All That Is Necessary

Go On, Tell Me Small Government Has A Chance

I've been reading about how the federal budget process is really a mess as far as even discussing one, let alone actually pass one.  It got me to thinking if those that want less government have a chance.  That got me to thinking about how many people would favor a smaller government as opposed to those who want a big government.  So, I figured I would search really quick, cause I'm lazy that way, to see what programs are out there.  I was not surprised.  And I only touched the tip of the iceberg:

From www.usa.gov:

Adoption Assistance
Adoption Tax Credit
Benefits and Government Assistance Eligibility Tool
Child Care Locator and Information
Child Care Tax Credit
Children's Health Insurance
Child Support Enforcement in Your State
College Student Loans and Grants
Crop and Livestock Insurance
Disability Resources
Disaster Assistance for Victims
Earned Income Tax Credit
Employment and Training Assistance
Farm Ownership and Operating Loans
Federal Retiree Benefits
Food Stamps and Other Nutrition Assistance Programs
Government Benefits – Check Your Eligibility
Government Jobs
Government May Owe You Money
Government Online Services
Government Sales and Auctions
GovLoans.gov - Find the Right Loan for You
Grants.gov – Find and Apply for Government Grants
Head Start Program Locator
Home Energy (Heating and Cooling) Assistance for Low Income Households
Home Mortgage and Housing Assistance
Home Rental Assistance
Human Trafficking – Assistance Available to Victims of Human Trafficking
Laid-Off and Dislocated Worker Assistance
Legal Assistance
Loans for Agriculture, Business, Disaster Relief, Education, Housing, and Veterans through GovLoans.gov
Locators – Find In-Person Services Near You
Medicaid Consumer Information
Medicare
Medicare Card Replacement
Medicare Plan Finder
Mortgage Assistance Programs
Native American Benefits
Pension Insurance and Benefit Guaranties
Railroad Retirement, Disability, and Unemployment Benefits
Refugee Resettlement Programs
Renter's Assistance
Runaway Youth National Switchboard to Call for Help
Rural Assistance Center for Health and Human Services
School Lunch and Breakfast
Senior Citizen Community Service Employment Program
Small Business Financial Assistance
Social Security
Student Grants for Study Overseas
Student Loan Consolidation
Student Loans
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps)
Supplemental Security Income
Tax Counseling for the Elderly
Telephone Assistance Programs for Low-Income Households
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Welfare)
Unemployment Insurance
Vaccines for Children
Veterans' Benefits
Weatherization Assistance
Welfare (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
Youth Education and Training Assistance

Corporate welfare:

From Cato Institute:

12 Worst Corporate Welfare Programs

    Market Access Program (Agriculture Department)
    Advanced Technology Program (Commerce Department)
    Technology Reinvestment Project (Defense Department)
    Export Enhancement Program (Agriculture Department)
    Maritime Administration Operating-Differential Subsidies
    Forest Service road and trail construction
    Export-Import Bank
    Overseas Private Investment Corporation
    International Trade Administration
    Small Business Administration
    Energy Supply Research and Development
    Agricultural Research Service

That is only a few seconds of searching on Google.  Add in subsidies for wind farms, ethanol, "green" energy programs, government bailouts, and you get tens of millions of people directly invested in big government.

Add in direct government employees (millions of them), AND government contractors (millions of them, too) and the picture is becoming clearer.  I've read numerous places that over half of voters rely on government for their income in some form.  Who do you think these people will vote for?

I am not saying give up and quit.  I am saying realize the facts of the situation.

It Appears To Me That The USA Is Pretty Much Irrelevant In The World Today

Glancing at all the headlines coming out of the Middle East I get the feeling that the USA under Obama is basically irrelevant in that part of the world.  (And really the rest of the world, too.)  Some might say this is a good thing, but I would disagree.  What we are seeing is that the USA is no longer respected or feared.  That is not good.  Our enemies, and increasingly our former allies, see that we have a weak President and spineless Congress.

When the tiger is shown to be made of paper the bad people of the world are free to run amok.

The liberals thought the world would love us when they elected Obama as President.  Instead of love we see ridicule and hatred.  So much for unicorns and rainbows.

We may still be a big floundering bear, but we have no teeth.  That leaves us at the mercy of the events of the world, rather than the maker of our own future.

Sad to see.

The Swiss Keep It Right

I have a particular interest in Switzerland since my brother is a Swiss citizen.  The Swiss have an amazing history of deomcracy.  It has worked well for them over the centuries. 

But, as it is everywhere, the Swiss have a sizable liberal population.  The latest attempt by the liberals was a vote to strip the people of the tradition of keeping their service weapons in their homes and imposing strict gun control overall.

"Aside from requiring rifles to stay at armories, the initiative called for any person owning a weapon to prove a need and an ability to use it, as well as a national firearms registry."

Luckily the attempt failed as the Swiss defeated the measure.  Over 56% of the voters vored against it.  It was heartening to see this as well:

"The federal government and a majority of the parliament also called for voters to reject the proposal."

Wow!  Nice!

The german-speaking regions were the most against the law, while the french-speaking regions and urban areas were more in support.  (Big surprise there, huh?)

So, good for Switzerland!

 

Let Us Blame Everyone But The Shooter

A psychopathic nutcase just killed six people and wounded many more.  We all know by now the a U.S. Congresswoman was the target.  The Congresswoman should survive, but her future will be tough recovering from a shot to the head.  The blood on the street had not been cleaned up before the media was appointing blame as to who was responsible.  So far, the Tea Party and Sarah Palin are the most to blame, according to the media and such illuminaries as Jane Fonda.  (Fonda is a disgusting piece of filth, by the way.  Just my opinion, of course.)

My take?  The person responsible for this action is the shooter, Jared Loughner.  He is the one who made the decision to pick up that gun and fire it.  He made the multiple decisions necessary for him to carry out his despicable attack.

There really is no doubt here as to whether he is guilty.  The damage he has done to the families of the 6 people he killed can never be fixed.  Those wounded, and their families, will carry the scars forever. (If there ever was a case warranting the death penalty, this is it.)

Expect the media to blame everyone they can, except the actual monster responsible.

 

 

What I Read On-Line

Want to know what my morning rotation of sites is?  Too bad, I'm gonna tell you anyway.

Just look over to the left at my "Favorite Blogs".  Every morning with breakfast I surf through almost every one of them seeing what the topics are for the day.  I find that if I do that consistently I am virtually NEVER surprised by anything that I hear on the radio or see on the TV.  I have already read about it.  (I also check The Drudge Report and FoxNews throughout the day.)

I check again sometime later in the day for updates and "new" news.

I think everyone should do this.  It is absolutely necessary that people be aware of what is going on in the world.  You cannot stick your head in the sand or say that all news is depressing so you avoid it.  You cannot be properly prepared for life if you are ignorant.

If you surf through these sites every day you will be more informed than 95% of the people out there.  That is a good thing!

Oh, and when you check out these sites, look over their own links to other sites.  You find some great new sites that way.

So, get surfing................

There Is Some Hope In The World

Saw a headline in the news that I really hadn't expected to see anytime soon.  Are you ready?  Here it is:

Conservatives score wins in EU parliament voting

"Center-right parties hailed European Parliament election victories as a continent-wide vote for conservative approaches to the economic crisis and pledged Monday to forge ahead.

Right-leaning governments came out ahead in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties won in Britain and Spain."

Now, a "conservative" in the European union may not be quite a conservative here in the USA, but it is a great start.

I like this part:

"Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe," said Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament. "(We will) continue to fight for social democracy in Europe."

We have an election coming up in 2010.  Maybe we can look forward to the same thing?!?!?!

Time To Really Pay Attention

Well, the collectivists are now in complete control.  So now is the time for the rest of us, those who value freedom, liberty, and personal responsibility to really pay attention to what these crooks in D.C. have in store for us.  They will most definitely immediately start to increase government control in all areas of our lives.  More taxes, more rules, more regulations.  You can't do this, you can't do that, etc. They will spend more money than ever before, even though the money isn't there.

This is why you need to stay engaged.  Be watchful of what these politicians are trying to do.  Email or call them to complain when they try to implement collectivist policies.  It may not help if your Representative or Senator is an idiot (but I repeat myself), but it certainly won't hurt.

And it is coming fast, folks.  Just this morning I saw a commercial promoting the Employee Free Choice Act, that horrible act that would do away with the secret ballot when a union tries to unionize a company.  They want to act fast, before reality sets in.

Most importantly, do not give in to the desire to say "the Hell with it" and give up.

Constitutional Conservatism

Peter Berkowitz has a good opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal.  It is entitled "Conservatives Can Unite Around the Constitution".  He writes about how the various groups normally considered on the conservative side of the political spectrum can unite around the U.S. Constitution.  The 2008 election showed that the Right is pretty broken apart in different interest groups such as social conservatives, libertarians, abortion foes, etc.  Under the current alignment, the Right got crushed, big time.  He writes that all is not lost, though.  The U.S. Constitution can help!

"...conservatives of all stripes would be well advised to concentrate their attention on the constitutional order and the principles that undergird it, because maintaining them should be their paramount political priority."

"A constitutional conservatism puts liberty first and teaches the indispensableness of moderation in securing, preserving and extending its blessings."

The opinion piece is worth serious consideration by the Right if they can get their assorted heads out of the sand and actually think about the future.

Mr. Berkowitz writes that the two biggest blocks on the right, the Religious Right and the Libertarians, destroy each other by demanding party purity based on their OWN ideas.  That leads to continued losses.

"But the purists in both camps ignore simple electoral math. Slice and dice citizens' opinions and voting patterns in the 50 states as you like, neither social conservatives nor libertarian conservatives can get to 50% plus one without the aid of the other."

He is correct.  These two factions of the Right have been killing each other for decades and giving victories to the liberals.  It needs to stop!  This is where the good old U.S. Constitution can help.

"The principles are familiar: individual freedom and individual responsibility, limited but energetic government, economic opportunity and strong national defense. They are embedded in the Constitution and flow out of the political ideas from which it was fashioned."

Mr. Berkowitz provides a very real path to political victory in the future.  Go read his piece.  It is absolutely worthwhile and well written.  I like where he's headed.

Schadenfreude

For those who don't know this word, it can really come in handy at times.   Here is the definition:

scha·den·freu·de - Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

I know I'm probably being bad, but I can't help it.  (Actually, I could help it, but I don't want to.)  This is concerning the Bernard Madoff ponzi investment scheme that just blew up.  Up to $50 billion (!!!!) could be gone.  This guy ran this ponzi scheme for decades, conning the rich "elite". 

"Many of his investors came from the enormously wealthy enclaves of Palm Beach, Florida and Long Island, New York, where people had invested billions in Madoff’s firm for decades. He was a fixture on the Palm Beach social scene, and was a member of some of its most exclusive clubs, including the Palm Beach Country Club and Boca Rio Golf Club, where he drummed up much of his business."

Tsk, tsk, tsk.  This is where the schadenfreude comes in.  I don't know any of these people.  I don't run with that crowd.  I'm sure there are some good people in there.  But if you have that much money and don't take care of it, screw you. 

Some of America’s wealthiest socialites are facing ruin after the arrest of a Wall Street big hitter accused of the largest investor swindle perpetrated by one man.

Socialites!  I love it!  Poor babies.  They may have to sell their string of polo ponies.  Or, OMG!, shop with the "little people".

I have no problem with people having enormous wealth, and being able to keep it and spend it as they like.  I do have problems with the spoiled, holier-than-thou, self-described elites.

So, I am enjoying the misfortunes of these socialites just a little bit.  Admit it, so are you, just a little bit.

Israel And Iran

There is an article on Foxnews.com about the Israeli plan to bomb Iran's nuclear sites.

Israel is drawing up plans to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and is prepared to launch a strike without backing from the U.S., an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.

This is stuff that can have a real nasty impact on the ENTIRE WORLD.  I can't blame Israel, though.  What are they supposed to do?  The nut-cases that run Iran have stated repeatedly they intend to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.  They are non-stop in their nuclear ambitions.  They say these are strictly for peaceful mean - for electricity.  Ok, sure.  In the meantime all the world has done is "talk".  Oooooooo!  Iran is shivering in their boots.

However Israel intelligence sources say Iran has sufficient nuclear material to make an atomic bomb.

In a nutshell - Iran has said Israel is coming to an end.  Iran is rapidly progressing in its goal of building a nuclear bomb AND the missiles necessary to strike Israel.   All the talk by the world has not made a bit a of difference.  And do you really think the world will do anything?!  Israel has a choice.  Do nothing and die.  Strike now and possibly survive.  Not a tough choice for me if I were Israel.

Then, think of the consequences for the USA and our already decimated economy.  The stuff of nightmares.

Have a nice day.