Day 208

Is Joe Scarborough a model for the new Republican party?

Joe’s own story is admirable. A solid conservative who was the first Republican to win in Florida’s 1st Congressional District in nearly a century, Scarborough never served long enough to become institutionalized by the wasteful spending spree the Republicans eventually gave in to. Now, Scarborough has written a book about the economic principles that conservatives should believe in and how he bucked Gingrich and other leaders because of his strong beliefs.

That’s his story.

The reality is that Florida’s 1st District is still held by a Republican nearly 8 years later and after a near rout in 2008. Joe Scarborough resigned from his position, divorced and moved to New York within months of the mysterious death of one of his congressional staffers in his office in Florida. Now, he spends his time on MSNBC as a former shell of himself getting in gripes here and there as the network’s token conservative.

The lesson we can learn is from him, not about him. Joe started out as a right wing conservative with a shadier past than Newt Gingrich. Now, he’s a political commentator who preaches fiscal conservatism tempered with media savvy. He remade himself, with no small help from a liberal media who practiced the kind of willful ignorance they do with the president’s shady past.

Getting past the personalities is the real task. The number of otherwise intelligent people who are picking out one pundit or another for ridicule when there is a Congress taking away our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness truly disappoints me. For the love of God, stop it! This is about ideas first, then strategies and then personalities, maybe. But with personalities, you never know what you’re going to get.

Day 207

Now that non-Worshippers of Jackass who were lefty ideologues have taken up criticizing the guy, it may be time to look to the future.

What we have now is one party rule trying to expand government’s role over our lives and to take our money to do it. I prefer the previous administration’s attempt to cut taxes on the rich and abuse our enemies. Regardless, one party rule is incompatible with democracy.

How do we stop it? We have to vote for those who show that they want to stop it. It may be a primary candidate or a general election candidate. It may be a blue dog Democrat who has had enough. It may be a right-wing Republican.

This is all that needs to happen. If you think the parties are indistinguishable, here’s the difference. One is flush with power, the other is humbled by the loss of it. If you think the parties are all the same, then vote for the non-incumbent. Vote for the one who promises to vote for term limits.

If you think the Free Masons or the Illuminati or the military industrial complex has taken over and our fate is sealed, then go grab some guns and canned food and unplug the Internet. Because they can find you that way.

Day 206

It’s one battle at a time. This administration is all about throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks. Failures don’t seem like failure because another scheme is there to take its place.

Things aren’t as inevitable as the media would like you to believe. Whoever goes to the Supreme Court will likely only be as bad as Souter anyway. Why do you suppose he chose to retire 3 months after the inauguration? Even though Bush’s daddy nominated him, he’s siding with the judicial activism view of Jackass rather than W.

Presidential approval ratings are heading down, in the low 60% range and dropping. Democrats in the Congress are running for office a year and a half ahead of time and blue dogs in conservative states may be in mind of a revolt to stay in power.

If I were to pick my #1 concern, it’s money. Government HMO is on the front burner because the world is coming to collect on our debt. If we don’t lose our perfect bond rating, we will end up paying out a lot more in interest. The problem isn’t our insolvency, it’s the fact that so many businesses are greedy.

People who used to start companies for autonomy are now headed by CEOs who want money, no matter what strings are attached. Stimulus has become a bribery system to take over and control those who would normally have the power to fight this expansion. Washington is the last place that can write checks, and people are taking them until they bounce.

Day 205

I think it may be all over now.

Now that the worst has happened, it’s going to be damn near impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. There were two major expansions of socialism in this country. One was FDR and Social “Security” and then LBJ with the Great Society. There was also the Community Reinvestment Act under Carter and Clinton that has pretty much blown up. But the current administration will likely be the third and last one before we sink into total European-style economic stagnation.

But this time, we don’t have the money. Under FDR, Social Security was given out to orphans and widows. The average life expectancy was about 2 years less than the payout age of 65. The first recipients didn’t “pay in” at all. Even given that, there were 26 workers for every one recipient. Now it’s closer to 2. Under similar circumstances to the 1930s, no one would collect until age 83. An employee making the median income would pay about 1.2% of their income instead of the current 12% to pay out a benefit of $1000 a month.

When the 1960s welfare state came into being, the baby boom generation was just starting to enter the workforce and the older generation was smaller. Poverty was very much a class situation and hadn’t become the generational institution it is today.

But today, that dynamic is reversed. This country is $12 trillion in debt officially. The $40,000 each man, woman and child in the US owes blows away the $10,000 the average American has in credit card debt. The median age in the country is in the late 30s, while people in their 30s are the smallest demographic segment of the population.

The economy is being supported more and more by 3 groups. Government employees who make the most money, the wealthy who have the most money and the retirees who are double dipping on Social Security income along with generous pensions of times past. People who don’t get a government check or paycheck are just getting by now, until they lose their jobs.

The redistribution is destined to continue. Stimulus money, Sales tax, millionaire taxes, soda taxes, carbon taxes on top of the regular taxes are designed to put the federal government’s hands on every dollar in the economy. Like in England, there will be a majority of people living on the dole more often than they work, hoping for the day some company opens up in their town which never comes.

I feel the ennui of the Bush/McCain supporter who didn’t vote in November. It’s a fight every damn day to explain how these freedom-sucking plans never work. People want to hear stories of a chicken in every pot even though every politician who tells it is lying.

And yes, both parties are complicit in this reality. They are just the puppets. There have been interests for decades who maneuver society into what they want it to be. The American people go along with it, focusing instead on their own lives and struggle. At heart, I blame the people who let the bullies walk all over them. Right now, I feel so stepped on, I don’t know if there’s anything but the ground anymore.

Screw your hope and change. I liked things the way they were before.

Day 204

After years of Democrats complaining about how regressive a national sales tax would be, some are looking at it as a good idea. What led to the change? They don’t want to use it in place of income tax. They want to use it in addition to income tax.

You would think all the same problems would be there. A national VAT would affect the purchasing class and have no impact on the investor class. I guess liberals plan to throw mediocre national HMOs at the “poor” to make them feel better about doubling or more of their taxes.

So now we have the phenomenon of the spend and tax liberal. Jackass blew $2 trillion on stimulus that still hasn’t happened yet and sees the writing on the wall. Either we take in a lot in taxes or the US Dollar becomes Monopoly money. He couldn’t control the rich like he thought, and the only reliable revenue stream is screwing over the regular citizen who can’t move money around for tax advantages.

This always happens, every time. When liberals are in charge they tax the hell out of everyone. First, the come for the rich. Then they tax everyone else. Canada and most of Europe has a national sales tax and many have local ones. In NY, we have state and county sales taxes. Plus, we have property tax. And 25% of New Yorkers are thinking about leaving. Half of them are already making the plans. Where do we go when The US becomes Europe?

Day 203

So, foreign or domestic incompetence? I’ll pick domestic today.

Jackass nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court today. According to the John McCain standard, any judge who is qualified (which I think is defined as time on the bench) should be confirmed. This is another reason why McCain doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Sotomayor is supposedly free of previous decisions involving abortion, which a big topic in any judicial nomination. What concerns me is her actual judicial temperament. First of all, 5 out of 6 of her decisions passed up to the Supreme Court were overturned. She also feels that the Appellate Court is tasked with making law. My interpretation of the Constitution is that the Legislative Branch does that. Maybe she should go back to law school.

The other decision is for New Haven Fire Department where they were sued by white applicants who got high scores on a test but no appointments were made. The jobs that mysteriously disappeared were removed because the department couldn’t find any black or non-white applicants with high test scores on the exam.

Now, if Sotomayor wants to decide that the department has to maintain racial correctness at the expense of having the needed number of employees in higher positions, it’s one thing. It’s a bad decision, but that’s not new. What she decided is that if an organization is afraid of lawsuits by minorities, (which is the actual reason New Haven hired no one) they can infringe on a less protected group’s rights.

That is chilling. This country is already lawsuit happy. Judicial activism has led to a situation where a lawyer can go judge shopping for the decision they want. Sotomayor is creating the precedent that if you don’t want to fight huge lawyer fees, give up and let the judges make the law.

This crap has to stop. Two centuries of legal precedent have now nullified the Constitution. Given the choice, I would appoint a non-lawyer who has the Constitution and its amendments memorized rather than a “legal” scholar who knows so much contradictory case law that they can argue and justify any argument.

Day 202

Why do we fight? Historically, most wars achieve minimal gains compared to the cost. It’s easy to look back at any conflict and judge it’s effectiveness or necessity.

World War 2 was the example for a just war. Three bad countries against the rest of the world. The United States trying to be neutral until a sneak attack. Young men who came back heroes.

But that war had detractors. The United States was accused of genocide against the Japanese people. We fought socialism, but most modern democracies have socialized on their own. Hitler’s regime was coming apart from the inside and one more internal assassination attempt might have ended him.

And none of this has to do with Memorial Day. It is not the soldier’s duty to judge the war. It is their duty to fight with honor for their country. At the same time, it is our duty to remember those who make the ultimate sacrifice, regardless of opinions.

Day 201

I was going to do my fire and brimstone thing today, but I think I’ll just wish everyone a safe holiday. Please remember the veterans who sacrificed their time, health, and lives to make this country better and safer for all of us.

Day 200

200 days since the election, and there is reason for hope. Jackass is floundering on Gitmo, Pelosi is taking on an agency that used to hate the Republicans and now probably feels the other way, and Harry Reid couldn’t win the election in Nevada right now if he was building a stimulus-funded whorehouse in Las Vegas.

There’s a television series due to air next year about a global event which briefly gives everyone a glimpse six months into their own future. Given what has happened so far, if people had a glimpse into today 200 days back in November, would they have voted the way they did? I have to wonder.

While I think McCain has been kind of useless since around last August, I would not be the least hesitant to vote for him as president knowing what I know now. And while people still supposedly “like” the jackass, they don’t agree with his policies or identify themselves with his party.

Even if the Republicans do nothing, they are likely to eliminate the veto proof majority in the Senate and possibly get a controlling voice in the House. They could, however, screw things up. With Nancy Pelosi, now is the time to bring up her expensive military luxury jet, her husband’s company, the pork for her own family in the bailout package and any other ethics violations they can think of.

Some things to remember for the future:

Purge your ranks. It should not take Arlen Specter leaving to not be a Republican anymore. The GOP fought hard to keep him in during 2004. Maybe they should have put that effort into beating Jackass in Illinois.

Low taxes, limited government, law and order. If you believe anything else, leave it at home. If some dope on MSNBC asks you as a politician about Roe v. Wade or getting rid of Social Security or any other traps, just tell them you’re going to Fox News where people are actually watching.

Be careful of religious conservatives. They will betray you. These bastards spend so much time staying home that you might as well consider them nonvoters. They have a choice. Leveraging their votes on wedge issues is terrorism. Don’t negotiate with terrorists.

Listen to the PUMA contingent. They’ll betray you too, but they have some excellent ammo regarding Democratic opponents.

Do not listen to media anointed Republicans. Colin Powell is against everything Republicans stand for and he supported the other guy. It’s like listening to the Wiccan at a Catholic Church.

The media sucks. If a Republican politician has a media consultant who tells them to go on MSNBC or CNN, fire them. If you want to go on CNN, go on Lou Dobbs. If you want to go on MSNBC, book Olbermann and then don’t show up. That’s just funny.

This will either be a war of attrition or an all-out battle for the soul of America. I know what it needs to be.

Day 199

Not a good week for the Administration of Doom. Today, the UK currency was downgraded as an investment. This does not bode well for American currency. The dollar is at an all time low now, which is one of the factors making gas so expensive of late. Worthless dollar equals many more dollars to buy the same oil.

From what I’ve learned, a weak dollar can lead to higher interest rates in order to sell our debt, assuming China and the rest of the world want to take on an extra trillion dollars. So, instead of $45 billion in interest on every trillion dollars per year, we may hit $50 or $55 billion. In four years, just the increase in the interest rate will equal Bush’s 2007 budget deficit.

Of course, we can just print money until gas is $10 a gallon.