Stop Promising the World!

I read the news every morning and sometimes get depressed, sometimes angry, and sometimes there are stories that actually make me feel good, although they are rare.  Sometimes, though, for some reason, a story makes me indignant.  Today's news falls into this category.  Today Hillary Clinton proposed, if she is elected president, a $350 BILLION dollar program to relieve college loan debt and to make loans themselves more affordable.  First of all, I think it's fairly apparent that this is yet another scheme by a pandering politician to get votes using my (and your) tax money.  This has been going on for years and, while Republicans do it too (George Bush's drug program for seniors comes to mind), Democrats are masters at it.  When he signed legislation creating Welfare, LBJ is rumored to have said, "That will keep the n*****s voting Democrat for 200 years."  Since then we've added all kinds of things such as food stamps and "Obama" phones and Medicaid and Social Security Disability to keep people voting Democrat.  Don't get me wrong.  There are plenty of people who are truly in need and for whom these programs are a lifeline.  However, everyone knows that these programs are rife with fraud and abuse.  Mr. Obama himself said he'd pay for much of "Obamacare" with "$500 billion in fraud and waste from Medicare."  Once Obamacare got enacted, however, we didn't see much work on the huge waste problem in Medicare.
At any rate, so I start reading online news today and I see this story about Hillary and the $350 BILLION she's going to spend to help out people who have student loans, which is a lot of people and which could equate to a lot of votes, because that's what Democrats do as well--they're experts at demagoguing these types of issues.  Now all she has to do is go up against a Republican who says they want to balance the budget and that we can't afford these types of expensive programs, and she will portray it as Republicans are against helping students in general.  Any time there is talk of budget cutting all the Democrats have to do is say, "See, they will cut off your check," and they get votes. 
I'm tired of it.  I want a president who will be serious about balancing the budget.  I don't want a president who will pander for votes using my tax money.  I want to start paying down our national debt.  We can do it; I've talked about how in many of my other posts.  But before we can do that, we've got to stop promising billions in taxpayer and borrowed dollars for programs designed to win votes.

Follow The Money (Or Try To)

An IG report released yesterday discloses the fact that during the tenure of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, $6 billion dollars went missing.  As the report states:  “The failure to maintain contract files adequately creates significant financial risk and demonstrates a lack of internal control over the Department’s contract actions.”

 While I understand that Mrs. Clinton was not personally involved in every contract, nonetheless she was in charge of the department during this period, and the blame must ultimately fall on her.  A larger issue, in my mind, is that if we can just lose this kind of money, then government is way too big.  Those who constantly refuse to cut anything in government use the argument that poor people or children will be hurt, yet there is fraud, waste and mismanagement throughout the whole government.  See my post on balancing the budget.  We're spending almost $4 Trillion per year, and I truly believe, based on all the reading I do, that there is at least 15% waste and fat in that figure.  This alone would trim almost $600 billion from our spending.
Going back to the IG report about State, it continues by stating that the situation “creates conditions conducive to fraud, as corrupt individuals may attempt to conceal evidence of illicit behavior by omitting key documents from the contract file.”  So it is being implied here that the missing money might be missing not by mistake, but by design.  Mrs. Clinton has been asked about this and has no idea where the money went. 
Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States.  Her resume now includes a lot of missing money and the fiasco that is Benghazi.  When asked about that episode, during which two diplomats and two true heroes were murdered, her answer was (to paraphrase), "Oh, what the heck does it matter now anyway?"  Mrs. Clinton, at a women's forum on April 3rd, when asked about some of her successes while Secretary of State, could not provide any.  In fact, here is her answer:  “Well, I really see — that was good — that’s why he wins prizes. Look, I really see my role as Secretary, in fact leadership in general in a democracy, as a relay race. When you run the best race you can run, you hand off the baton. Some of what hasn’t been finished may go on to be finished, so when President Obama asked me to be Secretary of State I agreed.”  To that answer I can only say, "Huh?"
The United States is much bigger than just the State Department.  Yet I feel it's clear that not only have billions gone missing, but Mrs. Clinton herself can't name anything of note she's accomplished.  I certainly can't think of anything, although I can name several places that are now imploding that were relatively stable before the Obama presidency.  Egypt and Libya come to mind for starters.  In fact, I can't think of anything Mrs. Clinton did as a senator either.  So this leaves me with two questions.  First, why does anyone think Mrs. Clinton is ready to be president?  Second, where are the missing billions?

Illegal "Americans"?

Yesterday, Vice-President Joe Biden went on record as saying that the people in this country here illegally are already "Americans".  I'm sorry, but words have meanings.  In the United States the word "American" denotes somebody who is an American citizen.  The people here illegally aren't "Americans".  They are lawbreakers.  This same man and his party want to make eleven million people (minimum--it would be much higher when you factor in relatives who will become citizens by dint of family connections) legal, ostensibly so they can work and pay taxes.  However, anyone who's been watching and who has half a brain knows the real reason they want to make these illegal people legal is so their party will have eleven million or more new voters, thereby guaranteeing that their party will stay in power in perpetuity.

First of all, I have no problem with people who want to immigrate to America.  I say to those who dream of freedom and who are doing it legally, "Welcome!  I hope you find the freedom and opportunity you seek."  My ancestors were immigrants.  They came, they worked hard, and eventually made it possible for me to be born here and be a free man (although governmental power is challenging that freedom).  What I do have a problem with, however, is wanting to reward those here legally with the big prize--citizenship.  What could be a worse possible message--to make the first act creating a new citizen one which disregards the very law upon which this country is built?  So I say this.  Anyone here illegally needs to leave or be shown out the "door" and then they can get back in line.  We need to seal our borders.  Thousands are coming here each month--it is an actual invasion and it threatens our national security.  All those soldiers coming back from he Middle East with poor employment prospects could stay in the military and be used to secure the country. 
The last point I'd like to make is this.  The president and vice-president swear oaths to uphold the laws of the United States of America.  To give a speech saying that people who are here illegally are technically Americans is to make light of the very laws those people break.  This vice president needs to apologize to the American people and he and his boss need to get back to work securing the borders, ridding this country of those here illegally (perhaps creating employment opportunities for the millions out of work), and instead of issuing ludicrous rhetorical statements, begin to use the bully pulpit to do what they are supposed to--uphold the laws of this country.

Regulation, regulation, regulaton

I read today that the newest thing the Obama administration is getting ready to regulate is cow flatulence.  I'm not making this up.  There are all kinds of other things going on in the world such as Crimea, possible trade wars (including, most recently, India's violation of several trade agreements by requiring 50% of all their solar panel production be locally sourced), starvation, wars in Sudan, the ascension of those that hate us in Egypt and Libya (see Muslim Brotherhood), and the carnage in Syria, to name a few.  Here, we still have record numbers of people on long term unemployment, close to record numbers of people who are not counted in the unemployment numbers because they've left the work force (work force participation rate), hunger--we have record numbers of people on food stamps, problems in the military (22 soldiers per day are committing suicide) and so forth and so on.  Yet this administration finds it necessary to worry about cows farting?  So at first I said to myself, "Are you kidding me?"
After thinking about if for a while, however, I realized it has nothing to do with cows farting.  It has to do with control.  This administration seeks total control over the entire economy, and total control over people's lives.  The ACA (Obamacare) runs to about 2600 pages.  However, that is nothing compared to the regulations which have been written to enforce and tweak it.  We're now at about 60,000 pages and counting.  The administration recently issued new regulations, through the EPA, regulating coal fired plants' emissions.  Never mind that this will make energy prices skyrocket and put thousands of Americans out of work.  Never mind that China is putting a thousand coal burning plants on line per month.  This administration has written regulations on virtually everything under the sun, and I've become convinced that the purpose is to slowly but surely attain control over, well, everything in America.
America is a grand experiment.  Never before, with the possible exception of ancient Greece, has a democracy such as ours flourished.  I understand the need to have rules, for there are dishonest and greedy people who don't care about the quality of our air and water as long as they can make a buck.  But the regulation of our society down to the littlest detail has resulted in a world where we literally can't do anything without being affected in some way by government regulation.  The problem with regulations is that they never move towards more freedom.  They are always written to exert more government control over whatever it is that's being regulated.  So we have Obamacare.  This law, in one fell swoop, gave control over a sector of our economy worth about 1/7 of our GDP to the government!  Talk about a power grab!  Now, with the regulations written about coal fired powered power plants Obama has fulfilled his promise from 2008 when he said that anyone can open a coal fired power plant, but it will go bankrupt.  In the guise of saving the world from global warming, the president wants to regulate cow flatulence.  You see, cow's anal gas contains methane, which is a greenhouse gas.  In my opinion, however, this is just a further salvo in the battle by the state for control of the country.  They have health care.  They have regulated themselves into control of the energy sector of the economy, and now they're going after agriculture.  Combine that with a spy program that knows what people are doing every second of the day, and you can see that the government has slowly become too powerful.
America's democracy is at stake.  The land that is by the people and for the people has become the land of those that govern and those that are governed.  We need somebody who will be willing to do what is right for America, and not just for him or herself or his or her party.  We need somebody willing to cut back on the size and scope and power of government.  We need somebody whom we can trust when they say they will focus on job creation like a laser beam rather than someone who says that then focuses on everything but that.  We need someone who cares more about Americans having a job and less about how much cows are farting.

Benghazi

Benghazi

They came across the wall at night
Hundreds of fighters armed for a fight
We were told they were mad at a video
By those who were supposedly in the know

They stormed the gates with grenades and guns
They forced our ambassador to run
But the attackers found him in the safe house then
Killed him and dragged him down the lane

Meanwhile two American heroes defied
The orders they’d received from on high
To “stand down” and not fire a shot
Despite the hundreds whose firing was hot

These brave men, they begged for support
As our leaders watched from their secure fort
The armed jets were only two hours away
But they wouldn’t come to the rescue that day

And so our heroes lost their lives
They leave behind children and wives
But why weren’t they supposed to fight
When our embassy was attacked that night?

As I said those orders they defied
But when asked outright our leaders lied
Over and over on TV they said
The video is why the ambassador’s dead

So for hours and hours on that dreadful night
The two special forces men continued the fight
Hugely outnumbered with valor they fought
But it turned out it was all for naught

For the ambassador was already dead
The order to stand down had already been read
No help would be coming to them that night
And they both were killed in that firefight

So two diplomats and two heroes were then dead
The president on this matter never led
His surrogates lied again and again
It wasn’t terrorism—we offended them!

Well I’m not afraid to call it what it was
A terrorist act against the U.S.
On the anniversary of 911
America lost four of its sons

And to this day the real questions aren’t asked
Such as why weren’t the rescue forces tasked
With saving those men and the grounds they defended
But real journalism long ago ended

One final point I want to make
It was our president’s chance for a stand to take
He could have said they invaded our soil
But that might have cause Muslims’ blood to boil

So instead in the morning the very next day
The president left to go and play
A big party they had in Vegas that night
To help with the president’s reelection fight

And so I end this extremely sad tale
Of America and its latest travail
A story which could have had a different bent
If only some help the president had sent

One ironic thing to tell I've selected
This same president was then re-elected!
By people who, in interviews I saw
Had no idea about Benghazi at all

Because for one thing the press kept it quiet
In my view, truth, they ought to try it
For the narrative had to be terror didn't exist
So they went with the story hand over fist

But the true story is that our heroes are dead
At the hands of people by terrorists led
The policies haven't made terror recede
In fact, our destruction they have decreed

And the people we've helped into powerful posts
Are quickly showing they're really our foes
Radical theocrats are taking control
And with our help they're on quite a roll

Thousands of their opponents have died
In wave after wave of mass homicide
Settling scores is a very old game
So democrats they were only in name

So our policies in the Middle East
Have really caused democracy to cease
But once again the press hasn't spoken
Of all the policies which are broken

Yet the people don't hear it from our press
I blame them directly for much of the mess
They've ignored the real life situations
And instead focused on comedy stations

Where the president appears and tells a joke
Or perhaps on The View he can talk about smoke
Or Oprah might be the venue today
But serious questions, hah! they went away

So the masses they stay fully ignorant
While the rest of the country becomes indignant
Paying taxes to support millions of takers
And slackers and deadbeats and yes, also fakers

I understand the need for some assistance
And from me on that you'll get no resistance
But there are millions who are totally taking
And taking and taking and taking and taking

The millions of people milking the dole
Helped put us in this financial hole
But the promise of more is held out to them
And they re-elect people again and again

But once again the point I remind--
Benghazi and other things are far from their mind
For promisers they have a predilection
And these are the ones who decide the election

Time to Tap American Energy

As I watch this president with ever increasing dismay, I've come to the conclusion that he may be trying to create a situation where all citizens are dependent on government, thereby allowing him to demagogue any issue for electoral purposes. If one has everyone dependent on a check from government, it's easy to say, "The other side is trying to take away your check!" Heck, many congressmen have done this for years with their wasteful spending and their proliferating government programs. Take Social Security for instance, or what's quickly becoming "Social Insecurity." Some people have realized for some time that in the long run this program will bankrupt us. However, attempts to fix it have resulted in claims by those opposed to touching it that some are trying to take it away. Not true. Those who want to reform social security and turn it into a privatized program are trying to do what's best for the country. Some congressmen oppose this, because if it's a private program then the government doesn't have as much power and they can't demagogue the issue. In my opinion, the same thing is now happening with energy. The president has several different opportunities to open up American energy and create American jobs, but he has punted each time. He killed the Keystone pipeline, which would have resulted in more energy flowing to America, the immediate creation of tens of thousands of American jobs to build it, and long term employment to monitor and service it. The president (through his radical EPA) also has now slapped carbon penalties on the coal industry. Not only are thousands of Americans' jobs at risk, but the cost of energy will skyrocket. Mr. Obama has also closed much of American waters to offshore drilling, once again eliminating the possibility of thousands of jobs and once again increasing American's dependence on foreign oil.
Now, I understand that oil is not the future. But it is still the present, and it is definitely the transition energy source while we move to cleaner technologies such as solar. We have enough oil to make the transition smooth, and at the same time neuter the countries in the Middle East which hate us yet still sell us oil. Imagine being able to tell those countries we don't need them. Wouldn't that be great?! Yet every opportunity which comes along to exploit American energy sources is killed by this administration. I say let's drill for American energy. Let's build the Keystone pipeline. Let's allow offshore drilling. Let's get hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work, let's lower the price of energy and give Americans some economic relief, and let's create a situation where we can look at those in the Middle East who would attempt to control us through the use of energy and tell them they don't matter anymore.

For some reason this president doesn't get any of that. He seems more willing to give taxpayers' money to his cronies and fundraisers who are opening companies which are trying to harness solar energy before it is economically feasible (see Solyndra). Is it because this president is oblivious or because he actually has an agenda he is trying to fulfill? Good question, isn't it?

To the Moon and Beyond

The other day Newt Gingrich, in a speech from the Florida "space coast," called for America to once again send humans to the moon, this time to establish a colony. He has since been ridiculed by many in the press, and in a presidential debate his opponent, Mitt Romney, said that if an executive had brought him this idea, "I would have fired him." This just shows the difference between Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich. You see, Mr. Gingrich's speech was visionary. The only vision Mr. Romney has is a vision of himself as president, and it appears he will do or say anything to get there. John F. Kennedy once exhorted Americans to go to the moon. Not the "before this decade is out" speech, but his speech at Rice University where he sold the idea to the American people. (Google JFK Rice Moon Speech--it's 17 minutes long). In that speech, Mr. Kennedy said that trying for the moon would require that we create new technologies which would themselves create tens of thousands of jobs. On this point he was right. But he made an even bigger point in that speech. He said, to paraphrase him, that in reaching for something that hard to obtain, America would be forced to rise to the best of its abilities, and we would be united in a common purpose. "We choose to go to the moon," he said, "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Now, colonizing the moon, as Mr. Gingrich lays out, would be hard. We, once again, would need new technologies and, once again, we would have to be united in purpose as a nation. The moon could be mined or it could be the jump off point for a mission to Mars. The point of Mr. Kennedy's long ago speech and Mr. Gingrich's speech the other day is that we can't stay isolated on this little blue pearl floating in the vastness of space. Man has always searched beyond the boundaries of his world for what was over the horizon. Have we lost our vision as a species? Have we lost the urge to strive to reach beyond the confines of our limited world? We need to get back to space. We need to strive to reach the stars. Mr. Kennedy beckons us from a long ago past. Mr. Gingrich takes up the call in our present. JFK would concur with Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Romney would fire him.