Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Truth about Madison

I am a coal miner's son. I know the value of unions from personal experience. But a distinction must be made between private and public sector unions and how they serve or harm the best interests of We the People.
When I was growing up in the 1950-60s there was a common understanding about government work. If you were a government employee you could not expect an equivalent salary to those in the private sector––after all, you were a "public servant."
But there was a trade-off. For less money in salary you got good benefits, better job security and a more secure retirement than workers in the private sector.
This was the common understanding, and with that understanding the people slept. And as they slept the unions entered, stage left.
Once the unions were well established in the public sector they, in the dark of night, changed the reality we were all so familiar with in the 1950 and 60s.
When we awoke in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century public sector jobs paid as well or better than private sector jobs for the same work. But the real story came in the retirement benefits, healthcare and unheard of job protections the unions had engineered. What's more, unions had gained such control they could strong arm states and local communities to the point that had to continue paying salaries and full retirement to those who would otherwise have been put in prison for child molestation. And firing union teachers and other employees was harder than getting a bill through congress--all this and more came to "We the Tax Payers" compliments of the quid pro quo corrupt unions negotiated with corrupt politicians in smoke filled back rooms in the dark of night.

This is the fact that We the Tax Payers are now facing and the consequence is the immanent fiscal collapse of our state and municipal governments.
Don't be deceived. This is not about the Governor of Wisconsin fighting the Democrats or the unions or the teachers. This is about the Governor of Wisconsin doing what politicians before him failed to do when faced with the unsustainable debt caused by ridiculous union demands: take the side of We the Tax Payers instead of sell us out for union support next election cycle.

Many will try to cast the matter in all sorts of different lights, present all sorts of half truths and an array of other scenarios and considerations to muddy the waters in Wisconsin--but what has been stated above is the cruel and barefaced reality, and to deny it is to send Wisconsin and other states in analogous condition hurtling towards bankruptcy with no means of reversal.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Why Ron Paul must enter GOP 2012 presidential primary

Ron Paul has now won two CPAC presidential polls in a row. Yet, Donald Trump, media hound, showed up (after he supported Obama last election) to announce to CPAC that Dr. Paul cannot win in 2012. This, of course, outraged many Paulites. But just for a moment let's consider that Trump is right...
Okay, are you considering it? Good. Now consider this: even if Paul can't win in 2012 it doesn't change a thing in regard to whether he should or should not run: He must run, and here's why:

Even if Dr. Paul can't win consider the potential effect of his prospective 2012 campaign in the light of the changes we've experienced since Dr. Paul threw his hat in ring in 2008.
1. Dr. Paul, as we've said, has won 2 CPAC straw polls in a row.
2. The consciousness of more and more Americans is now fixed on the economy, the Fed and the massive debt hanging over the nation because of out of control government spending.
3. The Tea Party movement is now a fixture in American political life--and has shown not a little staying power--even to the point of establishing or supporting a real third party should the Republicans betray the promises that put them back in power in 2010.

These things and much more have all served to focus Americans on the very issues that Dr. Paul has been talking and warning about for over two decades--to a populace and a political class that has not only been deaf to his message––it has often been contemptuous and derisive at times. In fact, Dr. Paul has often suffered ridicule and humiliation for his principled defense of the Constitution.
But recent economic and social events have changed all that. No longer can the press disrespect Dr. Paul like they did in 2008. No longer can they shut him out of the process and refuse him entry to nationally televised presidential primary debates.
If Dr. Paul makes the sacrifice to run, he will, no doubt, be a dark horse in many ways. But running in the primaries for 2012 will allow him to be heard like he has never been heard before by more and more people who are open to his message.

I contend that if Dr. Paul enters the primary he will, at the very least, be able to influence both the substance and direction of the debate in the most positive of ways. He will be able to use this national stage to better fix many critical issues in the minds of Americans that appertain to our economic health and personal liberty that will be of enduring benefit to We the People. Running will give him a much better opportunity in 2012 than he had in 2008 to draw attention to many realities that most candidates would rather ignore and sweep under the rug. In short, nothing but good can come from Dr. Paul entering. Whether he wins, loses or draws--it will be a win for Libertarian conservatism, for the Constitution and for the American people.
Run Ron, run!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Charity


Obama, in his new budget, has recommended reducing tax deductions for charity donations.
Where is this going? I think my little photoshop says it all:

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Question

When confronted with so-called liberal "achievements" Dr. Thomas Sowell said he asks a few simple questions that almost always serve to deflate liberal claims on moral superiority. One is, "At what cost?"

The Empire has sought to justify the unspeakable evils of the War for Southern Independence with one thing only: it brought the end of slavery.

Now, any Southron who knows the least bit about history knows an objective reading of what actually transpired then puts the lie to even that piece of the Yankee mythology. The truth is both southrons and northerners were reconciled to the eventual end of slavery--but there was no clear idea on how best to do it and how it might best happen.

Virginia, not Massachusetts, was the first state to propose manumission, and the proposition failed by only a few votes. It failed, not because Virginians thought slavery should not end, but because they could not agree upon how to do so. This was the prevailing opinion of many prominent soutrons, including Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, R. E. Lee and countless others. Hindsight shows us clearly that with the rise of technology slavery would have soon become unprofitable in the south--and manumission would have gradually taken place, just as it did in the north and other places.

This largely peaceful process was denied to the Southern people, both black and white, slave and free.

When one considers the events of this most tragic of American eras, the least debatable issue is this: Of all the possible ways slavery might have ended the way it did, the War, was the worst conceivable––the worst in every way and worst for every one--except for the imperialist, the statist and the banker.

When I say "the worst" I am not thinking of just the cost of blood and treasure in the actual shooting phase of the war. That is comparatively minor when one considers the whole. I am thinking of all the events, acts and policies that have ensued since the war which can be directly or indirectly attributable to the war, up to and including the present day. More precisely, I am thinking of how the war and so-called reconstruction that followed have eternally poisoned the waters in our country. It has infused enmity, hatred, distrust and malice between racial and social groups. It has bitterly divided us with no means of repair or reconciliation. It has destroyed the voluntary nature of the Compact, and indeed, our original Federalism itself. It has brought liberty to an end and turned our history into a web of government generated propaganda and lies––and that is only the short list.

The War was carried on as an unconstitutional tyranny, and it has born the fruit of tyranny, demagoguery and the enslavement of us all to a Unitary, authoritarian state.

THESE and many other horrors, not Emancipation, are the real and enduring consequences of the war––THESE, not liberty, are the PRIMARY effects and sorry fruit of the Linconian, Jacobin, liberal, revolutionary madness.

It is not our statements or arguments to counter Yankee propaganda that will really change hearts and minds, or make the Yankee hang his head in shame as he should. Rather, it is that searching question, offered in the Socratic spirit, that challenges him in his arrogant self-righteousness for an honest answer. Do the Yankees have enough self-honesty to respond as they should? My guess is only a precious few do. But I ask the rest, if only rhetorically:
"At what cost?"

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

SPEND

Liberals continue to run up debt, even while we're on the cusp of total economic collapse.I wrote this song in honor of their persevering in their madness. This should be sung to the tune of "Smile." Nat "King" Cole's version:

Spend

Spend even though you’re dead broke,
Spend like it’s all a big joke
When interest rates make the voters irate.
Pay no heed and proceed to borrow.
Spend and maybe tomorrow
We’ll be debt free somehow you hope, you dope!

Lard up those bills with excess,
Fund lobbyists with largess
Although the vault has less than even naught;
That’s the time you must keep on spending
Like bucks are never ending;
You’ll find it all will be okay, (Jolson aside: "after all.")
Your kid's kids can pay.

Coins, go ahead and mint them,
Bucks, tell the Fed to print them,
Until they're not worth a tittle or jot,
That's the time you must forget thrift and
Say, "Screw that Peter Schiff, man!"
Just keep repeating what Keynes said--
"In the long run we're dead."

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Mark Levin

"Abraham Lincoln....a great man....a great man....a great man!

Who are you trying to convince, Mark? Us...or yourself that this conniving shyster and statist toady (like yourself) is a great man?
You want a great man?!? Look at the other end on the mall and check out the Jefferson Memorial.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Thank you for Smoking


John Boehner was recently interviewed by Chris Wallace, who asked him a bold question of international concern: "Why don't you stop smoking?"
I liked Boehner's response, but thought a few others might also be appropriate. Here are mine. l wonder which ones you might think of as a Liberty-loving American.