You Can't Vote Present in the White House

President Obama was inaugurated last January with bushels full of goodwill. He offered to transcend politics; to open a new era of dialogue and compromise. After some window dressing efforts, what he has given us is San Francisco liberalism enforced by Chicago thugery. During the election last fall, I wrote that I hoped Obama would live true to his word although I doubted it would be possible. Extreme left wing beliefs die hard. Ideologues by definition are not pragmatic. Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, could care less if they get re-elected. This is their moment in history to shove the political beliefs of 20% of the American public down the rest of our throats.

But now they are running into trouble. As time ticks by, and the 2010 mid-term elections begin to play an increasing role in the country’s body politic, those folks who do care about re-election, translate doing what the constituents want, are beginning to back off and stand up to the radical left bullies. As I write this, it has gotten so bad, or good depending on your point of view, in the Senate, there are strong doubts that health care reform based on government takeovers will even reach the floor of the Senate for a vote. Without Olympia Snowe, who the Senate leadership played for a fool, and Joe Lieberman, who left wing Democrats tried to unseat in the last election, the issue is dead in the water. The chickens, to quote Reverend Wright, are coming home to roost. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Obama needs to follow Bill Clinton’s example and move to the middle. Oh yes, and try to actually act like a President. While he is off playing golf or traveling the world pontificating, his left wing cohorts in Congress look like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off trying to do what the American public is resisting. Harry Reid looks like an idiot shifting from thing to thing, all the while knowing he faces the fate of Tom Daschle when he goes back to Nevada for next year’s election. He is weak and whiny. Nancy Pelosi is just plain goofy, and has lost not only all credibility with the American public, but only maintains a 34% approval rating in her home state of California.

Meanwhile, people and our troops are being blown up in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. Obama is still trying to figure out how to vote “present” on his Mideast war policies. Mr. President, you cannot vote present in the White House. Make a decision. Either go in there and win this thing, or get the hell out. But what we will get is Vietnam all over again with military decisions being micro-managed by weak politicians in Washington. There is no compromise in war, only dead people.

Finally, quit dissing Fox News. How pitiful and small you look. You have surrounded yourself with the most radical among us to the point where it is scary. You cannot bully the truth. It’s those people you need to get rid of if you want to move this country in a positive direction. There is no place for animal rights whackos, environmental extremists, communists, socialists, NAMBLA sympathizers, euthanasia proponents, and pot heads at the table in the White House. The truth about these people will come out no matter how much you whine about a news organization actually doing investigative reporting and telling us what is going on.

Mr. Obama, I hope you look in the mirror and learn before it is too late for you, and too late for us.

TO RESTORE AMERICA: FIX ENERGY! FIX CHINA!

What to do with America? Midst all of the ideological claptrap from both the left and the right, serious issues about the future of America and our competitiveness must be addressed. One thing both sides of the political spectrum can agree upon is the need for jobs, jobs, jobs!! Unfortunately, all the politically orientated considerations are taking precedence. It’s time to put those other considerations aside, and concentrate only on what is good for America and its citizens. Without jobs, all of the government programs from the left and the financial manipulations from the right are for naught. Here are the two things that American must address in order to salvage our future.

1) ENERGY: It’s all about energy. There are many reasons for the financial meltdown last fall, but the tipping point came from energy prices. The economy just couldn’t handle $150.00/barrel oil. And given the recent run up in oil prices these past few months, it could happen again.

Energy has been lost in the debate over the ideological tenets of “climate change” from the left, and “drill here- drill now” from the right. Hey, you jack asses, it isn’t an either/or thing. We need it all. We are the 3rd most populous country in the world, and our population is increasing. We need oil. We need natural gas. We need wind. We need coal. We need bio-fuels. We need solar. We need nuclear. We need batteries. We need hydro-electric. If we can achieve this, then we are freed of unwanted foreign entanglements and assured of an independent economic future. It is the bedrock of our economy.

What we DON’T need are ideological lectures about climate change. Global warming was recently debunked in a recent BBC analysis which concluded the problem is actually global cooling. Energy policy based on climate change beliefs isn’t energy development, but political wealth redistribution rooted in the new environmental religion.

What we DON’T need are free market lectures from the oil companies and associated political cronies. At the end of the day, the oil will run out. There is not an infinite supply of carbon based fuels in the world. What makes complete economic sense today will not make economic sense 100 years from now, and we better start now because we are going to go broke or get blown up dealing with dangerous Islamic states, the crazy Russians and Venezuelans, and engaging in bidding wars with China and India for ever scarcer natural resources.

There are going to have to be tradeoffs across the board. The left is going to have back off its climate change rant, allow for offshore drilling and back off environmental extremism when it comes to production of any kind of energy. Ted Kennedy has gone to his reward, and maybe now we can put a wind farm off the Hyannis coast. The left is going to have stop worrying about minnows and the use of water for hydro-electric power. No, that doesn’t mean we forget we need to be good stewards of our environment. It means we have to use some common sense.

The right is going to have realize that if there ever is a time to promote massive government intervention; it is in the pursuit of alternative energy sources. Through direct spending and tax incentives, the government should be actively promoting things like rebuilding the electric grid; assisting infrastructure development for natural gas and hydrogen pumps and electric recharging stations along our highways. There should massive subsidies for solar power and battery development. There should be substantial tax incentives for those who purchase fuel stingy cars and retrofit their houses to take advantage of the new technologies the government is promoting.

The technology is there for all of the above. What is lacking is the political will to compromise on our ideological beliefs, and the inspiration to overcome entrenched special interests.

2) China is sucking the oxygen out of the world. They have unlimited labor, and apparently unlimited financial resources. But it didn’t get to where it is today being honest. Its dictatorial political system allowed it to develop the purest capitalist system in the world, with no political dissent, no labor unions, no freedom of movement, no benefits, minimal pay… and it kept its currency valued 30% below the value of the dollar. It used predatory tactics to usurp most of the base manufacturing from the United States built on the backs of Chinese slave labor. It is a totally export oriented economy. You cannot compete with people who cheat without impunity.

As a result, China has amassed unlimited amounts of currency, especially the dollar, which it is now using to buy up any natural resource it can get its hands on, driving up the prices on basic commodities for just about everyone else in the world, including us.

We have all seen the pictures of modern China, with the massive factories and buildings in Shanghai and Beijing. It looks like America. It is not. This is a communist dictatorship that realized there is a lot of money to be made in a capitalist world. With no checks and balances, it has developed a two tiered system of wealthy Chinese, and very poor workers. And we have turned a blind eye dazzled by the possibilities of doing business in China and its huge population. It is a false dream. China is for China, and will exclude and regulate foreign businesses operating within its borders, and throw them out if it suits them.

America must bite the bullet. There can be no free trade without fair trade. The United States must devise a workable and enforceable plan to insist the Chinese let their currency float along with the other major currencies. We must insist that China move to rapidly expand its domestic market for Chinese produced goods and services and limit the amount of its exports in favor of that domestic consumption. That means that Chinese wages are going to have to go up in order to stimulate demand. There is insufficient space here to discuss the issues of the total lack of health care in China, from the government or otherwise.

Unless these issues are addressed, our standard living will approach theirs rather than the other way around. Unless these issues are addressed, we should rethink our policies of free trade until we can get fair trade.

China and Energy are the two most important issues facing the United States today. Failure to address these issues will result in failure in all other American endeavors, and we will be the poorer for it.

American Fear

The latest Rasmussen poll shows for the first time since polling began; we as Americans believe our children will have worse life than us. This is a stunning reversal of the traditional American view of the future. Rasmussen states the reason behind this is that something is askew. One obvious source of the current pessimism is the economy. The other is more disturbing. Americans believe that Washington has ceased being responsive to them. Washington is not listening and is going about implementing an agenda that Americans don’t want. Included in this are radical adjustments to our cultural mores, bailouts, and yes…health care reform.

This is ironic given that Obama got elected on a platform of “hope”. Instead, Americans are feeling hopelessness in ways Americans have never felt it before. Rasmussen says it is something intangible. Rasmussen is wrong. It is very tangible. What Americans are witnessing is the executive and legislative branches of the government running amok, serving ideological goals and fringe interest groups rather than the American people as a whole. Americans are frightened, and they should be.

1) Hollywood Morals: Elite academic social workers might not know why a group of black gang thugs would beat up and kill a black honor student. But those of us living in the heartland do. Turn on your television to any MTV awards show, and then come and talk to me. Violence is EVERYWHERE. And in the process of shoving that crap down America’s throats 24/7, the ACLU and its Hollywood cronies have removed religion in any public discourse and replaced it with secular humanism. Anything goes. Feel good. Live for the moment…unless you happen to be a black honor student walking home from school in Chicago.

2) Special Interests: The left wing leaders in the House and Senate and the Supreme Leader in the White House have totally ignored large segments of society in their ideological driven efforts for the government to take over our health care system. Seniors know they are going to get the short end of the lollipop, and just wait until the 20 somethings realize the government mandate to purchase health care or go to jail to be monitored by the IRS. Obama has jumped into bed with the worst of the health care lobbies, including big Pharma, and select health insurance companies which will benefit directly from the cuts to Medicare and Medicare Advantage. The AARP, which is an insurance company first and senior advocacy group second, stands to make billions.

3) Government selected winners and losers: Ask the workers of Saturn about how winners and losers are chosen in this country. Ask the employees of closed auto dealerships the same question. Ask the GM workers in Ontario and Dayton, Ohio, about who wins and who loses. Ask the white collar employees at Delphi who gets punished and who gets rewarded. Ask the unemployed factory worker vs. the selected union elite as in the Service Workers Unions or in the Public Employee Unions. Then talk to the chronically unemployed worker in East Liverpool.

4) Climate Change: Isn’t it funny how the same people who advocate income redistribution are the same people who are harping on this now debunked theory of climate change. The same scientists who said we are going to burn up by next summer are now saying we are in for global cooling…which is what they were saying 20 years ago; also accepted as dogma. No, it has nothing to do with global warming, and everything to do with shifting the means of production to other parts of the world and lowering the standard of living here in the United States. Yes, the US, consumes 21% of the world’s energy. Bad United States!!!. But it also produces 27% of the world’s GDP. How do you spread the GDP figure around to other countries? Force us to use less energy!!! HELLO!!!!

5) Foreign Policy: GET ONE!

Unrest is brewing in the country. It is an unrest the likes of which I have never seen before. The middle class and working folks of this great nation are at the breaking point. If the current administration truly wants to foster “hope”, then it needs to listen to the people the administration is supposed to serve. Serve is the operative word.

A Civics Lesson Well Learned

While I watch the Obama administration self destruct as it lurches violently to the radical left, it has accomplished what our schools have failed at for years. It has given America a long needed lesson in civics. This is better than the sixties. The children of Nixon’s silent majority, who have watched their jobs dissipate, their savings evaporate, and their health care eradicate have finally waken up, and are examining the very fabric of America.

All of a sudden, discussions about the nature of our federalist system are de rigueur. The wisdom of the founding fathers is being quoted. The relationship between the governed and the government is being re-examined. People are finally learning the Bill of Rights. People are examining anew just what it means to be an American. It is exciting watching the country re-energize itself and refreshing the roots of democracy and the rights of the individual.

Americans are standing up and holding public officials accountable. Town hall meetings are open season on non-responsive elected representatives. Who do they serve? The serve the American people, not their Washington political and idealogical cronies…and we are letting them know it in no uncertain terms.

The nature of different political systems is being discussed in earnest. People are learning again the definition of a republic. People are actually contemplating what they want our government to be and the role it is to play in our lives. President Obama’s flaw was that he thought he could lead the public around by the nose, in awe of his brilliance and oratorical skills. He was wrong. His view of the Constitution does not ring true with the American public. The American public understands once again that the Constitution protects the individual against an intrusive government which wants to regulate every aspect of your life, and determine for you who is to bear the fruits of your labor.

The urgency displayed by certain members of Congress to pass the radical left wing agenda "now" is rooted in their understanding of the resurgence of the individual and capitalism in this country. The left's "moment" is rooted in a fluke in the economic dialectic, but the roots are shallow. If the most radical elements of their agenda are not passed by the end of this year, they are finished! They know that America will reject their socialist agenda in favor of the sanctity and freedom of the individual in the next election. We will not trade our liberty for 30 pieces of silver.

America is slowly coming to its senses. Seniors are the first to walk away knowing a lie when they hear it. Next will be the young, who can’t find jobs and will be “ordered” by the government to purchase health care insurance or face a felony charge with a year in jail, not to mention a $1900.00 fine. That is NOT they change young folks voted for in. The suburban middle class will soon the definition of a Value Added Tax, the middle class tax hike Obama said would not happen. They will walk away. Non-union blue collar workers will fall away next, as they watch their union “brothers” reap the benefit of big government while they barely make ends meet. Self-respect will diminish as the government tries to make them wards of the state, but the government will fail. These folks are the backbone of America. They are America’s greatest blessing.

So I want to thank Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, and Van Jones, and Reverend Wright, all of the czars, and all the rest…for reminding me, and America, of what we stand to lose if they prevail. This is a civics lesson well earned, and America is getting an A plus.

Make Refrigerators! Not Burgers!

My first belief as relates to economics is that a nation’s wealth is determined by how many refrigerators it makes rather than how many hamburgers it flips. So what’s the problem? We don’t make that many refrigerators anymore.

Here are the facts. Approximately 10% of the American workforce works in manufacturing jobs. Currently, 12 million Americans work in some manufacturing capacity. That is down from 20 million in 1980. The last time the manufacturing work force equaled 12 million was in 1940, when the population of the country was less than half of what it is today.

That doesn’t mean our manufacturing base is declining. Total manufacturing about continues to grow as a result of technological advancement and rapidly increasing worker productivity. The total value of manufactured goods in the United States equals the total GDP of Russia. The total amount of manufactured exported goods from the United States equals the total GDP of India. These are incredible figures. Nonetheless, the number of Americans working in manufacturing as a percentage of the total workforce has been in steady decline, with no end in sight.

What does that mean? Well, it means that we have turned into a service and consumption economy…and you can’t eat service and consumption. It means that more and more Americans are working at lower paying jobs. It means that our income is stagnant or declining. It means that we aren’t creating tangible wealth…only paper wealth. Created tangible wealth means you make something, and you sell it. Paper wealth is fleeting, witness these past 10 months.

The decline in American manufacturing is disturbing. It has been ignored equally by Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats, in the guise of unions and environmental extremism, have done a good job of sacrificing American manufacturing jobs on the altar of the new religion worshipping Mother Earth. Republicans, in the guise of free trade agreements and tepid currency policy particularly with China, have equally decimated the manufacturing base. Who stinketh the most?

America’s wealth as we know it is rooted in World War II when we were the only intact manufacturing country in the world. We reaped the benefits for more than 30 years. Now world demographics have caught up with us. Those unionized jobs paying wage and benefit packages of $50.00/hour plus are now competing the worker in China making $2.00/hour; and one India making even less. Guess who is going to win?

Here are three common sense things our government could do to at least stabilize the manufacturing base.

1) Bring common sense to environmental issues. Put ideology aside and be realistic rather than dogmatic in dealing with some of these issues. Humans, and human needs, need to come first.

2) Implement fair trade agreements rather than free trade agreements. I am not anti-NAFTA because all of us in North America are on the same ship, so to speak. On the other hand, China building its manufacturing prowess on the back of the United States consumer rather than the Chinese consumer is intolerable. It should be the policy of the United States to promote the growth of the Chinese and Indians through domestic consumption rather than exports to the United States. And by the way!!! China!!! LET YOUR CURRENCY FLOAT!!!!

3) The United States should have a sane energy policy based on both petroleum products and alternative energy sources, rather than the either or approach of the Obama and Bush administrations. It can’t be either or, it has to be all inclusive. Global warming needs to be identified for the scam that it is. And the oil dudes have to realize that sooner or later, the oil will run out, and we should start planning for it now. Notwithstanding, it is just plain good for not only domestic policy, but foreign policy.

But don’t bet the rent that any of the above will happen. Ideologies are hard to crack. I’m mad as hell….are you?

Get Behind Me Satan!!

Is being conservative anti-God? Our sermon in church last Sunday centered on a Gospel story in which Jesus equated Peter to Satan. Jesus asked the Apostles who he was. His followers stated that He was a prophet. Jesus then corrected them as to his true identity, and asked that they keep it a secret. Peter took Jesus aside, and I assume told him to cool it with the Messiah stuff. Jesus then told Peter : “Get behind me Satan.” And that was the end of that.

The minister equated this with each of us carrying our cross, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. He said that we must deal with the issues that make us vulnerable. He then turned political when he said insuring 40 million uninsured people makes us uncomfortable, and that showing mercy to 11 million illegal aliens also makes us uncomfortable, and we must take up the cross and deal with these issues. Wow!!!

Since the days of Richard Nixon, liberal media types have continually portrayed conservatives as dark, and cold, and heartless. We have no compassion. We are interested in only money. We don’t care about the poor, or the hungry, or the uninsured, or illegal aliens. Maybe we are Jesus’ modern day Peter. Is Jesus telling us to “get behind me, Satan”?

I view things somewhat differently. Conservatives, first and foremost, believe in the dignity of man and the sanctity of freedom and individualism. We are believers of the old adage give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish; he will eat for a lifetime. We believe you should give a hand up, and not a hand out. Have you had enough of the tacky clichés?

Conservatives aren’t blind to the issues of the uninsured and illegal aliens. But conservatives firmly believe that government isn’t the answer. Conservatives believe government only makes things worse. You only have to spend a day at Family Services at the old South Side Hospital to see how government fails those most in need in our society. A barely sustenance existence is not the answer, and that is what many of these folks have. It is heart breaking.

Shifting government policy toward the collective condemns those involved to a life of meager existence. Should the vast, vast majority of people receiving outstanding health care be brought down to the level of barely adequate in order to solve the problem for a few? Should those living in poverty or political turmoil legally attempting to enter the United States be pushed to the back of the line in order to accommodate those who broke the law? Empathy for one group is always balanced by antipathy for another. Is one group’s suffering worth more than another’s?

The question that must be addressed is whether the answer to society’s problems lies with the government which does a good job of making everybody equally miserable…or in private enterprises which allows those in poverty the chance to climb the ladder to a good life?

I believe that we are better off with a private health care system regulated by the government to accommodate the specific issues of pre-existing conditions, excessive premiums and plan termination. For the hard core uninsured and uninsurable, the government can extend existing Medicare and Medicaid programs. It is as simple as that.

Ultimately, nothing will work unless the government allows for growth in our economy in a meaningful way. If people don’t have jobs, they can’t pay for health insurance, and neither can the government. That is the bigger problem. And the current administration is on the wrong track on this one.

So to my minister, I guess I would say that the “devil” is in the details. The Satan hidden in the collective is much more dangerous than the Satan hidden in free enterprise, freedom, and liberty. I want Satan to get behind me…just the right Satan.

For Health Care, Truth Matters

By the time you read this, President Obama will have made his speech to a Joint Session of Congress. The fact that there had to be a joint session at all shows how much trouble Obama is facing. Even his media foot soldiers are reaching the intolerance levels. Several of the networks bulked at his effort several weeks ago for prime time air time, but dutifully fell into line. In that speech, he offered absolutely nothing new, and the networks lost millions upon millions of advertising revenue. A joint session of congress is a gimmick way to get them to carry yet another of his speeches.

One pundit, I forget who, said it best. Obama doesn’t have a communication problem. He has a substance problem. He communicates just fine, and often. Unfortunately, he told some lies and tried to fool us. The disdain the progressive movement has demonstrated for the masses is stunning. Obama and his followers have learned a lesson. Even in Iowa, people can read. They can even read a government bill, which is apparently more that Obama and some in Congress can do.

He lied about the AARP endorsement of the plan. The AARP had to come out and correct him. He lied that it would be revenue neutral. The Congressional Budget Office had to correct him. He lied that it wouldn’t decrease benefits to seniors. They understand cuts in physician reimbursements. He fibbed about keeping your current policy. You can…but only if it doesn’t change in any way whatsoever, or your employer decides to opt out and pay the 8% penalty if it turns out to be cheaper…and it will turn out to be cheaper.! He lied about the death panels. The Army Veterans manual, which Obama reinstated, also offers end of life counseling…and asks wounded veterans if life is really worth living being sick…seriously. He lied about doctors gauging patients. He lied about the number of uncovered Americans which is closer to 15 million rather than 45 million. It does reach 45 million if you include illegal aliens, which he says it does not…unless, of course, it’s his intent to make them legal. Then he lied about that, too!

Mr. President, truth matters. And you have failed to tell the truth, and squandered the goodwill the American public was offering to you. At the end of the day, this is not about health care reform. It is about health care control. It is an ideological attempt to take health care over rooted race, class warfare, and oppressed people’s revenge.

The sad thing is that true health care reform is needed. If you had been honest about what you were proposing, a legitimate and robust health care debate could have been had on the merits. The discussion could have centered on expansion of existing programs like Medicare and Medicaid. It could have centered on insurance regulation and increased private competition. It could have centered on how to handle pre-existing conditions. The individual needs of the uninsured could have been defined, and those needs could have been met.

Finally, and most disturbing of all, can anyone please tell me how Obama could try to sell a bill he didn’t write? I am not sure he even knows what is in the House bill, and there are several House bills…and there is no Senate bill. And in the midst of all of these non-bills, he tried to set a deadline of a few weeks to transform 1/6 of the American economy? That is just plain stupid!

Here is my advice. Mr. Obama, quit giving speeches and do some work. Show some leadership, and for once in your political life, get off your ass and make a bold decision. Legislation written by Nancy Pelosi with an approval rating of 20% doesn’t cut it. It is your presidency. Take some responsibility.