We the snoozing people over the years have been led to believe that progressives, also known as higher education academia, liberals, politicians called democrats (and many republicans too), and socialists were the experts continually providing us the people with all that expert advice on how we needed to live our lives.   They’ve said they had our best interests in mind.   Now we’ve learned that there really is a brotherhood of journolisters conspiring behind the scenes.   Independent news broadcasters?   Yeah sure, we bought that line.

You’ve seen the news broadcasts over the years telling us that the “experts” have discovered . . . . blah blah blah, and that . . . . blah blah blah was good for us.   It continues as daily soundbites.   Repeating something over and over will finally sink in and soon the “we the people” have become sheeple.  The progressive expert scientists have told us the world began with a big bang, but how can nothing make a bang?   From that we have had blah, blah, and more blah about how removing the Ten Commandments was about separating church and state and that it was really really good for us.  We were told that banning DDT would save the earth, but then millions died from malaria.  The progressive experts told us melting icebergs will flood our lands unless we abandon our vehicles and comfy lifestyles, but fill a glass with ice and water to the top and it don’t run over as the ice melts.  How many melted ice bergs will it take to raise 71% of the earth’s surface 2 feet?   Are the experts secretly building an ark somewhere?  Now, even a Christian denomination has accepted the . . . blah blah blah and are allowing gay priests to be sexually active. 

Experts?  Scientific studies?  How can a government funded scientific study be seriously taken as truthful?

So now the experts have a plan to provide health insurance for everyone, and it would save our health care system and . . . it will really be affordable for everyone, of course.  So say the experts.  It will revolutionize American health care.  No one will be without insurance.   You will no longer have to worry about a health emergency wiping out the bank account.   Children will be covered for all their growing up accidents, even gang members.  The ones with previously existing conditions will be covered removing the anxiety and decisions of paying the high cost of insurance or feeding the family.  Yes, it all sounds so morally right.  It all sounds so caring, so charitable, so timely.

Fast forward to 2042 and the headlines might read: American system of Health Care starts privatizing . 

The story will be similar to what is happening right now to the British system.

Practical details of the plan are still sketchy. But its aim is clear: to shift control of England’s $160 billion annual health budget from a centralized bureaucracy to doctors at the local level. Under the plan, $100 billion to $125 billion a year would be meted out to general practitioners, who would use the money to buy services from hospitals and other health care providers.

The plan would also shrink the bureaucratic apparatus, in keeping with the government’s goal to effect $30 billion in “efficiency savings” in the health budget by 2014 and to reduce administrative costs by 45 percent. Tens of thousands of jobs would be lost because layers of bureaucracy would be abolished.   Read it all. . .

How long will it take our leaders, our experts to learn from others?  How long will it take we the people to insist that politicians adhere to the constitution?

A couple of headlines I ran across spiked my interest and outrage.  The interest was focused on the agency that awards the kind of money for the research projects that were in the headlines.  So I spent an hour or so reading various sections of this federal agency NIH (the National Institute of Health), part of the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

 

We’ve got a direct advantage over the pre-internet time when the average American had a tough time reading about the various departments of the federal government.  Where did we go if we wanted to know about the spending habits of any agency?  That information was not available to us.  Now we the people can visit the agency on line and check what  it is they do, how they do what they do and where they spend that kind of money. 

 

The NIH has roots going as far back as 1798 when the only function was the relief of sick and disabled Seamen.  No doubt, you’ve probably heard the phrase that once a federal agency is created it never goes away, but only grows larger and larger.  Over time the agency has grown into a massive mass of people researching for cures to any kind of health problem that makes it’s presence known, or is suspected of being a potential health problem for someone, anyone. The National Cancer Institute was established in 1937, a worthy endeavor, and since then 26 other institutes and Offices have been established. NIH is now under the direction of the current Director, Francis S. Collins, a Theistic Evolutionist. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act named the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is another office created inside NIH by with a budget of $500 million . . . to begin its expansion.  To make it sound less federalized, the PCORI was created as a non-profit corporation.  

 

Don’t you feel relieved?   Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.  I guess they’ll research how well we the people respond under the care of bureaucrats running the health care industry.

 

I don’t get the importance of the non-profit designation as every government agency is non-profit.  But that’s another book sized report.

 

The following headlines are what caught my eye today.  

 

U.S. Government Funded Study Establishing ‘Web-Based Sex Diaries’ for Gay Males As Young as 16   $250,000 sent out to University of Washington.

 

U.S. Spent $314,613 Studying Increase in Family Violence After NFL Upset Losses

 

U.S Government Spent $181,406 to Study How Cocaine Enhances Sex Drive of Japanese Quail

 

U.S. Spent $410,624 on Project to Teach Chinese Meditation to Cocaine Addicts

 

U.S. Has Paid $1.44 Million for Project That is Studying the ‘Social Milieu’ of Male Prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi

 

Enough?  There’s many more.  The people at the NIH have too much time available sitting around big oak conference tables thinking of new ways to spend our tax money.  A letter is received from a college professor (scientist) with an idea to study the possible homosexual habits of butterflies, and the oak table conference votes and out goes our money.  They consider $400,000 as only a drop, so why not.  Next on the agenda?

 

Cutting the budget of the federal government is considered a difficult thing to do, but it’s infuriating to see our hard worked for tax monies spent so frivolously.   Studying male prostitutes in China?   Promoting condom use Among Intravenous Drug Users in Kazakhstan?   How do they promote that?  S400,000 to study Drinking and Sex Habits of Homosexuals in Argentina?   Give them the drinks first and then watch. The wrong team won the NFL, so study it.  Come on now bureaucrats, people of the NIH, think of we the people.  Oh, I forgot, they do think of us . . .  as the unwashed masses, the dummies, the infants who need to be told to come in out of the rain, to put that sun screen on, cover your head, watch your feet, wash your hands, tie your shoes, cover your mouth when sneezing, get your shots, wear warm clothing, wear cool clothing, drink lots of water, use baby wipes on door knobs, see your doctor, on and on. 

 

About time some of our leaders get the gonads to trim the heck out of these budgets to reduce the deficit and save the country. 

 

After November, in their spare time some NIH bureaucrat will think it a good idea to study the effects on the elite experiencing post-election stress syndrome. 

 

The country does not need to create another federal agency when the federal debt is over the $13 trillion mark and climbing at the rate of over 3 million dollars a minute.  That’s $4.3 billion added per day.  Your share of the federal government debt is $42,800 and climbing by the minute.  Not a small sum in my neck of the woods.

Can it be paid off?   Ain’t no way.  Only once in our history has the US been debt free.   So what’s all the fuss about.  It’s natural for the federal government to operate in the hole.  Right?   We’ve all taken it for granted that it must assume debt because of the unexpected that will happen just around the corner.   Things like a war, or a hurricane wiping out a community, a tornado tearing up towns, or a flood like Katrina devastating millions.  Then the feds must act to alleviate the suffering of the people, which causes a drain on resources.   And we expect them to do their best protecting we the people.  

But this debt is not because of natural disasters, and just a small part of it is because of wars.   It’s the daily spending and expansionary programs that hurts.

We can and should hold the elected people accountable for this humongous debt.  But do we?   No, we just keep on putting them back into office election after election. 

 

So, we the people are responsible for this.  Huh?  You say.  Yes, we are.  We the people keep re-electing the ones who have added to this debt by piling on one pork barrel project after another, expanding the reach of federal power way beyond any common sense reading of the constitution.   What do we do?  We’ve applauded these people when they bring home the money for some “worthy” project in the home district.  The local news broadcast these projects as good news for the community, good for the local economy, long waiting for this and needed for that.  And then we the people send them back to Washington to get us more tax funded projects.  

Them days should be ending right now, this year, this November and then again two years from now, and repeated every two years from now on out.

How can the debt be kept from increasing?   Duh.  Stop spending more than taxes bring in.  Economics 101 calls it a balanced budget.

So, to get matters under control, a balanced budget amendment to the constitution would be a good place to start.

Second, stop creating new offices and new agencies.  Stop it immediately.  No new offices should be created under any other federal agency.  Put a freeze on new hires for new positions.   No new positions in any agency.  Just stop expanding the federal government.   Why should our federal government get away with creating a budget deficit so huge it’s unimaginable?   So huge, it is pushed off as impossible to do anything about.

We got to start somewhere.  Start with stopping the newest expansion.

“In June 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined together to form the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an unprecedented agreement to coordinate federal housing, transportation, and environmental investments; protect public health and the environment; promote equitable development; and help address the challenges of climate change.”   White House Blog.

A new bill ( S-1619 Livable Communities Act of 2009) was just passed out of committee that would create a New Office (the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) under the current Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).   Introduced and sponsored by Chris Dodd (member of congress since 1974).

The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to facilitate and improve the coordination of housing, community

development, transportation, energy, and environmental policy in the

United States; 

(2) to coordinate Federal policies and investments to promote

sustainable development;

And 7 other purposes.  Read the PDF

This one must be stopped.  Read the bill and keep in mind that when any federal office or agency is created, it never goes away, it just keeps getting larger and larger with increased far reaching powers.   The Fedzilla gets bigger with more control.  It would be a good prognosis that 20 years from now this new office will have thousands of federal workers shuffling papers and telling local communities where and how to expand the city, even reaching out to the small 300 people bergs all across America.  The local mayor and council will have to get approval from the feds to zone land for building a new housing development.  Why, those homes must be energy efficient, they must be in a sustainable affordable planned community with bicycle trails, mass transit availability, schools within walking distance, shopping within a bike ride, parks for recreation meeting the goals of “healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban”

 

They are the experts after all.  What do we know about building people friendly sustainable communities?  

 

We the people must put a stop to the spending habits of congress and the executive branch as well.  No new agencies.  Incumbents must be put on notice and sent back to civilian life ASAP.

 

While WH spokesperson Gibbs won’t directly answer questions, czar Obama is pushing the idea that raising and/or extending unemployment payments is an economic stimulus.  The thought goes something like this.  People are out of work with no cash coming in who have needs to feed the family and continue the contracts on the cell-phones and Dish network, would spend the government checks on feeding and clothing the family, maintaining the lifestyle while looking for work, and thus those people who are still working in those areas would see those businesses remain stable, and the workers be able to keep their jobs.  It’s put forth as a win-win situation.

However.

Where does the government get the money to back up those checks given to the unemployed?   I guess the people who are working should be so grateful to the feds for seeing that those who lost their jobs have income to spread around to those who are working and in business so that they can pay their taxes so that the unemployed can continue to spread the wealth of the others around.   The circle continues as the tax payers group gets smaller and the unemployed get larger until riots break out because the money coming in is much less than can be paid out.

However.  There’s a part within the human being that is lazy, and if that lazy attribute is encouraged and fed, it will grow and grow into a giant blubber balloon that will pop only by a catastrophe of sorts.

Imagine what the unemployment rate would look like if unemployment benefits were universally $150,000 per year. My guess is we’d have a heck of a lot more unemployment. Common sense and personal experience indicate higher unemployment benefits will make unemployment less unattractive and thereby increase unemployment even in the Great Recession.   

Let’s not reduce the incentive to find work. A federal tax holiday is a better way to cut the high jobless rate.

Mr. Laffer ends his article with the idea of instituting a federal tax holiday for 18 months.

Any government program that would reduce unemployment has to make working more attractive for both employer and employee. Since late 2007 the federal government has spent somewhere around $3.6 trillion to stimulate the economy. That is a lot of money.

My suggestion would have been to take all $3.6 trillion and declare a federal tax holiday for 18 months. No income tax, no corporate profits tax, no capital gains tax, no estate tax, no payroll tax (FICA) either employee or employer, no Medicare or Medicaid taxes, no federal excise taxes, no tariffs, no federal taxes at all, which would have reduced federal revenues by $2.4 trillion annually. Can you imagine where employment would be today? How does a 2.5% unemployment rate sound?

Sounds good to me.  And then during the process, eliminated forever the payroll tax, eliminate forever corporate taxes, eliminate forever the IRS and install forever the details of the FairTax.

Let’s not forget, that come November, incumbents of the House and Senate need to be retired, sent back to civilian life.

Touting the employment figures for May, Obama said “This report is a sign our economy is getting stronger by the day.”   The report for May indicated that 431,000 new jobs were created and 411,000 census workers were hired to finish counting those who had not notified the bureau of their race, their sexual identity and age information.

Let’s see then.  Those extra people employed to clean up the oil mess along the coast is then also good for the economy.  The feds also intend to hire 57,000 young people to work for AmeriCorps mentoring children, cleaning up parks or buildings and weatherizing homes for the poor among other activities. Some get a living stipend while they are working for up to a year. Most participants, who are predominantly 18 to 26, get about $11,800. 

Part time work for the government is good for the economy.  Workers who are employed by the government and paid from tax revenues by the people who work for a living.  Also known as redistribution of wealth.

When I was pulled over for a traffic violation (not wearing seat belt) the first thing the officer wanted was for me to show my identification (drivers license) and proof of insurance.  With those documents in hand he proceeded back to his vehicle and guess what?  He then knew all about my driving record, whether I was wanted for another crime or not, and what ever else is kept in their database.   

If that’s not a violation of my civil rights, then it’s not a violation of the civil rights of immigrants, legal or illegal, for them to show an identification.

If I had been wanted for another crime, I would have been arrested on the spot.

The same should go for immigrants to this country.  Produce an ID or be arrested.

And also,

If I got to pee to get a job, then all people who collect money from the government (the pockets of working taxpaying citizens) should have to pee to get any welfare check from the feds.  And, I’m also subjected to random drug testing to keep this job, then everyone collecting benefits from Uncle Sam (us taxpayers) should be subjected to on going random drug testing for them  to keep on getting those benefits.  If I got caught in violation of the drug laws, I’d been fired on the spot.  If a welfare recipient gets caught in violation of drug laws, then the cash should stop immediately.

 

Sounds logical right?

 

But for some reason, it’s not logical to those illogical ones running things in Washington and the state capitals.

When you see insects eating away on a rose shrub, what do you do?  When your precious tomato plant is being devoured by insects, what do you do?

All gardeners know that a jar of insecticide must be kept handy to use against the varmints that suck the life out of your beautiful rose or tomato bush.  You’ve got to get those invaders once they start showing themselves.  They can be hand picked and stomped on.  But you won’t get them all, nor will you even see them all.  Better yet is a preventative program that puts up a shield of protection against the enemies; like a pre-mixed solution saturating the ground the plants send their roots into.  But once that’s been accomplished, a continual inspection of your roses and tomatoes for those insects that are still able to get through all of your previous techniques, is needed so that all your hard work will not be spoiled.  

It’s work to bring a tomato plant to harvest.  It diligent work to tend the roses so their beauty will manifest itself.  

Our congress and the federal agencies are full of insects who are sucking the life out of America and they need to be removed.   They can be hand picked and removed, but if that don’t work to revive America the Great, probably then the entire body will need to be sprayed. 

It’s a common practice to spray rose bushes every two weeks, so think of congress as needing to be made insect free every two years.

 

If you’re against using an insecticidal spray because of purest environmental reasons, then you’d better just forget about taking a salt shaker out to the garden, picking a nice juicy ripe home grown tomato, biting into it and savoring each chew, or enjoying the splendor, the aroma and beauty of a bush full of magnificent roses.  Ride your bike to the store and buy the tasteless canned tomatoes lacking the natural nutrients of a fresh vegetable.  Get a villa or a high rise apartment, stay out of the way, stay home and leave the ground work of building America to the millions of us who are willing, able and with diligence select and elect politicians who will hold the constitution of ours in high esteem with a return to federalism.

WASHINGTON — Oklahomans hoping to have older homes remodeled or even worked on (by painters, plumbers, electricians, roofers, window installers, etc) could see projects come to a standstill or even be canceled because of a federal rule designed to protect children from lead poisoning.

That’s the warning from state homebuilders.

That’s the EPA ruling.

That’s YOUR federal government protecting and watching over you if your home was built before the stroke of midnight January 1, 1979.

Do it yourself and stuff it to the contractors, that’s OK.  

If you don’t have the time to do it yourself and want to hire a professional to paint the place, to fix the plumbing, to rewire, to upgrade the windows, to repair a roof damaged by hail, then get in line and save some additional cash for the project because the price just went up.

So you wait and wait to hire one of the few contractors who will have taken the course and are now certified to paint a pre-1978 home.   Some of the other neighborhood homes were constructed after 1978 and they can get the job done by the cheaper immigrants.  

Now that the government is watching over you, don’t you feel a whole lot better.

Just wondering if the next step to insure the program does indeed protect homeowners will be requiring builders supply stores to inspect the actual property deed prior to selling any products meant to improve a home.  A renegade homeowner might decide to do the work himself and not meet the new requirements. 

Look at all of those people attending the 800 some Tea Party rallies across the nation yesterday protesting “Taxed Enough Already” thoughts.  Add the turnouts together and it was in the millions.  Many of them were holding up signs saying things like “Don’t tread on me”, “No more earmarks”,  and “I want You to vote to Take America Back”.   “It’s the Spending Stupid.”  And then there was this homemade sign saying: “BO stinks and so does Pelosi”.   What’s the beef?   Why are millions of average Americans so upset?  How do the leaders view these protest gatherings?

The USA Today front paged an article intimating the current Tea Party movement as similar to the protests preceding the Oklahoma City bombing 15 years ago. 

Militias and "patriot" groups burst into the vanguard of a seething anti-government campaign, fueled by anger over the Clinton administration’s push for landmark gun-control legislation and federal officers’ aggressive tactics in high-profile standoffs with groups such as the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.

. . . .

"It feels a lot like the run-up to Oklahoma City," says Mark Potok, Intelligence Project director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks U.S. hate groups. "Will we see another Oklahoma City? Nobody can really say."

The NY Times went along with the same, Recalling ‘95 Bombing, Clinton sees Parallels, quoting X-President Clinton as saying: “Because of the Internet, there is this vast echo chamber and our advocacy reaches into corners that never would have been possible before,” said Mr. Clinton, who said political messages are now able to reach those who are both “serious and seriously disturbed.”

And then the most high, President BH Obama was amused by the protests saying to a handful of financial supporters in Miami: "You would think they’d be saying thank you,"

To put that statement in plain English:  “You bunch of ungrateful fools.”  “You idiots don’t know how lucky you really are.”  “We allow you your freedom of speech and this is how you show respect.” 

Oh yes, we should say Thank You for leading America into a European style Socialist Marxist government.   You’ve taken over the auto industry.  Your working on the banking industry.  You’ve put a blind eye to the stupid tricks of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack.  You’ve talked down to Israel and talked up to our enemies, who have repeatedly said America is the great Satan, and Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth.  You’ve spent our hard earned tax monies as if they were your jack pot lottery winnings.  You’ve increased the size of government calling it creating jobs.  You can’t quit smoking yourself, indicating that you’re weak mentally and morally, allowing an addiction to ride roughshod over you, but yet you preach to us on a daily basis on what we should do . . . to help you gain more control over us. 

Forget it! 

You, Mr. President, are the ungrateful one. 

Here’s a great quote: “no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.”   Obama on Sept 11, 2008.  Well, big deal eh, politicians break their campaign promises all the time, right?  But then this thing-a-ma-jig called health care reform comes along,

The health overhaul plan just enacted represents the largest tax hike in U.S. history - $569 billion over 10 years through a dizzying array of taxes and fees that promise to frustrate taxpayers at every turn.  ObamaCare will make every day feel like April 15^th.  Read it all. . .

 

What are the new taxes that everyone will see?

1. Breath Tax

2. Taxes on medical devices

3. New Tax on Health Insurance Providers

4. Medicare Payroll Tax

5. New Tax on Investment

6. New Drug Tax

But wait, there’s more, as more is revealed in the bill that Pelosi insisted on passing first, and then we could find out what’s really in store for America.

So, if you are not breathing, using a cane, ever go into a hospital for any reason, work at a job where payroll taxes are deducted, invest in any stocks or bonds etc, and take any drugs of any kind, you’ll be exempt.

The days of prohibition are returning to America.  The days of grandma hiding cash in a pillow case are returning to America.  The days of walking or riding the bike to the grocery store are returning to America.  The days of do it yourself medical care are returning.  The days of back yard vegetable gardens are returning to America.   The long lines to get flu shots are returning to America.