RIP Mr Kennedy

I would really be remiss if I didn’t talk about this weeks big story – Edward “Ted” Kennedy. In fact, I was already working on a different piece a few days ago, but this all shifted it and brought it to the front. I will get into that later in this article, but I do not like bashing the deceased either.

First off, Ted Kennedy seems a lot to me like Michael Jackson. They were both hugely talented figures who led tragic lives. Kennedy was one of the few people anywhere who could disagree with you and your views, fight against you, but still respect you and call you a friend. I think we could all take a lesson from that and we need more of that in Washington today. The deep seated hatred that we see so often didn’t seem to be a part of his character. It made him effective in dealing with everyone of all political viewpoints and parties.

Let’s not forget a few tragic facts. Many of my generation have not known about Chappaquiddick. I was shocked talking to a friend the other day who had no idea what I was talking about. Quick recap – Kennedy drove a car into a estuary, drowning a woman to death. He left the scene and went home to sleep. Judges later said it was most likely due to alcohol intake (he was an admitted alcoholic). His family connections seemed to help pull him out. In this way he was his generations OJ.

Secondly, the man watched two of his brothers be killed because of their beliefs. If that doesn’t shake a man to his core, he is not really a man. This had to have a profound effect on him. I know it would on me.

What I was going to write on is his sudden choice to ask the Massachusetts government to overturn a 2004 law that allowed a sitting senator to be replaced only be special election so that his coming death would have his seat filled by a vote. He wanted the democratic governor of Massachusetts to appoint his replacement. The law was put into effect in 2004 when John Kerry was running for president and the governor was a republican, who at that time would have named Kerry’s successor. Now Kennedy wanted the governor to name a replacement, not a vote. The problem that rubbed me wrong here was that the change in 2004 was pushed for by Kennedy himself. He now wanted to overturn his own law because of political convenience. Somehow right is right, until it isn’t going to work your way? Hmmm….

My biggest problem now has been the vultures in the Democratic party who are now preying on Kennedy’s legacy to promote their own agendas. They are shouting from every rooftop and cable news show that they are going to pass health care in honor of Ted Kennedy. They want it to be his legacy?!?! What about the near fifty years that he spent in the senate being his legacy? This smacks of nothing but politics at their worst. They should be embarrassed at using a colleague’s death to promote their own agendas.

I am sickened by the way that they are now using Kennedy as a puppet. They hope that the American people’s love for the Kennedy family will help turn the tide on a debate that is clearly in free fall. It’s like watching a re run of Weekend at Bernie’s but with no humor. Let’s use the dead guy to help us get what we want – he won’t mind, right? He’s dead after all….

It saddens me to see the cannibalism of the Democratic party’s own when the Republican’s are giving him more respect. It truly makes me question what we have become.

Charlie

Oceans and money…

As a quick note, I would like to talk about a fun old topic. Immigration. Living in Texas and flying all around the place, I see my fair share of immigrants. I have no problem with immigration, especially the legal variety. I would encourage more of it to help our country and help regulate it.

What I am dead set against is illegal immigration. Lets face it – these are people who’s first act coming into their new home is to commit a felony crossing of our borders. By definition they are criminal felons. This also decreases the incentive for honest people to go through the rigorous process that many natural born citizens could not. I know many people who vote who could not begin to pass the citizenship test, so I have all the respect in the world for those who do this legally and don’t want to see their hard work cheapened.

The other side of the coin is that I have worked and known many illegal people who are just working to help support their families back home. I have a hard time faulting a man who will risk his life and freedom to help feed his kids and help his family. The problem with this is that it leaves about eight billion dollars going straight out the door according to the Washington Post, and that is only to Mexico! My best bet is that it is total over sixteen billion to all money sent overseas to peoples family. That is money that is coming from the US economy and going out the door, never to return or be taxed.

Money that is spent in the US economy is “recycled” through taxes and growth in a way. If I get my pay, I am taxed on it. I spend it at a store, and I pay other taxes. They pay corporate or business taxes, and then the employee is payed, and the cycle starts over with the taxes from their pay check. All along the way we are funding US jobs and production. It all dies out when we send it out of the cycle and into another country.

So I would like to suggest a 35% tax on any funds being sent overseas. If you invest overseas, the same rules apply. It would help equalize the US worker with people in sweat shops and phone banks overseas because they would cost 35% more. Overseas factories would be less appealing and manufacturing in America could see a surge. And of course, the additional 5.6 billion from money that is just going to support peoples families back home. All of this would help ease the pressure from illegal immigration too, saving more in enforcement dollars too.

Harsh, maybe. Smart, definitely. Yes, there would be resentment from countries who depend on our money being sent to them, but hey – way it goes. There is only so long with a bleeding economy and massive debt load that we can keep supporting others. Time to shore up our own house. Let’s remove the plank from our own eye before we remove the speck from our neighbors. Maybe we can get back to a place that we can actually afford to help them instead of tying them to a sinking ship.

Charlie

Nuclear Dems

Nuclear is an interesting word in that it can refer to the explosive device or something that is so radioactive that it is fatal to be near. The new tone in Washington is great – working together and sharing ideas for the good of the people. The one catch is that we can all get along and share nice if you agree with the majority. If not, then it is basically a “screw you” mentality.

We were promised bi-partisan accomplishments in the campaign, but this week that went out the window to show the real side of the Democratic party. They love to work with you and listen as long as you agree. If not, the school yard bully comes out & the talk gets shrill. They have drug up arcane procedures that will bypass the will of the people. In fact, the town hall resistance is believed to be instigated and fake. Well, I know plenty of people, liberals included, that are highly opposed to the health care program and lots of other ideas that are being shoved through.

This week we have seen out front what many have known for years. The Dems love you if you agree with them only. If you disagree, you are a pariah. Now the president has said we will work with you, but if you don’t go with our plan we will just go around you anyway. I think that the “nuclear option” is something that will destroy everything, Mostly it will destroy the democrats and keep everyone away from them for years. They are igniting their own Chernobyl in their own house by even mentioning the option.

There is hope though. The two most important things to most politicians are getting re elected and raising money, in that order. We all can affect that directly and ostracizing themselves is not going to help them get there in a year in 2010. We need to keep up the pressure by writing and calling our congress people and voting with our wallets. I am not talking about donating thousands of dollars, which most of us cannot do. If we all donated just a dollar it would go a long way towards helping. About 65 million voted for Obama during the election, and a buck a piece is huge. I urge you to keep it up and donate your conscience.

Charlie

Thanks Mr President – seriously.

For those of you that think I never have anything to say positive about the Democrats, I am about to prove you wrong. A new poll come out this week. According to the New York Times (of all people) the majority of Americans in all 50 states now view themselves as conservatives. This is a direct result of the super liberal policies and ideas of the current administration.

The funny thing is the policies that are being put into place are not at all what was campaigned on. During the campaign, Obama said that a public health system was an “extreme” solution. He was arguing to cut costs, save the economy & reduce the defect. The deficit has ballooned far beyond what anyone prior has managed to do in a term, and we are only in the first 9 months! We are now looking that “extreme” health care right in the face. The concern and arguments about the saving of businesses that any one dared dream of are now small potatoes.

I would like to thank the administration for showing the world what extreme liberals are capable of and opening the public’s eyes to this. Without his vigorous push to the left we may have stayed mired and complacent while the likes of Kennedy slowly sold us down the river. His accelerated pace has shocked us all into action – look at the town hall meetings. Remember, the Nazis were the People’s Socialist Party – the first things they did were take over private enterprises, production of goods, financial institutions & finally health care. The people had no choice at that point but to go along for the ride. If government provides everything for us, they own us. I prefer independence and the chance to succeed or fail on my own merits to slavery.

And yes, the white boy had the audacity to suggest the president is ready to enslave us…

Charlie

How do you eat a whale?

I love the new spin that is being floated out on health care in the last few days. The administration is starting to realize that the public is highly opposed to the government running every aspect of our lives, particularly health care. They are finding out that no amount of beautiful teleprompter oration from out Pied Piper in chief will change that either. So what is an person to do to get all of the ignorant children to take their medicine? Call it candy, not medicine!

We have been “leaked” information that the president is willing to pass on the public option for health care and go to state sponsored cooperatives. Let’s forget that this “competition” doesn’t have to make a profit for just a minute. Instead, let’s look at our neighbors to the north, Canada. Saskatchewan had a group of doctors that formed a health care company and the public sector jobs liked it and formed a co-op to compete with it. Sound familiar so far? Well, the public group went broke. Instead of calling it quits, they decided it didn’t work because not enough people were in the group, so they absorbed the private company to make it work. Long story short, the nation decided it was great, added more numbers still, and it is going broke today. Canadians are going to our doctors for health care to avoid huge lines and months long waits. This is the “incrementalism” that people are worried about.

We now have a majority of people, according to a recent Rasmussen poll that oppose the health care reform bill. Do not think though that what you want will effect your politicians though. They realize that this is a whale of a problem to pass health care and are getting realistic about it. They won’t abandon their goal of eating the whale, they just know now that they may have to eat it one bite at a time.

Charlie

Basic Math

So the big topic on the front of everyone’s mind is healthcare. I would be totally off base to ignore this topic that is SO important to all of us. What I am not going to do is go into purely inflammatory stuff like naming groups “government death panels.” There is enough meat here to go into without getting into the mud slinging.

To start off let’s look at the situation with some basic logic so lets look at a few facts. First off, every politician says that we need to cut health care costs. Second, the current administration wants to add 50 million people, or about 10% of the US population to heath care. Third, the healthy are cheap to care for. They don’t go to the doctor often, need medicines, or much else. The sick are the people that need the majority of the money.

So to put these all together – we are going to add people who can’t contribute to a system that is already spending too much and the cost is going to go down? How? Obviously we need to cut costs. Our elderly and ill will, by necessity need to have care cut to get the costs down. Obama has said he can cut the cost per individual from $8000 to $4000 per year. I know that I do not get 8K per year in care, but many elderly and older patients do. Many people on such common items as blood pressure or heart medications can bypass this. So we can say hello to rationing life saving, common medicines the minute we become a budget item on the governments sheet.

This is basic common math and logic folks. We are not talking rocket science and magic numbers out of thin air. We are planning on doing more with less and there has to be someone who gets cut here. Our president has said that a 100 year old woman should not get a pace maker, but get pain killers instead. It is a sad commentary when we have children asking the President of the United States of America if he is going to kill their grandmother. Go give your grandmother a hug and hope she doesn’t need a pace maker or she will just get a big shot of drugs to keep her loopy until she is gone. I think a vet would call that being put to sleep. Thanks Mr. President….

Charlie

DMV DMO

I still want to know why so many people think that they can get something for nothing just because the government says they will. I mean, if I walk into a car dealership and they say “hey, here is a free car” or someone says “you want $10,000 cash” I will want to know what the catch is. But the government says it can pull this magic, give us all a bunch of stuff, and no one has to pay. So what’s the catch?

I am really in favor of keeping Washington as far from me as possible. Government bureaucracies tend to just slow things down and complicate things. I mean, they can’t get the cash for clunkers program working and that should be simple. So let’s look at what they have done so far…

I know we all love dealing with the simplicity of the IRS, the tax codes are SO clear. The DMV is just warm and friendly full of helpful people that will go out of their way. Social Security is a great place to plan for your retirement – they are already admitting they are not financially solvent BEFORE the recession. More to the point, the health care that they provide is such a shining example of what we want our children to have. Medicare is bankrupt and going further down the hole each day. Millions of eligible people are turned down and refuse to wade through the red tape for the basic medical care they need. Do you think if it was that simple and great we would have millions who just don’t bother to get the free medical care they could have? Another great example of the government running healthcare is for our bravest and finest men and women in the military. The VA hospitals are underfunded, miserable places that shoot out McMeds and want to get you in and out as soon and as cheaply as possible.

Right now, we live in a country that 90% of the people including ALL classes, legal and otherwise, have health care. It is closer to 98% if we do not count those who are illegal, do not choose to use current public options like Medicare, or can afford it but choose not to carry coverage. We have a system that produces the majority of new innovations, drugs & procedures in the world. Our time to see a doctor is minimal compared to many other countries and we have some of the best facilities anywhere. We would risk this all for 2% of the population who can’t get health care? Why not just pick them up with medicare instead of risking our whole system and financial footing as a nation.

The notion that a public funded system could “compete” with private companies is just asinine. We are being told that this public option would insure more at a cheaper rate to “keep things fair for all” but these are private companies that are in business to make a profit. A government entity has no motivation to make a profit and to place something like this, that is funded by taxes on the private insurance companies, is beyond logic. To say that they will “compete” is impossible, or they would have the same problems, rates, and profit goals. We know that this will not happen because they have said that the government option is going to be significantly cheaper.

Unfortunately, we have much of the American auto industry, banking, housing, and upper level education in the hands of Washington. To put it another way, we have state controlled industry, government controlled housing, and education at government institutes. Let’s not give them the last piece by doing the same with out health care.

The price of the free stuff that our politicians are offering is the idea of our democracy itself – our freedoms, liberties, and individual identities. We have proven that capitalism works over socialism, but we are choosing the easy, painless death of our ideals for a few shiny toys and a flat screen TV. I wonder what our children and grandchildren will think of the greatest, most prosperous and powerful nation on the planet – and if it will still be the United States of America.

Charlie

Basic guidelines for comments

Thanks for reading this part. I hope if you are that means that you are planning on contributing. To keep this alive and moving we all need to help add a little and say our peace. I am not planning on being a censor or stopping comments on whatever people want to say. That said, there has to be a few rules.

1. No profanity, vulgarity or other stuff you wouldn’t say in from of your Grandmother. I know, some of your grandmothers could peel paint off a battleship with their language, but hey, let;s keep it clean.

2. Keep on topic. If you have a comment on something completely new, e-mail me and let me know. I might write on it or add it, but don’t go to a post on one topic and go off on a tangent about something unrelated.

3. Try and be constructive and voice your opinions in a way that is detailed. A good example is “You are an idiot” being kind of general and non constructive. “You are an idiot because your facts are wrong. Here are the right ones with sources…” is much better.

I might add to this list as I see fit, but I will not just delete people who disagree with others. Keep it clean and a conversation, even if it is heated, and it will be a great area for all of us.

Charlie

To start things off who am I…

OK – so I guess the first thing to address here is the question “who is this guy who decided to have a blog?” Overall this is really simple. I am just your average Joe. I am a Gen X white male who lives in a red state. I work for a living in a 9-5 job, have a house and a dog, pay my bills and taxes and try to get ahead. I make a decent living, but by no means am wealthy. I am a middle class guy – basically I am you – a Joe the Plumber who wonders what is happening sometimes in the insane world around me.

I am a conservative libertarian politically and this will come up often in this blog. I AM NOT a Republican or Democrat. It seems that too many people today think conservative and Republican are synonymous. This could not be father from the truth. Today’s Republicans are far more liberal than John F Kennedy was, spending is out of control and it seems like politicians are more likely to look at the Constitution as a hindrance rather than the guide.

I tend towards a Constitutionalist point of view and do not think that it is a “living document”. The phrase “living document” implies that it is fully malleable, changeable, and that nothing in it is concrete but subject to changing standards in society. I view it in the opposite way – it is not changeable, but our guide for how to run a democratic republic. There are inalienable truths and rights that we have set a country on and they are non negotiable.

The US Constitution and my faith are my guiding principals in my thoughts. I know that saying “I am a Christian” is somehow become unpopular, politically incorrect, and has taken on the same tone that was used for hate groups, but I am still willing to take that stand. Outside of fanatical sects, I do not see many differences in most major religions in the core beliefs of love and respect for your fellow man, and they are not wholly incompatible in a society. I think we all are working on the same truths of human nature and better society. That said, yes, I believe that I am on the right path. I am not willing to berate, belittle, or try and change someone else’s religion though – I want them to understand why I believe what I do, and I try to understand why they believe what they do.

To sum up who I am, I am a voice in the crowd. I am many of you, your neighbors, your family, and your friend. On this blog, I am a sounding board for ideas and a real world think tank. I hope to lead a discussion that will help us come to a better understanding of each other and maybe come up with some new ideas that hopefully will be heard by others who can help enact them. I hope you will join in this and help me in this fun and interesting journey.

Charlie