Just Shootin' From the Hip.

I thought I would just opine today. If you asked someone to do something for you, and every time they did it, it was a disaster, how many times would you have to go through this process before you did something different? Some smart person once defined insanity as, "Doing the same thing the same way over and over and expecting a different result." This is very relevant today.

If you were working on your personal finances, would you increase your debt in order to pay off your debt?

If there was a benevolence program in your town for those who were less fortunate than you, would you participate as a recipient even though you didn't need the assistance?

How could you as a taxpayer possibly participate in a hair brained scheme like "Cash for Clunkers"? You and your neighbors are paying car dealers to give away money that is not theirs in the first place to buy your old car and destroy it. We are already holding the note on all these failed automobile companies and yet we blindly participate in yet another hair brained scheme to put us further in the hole. Our brilliant Senate just passed an extension of this "Green Scheme" that will do nothing but further bankrupt the U. S. Treasury.

I can say from years of mind numbing experience working for the federal government, nothing they do is done with the taxpayer in mind. I never figured out who they have in mind.

We had several class action law suits for various actions by the government in violation of their own rules for others about how employees should be paid, or treated. They prosecuted private business concerns for violations of these rules. However, they considered themselves immune when it came to their employees. I could have joined the suits for about twenty five dollars, but I knew that the people who had valid cases would receive only a portion of the ultimate judgement, while over billing class action law firms would be getting tax dollars far in excess of what they should have charged. At some point, it comes down to personal responsibility and tough choices. If you opt for the handouts just because you can, then you are robbing your children of their birthright. What's wrong with government is what's wrong with us.

Do you think any of the politicians who vote on their own salaries and vote themselves out of having to pay into any of the government programs they so highly tout are concerned in the least about this country or your tax burden? I can assure you they are not. Do you think benevolence drives their thinking when they pass bills to regulate industry into bankruptcy to satisfy some fringe element of their constituency? I can assure you it is all about power. The same however is true for those businesses who get in for the quick buck and sell their worthless product back to the American taxpayer. It is a vicious cycle of callous behavior by greedy and amoral individuals from every aspect of our society.

However, that being said, it is the business of private industry to get us out of this morass. The federal government is way out of line even attempting to regulate and control the free market. No where in our constitution are they given such powers. The various individual states making up the United States gave the federal government certain limited power to work for the people of this country in four specific areas; National Security, Interstate Commerce, Taxation, and the Manufacture of Currency. The rest of the power remained with the States. Look at the things the federal government has stuck its greedy fingers in and tell me how they fit into the four categories listed above. They don't. Right thinking and acting American citizens should control the free market. If a businessman is not operating in a fair manner, then the citizens should not patronize the business and it will fail. A new opportunity then arises for a new business to form to meet the need. When the federal government steps in and pours illegal tax dollars into the private sector, it prevents the system from working properly. A government cannot live long over taxing its citizens. Initiative will be killed and the system will collapse.

The answer lies in getting the federal government back within the bounds set out by our Constitution, and making sure we are responsible as citizens. We must wean ourselves from the government teat.

Home ownership is not a right.

Health insurance is not a right.

Medical care is not a right.

Financial assistance is not a right.

An education is not a right.

A pension is not a right.

And the list goes on and on. These are things we work hard for. You don't work, you don't get paid. You don't get paid, you don't eat. You don't eat you starve. I can assure you if we let people get hungry enough, they would find something to do. We are all going to experience this if we don't put a stop to this run away train in Washington. Let's not wait to make the tough choices.

Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.
- Charles McCabe

Where Are We Going?

I am impressed by photographic images. I love to see things others capture and share. Many cause an immediate visceral response. Something stored in memory is excited by visual cues. I also enjoy reading the commentary fellow bloggers attach to their photos, and the responses they get from others. This photo brought to mind the prices for gas I saw at a local filling station yesterday. Now, I don't know about you, but I get the feeling we are getting hosed at the gas pump. Every time I read about the speculative trading in petroleum products and how it affects the price of a barrel of crude, I sense a set-up. Something designed to reach deeper into the pocket of the little man. As soon as the speculators announce a probable increase, the price at the pump immediately goes up. What happened to the gas in the storage tanks bought at the lower price? Now, when the great national media announces a significant drop in the price of a barrel of crude, the price should fall immediately right? Not. The refineries announce they are cutting back on production because crude prices are so high, and the supply drops and keeps the price at its current level or higher. We should not demand government control, but those who are gouging us should be exposed by those in the media who claim to have their fingers on the pulse of the nation. Then we could see who the greedy pigs are and prepare a Bar-B-Que for them. I am intentionally traveling less not just to preserve my pension, but to deny all the ridiculous profit taking I can. I have a fairly new bicycle in my garage that doesn't get near enough mileage put on it. I plan to fix it for carrying something other than a passenger and use it more often. I may not smell as fresh when I arrive at my destination, but I'll keep a little more cash in my checking account. The photo reminded me of the pace of life in rural Mississippi when I was a child. My uncles were still using horse and wagon to bring crops from the field, and firewood from the forest. We may need to try something like that until our scientists (those who haven't been paid off or bought out) come up with alternative methods. We need to get involved on an individual basis and get the government (State and National) out of the process. If a business can't make it (Airlines, Financial Institutions, etc., etc.), they should fail. The taxpayers of this nation should not be required to bail them out. We need to get back within our budgets. In case you have forgotten here are a list of physical needs; Air, Water, Food, Shelter, and Clothing. The rest are wants and could be postponed until we get this ship back on an even keel. We need more ordinary people to get involved. I just read about a guy (not a scientist) who had cancer and decided to try and come up with a way to cure it with less invasive methods. He started experimenting with radio transmission waves and his wife's pie plates. He has stumbled on a method that may hold great hope for the future of cancer treatment, and in the process he accidentally discovered that salt water excited by the same waves burns. What a great fuel source this would be. We can change things in this country, but it will take everyone doing just a little everyday to make a difference. Use your imaginations.

The more you read and observe about the Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse thant the other. The one that's out always looks the best. Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

Entitlement Manners

Does this bother you? It irks me. I went to the Mall the other day and a car pulled out of the slot you see in the picture. There is a fresh used Pamper in the middle of the parking space, and the paper waste from a fast food lunch in the upper corner. There are convenient trash receptacles at all entrances to the mall and dumpsters behind every store. But the people who chose to clean their car out in the parking lot knew that someone would come and clean up the mess. They knew this because we trained them that way. Whatever your problem, someone will come and take care of it for you. These are children of entitlement. They don't have jobs, because they don't want jobs. If they had jobs they would have to give up the freebies they enjoy. The level of entitlement increases every time a single mother brings another child into the world. Free groceries, free rent, free health care, free meal programs for the children at school, free education, free child care, free legal representation, and on and on the list goes. So, why would they want to have insurance for their automobile? All the responsible driver's carry uninsured motorists riders on their policies which will pay for any damage done by the entitlement crowd. I've watched well dressed members of this elite group pull up to the check-out stand with two buggies loaded with goods and then swipe a State issued freebie card for the majority of the items checked. For those items not covered, like beer and cigarettes, they reach into nice purses and pull out a roll of cash with large denomination bills on top and pay for the overage. Then they go find their large SUV in the parking lot to ferry their booty home. Many buy covered items like diapers and baby formula which is then re-sold at the local "Flea Markets". So what do they do with the two buggies after they unload them? They push them behind the next car in line and leave them, or if there is a vacant space beside them they leave them there. They know someone will put them in the proper place. I watched a young woman of this ilk bring her groceries out to a pick-up parked near me at the grocery. I noticed a young male sitting behind the steering wheel of the truck. He was slouched down in the seat and never moved to assist his significant other in unloading the groceries into the bed of the truck. After she finished, she shoved the buggy a few feet into the middle of the parking space next to their truck. I had finished unloading my buggy, so I walked over and got hers to take to the buggy stand. The young man in the driver's seat copped an attitude and started a verbal and gesticular tirade as he was backing out. I wasn't worried much because I figured he was too lazy to exit the vehicle. He burned rubber as he fled the parking lot. His hasty departure saved him a trip to the free clinic to have his head removed from the child carrier portion of the buggy. I say it is time for some accountability in these programs. Attach a work requirment to the receipt of the goods. Make permanent exclusion from the program benefits the penalty for repeated violations. Attach some responsibility to the receipt of each benefit. Not only are the benefits being wasted by the recipients, but many people get rich in businesses which cater to providing these services. I say it is time to cut the umbilical cord. You can't get in to see a doctor or dentist regardless of what you pay for good insurance because the health care professionals have scheduled this mass of dependents for frequent visits. They have time to come anytime of the day or night because they have nothing else to do. The government pays only a small portion of what you would have to pay for a similar visit. So, to recoup the difference, the medical professionals schedule these patients on a frequent visit program. They spend minimal time with them and over the course of several visits they make up what they lose in a single visit. Usually they leave with a prescription of some type which is also free. Think about this next time you go and vote. These people block vote for the candidates who promise to continue these give away programs. You don't have to be very talented to get elected, you just have to keep the "free" money pouring in. I was a good shot when I was a teen and proved it at a county fair. I bought a ticket for three shots with a twenty two caliber rifle. The prize was a lever action thirty thirty. I cut the center dot out of the target as required with the three shots. The carnival worker pulled the target forward, took a magnifying glass and a needle and went to work on it. In a few minutes he had one red thread showing under magnification. I was protesting his methods when my dad walked up and asked what the problem was. I told him. He put his arm on my shoulder and asked what I had paid for the three shots. I told him twenty five cents. He smiled and asked me to look at the prize. He then explained that nothing was free in life and if it appeared so it was a gimmick. The carnival was not going to award a nice rifle to anyone for buying a twenty five cent ticket. I have never since bought into any offer that looked too good to be true. However, I have paid taxes out the kazoo so that some can have "free" services.

It has long been an axion of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Politicians

I don't know about you, but this says a lot about big government. I am not impressed by anyone currently holding a leading position in the slate of candidates for President. I know, this could be a representation of your current predicament at work or elsewhere, but let's talk government today. We get rebates to stimulate the economy. We are getting back what is ours to begin with. Someone compared it to taking water from the deep end of the swimming pool and putting it back into the shallow end. Also, if I remember my Civics lessons correctly, the U. S. Constitution allows our law makers to legislate in only four areas; Taxation, Manufacture of Currency, National Security, and Interstate Commerce. How do we get bills loaded with pork in areas like Education, Welfare, The Arts, Health Care, and the like? I have recently started writing my alleged representatives, in both the House and Senate, for some answers to these simple questions. I receive almost nothing from the Democrats other than a one-liner stating they received my inquiry, and from the Republicans I receive a three page statement outlining all the wonderful things they are doing for me, but failing to answer the simple question of where they got permission to do it.

I understand nexus, and I also understand the misuse of nexus. I am leaning toward any candidates who are demonstrating by their actions and voting record a move toward smaller governmental presence in our daily affairs. Let each State handle its own internal problems. If your State is too poor to sufficiently handle your particular need, then move, or handle it yourself. I think hurricanes Katrina, and Rita demonstrate how dependence on government affects those who have become wards of the system.

This is the former home of a friend of mine who lived across the bay from Bay St. Louis, MS. A thirty foot wall of water hit his house and drove it nearly a half mile into the surrounding woods. He and his family did the clean-up. There were no media crews covering his personal tragedy, and no outcry of blame cast upon anyone for a terrible storm. The other victims of Katrina and Rita were virtually ignored while all attention was focused on the totally out of control situation involving the dependent welfare population of New Orleans, LA . Outside of New Orleans, in other areas of Louisiana hit by the storms, very few were blaming their troubles on the government. People did what they have always done and pieced together their lives with very little aid from government. Let's face it, our national media does not report the truth. If you are dependent on their statistics and spin, then you are uninformed.

I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. - Thomas Jefferson

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson

It is an age old problem, but we must address the problem of government overstepping its bounds. I hope you are able to see beyond the socialist promises designed to address some individual need, but making you more dependent, and vote for the downsizing of the government's role in our lives.

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?