Month: March 2011

By 2050, three Federal programs, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, will take all the tax revenue that the government collects, according to a study by the Cato Institute (article).

That means every other activity of the government, from the president’s salary to F-18’s to toilet paper for the restrooms at Yellowstone Park, will have to be financed with borrowed money.  Of course the interest on our debt will be through the roof by then, but to pay it we will have to borrow the money.

This astounding revelation means just one thing: We the people need to change our expectations of what government is supposed to do for us, because relatively soon it won’t be able to do much.

Yet the cries from the American people for more and more benefits from the government coffers continue to crescendo.  Rich as well as poor look for advantages by appealing to the generosity of politicians eager to curry favor and the resulting votes that will keep them in office.  It is a deadly cycle which may not be possible to break, because few, whether homeless drug addicts or multinational corporations, can resist the attraction of thousands of dollars, sent for merely filling in the paperwork.

And yet if we don’t stop the cycle, it will, no MUST come crashing down.  And the result will be widespread pain and privation.

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Since America has gotten involved in the Libyan civil war, the streets of American cities have been full of left-wing anti-war demonstrators reminiscent of the demonstrations against Iraq during the Bush Administration.

Oh, wait.  No they haven’t.

Which is weird.  Is it possible that THIS war for oil is OK because of who is in the White House?  Could it be that the left is hypocritical?

Unfortunately, it’s a lot more sinister than that.  How was Saddam Hussein different from Mubarak of Egypt and Qaddafi of Libya?  One important difference is that Hussein was a threat to Israel and Mubarak and Qaddafi were/are not.

Put that together with the fact that Obama has been in favor of the popular uprisings in Egypt and Libya but not the popular uprising in Iran and you have a definite pattern emerging.

When both Mubarak and Qaddafi are gone, two major obstacles to the elimination of Israel will be gone and popular sentiment against the beleaguered country will hold sway.

I have never understood the left’s hatred for Israel and love for the Palestinians, but I guess I can just add that to the list of things I don’t understand on the loony left.

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I’ll admit right off the bat that I have mixed emotions about the entry of US and “coalition forces” into the Libyan civil war.

First, there’s no question that Qadaffi is a bad actor.  He’s a military dictator, an admitted state terrorist, and mega-thief.  In other words, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

HOWEVER.

Could the same have been said about Mubarak in Egypt next door?  Why didn’t we intervene then?  And aren’t there a dozen other foil-hat dictators around the world who need deposing as well?  What is our policy about the unrest in Bahrain and Yemen?  Those governments are ostensible allies.  What will we do for — or against — them?  And what, God forbid, if the unrest spreads to Saudi Arabia?

But more important, it appears that President Obama made one speech about Libya 10 days ago or so, but never contacted anybody in Congress concerning US military involvement.  Congress never undertook debate or passed a resolution on the subject.  I know it’s true we haven’t had an official declaration of war since 1941, but I think presidents usually at least TRY to get a go ahead from Congress before committing troops.

I know that George W. Bush and secretary of State Colin Powell spent months (while they were “rushing to war”) making the case before putting American boots on the ground in Iraq.  They sought and got multiple resolutions from both Congress and the UN before taking action.

In this case, however, nothing seemed to happen until the UN Security Council vote and then within minutes there was a full scale assault on Libyan troops underway, with multiple countries participating.

I support the right of the Commander in Chief to make preparations for military action without revealing all the cards in his hand, but something bothers me about this.

I guess one thing that bothers me is that I can’t see what the immediate US interest is in opening a third front in our Middle East venture.

Surely it couldn’t be about oil?

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The Chevrolet Volt was hailed as the new paradigm in environmentally friendly transportation.  It was THE justification for the Federal government’s bailout/takeover of General Motors, which had for decades been America’s largest corporation.  The first Volts rolled off the assembly line in December with GM saying they would build at least 15,000 in 2011; more if the demand warranted, and 60,000 in 2012.  But consumers are staying away in droves.

Sales of the Volt in December were 326 units.  Admittedly sales didn’t start until the 10th and it is only being offered in California, the New York Tri-State area, Washington DC and Texas.  But, except for Texas, the celebrated Volt ought to have sold like hotcakes in those left-leaning, populous states.  GM has got to be disappointed.  Surely the first full month would be better with production fully ramped up, right?

Wrong.  January, 2011 sales were 321 and February sales fell to 281!

What?  Sales are going down?  How could this be?

Well it could be that, after all the hype, the Volt is really just another hybrid.  Although it was hyped as a fully electric car, it turns out that it does have a gasoline-powered engine.  And it is an expensive hybrid at that, with a base sticker price over $40,000 and fully equipped prices easily going over $50,000.  There is a $7,500 bailout — er — tax credit for Volt buyers, but it doesn’t seem to have opened many wallets.

True, you can charge the Volt on household current without a special charging station.  There are other differences with formerly available hybrids, primarily that the 4-cylinder engine can be used to charge the battery that powers the car instead of having the gasoline engine power the car directly.  But at freeway speeds it will likely just be an internal combustion engine car like all the others.

The battery-power range is a mere 25-50 miles according to GM and Consumer Reports puts it much closer to the bottom number in real-world tests.

Add that to the fact that it only seats four, requires premium gasoline and CR says it only gets 30 mpg in full gasoline mode and it’s easy to see why it isn’t selling; $50,000 is just too much.  After all, my 5-passenger, 6-cylinder Toyota Avalon gets 31 on the highway.

More: http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/16/chevy-volt-ayn-rand-opinions-patrick-michaels_print.html

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Barack Obama revealed his picks for the Final Four this week.  I’m certainly glad the waiting is over!

I’m so glad he didn’t waste time encouraging Congress to get an actual budget done.

He also didn’t waste time on that pesky Libyan civil war.  And his spokesman told reporters that they should ask their colleagues on site if they had questions about the disaster in Japan.  Apparently the administration doesn’t have anything to tell the press about it.  I mean after all, Obama has to pack for Rio, right?

I must admit, he HAS had a full schedule, what with golf every Saturday and White House parties with celebrities every Wednesday night.

It’s so great that there’s nothing going on right now that would cut into the President’s social schedule, isn’t it?

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The Republicans outsmarted the Democrats in the Wisconsin state senate by voting to strip the intransigent unions of certain “rights” including collective bargaining.  They were able to do this without a quorum by removing all the funding elements from the bill.  Since Federal workers do not have collective bargaining and FDR was opposed to the existence of government unions period, it’s tough to see how collective bargaining can be a “right” at all.

Completely missing the irony, union members still demonstrating at the capitol in Madison called the Republicans “cowards”, and presumably admired the Democratic senators who turned tail and ran to Illinois almost three weeks ago rather than stay to debate and defend their position.

Adding to the irony was the fact that the MSM today revealed confidential emails that they said indicated that Governor Scott Walker was about to cave to the Democrats.  I’m sure Governor Walker was thinking “What Democrats?”

We also learned today that there are bus drivers in Wisconsin making $100,000 per year in OVERTIME pay.  When Democrats are in the majority, there is no management to oppose labor in state government; the Democrats give away the store.  So as a result there are multiple states that are on the verge of economic collapse.  Perhaps now Wisconsin taxpayers have some politicians that will fight for them against the blindly selfish unions.

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The Federal Budget Deficit set a new record – $223 Billion – not for the year, but for the MONTH of February! The Deficit for the entire YEAR of 2007 was only $163 Billion!  And we were dissatisfied with George W. Bush because he was such a spendthrift!

The Euphoria over the unemployment number falling to 8.9% has made some think the economy is getting better, but the inflation that is the natural result of the out-of-control spending of the Federal government has already started.

I fear that hard times are coming and we all need to get ready.

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Does it strike anyone else as strange that the MSM is all Ga-Ga (not “Lady”) over the “democratic revolutions” taking place in the Middle East and North Africa?  Has it not occurred to them that democracy might not be a good thing in countries where 85 percent of the people believe anyone who converts from Islam to Christianity should be killed by whoever happens to be standing next to them at the time?

The liberals seem to have a blind spot where Islam is concerned, ascribing virtues to Muslims that they simply don’t have.  This myopia is the other side of the coin to their blind hatred of George W. Bush and his War on Terror and the attempted introduction of Democracy in Iraq.

Maybe there are people in those chanting crowds and machine-gun wielding militia that identify with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, but I wonder.  The female reporter from NBC who was gang raped by an Egyptian mob chanting “Jew! Jew! Jew!” (though she is not Jewish) might have a different idea.

And while we’re at it, perhaps we need to remind the MSM and even George W. Bush that the United States is not intended to be a Democracy.  The pledge doesn’t say “And to the Democracy for which it stands” and the Constitution never uses the word “Democracy”.  In a true Democracy, the majority rules and the minority gets trampled.  In our Republic, we use democratic processes, but there are structures in place to protect us from actual Democracy.

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The unemployment numbers were released today and the MSM is ecstatic!  Eight-point-nine!  Why that’s almost as good as it was at the beginning of the last year of the George W. Bush administration; you know, when it was the worst economy in 50 years!

The Obama Administration is rejoicing, but I’d say it’s more likely that the improvement is due to the judicial ruling that the Obama Health Care law is unconstitutional.  After all, what employer wants to lock in a bunch of new employees, not knowing what will finally shake out of the monstrosity that came out of the Health Care takeover.  The possibility that businesses and local governments may not be forced to take on the overwhelming expense of the Health Care debacle (like those already exempted) is certainly generating some optimism.

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