Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, November 24, 2011

When Is A Cut Not A Cut?


Ever heard the one about the wife that comes home, arms full of shopping bags and says to her husband, “Boy I saved you a bunch of money today”?  I figure she must work for the Congressional Budget Office because that is exactly the load of bull pucks they are trying to sell us now.  We hear a lot of talk from the shysters in DC about cuts.  And the super committee being deadlocked between the Republicans that want “cuts” and the democrats that want tax increases because the “cuts” would be too painful and the rivers would stop flowing, the sky would fall and the sun would go supernova.  The plain and simple truth is there are no cuts, never was and probably never will be.  Both sides are lying to you about that.

The reason they get away with these lies is that they changed the meaning of the word “cuts”.  They did this by using a little tool they developed called “Baseline Budgeting”.  The way it works is that increases due to predicted inflation rates and government service expansions (that’s a fancy way of saying hiring more people) are automatically figured into the next year’s budget.    On average, the Congressional Budget Office increases spending projections each year by about 20%.  Then, if we only spend 19% more the next year, YAHOO!  We cut 1%!!!!!!!!   
The fact is, that if we froze all government spending right now, spent the same amount next year as we did this year and so on and so on for the next ten years, the CBO would call that a 9 trillion dollar cut!   As I said before, both sides are lying to you about this.  Republicans are telling you they are slashing budgets……  LIE!  They are only slashing the automatic increase that will happen, spending will still go up.  Democrats tell you they will have to cut programs for vital services like Medicare to make reductions…….  LIE!  Medicare, Medicaid, Defense, EPA, Energy, Education and the rest of the plethora of government programs won’t get cut one red cent, only the extra money they were planning on getting their grubby mitts on next year will be less.
The fatal flaw that should be screaming out to all of us, (or at least all of us that are not smoking dope in a tent at Zucotti park or eating steak and arugula in the oval office) is that this method of budgeting does not take into consideration projected revenue at all.  You see, congress really does not care how much money it will take in while figuring out the next year’s budget, only what they want to spend.  Everything is figured based on that.   If they don’t come up with enough revenue there are only two choices as far as they are concerned.  Raise taxes or deficit spend, it doesn’t even compute in their little pea brains to cut back on the size and scope of the federal government.
That, my friends, is what it is going to take to fix the mess we are in and actually reduce our debt.  While it is vitally important to get the Community Organizer in Chief out of the White House, of even more importance is replacing those men and women in congress on both sides of the isle with citizens that are committed to a smaller federal government.   We may not get there this election or next, the best we may be able to accomplish is to stop or slow the bleeding of this once great nation this coming November.  But let us not grow complacent and satisfied at that point.  Our problems as a nation are much deeper than that.  It is going to require us to be committed, engaged, active and resolute in our mission to rid Washington DC of professional politicians and replace them with patriots who desire to serve.  Our forefathers were committed to sacrifice everything to build this republic.   Are you committed to preserving it?








Sunday, November 20, 2011

Why Nobody Should Watch the MSM


This past week I visited the windy city because I really enjoy freezing my buns off in a liberal bastion that produces characters like Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel.  While waiting for some friends in a hotel bar I got the opportunity to watch the ABC World News with Diane Sawyer on the big screen TV behind the bar.  Now normally I would chew off my own right arm to escape such a situation, but I had already bought a Jack and Coke and it would be a mortal sin to waste it. And far be it from me to upset the ghost of Jasper Newton Daniel.  
As I watched the entire “news” program from beginning to end I was struck by the lack of coverage on the Occupy Wall Street movement.  In fact the only thing good old Diane brought up about the issue was a photo of an elderly (and obviously off her meds deranged) 84 year old woman that had just been pepper sprayed stating that she was the “new face” of the OWS movement.  Proving of course that the right wing want nothing more than to kill the elderly and throw them off cliffs as the democrats have told us all along.......... 
Now, since I normally get my information from the few actual news sources and real journalists out there, I knew there was a lot of other news that day on the dirty smelly entitlement hippie movement.  Like for instance the sidewalk pooping.  Or the hypodermic needles found by the bushel basket full after clearing Zucotti Park.  Or perhaps that the occupiers were stockpiling weapons there.  

Call me silly to think that a national news show would want to tell the American people about threats to throw Molotov Cocktails through the windows at Macy’s.  And of course it would just be irresponsible to report that the OWS movement is allied with a Greek Communist Terror Group.  And I am sure the voters wouldn’t want to know about their representative excusing the deaths and rapes that have occurred at the OWS camps.  
All of these stories and many, many more were broken over a two day period prior to Ms. Sawyers broadcast that I was so honored to watch.  And I am sure the same “non-coverage” took place on NBC, CBS, MSNBC and of course CNN.  We did however get several minutes of coverage on Herman Cain hesitating before answering a question, and Newt Gingrich's divorces.  So, I have one conclusion for you.  If you have watched any of these networks for your source of news you are ill-informed.  If you continue to watch them, you are an idiot.








Saturday, November 12, 2011

Mitt, He’s Not The 99%, He’s Not the 1%, He Is The Perennial 20 Percenter.


I find it curious that in this past year, all potential candidates for the Republican nomination for President are measured against one other candidate, Mitt Romney.  There are a few reasons I can think of for the talking heads to want to use this 12 inch ruler to measure a Saturn 5 rocket.  Not the least of which is their desire to make sure that if a Republican does kick their beloved Kenyan prince out of the White House in 2012, it will at least be the Republican that will do the least damage to their left wing agenda.  This is the same reason they tried (successfully) to convince us of how awesome the Mavericky one was in 2008 (until he got the nomination that is). But I don’t think it will work this time around, because Mitt is stuck at 20% support and I believe that is about as high as he will ever get.  
In 2008 Romney never commanded more than the mid 20% range in polling, and ended up with just 22.1% of the national primary vote.  We know him better now.  I believe there is a core group of squishy country club Republicans that will always provide that 20% support that Romney enjoys.  “You  know Lovey, we just must make sure that those bourgeois Yale types don’t take over our party”   But Mitt’s problem is we remember what he stood for in 1996, in 1998, in 2000, in 2004, in 2008 and what he stands for now.  Only Rich Little can bring more personalities to a party than our buddy Mittens.  And this is why we must make sure he does not get the nomination and become our candidate.  The man has no principle.  He will get on whatever side of an issue he thinks will do him the most good politically.  If we want that in a leader we should draft Billy Jeff Clinton to come back to the job, at least he was somewhat entertaining.
Of course these same folks (and some so-called conservative pundits) also tell us that Mittens is the only one that can beat Obama.  Anyone with half a brain and just a little political savvy knows that is pure bull excrement.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  Romney is the candidate most likely to lose against Obama in a general election.  In debates for example, with just a little research on the Obama team’s part, they will be able to counter any criticism Romney has for Sparky with an example of old Mitt supporting the very same idea in the past.   



The 20 percenters are fond of telling us how these cursed Tea Party type candidates are raising the poor unwashed idiot voter’s expectations too high with their fairy tales about free markets and constitutional values and will cause disenfranchisement among a big section of the base when Mittens surely, naturally  wins the nomination.  Well, they may be right about that.  But the disenfranchisement will be because of the weakness of their candidate, not the principle of others.  I don’t even understand this argument.  Are we supposed to ignore our values and not vote for our candidate of choice in the primary because we might be excited to go out and vote on Election Day?
So to recap, we are supposed to vote for Mitt Romney because:

a)     He won’t work to destroy the status quo in  Washington and dismantle the liberal agenda.

b)     He is like Texas weather and if you don’t care for his position on an issue just wait a few minutes and it will change

c)       He is at least as principled as Bill Clinton

d)      He will lower voter energy for 80% of the conservative voters.

e)      He is probably the candidate most likely to lose to Obama. (with the possible exception of Ron Paul)

f)       He’s got really good hair, (like John Edwards) 

So if you really want 4 more years of republic killing Hope N Change, the easiest way to get it is to pull that lever for Mitt Romney in your primary.  Otherwise, choose a principled candidate that will inspire the American people, hey, it worked for us once before……………
  








Sunday, November 6, 2011

In One Year We Begin to Fundamentally Change America ……… BACK!


That’s right sports fans, one year from today we have the opportunity to fix a lot of ills in this country.  The question is, will we do it?  As we get closer to the magical date that we get to tell the Communist in Chief to take a hike, I am becoming even more aware of how critical his eviction is.  I am convinced that he and his minions represent a larger threat to America than we have ever before faced.  And it has become more than obvious that his true goals are to destroy our economy, our health care system, our military and our freedoms in an effort to make his vision of a socialist utopia feasible.  He has already shown that he has no problem doing an end around the constitution and implement laws by executive order, the concern now is how many more republic destroying orders will he issue as his expulsion becomes clear?  He knows that the democrat controlled Senate and that worm of a Speaker of the House will do nothing to contain him.  Whoever occupies that oblong office after him had better make his or her first order of business resending every single executive order Obama issued during his tenure.  

Last night I had the opportunity to watch two potential new residents for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in a non-debate debate.  Hosted by the Texas Tea Party PAC, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain spent about two hours discussing ways to fix the mess we find ourselves in.  I have to admit, I would be happy with either of them replacing the COOTUS (community organizer of the United States).  In fact the two of them on a ticket together would be awesome.  Cain brings common sense values and outside the beltway solutions that are desperately needed right now to turn this country around.  And Newt is obviously the “smartest guy in the room” who believes in market driven solutions and getting government out of the way of business.  While both have some issues, either of them would be a far cry better than the leftist race pimping jackass that we currently have.

Both men issued several good ideas about how to fix the budget, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and most of those ideas appealed to my libertarian leanings.  Gingrich suggested a way to save a trillion dollars with one simple free market solution.
“I just put on the table trillions of dollars that would be saved by not paying crooks.  Why is it so hard to not penalize good people before you stop paying crooks?  You can take existing IBM technology and use it to stop paying crooks in Medicare.  You can turn this around and pass a bill to contract out to American Express, Visa and IBM to handle Medicare payments and in 60 days you would save a trillion dollars.”  
He pointed out that American Express has a fraud rate of 0.03% and the Federal Medicare system has a fraud rate of 10%.  Just another example of what a complete and utter failure the Federal government is at just about anything.
Cain made several good points but one of the highlights for me was this one.  
“We need to have standards and not make it easy for people to cheat on things.  You can’t get on an airplane without showing a valid I.D.  Why should we allow people to do other things without I.D.s?  Photo IDs are needed and should be required to vote and end fraud.  WHY NOT?”
Cain also won the prize for the funniest comment of the night when told to close things out by asking a question of Gingrich.  Cain’s question was; 
“Mr. Speaker, if you were Vice President of the United States, what would you want me to assign you to do first?”

Gotta say, I think I got a tingle up my leg with that question.