Fiscal Insanity on Steroids

It's clear. The mounting US debt is on the verge of crushing economic growth for decades. The country is already being held hostage by foreign lenders. And the prospects for America's future generations look bleak.

There are no reserves. Yet, the Obama administration and Congress continue to ignore this reality. They are still promoting a healthcare program that will add about $300 billion a year to the deficit. Each year rampant legal and illegal immigration adds tens of billions of dollars to the deficit. There is no way to pay for any of it.

Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are not sustainable without massive tax increases, benefit reductions and eligibility restrictions. Since the EPA was created in 1970, US dependence on foreign energy imports increased by 230%.

Until 1971 the US always enjoyed a positive trade balance. Today, manufacturing is nearly extinct. As the trade balance went permanently negative in the mid-1970's the political class soothed a suspicious electorate, claiming the future jobs in America would be generated along the Information Technology Highway.

Point of Fact: Rotten trade agreements, taxation and government regulation sucked the profitability from goods manufactured onshore. Corporations even received tax incentives to move jobs offshore. And here is the irony. The countries that the US deeded its manufacturing to are the ones that own its debt. These policies ripped a giant hole in the Middle Class.

Middle America has watched its earning potential dissipate, while the federal, state and local governments demand an ever higher percentage of its income. A large chunk of these taxes continue to be needed to cover the cost of welfare subsidies; the need for which is driven by government policies that have spurned economic growth since the 1960's.

The US rode the dotcom bubble for about twenty years before it crashed in the mid-1990's. That's about the time the government opened the gates of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy worthless mortgages. (Note: On December 24, 2009 Congress guaranteed these entities unlimited funding.)

The father of this fiasco was the Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977. That's when the government guaranteed the high risk mortgages the financial institutions were encouraged to write, under the slogan Equal Opportunity Lender.

Construction jobs in the housing industry were created in mass when the government guaranteed credit to the non-creditworthy. This turned out to be the largest public works scam in US history. Of course, when the bubble broke the financial institutions were reimbursed with the TARP funds. The costs will be picked up by the Middle Class for generations to come.

This is what makes it easy to understand why the $800 billion Stimulus never targeted job creation in the private sector. Having destroyed US manufacturing, all Congress could do was prolong government employment and create a few temporary public works jobs.

Again, future generations of the shrinking Middle Class will pick up the tab for this extension of the bloated government payroll.

The current recession reduced the trade deficit in 2009 to -$380 billion, from a high of -$760 billion in 2006. Those aren't just statistics. The trade deficit represent trillions of dollars that were never re-invested into the US economy, or increased tax receipts or created more jobs for forty years.

While the Middle Class is hanging on by its fingernails, the Democrats spent another $15 billion for job creation. It's fiscal insanity on steroids!

CPAC 2010

The Conservative Political Action Conference held no surprises. It was a rain dance. The attendees were fed plenty of red meat and those flirting with a 2012 presidential run were buoyed by the crowd's exuberance.

There was plenty of chatter about deficits and out-of-control spending. But the potential candidates and Republican Party stalwarts skirted specifics. A few alluded to the fact that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP (Children's Health Insurance) are on the brink of collapse. That's not news.

The Key Note Speaker, Glenn Beck, momentarily disturbed the party faithful by accusing the Republicans of being as big of spenders as the Democrats. History and evidence is on his side. The remark wasn't a shot across their bow; it hit an open wound.

Although he didn't mention names, it was obvious that he wasn't there to put all Republicans on an economic pedestal. His finger was pointed at the likes of Senator McCain. It took the crowd about five minutes to realize the import of his message: It's the record and the political philosophy of the candidate, and not the party affiliation, that will count in 2010.

Beck was speaking for more voters than just the 15 million people classified as Tea Baggers. The electorate isn't hostile and it isn't radical, but it is aware, angry and vocal. And it is determined to wrest control of the government away from those politicians determined to guarantee equal outcome rather than equal opportunity.

Beck elaborated on this observation, stating that the fundamental difference between Progressives and Marxists is patience. The former are satisfied with evolutionary change and the latter demand revolution. Beck made it clear that they share the same objective, government control of the citizenry. Their craft is the art of trading personal freedom for handouts.

And there sits Mr. Obama, Mr. Progressive incarnate. He isn't the enemy of the Republican Party, he is its savior. In thirteen months he has managed to take control of the banking and financial community, car manufacturing and he even tried to control the outcome of the US Census.

He only made one mistake. He adopted the Marxist timeframe for revolution. Healthcare and energy were the first targets he attacked. He wanted them out of the hands of private enterprise before the mid-term elections. This frontal attack on the US Constitution created the Tea Bagger movement.

The Tea Baggers are not in the Republican corner. More precisely, the Republican Party is the enemy of their enemy. The coming healthcare summit hosted by Obama is a test of the Republicans' learning curve. If they adopt the new Obama plan after tinkering with its margins their political careers are over. A third party will form.

Americans want America back. They want the future of their children and grandchildren to be better than their own. This will only occur if the size of government is slashed and taxes are reduced. That's what the 2010 elections will demonstrate. No special margin will be bequeathed to the Republican candidates. They have been warned.

That's What It's About

Anyone not frightened by the agenda of the Obama administration must rely solely on MSNBC's news content. The nation's fiscal affairs are on life support. The surge of concerned voters, lumped under the Tea Bag label, was spawned by the wanton disregard of their economic survival by Congress and the White House.

There is no bridge between the citizens and the federal government. It's gone. The communication links have been severed. Mr. Obama's crew knows the unrest is growing; and they know the cause. But they have no intention of listening or changing course, just their tactics.

Rather than taking directions from the citizens, they have introduced a media blitz to ridicule and demean any person or group who challenges their agenda. They have declared war on the citizens of the United States. And they have the blessing and cooperation of the mainstream media.

The nation is hemorrhaging from deficits. With Medicare and Medicaid on the brink of collapse, any attempt to add another 30 million people to the government's health care roles is economic suicide. It's just not feasible.

Yet, Obama and his fellow socialists are still promoting this cause, while deliberately ignoring basic market corrections like tort reform. It's starkly clear that improving the quality and affordability of health care were secondary considerations.

Obama and company want to control healthcare to configure a society based on the usefulness and productivity of its members. Don't kid yourself. There is no room in their worldview for the aged, or physically and mentally handicapped. In their utopian future, the consequence of being labeled a "f------ retard" will be a death sentence.

The members of congress and the political pundits have advised the nation that the Cap & Trade legislation is dead. It's apparent that the scientific data supporting the Global Warming scenario was distorted and much of the evidence was faked.

Yet, Obama has threatened to unleash these draconian measures by Executive Order. He has threatened to license the EPA to choke the growth of fossil fuels and grant the federal government absolute control over energy usage, without the consent of Congress or the voters.

Why? It's not just because he is virulently anti-capitalism. That's a given. He needs the $600 billion of new taxes to fractionally reduce the size of the projected deficit. And, equally important, he can confiscate these monies from the budgets of those making less than $250,000 without appearing to break his campaign pledge.

The song of praise for the Stimulus emanating from the White House is falling on deaf ears. Only 6% of US citizens believe this world class Pork Barrel created or saved 2 million jobs. Most realize it only forestalled the collapse of unaffordable welfare programs and bloated bureaucracies.

The nation can only hope that 41 Senators can fight a rearguard action until the November 2 election. That's the day Americans will reopen the channels of communication by electing listeners. And that's what it is all about.

You Don't Say, Joe

The Obama administration is squirming. It's thrashing about looking for a reason to justify its existence. The only feat it has accomplished is the creation of a deficit that has ransacked the national treasury.

How desperate is this administration for a victory? Vice President Biden proclaimed that the US' success in Iraq can be laid at the feet of the glorious leader, the wartime Commander-in-Chief Obama. That's like giving the Girl Scouts of American credit for the invention of cookies. Nice try Joe.

But it is going to get a lot sillier. Obama is already guaranteeing that employment will grow at the rate of 95,000 jobs per month. After the loss of 4 million jobs in the last twelve months, that would be a positive accomplishment, unless they are all government jobs.

Of course, if this estimate materializes, the number of new positions won't even keep pace with the employment demands of those entering the job market for the first time. And with the 2.3 million new immigrants arriving this year, some of whom are even legal, employment opportunity for Americans will trend downward for at least another year.

In fairness, the pressure for jobs in America is reduced by the willingness of one-half of the illegal alien families to subsist solely on welfare. Joe, can Americans expect you to put these numbers into the Jobs Saved for Americans column. This would bolster the number of make believe jobs created by the Stimulus.

Granted Joe, the people are not giving Obama enough credit for his determination. He's still advocating a version of Cap & Trade this year, despite Americans' overwhelming rejection of the federal government's takeover of all energy production, distribution and the regulation of its usage.

Facing a potential increase of about $3000 in a family's annual energy bills would certainly reduce consumption. This would thrill the environmentalists . . . until they notice that every tree in the country is being cut down for cooking and heating. Hey Joe, would that have a negative impact on the environment?

While you're praising Obama's accomplishments, Joe, tell us how his Iran policy is doing. Did his strategy of publicly maligning the United States and bowing to foreign heads-of-state have a positive influence on the Islamic butchers? It's not apparent from here. It appears their smirking. Is that a good sign, Joe?

And Gee-whiz, did we just hear that China threatened to toss all its US bonds on the open market if we don't play by its rules? Experts state that if China pulled this trigger that inflation would destroy the value of US currency. Tell us Joe that Obama has a contingency plan, which doesn't include printing money, to counter this catastrophe.

Joe, Americans are pleased with Obama's new spirit of bi-partisanship. And we appreciate his sudden involvement with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The vast majority of Americans would like this policy changed. After all, it seems unfair for the government and businesses not to question the resident status of people who need an interpreter to apply for a job or public assistance.

Oh, sorry for the confusion, Joe. You say Obama was talking about the military's homosexual policy. After political correctness got thirteen soldiers killed at Fort Hood, would it be impolite to suggest Obama's timing stinks as badly as his socialist agenda?

Voter Wrath

The recent Tea Bag convention in Tennessee rang some alarm bells. It's time to be a little suspicious of those running to the front of this army of angry voters.

Ostensibly the gathering was convened to bring non-affiliated participants together to share their ideas and to mobilize their efforts. But the Tea Party movement is an uprising of individuals who happened to stampede in the same direction at the same time.

They don't need a compass, nor a program to identify their elected enemies. Nor are they waiting for someone to tell them who they should vote for in the next election. They discovered the power of the federal government and lobbyists is no match for the common sense of middle Americans united around a set of principles.

The Tea Baggers don't need marching orders, they're giving them. They can smell the blood in the water and aren't about to apologize for spilling it. Their power stems from the realization that they are not a fringe group. They are at the center of America's political philosophy.

So it is fair to question the motives and agenda of those promoting organization and unity. There is a lot of money in politics. The spokespeople capable of turning out the vote prosper mightily. And in politics, perception pays as many dividends as reality. The convention had the distinct odor of opportunists attempting to cash in on a rebellion.

Mr. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the Democratic establishment threw down the gauntlet when they informed Americans that voter input was no longer required or desired. By persuading themselves that the electorate was their private petting zoo, the Democrats mistakenly stepped on the tail of the wrong animal.

The voter response wasn't organized and it wasn't personal. But the attack was vicious. The crowd had no finesse, just the brute power of numbers. The election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts was not a warning shot. Rather, the American electorate stated emphatically that it wasn't in the mood to take prisoners.

To the chagrin of the Democratic Party, the protest didn't fizzle. The demonstrators didn't slink away and silently wait for a beating. That was the expectation and the reason Obama and company ignored and trivialized their complaints. After all, for fifty years middle Americans bowed to the pressure of government, believing they couldn't beat city hall.

Put simply, Obama and company overreached and discovered that Americans will rip the face off anyone caught putting them on a leash, and that they don't cotton to arrogant politicians who behave like masters.

The polarization of these voters isn't unique in American history. In fact, the origin of this discontent was attended by the same mid-wife present at the nation's birth. She doesn't have a name. She is only identified by the inscription on her banner, Don't Tread on Me.

Any politician who steps in her path will get an education in voter wrath.

Simple Observations

Not everything that happens in Washington, DC deserves a lot of attention. But the accumulation of these incidents add context to the political debate. For example:

The Pro Life commercial produced for the Super Bowl got the Pro Choice crowd hot under the collar. Based on their response, they should stop the pretense and officially change their name from Pro Choice to Abortions R' Us.

Rahm Emanuel's description of the radical leftwing members of congress as retards, after they proposed attacking the moderate Democrats, raised a lot of ire and the call for his dismissal by Sarah Palin. A woman comfortable in the wilderness and in tune with nature should know that a fox smells its own hole first.

It's been determined that the Attorney General, Eric Holder, made the decision to read the Detroit bound, underpants bomber his Miranda rights. This is the same official who decided to have the terrorist, KSM, tried in New York City. And the very same guy who is out to hang some CIA personnel and Navy Seals for mistreating terrorists. It could be worse. At least he hasn't asked the US to practice Shari law.

The Earned Income Tax Credit, enacted in 1975 during Nixon's presidency, was supposed to be temporary. What began as a $1.2 billion program is now chewing up about $50 billion a year. These cash payments, which average $2659 per eligible family, aren't counted when determining their eligibility for food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid. It's the federal government's way of saying thank you to the people who don't pay income taxes.

The elderly are complaining because the government doesn't pay for all their prescription drugs under the Medicare Prescription Plan, enacted in 2003. Lest they forget, they were on the hook for 100% of the cost before 2003. So they should thank their children and grand children for this $100 billion, deficit-financed creation and shut up.

The defenders of the Obama administration claim the terrorist retention center in Guantanamo, Cuba should be closed because it incites blood lust and rallies volunteers for the Islamic Jihadist butchers. Here's an idea. Let's unite all the true believers by renaming it Club Obama and dedicate it to the destruction of the United States.

With the number of companies now pitching gold as a hedge against the decline of the dollar, can anyone doubt that it's a right wing conspiracy to smear Obama economics? Or are the ads part of the wakeup call the voters in Massachusetts heard recently?

It's common knowledge that Mr. Obama promised not to fill his administration with lobbyists. But he has a big heart. It must be difficult for felons, tax evaders, child molesters and Marxists to find a friend in the White House. Maybe it was an act of mercy for Obama to hire forty of them. At least, his generosity kept them out of Chicago politics.

As symbols go, the portrait of the Chinese communist, Mao, on a Christmas ornament in the Obama White House, pretty much tells Americans where Obama stands politically. Enough said?

Prove It Mr. President

The 2011 US budget, presented to congress by the current administration, calls for $3.8 trillion of spending. The same document estimates the government will gross $2.2 trillion in revenues. Do the arithmetic. The federal government's appetite will add $1.6 trillion to the deficit.

Finger pointing is fruitless. Here is the reality. Private enterprise carries the entire burden of the cost of entitlements and government overhead. And it can no longer sustain itself, entitlements and the government bureaucracy.

The US economy is in crisis because of government spending. Every job lost in the private sector reduces tax revenues, and increases the demand for government services. Increased taxes on the income of the surviving companies and individuals, to replace the contracting revenues, only results in the further decline of the economic engine.

Ironically, the growth of government bureaucracy and entitlements is a direct result of the hardships caused by taxation on business and especially on the Middle Class. Every government welfare program from Pell Grants to Day Care allowances to Cash for Clunkers is taxpayer compensation to justify the cost of government.

Every administration and congress, since LBJ introduced the Great Society in 1964, has expanded entitlements to pacify the taxpayers, and to build dependent constituencies. These government expenditures have put the economy on the brink of collapse because there is no fiscal elasticity left.

For five generations productivity in the private sector shielded most Americans from the negative consequences of over-taxation. Advances in technology hid the dire consequences of government expansion.

Arguably, technology was the root cause of the jobless recoveries in previous recessions. Without the advances in robotics and computers which spurred productivity, the current economic calamity facing America would have occurred in the late 1980's.

The collection, analysis and dissemination of information eliminated the jobs of middle management, as well as, the jobs on the manufacturing floor. This kept productivity and profits soaring. It also cloaked government's avarice and made the people on Wall Street rich as the stock market climbed to record levels.

Taxation and government regulation also pushed jobs off-shore, encouraged by Wall Street which was only interested in quarterly profits. The same phenomenon, and for the same reasons, have families migrating to states with lower taxes. This spirit of self-preservation is sowing havoc in the states which enriched welfare programs and bureaucracies, believing private enterprise would provide an eternal source of revenue.

The bubble broke on Mr. Obama's shift. The only difference between Obama and his predecessors is that he, Pelosi and Reid exposed the scam. TARP, the Stimulus, the 2010 Omnibus budget and Obama Care tore the covers off the charade.

His attempts to blame private enterprise for the recession hasn't impressed the taxpayers. He's promoting more government spending and higher deficits. He blows kisses to the bureaucrats when he should be practicing tough love.

It's obvious the Democrats do understand the repercussions of Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts. Before Brown could be sworn into office, they raised the debt ceiling another $1.9 trillion. This gives them a $300 billion slush fund to squander.

Mr. Obama, prove you are not an ideologue. Cut government spending across the board, or shut up and sit down until your term expires. Ditto for every state governor and every mayor.

Chris Matthews' Agenda

Chris Matthews is an informative, liberal specimen. After watching Mr. Obama's State of the Union address, he admitted that during the presentation he forgot that Obama was black. This reaction seems to indicate that prior to this event that Chris Matthews couldn't listen or watch Obama without thinking of his skin color.

His observation provides insight into the bias of the sensitivity indoctrination of the leftwing. Liberals demand that all Americans be blind to ethnicity and race. This standard doesn't apply to their spokespeople. Chris Matthews admitted that it has taken him at least two years to see Obama in non-racial terms.

There is a much darker side to his epiphany. Without equivocation, Matthews inferred that Obama's presentation was so good that he forgot Obama wasn't white. It's apparent that Matthews, in his experience and judgment, finds articulate, intelligent black persons so uncommon that they are mesmerizing.

That shouldn't comfort blacks. It's preposterous to suggest that Chris Matthews is a racial bigot. He's not. But he is a card carrying proponent of ethnic wars.

Whether consciously, or unconsciously, he is an advocate of racism, the wedge issue of the liberal agenda. The leftwing needs racism to justify and drive its socialist agenda. And understand, if Matthews is unconsciously promoting class warfare, he is a liberal dupe and too stupid to be taken seriously.

It's pure hypocrisy for liberals to condemn racism, while simultaneously encouraging political correctness, multi-culturalism and diversity. The implementation of these standards require racial profiling and automatically introduce racial friction. They were never intended to promote racial harmony; they were designed to muffle the proponents of personal initiative and self-reliance.

MSNBC did not hire Matthews because he has sensitive legs, it employs Matthews to promote the liberal agenda. And it has gotten its money's worth from him. He now personifies the left's willingness to repeat a lie until it's accepted as a truth.

The world has noted that there is no honor among thieves. This admonishment has never slowed Matthews or MSNBC from promoting Obama's administration and the deeds of Pelosi and Reid. Matthews and company are so contaminated by ideology that they have lost sight of truth.

A liberal news organization, without an unbiased perspective and balance, will rationalize and justify racism if it creates a shortcut to socialism. Chris Matthews is the poster child for this propaganda. Frankly, his act is just ethnic jingoism masquerading as inter-racial peace negotiations.

Matthews and company want the world to believe that all who oppose Obama's agenda are racists. But please note, he is the only commentator who brought the subject of race into the discussion. The other pundits and newscasters focused on Obama's message.

This explains why MSNBC is now a footnote. It dragged itself off the page by misrepresenting the integrity, generosity and aspirations of ordinary Americans. The crowd of effete, socialist sympathizers, like Matthews, have segregated themselves by promoting racism.