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Obama– Carter 2.0

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President Jimmy Carter promised Hope and Change to an America dragged through the mud by a media feeding frenzy during the Nixon Watergate era.

The left got the white house handed to them, along with the congress, and nothing could stop the wholesale implementation of liberal-progressive policies. Anyone who lived during the Carter administration knows that it was a horrific time in American history.

Carter began his presidency by apologizing for American success, and it wasn’t long before Arabs began slapping him around like the whimp he told them he was.

OPEC decided the US was powerless to oppose them, and they immediately began cutting oil supplies and raising prices. Carter’s response was classic Democrat, demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of global free markets–impose price freezes on gasoline in the US. World oil markets naturally sought out the more lucrative markets and we well recall the gas lines stretching for blocks as Americans waited for hours to get their tanks filled, reminiscent of the Depression Era shortages and rationing schemes.
In grand Neville Chamberlain style Carter immediately tried diplomatic talks with the Soviet Union feeling that thrill going up his leg as the Soviets put their signatures on pieces of paper with him. Of course, while agreeing to limit expansion, the USSR invaded Afghanistan behind his back, bitch-slapping the president of the United States in front of the entire world.

Carter also withdrew US support of the Shah of Iran, historically a strong U.S. ally in the Middle East, one of few who recognized Israel as a sovereign state. Without our support the Shah was forced into exile, replaced by a fundamentalist government, hostile to the U.S. Iranian students stormed the US embassy and took 53 Americans hostages, and held them as political prisoners for 444 days. Carter had been paring back the US military and saw his duty as Commander in Chief as unbecoming a Progressive President, and when it was time to send in a military extraction team to get our hostages out, the equipment failed in one of the greatest military blunders in history. The hostages were kept in Iran and paraded before the world media up until President Elect Ronald Reagan sent Iran the message, “Let my people go,” and they were brushed up and sent back immediately.

Carter, the Apologizer in Chief, also gave up US control of the American-built Panama Canal, affording China and other nations greater access to our easier trade routes, further harming US trade superiority. Seeing no deterrence, the Soviets further expanded their influence in the Western Hemisphere by helping leftists overthrow governments in Central and South America.

Democratic economic strategies had our US economy spiraling in a tailspin, with the prime rate at 21 percent, killing business expansion and the housing market. Of course, unemployment skyrocketed under these circumstances.

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

This writer has always said that American politics has been reduced to this: The Democrats take control of government based on promises of throwing a big party, and the next morning the Republicans are called in to clean up the mess.

At what point will America wake up to the reality that the policies of the left don’t work? It’s time to install a conservative government, and to keep a conservative government in place . . . and replace the long-term growth, development and expansion of personal liberty that we enjoyed for the first 100 years. Call me old fashioned.

PUBLIUS

Wisconsin Unplugs the Machine

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Wisconsin is a state like many others in the Midwest, home to working people just trying to live the American dream. In recent decades the state has been heavily influenced by unions, with Democratic political leaders striking sweetheart union deals in the tradition of leftist politics. The scheme is similar to the Harry Hopkins political plan—Tax, Spend, Elect!—only with a middleman inserted between the politician and the treasury; the union boss.

Indeed, like so many states that have handed the reins of government over to union bosses, Wisconsin has become the poster child for union/government collusion to drain the public coffers through graft, corruption, and mandated inefficiency and waste. With a $3.6 billion budget deficit hanging over the state’s head, Wisconsin voters found themselves backed into a corner, and forced to make the ultimate hard choice—vote in a Republican governor to clean up after the party thrown by the Democrats.

Sure, nearly everyone liked things the way they were. High taxes, government over-regulation and unions siphoning the profits off the state’s economy served the purposes of those receiving the money—namely, union bosses, Democratic politicians and their capitalist cronies. They went out every political season and sold their scam to the public, telling them that the “working people” were getting their piece of the pie, and that as long as the status quo was enforced, no one would get hurt.

The $3.6 billion deficit changed the status quo, however, and the voters had to face the reality of the union/government scam. Reluctantly, they brought in Governor Scott Walker and allowed him to do the job that responsible government must do. He and his bare majority in the state capital passed legislation that stripped the most egregious abuses of power from union boss hands. The uproar was heard around the state as militant union thugs “occupied” the capitol building and the streets, while Democrat senators left the state en masse during session to rob the legislature of a quorum to pass its initiatives.

This temper tantrum resulted in tens of millions of dollars in damage to the state, and a recall effort against those who had dared stand up to the corruption that had taken over Wisconsin.

Last night the people of the state spoke. Indeed, in the mere year since Governor Walker and new bare-majority passed their demonized legislation, we discover, yet again, that Republican reality saved the day for Wisconsin, and the crushing debt was eliminated, and tens of thousands of new jobs created.

The political machine that took over our country when unions were allowed into the public employee realm is beginning to cough and sputter. As other states take heart and begin to pull the plug on union/government collusion, we will see similar results—good for states and citizens, and bad for union bosses and Democrats who rely on their forced dues kickbacks to fund populist campaigns.

The Silent Majority is back, and it is taking back its country. The next stop? Washington, D.C., and its union run Democratic Party bosses. We might even take the unions out of teaching, and get our children the educations we are paying for.

PUBLIUS

Hope and Change Now Defined

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President Obama ran on hope and change when he asked America to make him the president. On the day he took office gasoline prices were $1.79.

The average unemployment rate under George Bush was 5.2 percent, considered full employment for those seeking work.

Candidate Obama blasted the Bush administration for those “dismal numbers.”

Now gasoline prices are stuck near $4.00 a gallon with no relief in sight and the real unemployment and underemployment rate remains above 15 percent, and it is much worse for American minorities.

Even the government’s official unemployment numbers have the president’s unemployment rate above 8 percent for most of his administration, averaging 9.0 percent. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified Wednesday that he projects the official rate will remain between 8.2 and 8.5 percent for the remainder of 2012, and that takes into consideration all of the job seekers who just give up and fade away from government statistics.

You may recall President Obama’s famous interview with Matt Lauer on “Today” on February 1, 2009 (we’ve inserted the video below), just after taking office as he asked the congress for his first economic stimulus package—nearly $900 billion.

Lauer: At some point will you say ‘Wait a minute. We’ve spent this amount of money; we’re not seeing the results. We’ve got to change course dramatically.’

Obama: Look, I’m at the start of my administration. One nice thing I find about the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable. I’ve got four years. A year from now people are going to see that we’re starting to make some progress, but there’s still going to be some pain out there. If I don’t have this done in three years then there’s going to be a one term proposition.

Does this indicate that Obama will be voting for Romney in November, because despite increasing the national debt a full 50 percent from $10 trillion to $15 trillion in just 3 years, the economy is much worse than when he took the helm. Of course, the President’s re-election team has begun chanting the mantra that if unemployment dips below 8 percent or gasoline prices drop 10 cents, then that is evidence that the President’s leadership is superior. They’re wrong.

Voters are shaky with Obama’s track record, and a new Fox News Poll reveals that Americans aren’t giving him a lot of credit for effort. Here are the answers of those who were asked-

BEST THING PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS DONE TO HELP THE ECONOMY:

15%      Stopped Job Loss/Recession
8%        Loans to Auto Industry
7%        Stimulus Bill
5%        New Health Care Law
43%     Done Nothing to Help

The poll also asked the question that Ronald Reagan posed to voters: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Of course, as painful a memory as the Jimmy Carter economy was, you may be surprised to learn that the average unemployment rate during his administration was just 7.6 percent–a number that the current administration would claim to be a resounding success.

The Ethanol Boondoggle

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With so many drivers looking to stretch their gas dollars many have discovered that avoiding fuel laced with ethanol can be cost effective. Ethanol, an alcohol derived from corn, is causing additional wear and tear on cars according to many owners, and is less efficient than pure gasoline.

Yet, ethanol producers are petitioning the EPA to augment their market share by increasing the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent, a 50 percent increase. They cite the greenness of their product and how it decreases reliance on foreign oil imports as their rationale.

In fact, ethanol has been a liberal pipe dream from the beginning. The government enforced incorporation of ethanol into American gasoline supplies has diverted corn crops around the world, driving food prices up by more than 25 percent, and world starvation levels up by a like number.

But it is green, and efficient liberals tell us. Not so fast. Recent studies have blown the cover off yet another green scam. Studies show that every gallon of ethanol requires 1,500 gallons of water and nearly 2 gallons of gasoline to produce. The cost is prohibitive, but as with all green shams, consumer pricing seems somewhat reasonable due only to government (taxpayer) subsidies.

It is time for the government to get out of the way of energy producers. It has been nearly 40 years since the feds have allowed the oil industry to build a new refinery in the U.S., and they have tied up all of the leases on federal lands so that those sources have dried up. Offshore drilling and over-regulation have led to shortages and catastrophic spills. As we’ve heard so much lately, it’s time to Drill Baby, Drill.

Publius

Bringing Fairness to Taxes

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As the propaganda press stirs up the occupying proletariat in our nation, and our streets become filled with couch potatoes demanding their fair share of that which has been earned by others, the insanity and impossibility of the scene serves as ample proof that too much weed indeed dulls the human brain’s ability to reason.

The 99 percent demand that they be supported by the 1 percent. They demand that taxation be applied “fairly.”

Indeed, 47 percent of the country pays no federal income taxes whatsoever, and the top 25 percent of earners pay 87 percent of the total burden. The top 1 percent pay 36% of all federal income taxes, while the top 5 percent pay 58%.

In fact, this distribution scheme is unfair, but it is not those who now bear a significantly higher portion of the burden who should be made to shoulder even more of the load.

There is a story that I heard years ago about the fairness of the distribution of tax burdens that I think will be instructive. It’s precise origin is unknown as far as I know, but I would like to give proper credit if I could find the person who developed it.

Suppose that every day ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Publius

So What’s the Problem with a $16 Trillion Debt?

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President Obama and his associates on the left follow the Keynesian theory of economics, the idea that when economies wane, government deficit spending will reignite the flame. To that end the Obama administration has spent trillions of dollars in 3 years, around 40 percent of which has been borrowed, and on which the country is now paying interest.

The national debt stood at $10 trillion when Barack Obama moved into the Oval Office just three short years ago. That nearly incomprehensible amount represented the unbridled deficit spending of generations of left-leaning presidents and congresses—Democratic and Republican.

Today the national debt stands at $15.7 trillion, more than a 50 percent increase in so short a time. If the congress complies with the President’s demands for increased spending, the national debt will exceed $17.5 trillion by next year.

What’s the problem, you ask?

When Americans turn off the alarm clock and hustle off to work, the first $1.2 billion they generate every day must be siphoned off of the economy just to pay the current interest on the national debt. That amount grows each day as additional money is borrowed to run the government, and as unpaid interest on the debt compounds.

The federal budget is up to $4 trillion a year, with multiple stimulus packages filled with crony payoffs and pork barrel spending wasting additional trillions, without any economic return to the American people. The economy is worsening, with real unemployment and underemployment over 15 percent.

Government leaders should have put the country on a fast-track to pay off the national debt 20 years ago . . . and 10 years ago . . . and 4 years ago. Those on the left boisterously proclaim that the only answer is to raise taxes. We challenge the left to demonstrate to the public when raising taxes has ever improved the economy. In fact, it has never happened. It is when taxes are slashed that money is freed up and businesses invest in new jobs, putting people to work and heating up the economy. President Kennedy proved this, as did Ronald Reagan.

Time after time Keynesian economics has failed. So why do our universities still tout it as the model for our own economy? Why are our government leaders drawing all available dollars, current and future, into the abyss of federal spending? How many jobs were created with the shovel ready projects promised by President Obama as he highjacked nearly $900 billion in the first stimulus package?

Debt creates poverty. Ever family knows this. Those who frequent the check cashing-payday loans establishments have learned the hard way that it is a recipe for financial disaster. So when will our government leaders learn the lesson? We recall well as Jimmy Carter addressed the nation and scratched his head in confusion as he explained that he had implemented all of the university approved, liberal orthodox policies, yet the country appeared to be languishing in a “malaise.” These are people that don’t seem to learn from past mistakes. Debt equals poverty. Perhaps this is why Americans are becoming poorer with every passing day.

Publius

The Stem Cell War is Over

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Those who read George Bush’s Decision Points may have been interested to learn that up until the 9/11 attacks the most important issue facing his administration in his opinion was stem cell policy.

The stem cell problem is rooted in the abortion issue. Liberals support embryonic stem cell research because it bolsters their argument that abortion is socially desirable. President Bush echoed the conservative dilemma as he wrestled with the cost/benefits analysis of stem cell research—at what cost would stem cell benefits come?

President Bush wrote that he labored over the issue, holding out hope that adult stem cells (non-embryonic) would become available and the problems inherent in embryonic stem cells would become irrelevant.

According to Roger Nocera, M.D., that day has arrived. In his book Cells That Heal Us From Cradle To Grave: A Quantum Leap in Medical Science (Amazon ebook), Dr. Nocera reveals that useable adult stem cells were discovered in 2003 and have been used to treat serious diseases in clinics around the world since then.

Although Dr. Nocera is a self-described liberal Democrat who supports Roe v. Wade, and admits in the book that the Democrats have been backing the wrong horse on the stem cell issue, because of their misguided devotion to the abortion issue.

The completely naturally occurring adult stem cell discovered in 2003 has been utilized in treatments in offshore clinics—offshore, because stem cell treatment is currently banned by the FDA. This newly discovered adult stem cell is found stored in our own body fat or is left in umbilical cords and thrown out as bio waste.

Many incurable diseases, conditions and injuries are being cured with simple treatments. One of my favorite cases is a middle-aged doctor who needed a heart transplant and would die within a few more months, and was given a simple I.V. with these Healing Cells, and his heart is now as good as new.

This new technology completely vindicates conservatives, and it WILL LOWER HEALTH CARE costs dramatically . . . by cheaply healing serious conditions that currently drag on for years, requiring expensive drugs and medical care.

Publius

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