family coffers. THAT is stimulus not coming from the government, and one that would be helpful.

As for the rest…three years of unemployment insurance…really? And here we go again with shovel ready jobs. NOW he is touting those white blue collar construction jobs his last plan said we didn’t need any more of. I guess he blew that one.  But you know what?  With all of the new regulations, it will be years before most of those jobs get started.  Environmental impact statement, anyone?

In the last $800 billion stimulus package, less than 10% of the amount was actually earmarked for construction and hard asset projects…less than 10%. I haven’t seen the figures in the Son o’ Stimulus plan…$450 billion....but I understand that it is pretty much following the same configuration with much of the money allocated to state salaries. Here we go again.

True growth can be achieved through energy policy, calling off the EPA, putting a moratorium on Obamacare, quit promulgating regulations on everything from dust to salt, get off the union bandwagon and quit suing American companies and states, and dump the Keynesians!!! That's the ticket!

Unfortunately, to quote Michele Maklin, out ticket is on the Obama Express to bankruptcy. All Aboard!!!

Smothering America: 12 Reasons for Zero Job Growth

If you hold the pillow over the patient’s mouth long enough, sooner or later the patient is going to die. That’s what happened to the American economy. There is no doubt that President Obama inherited a mess. The financial collapse in September of 2008 was about as scary event as I have experienced. Obama makes claim that he “saved” the world from economic Armageddon, but the fact of the matter is the most draconian measures after the financial collapse were a bi-partisan solution orchestrated by the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration. Credit or blame belongs to both.

But after he assumed office, as Obama continued to administer the bi-partisan medicine to a very sick U.S. economy, his ideology simultaneously acted as a smothering blanket preventing the patient’s own natural recuperative power from restoring it to health. Think A Charlie Brown Christmas as he tried to decorate the little tree… “I killed it!”

Starting with Obamacare which has a more than 50/50 chance of being declared unconstitutional, Obama implemented a MASSIVE regimen of regulation and income redistribution. The American people cannot comprehend the massive amount of regulation percolating just below the surface. The amount is so massive it is taking the government years to promulgate the regulations. Some of them are so draconian that by design they are not scheduled to be implemented until after the election.

The more moderate, and I use the term loosely, of Obama’s advisors have deserted the ship leaving him with an uber left wing cadre of people who agree with him and his leftist views. If he appears conflicted, he has yet to figure out how to make the American people understand that he knows best, as polls and politics drag him kicking and screaming to a more left of center position, even if just by an inch.

His speech to Congress on Thursday evening will be a combination of recycled ideas plus a lecture to Congress and the American people. It will appear shrill and defensive and accusative as he wags his finger. It will not sit well with an America that is tired of words. Slowly they have realized the truth of the mantra of right wing pundits… when it comes to Obama, look at what he does, not what he says. They are two different things. The business community looks at the former. The mainstream media looks at the latter.

Let’s look at what he has done to stifle job growth:

1) His supplicants at the NLRB sued Boeing for building a plant in a right to work state. Do you really think Boeing, one of the largest employers and exporters in the United States, will ever build another plant here again?

2) Boeing may not have to worry about it as Obama’s good buddy Jeff Imelt, chairman of General Electric, has just announced a partnership with the Chinese to compete with Boeing with planes built in China. As in all things Chinese, General Electric will be transferring proprietary technology to the Chinese. Don’t forget that GE has closed down a significant portion of its medical imagery plants and is moving them to China. This from Obama’s chairman of his Job Creation and Retention Council.

3) He sued Arizona and other states from enforcing border protections not only from illegal workers coming across the Mexican border, but from the violent drug cartels which for all intents and purposes control northern Mexico.

4) In the process, he has implemented regulations to protect both legal and illegal workers in the United States, with assurances that the illegal workers will not be deported if they report work rule violations.

5) He has announced a policy that in effect gives blanket amnesty to illegals, ordering that only illegals who are violent felons will be deported. The rest can stay.

7) He has ordered the EPA to implement the terms of Cap and Trade even though both houses of Congress have overwhelmingly voted not to implement it. Even his own party is opposed to this.

8) Speaking of going against Congressional votes, Congress voted to defeat "card check."  This would allow unions to unionize shops by getting the signatures of 51% of the employees (think intimidation if you say no) rather than by secret ballot.  Nobody says no to Obama, so he is attempting to do it through new regulations from this Department of Labor and the NLRB.  Nevermind what Congress said. 

9) He has sued the major banks relating to “fraud” in packaging all those bad loans that went belly up and then selling them to Freddie and Fannie. But that’s only ½ the story. It was Freddie and Fannie that told them to do this, EXPLICITLY, with the advice and consent of Congress, specifically Barney Frank and friends. If he thinks he will make political points with this one, he should think again. There is lots of blame to go around on this one…reference people who live in glass houses!! All this does is make getting a loan even more difficult than it now is.

10) Obamacare was a lie. Even members of the Democratic Party are admitting that the “you can keep the health care you got” promise is not quite true. That is why he has granted exemptions from compliance to all of his friends. You will get the shaft AFTER THE ELECTION. Of course, as in all things liberal, the lie was necessary to promote the greater good. Meanwhile, employers are left holding their rears as they try to figure out what is going to happen.

11) He has done everything in his power to discourage the development of the energy industry in the United States, demonizing just about everyone and everybody associated with it. At the end of the day, alternative fuels need to be developed, but it will be the market that will determine when that will be. If he would call off his dog…the EPA… energy development will prove to be the stimulus which will revive America to greatness.

12) Finally, last but not least, he has intruded into the farm industry with massive regulations now forbidding anyone from under 16 years of age from driving a tractor (ridiculous to those who farm) to the amount of dust a farm can kick up…HE IS REGULATING DUST ON FARMS.

The last one pretty much says it all. This doesn’t even begin to touch new regulations on the banking industry. The regulation on the restaurant industry by food police is staggering. It just never ends with Obama and friends.  Would you open a business with this type of government activity swirling around you?  Would you hire more workers under these circumstances?

And you want to know why there are no jobs. Mr. President, take the pillow off the face of America and allow us to breathe again.

A Nation of Hope / A Nation of Despair

Barack Obama promised to fundamentally change America. What America thought it was going to get was an oratorical vision…there are no red states; there are no blue states; there is only the United States. Well, talk is cheap. What we actually got was a partisan of the worst degree whose idea of compromise was  my way or the highway.

Armed with a Democratic House and Senate, Obama moved unilaterally to spend us into oblivion. His definition of stimulus is different than mine. To me, stimulus is building hard projects…bridges and roads and airplanes and schools. His idea of stimulus was using the bulk of the money to fund liberal pet projects that produced few new jobs and were geared to saving government union jobs. Now the money has run out. Jobs that he did produce cost in excess of $500,000.00 per job, if any at all.

I saw a concert tonight that had an American Bandstand segment in it. For those of you under 40, that was Dick Clark’s pop music dance program…you know…the old guy ABC drags out on New Year’s Eve?? At any rate, flashed across the back of the stage were pictures of a simpler America filled with sock hops and poodle skirts. Is this the America Obama wanted to fundamentally change? And change to what?

On the 11:00 news right after the concert, a local television station ran a news story about an African American woman who wanted to do something about hunger in her neighborhood. She literally set up a soup line on a sidewalk in Youngstown’s south side. She runs it at the end of the month to help those whose monthly check has run out and still need to buy food. Children were lined up for take out containers filled with spaghetti and meatballs. Is this the America Barack Obama wants? Does he want a nation of dependents?

One little boy kept looking into the container, and at the food spread out on the table. It broke my heart. What did that little boy learn lining up for food? Did he learn how to shift for himself and how to make money…or did he learn that food comes from the government or charity, and he should be glad for whatever government largess gives to him? Does he learn true hope or true despair?  We did that to those people. 

Nobody wants to see anyone go hungry, but when 52% of the population does not make enough money to pay income tax…and almost 20% of the population is on food stamps…there is a big, big problem. Where are these folks going to work? You see, Obama doesn’t care about making jobs. He cares about increasing dependence on the government. He views business as dirty, and evil, and greedy…something that must be suppressed.  His priorities are world government, dissipation of American power, global warming, and social justice...translate social misery. His goals are loftier than worrying about someone standing in a soup line. That person is the price we pay to achieve those esoteric goals.   

The people of the United States have yet to fully understand what Obama has done: punish free enterprise and make a nation of dependents addicted to worthless government dollars. The people of the United States do not fully understand Obamacare, and when they do they will realize what a liar and manipulator Obama is. He is nothing more than a silver tongued snake oil salesman, the is the Bureaucrat in Chief with no understanding of the real world. He is the ultimate oligarch…the ultimate control freak.

Business has come to a standstill because percolating underneath that winning smile is a plethora of regulations too large for the American public to understand.  These are all set to kick in 2014/15, after the election.  Although most Americans don't understand what is happening in Washington, businessmen do.  And America will too when non-union company employees are booted off their health care plan as companies opt to pay a government "fine" and leave the employees to their own devices buying subsidized government health care in their local state insurance exchanges.  How good do you think THOSE policies are going to be...and we will be up to our chins in a sea of red ink for the next 100 years.

Under these circumstances, why would businesses hire anybody?

That little African American boy looking at that Styrofoam takeout package of spaghetti is the future of the United States unless we awake from our sweet smelling Obama stupor and see things as they are.   Folks, we can do better than this.

Blue Dog Democrats Resurgent?

In all the years I have been following politics I have never seen a presidency completely collapse. Left wing pundits out of excuses have put on their smarmy faces and are screaming warning, warning, warning about the those reactionary tea party devils who have shifted the center of the Republican Party to a spot somewhat right of Mussolini. As Congresswoman Maxine Waters expressed that sentitment the other day saying the Tea Party can all go to hell. The Progressive message: we don’t have anything to offer, but they are much worse. Hope that works out for them!!!!!

The fact is that America is slowly coming to the conclusion that Obama is finished, and is now systematically searching for an alternative. Republicans are not satisfied with the field of assorted candidates. Romney is the ghost candidate who is running a stealth political campaign. He is the front runner, but his appearances are few and far between. It’s tough to find anyone who is “for” him. He is the least objectionable opponent to Obama. Most people, including me, think he would do a good job; but enthusiasm is lacking. Like John McCain’s mother told us in the 2008 campaign, hold your nose and vote for him.

What seems to be happening now is a spontaneous effort to find a more acceptable Republican candidate, and this movement crosses the political spectrum clear into the Democratic Party. The vast majority of Republicans are in the undecided column as to who the nominee should be. Support for specific candidates is weak and fluid. Independents, while indicating they would vote overwhelmingly for a generic Republican, have Romney even with Obama, and all the rest somewhat behind. Where can I get a campaign sign for a generic Republican?

But I have noticed an interesting phenonoman on Fox News. Strange pundits seem to be showing up for commentary. These are folks from CBS, ABC, and the New York Times. Whoa!! What are they doing there? And the comments they are making indicate that there may be a resurgence of Blue Dog Democrats. Maybe, just maybe, the center/left Democrats have finally had their fill of social democratic Keynesian claptrap as the economy continues to go down the tubes. Maybe, just maybe, a segment of the Democratic true believers are coming out of their Obama stupor, realizing that they live in this country too, and as far as national leadership goes…Houston, we have a problem.

Those black busses of death that Obama spent two million dollars on (made in Canada), criss-crossing the Midwest in campaign mode at the taxpayers’ expense, may have been the tipping point. “See you in September” just doesn’t cut it when the future looks so bleak and Obama is going to Martha’s Vineyard to cavort with all of the millionaire jet owners he wants us to hate so much. Historians may view this past week as the week that marked the beginning of the end of the Obama administration, and the week that America finally emerged from the sweet smelling smoked induced Obama stupor propagated by the press. Dudes, put out the funny cigarettes, the country going down the crapper.

Deals are now being made with Republican candidates that are center right; that would generate Republican enthusiasm and may allow for quiet acceptance of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Not that they would campaign or work for the Republican, they would just let Obama slip quietly into his Keynesian swamp of debt and despair. It’s important to some of these Dems that they get along with Republicans after the November election. It’s not only the Presidency at stake, but control of the Senate. They could end up with a Republican Trifecta, with Republicans controlling, once again, both houses of Congress and the Presidency.

Who is on the short list? Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio!!! In the VP column…Meg Whitman, Herman Cain, John Kasich.

Chris Christie was and remains my choice for President. His New Jersey swagger makes his political style familiar to Democrats. His tough love stance and masterful control of an out of control New Jersey government makes him appealing across the spectrum of Republican political thought. He is someone we can be “for”.

In the meantime, we look forward to Obama’s September address and plan….almost three years in the making!!! Maybe he can stand outside of one of those Canadian made busses when he gives it. The only redeeming thing was they weren't made in China....well maybe 50%.  I would have to check the sticker!!!!!