Political Hype

To hear the media tell it, the Hutaree group is some sort of massive right-wing anti-government terrorist organization.

But if you actually take the time to check out the details, it seems to be nothing more than some Michigan survivalists that like to pretend to be a militia "training" in the north woods to resist a totalitarian government.

What concerns me most is that the small group, mostly from a single family, hasn't even really done anything. They're accused of plotting murder, but as far as I can tell never even started any specific plan.

So does this mean if a group of people are hanging out somewhere, maybe drinking a bit, and somebody starts ranting about Obama and the Democrats and boast that he will fight to the bitter end, that the thought police will report him to the authorities and he suddenly finds himself imprisoned?

I don't know whether these folks really planned specific attacks, as they are accused. And that's what bothers me most.

Certainly the story doesn't deserve the press it's getting. Nothing happened, and this so-called Hutaree militia may exist only in the imagination of the few unfortunate folks now sitting in jail.

Clearly the non-story is being played for political purposes. Heaven forbid that innocent people are being persecuted for no reason other than scoring a few extra points for Democrats.

Tipping Point

There are two tipping points we're seeing now, both based on the same trends.

The first tipping point is the shift in balance between those who rely on the government for their livelihoods versus those who do not.

Which leads to the second tipping point, which is the number of people who vote in favor of keeping and expanding their share of that government income redistribution.

My reading of polls is that we've become approximately equally divided on both counts. The rolls of retirees who rely on Medicare and Social Security has exploded, along with the rolls of unmarried mothers who rely on Federal and State government welfare to provide their housing, food, and medical care.

Recent local newspaper stories highlighted these tipping points. In one article, we found out that over half of births in local hospitals are covered by Medicaid. What the article failed to mention, I have to suspect purposely, is that those births are overwhelmingly to single women.

A second article announced that our county has now achieved a record level of unemployment. Which is quite remarkable, if we assume that record includes the Great Depression.

Unspoken is the most simple truth: Those who have a good job don't need government assistance, and of course do not need government-controlled healthcare. Married couples with children, unless both parents are unemployed, can and do take care of their own families without government assistance.

So the tipping point has been reached through the failed economy, which I argue was substantially caused by irresponsible government. Then an opportunistic Left took advantage of the opportunity to create massive new entitlement programs with the objective of creating the tipping point, ie a plurality of citizens who must rely on them for their livelihood.

There's no escaping the truth, which is that the President and the leadership of his party are Socialists. They have proven it with the Health Insurance law, and continue to prove it through their continuing agenda.

The priorities of this government going forward are reportedly:
1. Financial Reform - If you think it's only about imposing reasonable regulation on financial institutions to keep them from behaving badly and requiring future bailouts, think again. It actually empowers the Federal Government to nationalize banks whenever they deem it necessary for the general welfare of the country.
2. Immigration Reform - Think it's about sealing borders and dealing with the millions of illegal immigrants? No, it's about making those millions of illegals citizens who will complete the tip-over and provide enough votes to keep the socialist government in power indefinitely.
3. Cap & Trade - Think it's about improving the climate? No, it's the purest form of socialism. It takes money from companies that use energy to produce their products and gives it to somebody else. The somebody else is almost always a crony of the Leftist power base, pretending to make "environmentally friendly" products. This while Al Gore and his cronies pocket a commission on every transaction, becoming richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
4. VAT - Next on the agenda is a brand new tax on everything, assessed on every step of production.

People like me who lived through the Cold War and believed our country to be the antithesis of communist and socialist central control of its citizens never would have believed these tipping points would arrive. But they have.

So now we either bite our tongues and work harder for less money so the government can take our hard-earned wages to give to those who don't work, or we simply join the ranks of the non-working and hope for change.

Revisiting Tournament Comment

So Butler not only beat Syracuse, they did it without having their best possible game.

Although I can't offer much in the way of analysis, because I was traveling and didn't see the game. Driving, it was a frustrating process - finding the game on the radio, listening for about 10 or 15 minutes before the AM station faded out, then scanning and scanning until I picked up another station and repeating the process.

I thought is was strange that the closer I got to home, and thus presumably Butler country, the harder it was to find the game on any local stations. I actually missed most of the second half because no station in range of my vehicle, AM or FM, was carrying it.

They don't get Xavier again, but K State just barely squeaked through in overtime.

I like the Bulldogs' chances of making the Final Four, although certainly the win they need to get home for that is hardly in the bag.

Tonight we find out whether Purdue has enough for Duke. Again, it would seem a long shot in theory, but Butler's shown long shots do win sometimes.



Good stuff.

Changing the Subject

It would seem that threats to lawmakers has become a political strategy.

It began with members of the black caucus charging Tea Party demonstrators with shouting threats and racial epithets and spitting on them. In response, others have posted videos of the incident, which show no such things. And none of the caucus members have produced evidence in any form that any of those things happened.

That was followed by Democrats complaining about threats and vandalism from people angry about their votes in favor of the bill. Some released audio. Interestingly, the audio clips I've heard from congresspersons' recorded voicemails were certainly angry and vulgar and insulting. But I didn't hear specific violent threats.

And of course Republicans mentioned that, oh by the way, we've been getting the same stuff, and one congressman got his office window shot out for his opposition to the bill.

So more and more it seems that the whole flap may have been designed by the Democrats in an attempt to silence their critics by labeling them racists and terrorists. The inherent suggestion by the black caucus was that the Tea Party is a racist and unAmerican organization.

That extended to all those who oppose the government healthcare takeover, presumably to frighten "moderates" away from opposition, lest they be called racists or terrorists.

Yes, we are a polarized nation. But are we on the brink of civil war? I don't think so, as long as the opposition has the opportunity to mobilize their own candidates and boot the bums out of office in November.

March Madness

My bracket was destroyed with Kansas losing, but that's what makes it fun.

It's nice to see Butler make the Sweet 16, but any hope they have of reaching the Final 4 requires them to beat Syracuse, which would seem all but impossible.

But again, that's part of the fun of the tournament. If Butler plays a flawless game and stays close, just maybe they steal one from Syracuse and have a shot. Maybe against Xavier, who they've already beaten once.

But Heyward and Howard have to have great games for it to happen. Both weren't themselves in the previous close game against Murray State. But then again, Murray State really played oustanding defense against both, forcing other Butler players to step up for the win.

I'm traveling tomorrow, so I might not get to watch. But I can still catch Purdue - another team that doesn't seem to have much of a chance, going against Duke without Robbie Hummel.

But if they didn't have a chance, there'd be no reason to play the game.

The NBA can't hold a candle to the entertainment value of the college tournament.

This is Fun

Check out this Powerline Post.

I cracked up at the comments about Bob Dylan & Taylor Swift, plus Simon Cowell.

Fascinating perspectives.

Mental Healthcare

It would seem that the Healthcare bill is just about a done deal. Reporting keeps saying there aren't yet enough votes to pass it, but they're within a handful. It's sort of stunning to me that the plurality of Democrat congressmen are willing to sacrifice their jobs to deliver this monstrosity for their President.

Clearly they're not listening to their constituents, who overwhelmingly oppose the bill. They are in many cases rude to the callers who have been flooding their offices with telephone calls pleading for a "No" vote.

My own congressman, Baron Hill, has already demonstrated beyond all doubt that he's more beholden to his party leadership, and presumably the special interests who bankroll them, than his own district. He's almost certain to lose his seat to one of the several Republicans who've lined up for this spring's primary, salivating over the chance to take his job.

It's already been reported that he got promises from Obama to visit the district to help his campaign. He got to sponsor the recent "Pay-Go" bill, which of course was a sham designed to prop him up but really has almost no teeth to actually force goverment to live within its means. He's also been given some earmarks to bring home some bacon, and rumors are also flying that he might even have been promised a job in the Administration if he loses.

Is that integrity? The only congressman I can find who actually seems to be showing courage and integrity through this whole process is Bart Stupak. If there's anybody else standing by principle over party arm-twisting, I'd like to know who.

The bill as I understand it is such a travesty that the only possible theory on why so many Democrats are behind it is this: The bill was specifically designed to exacerbate the healthcare problem and actually turn it into a real crisis, giving them cover to impose their long-desired socialist "single-payer" system for all of us.

I actually am having difficulty conceiving any other outcome.

Affect on Mood

Personal information is taboo for my blog, but this may be as close as I get to sharing personal data, in mentioning the fact that my mood tonight is sour.

What's strange is that there isn't a logical reason for my current bad mood. Just back from vacation, having finished a decent buy unspectacular day, but still I feel angry, frustrated, disappointed, dispirited.

OK, there are a few factors that contributed to the foul mood, from business, personal, and general sources. But nothing I can't handle, and certainly nothing that should have driven me into so deep a funk.

I wonder, is it the post-vacation blues? Something I ate or didn't eat? The weather or phase of the moon? The idiots in Washington with the government healthcare mess? The accumulation of work-related challenges that hit me like a truck the second I got back to work? The personal stuff? Maybe all of the above?

Some might challenge me and advise me to shake it off, make my own luck, meet the challenges head-on. I'm glad none of those people are here telling me that right now, because I might just haul off and punch them in the nose.

Perhaps I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

Do You Share this Thought Process?

What are the Democratic leaders saying? "If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That's one of the arguments I've been hearing." Stupak says. "Money is their hang-up. Is this now how we value life in America? If money is the issue -- come on, we can find money in the budget. This is life we're talking about."

Above from Bart Stupak.

Seriously, how can it possibly be true that half the country agrees with the point of view shared by Congressman Stupak above? We have to pass government healthcare to keep extra babies from being born and costing them millions?

Does Anybody Really Get it?

The simple and obvious truth of our current pain and suffering is not evident anywhere I can find, whether from TV talking heads, politicians, or publications. Is this because everyone just takes it for granted and assumes there's no need to state the obvious, or is possible most don't actually understand?

What obvious truth am I talking about?

Simply this: When you lose 17 or 18 percent of the workforce to unemployment, and everybody else who's still working is earning generally less than they would in a healthier economy, revenue to government takes a big hit.

Just like businesses are closing or hanging on by their fingernails, governments at the Federal, State, and Local levels who have always spent every penny of tax revenue inevitably face fiscal disaster when the taxes they collect on their constituents' income falls off a cliff along with that income.

It just puzzles me to read and hear the angst and anger of people who are seeing their favorite government programs cut. Protesters scream about losing funding for everything from schools to road repairs to community social programs. Politicians bend themselves into pretzels trying to figure out ways to raise taxes on everybody without them realizing it and voting them out of office.

We have an encapsulation of the problem in the healthcare battle. Left-wing Democrats, led by the President, are using every tool at their disposal to exploit this best opportunity in several generations to implement the one socialist program they've lusted after for generations: Nationalized healthcare.

Imagine the economy were to rebound, returning to full employment. How many people would be worried about our health insurance system when virtually all of them are employed and most employers offer insurance? Not many. And nobody but the most committed Socialists would support the current healthcare bills.

But the rhetoric of the Left side of the political spectrum is predictable. We all know about their goals and aspirations, and there's no surprise that they might choose to ignore this simple truth to push their agenda.

It's the Right side that is puzzling me. How simple is it to build an appealing campaign message that easily shuts down the other side's healthcare and soak-the-rich demagogery?

"Vote for me if you would rather have a good job than a government handout."

Unless you're a permanent ward of the State, wouldn't that simple campaign message resonate?

So why isn't anyone using it?