Broke

My Mom left her copy of Glenn Beck's Broke with me. It just reconfirmed what I've already known, although I don't think I was clear on the magnitude of just how broke we really are as a nation. No holds barred, this book. It doesn't matter if you have an R or a D after your name. If a President had part in the financial crisis (that's too tame a word for it, but it will have to do) that we find ourselves in; well he doesn't give them (or us for letting it happen) a pass regardless of affiliation. Rightfully so. I've always said the Reps & Dems were just two sides of the same coin. And thus it is.

I really had a lot of disdain for George W. Bush's policies. He was definitely not a fiscal conservative. I was furious at the end of his term when he bailed out the financial industry from the disasters they had heaped upon themselves--private gains & public losses, a win either way for them, what a sweet deal, huh? Abandoning free market principles to save the free market. What drivel. Obama took that ball and ran with it, and were I in his shoes and held his worldview, I would have done the same--it was a free pass, and he is riding that wave to extreme. Maybe the shift in congressional power can slow him down.

Well, as I say, Beck doesn't hold back and it turns out that GW spent more, ran up more deficits, expanded more entitlements, and enacted more regulations then Clinton (and modern predecessors) ever dreamed of doing! That was an eye opener. I new it was bad, but that bad? TARP was his capstone.

I think only Obama has outdone him in fiscal recklessness in modern times. You will hear no defense of W from me.

I could go on & on regarding suspicions & statements I have made in conversations over the years that square with the research Beck demonstrates in his book. I told my mother, "It's just so sad." And worse, they all know know it. All of them--Presidents, Congress, even some of us who follow these things. They know what's been done in the past. They know what they have done. They know what it means. They cover it up. They have no will to fix any of it. They change their tunes with the change in public mood. Democrat. Republican. From Woodrow Wilson on, there have been precious few who have been willing to take a stand against doomed "progressive" policies and exorbitant, unconstitutional spending we could not afford. I can't believe the U.S. still has a AAA credit rating per S&P. I have the sneaking suspicion that this is mostly artificial. A ratings drop would precipitate market panic world-wide. These artificial props, like the "hidden tax" QE2 recently rammed through the day after election day; they can't last. The music has to be faced at some point. It's going to hurt, really REALLY bad but we need Statesman / Leaders willing to make the tough choices now or we will suffer worse & longer we procrastinate...

What's the answer? Well, as I said with the Bush bailout, (and again) take the pain in the short-term to avoid the worse and longer term economic suffering in the future... but no one has the stomach for it. From politicians on down to the individual--we don't have the national will to take on the challenge. At least I don't see any indicators that we will. The longer we wait to make the very hard decisions to right the ship, the more it will hurt us all in this generation and beyond. Enforce a real cap on the debt ceiling. Force the government to live within it's means--no loopholes for any programs. We have to start somewhere. Stop monetizing the debt. That is a cycle without end, it will amass the ire of the rest of the world and lead to currency / trade wars or worse if it continues. I fear that as with other "empires" in the past we are just this side of moving from hubris excesses into the assured self-destructive implosion of Ate...

Cloward's & Piven's strategy has already panned out. They won. The government entitlement programs have ALREADY overwhelmed it. It hasn't collapsed yet because a) we are artificially propping it up and b) the rest of the world markets are scared to death of an American bankruptcy...

Climate Crap & Tax

I'll transcribe the relevant facts (which accounts for virtually the entire speech) as soon as possible...



I'll also post the "guru" of climate change info shortly. This is the same guy that said we were going into an ice age back in the '70s...........

Inhofe, addresses that ice age crap in the speech above...

Rep. Michele Bachmann Independence Institute Speech

A wake up call speech deliver August 31^st in Denver presented by The Independence Institute. Yes, it will be worth your time to hear it in it's entirety...

The Independence Institute presents... Michele Bachmann

On Climate Change

A really interesting post on cincinnatusblog.com entitled Climate Change – An Explosive Mixture of Science, Politics and Economics. It's really very good, in my opinion. The author reflects upon the scientific method as it applies to climatology, CO₂ & water vapor as greenhouse gases, Global Warming & Politics/Economics, etc.

His concluding paragraph is very much in line with my thinking. There he lists an immediate need that we could actually remedy—all that TARP money could solve that problem now!

Your Part To Play

President Obama has called upon all Americans to sacrifice, to do their part (in just what ways we have to wonder). So congratulations you've done a lot already but probably haven't felt the effects just yet.

The average national debt burden has risen an additional $55,000 per household in the US this year alone. Your household share now comes in at $546,668—so reports USA Today.

For what it's worth, The U.S National Debt Clock reports (as of today) that the national debt burden for each and every American (based upon the estimated population) is $36,970.86.

I'd start saving now I guess, but it goes up every single day. I'll need to get a couple of extra jobs to do my part I guess. You too... All of us...

Tax Protest, San Antonio Style

I didn't get to go (as I mentioned that I wouldn't previously), but by all accounts it looks like the message got out loud, clear, peacefully, and successfully. I don't care what political party you advocate, I think the fact is clear that folks in San Antonio and across the nation are demanding that taxation come with proper and responsible representation.

The government works for us, we do not work for them. Apparently they forgot that fact somewhere along the way. Hopefully here's a wake up call...

San Antonio Tea Party: Don't Tread On Me

The San Antonio Tax Day Tea Party

Too bad I won't be able to attend. :-(




When: April 15, 2009
What Time: 6:00 PM
Where: The Alamo of course! You knew that didn't you?

Ted Nugent will open with the National Anthem and Glen Beck will provide the opening address.

Real Texans are NOT just going to roll over and finance Obama's socialism programs without a fight.

Mr. Jefferson

Seen on Michelle Malkin's blog. Too good to pass up...