Goodbye Pontiac - RIP
By Larry D Miller

The glory days of Smokey Yunick and Fireball Roberts charging around the stock car tracks of the south and Farmer Arnie Beswick tearing up the drag strips through out the country are long gone… as are the Firebirds Burt Reynolds thrilled us with on the big screen. Government Motors snuffed out the life of this once proud automaker on April 27, 2009. Once number three in sales, Pontiac had slipped down near the bottom in recent years, a victim of union excesses, inept corporate management, insurance standards and government regulation.

Pontiac’s story is one of the entire American auto industry. Union contracts that were almost reasonably workable when the industry was living high on the hog and making so much money they built amazing buildings as monuments to themselves, seem oddly out of place when the profitable sales have been lost to foreign competitors. The adversarial relationship that seemed appropriate when the big three had the US market all to themselves remains, to the detriment of all concerned.

Times change, so do market conditions. The US automakers were up against foreign competition where labor and management understood they needed to work together to produce a product that would penetrate the US market. Somehow the this spirit of cooperation never caught on in the US, even at Pontiac where once there existed a pride in achievement. The unions kept asking for more and more and the greed and lack of resolve on the part of the companies made avoiding the lost production of a strike outweigh the long term destruction of overpriced contracts.

Many other factors played into the downfall of the auto industry, not the least were government regulations in the name of safety, fuel efficiency and others, just because they could. Some of us remember the foolish “double nickel” speed limits imposed by our “benefactors” in Washington until sanity returned. What we saw in this case and around the industry were companies that paid attention to their operations, but not the market or environment they lived in.

In the early ’60s I was considering attending General Motors Institute… a fine engineering school with the obvious emphasis on the automobile industry. While checking into this I had the opportunity to visit the main offices of the Pontiac Division. The place was adorned with all sorts of signs touting the number three in sales and an institutional pride rarely seen in the business world. The company took a higher price product and went head to head with lower priced Ford and Chevy. These were the victorious days of Roberts and Beswick. Management at that time had taken a dull, stodgy, but reliable product and morphed it into one of the most desired cars of the time.

They worked on the concept that you could sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you couldn’t sell an old man’s car to a young man… and it worked. They turned out some of the baddest street machines for their time and backed it up with winning efforts in NASCAR, NHRA, USAC and who knows how many other forms of racing. For myself, I had a Tri-Power ‘60 Ventura and, later, a ‘64 GTO. Both were fun to drive and just a little nicer than their lower priced Chevrolet cousins.

This was not to last, however, as fuel shortages, insurance rates and government regulations put and end to the no holds barred competition between the auto companies… and we started the long, downward spiral to the indistinguishable econobox lumps so popular today.

The point is that, for the most part, the excitement of the “new car” has been beaten our of our society. Few really are exciting. They have become so expensive that without a rich daddy, young people can’t afford anything remotely interesting. Foreign manufacturers, reading the market better than their American counterparts, brought annoying little cars the kids call “tuners” into this environment. Once again, the big three were outmaneuvered. Parking lots that once were filled with Chevys, Fords and Pontiacs are now homes to Hondas, Mazdas and Hyundais. As Chester A. Riley used to say, “What a revoltin’ development this is!”

So one more American icon is passing from the scene. It’s a sad day. However to the progressive ideologues inside the beltway this is a good thing. The old must be destroyed to make room for the new, the centrally planned Government Motors car that looks like all the others and is certainly less than what are used to, but more then they believe we deserve. For those familiar with the development of the first Volkswagens it is, to quote a great American philosopher, “It’s deja vu all over again.”

In honor of the occasion, perhaps we should dig out a copy of “Little GTO” by Ronnie and the Daytonas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44kg0IENTPU - and play it a few times.

Larry D Miller is a web developer who has been involved in the political world for the past twenty some years. His company, Simple Webs, works with organizatins and candidates and can be seen at http://www.simplewebs.biz and his current project, http://www.politicalchristian.org examines the relationship between Christians and the political sphere.

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So What If Texas Secedes?
By Jerome Grossman

Most politicians, analysts, and media are giving President Barack Obama good grades for his first one hundred days in office. With the general public Obama seems more popular than ever as measured by his standing in the opinion polls. And, in spite of the deepening recession, more than 50% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction.

A notable exception is Governor Rick Perry of Texas who objects to Obama’s policies so deeply that he has suggested that Texas might end its association with the United States of America and strike out on its own. Perry insists on the right of Texas to secede from the Union, violating the core principle of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln.

So far Perry has not fired on Fort Sumter or any U.S. military installation in Texas but we should be prepared. His primary objection to federal policy is the stimulus package designed to energize the economy but it appears that he will still take the money for his state. At the same time, Perry is trying to persuade other Republican governors to talk of secession as a political tactic to rally the depressed conservative base.

So what if Texas actually secedes? We would still visit there, of course, and would be friendly, not as friendly as with Canada, but somewhat warmer than with Cuba and Venezuela. Would independent Texas give up NASA and the next voyage to the moon? In what league would the Dallas Cowboys play? Would they still be “America’s team?” Governor Perry points out that Texas has the right to split into five separate states, each with its own president, enough for every member of the Bush family. And the two Bush ex-presidents of U.S.A. could cap their careers by running for president of an independent Texas. Then each could build second presidential libraries, at least one of them featuring mementos of torture.

Texas as an independent country would give the U.S. several tempting options. We could build a fence on the border to discourage immigration from Texas. We could invade Texas for oil or to change the regime there. And George W. Bush would be the last Texan to be president of the United States.

Jerome Grossman’s Website

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The Latest Fad - Integrity
By Laura Bramble

I saw a commercial on TV yesterday that was so obvious in its message, I couldn’t believe that someone on Madison Avenue probably got paid a lot of money to dream it up. It was for a well known national brand of peanut butter. The printed message at the end of the commercial summed up the whole barrage of warm and fuzzy images and voiceovers. It showed a jar of this peanut butter and said “The brand you can trust.” The commercial itself was not disturbing. What was disturbing was that anyone should ever be given cause to distrust something as basic as peanut butter. It makes you wonder what’s next, what else someone will do without regard to the consequences just for a few extra bucks.

It seems like every time we open the paper, turn on the news, or log into the internet we are hit with yet another story of how yet another person has lied, cheated, stolen, manipulated, or abused the trust of others. Our national consciousness has been assaulted by the likes of Bernie Madoff, Tom Daschle, Rod Blagojevich, the top executives of most of this nation’s formerly premier financial institutions, Ted Stevens, Alex Rodriguez- the list goes on and keeps growing by the day. People are frustrated and outraged with actions taken in the name of greed and excess. They are beginning to question if the pursuit of more is worth the cost. They are taking a long hard look at simplicity and a life of transparency and integrity, and guess what? To many it’s looking pretty darned good.

Integrity is a classic; it may not always be the hottest thing, but it never totally goes out of style. The pendulum is swinging yet again, from excess without accountability or responsibility to a more low key, sensible lifestyle. Even the uber-wealthy find it uncomfortable to flaunt their wealth as they have in recent years. I, for one, say it’s about time. The national lack of integrity has cost us all a great deal: lack of faith in each other, a erosion of a strong ethical example for our children, fiscal insecurity and precious tax dollars. I don’t know if we’ll ever know the real cost. The key to preventing this from happening again is simple, but a challenge we have been unable to overcome. If everyone operated with integrity, most of the difficulties we find ourselves in as individuals, and as a nation, would never grow to such crippling proportions. Each of us making the commitment to act with integrity in our own lives would be the beginning of a seismic shift that would alter the societal fabric of our nation. All we have to do is to follow through and just do it.

This integrity fad is one whose time has come, and not a moment too soon. Unfortunately, most fads have a short shelf life. Let’s hope that unlike mullets, parachute pants, and UGG boots, this one sticks around for a good, long time.

Laura Bramble
http://www.politicalsimpleton.com/RED_MENACE/THE_LATEST_FAD_INTEGRITY.html

Redheads have always been accused of having a temper. This blog is a journey into the mind of a redhead; decide for yourself if we have a temper or are just frustrated by what we see…
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Do You Really Want Change?
By B D Fenton

“All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree”
Thomas Jefferson

Congressional approval ratings are embarrassingly low. They are so bad it hurts to acknowledge them. Their rating is so low I doubt if any of them even voted favorably for own quorums. President Bush’s rating was consistently about three times higher than that of Congress. To get whipped that bad by George W., takes some doing.

There is a reason. The people have lost confidence in their ability to work cohesively for our Nation. The cultural war between Liberals and Conservatives has morphed into an unending struggle for political power. Although the two sides never cease to call for “Bi-Partisanship”, vote after vote after vote gets counted right down the party lines - with almost no variation! When it comes to dealing with the problems of the people they cannot seem to work together. Endless finger pointing and name calling across both sides of the aisle mark most issues. Ideas from either side are immediately opposed and devalued, alternative plans extolled and finally the decision will be to allocate money and form a committee to study the problem. In the meantime, things get worse and nothing gets done.

For the moment, perhaps the real arguments should not be about increasing or cutting taxes or whether government should be large or small - it should be focused on whether or not we have government representation that we can trust to serve the best interest of the people. Are the leaders we keep electing there to serve the people or themselves?

The biggest scam in American history has been the development of our political aristocracy - most notably our elected representatives in Washington, D.C… These ‘perfumed princes and princesses’ of government are ensconced atop of our society feeding from the public trough unaffected by the economic peaks and valleys their constituents have to cope with daily.

When the price of gasoline skyrocketed recently most of the Country had to scramble to adjust or in some cases, just survive. But the boys and girls in Washington never felt the tiniest squeeze because they don’t have to worry about such things. When the price of a gallon of gas got up to almost five dollars it didn’t cramp their style a bit - why?

Because our Federal Politicians, regardless of party affiliation, get their fuel bills paid for by the taxpayers. In fact, all of their transportation costs are paid by, you guessed it, the taxpayers. All of their printing and mailing is paid for (consider the advantage this gives incumbents in an election!). Their food and entertainment is paid for. They have no office overhead like private businesses - their rent, office supplies, utilities, gifts, and even their staffs are paid by the taxpayers. But that isn’t enough for our ruling class. They have even voted themselves a per Diem on top of their salaries. That is a nice little daily cash bonus in case they have to do a little extra entertaining. If not, they get to pocket it anyway!

So while the rest of our Country is in a severe recession fighting to stave off another full-on depression, they eat out every night in expensive restaurants and ride around in limos talking on cell phones paid for by working Americans with real jobs. They are so busy enjoying themselves that most of the tasks the rest of us have to deal with daily are managed for them by their Aides. It is not uncommon for top Aides to command six figure salaries - and some members of the legislative branch have over a hundred Aides on the public payroll. They have Aides on top of Aides paid for by you to do their bidding. Think about what your life would be like if all the tedious, mundane and unpleasant tasks were handled for you by an entourage of assistants paid for by someone else.

You have heard them time after time warn us about the danger of our Social Security system collapsing. They wag their fingers and tell us Social Security is nearly bankrupt and may not be around for the next generation.
A few claim its demise may come as soon as the next decade. Some blame it on the “Baby Boomers”. But do not be fooled by all of their hand wringing.
Their pretense of concern for us is just a smoke screen to hide their shenanigans.

They have been pretty diligent at taking SSI out of everybody’s paychecks for well over half a century yet they claim the fund is almost bankrupt. How did that happen? Are you ready? They borrowed it! This is absolutely true. Our political aristocracy actually borrowed your retirement (future) to fund their current pet projects and buy votes. Of course they claim it was necessary to change the law all by them selves so they could take our money. They insist they did it all for us - (and if you buy that I have a couple of bridges I’d like to sell you).

The truth is, our government collects over two hundred million dollars more per year than it pays out in Social Security checks, yet we are told the system is going bankrupt. The only reason Social Security is in trouble is because our stalwart legislators have continually spent every penney of surplus. The outrageous thing is they continue to spend every extra cent of even as they tell us the system is approaching collapse. The idea that perhaps they should stop spending our retirement on their personal pork doesn’t seem to have occurred to them. You see, to them, the Social Security surplus is a congressional ‘check guarantee’ to underwrite their personal re-elections.

The looming crisis they keep warning about is not as much about you losing your retirement as it is about them losing their cash cow. In three to five years, the changing demographics of our Nation will finally reverse the annual Social Security surplus and begin a deficit. For the first time the aging of our workforce will result in the system taking in less than it pays out. This means there will be no more surpluses available for congress to borrow. To our politicians - that is the real crisis - no more free money at the expense of your retirement. When whatever surpluses that still exist flip into deficits the payouts may cease altogether - leaving your generation holding the bag with no Social Security assistance. They have mortgaged your future to pay their bills today.

The truly amazing thing is, that our political leadership stand there with a straight face and tell us they feel our pain. Although I am not sure how - since they have created their own private retirement plan separate from Social Security. No kidding, they have their own pension plan . Just for them- a much more generous plan than ours and guess who pays for it - us!

In fact, you and I have to work and contribute for many years to get a small monthly Social Security check when we retire, but our legislators qualify for a juicy pension after serving one term! That’s right, it takes the rest of us years to get a small check, but all they have to do is get elected once for one short term and Voila! - They can live in comfort for the rest of their lives. And of course they have built in periodic raises. Guess which of the retirement plans has increased more over the years? (Hint: not Social Security).

Their exclusive plan is so generous that many of our former elected officials are making more from their pensions than they ever earned while in office. How they justify this double standard is beyond me. And to add insult to injury they have the hubris to collect Social Security in addition to their fat cat, taxpayer-funded pension! So they are covered if Social Security fails, but they are perfectly content to collect it on top of their pension if it doesn’t.

Don’t bother trying to stick the blame on one political party. It doesn’t matter which party they hail from. They all indulge themselves at our expense. When and if they decide themselves, to depend on Social Security like the rest of us and abolish their golden plan, I will begin to believe they are sincere. If that miracle ever does happen you can bet they will find a way to fix Social Security and make sure the money is there pronto.

Do you see where this is going?

They don’t face the same pressures the rest of us face. They have created an elitist culture of entitlement with layer upon layer of security and endless perks. Whether the economy is up or down they are so detached and insulated from the pressures of real life that they never feel it. They just go on TV and act like they feel it. They tell us so, but it is not true. They live in luxury regardless of what the rest of America is going through.

Ross Perot was absolutely right when he said tax dollars are to Washington politicians what coke is to crackheads - no matter how much they get, it will never be enough. Look at their record. Each year our faithless leaders figure out more new ways to tax the American worker. That is what they do best. In fact, virtually all of their time is spent creating new taxes and they have become quite adept at it.

From the moment you wake in the morning until you lay down to sleep at night you are working for the government. Most people are aware that the average American worker pays four to five months of their yearly wages to the government in income tax, but that is only a small part of their “contribution”. You are taxed nonstop on virtually everything you do. As soon as you flip the first light switch or flush the first toilet or hop in your car the tax meter starts spinning. Not only do we pay taxes on utilities, we pay taxes when we buy staples like food, clothing, gasoline, appliances, tools, airline tickets, CDs, DVDs - even telephone and cable bills! The list goes on and on and on and on. You can bet that if something is not being taxed they are working on it. Even now they are trying to come up with a way to tax the internet!

It doesn’t stop there, either. They tax some dollars more than once. If you invest your after-tax dollars and make a profit they take part of that, too. They love it when people work hard and save all their lives to leave an inheritance for their family - because they tax that and sweep a portion into the government coffers. No matter that the taxpayer has diligently put aside funds for their family’s future. Congress always wants “their” share. Even after you retire and begin to collect Social security they take their bite by taxing that. The truly tragic thing is they believe your tax dollars really belong to them and regardless of your life circumstances they expect you and every other American worker to cough it up.

Our political junkies need their fix so bad they will stop at almost nothing to get it. Consider for a moment how they have empowered the IRS to destroy your life if you do not (or cannot) comply. Even though most Americans fear an audit by the IRS more than being mugged, our politicians apparently do not. Charlie Rangel, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, was recently busted for not paying taxes on one of his rental properties. Now, you would think that as Chairman of the chief tax-writing committee in Washington, D.C., that he would know the law -but, evidently not. He pled ignorance. No big deal though, when the IRS confronted Mr. Rangel with his bill for several years of unpaid taxes he simply agreed to a payment of $10,000 - no penalties or interest - just the single payment of $10,000 -pretty sweet deal, huh?

All Americans should share the same rights and benefits under the law regardless of wealth or status, but how do you think you would have fared in the same situation? No doubt the process would have been significantly less simple, more time consuming and much more costly (and stressful). There should be no difference in how Citizens are treated by the ruthless pit bulls of the IRS, whether or not, they are members of our elitist Legislature, but once again our politicos seem to consider a separate standard their right.

Contrary to their long winded posturing, the primary concern of these hypocrites is not the welfare of their constituents - it is getting re-elected and keeping on the gravy train of taxpayer money. Let me emphasize that last point - Our current crop of politicians are less concerned with the quality of your life than they are getting themselves re-elected. Getting them selves re-elected becomes their life purpose as soon as they get elected. They start getting used to the taxpayer-subsidized-good-life and are not about to give it up. The fact is, our politicians spend more time trying to get re-elected than anything else.

We have some legislators, right now, that have been in office as long as fifty years! A half century! Once they get in and get a taste of it, they don’t ever seem to want to leave. They get on as many committees as they can, get cozy with the lobbyists, cultivate relationships with the press and start getting fat on the public dole. They tout their connections and their long ‘experience’ as ‘insiders’ as the reason for their necessary perpetual re-election, when in fact, it is just for this reason they need to be sent home to make way for new, fresh and innovative newcomers - real working Americans.

Beware: Our “Citizen government” - you know, the one created by our Founding Fathers - “of the people, by the people, for the people” has been usurped and transformed into a permanent paradise for “professional” politicians. Most of these posers get a job right out of college working on a campaign staff or as an Aide. Then they run for local public office, then State office and work their way up to the Federal level without ever having had a real job. They spend their entire adult lives living off the public dole. No wonder they act as though the working people are their own personal golden geese. They have never learned any better. The only paymaster they have ever known is the American worker. Any time they want anything all they have to do is raise taxes and take a little more of your hard earned money. And if they are afraid you might not like it, they will simply convene a vote in the middle of the night when working people are asleep and it will be a done deal by the time you hear about it in the morning.

There is only one solution to this problem. The political system in place today must be replaced. The only way to really change it is to send the professional politicians home. We have to clean house and get rid of the lot of them - regardless of their political affiliation - and replace them with American citizens who have had real experience in the working world.

When our Founding Fathers created our democratic republic they designed the government to consist of Citizens who went to Washington D.C. to serve temporary terms of office. That was the whole idea of having defined terms for elected officials instead of lifetime appointments. It is the reason why Congressmen are elected for two years and Senators for six, Presidents for four and so on. Limited terms mandate regular elections ‘open to the people’. Citizen politicians are supposed to ’serve’ a limited amount of time - not stay permanently accumulating wealth by taxing working people.

Unfortunately our State and local governments are typically just smaller versions of the Federal model. Many State politicians are just Federal politicians in training. Taxing and spending is all they know. Right now the State of California is operating without a State budget because the parasites in Sacramento refuse to understand that they can no longer spend more than the State takes in. The Governor is refusing to sign a budget unless the spending is correlated to what the State actually takes in. The politicos refuse to cut spending they want to raise taxes. The overtaxed workers there are fighting tax increases so the legislators want to place an additional financial burden on their (your?) future by borrowing money so they can continue to spend like drunken sailors by encumbering future generations (you). All they can think about is spending more and more. Even as more and more businesses close their doors, more jobs lost and for the first time ever - more working people leaving the State versus those coming. What is Sacramento’s response? Higher taxes and increased regulation.

Today’s political parasites can’t control their addiction to our money. They have to have it to buy power and influence. But what do they do for us, really? You cannot turn on the news without being subjected to news conferences with politicians endlessly pushing their bills and resolutions that do nothing for us. (Try to name the last piece of legislature passed that actually improved your life - Can’t do it, huh?) Our politicians sure seem busy doing a big bunch of nothing, but where are they when we really need them?

Take the Gasoline crisis last year - the price of oil went to $200 per barrel and prices at the pumps were getting close to five dollars. Everybody was screaming about the impact on the economy. The airlines, trucking and automotive industries were reeling, heating oil was up, food prices were increasing and consumers couldn’t afford to fill their tanks. Our political leaders immediately vaulted in front of the cameras to point the finger and blame speculators, the Saudis, Big Oil, Wall Street and anybody else they could think of. They were “outraged” and said it was “unacceptable” (political code meaning: “I want you to think I am upset, but I am not going to do anything but talk about it”). They convened committees and appropriated millions of dollars to “study” the problem, but again nothing got done.

Our politicians were helpless, but we were not. The people handled the crisis by themselves. We drove less and bought less gas. More important at the peak of the crisis, the people began to call for domestic drilling. As we, “the people”, modified our consumption and demanded the development of our own domestic oil and gas deposits something incredible happened - Sphincters started tightening all over the Middle East and the price of oil began to plummet. It dropped over 70% in four months! Let me repeat that - the price of oil dropped over 70% in four months! The price of a barrel of oil dropped to less than fifty dollars and prices at the pumps dropped to less than two dollars without any intervention whatsoever from our government. While the professional politicians posed for the TV cameras and burned tax dollars “studying” the problem - the people fixed it!

Right on the heels of the gasoline crisis, our Nation has experienced a financial meltdown rivaling anything that has occurred in the past. What did the boys and girls in Washington do about it? First, the ‘Chicken Littles’ ran around screaming that the sky was falling and that we were all going to die. Then they threw together giant “bailouts” in 2008 and 2009 of over a trillion dollars (by borrowing against our future - again)! They sold it to the American people as necessary to avoid a catastrophic blow to the national economy. We were told it had to be done to “ease the credit crunch” and get money flowing “back to the people”. So they got together and appropriated an obscene amount of capital and gave it to their buddies - the banks and big business. The “bailout” money sold as relief for “the people” was instantly used to pay off bank debt and acquire assets from their weaker competitors. In other words, they used the “bailout” money to strengthen their own financial positions!

What happened to the ‘benefits’ for working Americans? How much of the “bailout” money reached you? Have you noticed an increased availability of credit? Has it been easier for you to obtain financing? Has your personal financial situation been impacted positively in any way as a result of the “bailouts”? Probably not, but the big campaign contributors got theirs. After all, our feckless politicians had to save their friends in order to be able to keep filling their campaign coffers for the next election.

After the “bailouts” failed we began to hear about the “Stimulus Package”. We were told if it didn’t pass our future was in danger, the economy would go down in flames without it - It was our only hope (again). The problem was the ‘devil was in the details’. The first “stimulus” attempt died when the details of the Legislative “pork” (selected spending that taxes us all, but benefits only the constituents of specific Legislators) became public knowledge. In our time of economic crisis our intrepid leaders had blatantly taken advantage by rushing to stuff the bill with spending calculated to make them selves look good to the voters in their individual districts. It had been done on such a scale that it had to be scrapped and a new version pitched.

Now we are being presented a new “stimulus” package as a way to put Americans back to work. We are being sold another pile of rubbish claiming the Government is going to “Create jobs”. No ‘biggie’. Apparently it does not seem to matter that the Government cannot create jobs - especially by taxing working citizens. In fact, what was actually in the “Stimulus Package” (1075 pages) was irrelevant to our political aristocracy. The finished bill was posted at 11 pm the evening prior to the vote. In other words - Nobody in the Senate or the House had time to read it before the vote! They passed it anyway. Although both parties purported to represent the ‘people’, the passing of this bill was not for us - it for their own political expediency. They didn’t even seem to care what was in it. They just wanted the cash.

Even after passing the new Stimulus Package nobody seems overly optimistic. The stock market responded by taking a dive. Even Vice President Joe Biden only gives it a seventy per cent chance of working. The truth is most financial professionals have low expectations for its success. Now the money is gone and we have to pay it back, but where did it go? Who did it help? How did it impact your life?

I like the way Walter Williams, the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, put it:

“In stimulus package language, if Congress taxes to hand out money, one person is stimulated at the expense of another, who pays the tax, who is unstimulated. A visual representation of the stimulus package is: Imagine you see a person at work taking buckets of water from the deep end of a swimming pool and dumping them into the shallow end in an attempt to make it deeper. You would deem him stupid. That scenario is equivalent to what Congress and the new President proposes for the economy”.

Unfortunately, robbing Peter to pay Paul, encumbering future generations with huge debts, borrowing away our Social Security and living high on our tax dollars have become institutionalized among our political elite. Isn’t it ironic that although they seem pathologically impotent to solve the problems facing their constituents, they always seem to be able to take care of themselves and their friends?

Fortunately, American politicians have not always behaved this way (at least on this scale). The Founding Fathers all had real jobs. They actually worked for a living. They went to Washington, served their terms and then went back home to their real jobs and let someone else serve. That is how our government is supposed to work - “of the people, by the people, for the people” - real working Americans taking time out of their busy lives to act as public servants. There was never any intention of creating a political aristocracy of professional politicians whose fat lifetime income is derived from taxpayer dollars. If our Founding Fathers were around today they would bitch-slap these current Capitol Hill posers out into the street.

You want change? Get rid of the professional politicians.

If this abuse of taxpayer dollars by our political “leaders” is news to you, I suggest you start checking it out for yourself. What was mentioned here is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more. The Washington elite have structured freebies, perks and protections for themselves at our expense for decades and show no sign of slowing down. Believe me; they have perks on top of perks on top of perks and more planned for the future.

You want change? Get rid of the professional politicians.

It is up to you end this cycle of ever increasing abuse. Keep re-electing the same representatives and you can only expect more of the same. As long as this trend continues the only genuine change your generation can depend on is more hand-wringing, fear-mongering, regulation and higher taxation.

You really want change? Get rid of the professional politicians - all of them! How? Vote the incumbents out. Elect a new kind of politician. Get representatives in there who have real world experience - men and women who know what it is like to work for a living at a real job - people who do not plan to stay forever. Representatives that want to serve the people - not themselves. That will be a real change.

PS

You gotta love Will Rogers. He ought see it now:

“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets”.

B D Fenton is a free lance writer living in San Juan Capistrano, CA

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Stimulus Package - Pointless Spending Or Socialist Push?
By Jessica Bramlett

As the economy spirals down into a dark unforeseeable bleak future, most of us are wondering what is to become of the great United States of America. As our questions go unanswered and out hopes of better times start to slowly diminish we begin to wonder what course of action the leaders of this country plan to do next.

By now many of you have already read, discussed and formed your opinion on the stimulus bill. Many democrats are in favor of this $787 billion dollar handout.

Although many conservatives, myself included, are for major tax cuts to help generate more money being put back into the economy and to help prevent the US from going into further debt with nations who aren’t even democratic.

The Stimulus Bill however has better plans by offering several incentives to help “revive” the economy.

In fact a whopping 3 percent of the Stimulus Package will be spent in 2009. A whole 3 percent! Gee, I am sure we will all feel the effects of this huge portion of this bill immediately and will be able to thrive in the land of the 3 percent.

$50-70 billion for college students so they will get to worry about paying off this bill when they graduate and become members of the “real world.” I am sure many will thank congress in the future for this money when they have to find a way to pay back the trillions of dollars in debt the US owes to other countries in the world.

$8 billion will be spent on a train from Disneyland to Las Vegas. Now families can bring their toddlers from lunch with Mickey to a wild night filled with showgirls and roulette.

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts because yes, this will help change the future of the American economy and help out struggling families being foreclosed on and fired everywhere.

$1.7 billion will be spent on the National Park System which is supposed to do what exactly for our shaky economy? Create a prettier green space for us to ponder what exactly Nancy Peloski is doing to the future of the economy and the democracy of this country as we know it.

So instead of looking at big capitalist businesses who employ millions of workers around the country and giving them tax breaks we are going to trust in the government who rushed this package so quickly that nobody had time to read it? Is the future of the US so precarious that we should just accept and not question what exactly is in this bill? Was the House worried if they debated the Bill before it passed too long that we the people would wonder a little too much what the future holds? Do we have that much confidence already in government that we should just accept everything for it is “supposed” to be for the good of this country? How much more are we going to rely on the government?

What is next? Socialism? If we are going to let the House rush in a plan to control more of our lives what will the next bill contain? Or will we just sit in our newly renovated parks after a wild night in Las Vegas as Nancy Peloski calls for more government control in our lives? When Congress takes over our lives completely and destroys capitalism will we wake up then to what is really going on or will we accept it as we idly sit by?

Jessica Bramlett

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The economy is the biggest story of all the current events happening right now. It has certainly pushed to the background most of the big concerns that seemed so prominent during the election season (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, troop withdrawal, terrorism, etc). The continuing recession, the fear of unemployment reaching nine (9) percent and the stock market’s recent fall to 1997 levels, has made people genuinely fearful of what lies ahead. President Obama has a lofty task in trying to move people away from fear and back to hope. I think he needs to remind them that our hope needs to be in God and not in the efforts of our government.

I am always intrigued by the way politicians (I don’t like to stereotype but just go with me for a minute) say things when they are trying to get elected and then once they are elected they say something different. In America, we become aware of this as kids as we participate in student government (I promise longer recess and less homework) and yet rather than think of it is an issue we have just come to accept it as “politics as usual”. Of course, it is much easier to accept “politics as usual” if your candidate happens to be in office. (The title of this article is witty, no?)

So, how would you grade our new President so far? I have a feeling it will depend primarily on your political leaning. We watch and wait here on Current Events to see what happens next!

What fascinates me is that people ask how much money they will see in their own pockets from the stimulus bill. Everybody understands that we the people, are paying for this right? The money isn’t magically appearing, it’s money the government takes from you in taxes. When you get a stimulus check from the government it is just like an advance on the return you normally get every year. If you don’t have money coming back from your taxes, you have to pay back the stimulus. Are you feeling stimulated? The video below talks about where all your money is going.

What I think is really interesting is that the economy wasn’t really the main political event for most of the election cycle. It was all about Iraq. Iraq hardly makes the news anymore. The economy jumped to the forefront of issues when gas when up to over four dollars a gallon. I think that is when people really took notice and suddenly it was all about the economy. Where it goes from here is interesting, but I am fairly sure that like most things, the economy runs in cycles. I think it is probably a good move to tie yourself to an issue that cycles when it is in the bottom of a cycle. There is a very good chance that it will cycle back up and if you play it right, you can even take credit for it! We will watch what happens here on Current Events!