Saturday, May 29, 2010

Legalize Pot Now!


If you've read any of my posts, you've probably figured out that I think Obama and all his plans for American are a problem. Now I'm switching gears on this blog and I'm going to start discussing solutions to some of our problems. The first thing I want to talk about is legalizing marijuana. It should be done immediately in my opinion.
If pot were legalized, think of the problems it would cure. First of all, all the drug wars over pot would immediately cease. If the government regulated and taxed it, much as hard liquor already is, then it would be legal if bought in sanctioned stores and illegal everywhere else, much like bootleg liquor. This would lead to a situation where nobody would buy from the cartels anymore, and a huge source of their income would immediately dry up. So you would take a huge bite out of crime, and you would have a taxable commodity which could also be controlled more readily, since presumably people would have to be 21 to buy it. That's not to say kids would never get their hands on it, but this setup would greatly reduce that possibility. So control is a big argument for legalizing pot, but the taxation factor may be even bigger.
In our cash-strapped times, states are looking for any way possible to raise revenue. However, most traditional sources are getting tapped out--there are only so many taxes you can make up to hit the rich with, and sooner or later you'll destroy the wealthy class (maybe that's Obama's plan!). Once that happens, then who's going to pay for all the programs? But with the legalization of marijuana, states would have a new huge revenue stream. So, by legalizing pot, we would solve several big problems our country is facing. We would immediately put a huge hit on the drug cartels and virtually eliminate a whole class of crime. Our jails would then be less full because they wouldn't have to have pot users in them, and they could be used to rehabilitate and incarcerate real criminals. Lastly, we would have a huge new revenue stream to help with eliminating our deficits at the state and county levels.
Pot is also a drug which does little damage. It doesn't make people violent. It doesn't make people steal. It doesn't wreck livers and kidneys. It makes people mellow, and in our tightly wound society, where it seems that many people are living right on the edge and are ready to snap at any moment, that might be the best thing of all.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

A Warning From Orwell



Many people are, of course, familiar with George Orwell's 1984 and the warning he was sending about government becoming all powerful. Many people are less familiar with the fact that Orwell's other famous book, Animal Farm, was also a warning. It was a warning about communism under Joseph Stalin and what he was building in Russia. The story is about a group of animals that take over a farm and attempt to rebuild it in their utopian vision. The pigs are in charge of these efforts and are also the beneficiaries of the fruits of society's labor. For instance, when the hungry animals find apples which have fallen from a tree, and when they are wondering what to do with the milk from the cows, the head pig, Napoleon, steps forward and claims the milk and apples for the pigs, on the grounds that their mental powers are needed to run the farm.
Throughout the book, Napoleon clings to power by warning the other animals that if they don't do what they are told, Jones (the former owner of the farm who treated the animals cruelly) might come back. As time moves forward in the book, Napoleon changes from being an elected leader to being a dictator. He rules by fiat, and slaughters anyone who disagrees with him or gets in his way. Even loyal and noble Boxer, who represents the working class, is killed by Napoleon in the end, and the money received from selling his body to the knacker goes to buy whiskey for the pigs.
Now let's look at what is going on under President Obama. The size of the federal government is exploding. Congress is passing laws from which they themselves are exempt. People are getting poorer and yet the government comes out with statistics almost daily to tell us that the recession has ended. Anyone really believe that? The party in charge has rammed legislation down the throats of the American people which will cost over a trillion dollars. Yet what does Obama do at every turn? Blames Bush! Like Napoleon in Animal Farm who always warned the other animals what would happen if Jones came back, Obama is using the former president as a symbol. You don't want the problems back which happened under George Bush, do you? The point is that Obama and his policies, and the "rulers" in Congress are starting to act like the pigs in Animal Farm. Maybe Orwell wasn't just warning the world about Stalin. Maybe he was warning the world about all who would create "utopias" based on collective thought and action.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Lies and Deception?



It came out the other day that the health bill actually has $115 BILLION more in discretionary spending in it than what the CBO estimated before the bill passed just a month ago. While I think it is probably more desirable that we the people should actually have this knowledge when debating a bill, it should probably be considered necessary that the people in Congress have this information. Beyond all that, though, is a far larger problem in my mind. That is the fact that it appears that this administration, and yes, this president, will lie and shade the truth over and over again to get its programs passed. Okay, I realize I can't just say that without giving examples. So, here are some examples:

We will close Gitmo within one year.
Status: Gitmo currently remains open, mainly because nobody thought about what we'd do with the people there. Nobody wants them, and now we're even having an argument about where to try them.

We will pay for health care with $500 Billion dollars in fraud and waste in the Medicare system.
Status: Even if health care hadn't passed, shouldn't we be rooting out a half trillion dollars of fraud and waste? If this was recognized early on, shouldn't we have done something right away? There has been no effort whatsoever to root out a half trillion dollars in "waste and fraud".

I will reach across the aisle to work with the opposition.
Status: A token gesture was made during the health care debate, but it was obvious that it amounted to a photo op, as the mantra seemed to be, "My way or the highway." Listen to today's rhetoric: It is the Republicans' fault, they drove this economy into a ditch. We're not giving back the keys," etc., etc.

We have been on this (oil spill) since day one.
Status: This is blatantly false, as articles in several papers have pointed out.

I never had contact with Governor Blagojevich.
Status: There are literally dozens of pictures of the two in numerous different places and circumstances.

I wasn't there when Reverend Wright spoke of these things:
Status: So the president went to the same church for twenty years and never once heard Wright's vitriolic message? Does anyone really believe this?

I will accept federal campaign money and spending limits.
Status: After John McCain gave his word that he would too, then candidate Obama reneged on his promise and went on to garner almost 3/4 of a billion dollars in campaign contributions. He was also the #1 recipient of money from BP, a company whose oil rigs were then passed over for environmental inspection by the Obama administration. Hmmm...why is nobody investigating this?

And this one today: After announcing steep cuts in the New York City federal terrorism budget, Obama today announced to the city police and firefighters (as reported by CBS reporter Hazel Sanchez), "And we want to make sure that we continue to work with you to get the resources that are needed for you to continue to be effective." In other words, he is talking our of both sides of his mouth once again. This kind of double talk has become commonplace with this president.

I could literally sit here and type for hours with all the lies that have been told by this administration. All administrations tend to fudge the truth sometimes, but when it is done so blatantly and with such little regard for what already might be out there on YouTube or elsewhere, it really shows the disdain with which this administration and this president truly hold the people.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Obama as a dictator?



There have been some remarkable things done and said by President Obama since he's been in office. It's almost as if he wishes he was dictator of this great nation. Remember when he wished he could just order the banks to do what he wanted? How about his demagoguery concerning the financial sector and its pay? Then there's the time he fired the head of a private company, General Motors. Oh, yeah, that's after he nationalized it, um, I mean, after he bailed it out. How do you think the man he fired felt after devoting his life to that company? Lately, he's made the remark that he is going to "keep his boot on the throat of BP." Hmmm. What image comes to mind when you think of someone putting their boot on someone else's throat? Do you think he said that phrase by accident? He parses everything else carefully. So, anyway, I've been thinking about it, and I've realized there is a reason for all this. He's trying to channel a famous person from the past. Seriously! View the pictures connected to this post, and see if they don't bear a resemblance to each other.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Arizona Immigration Law--An Idea Whose Time Has Come!



Okay, I can't take it anymore. Every time I access a web page or turn on the TV, somebody from the left is talking about how "misguided" and "wrong" the new Arizona law on immigration is. Arizona's governor and legislature even backtracked a little and within two days passed a "fix" which makes it a crime to profile. I've seen the signs being held by the protesters calling the law "unfair" and "racist". I think the law is a great idea, for what has been going on is unprecedented in the history of the world. Never has any nation allowed what really is an invasion of their country and survived. We won't survive either unless we do something. Arizona, a state on the front lines of this problem, is trying to do something.
We have, by most conservative estimates, approximately twelve million illegal aliens here in this country. Yes, that's right, twelve million. It's probably more than that, but hey, who's counting? They don't pay taxes because they aren't about to file tax returns--the government would catch them here and send them back. Most get paid in cash by employers who, through their own greed and need for cheap labor, turn a blind eye to their status, and therefore become complicit in this illegal activity. However, they do use the services that all the rest of us taxpayers pay for. They drive on our roads, they attend our schools, which are hamstrung by the fact that they can't ask people their immigration status (is that crazy or what?!), and they suck up services such as free and reduced lunches. If that was the only problem, I feel we could deal with that. However, there is also a very high incidence of crime associated with people here illegally. In my opinion, the main problem is just that--they are here illegally--they have broken the law while hundreds of thousands if not millions of others wait in line like they're supposed to.
It is the federal government's responsibility, as we have heard many times since this story broke, to police this problem. What's wrong with this notion is that the federal government hasn't done that. Pat Buchanan wrote a brilliant op/ed piece on this very issue for World Net Daily. You can read it at:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=146341

So, because the federal government wasn't doing anything, Arizona decided it would. And what is it they have done? They have given the police the power to check when they suspect they are dealing with someone here illegally. How is this racist? How is this wrong? Don't we allow the police the power to check anytime a crime is suspected? Remember, these people are here illegally. A person who is here legally might be checked, as are people who are not guilty of a crime are all the time. That's part of investigating crimes. That person will then be let go. How is it wrong? Is it now wrong to enforce the laws of the United States of America? Is it wrong to want the millions here illegally, who take jobs from those here legally and who use services they don't pay for, to leave and, if they want to return, to wait in line like everyone else? Is it wrong to try to stop the invasion which is happening and to try to protect the safety and security of our great country? I hope it isn't, but to some people you would think so.
This goes back to what I've said before. The Democrats want the votes these people represent. They want to make them legal. They are willing to sacrifice the security of this nation for political gain. I don't say just stop the invasion. I say close the borders, put the military down there if necessary, and send back all those who have broken the law back where they came from. I've heard the argument that these people do the nasty jobs others won't do, but I think that is an invalid argument. There are either Americans here willing to do that, or LEGAL immigrants waiting to get in who will work those positions. The Arizona bill isn't racist, and it isn't anti-Hispanic. It is anti-lawbreaker, however. I just wish that our federal government would get serious about this problem. Then we wouldn't need states like Arizona to assume the mantle of protecting this country, although so far I'm glad they have. Or maybe the left is correct and we should leave the people in these pictures alone. They're not doing anything wrong...

Fixing Congress


Yesterday, when I was discussing changes we need to make in our energy policies, I finished my post with the following:

To accomplish any of this, we must first make our lawmakers immune to the power of the lobbyists and the intoxicating effects of big money. How do we do this? This is fodder for another post, which I will write tomorrow, May 3rd.

So, how do we make our lawmakers immune from this type of corruption? Because that's what it is...corruption. Corruption usually denotes some sort of illegal activity, but one of the dictionary's definitions of the word is a "perversion of intergrity". This is what is happening here. Lawmakers are so scared of not being re-elected (and giving up their comfortable lifestyles) that they will do anything to get money for their next campaign. Since the House of Representatives stands for election every two years, the whole thing has become one constant campaign and search for money. Under these conditions, many lawmakers have crawled into bed with those forces which can provide them with the money they need to run successfully. My solution is simple. Term limits.
Now, we've heard this one before, but it's a hard ideas to implement. The Congress certainly isn't going to vote for this--they've got it too easy. They're the rulers, and they get to exempt themselves from every onerous burden they place on the citizens. Voluntary term limits don't work either--we've already been that route, and those Congressmen who once ran on term limits platforms have sadly changed their tunes. Now the mantra is that they can do so much more for their constituents from their office. The other thing I hear, especially concerning long serving Congressmen, is that they can direct money to their district more efficiently because the longer they're there, the more power they have. This is EXACTLY what we don't need happening. You multiply the billions of dollars getting directed here and there by the 535 members and soon you're talking about real money. This money doesn't materialize magically from the air. It is the taxpayer's money.
No, the people must demand term limits. If Congressmen won't limit themselves, the people must limit them. We must create a national environment where the lawmakers would realize that if they don't vote for term limits then they will be voted out. If a Congressman doesn't have to worry about being re-elected, then maybe he or she will do what is right instead of what is self-serving. They could then make those hard choices to cut programs without worrying about their re-election opponent accusing them of killing old people and children. For the one most important thing the Congress needs to do is get spending under control. If we don't stop the huge deficit spending, we are doomed as a nation. My recommendation would be four terms for a Representative, or eight years, and two terms as a Senator, or twelve years. If a Representative has finished his or her eight years, they could then run for the Senate. The most anyone could serve, then, would be twenty years, assuming they could get elected to the Senate. When I see people serving thirty, forty, fifty, or more years, I say to myself, "This is ridiculous." If we install term limits, Congress would be able to do the right thing without fear of not being re-elected, and we would have a constant turnover of fresh faces, all coming to Washington to do the right thing, kind of like Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". Wouldn't that be nice?

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Some Solutions To Our Problems


As the character in the movie "Night Shift", played by Michael Keaton says, "I'm an idea man." So, too, am I. I think of all the problems facing America, and I don't see hopelessness. I see possibilities to stop the madness which has been created and redirect our energies into policies which will truly make a difference. Our problems are many, so I can't spell out all the solutions in one blog post. So, I will tackle our problems one by one, which is the purpose for creating this blog in the first place.
With this in mind, today I want to talk about solutions for energy. Think about our planet and the resources which it contains. The vast majority of the oil on the planet is controlled by nations which, at their core, hate us. Oh, the Saudis pretend to be our friends, but only because we enrich them by buying our oil from them. In reality, they look on us as a decadent, lazy nation with no morals or values except worship of the dollar. The problem is that our entire economy is based on hydrocarbon energy, and the automobile is essential in our society. What, then, to do?
First of all, I think that the only energy sources which make sense are ones that don't cost us anything. Solar power, wind power, geothermal, and hydroelectric power are all given to us by nature. We should be working with the fervor of a Manhattan Project on perfecting efficient solar cells. Electric cars should be coated with solar materials, or perhaps some engaging entrepeneur will invent a paint product which contains solar power capability. Electric cars shouldn't need to plug in to re-charge, they should only need to be parked in daylight.
Obviously, this kind of technology is a ways away, but perhaps not so far away as we might think. For sure, the big energy companies are not going to like this type of paradigm shift and will throw up whatever obstacles they can to stop it. Why? Because they can't sell sunlight, that's why!
Since this type of technology is a few years in the future, we need to use technologies we control for our short term energy needs. We need wind turbines powering our homes and neighborhoods. We need clean coal for our electrical needs which can't be met by wind and hydro power. We have the filtering and scrubbing technology to make this possible. We need to convert our automobiles to natural gas and wean ourselves from foreign oil. This is something which could be done relatively simply and with minimal cost. We need to get most over the road trucks off of our highways and start to haul freight with trains. We could create hubs where local trucks would come and pick up the trailers carried to the hub by a train, and the trucks would then deliver the goods. Having large rigs driving hundreds of thousands of miles per year, especially when they are dead-heading, is inefficiency at its worst. Changing the way we do things would eliminate jobs in certain industries, such as oil transportation and storage, but it would add jobs in other industries, such as those which would create our natural gas infrastructure.
To accomplish any of this, we must first make our lawmakers immune to the power of the lobbyists and the intoxicating effects of big money. How do we do this? This is fodder for another post, which I will write tomorrow, May 3rd.

Liberal Policies Have Wrecked America



I look at the history of this country for the last forty-five years or so and can't help but become disheartened. Liberal policies have wrecked the America I once knew. The worst part is that most of these policies have been implemented under the guise of fairness and equity, when the real purpose has been to keep those who write the rules in power. Take for instance, our debt. Yes, our debt has been created by both parties, but I would argue that the great portion of it, despite liberal rhetoric, is the fault of liberals. Liberals created welfare. Liberals created Social Security. Liberals created a host of government programs that take money from people who earn it and give it to people who, for the most part, waste it. Liberals controlled the congress for most of the past forty-five years, except for a slight Republican Senate majority for a couple of years under Reagan, and a few years when Bill Clinton was president. Oh yeah, that also happened to be a time period when we actually ran some yearly surpluses. Congress controls the purse strings, remember, and it wasn't until Republicans got control (for a short time) that we were able to run a surplus. However, the left then told all those on the dole that Republicans were taking away their welfare and other goodies, and voila!--they were voted back into power. Of course, Republicans didn't help themselves by trying to act like faux Democrats.
Forty-five years ago we were the greatest creditor nation on Earth. Now we are the greatest debtor nation on Earth, and if Obama's policies continue to be implemented by a Democrat-controlled Congress, our nation will crumble under the load of an aggregate debt which will exceed 20 Trillion dollars by the year 2020. Debt service alone will be in excess of nine hundred billion dollars a year, and that doesn't even include touching the principle.
So, what have we gotten for the trillions and trillions of dollars we have given to the poor of America? A sub-class that has become dependent on government handouts for its existence. A whole generation of people who don't have to work; all they have to do is wait for Friday and the "paycheck" that comes on that day. We have a system now, once again thanks to the liberals, which rewards single mothers and penalizes married couples. Why not have more babies, if each one means you get more money? Who cares about them anyway? It's the check that matters. We have farm subsidies on which we spend billions, a Department of Education which has presided over the collapse of our once envied education system, an IRS which has become a many-tentacled hydra reaching into all facets of our lives, (and which is in the process of adding an additional sixteen thousand additional agents to enforce our newest liberal entitlement program--also known as "Obamacare"). Does anyone but me wonder why we need a Commerce Department, or at least wonder why we need one as big as we have?
Now the liberal establishment wants to cram "Cap and Trade" down the collective throat of the American taxpayer. This will cost over a trillion dollars and, in my opinion, is the height of hubris. We think we can change the world's climate by enacting a few economy-wrecking rules? We're not even sure if global warming is caused by man. The total amount of pollutants released by industrialized man pales in comparison to what the volcanoes do to our climate. If man has caused global warming, why was it much warmer on Earth in the 1100's? Why have we had at least six ice ages and six meltings that we know of in the last 150,000 years? The global warming alarmists base their cries for action on temperature graphs not much more than 100 years old, yet the Earth has been here for four billion. We need to stop the liberals in their tracks. Now. Before they destroy the United States any further.