Independence Day 2013

"The American citizen must be made aware that today a relatively small group of people is proclaiming its purposes to be the will of the people.  That elitist approach to government must be repudiated."

 

William E. Simon (1927-2000)

 Treasury Secretary under President Gerald Ford

 

 

 

These words spoken decades ago still ring true today, particularly as we undergo Obama's Transformational Era.  Government continues to grow in girth and in scandalous behavior.  The scandals in this administration continue unabated.  Aside from Mr. Obama's dubious appointments and their foibles we have been witness to:

 

• The GSA "Party On" scandal.
• The Secret Service "Ladies of the Night" scandal.
• The Energy Department "Money for Friends in Bankrupt companies" funding scandal.
• The Agriculture Department "Pigford" scandal.
• The EPA wasted money scandal.
• The Benghazi cover up.
• The IRS targeting scandal.
• The NSA spying on Americans scandal.

All of this points to one certainty,  GOVERNMENT is big, fat and out of control.  The politicians in Washington, D.C. have created one Obese creature.

 

It is fair time for all Americans to reflect greatly on how the federal budget has ballooned and our precious liberties have shrunk in this Transformational Era of BIG GOVERNMENT.  It has become most apparent with the rise of what many call the fourth branch of government, the Federal Bureaucracy.  As government grows with its insatiable appetite for its cut of American wealth creation, it creates more rules, regulations and advocates for more laws to justify that growth.  This obese creature propagates itself exponentially all in the name of the will of the people.

 

This must stop!

 

No longer is the Republican establishment's approach of slowing the growth of government acceptable.  This is not the way to curtail government spending.  In light of all the recent scandals it is incumbent that actual and significant cuts be made.  Like a consumer that goes shopping, a determination must be made between basic needs and unnecessary desires.

 

On this Independence Day 2013, Americans must embrace liberty and throw off the shackles of an overbearing government.  Each one of us American citizens should pledge to come up with at least one cut to the federal budget and write our elected representatives in Congress seeking action.

 

Failure to do so, is to let our children and grandchildren down, further eroding the possibility of a return to a prosperous America.

 

 

Political Musings v5

Presidential Election 2012


The wonderfully engaging political columnist Ann Coulter recently opined that the only potential Presidential candidate that could dislodge the office from President Obama would be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I must respectfully disagree. No matter who the GOP nominates they will be the new President. The Obama presidency will only be one term. The American people have had enough.


Union Protests

While our neighbors to North in Wisconsin endure the rants and ravings of the spuriously civil unionists, one democratic policy wag deposited the notion that their base was more invigorated than ever. Really? What of the “Gary Hart” voter? Remember the New Democrat versus the Union slug Mondale back in 1984? That dichotomy is still prevalent within the democrat party today.

Fuel Efficiency

The Obama administration rolled out new fuel efficiency standards for buses, trucks, and other larger vehicles, recently. The effort purportedly is to, in part, reduce our dependency on oil. Why not converting many of these vehicles to natural gas? The massive fleet of federal government vehicles should lead the way.


Education Vouchers


While the voucher legislation, introduced by State Senator Meeks, did not pass the Illinois House in the last session, it is no less an important issue worthy of debate. To elevate the quality of our education system, effective competition must be introduced.


Herewith is a compromise. Any school or school district that falls below minimum standards in testing and graduation rates, as set by the state, should be subject to a voucher program for a period of no less than six years. Allow the parents to decide where they wish to send their children utilizing voucher funds set at an amount that the school or school district spends per pupil. The parents should not be limited to sending their child to a bricks and mortar school, but could also use these funds for home schooling. Such a system would provide a powerful incentive to the educationalists to bring their schools up to standards. They should note that failure has consequences.


Re-apportionment

The census report shows that the City of Chicago lost 200,000 people in the last decade. This is where the Congressional District should be lost. Count on the Democrats drawing a map that places two Republican Congressman in the same district, though. Once again, elections have consequences.


Congressional Correspondence

It was with pleasure that I recently wrote to U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) asking him to kill the bullet train funds. I also wrote freshman Congressman Randy Hultgren (R-IL 14th) with four reforms for social security. I look forward to their responses.


The political climate in the United States and Illinois is as fluid as ever which makes for great debates and as the great conservative, William F. Buckley, use to say, “social intercourse.”

Obama-Care Must be Sent to the Infirmary

Not long ago, an old friend of mine sent me a video pertaining to the so-called public option portion of Obama-Care. In the cartoonish video it stated that a government funded health care system could be very efficiently run. It provided proof of governments ability to run programs by mentioning social security and the postal system, to name two. I nearly fell off my chair in laughter. The Postal System has a deficit in the billions and Social Security is nothing more than a giant Ponzi scheme. If a government run health care system is the latent intent of Obama-Care then it needs to be sent to the infirmary.

It seems the democrats are greatly divided over putting in the public option with Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Leader Reid (D-NV) pushing for it and more moderate party members like Max Baucus (D-MT) prefer to opt out on that element. Meanwhile the Obama administration "dithers". The democrat written health care legislation needs to be dumped. The public option is basically an incremental step towards government control.

The Nobel Prize (1974) winning economist F.A. Hayek, wrote in his fine book, The Road to Serfdom, "Our freedom of choice in a competitive society rests on the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, we can turn to another. But if we face a monopolist we are at his mercy." The current health care bill working its way through Congress places us on the slippery slope towards a governmental monopoly. Should it pass, it will put not only our health care system into tailspin, but will severely damage our already fragile economy.

The outstanding Republican Congressman Paul Ryan (WI-1st), offered up the "Patients Choice Act of 2009" earlier this year. It had many good elements in it. One portion of it made little sense to me. It proposed to eliminate the tax exemption offered to employers that provide health insurance to their employees. In its place would be a $2300 individual tax credit and a $5700 family tax credit. With these monies, an individual or family were free to select their own health care or to apply it to whatever their employer was offering. Now there is no duty by employers to offer health insurance, but those companies that wish to hire the best talent ought to have the ability to offer it. And get a tax exemption for it. The self-employed ought to be able to have that same tax benefit.

In order to provide a competitive environment for health insurance a number of components need to be incorporated in any legislation coming out of Congress. They are:

• Tax credit for all out of pocket medical expenses including for elderly care.
• Portability. We should be able to move from one plan to another based on any change in employment status.
• Insurance plans should be offered across state lines. This will provided needed competition.
• Medical tort reform. Cap the awards on pain and suffering.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) should be expanded further. This alone will provide the basis for a three-tier health insurance paradigm. Level one--basic preventative health care, check-ups, working with our physicians to establish healthy lives. The payment for these would be out of pocket or through our HSA's. Level two--emergency care and accidental health insurance. Level three--catastrophic health insurance for live changing medical care.

The present health care system is so clogged that it needs an angioplasty. It needs to be invigorated with more competition to lower costs. Yes indeed, it needs reform. What it doesn't need, is the time of reform that the Obama-Care orderlies are working up. This type of Obama-Care needs to be sent to the infirmary, indefinitely.

Political Musings

Huckabee 2012 ??
No Way! Conservative commentator, Tom Roeser posited this question in a recent blog on his site, TomRoeser.com. Mr. Roeser is an excellent wordsmith and I have to admit that I agree with him 90% of the time. On this notion of Huckabee in 2012, we depart. I do not think Huckabee has the stones to cut government as it must be. In fact, in my estimation, I do not believe any of the top tier candidates Romney, Palin or Huckabee would be capable of making the necessary cuts. Perhaps former Colorado Governor, Bill Owens or current Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels would have the tenacity to make cuts to the profligate federal spending.

CATO Institute
The CATO institute, a free-market oriented think tank in Washington, D.C., has come out with a plan to downsize the Federal government. CATO proposes to eliminate the Department of Education, a good portion of the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I have long advocated the elimination of the Department of Education, ever since President Jimmy "The Cracker" Carter created it. The Department of Agriculture is another matter. CATO proposes to gut most of the department moving most of its functions to the states. For the most part I agree. Where I disagree, is the "Legacy" National Parks. They should be left in Federal Hands. The smaller, so-called National Parks that have been created by US Senators and Congressman seeking to gain favor with the ecotopians, should be left in state hands or as CATO proposes private land trusts. HUD can go and after reading CATO's proposal it makes more sense.

$100 Oil is still Coming
In my last post I said it was on the way. Now the US Dollar is getting pounded even more. Commodity prices are on the rise. As the rest of the world is beginning to show signs of recovery from the Bankers Flu (swine flu, if you wish), the US still putters along while the Obama administration does nothing.

Charity begins in Your Community!
Even as we all struggle in this troubled economy, please remember to give to those organizations in your community whose mission is to help the less fortunate. Even if you only have clothing items or other materials, it is important that we continue to help the "Independent Sector" grow.

Chicago Loses Olympic Bid

Chicago did not even make it to the medal round in its bid to win the 2016 Summer Olympic games.

Much has been said and written over Chicago's failure to win the bid. Here in Chicago we were caught flat footed when tossed in the first round of voting. Rio de Janiero, Brazil had a more impassioned and better bid. They took the gold home.

Could Chicago have won the bid? Yes. With a much more impassioned and targeted plea to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. Was it President Obama's fault as many of the talking heads blame? No. He gave a nice talk pitching Chicago on behalf of the United States. I disagree with the boneheads that argue he should not have made the trip, citing he had more important things to do. Hey folks, the President doesn't sit in coach twiddling his thumbs waiting to touch down. No, he is working the phones, meeting with key staff, and conducting the business of the USA.

First Lady, Michelle Obama, gave the most impassioned plea and knocked the ball out of the park. In the process, saving Chicago's overall bid presentation. If it weren't for her, Chicago would not have even got the 18 votes in the first round. Mayor Daley gave a boring Chicago-centric speech. The type of parochial effort you would hear by a Chicago ward boss.

Did they play a great game? NO.

If the Chicago 2016 committee wanted to give 110% effort (a type of effort required to win the gold in the games) they would have targeted their appeal to the IOC members. You see, 42 voting members of the IOC have participated in the games, many of which have won medals. The Chicago presentation should have made with these members in mind. A little less feeding of political egos and a lot more Olympic athletes making presentations. The athlete presentations should have included US and non-US members of past Olympic teams. The ultimate goal being how Chicago would best benefit the Olympic movement. Having more focus on the International sporting events that the Chicago Metropolitan area has successfully hosted would have greatly aided the overall presentation. All of this would have sealed the deal.

I am not sure Rio is ready. It has far more problems to solve before 2016. Hopefully they can get them resolved before the games begin. In the end, it was Rio that played a much better game.