Posts Tagged ‘government’
535 Politicians Couldn’t Do It, But Five Could…
While cruising through the news, this little video surfaced from ABC News. Shot in June 2011, it illustrates a very good point with respect to our government’s dysfunction.
Watch it Here: Hosted on ABC News so I can’t embed it directly 
Now, I did some additional scooping through the net about the five people that were paneled. This is what I learned about them – from left to right. I wanted to know if the people they implicitly pitch as a “random sampling” of people were actually balanced. As far as I could tell, the panel was biased liberal.
- Barbara Schauer is a member of the DC Tea Party and is noted as a fiscal conservative, but a social liberal. As the linked article indicates, she is going to feel a little jilted, no matter the company she keeps (except her little puffy doggies, that is).
- Drew Greenblatt is the president of Marlin Steel Wire Products, LLC, a Baltimore-based company that makes things out of wire, such as baskets and racks. He bought the business in 1998 and has grown it. Mr. Greenblatt has also testified on Capitol Hill regarding the concerns of small business with respect to bookkeeping regulations.
- Megan Nabavian (in the clip, it’s spelled Nabaviania), is a 30-something recruiting director with NALCO Consulting. She also graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park.
- Leslie Echols is a Business Development director for BAE Systems in DC, supporting Homeland Security. She has a Masters in Public Relations from the University of Maryland, College Park.
- Tim McBride was a major surprise. I started digging – a student of American University, Tim ran for student body president. In May 2012, McBride came out as a transgendered person – and now is known as Sarah McBride. The clip ran in June 2011, so it’s pretty old news, but for the rest of it – I’ll leave that to you. All I know is, this person surely ain’t a chick, despite what he wants to dress like.
Well, at the end of the video, we see something that we don’t see in Congress – negotiation about the issues without politics. Seriously, it’s so bad that Congress and the government as a whole is basically useless.
This is why we don’t want tax increases – people lose money that gets thrown down a very large rat-hole or in the gullet of some special interest glutton. The government needs to abide by sound financial principles such as ‘don’t spend more than you take in’.
And for the record, I think we COULD do without the nukes.
Congress Hits A New Low
Well, it was only inevitable – the so-called 2006 mandate that ushered the Democrats into power and culminated to the 2008 win of Barack Obama has now shown that it was dismally unable to deliver on any of its misguided promises
In 2006, the GOP lost the farm, not because of a rejection of conservative ideas, but because of the liberals and moderates that have infiltrated the Republican party. The GOP showed itself not much different than the Democratic party, not because of the failure of the parties, but because both have been swayed by stupid progressive values and programs that seek to rob power from the people and give it to the all-powerful state.
Since the GOP lost its distinction as being the “party of Reagan”, the “conservative choice”, and basically reneging on the Contract With America that hoisted the GOP into power in 1994, they have recently showed that they are just as willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money on entitlements and earmark projects and do very little to protect the traditional family. They have sought to sit in the middle and try to appeal to the more moderate people in the country (which I defy anyone to show me a true moderate without showing me someone who is conflicted in their beliefs)
Well, today we’ve been informed by Rasumussen that Congress’ approval rating is about ready to fall into the single digits. More and more Americans, Democrats and Republicans are showing staunch disapproval for the job that Congress is doing. Perhaps it’s for different reasons, such as the libs railing that they couldn’t get health care passed while the conservatives look at the Congress as a cesspool for progressivism. Either way, more people are unhappy than happy these days.
I get the feeling the hammer is about to fall on Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats that remain in Congress after November 2010. Harry Reid is doomed, three others (Dodd, Bayh, and Dorgan) are jumping ship, and the Dems are looking worse and worse everyday for their respective elections.
The tide is about to change…
Fat Kid Jimmy or Ali Al Kaboom
This just has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
Yesterday, Michelle “First Time” Obama*, rolling out ObamAd Inc’s new initiative has unilaterally said that fat people are a threat to National Security.
“A recent study put the health care cost of obesity-related diseases at $147 billion a year, this epidemic also impacts the nation’s security, as obesity is now one of the most common disqualifiers for military service.”
What “First Time” doesn’t get is that why we have to have a military in the first place, because we have people in this world who want to bring harm to this country and the people in it. Rather than actually go after the real reason why we have National Security issues, that is, because we have terrorists smuggling bombs in their underwear, shoes, bras, or whatever, Michelle is railing on fat kids. While she mentions obesity, the Let’s Move program is aimed specifically at obese children in public schools.
There was always one fat kid in school that got picked on. Maybe his name was Billy, Timmy, or Susie. In our example, we’ll call him Jimmy.
You’d always see Jimmy walking around, with a packet of Oreos or a bag of potato chips in his grasp, feasting on high fructose corn syrupy goodness, after putting away an artery clogging, heart stopping, triple cheeseburger, with onion rings and a 44 oz. Coke.
But one thing we never thought of Jimmy – he wasn’t very threatening. When he got mad because people picked on him, he’d try to chase you, but Jimmy couldn’t run more than 20 feet before gasping for air and doubling over (like that was a sight we ever wanted to see). Jimmy would cry, go home, and drown his sorrow in a family size bag of M&M’s with a 2 liter Coke chaser before playing Nintendo for six hours straight to help him cope with his image issues.
But evidently, Michelle Obama thinks Jimmy is a threat to the security of the United States because he can’t join the military. He couldn’t scale a wall higher than three feet, but he can certainly the folks at The Pentagon a bit worried. Michelle Obama is worried about it too.
But when the aptly named “Fruit-Of-The-Kaboom” bomber attempted to blow up a plane by hiding the bomb making materials in his BVD’s, the Obamas were soaking it up in Hawai’i. But did they cut their vacation short in the face of an act (albeit failed) of terror? Not a chance. However, had George Bush pulled something like that, he’d be read the riot act by the liberals in Congress.
Perhaps the only thing stupider than all this, and this is quite a reach, is the Harrisonburg Police Department bringing felony charges against two, 21 year olds, for throwing snowballs at cars. Evidently, the actual charge is that they are “throwing missiles” (unlawful shoot/throw)
Well, that’s it then. Fat Jimmy is a threat to national security. Lob a snowball at him.
Just when liberals reach their maximum levels of stupidity, they find a way to push the envelope of the ridiculous.
* Quoting Michelle Obama: “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of this country.”, which is just as amusing that she’s the First Lady. Magnus the Dog tells me he likes the nickname.
People and Government – A Teachable Lesson in Civics
So, because people don’t agree, Progressives opt to use the power of government to force their will on the people, even if they don’t want it. This is the reason why the health care bill is still being pushed forward, even though every opinion poll out there shows a majority of Americans simply don’t want ObamaCare.
Did you ever see this movie? The context is that a masked character wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, depicted here, launches a single assault on a dictatorial government in Britain, one created as the result of people giving silent consent to a charismatic figure who made lofty promises of peace and security, will removing from it the ideals of freedom. The story was edgy and gutsy. The characters were believable and the ending pretty poetic. I could have done without the one girl-girl kissing scene, however.
Anyway, I was trolling through the net this morning and, after looking at quotes, I saw one that reminds me of the perspective of what government should be, “People should not be afraid of their governments, Governments should be afraid of their people.” I, then, happened on this quote by Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times:
There are ideas in this film. The most pointed is V’s belief: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." I am not sure V has it right; surely in the ideal state governments and their people should exist happily together. Fear in either direction must lead to violence. But V has a totalitarian state to overthrow, and only a year to do it in, and we watch as he improvises a revolution.
While I have great respect for Roger Ebert’s take on movies, having watched him back on WGN-9 Chicago (before they went cable), I find his position on this point to be part of what is wrong with how America relates to its government. Yes I know this movie has been out there for a while and what Ebert said has a great deal of time between it and now, but it’s still a perfect teaching moment.
Ebert first says, “surely in the ideal state governments and their people should exist happily together”; he has two things wrong in this statement. First, the people are not the possessive of the government; it is the other way around. People possess THEIR government. The minute we start thinking that the people are owned, controlled, or managed by their government, we create a state that is very different than the one the Founders envisioned. Today’s Progressive moment likes to think, in their sheer arrogance, that people are the ward of the government. This is an absolute distinction from this writer’s point of view. Second, it is naiveté to think that people and government exist happily together. Thomas Paine said in Common Sense, “Government at best is a necessary evil, at worst, is an intolerable one”. Either way, it is not cynicism to consider that government itself is evil. The minute we begin to think in this idyllic fantasy that people and government live in some sort of ‘kum-bay-ah’ harmony, we are turning ripe for the conquering and subjugating.
God’s original intent was for people to govern themselves and the primary unit for humanity’s management was the family, not some elected, appointed, or nobility-born external body, designed to regulate the affairs of people. The Founders understood this clearly because they believed in the utmost respect for individuals and their families. Progressives today simply push for more government because individualized self-governance means that people won’t always comply with Progressive dogma. So, because people don’t agree, Progressives opt to use the power of government to force their will on the people, even if they don’t want it.
This is the reason why the health care bill is still being pushed forward, even though every opinion poll out there shows a majority of Americans simply don’t want ObamaCare.
Ebert then goes on to make the statement, “Fear in either direction must lead to violence”. This is not necessarily true, and it’s not true generally. Fear doesn’t always produce violence, but rather, as the Bible correctly states, fear, specifically of the Lord, produces wisdom. Fear of disciplinary action keeps students in school from becoming delinquent twits. Fear of legal punishment keeps people from breaking the law (why else does a person slow down in an area where they know the police are monitoring for speeders?). Fear from constituents keeps the government from getting so out of hand that its citizens don’t begin expressing anger at the ballot box. Fear doesn’t always produce violence; I’m not saying it doesn’t, just not always.
Government exists at the pleasure of God and the people (even when God and the people disagree) and has risen and fallen when either has mandated for a change. This is the reason why the best forms of government are those that are “of the People, by the People, and for the People”. Governments that are not of/by/for the People have great reason to fear, because if the people, in unified consent, decide to remove their government, they’re toast.
Freedom forever, my friends.
Call Me Crazy, But I Think I Agree With Cindy
I began reading this little ditty on Breitbart and as I got through the headline, I began to say, “oh boy, the Witch in the Ditch is at it again”.
I’ve never been a big fan of Cindy Sheehan and think that she just continues to dishonor the memory of her son, Casey’s, service to the country by using his name to continue protesting Americas overseas combat efforts. The thing that bugs me about it is the fact that Casey Sheehan is dead, having died in the line of duty. When he took the oath, he must have realized that a potential eventuality of his service in the military would cost him his life. We hope that never happens to our soldiers and sailors, but whenever a young man or woman takes the oath, they are pledging their lives to the safety and security of the country, to follow the orders of the President, and to do his/her duty with honor and loyalty. I’m sure Casey knew this. However, his mother, in a means to cope with the loss, has made this anti-war effort in Casey’s name her whole life. But we often wonder if Casey would actually agree with his mother’s rallying cause.
That’s not the subject of my post here. My real point is what she said:
"We have to realize, it is not the president who is power, it is not the party that is in power it is the system that stays the same, no matter who is in charge."
With this one point, I cannot agree more. While she was upset at the fact that Barack Obama campaigned on the promise of making positive steps to pull the troops out of Iraq, the thing is, the war effort hasn’t changed, probably because Obama has learned more about the effort as President than the more flippantly ignorant comments from the campaign trail.
But what Cindy says narrowly, I echo generally. The big problem with our country today is that nothing changes in Washington. Obama and McCain both campaigned (arrogantly I might add) about how, by electing them, they would be able to change the tone in Washington. The thing is, the tone in Washington cannot be changed by anyone in Washington. We can have the Democrats in power, the GOP in power, it doesn’t really matter – as long as the “system”, or the “establishment” is in place, things just don’t change.
So what is the “establishment”? It’s primarily made up of career politicians who believe it is their right to be in office; it’s their destiny so to speak. It’s lackeys and interns that follow politicians around like star-struck groupies in order to
I’ve been reading through the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence again here recently and one thing that I found pretty amusing was the constitutional mandate (Article I, Section IV) that Congress must assemble at least once per year. I wonder if the Framers foresaw that government would become so involved in the lives of people that Congress would have to meet constantly. Congress, in the beginning was meant to be a part time gig and that the politicians would actually have real jobs outside of the political world.
Thing is, because We the People have allowed government to grow exorbitantly, politics becomes a more than full time job. We have to have politicians and staff, support people, secretaries, under-secretaries, assistants, czars, assistants to the czars, analysts, managers, experts and the list keeps just going on and on. And the one thing that we never get to see is a reduction in government, because once we add to the government, it never goes away. It’s the proverbial band-aid fix after band-aid fix, but we dare not actually fix the problem otherwise, some bureaucrat loses his purpose to governmentally exist.
I know that’s a generalizing statement, but let’s face it…if we actually reduced government, put mandatory sunsets on programs, put term limits on members of Congress, and stopped dolling out money to every little issue in America, perhaps we’d actually hear that new tone in Washington.
So, for one small point, Cindy and I agree. Better check the temp in sheol, it might be getting bit drafty.
I Really Hate Politics
Most of what I write about on this blog is political commentary. I look at topics in politics, compare them to what the Founders had hoped. The Founders never intended that the American political system be corrupted by the putrid stench of self-interest and elitism that has plagued Washington today. Washington has become a place where people can learn about cut-throat maneuvering, quid pro quo, corruption, and fiscal irresponsibility – because those are recurring themes inside the Beltway.
There are so many good people out there who could serve, who should serve! But good people are becoming less and less welcome in the American system, when, in fact, the American public want good people in the public square. Yet people of good moral character and pure desire to do something great for their country are targeted for removal.
Today, a good woman, Sarah Palin, decided to step aside as Governor of Alaska by not seeking re-election and transferring power to her Lieutenant Governor. Here’s the video of her rather stirring and inspiring comments today:
As soon as she made her announcement, the Democrats pounced, saying that she was running from the political pressure – because she got beat up by the some fifteen ethics complaints (all of which dismissed), beat up for being a woman, beat up for coming from the middle class, beat up for being beautiful, lambasted because her daughter had a premarital pregnancy, and scathed by morons like David Letterman. Democrats who looked at her with fear and contempt are now celebrating once again because they have learned (whether it’s true or not) that if they badger and bully enough, they can push good people like Sarah Palin out of the public square.
But why do her opponents hate her so much? Because she is real. She’s not an empty suit like Barack Obama who bows before anyone and anything for popularity. She’s not a typical, spit-shined politician who could really care less about the values of their constituencies (and I speak on both sides of the aisle). She approached her role as a public servant, not out of elitism entitlement, but out of a pure desire to do something good for Alaska and her country. She governed from her middle-class values, not from upper-class snobbery.
And it was because of that style that made many of us Americans fall in love with her. She illustrated what the greatest majority of Americans want in the political system – common sense, fiscal responsibility, personal accountability, and a servant’s heart.
I’ve been asked by more than one person out there why I don’t seek office. And I think my answer is simple – I hate politics. I can’t stand the personal attacks that one party makes to another in order to eliminate or marginalize someone who has the dream of doing something great for his/her country. I hate the games that politicians play, so they can negotiate and get what they want for their districts in order to get re-elected. I hate the media because they don’t report the news anymore, but rather, act as political sounding boards for people of their belief. I despise the bias against personal values and religious beliefs that are leveled against good people, just because their sins are revealed when they stand next to a person of impeccable character.
In short, I hate the political system, because the good people have no desire to serve in an environment like that. And as such, the political system is populated by not-so-good people – people bent on milking the system for their own self interests.
And in the end, America suffers and begs for some real hope – not the sham that is in Washington today.
Good luck in your next big thing, Sarah. We’ll miss and pray for you and your family.
Oh, and happy Fourth of July, everyone…sorry I’ve been away for as long as I have.
Tech Mage – Delay the Digital TV Deadline?
As you may know, Feb 17, 2009 is the day that the last of the analog TV broadcasts will be piped over the air. For the last three years, TV stations have been broadcasting the heads up that, after Feb 17, you’ll need a digital receiver if you use bunny ears on an analog TV. While this is a good thing, really the best thing to innovate TV since it came out in the ’50′s, the deadline approaches and now, people are getting cold feet about the switch.
Turns out, the Consumers Union is pushing Congress to delay the cut over, because the government didn’t properly tell people about the switch over and a lot of people will be without TV. They’re clamoring about how people who need their $40 Digital converter subsidy are now on a waiting list to get it done and people just have no idea what to do.
This is what happens when the lowest common denominator among the population has to be appeased before anything gets done. Essentially, we have to delay a project because people are two dumb to understand that they have to do something to continue getting TV after the 17th of February.
I say, just do the switch.
How long has this been coming? How many YEARS have TV stations been telling us to be ready for Feb 17, to get your digital converter box? But yet, there are still hordes of people who are ill-prepared, not paying attention to the deadline.
So, the government will spend more money to advertise to these folks how they can still get TV and pump a couple more billion into making sure these sheep have their digital boxes before the new deadline (if they don’t delay again because the people weren’t paying attention). More tax dollars shelled out because people didn’t pay attention to what has been coming down the pipe. And once again, those who were prudent and prepared for changes now have to pay for those who weren’t.
The writer of the article that I reference mentions that those for a delay believe that, in a recessed economy, people shouldn’t have to shell out their own money to stay tuned in, particularly when this is a government move. Instead, the government will shell it out and it will be another year or more before we go forward.
And in the spirit of Conservative Rabitity: And we want the government to run our healthcare? They can’t even manage this on time and within budget…kinda like that Capital Visitor’s Center thing…
-R
reference:
Hart, K. (2008) Congress Urged To Postpone Nation’s Switch To Digital TV. Washington Post. Online. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010703916.html?hpid=moreheadlines
The Conservative Underground – Day 16
…deep within the super-secret bunker, codenamed Zion…
During the campaigns, Barack Obama made the statements that you can’t do the same things and get the same results. Yet he’s picked back up the old Democrat playbook from the ’90′s in hopes of reversing the Bush years.
I would have been a little more optimistic had Obama gone outside of the Washington Democrat inner circle (or just Washington in general) to find people for his cabinet and key advisor cadre. Yet his current trend of selections shows that aspiration of change may be in as sharp of a decline as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (which today closed 444.99 points lower to 7552.29, the lowest it’s been since March 2003 – interestingly but unrelatedly the month the US invaded Iraq).
Here’s a quick look at the first round draft picks for Team Obama:
Rahm Emanuel – White House Chief of Staff – Emanuel was part of the Clinton White House and is not really known for being a nice guy. In fact, this guy has got a reputation for being a nasty customer. One time, he got upset at a Democrat pollster and mailed him a big dead fish. Then, during a dinner party, he started in on what he called ‘disloyal’ Democrats and started stabbing the table with his dinner knife, shouting, “Dead!”.
Emanuel got demoted during Clinton’s second term from political director to policy adviser. One time, he blasted a reporter in his office, red-faced, finger-wagging. As he let the reporter out, he said, loudly, “And, dear sir, the horse you rode in on.”
Did we forget that Emanuel was Board Director of Freddie Mac during their accounting fraud? Turns out when Freddie Mac was deceiving investors between 2000 and 2002 (SEC complaint), he, with the rest of his board, missed all the red-flags. He bailed on Freddie Mac in 2001 to run for Congress.
The New York Times and the AP *forgot* to tell us all that the guy that Obama picked to be a key part of discussions relating to the failing house and mortgage markets failed to see failures in Freddie Mac, failures that contributed significantly to the market collapse.
Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State – We all know this seasoned lib lady isn’t about changing the attitude in Washington because of what she used as campaign rhetoric during the Primaries. One wonders if this appointment is the consolation prize in exchange for her cooperation after Obama beat her out for the Democrat ticket. How one can say the things she did about Obama, not name her as the Veep candidate, and not give her something for her trouble, well, let’s say to not think so is clearly suspension of disbelief. Hillary clearly would have rained on Obama’s party in ways that only a Clinton could.
I swear, Democrats are apt to eat their own young if they don’t get what they want.
Tom Daschle – Health Secretary – This guy was ousted from his Senate seat in 2004 when John Thune handed him a defeat. He’s been hanging out in South Dakota, working for lobby firm Alston & Bird, whose clients are health care interests like CVS Caremark, the National Association of Home Care and Hospice, Abbott Laboratories, and HealthSouth.
One startling thing that Daschle wrote in a book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis” which is no less scary than his time as Senate Minority Leader, “The next president should act immediately to capitalize on the goodwill that greets any incoming administration. If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it…this issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”
So Daschle is willing to put the brakes on the federal budget if he doesn’t get his health-care plan, which is what we, as conservatives really see as bad news, European-style socialized medicine that puts government bureaucrats in charge of personal health decisions and government forms by the ton to get a physical. I guess this is all part of the unwritten right to health care that the Founding Fathers failed to put in the constitution. It should have been written, Right to Life (only if you aren’t a fetus), Liberty (as long as you do what we want), and pursuit of happiness (so long as it doesn’t involve serving God publically)…and health care too!
Well, perhaps that provision is a good thing – because if the Government can’t pass the budget, it shuts down, which might be good considering the orgy of spending and, now, bailouts, that has been going on.
Eric Holder – Attorney General – Holder was the No. 2 guy during the Clinton administration. Holder is a scary pick because he saw the pardons of Susan Rosenberg and Linda Sue Evans, part of the Weather Underground (the same group that Bill Ayers was a part of). He also oversaw the siezure of Elian Gonzales (remember the kid from Cuba?) and Marc Rich, who was indicted on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Rich held up in Switzerland and stayed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Clinton pardoned Rich. Holder made that happen.
So basically, when looking at Eric Holder, we see Janet Reno – with a big mustache. (or a bigger mustache).
So, Change We All Can Believe In begins with old faces, which means their old ideas and old rhetoric. Of course, the people who voted for Obama don’t have a clue about this – or don’t care. They just wanted to keep McCain (read: McSame) out of the center seat.
And we take one failed group of policies and replace it with another.
Hold on to your wallets, people. The libs are back in town.
