what if?

The Smaller Pie

Barack Obama seems to want a smaller pie for all of us.  The Chicago Sun Times - and I - want more.

 

Obama’s remark to the Register editorial board — which later endorsed Romney, the first time the paper has backed a GOP nominee in four decades — shouldn’t have come as a surprise. During the 2008 campaign, he didn’t shrink from proclaiming an ideological goal even when the facts argued against it. During a debate, Obama said he advocated increasing the capital gains tax even when told lower rates produce more revenues by encouraging investments in the economy. Obama said higher taxes were a matter of fairness. Obama wanted the pie split up fairly even if his policy meant a smaller pie.

A smaller pie is exactly what the American family has ended up with after four years of his policies. Household income has fallen, and most of that came during the Obama recovery, the weakest in modern history. Economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, has slowed and some experts worry the recovery may be stalling and headed back toward recession in 2013. So the issue of trust is a simple one. The record shows Obama can be trusted to deliver more of the same ideological agenda that has kept too many people out of work and eroded the American dream.

The Mysteries of Life

If you are like me, then you like life "as good as it can be".  Advanced investigation and organization, ideal outcomes and striving for the best are all in the game plan.

Yet, no matter how we plan and strive and organize and make plans for contingencies - sometimes, life strikes back at our best efforts.  So it was this week on the east coast with Hurricane Sandy.

Walter Russell Mead ponders what we devotees of 12 step programs know:  essentially, there is some of life over which we are powerless.  Let Mead explain; he does it so very well.

We each try to build a self-sufficient world, a sturdy little life that is proof against storms and disasters — but none of us can really get that done.

Strangely, that admission of weakness opens the door to a new kind of strength. To acknowledge and accept weakness is to ground our lives more firmly in truth, and it turns out that to be grounded in reality is to become more able and more alive. Denial is hard work; those who try to stifle their awareness of the limits of human life and ambition in the busy rounds of daily life never reach their full potential.

To open your eyes to the fragility of life and to our dependence on that which is infinitely greater than ourselves is to enter more deeply into life. To come to terms with the radical insecurity in which we all live is to find a different and more reliable kind of security. The joys and occupations of ordinary life aren’t all there is to existence, but neither are the great and all-destroying storms. There is a calm beyond the storm, and the same force that sends these storms into our lives offers a peace and security that no storm can destroy.

We hope that our readers will take the opportunity that a storm like this offers, step back from their daily lives, and reach out to the Power who plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Getting the right connection with the highest power of all not only gives you a place of refuge when the big storm finally comes; it transforms daily life and infuses ordinary occupations with greater meaning and wonder than you ever understood.

The world needs people who have that kind of strength and confidence. Storms much greater than Sandy are moving through our lives these days: the storms shaking the Middle East, recasting the economy, transforming the political horizons of Asia. It will take strong and grounded people to ride these mighty storms; paradoxically, it is only by coming to terms with our limits and weakness that we can find the strength and the serenity to face what lies ahead.

 

Stand Down

True and funny?  Or - true and (when you think about it) not amusing at all?

First Time in Her Life

What would cause an 80 year old woman who has been an official Democratic delegate and has voted for the party her entire life decide this election to vote for the Republican candidate?

Find out for yourself.

It is precisely because of my belief in the longtime ideals of  the Democratic Party that I feel the responsibility to speak out  now.

No Democratic president has ever been so  fiscally irresponsible. President Clinton worked together with Congress to  balance the budget and erase the deficit; President Obama has run  trillion-dollar deficits every year, and we are now $6 trillion deeper in debt  than when he was elected. Over 40 cents of every dollar we now spend is borrowed  from China.

Future generations are being saddled with this  burden.

DEMOCRATS BELIEVE in  furthering human rights and promoting liberty around the world. But Obama  completely misreads the international scene. He called Syria’s Assad a “reformer,” yet has remained silent as Assad slaughters his own people. He  abandoned president Hosni Mubarak to the Egyptian mobs. In addition, he allowed  the Muslim Brotherhood to take control, not only threatening Israel but also  terrorizing Egypt’s minorities.

Nowhere has President Obama failed to  live up to Democratic ideals more than in his relationship with democratic  Israel. From his creation of “daylight” between our countries to constant public  criticism of Israeli policy – does Obama do this to any other country? – Obama  has allowed severe deterioration of our special relationship just as Israel and  the world face extreme danger.

Coming from Missouri, I take  immense pride that President Truman had the courage, conviction and moral  compass to recognize the nascent state of Israel. By comparison, President Obama  has steered our relationship to an abysmal low.

In reviewing the above, I  see no choice but to switch sides and cast my vote for the Republican candidate  for President Mitt Romney, who better embodies our Democratic ideals. I ask you  to join me.

Voting "No"

In Minnesota, we are voting next week on an amendment to our state constitution.  It would enshrine in that document that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

In my opinion, irrespective of your views on marriage - this is not something that ought to be put into our constitution.  Yet, those who know me are aware that I do believe all of us - irrespective of our sexual orientation - ought to have the right to a lifetime, legal relationship with the adult that they love.

This Republican agrees with me.

ALMOST As Cute As Mr Mollo

Marnie, the ringneck.

Truly adorable videos!

The Paper of Record?

Once the New York Times was the Paper of Record.

Now?  Calling it a rag is an insult to rags everywhere.

It is hard to imagine how any newspaper could ignore, or even try to downplay, a story of this magnitude. Yet, if you rely on the New York Times for information, you know little about the battle of Benghazi, and nothing at all about the explosive account that emerged on Friday, fueled in part by the anger of the father of one of the dead American operatives.

By any rational standard, the Benghazi story dwarfs al Qaqaa by several orders of magnitude. An American ambassador is dead, along with three other Americans. The administration has been caught red-handed, lying about the nature of the attack on the Benghazi consulate by describing it as a spontaneous mob action when the administration knew it was a carefully planned terrorist attack, scheduled for the September 11 anniversary. And it is now being reported that valiant Americans went to their deaths because the Obama administration turned a deaf ear to their calls for help. Al Qaqaa, by comparison, was what some of our readers call a nothingburger. Yet, while the Times played al Qaqaa for everything it was worth in 2004, it has tried to cover up the infinitely more significant Benghazi story.

The inescapable conclusion is that the New York Times is not a serious news source, but rather is an organ of the Democratic Party. Whether the Times covers a story or not has little to do with the importance of the story, and has much to do with the partisanship that suffuses the newspaper. This is why intelligent news consumers have zero respect for the New York Times, even though individual reporters there sometimes do a good job.

We Are More Than Our Ladyparts

I think so.  Don't you?

Money Where his Mouth Is

My kinda guy.

Made every cent of his wealth, supports and understands free markets, realizes that we must reform our educational system - and is willing to spend a lot of the dough he made to make this happen.

Plus he is supporting a mind game:  chess!

An exceptional American!

 

Unfit for Office?

Before you make the final decision for whom to vote on Election Day, please read this entire column by Mark Steyn.  You might also read some of the comments following - including at least one that question whether or not Barack Obama and Joe Biden are fit for office - or not.

Usually, I excerpt the key parts of a column in a post.  Here, however - all are "key parts." 

The part where an irrelevant YouTube is blamed for the massacre in Bengahzi is key.  The part where the man who filmed it is blamed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and arrested - to be held until a few days after the election - is key.  Finding out through State Department emails that the administration knew what was happening within thirty minutes after it began - yet did nothing - is key.

We learned that although help was desperately requested, none was given.  We get Steyn's opinion that the administration did nothing, for to do so would highlight that their re-election "selling point" that they had killed Osama bin Laden and stopped al-Qaida would be demolished.

We are reminded that at a ceremony when Charles Woods' son's body was brought back, Biden remarked to Woods, ""Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?" - a statement that still leaves me truly without comment.

And we are reminded that while Romney and Ryan stump with discussion of how to stop our runaway spending, how to aid our ailing economy, how to have intelligent laws and regulation so that more jobs become available and our schools work better and Americans can once again prosper and be strong, that Obama and Biden are concentrating on free birth control for women, government sponsorship for the multi-million dollar Big Bird and mammograms at Planned Parenthood - despite the fact that Planned Parenthood doesn't deliver mammograms.

When we go to vote, we should always recognize that we are never going to cast our vote for perfect candidates.  No matter who they are, they will sometimes say something stupid and sometimes make poor choices - sometimes serious ones.

Nevertheless, choose we must.  We must examine the record of the candidates who have had four years to show how their principles and actions are good for our country, or to take a chance on the candidates who are promising a new path.  We must decide if we want the candidates that way too often seem to blame their predecessors, or take actions to protect themselves rather than the American people - or the candidates who have proved to put the welfare of others before that of themselves.

Do read the whole column.  Think about your choice in the next eleven days.  Then - choose as your life depends upon it.

For some, it already has.

 

The Blue States

For a long time, some of my liberal friends crowed about how very superior the blue states were to the red states.

I wonder what they are saying now.

Nearly two-thirds of the Illinois state government’s $58 billion in direct debt consists of bonds the government issued to cover retirement payments for workers, including a $10 billion pension obligation bond that broke all previous records in 2003.

Yet despite all that borrowing, Illinois’ public pension system is still in tatters. In fact, its total pension shortfall is conservatively estimated at $85 billion. Recent changes that raised the retirement age for new workers and limited the pensions that future workers can earn have not reduced the existing obligations.

The task force said that further reductions in pension benefits appear inevitable, though legally difficult, because the state has promised more than it can deliver.

Illinois politicians, including the present President of the United States, have wrecked one of the country’s potentially most prosperous and dynamic states, condemned millions of poor children to substandard education, failed to maintain vital infrastructure, choked business development and growth through unsustainable tax and regulatory policies — and still failed to appease the demands of the public sector unions and fee-seeking Wall Street crony capitalists who make billions off the state’s distress.

The French say that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. But it is also true to say that behind every great failure lies a great blunder. Late 20th century American liberalism is wrong about the way the world works. It doesn’t understand cause and effect very well. It cannot feed itself. Given full power it cannot design and implement policies that advance the causes it honors. Modern American liberalism can only win Pyrrhic victories, because liberals in power take steps that advance their decline.

 

Do You Really

Want this man as your vice president for four more years?

“Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?” — Vice President Joe Biden to Charles Woods, grieving father of slain Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, during a memorial service at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Biden reaches new heights (or is it lows?) with a comment that is beyond comprehension and common decency.

Seven Hundred and Two Percent?!?

To what, you may ask, am I referring?  This.

How many times have you heard your liberal friends insist that we must raise more tax dollars to pay for better education?  And - who among us does not want the best education we can produce for our children?

But if you look at the statistics in the study above, then you will appreciate that education has become a gravy train for bureaucrats and unions that has nothing to do with a superior education for the next generations. 

The Friedman report, authored by Ben Scafidi, PhD, takes an even longer look, demonstrating that since 1950, public school enrollment has increased 96 percent, while the number of teachers has increased 252 percent and the number of non-teaching personnel (administrators and other staff) has increased an astonishing 702 percent. “Put differently,” Scafidi notes, “the rise in non-teaching staff was more than seven times faster than the increase in students”:

Between 1950 and 2009, the pupil-staff ratio declined to 7.8 students per public school employee from 19.3 students per public school employee. By 2009, there were fewer than eight public school students per adult employed in the public school system. The drop in the pupil-teacher ratio also was large—the pupil-teacher ratio was 27.5 students per teacher in 1950 and only 15.4 in 2009.

Scafidi also shows how this administrative bloat has affected schools on a state-by-state basis (and uses an interactive map to make the point). Of note: “Nine states with declining student populations had significant increases in public school personnel—D.C., Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Vermont.”

At some point, our society has to admit that what we have been doing for decades now is not working.  More and more adminstrators and teachers does not a fine education guarantee.

We now spend more than three times per pupil, adjusted for inflation, than what we spent in 1970.  And, if you are like me, then you think that children received a superior public school education 40 years ago in contrast to today.

Let's stop the insanity.  Let's start doing what works for education our children, thinking outside the box - and realizing that more money spent does not insure a more well-educated child.

 

An Important Message

From a man who does understand creating jobs and how economies work.

Crazy: Three Stories

At Instapundit a few days ago, I read this story.

If you were to encounter my son, Tim, a tall, gaunt man in ragged clothes, on a San Francisco street, you might step away from him. His clothes, his dark unshaven face and his wild curly hair stamp him as the stereotype of the chronically mentally ill street person.

People are afraid of what they see when they glance at Tim. Policymakers pass ordinances to keep people who look like him at arm’s length. But when you look just a little more closely, what you find is a young man with a sly smile, quick wit and an inquisitive mind who — when he’s healthy — bears a striking resemblance to the youthful Muhammad Ali.

Tim is homeless. But when he was a toddler, my colleagues in the Connecticut state legislature couldn’t get enough of cuddling him. Yet it’s the policies of my generation of policymakers that put that formerly adorable toddler — now a troubled 6-foot-5 adult — on the street. And unless something changes, the policies of today’s generation of policymakers will keep him there.

I could not help but think of three stories from my own life involving mental illness.  Please read through them, and then wonder yourself - are our current policies dealing with mental illness and institutionalization and care crazy - or not?

Au Revoir Scientists

Well this will certainly beef up the kids signing up for science class - NOT!!!

The Wall Street Journal reports that an Italian court has convicted six scientists and a government of criminal manslaughter for what the court said was a failure to warn of a 2009 earthquake.  The judge sentenced the seven defendants to six years in prison, pending appeals.  I was aware of this case back when the prosecution was first initiated, but somehow assumed that this kind of claim was a stunt that would get tossed out in due course.  Apparently I was wrong, at least pending appeals.  I haven’t been able to find an English translation of the judgment, but the Wall Street Journal’s report doesn’t appear to be behind the subscriber wall:

An Italian court convicted six scientists and a government official of manslaughter for failing to adequately warn of the earthquake risk in the city of L’Aquila ahead of a deadly 2009 quake, in a surprise ruling that victims’ relatives welcomed but scientists said could undermine their work.

Judge Marco Billi sentenced each of the defendants to six years in prison—harsher than prosecutors’ original requests of four years. The judge also barred the men from holding public office for life. The sentences won’t come into effect until the end of any appeals process. ”The importance of this ruling isn’t that it says an earthquake can be predicted; rather that the risk of a quake can be predicted and, therefore, mitigated,” said Fabio Alessandroni, a lawyer representing many of the 308 people killed in the disaster.

Undecided

Are you a member of that small group of Americans who is yet to make up your mind about voting this election?  Here is a good piece that may guide you with your final choice.

All of these points are important and make sense.  This point, however, may be my strongest. 

He'd be one of the most decent men ever to sit in the Oval Office: This will sound too good to be true, but most of the people reading this column don't know a single, solitary person who is more compassionate and giving than Mitt Romney. Just to name a few of Mitt Romney's acts of charity, he raked leaves for the elderly, he bought milk for veterans at a VA hospital for two years, he helped a dying 14 year old boy write his will. At one point he devoted 10-20 hours per week serving in his church. He made Thanksgiving dinner for a family with a sick child and offered to pay for the college education of two boys who were made quadriplegics in a car wreck. Despite what you may hear in campaign commercials, Mitt Romney is exactly the sort of fundamentally decent man that we should want in a position of power.

We could use a knowledgeable, highly competent fellow who clearly is devoted to his fellow man in the White House - for more than a few reasons.  So - if you're not sure for whom to vote, think about what a positive effect the above would have on our nation.

 

 

 

 

 

A Decent Man

I will never forget the tragic day that Paul Wellstone, one of our state's senators, died in a plane crash.  The moment I heard, I froze. 

Almost every position that the man held, I thought was wrong.  Nevertheless, I thought him to be a decent and devoted-to-the-people man - a man who truly wanted to improve the world as best as he could.  At the wedding of friends of mine, I met him.  The ebulliance and kindness of both Paul and his wife had an indelible impression on me.

George McGovern, thankfully, had a long and full life.  He, too, held many views with which I would disagree.  Yet, McGovern also was a man that you knew was devoted to his country and its people, and who worked throughout his life to improve that nation and keep an open mind as to how to do it.  Wes Pruden remembers him.

Comitting Journalism

As those who regularly stop by what if? know, I am saddened by how few in the field of journalism actually seem to be practicing their craft well these days.

Nevertheless, I always like to give those who rise to the occasion their due.  Here is a column by Harry Stein who calls out those who are doing what fine journalists used to do:  seeking out truth and reporting it - irrespective of whose ox is gored.

It’s likely that most, if not all, of these people are politically liberal. But that’s precisely the point: based on their reporting, we don’t know, which is as it should be. So what should such an award be called? How about the Russert?

A Russert - one of my journalistic heroes - would be quite apt, Mr. Stein.

Cheater

Part of what has made America a great nation is that we have a rule of law.  Our judicial system may not be perfect.  Yet, we aim at delivering equitable justice to all Americans, be they rich or poor, young or old - irrespective of religion, race, sex and so forth and so on.  Justice is to be applied according to law; not to preferences or cronyism of those delivering justice.

So.  What does it mean when the campaign of our sitting president appears to be flat out cheating when it comes to election law?  Read this article. 

The Obama re-election campaign has accepted at least one foreign donation in violation of the law — and does nothing to check on the provenance of millions of dollars in other contributions, a watchdog group alleges.

Chris Walker, a British citizen who lives outside London, told The Post he was able to make two $5 donations to President Obama’s campaign this month through its Web site while a similar attempt to give Mitt Romney cash was rejected. It is illegal to knowingly solicit or accept money from foreign citizens.

Walker said he used his actual street address in England but entered Arkansas as his state with the Schenectady, NY, ZIP code of 12345.

“When I did Romney’s, the payment got rejected on the grounds that the address on the card did not match the address that I entered,” he said. “Romney’s Web site wanted the code from the back of card. Barack Obama’s didn’t.”

In September, Obama’s campaign took in more than $2 million from donors who provided no ZIP code or incomplete ZIP codes, according The GAI report found the Obama campaign Web sites do not ask donors to provide their three-digit card-verification value, or CVV, numbers to ensure they are the legitimate holders of the card. Romney’s campaign asks for such information, which is considered a standard security measure.to data posted on the Federal Election Commission Web site.

Does it sound to you as if President Obama's campaign is breaking our election laws knowingly?  It sure as hell does to me.

If our sitting president does not demand that his campaign do its best to follow what our election laws are, then how do you think he will continue to govern with the myriad of other issues that face us and our people?  Is this the sort of man we want to lead our country for the next four years?

I cannot guarantee how successful Mitt Romney would be as president.  Nevertheless, my prediction is that he will at least be honorable and faithful to the spirit and laws of the United States.