what if?

When It's All You've Got

What do you do when your administration is overseeing an economy that's "enjoying" the worst recovery ever?  When your AG has a scandal going on where people were murdered?  When under your watch the debt and spending has increased as never before?  When "green" companies you've given tens of billions to are failing - over and over?

You call out the race card!

Speaking to the NAACP in Houston on Tuesday, Mr. Holder assailed the Texas law that requires voters to show some identification, using terms redolent of Deep South racism before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "Many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them—and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them," he said. "We call those poll taxes."

The nation's first black Attorney General knows exactly what he is doing by citing the fee that some Southern states used after Reconstruction to disenfranchise blacks. Poll taxes were made illegal by the 24th Amendment in 1964. Yet faced with the prospect of a close re-election battle, and fading support from independents, Team Obama is trying to rekindle its 2008 coalition by using the race card to drive up black voter turnout. Texas and Florida, both with GOP Governors, are the election-year foil.

Mr. Holder knows his charge is buncombe. The Texas law stipulates that voters can use several kinds of ID to vote, including a driver's license, passport, a U.S. military ID and (this being Texas) a handgun permit. As for the "poll tax" canard, the law says the Texas Department of Public Safety will issue a free Election Identification Card if requested.

He also knows, or should know before he throws around racially incendiary language, that the poll tax charge was raised and rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court when it upheld a similar Indiana voter ID law in 2009.

But, I guess when that's all you've got - that's what you use.

Jim Crow and poll taxes were disgusting and shameful.  And it is shameful that our attorney general would resort to such lies to slime others.

 

 

 

Free Speech for Me

But not for thee.

That is the liberal mantra.

Think I am wrong?  Then read this.

Lost in all the screeching over the Citizens United ruling two years ago was the fact that unions have largely been exempt from campaign-finance restrictions on speech. Unions spent a fortune in 2010, far more than the corporations will in this election, no matter what the hysterics think. In fact, according to FEC reports from that election, unions accounted for three of the top five outside groups in spending for the midterms — specifically, public-sector unions AFSCME, SEIU, and the NEA.

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that even those numbers are deceiving as to the real spending by unions, with or without Citizens United. They calculate that the total amount contributed by unions in elections and in lobbying may be four times larger than what appears in the FEC reports.

Liberals want laws that make it mandatory for workers to be unionized and pay union dues - dues over which they have no control what political statements are made.  They want the liberal media like the New York Times and MSNBC to be able to assert their spin and opinion of the news 24 hours a day.  Yet they scream like stuck pigs when those on the right want to use their dollars to get their viewpoints and their free speech heard.

Our freedoms continue to be restricted and denied by those on the left who only believe that their principles and values should be heard in the marketplace.

Don't let them win.  Speak out against having your basic rights denied.  Vote for candidates who will uphold our Constitution and the principles that made our nation great.

Don't depend on others to do it for you. 

On the Road to Ruin

Personal responsibility?  Hard work?  Saving?  Investing?  Planning?  Facing the consequences of one's choices?

I guess most of the childhood lessons my parents taught me are now dead and buried for many.

European leaders will not cure what ails their economies because the people who voted them into office are addicted to what ails those economies.

In other words, they are addicted to entitlements. These aren't only the entitlements as most Americans understand them, from Social Security to food stamps and corporate welfare. It's also "free" medical care, "free" university education, 35-hour work weeks, guaranteed vacations, de facto job tenure. Try to modify any of this, as various European leaders have discovered in recent years, and you'll have mass demonstrations, crippling strikes and old-fashioned rioting.

Americans might suppose that we are still a long way from Europe. But consider this: As of the first quarter of 2010, 48.5% of Americans lived in a household that received some form of government assistance. That's up from 44.4% when the financial crisis began in 2008, and up from around 30% just 30 years ago. In the meantime, 49.5% of Americans paid no federal income tax as of 2009, up from 34.1% when George W.Bush took office.

Once ObamaCare kicks in, the percentage of takers will move north of 50% (if it hasn't already), and we will become a nation of modern zombies—or, if you prefer, democratic serfs. Don't console yourself with the hope that things can be turned around with a different president, or once the failures of the entitlement state become manifest. Incentives matter, but not as much as habits do. And a habit of dependency, as any addict knows, will sooner drive a man to degradation than to reform.

Woe is us.

The Chickens Come Home To Roost

What happens when a nation strays from fiscal responsibility?

This.

Wondering why government can’t restart the sluggish economy? Well, one reason is that we are still paying the price for the greatest blunder in domestic policy since World War II. This occurred a half-century ago and helps explain today’s policy paralysis. The history — largely unrecognized — is worth recalling.

Until the 1960s, Americans generally believed in low inflation and balanced budgets. President John Kennedy shared the consensus but was persuaded to change his mind. His economic advisers argued that, through deficit spending and modest increases in inflation, government could raise economic growth, lower unemployment and smooth business cycles.

None of this proved true; all of it led to grief.

Read the rest.  How we got from There to Here.

Governor Patrick and The People's Dignity

My heart is relieved that there are still politicians out there protecting the dignity of Americans.  Here is one such hero:  Massachussets Governor Duval Patrick:

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick has vetoed the state legislature’s attempt to ban the use of EBT cards — or food stamps — to purchase items such as tattoos, porn and jewelry.

Patrick vetoed the reforms Sunday while signing the state’s $32.5 billion budget.

According to the Boston Herald, which first reported the veto, the governor berated the legislature’s stab at banning the purchase of specific items like manicures, tattoos, guns, porn, body piercings, jewelry, and bail by saying the move was “political grandstanding” at a time when such reforms are already on track elsewhere.

“I’m not going to do anything that makes vulnerable people beg for their benefits. This notion of humiliating poor people has got to be separated from how we make a program, and frankly separated and disposed of, from how we make a program work and work well,” Patrick said, according to Wicked Local Hanson.

Indeed.  The notion of poor people having to beg for their porn and tattoos... almost enough to make one weep!

 

Thank You, Chief Justice Roberts

Why the Chief Justice actually performed a mitzvah for our country and for those who cherish liberty and freedom.

Conservatives should begin by praising Chief Justice John Roberts.

In as deft a decision as has been written in the last 20 years, he accomplished three major things.

The Supreme Court’s healthcare decision limits the promotion of federal power and future Democratic Congresses in two ways, while also setting up an important national debate on tax policy.

It is now clear the Obama administration and the Pelosi Congress passed the largest, and one of the most regressive, taxes in recent times.

The “Democratic Mandate Tax” is aimed at, and will dramatically impact, small businesses and middle-income Americans.

The veil has been pulled back, revealing one of the primary intentions of ObamaCare.

It seeks to massively expand the size of the federal government in the name of better healthcare. It also requires the expansion to be paid for by middle-income Americans and those who are brazen enough to try and make money running small businesses.

The dislike of markets and profit was always at the center of ObamaCare.

Now the debate can be more clearly and properly framed and pursued, especially by conservatives.

Barbarians at the Gate

Literally.

An extremist group has seized the African city of Timbuktu, systematically destroying its monuments.

On June 1, breakaway rebels with the extremist Islamist group Ansar Dine (translation: "Defenders of Faith") took control of Timbuktu.

In their first month of rule, Ansar Dine has shut down the tourism industry ("We are against tourism. They foster debauchery," a representative said), sent locals fleeing, and, over the past four days, destroyed half of the shrines that mark Timbuktu's ancient and remarkable history. The United Nations condemned the destruction and the International Criminal Court suggested it could be a war crime, but Ansar Dine insisted they won't slow down, later pulling a beautiful Gothic door off the Sidi Yahya mosque that became one of the world's great centers of learning during the 1400s. They follow an extreme form of Islam (though a relatively modern one; it emerged in late-1700s Saudi Arabia) that sees Timbuktu's shrines and mosque-universities as sacrilegious; a form of idol-worship. Their campaign is still going -- it's been compared to the Taliban's early-2001 destruction of ancient Buddha statues -- and some observers worry that many of Timbuktu's historical treasures, which have survived countless invasions and empires, won't live out the month.

Body by Pininfarina

Sergio Pininfarina designed some of the most gorgeous auto bodies ever.  Although this is not my exact vehicle, I was given an Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce in exquisite steel blue with tobacco interior 25 years ago. It did look just like this.

Now Pininfarina is gone.  But - those of us who appreciated the beauty of a sleek machine will never forget the artist's creations.  Nor ... the memories that went with them.

The Internet Never Forgets

310,000 jobs created?  Barack Obama is not impressed - at least, not in 2004.

But 80,000 jobs created in June 2012 - when another guy is president?  Oh - that is a step in the right direction!

If you think that this does not make sense and that we really are not taking steps in the right direction - then vote in November for the Other Guy.  And - don't only vote for him - do all you can to help others appreciate that 80,000 jobs created last month - along with many, many other decisions and policies - are not steps in the right direction......

We're All Freeloaders Now

The American spirit:  independent, self-sufficient, pioneering, proud.....

Well; not if our current administration has anything to say about it.

One in seven of all Americans is now on food stamps, but that's not enough for the bureaucrats at the Department of Agriculture.

They're determined to increase that number, and to do that they must eliminate the "mountain pride" of certain Americans, who value personal responsibility and independence above all else, and get them on the government dole.

Community organizers don't quit easily. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, of the Agriculture Department gave "a Gold Award" recently to the local social workers in tiny Jefferson, N.C., between Husk and Deep Gap and not far from the Tennessee border, for bravely confronting "mountain pride" and increasing food-stamp participation in Ashe County by 10 percent.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a Republican who represents thousands of constituents afflicted with mountain pride disease (as the feds might describe it), is particularly concerned that the Department of Agriculture focuses on trying to reform "culture" by eliminating long-held cultural beliefs, which are none of the government's business.

"I think it's a deep problem," he tells the Daily Caller, "when [federal] officials think it is their duty to overcome 'mountain pride' or the American sense of independence and individual responsibility."

Neither the senator or anyone else begrudges helping the hungry or helpless; indeed, it's a Christian's duty, as a Scots-Irishman would readily concede. But destroying the culture that tamed the frontier and shaped America will be beyond the power and ability of a messiah from Chicago.

What will happen when almost all of us are on the dole - or, at least aspire to that condition?  Vote for four more years in November - and - we may get to find out.

Is This George Bush's Fault, Too?

Back in the Triassic Era, when I attended school, education was quite different.  Only kids living in ritzy enclaves like those of my buddy Christopher Fountain attended private schools.  The rest of us attended local public schools - and there we received fine educations.  We studied the masters of literature in English, learned about biology, chemistry, astronomy and more in science, found out how our nation was created and the current events of the day, hunkered down to master geometry, algebra and trig, took on Spanish or French- along with a host of other topics.  Bad behavior in class sent us to a study hall after school or the principal's office.  We were graded according to our performance - and woe to those of us who came home with a lousy report card.

My, how school has changed.

Just a few miles from where I attended school in suburban Chicago, George Will writes about Chicago's schools of today, their teachers - and the teacher's unions.

My Religion is America

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

If you asked my true religion, I would not answer anything practiced in a church, synagogue or mosque. My real religion is America, and I feel privileged that, among the world’s 7 billion people, I am one of the roughly 300 million lucky enough to be an American. This transcends mere patriotism. I believe in what this country stands for, even though I acknowledge its limits and failures. As individuals, we are no better than most(selfishness and prejudice having survived). As a society, we have often violated our loftiest ideals (starting with the acceptance of slavery in 1787). Our loud insistence of “exceptionalism” offends millions of non-Americans, who find us exceptional only in our relentless boasting.

But these caveats do not dim my love of country. I am still stirred by “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I think our messy mixture of democratic traditions, respect for the individual and economic dynamism commands a unique place in human history. In most societies, people are marked by where they were born, their ethnic heritage or religious conviction. In the United States, these are secondary. Americans’ self-identity springs from the beliefs on which this country was founded, including the belief that no one is automatically better than anyone else simply by virtue of birth.

As you can well imagine, I am on the side of liberty.  Attempting to make us all "equal" is an exercise in futility.  We are all endowed with different strengths, weaknesses, abilities and challenges.  "Equality" may sound like a noble goal.  But it is a fiction.

What can be accomplished, however, is to work toward preservation of our liberty and equality of opportunity.  America is the land where our laws protect all.  No matter your defining characteristics, you are equal amongst the rest of Americans in light of our laws.

It is up to each of us to decide where we wish to go in life ... what we wish to achieve and do, what has meaning for us - and what does not. 

That is the beauty of America.  Long may she wave!

Do It Yourself

Since the recent Supreme Court case that failed to kill off Obamacare, many conservatives I know seem on the brink of suicide themselves.  They believe that Obamacare is horrible law; something that will harm our nation's finances, our healthcare system - and intrude where it ought not in our personal lives.

I agree with them.

But where I do not agree with them is their notion that this is the worst decision ever - and that it is irrevocable.  As David Brooks well puts it - if you don't like something, then fix it yourself.

Hostility toward the Supreme Court has risen sharply since Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. upheld the Obama health care law. People are apparently angry that the court didn’t rid them of a law they detest. But that’s silly. If Americans want to replace this thing, they should do it themselves.

As for the liberals who say that conservatives don't have a plan - sorry; false.  Read the whole Brooks column.  Perhaps there is a whisper of a chance, should you be liberal, you'll realize how horrific this law truly is.  And - even if you don't, perhaps you will see that Republicans don't all just sit around complaining - some of them actually are attempting to come up with cogent, worthwhile alternatives to Obamacare that are indeed far superior.

In any case - quit complaining.  Whether you're a politician or a doctor or just one of the great unwashed - you can play a role to improve our society.  Just do it.

 

 

Oh, Beautiful

One day early (because I know some of you are starting your celebrations today!) - Fourth of July best wishes.

A few lovely photographs from a friend of mine, Cathy DeMoll.  Cathy picked up the camera late in life - with, as you can see - marvelous success!