1/21/2013

I have been deliberately quite for the past 19 days or so, not out of ambivalence, or from having nothing to say, instead it is out of sheer dismay, and more than a little disgust.  Some would say that is when one should be more vocal.  That that is the time to let one’s voice be heard, and there are truths to both of those lines of thought; but at the same time it is often when some people are feeling more than a little dismayed, and have feelings of disgust, and then voice that dismay and disgust, that they often stick their foot in their mouths; thus opening themselves to a backlash of criticism, and perhaps a little condemnation and ridicule.  A case in point would be New England Patriots wide receiver, Wes Welker’s wife, Anna Burns Welker, and her comments posted to Facebook about Ray Lewis, following Lewis’s team, the Baltimore Ravens, beating Welker’s team in the AFC Championship Game yesterday.  Sure, she has a right to voice her opinion, but maybe she should have let her emotions chill a bit before she decided to go to Facebook and “share” her thoughts.  Maybe that’s just me, but that’s how I try to roll, not always successfully mind you.

Anyway, I am still here, and I do still pay attention to current politics, and obviously a lot of things have happened during my silence; and some thing(s) happened that I didn’t comment on before I went silent; like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.  First just let me say this; that was/is an absolutely horrific tragedy, perpetrated by a supremely disturbed young man (I am still wondering what in the hell is going on with the millennial generation of young men to drive so many to perpetrate these acts of incomprehensible violence, as written about here) and my heart completely goes out to all of those affected by this nonsensical act.  I may be a lot of things, but I am not without compassion; hell I get “misty” at touching moments all the time – weddings, movies, television shows, etc. – basically I am a big softy.  That being said though, another thought crossed my mind upon hearing about the Sandy Hook tragedy; and that was that the days are numbered for the Second Amendment.

I initially shared my thoughts on the clock ticking down on American citizens Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, as granted in the Bill of Rights following the Aurora Colorado movie theater shooting, with some of my friends who are sane, law abiding, gun owning citizens, and each one told me that it would never happen.  First, let me say, never say never.  That being said, following the Sandy Hook tragedy I think the level of media and public outrage had reached such a pitch (as evidenced by the irresponsible publishing of legal gun owners by a New York “News” [I mean news in the loosest way possible] paper) that it would be all too easy for politicians to now chip away at the Second Amendment; eventually leading to its eventual scrapping altogether.  Sure, despite Emperor Obama’s 23 Executive Orders on gun control, there is still a ways to go before the Second Amendment is relegated to the land of myth and legend, but given the state of things and the continued making of pariah’s of legal owners, I don’t think it is too hard to imagine that we are squarely on the path towards gun ownership being, if nothing else, so onerous and filled with regulation as to make it next to impossible for anyone to ever be allowed to own one – at best – if not making gun ownership/possession an outright criminal felonious offense – at worst.

Now, I must point out (again) that I don’t particularly like guns, not for any high moral, or ethical reasons, guns just don’t interest me.  However, I do have friends who do legally own guns, and a couple are gun collectors, and as mentioned earlier, they are sane, law abiding citizens too.  They aren’t wackjobs, lunatics, or any other broad negative brush some would like to paint ALL gun owners with.  They are proud parents, hard workers, small business owners, and several are church goers too.  They are den leaders for the Cub Scouts, coaches for youth athletics, active in their children’s PTA’s, and a couple even volunteer at homeless shelters and no kill pet shelters.  The point is simply this; gun ownership does not automatically equate to being some evil mastermind, bent on total carnage;  nor does it make one instantly become a Terminator, out to “terminate” Sarah Connor and in turn humanity.

Sadly though the pressure is so increasing by some to “do something” about guns, and the current tactic, by many, is to vilify anyone who owns guns, and to demonize anyone who dares to speak in support of gun ownership, regardless of how rational an attempt is made in that argument.  Heaven forbid you bring up any sort of attempt to explain the Second Amendment as a check against an overzealous government by the people, because then you will be told:

1. that you are a paranoid conspiracy theorist
2. that that was never the intent of the Second Amendment
3. even if that were the intent, it is an archaic idea of the 18th century, and that we have nothing to worry about, because there is no way such a scenario could ever happen here.

Well, no matter how much I would like to believe in reason number 3, and though I will grant that their is some deliberate ambiguity in much of the wording of the Constitution on the whole, and in this instance the Second Amendment, as in reason number 2, and I will even grant that there are many people who are prone to conspiracy theories, as in reason number 1; I do have to go back to the age old adage, never say never;  because history is littered with examples of those who said never, and then much to their astonishment, never actually happens – and when it does, that never that happens tends to go rather poorly for all parties involved, and some worse than others.

1/2/2013

Well, well, well, “we” have successfully steered clear of the so called fiscal cliff, and more than likely on a more direct path toward the fiscal black hole.  Don’t you feel oh so good about that?

Sure, sure, the stock market reacted quite well today, the first day of trading after New Year’s Day; which means that your retirement account did well too, and that is definitely good for you.  However, does this “grand” bill actually make it good for the country?  Probably not.

Unfunded liabilities, totaling more than $87 trillion,  have not, and were not addressed.  What that means is that there are more than $87,000,000,000,000 of “things,” like Social Security, Medicare, and federal employee pensions – which includes our men and women in uniform – that our government has obligations to pay out, but doesn’t, or hasn’t enough allocated funding to adequately meet those obligations.  Did this fiscal cliff bill address that?  Sadly no.

Then there is the fact that those tax increases on all of those evil rich people making $400,000+ (If single); $450,000+ (if married) a year amounts to a spit in the ocean, when compared to the projected 2013 deficit of $901 billion.  So, yeah, glad to see the deficits were addressed . . .

What about the $109 billion in spending cuts though?  Well, our elite people in Washington have decided that the best way to address those spending cuts is to allow a two month delay on the automatic spending cuts that were scheduled to take effect from the fiscal cliff.  Yeah, they decided it’s best to address that later; probably hoping no one will be paying attention to any of this come March.  So, nothing really happens there either.

Oh, and let’s not forget that the greatest nation on Earth hasn’t had an official budget passed in over four years now.  Apparently everything is being funded in a whack-a-mole fashion right now, since there isn’t a budgetary guide line for anything.  Not that it really matters though, because for oh so many years our government has basically taken all of those annual budgets and thrown them out the window, because it has routinely spent more money than it budgeted for; known “affectionately” as deficit spending – isn’t that cute?

So what’s in this bill?  How about  $12.1 billion to wind energy research; $150 Million to television/Hollywood tax subsidies.  Yeah, definitely crucial items there.  Then there’s a $13.50/gallon tax on rum to be distributed to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.  Whew, I was really sweating over the rum tax.  Of course who can forget the Goldman Sachs new office building and luxury apartments being built in New York, at taxpayer expense, under the guise of the liberty zone 9/11 encouragement subsidies; because Heaven knows Goldman Sachs is struggling to make ends meet.  Along with the now permanent 40% estate tax, so don’t plan on leaving anything of worth to your children, because Uncle Sam wants a piece of that action too; and a rollback of the payroll tax to 6.2%.

Some wish to blame either the Red, or the Blue people for where we are now.  Well, I think that is a horribly myopic view, because we didn’t just wake up today to find our country in this predicament.  It has taken years, in fact decades, for We the People to have accumulated a $16 trillion dollar national debt, and $87 trillion in unfunded liabilities; and during those decades I can assure you that the Red and Blue have had equal contribution to those ginormous numbers, and both have had ample opportunity to attempt solutions for them as well.  In short, we are where we are thanks to a bipartisan effort – and let’s not forget that the fiscal cliff was a result of a bipartisan compromise, and now its nonsolution was bipartisan too.  Who says the two parties can’t work together?  They seem to work perfectly fine together in running our country into the ground.

Sadly though, due to a completely ambivalent, and horribly uninformed populace none of what I have written above, and through this site, really means squat.  Too few are actually aware enough, and even less actually care enough to say that they’ve had enough of the shenanigans and hold those who purport to represent us accountable to their actions.  Then there are all of those who identify as either Red or Blue, and they have pledged such an allegiance to whichever is their favorite color, that they cannot see the forest through the trees.  They choose to ignore/forget their color’s screw-ups, and point fingers at the other color whenever they can; neither of which solves anything.

I put my crayons away years ago, and harbor no illusions or delusions over where we are as a country, how we got here, and whose fault it is.  It is ALL of our fault, because those who purport to represent us, and have put us in this predicament, were elected by us, and we haven’t held them accountable in God knows how many years.  Until We the People actually begin to take a deeper, more keen interest in how OUR country is run, then none of us can, or should expect anything but what we have now.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.  (Friedrich Nietzche)

12/31/2012

Well, I’ve said it a couple of times now, and it turns out I will more than likely be right.  It does appear that our illustrious elected lords and barons will come up with an eleventh hour deal to avoid the so called fiscal cliff; or maybe a 13^th hour deal that would be retroactive to the eleventh hour . . . huzzah!

At the time of this writing there are precious few details as to what this glorious steaming piece of legislation will comprise of, but there will be taxes raised on some (all of those evil people that have more money than you or I), and then the speculation is that our glorious leaders will table spending cuts until next year.  What’s that sound you hear?  Ah, it’s nothing but our government kicking the can down the road; but hey, at least the immediate future has been taken care of with ample amounts of duct tape, bubble gum, and bailing wire . . . and there was much rejoicing!

Seriously, there was much rejoicing, especially from the White House Press Corps when our lord and savior, President Obama sauntered to the podium to announce that there was no deal, but the talks are progressing towards a spit-ball solution.  Oh, and he beat the same old tired drum about a “fair and balanced approach” to reducing the deficit and national debt.  Unfortunately we never really hear what exactly he means by “fair and balanced;” and equally unfortunate, due to the apparent love fest the press corps has for our current President, no one among them dares ask Mr. Obama for details about his “fair and balanced” approach.  They just swoon, with lovelorn eyes and applaud his every move.  It isn’t just the White House Press Corps that was all giddy; it is all of those talking heads at the huge corporate media outlets that like to call themselves news organizations.  I mean they are downright giddy . . . Yippee!

So, as our collective sphincters relax, knowing that we won’t plunge over this fiscal cliff, which those folks we elected to office created themselves, we can now go about our business of not paying attention to anything, but the new season of American Idol – knowing that absolutely nothing will have really changed . . . Whew!

However, when you and your family sits down at the dinner table tonight, take a look around the table at your children and smile in the peaceful knowledge that they will be burdened with the cancerous debt that, by the time they’re adults, would crush the shoulders of Atlas himself.  Look into their eyes and beam with the pride that your cherished offspring will more than likely not live as comfortable a life as you or your parents did.  It’s okay, with any luck you might have passed from this Earth, and on into heaven; so you won’t have to worry about anyone’s problems anymore.  I mean the future so far away, and we have become so accustomed to instant gratification, that we rarely think beyond what we want for lunch, so who gives a frog’s flying fat ass about what could happen 10, 20, 30 years down the road?  Then, when they are peacefully asleep, gaze upon their innocent faces with the satisfaction that they will be the ones who will have to make the serious and hard sacrifices that no one of yours or my generation could possibly do; because we are entitled to succeed.  Our children on the other hand?  Meh, we’ll just kick that can down the road and worry about that later . . . Cheers.

There’s a problem with kicking the can down the road . . .  (Ben Bernanke 12/12/12) 

Ben should know he’s mastered the art of kicking cans down the road.

Happy New Year.

12/28/2012

Okay, if you are tired of hearing about the “fiscal cliff” of our government’s own creation, and gun control, then have I got a treat for you.  Well, maybe not so much a treat, but maybe a bit of an eye opener as to what some in government really feel about “us” and “them.”  The “us” is of course all of us, and the “them,” is, well, those who purport to represent us – our elected officials.

Our story begins with New Hampshire, a small New England state of about 1.3 million residents.  New Hampshire is famous for the poet, Robert Frost, the  President Franklin Pierce, maple syrup, its fantastic autumnal changing of the leaves colors, oh and its state motto, “Live Free or Die,” which was coined during our country’s fight for independence.  New Hampshire has clinged to that motto for the 236 years since our country won its independence, and as such it doesn’t have a state income tax, nor does it have a state sales tax, and has the lowest taxes as a percentage of gross income of all of the continental United States.  Wow, that state must be a general hell hole if it doesn’t make use of tax payer monies to keep everything running smoothly – right?

Well, no, despite not taxing the holy beegeesus out of its residents, New Hampshire is the sixth richest state in America; and here is the kicker, even without all of those taxes New Hampshire still manages to provide those government services, like paving roads, building schools, keeping the water running, and the lights on.  Wow, ain’t that something, a place where taxes are kept deliberately low can still function and prosper, so much so that New Hampshire consistently ranks at or towards the top of America’s most livable states . . . Sounds downright mythical doesn’t it?

It is because of that state’s freedom/liberty loving spirit that it became the focus of an organization called, The Free State Project.  What is The Free State Project?  Well, I’ll let their website do the talking:

The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire. We are looking for neighborly, productive, tolerant folks from all walks of life, of all ages, creeds, and colors who agree to the political philosophy expressed in our Statement of Intent, that government exists at most to protect people’s rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish them for activities that interfere with no one else.

Now that sounds down right dastardly doesn’t it?  With the use of words like, “liberty-loving,” “neighborly,” “productive,” and heaven help us all, that oh so horrible word, “tolerant.”  Then there is the fact that they wish to include people from all walks of life, regardless of age, creeds, and colors!  I mean these people are utter monsters if they wish to include everyone in their grand design of forming a tolerant, neighborly, productive, liberty loving society; and this kind of movement most assuredly must be stopped!

Of course I am being facetious there, because to any sane human being, none of those things sound so horrible at all.  In fact they sound rather noble.  Apparently though, not everyone sees this movement that way.  Which apparently means that some people might not be so sane as to think that an all inclusive group, who wishes to be tolerant, neighborly, and productive, which also happens to share the founding principles of our country, and New Hampshire’s 236 year history of limited government, and liberty; then such a group must be a threat to New Hampshire.

Meet New Hampshire State Representative Cynthia Chase, a Democrat representing Cheshire County District 8; and she has gone on record saying that the biggest threat to the entire state of New Hampshire are the “Free Staters.”  Let’s take a look at exactly what she said, just so I cannot be accused of misquoting her, or taking her words out of context:

Finally there is this whole bit about how these Free Staters, these outsiders, are going to ruin New Hampshire, with their intent to spread such an evil ideologies as tolerance, inclusion, productivity, and liberty.  Well, guess what?  Our dear Ms. Cynthia Chase is herself an outsider, having moved to the “Live Free or Die” state in 2006, from Rhode Island.  What has she done since she’s gotten there?  Oh nothing much, other than running for office so that she can spread her ideologies; which apparently do not include tolerance, inclusion, productivity, and certainly not liberty.  In fact, thanks to FreeKeene.com; below is a list of “outsiders” who are in a position of power in New Hamshire’s state government:

• Current Governor John Lynch is from Waltham, MA
• Governor-elect Maggie Hassan is from Boston
• US Senator & former Governor Jeanne Shaheen is originally from Saint Charles, MO and moved to NH from Mississippi
• Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern (district 2) was born in California and moved to NH from DC
• Executive Councilor Debora B. Pignatelli (district 5) was born in New Jersey
• State Senator Molly Kelly (district 10) was born in Fort Wayne, IN
• State Rep. Kris Roberts (Cheshire 4) is from Evanston, WY
• State Rep. Larry Robert Philips (Cheshire 5) has “lived in New Hampshire for 32 years” without stating where he moved from
• State Rep. Timothy N. Robertson (Cheshire 6) is from Brattleboro, VT, however his family moved to Keene 76 years ago, when little Tim was 4 years old
• State Rep. Gladys Johnsen (Cheshire 7) is from San Francisco
• State Rep. Chuck Weed (Cheshire 16) is from Evanston, IL
• State Rep. Delmar Burridge (Cheshire 16) is originally from Harrisburg, PA

Moral of the story (according Cynthia Chase): transplants to NH are not welcome… unless they intend to bring big government and statism with them!

Well, I guess New Hampshire residents should sleep well knowing what Ms. Chase and the rest of her pals in the General Court plan on doing TO them now.  Live Free or Die indeed.

Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.  (Woodrow Wilson)

12/27/2012

Tick, tock goes the clock on our countdown towards plunging off the so called “fiscal cliff,” and things are heating up in Washington DC; so much so that President Obama was kind enough to cut his Christmas vacation in Hawai’i short and returned to our nation’s capital today, and Speaker of the House John Boehner is calling for members of the House of Representatives to cut short their holiday vacations and return to Washington on Sunday – a mere 30 hours until cliffmas.  Isn’t that so very nice of our illustrious leaders to cut their oh so deserved vacations short, so they can try and find a solution to a problem that they created over a year ago?  Yeah, I’m being a little facetious there, specifically about them being nice to cut their vacations short.  However I am not being facetious about them trying to solve a problem of their own creating.

That’s right, the coming cliffmas is no one’s fault but our elected aristocrats – which I guess means that it is our fault, because we elected and reelected all of these people.  First there are all of those over a decade old tax cuts that are set to expire; better known as the Bush era tax cuts.  Those tax cuts were rather controversial from the get go.  They were controversial because these cuts included all of those evil rich people, as well as us mere mortals; and everyone knows that rich people don’t deserve anything (more of me being facetious).  Those Bush era tax cuts were initially passed to help stimulate the economy out of the post Dot Com Bubble, which burst in 1999, and put our economy into a recession – as mentioned earlier they were meant to be stimulative, and to be temporary.  Don’t your remember getting your tax rebate checks in the summer of 2000?  I know I do.  Anyway, after over a decade of swearing that they would get down to business and pass some sort of tax reform that would allow these “temporary” tax cuts to expire, our shining beacons of legislation have done nothing but what they are the best in the world at; kicking the can down the road, and pointing fingers.

Then there are all of those treacherous spending cuts that will most assuredly make us all live like it were 1913, instead of 2013.  Well, these spending cuts (or sequestration as it is officially called) were again a direct result of the so called problem solving abilities of our ruling elites.  Let’s jump into Professor Peabody’s “Wayback Machine” and journey to the oh so long ago summer of 2011.  Way back then, in those dark ages, there was another crisis that was threatening to lead to our certain destruction, it was whether or not we should raise the debt ceiling (again) or face a potential default on our national debt; and much like this “Fiscal Cliff” crisis it wasn’t so much a matter of “if” as it was a matter of “when” our collective ruling brain trust would raise that debt ceiling.  So, in the eleventh hour a deal was struck to indeed raise the debt ceiling (essentially raising the limit on our collective credit card, allowing us to go further into debt) of our government, and a part of the deal was this sequestration, which calls for spending cuts to many government programs, like defense,  and Medicare.

So, our leaders have had over a decade to try and figure out how, and how much they are going to tax us; and over a year to try and figure out how and what they are going to spend all of our tax dollars…  Yet here we are staring down this “cliff” and we are again most assuredly doomed if we go over it.  Have no fear though my fellow Americans, because our fearless leaders have decided to forsake their own holiday vacations to solve the problem that they all created themselves.  I am here to tell you again, they will find another eleventh hour “solution” that will most assuredly kick the can just a little further down the road; just far enough to where most everyone will forget the origins of that next crisis and they’ll give the can another kick, again, and again, until they run out of road – and then what?

Well, that, my friends, will not be very good day, and will make that cliff, which would be but a faint memory, seem like mere gutter.  I wonder how many people (particularly our leaders) will be left scratching their heads wondering how in the hell we got there.  That is the path that we are on.  A path towards a deeper ruin, because our leaders are too chicken to actually make the hard decisions, for fear of losing their cushy jobs, and too eager to spend all of the money we send them, plus some of our children’s money, and a little more money borrowed from our friends overseas, and still more money on top of that, and still that isn’t enough to satisfy their urge to spend.  Meanwhile, us mere plebes will be taken along for a ride, whether we want to go or not, and we will be the ones who will reap what our leaders sow.  Now doesn’t that make you feel better about everything?

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
(P. J. O’Rourke)

Tim Bean

It is the Christmas season, and one of my favorite carols is the 12 Days of Christmas.  I like it because it is a fun song about the twelve things that “My true love gave to me,” over the twelve days that lead up to Christmas day.  Well, including today there are now twelve days until our country flies off the “fiscal cliff” like Thelma and Louise in their Thunderbird.  Oh how seasonally appropriate our illustrious leaders are, it is the Twelve Days of Cliffmas.

I haven’t written much about this fast approaching cliff, in fact I have only written twice before about it (here and here), partly because I look at it this way:  What we are told are the calamitous things that will lead to America’s utter ruin – higher taxes AND government spending cuts – are actually the things that needs to be done to start bringing our country’s fiscal house in order.  Notice I said “start bringing,” NOT actually bringing our fiscal house in order.  This is because the financial balance sheet of our country is so completely out of whack that even if we don’t go over this cliff there is a bottomless pit further down the road.

Would going over this cliff hurt?  More than likely it would; though temporarily.  There could be certain economic repercussions if we clutch our hands together, and drive our classic Ford Thunderbird over the edge.  Our economy might enter another recession (if we actually ever left the last one).  Government programs would be reduced, which could lead to a reduction in services to some people.  Nonetheless I still believe that if there aren’t substantive reductions in government spending, along with a marginal increase in revenue, then the fiscal cliff will be the least of our concerns – and those concerns would probably come sooner rather than later.

Nearly a third of every dollar that the government spends is put on Uncle Sam’s credit card (which is actually ALL of our credit credit).  That is to say that a third of our money spent is borrowed money.  Anyone who has ever taken out a loan of any kind, which is borrowing money, knows that that money has to be paid back, with interest; and we are piling more debt onto the existing debt; at a rate of about $4 billion per day.  Yeah, that sounds sane and sustainable – if you live in bizzaro land.

Currently 6% of our government’s budget goes towards just paying the interest on the national debt.   Not paying the debt down, but simply paying the interest on the debt.  Given that we are simply pouring more money on to our over $16 trillion in debt, I can assure you that that seemingly small 6% budgetary allocation for interest payments (which equates to $230 billion in interest only payments) will certainly grow in size.  Look at that $230 billion dollar number, and see what it is spent on.  It is essentially being flushed down the toilet because it isn’t going to anything but interest.  It isn’t being spent on anything of any substance, like repairing/updating infrastructure, or improving services, or even reducing the debt; it is simply being wasted.  Should we start to worry about that “paltry” 6% when it becomes 7, 8 9, 10% of our budget?  Maybe we should just ask Santa Claus for a $16 trillion Christmas miracle?  By the way, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that $16 trillion is over four times the size of the entire US government budget, and it would take every man, woman and child to cough up nearly $60,000 to pay it off.  Do you have your $60,000 share?  I know I’m not even close.

So, here we are 12 days and counting until fiscal “Cliffmas,” and despite all of the news outlets telling us how dire this situation is, I see it as a mere pothole compared to what lies beyond it.  However, I do believe there will be some sort of eleventh hour deal reached, just as there was when the deal was made on raising the debt ceiling in 2011. A deal which ironically comprised of all of the tax hike and budget cutting measures that we just cannot have or we will plunge off this fiscal cliff.  Ah, Washington DC.  A fanciful place where solutions equate to more problems, which then needs more solutions, which will certainly create more problems; and so on and so forth.  It is truly a fanciful place indeed, just like Santa’s Workshop.  The big difference between Santa’s Workshop and Washington DC though are the problems that arise from all of those solutions in Washington are certainly someone else’s fault; while in Santa’s Workshop everything is solved with magic and elves.

The cynic in me is very curious as to what this eleventh hour solution, err problem, um whatever, could/will be.  However, as I do live and pay taxes in this country, like a good “economic patriot,” and all of my family and friends live here too, as such I am legitimately concerned as to what the long term (may not be that long) impact of this solution/problem will have on this, my country, and my home.  I have a bigger belief in Santa Claus than I do in the government actually addressing the bigger and more threatening problems facing our country; which is the often talked about and talked to $16 trillion debt.  The thing is though talk is cheap – though it will get you reelected – actions have always spoke louder than words, sadly though, Santa is a (fictional) man of action, while a politician is a person of words.

Merry Cliffmas.

The fellow that can only see a week ahead is always the popular fellow, for he is looking with the crowd. But the one that can see years ahead, he has a telescope but he can’t make anybody believe that he has it. (Will Rogers)

Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for. (Will Rogers)

12/18/2012

I have written about this before, but since the tragedies keep on happening, I guess I will write about it again.  In July I wrote about the then recent mass shooting in Colorado during the premier of the latest Batman movie.  In that article I expressed concern, not over the use of guns, but instead what are causing these acts of horrific violence – particularly in young men that are of the so called “millennial generation.”

It is all too easy to point to the weapon as the problem, as evidenced by Bob Costas’ little halftime commentary a couple weeks ago, in response to the murder of Kasandra Perkins, and subsequent suicide of linebacker Jovan Belcher.  In his commentary Costas, while at times quoting Jason Whitlock, suggested that if there had been no gun(s) then both Ms. Perkins, and Belcher would still be alive.  Not once does the subject of mental stability get mentioned, let alone the issue of domestic violence – plus the relative dreamworld notion that Belcher wouldn’t/couldn’t have killed Ms. Perkins without a gun – as he was a 6’2” 230 lbs. in shape football player and surely could have over-powered her.

While I think there should be some sort of rational, and intelligent discussion on guns in our society, I keep on asking myself, and anyone else who cares to wonder with me, why no one even mentions the underlying; yet still 800 lbs. elephant in the room, which is that there is something seriously wrong going on in the heads of too many young twenty-somethings (mostly men) in this country that would drive them to commit such horrid actions.  I contend that these hate filled outbursts of senseless violence is more a mental health issue than it is a gun issue.  If a person is filled with such a need to kill, then even if we took away each and every gun, from all who has them, then these obviously deranged people will certainly find another way of acting on their insane urges.  In China, where guns are illegal, a man went on a stabbing rampage in a school; wounding 20 children.  In the Middle East, where guns are illegal, people strap a bomb on themselves, walk into cafés, markets, restaurants, and onto buses and then set themselves off, wounding and killing countless people.

Our politicians tell us after each incident that what we need to do is ban assault weapons; and that will do the trick.  Yet, in many of the shooting tragedies that I can remember (sadly there are too many) the weapons used were not assault weapons; they were handguns, shotguns, and regular rifles.  How would have banning assault weapons have prevented any of the past shootings?  It wouldn’t have.  A question often asked by those who propose the banning of assault weapons is, who needs these guns?  Well, quite honestly no one absolutely needs ANY gun, but they exist, and the vast majority of those who own ANY gun, including assault rifles, are law abiding citizens.  The “who needs” question can be applied to just about anything in our modern world.  Who needs a car that can go 200 mph?  Who needs a giant pick-up truck that isn’t a farmer, in construction, or lives in an extremely rural area?  Who needs to be able to access the internet anywhere they go via their smartphone?  Who needs a 64 oz. beer?  I could go on and on.  Obviously the difference is that guns are weapons, and since they have, and will be used in the taking of another person’s life, while the other stuff are just things.

All of this talk of banning though still misses what I think is the bigger, and more pressing issue, which again is the mental health of those who commit these atrocities.  We are not talking about a bunch of Richie Cunningham’s here.  These are seriously disturbed and disaffected individuals, so much so that they feel that a violent act of unspeakable terror is their only recourse.  When you come to realize that this is a mental health issue then you begin to see that the whole gun thing becomes almost irrelevant (notice I said almost); again because if a person’s mental stability is so off kilter as to drive them to a killing spree, then gun or no gun they will find some way to release their rage.

Please read this article from the Blue Review, called “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother,” about a Mother of three, where one of her sons suffers from mental instability that leads to violent outbursts and threats to her, and himself.  She tries to seek help for him, loves him, and at the same time fears him.  Sadly though, she gets little to no help from anyone in “the system,” and the Mother is told that really nothing can be done unless he somehow gets arrested . . . couldn’t/wouldn’t it by then be too late?

Be the change you want to see in the world.  (Mahatma Gandhi) 

12/12/2012

Today I read an article from the Associate Press, by the AP’s Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger about our illustrious Federal Reserve Bank.  The headline of this article is “Fed Predicts Higher Unemployment For Next 3 Years,” as I am sure many of us are thinking upon reading that headline, that that is certainly the kind of news that bolsters confidence in things getting better anytime soon – or at least for the “Next 3 Years.”

The news isn’t all bad though, because in this article it explains how the Fed expects the economy to grow; just not fast enough to improve and increase the employment opportunities of out of work people in the land of the free, and the home of the brave.  They expect, ne predict, that economic growth will hover around 3% from now until that magical year of 2015, when we apparently can all sing the old depression era smash hit, “Happy Days are Here Again,” – which was also used as FDR’s campaign song.

To many a mortal human we have been indoctrinated to the notion that the Federal Reserve is somehow capable of otherworldly powers of prescience, and omnipotence that can manipulate the economy around calamity and catastrophe.  Well, sadly, they have failed at pretty much any of that.

The Federal Reserve Banking system was created in response to a real estate collapse (sound familiar) in 1907, and Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act in December of 1913.  This “magical” independent organization was charged with maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.  Yet in less than 16 years after the establishment of this institution, and stocking it with brilliant minds, our country entered the worst depression in its history (so far); and somehow the Fed’s omnipotence and prescience failed to see it coming, and some contend failed to solve the economic malaise too (the mobilization of the WWII effort is what many contend actually ended the depression).

So, how has the Federal Reserve done with the whole “price stability” thing?  Well, when you consider that since the inception of this organization, stocked with economic wizards, that today’s almighty dollar could only buy about a nickel’s worth of pre Federal Reserve goods and services; meaning the buck has lost about 95% of its purchasing power since 1913; then I would say that the Fed has failed in price stability too.

Then there is their charge in the maintenance of moderate long-term interest rates.  Interest rates fluctuate according to market forces, and credit availability.  Prior to the creation of the Federal Reserve long-term interest rates fluctuated between 11.5% and 3.7%.  Following the Federal Reserve, and their market manipulations, long-term interest rates went from a post WWII low of 2.09% to a high of more than 14% in 1981, and today are at about 2.9%.  So, you can draw one of two conclusions from that, (1) the Fed has either had no impact on controlling or “maintaining” long-term interest rates, because they still fluctuate, or (2) the Fed has simply failed at controlling long-term interest rates; because if they had succeeded one would expect less fluctuation in those interest rates.

Now how about we look at the Federal Reserve’s mandate of maximum employment?  We should expect that, given the Fed’s magical powers, unemployment should remain relatively stable; right?  Well, let’s consider 16 years after its creation unemployment soared to about 25%.  Fell to under 3% during the 1950’s.  It spiked again to 11% in 1980/81.  Fell again just under 5% in 2000; and then spiked to just a shade under 10% in 2008; and they are predicting that unemployment rates will remain above 6% for the next three years – FYI a 5% unemployment rate is widely considered “full employment.”  When I consider all of the history behind each of those numbers (Great Depression, Post WWII boom, Oil Embargo/post-Vietnam stagflation, Dot-Com boom, Real-Estate/Credit Crunch), instead of placing them in a hermetically sealed bubble, then I would say that the Federal Reserve has failed in achieving their employment mandate too.

If you draw a trend line from 1945 to present the trend is going up

Which brings me back to this article; and I have to ask myself, given the Federal Reserve’s lack of predictive, let alone preventative measures to stave off pretty much anything and everything that they have been charged with, then how exactly am I supposed to put much stock in this, their latest prediction?  This is not to say that I believe that these are not very smart individuals, nor is it to say that I necessarily disagree with this prediction; I actually think their numbers are a bit optimistic given the financial state of our country (trillion dollar deficit spending in perpetuity, $16 trillion and ballooning debt, and when factored in with unfunded liabilities that number approaches $100 trillion; which is over 500% of our Gross Domestic Product!  GDP equals the value of all goods and services produced in a country, so think about the 500% number a little while.).  Only in government circles can a near zero success rate be considered worthy of continued credibility. The Federal Reserve and their crystal ball (more like Magic 8-ball) has failed to foresee, predict, and prevent the Great Depression, the Dot-Com Bubble, the now so called “Great Recession,” so it predictive abilities are miserable.  It, and the people that make it up (sometimes I think they quite literally make it up as they go) have about as much wizardry skills as the Great and Powerful Oz.  They are simply a bunch of people operating behind a curtain, using a bunch of smoke and mirrors to fool everyone into believing that they have these supernatural abilities over the economy.  Given their track record, and lack of any real demonstrative abilities to stave off economic problems, I’d say that we all should not put too much faith in pretty much anything that comes from its emerald palace.

Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States.  (Former Senator Barry Goldwater).

By this means [Central Banking] government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft. ( John Maynard Keynes (the father of ‘Keynesian Economics’ which our nation now endures) in his book “THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE” (1920)).

12/10/2012

One of the biggest problems libertarians have is explaining what exactly in means to be a libertarian.  There are many (too many) people that have a complete and total misunderstanding as to what it means to be a libertarian.  Well, a libertarian is one who believes in liberty; but what exactly does that mean?  We hear the word liberty, and we think we know what it means, but do we really know its meaning?    Well, below is a video that puts forth the concept of liberty in simple terms, and pictures.  While it is far from the supreme definitive explanation, and by no means encompasses the entirety of what libertarians are and believe, I think it is a good primer:

Obviously I do believe in the concept of self ownership, personal responsibility, and conducting oneself in a moral, non-forceful manner towards others.  What I do find perplexing is that there are those who either don’t believe in any of those things, or believe in each in a conditional manner; which really becomes quite extraordinary when you consider that by hedging, or putting conditions on any and all of those things, particularly the self ownership, then those who wish to hedge and make them conditional are essentially saying that they themselves do not have full ownership of their life, and body – let alone to anything else.  Essentially they are saying that someone else is entitled to dictate some amount of control over their lives and bodies, as well as everyone elses.  To me, that is really quite a sad and pointless existence to live, if the vessel of that existence (your body) is subject to the whims and control (force) of another, or others.  To put it simply, and bluntly, to live such an existence is to live in slavery.

The other thing that the above video illustrates is the importance of volunteerism, and its converse, coercion, or force.  Again, there are many people who cannot wrap their heads around that notion, that certain, many, if not all, acts performed should be conducted in a voluntary fashion.  One of the arguments  made by those who are skeptical of volunteerism is that people are inherently bad, and as such we need a government made up of people to ensure that people behave and act good.  Does anyone see the obvious failure in logic in that statement?  People are bad, so we need a group of people to make and do good … umm, okay, so the grouping of people somehow makes them good?  Yeah, I don’t think anyone can logically solve that statement – though I am willing to listen to those who wish to try.  Personally, I believe that the majority of individual people are good, not bad.  Philosophers have long tried to answer the question of whether or not we are born good or bad; so I guess that is up to personal beliefs.  Regardless though, if you think people are inherently bad, then I doubt putting a group of people in charge of others makes that group less bad than the individual; and using my belief of people being good, I don’t think that putting a group of people in charge of others makes them more good.

That brings me to the morality that comes with the no force, or non-aggression principle that libertarians subscribe to; and is illustrated in the above video too.  Libertarianism; a real liberal, in the classical sense, does not wish, nor do they believe in forcing another individual or group of individuals into obeying their wishes, taking of their property, subjugating their lives, or doing them any harm whatsoever. I think the vast majority (I hope) of people realize that murder is wrong, rape is wrong, theft is wrong, assault is wrong, and so on, and so forth.  Why?  Because each is an act of force against another persons property (remember you own your body and your life, so that is your property).

So that video is what liberty means in a nutshell; and I would hope that once more and more people come to the realization as to what it means, then maybe they will come to realize that currently each and everyone of us don’t have as much liberty as we might think we have; and the amount we do have is continuing to be diminished.

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people … They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.  (Thomas Jefferson).

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.  (W.E.B. Du Bois)

Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.  (Frederick Douglass)

12/5/2012

Below is another letter from former Libertarian Party Presidential candidate, Gov. Gary Johnson, sharing more of his thoughts on the continued stalemate in Washington DC over the impending “financial cliff,” that we are told will certainly spell utter doom for our country:

Friends,

Have you been watching the insanity in Washington about the so-called Fiscal Cliff?

If so, you are seeing the same thing I am:  It is all a concoction by the status quo politicians to distract us from the REAL cliff we are headed for.

To listen to the politicians in both parties, you would believe this is all about taxes.  Somehow, the nation is approaching financial calamity because the government isn’t getting enough of our money.  And the two “sides” have managed to create the illusion that the debate is over how to best increase “revenues”.  (In Washington, of course, increasing revenue means turning more of our dollars into THEIR dollars.)

Here is how the charade is playing out:  President Obama is demanding that the so-called Bush tax cuts be allowed to expire for what he calls the wealthy to produce $800 billion in more “revenue” for the government.  In what only a politician could call a negotiation, the Republican Speaker of the House has countered with an offer to – you guessed it – raise revenues (taxes) by $800 billion.

If this wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.

The only difference between the two “sides” is what they want to call their plan for the government to suck almost another trillion dollars out of the private economy to finance their wars, their take-over of our health care, and the never-ending erosions of our freedom.

Obama wants to call this money-grab a “rate increase” for the wealthy.  Speaker Boehner wants to call it “closing loopholes”.  I’m not seeing the difference.  The money all ends up coming from the same place.  Ask a school teacher or a construction worker how many “loopholes” they used last year to reduce their tax bill.

So why are the grown men and women in Washington playing this ridiculous parlor game?  It’s simple. They don’t want to talk about the real problem: Government is too big and does too much – and therefore spends too much.  And they certainly don’t want to talk about REAL tax reform, such as scrapping the income tax altogether and replacing it with a consumption tax.  Without their spending and their loopholes and complex rates, the politicians would lose the opportunity to pass out favors to their friends – and that is not something they want to give up, even at the cost of destroying the economy.

Right now, we need to be demanding that the politicians stop the games and deal with the real issues:  Deficit spending as far as the eye can see and a debt that is already more than $16 trillion.  The claim by Obama – and bought into by the Republicans – that we can’t balance the federal budget without raising taxes is nonsense.  Stop the wars, have a serious debate about Medicare and other entitlements,  stop sending borrowed dollars to other countries, and spending can absolutely be brought into line with revenues – without raising taxes on anybody, rich or poor.

Restoring Liberty as a cornerstone of America starts with making government smaller.  And making government smaller starts with drawing a line and stopping the politicians from taking more of our money.  More money for them means more government imposed on us.

There is a lot of sense in Gov. Johnson’s words; unfortunately though pretty much all of our friends in the media are telling us that somehow there is a major difference between both the GOP plan and the Dem’s plan.  Sure, sure, there are differences, but as Johnson’s letter alludes to, the differences lay in how the government can get more money through taxes, and what parts of the federal budget (BTW we haven’t had one in four years; which is the reason this “cliff” is looming) sees spending cuts (if any).

Apparently both sides agree that $800 billion in new revenue (taxes, aka, YOUR money) is the magic number; however when you look at the projected size of 2013 federal expenditures of 6.4 trillion dollars, that $800 billion really doesn’t amount to much now does it?

This isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be some sort of discussion on taxes; particularly tax reform; in this country.  The 2012 U.S. tax code is a complete and total convoluted mess, comprising of 73,608 pages.  Let that number sink in for a minute, and then consider that the longest novel is the 7 volume tome, entitled “In Search of Lost Time,” by Marcel Proust, has “only” 4,211 pages; The 1985 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica had roughly 17,000 pages; Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary has 2,662 pages; and the first three volumes of Edward Gibbon’s seminal classic, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” has 3,475 pages, and there are another three volumes to Mr. Gibbon’s study of the decline of an entire civilization!  So, yes, the U.S. tax code could use some sort of reform; if not being scrapped altogether in favor of something simpler, such as the Fair Tax.  Sadly though government rarely, if ever, does anything simple.

As Gov. Johnson again alludes to in the above letter, our government doesn’t so much have a revenue problem, as it has a spending problem.  The problem is that our illustrious elected aristocracy cannot seem to do the simple math required of equating income with expenses.  Hey, I get it, I’m no math wiz myself, but I do know that if I receive two dollars, I cannot then subsequently spend three dollars.  The biggest elephants (and donkeys) in the room though are the things that neither the GOP nor the Dems care to touch, for fear of getting absolutely blasted by supporters and detractors alike.  Those things are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Federal Employee Pensions, Veteran’s Administration programs, Defense Spending, The Federal Department of Education, Unemployment Compensation, Food Stamps, agricultural assistance, and so on and so forth.  Granted, maybe not all of the above listed sacred federal cows absolutely, positively need reforms or spending cuts now; but some of them do.

When you consider though that Medicare is on track to go broke as soon as 2016 (as late as 2024 under some plans), Social Security is expected to be broke by 2037, and that both of those account for roughly 25% of federal spending, it is no wonder why people my age group and younger have little to no hope of ever receiving ANY of the monies (taxes) they have paid into these programs throughout their working lives.  Yet, despite this very public knowledge that these sacred cows are doomed, our brilliant minds in Washington DC are scared to death to actually do anything that either saves, or ends these programs (because it will cost them their cushy seats of power).

The fiscal cliff will not spell certain doom for our country.  If some sort of a compromise on who to tax, and how much to continue spending (above and beyond tax receipts) isn’t reached will our economy falter; and slip back into recession?  Perhaps, though it could be argued that we never really came out of recession to begin with.  I think the better question is, if a compromise is reached on who to tax, and how much to spend above and beyond tax receipts is reached; can we expect the economy to take off like a scolded dog?  Um, no, I really don’t think so; because such a compromise does nothing to address the bigger issues of deficit spending, and cascading debt.  A compromise simply continues business as usual in our government.  Should we simply do nothing then?  Well, if doing “something” solves nothing, then was it worth it?  I honestly think all of the consternation over the fiscal cliff is almost laughable, when it is compared to the bigger picture of our country going/being broke.  It is laughable to hear these politicians saying the only way to save the economy is to basically continue spending more, but to compensate for that, to then take more money from the people – yes an income tax is taking, because I can promise you that you didn’t just give it to the government, they took it, before you could get your grubby little hands on the fruits of your labors.

No, we actually do need to shrink the size and scope of government, if we actually wish it to remain prosperous, and solvent.  Sadly though I really don’t believe that will ever happen, because (1) the nature of bureaucracies is to ever expand, like a cancerous tumor; (2) because to shrink the government would mean curtailing spending on the sacred cows, which would literally piss a lot of people off; and (3) too few people out there actually seem to care about it.  So, yay us!  I suggest we all clench hands like Thelma and Louise and enjoy the ride as Uncle Sam dons his Evel Knievel cape; jump’s the fiscal cliff, only to plunge us into the fiscal Snake RiverCanyon.

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.
(Ron Paul)