MAYBE IT IS TIME TO RETHINK

As a conservative, I've always felt a natural identification with Republicans - they are, after all, the party of Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater et als. But after the fiasco over the debt deal, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps it is better to leave the party, and let them come to me for my vote.

Bush, McCain now McConnell and Boehner. These are not people with whom a conservative can identify. So is the Republican party the party of like minded people, people who believe in conservative values?  Sure doesn't seem like it.

If forced to choose between the Tea Party and the Republican Party, nearly all would choose the Tea Party. People in the Tea Party are passionate about the belief that government is spending too much money, and the consequences will be disastrous. The Republican Party pays lip service to this idea.

THE EDUCATION PROBLEM SOLVED - AGAIN

After reading another article on a teaching program "which really teaches children to read" I shake my head in wonder.  Every years or so another piece comes out like this, where the assumption is that there is some teaching panacea out there that will somehow change things around, that the problem with education in this country is the way we are teaching. Every year or so you read it, a brand new program that, THIS TIME, teaches children. Then time passes, the solution proposed fades away, until the next time we hear that - THIS method, THIS time, will work.

It is a poor joke, these methods, and just another way to detach money from taxpayers. There is no substitute - NONE - for TWO parents involved not only with their children's education, but all of their children's development. Parents who will work with educators to find the right way to teach. Problem solved, right?

Well, close, but not quite.  It helps - lots and lots - if the children are in a culture that values education. Since American culture, that is popular culture, in which our children are immersed since birth and is now synonymous with American culture, puts zero value on education.  In fact, our culture that places value not on education, but on failure. The heroes fail, but what is never shown are the consequences of failure - the dead end jobs, the awfulness of not having only enough money for the basics. What is not shown is the sheer ugliness of being uneducated.

No, you cannot tell media what to program, but involved parents can tell children what to watch, or you can toss out the television entirely. It won't be missed. Perhaps if more people did that, or understood that every time they watch something they make an endorsement. And right now most of what is being shown is pure poison.

The other part of this is the politics of single parenthood. Can we - finally - admit that this is not a recipe for good parenting, despite anecdotal examples to the contrary? And maybe the expression, "we stayed together for the children" was something that did make sense - that people should understand that having elected to bring a child or children into the world, that they should buck up and shoulder the consequences, which include staying together and getting along with your spouse/partner?

And maybe we can also agree that subsidizing single parenthood is not a good idea, that there has to be more consequences than a check and food stamps every two weeks.

This issue is infuriating, since it deals with children, who are being punished on a massive scale since as a society we have fallen for the nonsense that has been broadcast at us since the 1960's. And African Americans most of all. Are we even allowed to say that the African American family is in ruins, leading to crime and lack of motivation to get an education, without running into some politically correct reinforced silence, meant only to protect those who are responsible? And to keep the poverty gravy train running?

As a society we need to face the fact that experiment in moving away from the two parent family has been an utter disaster - which has affected some groups more than others. Hopefully, we are not like Humpty-Dumpty and we can put the pieces back together. If it can be done at all.

Because if we can't solve this then we are finished as a first world nation, and the consequences of failure is poverty on a scale not seen for generations.

STUPIDITY POLITICS

I belong to one of the strongest Tea Party groups in the country and not one likes the budget deal.  All feel betrayed by the Republican Leadership.  Boehner allowed himself to be out maneuvered on every conceivable level - he and others in the leadership fell into the trap of splitting the party, in other words, Democrats succeeded in creating a rift between the Republicans and the Tea Party, which well over 90% of Republicans identify with - 24% of Americans call themselves Tea Party members, which isn't much less than those who are registered Republicans.

How can the leadership not understand this? Boehner allowed the party to be divided into those who identify with the Tea Party, formerly automatically Republican, and now look at the Republicans almost as bad as Democrats.  Boehner and the Republicans just alienated their base, and it may never come back. You can't have a party - you can't win elections - without people, and Boehner just thumbed his nose at those needed to win elections. He just showed those people who called themselves Republicans and Tea Party members that being Republican is inconsistent with being in the Tea Party.

It is difficult to imagine the awful stupidity of the Republican leadership - to basically toss away any chance of winning the next election. They have just told their base, the most passionate among them, that they are not wanted, that they should go elsewhere. And the anger they have provoked among the base is as high as any anger at Democrats.  It is difficult to comprehend the degree of close minded incompetence that led them to the decisions that have made. 

Where do we go from here? We are literally in unknown territory. But the Republican leadership will regret this - they have cut themselves off from the people who make up the party. How the heck do the Republicans get people to vote - when what the party believes in is directly contrary to what the members believe in?
 
Truly the party of stupid.

Ode to Greece

 I recall talking some years ago with a consultant who was on its way back to Greece, which was his homeland.  He told me that in Greece most of the people are employed by the government, which pays livable wages, and requires little work in return.  He also said that at any given time half the country was on strike.

So, what is most surprising about the situation in Greece isn't that it is collapsing but that it took so long to do so. And other countries in Europe aren't far behind - a friend once told me that in France if a person didn't want to work the government would still support them - they could even raise a family, and have a pretty good life.  That seems to be common in Europe. Does anyone see a problem here?  In a republic, the government is, or is supposed to be, the people.  So essentially, what I was told is that people don't mind working to support those in the society who are too lazy to work - that the people who work have no problem giving part of their wages to pay for those who prefer to  be a full time sponge. 

The French and Greek system is not NOT communism by the way,  - in North Korea, the old Soviet Union, and other communist countries, the 'people' were not only constitutionally guaranteed a job but were REQUIRED to work. There are no slackers in the worker paradise.

So what are France and Greece and the other 'socialist' countries?  What form of government tolerates and pays for people who can't be bothered to contribute to society but are perpetual drags?   Whatever it is, it generate huge numbers of unemployed - these countries typically have unemployment rates in double digits. And it doesn't end well - in Greece the people voted themselves benefit after benefit - a guarantee of a government job at certain wages, private sector unions also the same. Sooner or later it had to collapse.

The United States is on the same path. Democrats with government union backing are taking us to the very same place as Greece - debt, dependence, collapse.  It is already happening in miniature in cities across the country - far too many people believed the lies the Democrats told them.  So Democrats were given control, the productive members leave, what remains becomes home to the poverty industry, with endless demands for money, and the next thing you know it is like Detroit or Camden - the ultimate Democrat 'worker's paradise.'  But for Rudy Giuliani, New York would have been in the same place.   In my state we are told that taxes are high because of the cities - but cities are supposed to be net generators of income, not endless money pits.

The problem isn't just cities. Immigrants come to the country, bring in their elderly family members which then have immediate access to social security, and health insurance, such as medicare and medicaid.  In the last five years the number of people collecting full time federal disability have almost doubled, from 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 which costs $120 billion a year. And on and on and on. Democrats cynically tell us we have to take care of the "needy" but then define the needy as expansively as possible, while at the same time destroying extended family ties (which in another age would have worked together to take care of family members) replacing such ties with government dependence.

Those who are Democrat but are still of good will - as opposed to the thoroughly corrupt party leaders - simply close their eyes and refuse to see what's going on. Their world view is so tied to the Democrat model, that somehow Democrats are good because their intentions sound good (although in practice thoroughly corrupt), and Republicans are always bad, that they refuse to believe that the model they have premised their whole belief system upon for so many years is based on lies, fabrication and corruption.  So the debt burden rises, those not participating in the system grows.  Soon, we have Detroit, from sea to shining sea. 

And it really comes down, as it always does, to perception, and what most of the still powerful (and paid off) media tells us about ourselves.  Which is that if we don't do these things, that we selfish - who would refuse to help those who need help?  By using such tactics our media has chipped away at traditional American culture, replacing it whatever we have today - a fragmented society, with no confidence in  our institutions.  The power of this media is vast indeed - as I wrote elsewhere, why hasn't the citizens of the inner cities voted for any party other than Democrats - even after 50 years of failure? The answer is simple: much of the media bought and paid for by Democrats - an unholy alliance that step by step destroyed the African American community and is now destroying the rest of us.
 

Detroit is the Democratic Party vision for America. If you want to prevent this - then work like hell to educate others about what's going on. Or do nothing, and pretty soon - much sooner than you think - what is happening in Greece will happen here.

California Nightmare

As one observes the dance of events day by day sometimes it is possible to make, for lack of a better word, "breakthroughs" in understanding. Issues or events which before were puzzling suddenly become clear. Sometimes this is based on additional information, such as when Fox News broke the story, based on investigation by the Media Research Group, that there were 31 organizations owned by George Soros paying off various editors at media outlets and major newspapers.  So that's why they write news biased toward 19% that identify themselves as liberal instead of 60% that call themselves conservative.  Clarity is achieved, and shareholders are driven away. Where is the SEC? But that article is for another day.

Let's talk about California.  Despite its reputation for bohemianism California is a traditionally Republican state.  But in 1983, a group of Democrats decided to change all that.   It started with the 1986 Immigration Amnesty bill, signed into law by a very foolish Ronald Reagan.  With the influx of immigrants, mostly from Mexico, California started to change, and change drastically. Once Democrats reached a certain measure of control they did what Democrats do - overtax, over-regulate, buying off unions.  This got to the point that not only were Democrats coming into the state through immigration, but Republicans (and business) began leaving, and leaving in droves.

Up to now, the assumption has always been that Democrats in California, heck everywhere, behaved like rational people - they want good schools, they want prosperity, they want people to lead, happy productive lives. However, seen objectively, it is clear that Democrats do not want these things, and especially not prosperity.  On the contrary, Democrats embrace poverty, they want over regulation so businesses to fail, they want misery, unemployment, hopelessness, poverty, dependence and all the rest. Why? Because when government does all it can to make things bad Republicans simply leave, and the people that remain are malleable and more likely to be and stay Democrat. Ever heard of an inner city going from Democrat to Republican?  You would think that after 50 years of failure the people in the inner cities would want change. But, that's not happening since the people do not see any future, other than the future the government makes for them.

And its not as if the media would point any of this out - the media is strongly pro-Democrat (see first   paragraph).

This is the Democrat model of governance, this is how Democrats rule and stay in power - not through prosperity, but through economic ruin. Let those who have money leave, they can be replaced by immigrants, and those who are immigrants can be made to stay so poor that they cannot possibly leave.

The result is a Democrat paradise.  that it looks like Detroit or Camden makes no difference - what matters here is power. So here it is - the Democrat formula for power - lots of poor, a few rich and a large, well fed bureaucracy.  It's a sick vision, premised on institutionalized corruption, but it is the Democrat vision for America.  Camden, Detroit, East St. Louis, coming to a state near you.

How the Democratic Party Destroyed the Black Community (and It's Doing the Same to Latinos)

The national media has, through decades of conditioning, convinced blacks to align themselves with an organization which has systematically destroyed their community, leading to violence on an immense scale.   The Democratic Party has maintained power in in the black community through lies, manipulation, half truths and the like, despite decades of worsening conditions.    


It is a story not told since the very media that allowed this to happen has adopted a policy which makes impossible to say anything about it.   In just a few generations, with the assistance of the national media Democrats have taken the promise of the civil rights era and ground it to dust.  Consider this:

  The Democratic Party through family aid policies have destroyed the black family.  well over 70% of black children are born out of wedlock.   Many are born to women who have multiple children from multiple fathers.   How did this happen? In the late 60's the New Jersey Newark Evening News used to run articles  about how Essex County New Jersey welfare agencies were throwing fathers out of the home if the mother was "on" welfare.  DEMOCRAT family assistance policies, implemented  nationwide led to fatherless homes, which led to the ruin of the black community.    The absence of a father in the home, or involved at all has been a disaster for the community. Statistics show that when two parent families are used as a basis for comparison, then on education and crime black and white are equal.   But, when considered as a group, crime for African Americans is totally out of all proportion to numbers and education achievement is dismal -  The one and only reason? Destruction of the black family.  Tthe grandmothers are gone - gangs fill in the void.   Money can't put this right.  In fact, the money spent on the poverty industry by government and foundations ends up the pockets of Democrat 'community' leaders, who get wealthy off the misery of the community


Destroyed family means crime.   Maybe Hollywood stars can afford to raise children in single parent households but for everyone else an intact family,a mother and father, and hopefully, aunts, uncles, and cousins as well, is necessary.  When an entire community is filled with single parent households you have today's inner cities - crime ridden, drug infested, ruled by gangs.  This result was not unexpected. In the early '60's and 70's none other than Democratic Senator Daniel Moynihan predicted that welfare policies that kept fathers out of the home would lead to the situation we have today.  But this prediction went against the grain of feminist teachings which are part of overall Democratic policies, which is that a father in the home is unnecessary.  The result is a nationwide social experiment, the results of which we have in the black community today.

Employment?  Democrat policies destroyed the black working class by putting into place massive legal and illegal immigration. But for this massive immigration there would have been a labor shortage.  These jobs would have been a stepping stone to advancement, or employers would have had to greatly increase wages in order that people stayed on the job. In other words, African Americans stood to reap an enormous benefit from the labor shortage.   However, in 1968 the "friend" of the black community, Ted Kennedy, enacted legislation that resulted in millions of immigrants, many of them unskilled, coming to America.  These immigrants took work in areas that had traditionally employed blacks - the jobs that the Democrat media derisively calls 'jobs that Americans won't take.'   In the absence of immigrants those jobs would have paid much better wages as the only way to attract workers, and could have acted as a springboard for African Americans toward better employment.   Now, thanks entirely to Democratic policies those jobs are gone for blacks.  

 Republicans supported immigration too, but never as a matter of overall policy, and rank and file Republicans, like most Americans, are dead set against immigration.  And wouldn't it be expected that Democrats would protect the  group that every election gives it 100% support?  And, ironically, most blacks are against immigration but black leaders, who are beholden to the Democrat party, support immigration, throwing their community under the bus in favor of what helps the Democrat party.

  And where are the headlines about what has happened to the black community, the terrible crime statistics, lack of education achievement etc.  Where is the outcry, the "60 Minute specials? Why is there no mention of what immigration has done to blacks, no mention of the relationship between fatherless homes, crime and education, after all the statistics are crystal clear?  You won't see it - Democrat media has formulated a concept known as  'political correctness' which silences the anyone who wants to talk about what's going on in the black community.   We hear nothing about the crime, loss of jobs and why things have not improved despite decades of Democrat control of the major cities, and trillions of dollars spent. 

  In 2005 there were - finally -some evidence that blacks were actually starting to think that maybe Republicans should at least be considered.   It wasn't long before the Democrats found in the response to Hurricane Katrina the way to stop the defections from the party line.   The Democrat media went in overdrive - with lies and exaggerations in its media blitz.  The response to Katrina was not wholly different from the response to any other disaster, with most of the problems caused by an incompetent mayor and governor, but in this response the Democrats saw a way to tar the Republicans with the hoary racist tag. And it worked.

It is incomprehensible that blacks can't see what is and has been done to them, and the reasons for it. Do you really think that the Democrat Party, which is led by a small coterie of white men, supported by a media that is also almost completely white, almost completely male, really gives a crap about the black community?   Look at what has been done for the last five decades - actions, not words.   Trillions spent, and the only thing to show for it is that the ghetto is far worse than in 1960. The silence in the media about all this is deafening- but since the blame falls squarely on the policies instituted by the Democrat Party you will never hear anything about what's really going on.  

  In 2003 I told Tavis Smiley at NPR that in ten years the problems in the black community would not only be unchanged, they would be worse. It's now eight years later and nothing has changed - despite phony promises from Obama the community is in worse shape than in 2003, and nothing will have changed in 2013 or 2023.  

There was so much promise at the dawn of the  civil rights era, all that blood, sweat and tears had to result in good, but instead of equal rights, and a healthy, prosperous, happy community, African Americans in America have been used, abused, it's chidren have been exposed to crime, substance abuse, it's leaders paid off, and on the ground nothing changes - things get, if anything worse.  African Americans are, if anything puzzled about the situation - it should be better but its not. Their leaders shout 'racism' at the drop of a hat, but this excuse is wearing very thin indeed, and it is readily apparent that the real cause of all the problems can be laid squarely at the feet of those who are supposed to be helping the community.  Democrats have been in charge of the cities now for for 50 years or more, and take a look at Detroit or in New Jersey, look at Newark, Camden, East Orange, Paterson, Plainfield, Trenton - it's the same story everywhere.  Immigrants come, immigrants leave, more immigrants come, same thing, but blacks stay in ruinous conditions in the ghetto.  And the rest of America has been cowed into silence - as to even mention the fact that blacks commit far too many crimes in relation to their population, are failing in education - just mentioning the statistics is racist.  Well, there is a reason Democrats want silence - it's their own awful record they want to suppress.  


How many scientists, educators, writers, artists have we lost -  and how many more will be lost before you understand what's going on?    


Latinos take note - all of the above is being done to your community. You want to take the poison Democrats are offering?

The Tea Party - What it is REALLY All About

The following is a note written to a Democrat who referred to those in the Tea Party as racist "tea baggers": 


You misunderstand the Tea Party movement probably because you have listened to others who have described it, rather than finding out for yourself. The traditional media is very hostile to the Tea Party movement and for that reason you should not rely on it in forming your opinion, since what it says about the Tea Party is not true. When the traditional media looks at the Tea Party, it describes members on the fringe and claims that the entire movement is in agreement with, and stands for, the causes that these fringe people believe in. It is an attempt to claim that the movement is extremist and not worthy of serious consideration. However, I will tell you what the movement is about and you can make up your mind about it.

Here is what the Tea Party movement is about: government spending. The people in the Tea Party movement believe that too much government spending is the most important issue facing our country today. Why? Among other things, because our government is borrowing one out of every three dollars it spends. The interest on the deficit costs the government about $200 billion a year. That's a relatively low number. But, the reason it is low is that interest rates are low because of the recession. If interest rates go back to historic levels, then the interest payment could easily go up to a trillion dollars a year or more - exceeding all other obligations of our government other than social security. Right now our government is adding over a trillion dollars a year to the deficit - so that interest payments go up by 8 - 10% a year.

In response to the problem, President Obama said to wait until the Deficit Commission completed its work. Well, it has and none of what it said made any difference. The deficit is going up day by day, month by month, year by year.

The rate of borrowing by our government is unsustainable - no amount of taxes or growth will allow it to continue. It's a national security issue since we much of the deficit is funded by China, our world competitor, which is manipulating its currency to change the rules of the game in its favor. Our government can't do anything about that because to do so could lead to China to stop loaning money, which would be a disaster, since no one else has enough money or would be willing to loan it, since they know that our rate of borrowing will ultimately lead to the collapse of the currency. making the borrowed dollars worthless.

The relationship between our government and China is roughly akin to that of junkie and pusher - our government needs China to lend money, and China is happy to do so since with every dollars it loans our government becomes more weak and China gets stronger.

Our huge rate of borrowing is even threatening the role of the dollar as the word reserve currency. Being the reserve currency is a tremendous advantage to United States citizens for reasons that I will not go into here, but this will be lost if the rate of borrowing goes on for much longer. China knows this and does whatever it can to hurt the dollar, even though to do so threatens the dollars China holds. However, China understands this and has made the determination that it is worth it, because it weakens us, its prime world competitor, and it can make up its losses at some future date.

Even with China loaning money to our government the rate of of borrowing is unsustainable - I know it, Obama knows it, the Republicans know it, the Democrats know it, China knows it. However, the public doesn't quite understand it, because the traditional media thinks that if this becomes common knowledge it will make the Democrats look bad, and the traditional media by and large wants the Democrats to win elections and be in charge. That's why it advocates simple solutions like taxing the rich even though it knows that that will not come close to solving the problem.

People in the Tea Party believe that the only way to address the issue is by taking immediate steps to decrease government spending, and get the deficit under control. People in the Tea Party movement understand that this will affect people dependent on government. However, they also understand that failure to address this issue will result in the government being forced to decrease spending anyway, since at some point, the worst point most likely, China will stop lending us money, as will the rest of the world. When that happens our government will be forced to cut spending, but by that it will be much harder since the currency will be ruined, and so much money will be owed that it will be impossible to pay it back. People in the tea party movement believe it is better to address government spending now, rather than at some later time when it will be much more difficult, and the suffering will be much worse.

Do Bush and the Republicans share some of the blame for the current situation? Yes, of course. But...so what? Does that mean that the problem doesn't have to be addressed? And, the rate of spending under President Obama dwarfs what was incurred under prior administrations. In other words, the day of reckoning is coming much faster under President Obama than it need have been if our government had made this more of a priority.

Are most tea party members on the right of the political spectrum, with all that this implies? Yes, but that's because Republicans have traditionally been more concerned than Democrats with government spending. However, people in the tea party movement do not entirely trust the Republican party, since the Republicans failed miserably at controlling spending when they were in charge under President Bush. But between Democrats and Republicans, people in the tea party believe that Republicans are more likely to take this issue seriously than Democrats. But, people in the tea party movement also understand that the issue is not a right-left problem, since all Americans will suffer if it is not addressed.

Also, the political bias of most Tea Party members means that they see the solution in less government spending, as opposed to raising taxes. But, all of the people in the movement I have spoken to or heard from have open minds, and would listen to any proposal that would help solve the problem. And, although the traditional media has tried to portray the movement as being closed to all those but white conservatives, this isn't true - anyone can join, and everyone is welcomed - even Democrats.   Despite what you have heard, the Tea Party is a true grass roots movement where people have come together to address this issue.  The Tea Party is not funded by anyone, and it has no true 'leaders' to speak of.  This infuriates the traditional media since it simply cannot accept that a true grass roots movement can be about anything except those issues Democrats care about, and in general Democrats do not think that government spending is a priority.   So, the traditional media paints the Tea Party movement as something that it isn't. Ironically, this has made the movement far stronger than it otherwise would have been, proving once again that publicity, even negative publicity, can be a good thing.

Finally, the people in the the Tea Party movement are not in agreement on the solution to the problem. Part of this is their fear that if they say something about reducing governmental entitlements that the traditional media will exaggerate it in an attempt to prove that the Tea Party movement doesn't care about poor people or people with health problems. But, in the long run people in the Tea Party movement understand that failure to address these issues will result in those less fortunate members of society suffering much much more than if the problem is addressed now. This is also one of the reasons that the issue is not addressed by our government, since the traditional media is ready to pounce on anyone who makes a suggestion that benefits should be reduced. This tyranny of the traditional media is another reason why there is much hostility between that media and the Tea Party movement.

I hope that this clears up any misunderstanding you have about the Tea Party. As I said, you should find out for yourself, rather than relying on the traditional media to describe what the movement is about. Go to a meeting, and see if you agree with what is said. Good luck!