Arrogance in Failure

We have known for quite some time now that Greece is broke and in ruins. It has dug itself into a deep hole financially and has had no choice but to take billions of euros in loans from the EU in order to keep their country running. The solution, says socialist leader Alexi Tsipras, is more government and more socialism. Precisely what got them in trouble in the first place.

This is arrogance to the nth degree. Greece has been paying government workers high salaries for life to work short careers and retire early, has given major powers to the government workers' unions to negotiate these high salaries, leading to its demise. And Tsipras says he would like to nationalize all the banks, restore salaries back to their high levels, and bring back collective bargaining rights. logical, right? Only if you are a doctor in the middle ages who believes that when someone is sick, you should cut them and let them bleed in order to heal them.

This is the kind of liberal arrogance we see constantly in American politics as well. When liberal anti-free-market policies destroy the economy, liberals argue that we just haven't had enough anti-free-market policies in place to adequately regulate. Or the argument is that we just didn't have the right people in charge at the time.

We cannot let ourselves believe these lies. But these are the lies that will perpetrate in this election season. Obama and his pals will argue that they just need four more years of the socialist policies so they can implement enough of them to save the economy. But the American people have seen and lived the destruction, and cannot allow it to persist.

Obama the Squirrel

I love a good cliche every now and then, and one comes to mind to describe some news we received today: Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. That's the first thing that came to mind when I heard that Obama has just had a budget surplus for the first month in his presidency.

That's right, for the month of April, the federal government took in a $58 billion surplus, 40 months into Obama's tenure in office. Does anyone really think it was on purpose? Tax revenue was up, April is tax filing month mind you, but spending wasn't down. This is no big victory for Obama, but you can safely bet he will treat it as such.

So Obama's record is 1-40 on deficit spending. And in those other 39 months, Obama had a larger cumulative deficit than all precious presidents combined. Is that a record to be proud of? Celebrating this achievement is like Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats celebrating their record breaking 7-59 basketball season this year. Hey! They had 7 wins!

If this news shows us anything positive at all, it shows us the American people's resiliency to create wealth that the government can then tax. It also shows what having Republicans in control of just the House of Representatives can do to slow the Democrats' reckless agenda. Just imagine what they can do when they have control of the Senate and the White House, too.

A Great Shrinking Trick

May Day was a complete disaster for the Occupy Protesters, as anyone with a logical brain could predict. But I'm sure the Occupy crowd didn't view it that way. In their minds, it was great fun.

May Day is traditionally a non-event for most people, but for power-hungry liberals, it is a day to celebrate labor unions. So naturally, the Occupy "don't want to labor" unions wanted in on the party. But I'm still trying to figure out what they are trying to accomplish.

If I were involved in a political protest, my purpose would be to convince more people to join my side. So my assumption is that they want the same thing. But I think they have proven me wrong.

Last night was a prime example of how not to act if you want to persuade others to join in your fight. In Seattle, protesters smashed store windows. In San Francisco, protesters took over a vacant building and threatened to stay indefinitely. And in Oakland, protesters charged at police and threw bricks and other objects.

I'm not sure what demographic they are attempting to convert to the Occupy movement, but my guess is they already have the angry anarchist anti-everything-wholesome-and-good crowd. So if they aren't adding anyone new to the movement, what are they trying to accomplish?

I have two thoughts on their motives: Either they have no idea how to operate and persuade, or they have no intention of accomplishing anything and just want an excuse to riot and/or slack off. Either explanation works for me, but the evidence will continue to show that their movement is shrinking, not growing.

Never the Professional

Most presidents of the past have had a profound respect for the United States' Presidency, and love to show it, but Obama continues to show he has absolutely none, and loves to show it.

Within a week, Obama has appeared on Jimmy Fallon's late night show to "slow jam the news," and gave a ridiculous comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, making a complete mockery of the Office of the Presidency.

In his "slow jamming of the news," Obama referred to himself as the "Preezy of the Steezy." That is certainly z first for an American president, or for any public official to refer to the President in such way.

Then later, at the Correspondents' Dinner, Obama opened his stage act with a "hot mic" routine speaking to someone backstage about not wanting to go out there and needing a cigarette. He proceeded to flush the toilet and then walk out on stage to mild awkward laughter.

Do voters really need to hear their president act like an R & B star so picture them on the toilet backstage? I can't imagine that won too many hearts and minds. Later in his act, Obama also made a joke about dogs being delicious.

I am looking forward to a great many things this November election, and at the top of the list is respect being restored to the highest office in the land. Somehow I can't visualize Mitt Romney acting this way.

The Rise of Rugged Individuality

One of the most encouraging polls I've seen in a while came out yesterday. I'm used to seeing daily polls on how much the President or Congress is liked or disliked, or what people think about the hot button issue of the day, but this poll is a little more obscure. This survey tells us how satisfied people are with local, state, and federal governments, and it would make the Founding Fathers smile.

The Pew survey showed that most Americans are far more displeased with the federal government than they are with their state and local governments. With 62% satisfied with local governments, 52% satisfied with state, and only 33% satisfied with federal.

The Founding Fathers would be pleased with the result of this poll. They founded this great country with the intention of putting the less emphasis on the federal government's role in the lives of U.S. citizens, and more emphasis on state and local responsibility.

I know this is difficult to imagine given the massive role in social welfare, regulation, and taxation the feds have today, but the founders knew that as the federal government grew, state and local governments would shrink. As state and local governments shrink, community responsibility shrinks. And as community responsibility shrinks, so does personal responsibility. And when we lose personal responsibility, we begin to rely more and more on the federal government for help, which is exactly what we see today.

This has not always been the case in America. Before FDR's New Deal, the federal government had a much smaller role in society than it does today. Very few people are alive today that can remember life before the infamous New Deal, but life in America was very very different. The federal government was not the sole caretaker for the needy, the job was taken on by state and local governments as well as local churches and charities. 

This was more beneficial to society because the motives for taking care of others was not to gain votes, but to get people back on their feet so they could take care of themselves.

State and local governments, churches and charities realize that their money is in short supply, and they cannot endlessly take care of an increasing number of people and stay solvent. So they must help people help themselves and become more personally responsible for their own wellbeing.

The feds don't worry about that because they can continuously run a deficit and print money to their hearts' deire. And so Democrats with self-proclaimed big hearts encourage as many people as possible to sign up for government welfare programs. Democrats, being the welfare party, know that the more people they can get on the government dole, the more voters they will secure. And if they always push to extend and expand welfare benefits, they will keep these voters dependent on the federal government, and keep them voting Democrat, election cycle after election cycle. These programs end up being more beneficial to Democrat politicians than for those who are on welfare.

But the good news of the day is that an increasing number of voters are becoming dissatisfied with the federal government, and will thus vote for more small government conservatives and fewer big government liberals. This means a resurgence of rugged individuality is in our future.

To learn more about how FDR degraded American society, read Burton Fulsom's 'New Deal or Raw Deal.' It is essential everyone who went through the American school system being taught that FDR was the savior of the country.