Category: Guest Authors

America Being America

By Chris Freind America Being America

On a recent morning in Munich, Germany, an American hailed a cab. The driver, considerably younger than his mid-60s passenger, immediately recognized that his fare was from the States. Exuding a pride that broke out into a huge smile, he exclaimed, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” showing his keen awareness of JFK’s famous words in Berlin in 1962.

Such stories drive home the point that, despite our problems, America still means so incredibly much to the rest of the world. Truth is, if not for the incalculable blood and treasure the United States expended defending freedom, much of Europe and Asia would still be in rubble, its citizens living under tyranny.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in our issues, falling victim to pervasive negativity while forgetting our illustrious past and losing sight of all that we do right. This Thanksgiving, rather than selling ourselves short, let’s give thanks for the blessing of living in the most benevolent nation the world has ever known.

America’s past is certainly not without its faults, from slavery to internment camps, and from mistreatment of Native Americans to supporting brutal foreign leaders. But through it all, America is a nation that has uniquely conquered so many of its demons, expelling them in an attempt to rectify mistakes, to make things better — to make things right.

That liberalism (small “l”) has not gone unnoticed around the world. America, for virtually its entire existence, has been a beacon of hope for millions who crave freedom, tolerance and a fresh start.

When the Irish suffered during the potato famine, they didn’t head east to the much-closer Europe, but to the distant shores of America. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, countless Southeast Asians, including many who fought against us, sought refuge in the safe confines of America. Millions who flee persecution and death from tyrants risk life and limb to make America their home. And why? Because America offers even the poorest and most downtrodden the opportunity to carve out a life not just of existence, but one whose standard of living is more than most would ever dare dream.

Like JFK, Ronald Reagan re-instilled faith in America, both at home and abroad, when he spoke in glowing terms of our nation as the “shining city on a hill,” whose potential and promise were limited only by one’s imagination. How right he was.

Just as President Kennedy intimately connected with a Europe in the middle of the Cold War, reassuring free peoples and inspiring those trapped behind the wall, so did Reagan when he bonded with millions by challenging General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

And that is exactly what happened. Because of America’s resolve, the wall of oppression fell, freeing more people from authoritarian rule than at any point in world history.

America remains the rock star of the ages, with the world wanting our blue jeans and Coca-Cola. Even more, they want to emulate us and everything we stand for; they want to be “American” in every sense.

Upon their nation’s surrender in World War II, many Japanese soldiers feared what their American captors might do to them. And the Americans did plenty.

They accorded the exact same medical treatment to the Japanese as to their own soldiers. They openly shared cigarettes with their prisoners — something that Japan prohibited when the tables had been turned. They fed the Japanese the same food that the Americans received. In short, despite many wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese against American POWs, America treated its vanquished foe with unprecedented restraint.

Most telling, during the surrender ceremony on the battleship Missouri, the Japanese officers were absolutely mystified as to how much dignity the Americans allowed them to maintain — certainly not expected since the United States was under no obligation, having achieved total victory.

It is exactly that kind of benevolence — doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, with no strings attached — that still carries the day and earns the admiration of the world.

Throughout most of history, victors enslaved their conquered peoples and laid waste to their lands. Yet America has always done the opposite, pouring untold billions into Japan, Germany, Italy, and later, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Unlike most countries, America, for the most part, has left the nations with which it warred and occupied better off than when it found them.

And when famines and disasters strike, it is always America that is first in, leading the way. While we’re still waiting for other nations to send aid for Katrina and Sandy, the United States has sent people, supplies and billions to help fellow humans in need: Haiti after its devastating earthquake; Thailand after the Christmas tsunami; Japan after its tidal wave and nuclear disaster; and most recently, leading the relief effort after the most powerful typhoon on record smashed the Philippines.

On that last point, one has to look only at how the world’s two biggest economies responded to the Philippines disaster, which left thousands dead and millions homeless, to see which has the true moral authority. America immediately sent millions in money, manpower, and aid, opened airports, rebuilt roads and sent an aircraft carrier to coordinate rescue, relief and reconstruction operations.

China sent $100,000. And no, that’s not a misprint. That was the incomprehensibly meager contribution from the world’s second largest economy to its neighbor.

So on this Thanksgiving, let’s say a prayer of thanks for who and what we are, and another prayer that America’s beacon of hope always remains lit.

And God help us all if we fall.

Here’s a toast to America! Happy Thanksgiving!

America Being America

 

Corbett Gas Tax Path To Single Digit Approval

By Chris Freind Corbett Gas Tax Path To Single Digit Approval

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

A hearty round of applause to Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled House and Senate! By granting GOP Governor Tom Corbett his most highly-sought prize — the nation’s highest gas and diesel taxes — the legislature has ensured two things: 1. Tommy Boy will lose next year’s election by an even bigger margin, and 2. he is now likely to achieve the impossible: an approval rating in the single digits.

To be fair, the last one’s not all that hard, since he was already in the toilet at a historically low 17 percent approval.

About the only thing more monumental than the rear-ending Corbett just gave his citizens via the second-largest tax increase in state history is his “bi-partisan” legacy, as no one has done more for the Democratic Party.

By being himself, the Governor has already presided over the GOP losing the Attorney General’s office for the first time in history (his former position, where he botched the Jerry Sandusky investigation). Additionally, under his “leadership,” Republicans have lost 10 percent of their senators, Democrats won the other two statewide offices (Treasurer and Auditor General), and Corbett’s hand-picked U.S. senate candidate — who supported both Barack Obama and Joe Sestak — got crushed in last year’s primary, coming in an embarrassing third.

Corbett’s insistence on the tax- and fee-laden transportation bill, now law, will, quite possibly, give the Democrats control of the Senate for the first time in decades and seriously erode the House’s sizable majority.

If that’s a “victory” for Corbett, what the hell’s a defeat?

Are the House and Senate also responsible for this debacle? Of course. They caved in, playing the go-along, get-along game. But it’s Tom Corbett on whose shoulders this disaster squarely falls.

And not only will it be a disaster of epic proportions, chasing jobs and revenue out of Pennsylvania, but it was wholly avoidable. Let’s review:

1. First and foremost, Corbett says his transportation law, which will increase gasoline prices by over 28 cents per gallon while diesel will skyrocket as much as 20 cents higher per gallon than prices in the next highest state, won’t violate his campaign pledge of no new taxes. And apparently the increases in drivers license, registration and title fees, as well as a six-fold increase in moving violation penalties, don’t count as “taxes” either.

He can play semantics all day long, but a tax is a tax is a tax.

Even though Corbett is generally considered one of the most intellectually-challenged politicians in the nation, that one hits a new low. He has already violated his pledge by raising taxes several times, but now he expects us to believe that the mammoth spike at the pump won’t be directly caused by the bill he pushed? Maybe the Toronto mayor isn’t the only one using mind-altering substances.

2. The tax increase was completely unnecessary. The Harrisburg think-tank Commonwealth Foundation spells it out: Pennsylvania spends $71,000 per road mile, 11th highest of any state; state highway spending exceeds $660 per person, more than 26 other states; and transportation spending has doubled over the last 17 years. That’s not too shabby.

Maybe if Corbett hadn’t bailed out a shipyard to build ships with no buyers, spent taxpayer money to build a baseball stadium for the Yankees’ AAA affiliate, wasted millions on legal fees to stop the NCAA sanctions against Penn State (which he favored before he was against them), and dished out huge consulting fees trying to outsource the lottery to a foreign firm (just to name a few), there would be enough money to avoid our getting bent over the oil barrel.

3. Corbett says this legislation will create 50,000 jobs and save 12,000 others. But wait. He always claimed that government doesn’t create jobs — only the private sector does. Guess that was campaign rhetoric, just another example, on a very long list, of Corbett’s say-one-thing-but-do-the-opposite existence.

Let’s be very clear here. Massive tax increases never create jobs. In this case, the reason is obvious. Since 100 percent of everything we buy gets delivered via truck, and trucks use lots of gas and diesel fuel, trucking companies will be shelling out substantially more in fuel costs. One of two things will happen: A) some will go out of business, as numerous companies did when fuel costs spiked in 2008 (translation for Corbett: loss of jobs), or some will move out of Pennsylvania to more tax-friendly states (loss of jobs). And as has been the case since the Phoenicians, business taxes and fees will be passed along to the consumer, and small businesses will be forced to raise prices and lay off employees (loss of jobs).

That should have been a simple enough concept, but since Corbett and many legislators have never worked in the private sector, never had to meet a payroll, and never experienced the catastrophic results of a huge tax increase, what did we expect?

4. Millions will gas up in border states, depriving Pennsylvania of any gas tax revenue (anytime New York does something better, you know it’s bad). But this is nothing new, as billions in revenue are lost as Pennsylvanians buy liquor elsewhere to avoid the 18 percent Johnstown Flood Tax (the tax to rebuild that city from the 1936 flood), and sales tax on top of that, so why should buying gas in other states be any different?

5. Another half-billion will go into that bottomless pit known as public transit. Great. So busses will continue to operate with 2 people on board and SEPTA once again gets away with not having to operate like an efficient business. And why should it? The taxpayer bailouts never end!

6. More of our tax money will go toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike, despite five consecutive years of toll hikes. During that time, tolls have risen a whopping 70 percent for drivers paying cash and 35 percent for EZ PASS, yet more of our money is now thrown into that black hole. Nothing like perpetuating a massive failure.

7. Despite the predictions of so-called “political experts” who think Corbett will benefit from this tax hike, nothing could be further from the truth. No one ever votes on transportation funding at the ballot box. Sure, polls showed that people wanted their bridges and roads repaired — but those surveys conveniently left out the part about gas taxes going through the roof. When that tidbit is mentioned, support tanks.

Yet Corbett thinks that people will reward him for the privilege of sitting through endless construction and congestion, while seeing their gas gauge constantly scream “cha-ching.”

If the Governor were a comedian, he would be a gas. But since we’re getting the “close your eyes” gas nozzle treatment, it’s no laughing matter.

But there’s a bright spot. At least his single digit approval will be.

Corbett Gas Tax Path To Single Digit Approval

 

Obamacare Deception Deepens

By Keith Phucas

President Obama’s deception about who could keep their health insurance plan under Obamacare has deepened with the revelation that in 2010 the departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor anticipated individual plans would be cancelled this year under the new health care law — as well as the ultimate termination of many employer-based group insurance plans.

In a National Review opinion piece, former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy claims the president and his Democrat allies purposely designed the Affordable Care Act so that Americans would be forced off their health care plans, and he calls the president’s latest proposed “fix” to allow insurers to put people back on cancelled plans “transparently political.”

“With each passing day, however, what become more breathtaking is the depth of systematic, calculated lying that went into the extensive — the criminal — Obamacare fraud,” he writes.

Excerpted from Delco Conservative

Obamacare Deception Deepens

PC Police, Go Away

By Chris Freind PC Police, Go Away

Pop question: What college major would provide an aspiring journalist the best chance of landing a job? Communications? Broadcast journalism? News production?

None of the above. Instead, if you want to be taken seriously in today’s news industry, there’s only one course to master.

Comedy 101.

Apparently, we now take late night comedians so seriously, construing their every word as gospel truth, that we’ve elevated them to the same level as national news anchors.

Just look at the mammoth firestorm engulfing late night’s Jimmy Kimmel. During a recent unscripted segment of his “Kids Table” skit, where children discuss complicated issues in a funny way, Kimmel asked how the U.S. should handle Chinese ownership of American debt. A 6-year-old boy joked, “Kill everyone in China.”

That was it. World War III. And the uproar continues. Organized protests are occurring in cities from coast-to-coast, including 27 this past weekend. Picketers are demonstrating against ABC and its network affiliates. Demands are being made to fire Kimmel and cut the show. “Kids Table” has been dropped entirely, and the segment in question has been edited out of future reruns. To top it off, because 100,000 signatures have been gathered via the parameters of the White House’s “We the People” online initiative, the White House must officially issue a comment.

So what’s the beef? Well, as the petition puts it, “They (ABC and Kimmel) had a choice not to air this racist program, which promotes racial hatred. The program is totally unacceptable and it must be cut. A sincere apology must be issued. It is extremely distasteful and this is the same rhetoric used in Nazi Germany against Jewish people.”

And of course, ABC has played right into the hands of this politically correct madness. It, and Kimmel, have issued numerous apologies, though one wonders if they meet the “sincere” threshold demanded by the petition (numerous protest groups have outright rejected the apologies). So let’s get this straight. ABC was “wrong” for airing a funny segment on a comedy show, but somehow it’s OK to carry protest signs depicting Kimmel as Hitler and saying he supports genocide?

The chairman of the Roundtable of Chinese American Organizations, in saying that ABC’s apology wasn’t enough, wants the network to “do something in the future to avoid terrorist violence,” whatever that means.

It’s obvious that these people have completely lost their minds. Thank God, we don’t have any really pressing issues, like health care, immigration, and yes, our massive debt.

Crisis management experts claim that ABC did the right thing by jumping out front and engaging in damage control. Wrong. They got suckered and received the worst of both worlds — apologizing for something that warranted no apology and being told it was nowhere near good enough. Now it’s still backpedaling with no end in sight.

Ironically, that didn’t solve the crisis, but only set the stage for another one, as the bar has been lowered for the next person who gets “offended” by a comedian’s joke. ABC should have simply said, “It’s a comedy show. It was a joke. Get over yourself.” But corporate intelligence is an oxymoron, and ABC proved that.

Hopefully, most Americans see this backlash against Kimmel for what it is: A small group of loudmouths with nothing better to do, looking for 15 seconds of fame by trying to garner widespread media attention.

While it’s ridiculous to even address the oversensitive types who feel offended, the level of media hype necessitates we look at this in a rational, common-sense way:

1. Notwithstanding the obtuseness of those incapable of grasping what a “joke” is, it’s preposterous to call the skit racist, bigoted or that it “promoted fascism” since — and this is worth repeating — it was a joke! “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is not “World News Tonight;” it is, and always has been, a comedy show, with the goal of making people laugh. What part of that don’t people understand?

2. Given No. 1, as well as the fact that the person who made the joke was all of 6, it’s safe to say that nothing said should be taken seriously. Nothing. Doing so demonstrates a pathetic propensity for acting like a space cadet.

3. Let’s look at the criticism literally. Does anyone of sound mind really believe Jimmy Kimmel hates Chinese people? And that the best way to reduce America’s debt is to murder its creditors? (If so, we should all be worried, since the American people themselves own the lion’s share). Is Kimmel really the next Adolf Hitler, and is “Live” just a front for him to execute his grand plan of wiping out the world’s Chinese? Finally, did this skit show his true intention of trying to be the world’s foremost genocidal comedian?

4. What’s next? Cut “American Idol” if a contestant or judge says something we don’t like? Censor stand-up comedians? Put a politically correct rating on all TV shows and movies? Don’t laugh. Our ultra-sensitivity is taking us right down that path.

You can tell a lot about a society by its sense of humor. The strong ones have the ability to laugh, poke fun, and engage in self-deprecating humor, made possible by an innate confidence and the ability not to take itself too seriously.

Conversely, societies that live in fear, get “offended” at the drop of a hat and attempt to sanitize everything with the goal of complete homogenization put themselves on the path to self-destruction. Political correctness rules the day, common sense goes out the window, and a bitter resentment grows as people feel they can only express themselves behind closed doors, fearful of being labeled insensitive, racist, bigoted, and yes, even genocidal. And despite the recognition among many that such “rules” are detrimental, they nonetheless succumb to them all too often.

It’s time for the American people, and yes, American companies, to grow a backbone and push back against this rising tide of insanity. No more backing down for innocent jokes and no more apologies to people whose entire existence is predicated upon yelling that they’re “offended.”

If anything needs to be killed, it’s political correctness and the massive insecurity blanket that it has thrown on top of the dying American spirit.

And that’s no laughing matter.

Jimmy Kimmel, keep the laughs coming and show your critics that the real joke’s on them!

PC Police, Go Away

School Spending Transparency Coming?

Pennsylvania earned a “C+” for providing citizens information on how public schools spend money, according to a recent report from the Cato Institute titled “Cracking the Books”.  While the report ranks Pennsylvania 9th among states, our mediocre grade and comparison to “A” states shows opportunity for improvement.

We should strive to provide the most comprehensive and user-friendly tool for parents, teachers, researchers, and taxpayers to know how public schools are spending money.

Legislation (HB 1411) pending in the General Assembly would do just that.  In 2011, state lawmakers passed, and Gov. Corbett signed, legislation which put state spending—including budgets, payments to vendors, and employees’ salaries— online.  That website, PennWATCH, has already proven to be a useful tool for tracking state spending.  HB 1411 would mirror this success, creating SchoolWATCH to put public school spending data (including charter schools) into a searchable website.

There are ways to improve SchoolWATCH from its present form.  Because Commonwealth Foundation has run OpenPAGov.org—a transparency database letting users find school district spending, performance, tax, and salary data acquired from the Department of Education—for the past four years, we have some suggestions. Some of these have already been proposed as amendments to HB 1411.

SchoolWATCH should include school performance data already being collected by the state Department of Education.  Being able to link spending with performance is an important tool for parents and researchers.  Such information will allow education advocates to identify successful schools and develop best practices for what works and is cost-effective.

SchoolWATCH should include collective bargaining agreements.  Putting these union contracts online provides a resource for teachers, parents, advocates, and members of the media—particularly during contract disputes and strike situations.

SchoolWATCH should include individual salary information for all employees.  Salary information is public record and is already collected (and provided on request) by the state Department of Education.  Moreover, salary information for state workers is currently available on PennWATCH. It would be inconsistent to treat public school employees different than state workers.

Commonwealth Foundation already provides individual school employee salary information on OpenPAGov.org—in fact, that is our most popular search.  Newspapers have also posted this information from state data.  If SchoolWATCH is to be the most comprehensive tool for school financial information, it should include data already being provided on external databases like ours.

In the past, transparency has been a bi-partisan issue. Lawmakers should be able to work together once again to enhance our ability to get good information from state government.

Mr. Benefield’s original column can be found at Commonwealth Foundation

School Spending Transparency Coming?

Kill PIrates Says Chris Freind

By Chris Freind Kill PIrates Says Chris Freind

Water is wet. The sky is blue. And the West is gutless.

 

While all three are indisputable, only the last can change. But it will take sheer will and enormous courage to turn around two continents in a death spiral, the result of leaders prostrating themselves before the altar of political correctness, and a people too reluctant to challenge them.

A perfect example is the situation on the high seas. Despite brutal acts of piracy occurring off both African coasts — affecting Western shipping, and by extension, Westerners themselves — political and media elites continue to do virtually nothing to address, let alone solve, the problem.

Sure, Hollywood has produced the Tom Hanks’ movie “Captain Phillips,” recounting how Navy SEALS saved a freighter captain and his crew from marauding pirates, but such tales are the exception. The “rule” is continual ship hijackings, outrageous ransom demands (almost always paid), kidnappings, torture, and yes, murder.

Despite Captain Phillips’ box office success, the pirates aren’t fazed and their lucrative ways haven’t changed. Just last week, an oil supply vessel was boarded off Nigeria’s coast, its crew lined up by nationality. All but the two Americans were released.

Our response? Nothing.

Several years ago, then-79-year-old Norwegian shipping magnate Jacob Stolt-Nielsen wrote an op-ed stating that the only realistic way to deal with maritime terrorists was to sink their ships — with the pirates in them — or execute them on the spot.

Since hanging pirates on the high seas had all but eliminated piracy, common sense tells us reinstituting that policy now would be a good plan. Yet Stolt-Nielsen was viciously demonized, as too many thought pirates deserved “rights” and their day in court.

The result since then? Our weakness has allowed the pirates to get even richer (pulling in hundreds of millions), and we foot the bill, as maritime piracy costs the global economy around $7 billion a year.

It’s time for another way.

“You wanna know how to get Capone?” Sean Connery’s character asks Elliot Ness in “The Untouchables.” “They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way! And that’s how you get Capone.”

Know what? They got Capone.

Unfortunately, The Chicago Way has been lost on America’s leaders, replaced by softness, complacency and the desire not to offend.

And our enemies have exploited that weakness, as al-Qaeda can proudly attest.

It’s also why we routinely lose to pirates operating from Somalia and, increasingly, in the Gulf of Guinea, through which 30 percent of America’s oil imports flow. (Hello? Can you say “energy independence?”)

And we’re not talking about just pleasure craft or fishing vessels, but huge ships supplying the world with cargo, food, oil — and weapons. Even a supertanker (larger than an aircraft carrier) was hijacked while transporting a staggering $100 million worth of crude oil.

Pirates were even so bold that they executed Americans on a private vessel — despite being closely monitored by four U.S. Navy warships. That level of arrogance tells all we need to know: They don’t fear us.

And no wonder. Our “tough” response would be to haul captured pirates into U.S. courts on the other side of the world, where they will receive first-class, taxpayer-funded defense lawyers and free health care. How nice.

And that’s supposed to deter more attacks?

Manhattan prosecutors don’t make African pirates tremble, a fact not lost on Stolt-Nielsen. As one of the few Europeans who lives in the real world, he stated how to end the unchecked piracy:

“When (piracy) implies a great risk of being caught and hanged, and the cost of losing ships and weapons becomes too big, it will decrease and eventually disappear.”

To that point, he ridiculed the American and European “solution,” stating (We should) “not arrest them and say, ‘naughty, naughty, shame on you,’ and release them again, but sink their boats with all hands.”

Yet, instead of aggressive action, we bury our heads in the sand, listening to those who believe killing pirates would be “barbaric,” a violation of their human rights.

What about the human rights given to murdered Americans and tortured sailors? But, of course, those real victims are always forsaken by bleeding hearts.

You give up your rights upon hijacking a ship. Cross the line and all bets are off. Heavily armed guards and crews should, upon attack, exercise no restraint in vaporizing marauders. The goal should not be to deter, but destroy, for three reasons. First, it’s just as likely pirates will execute the crew once aboard. Second, letting them go will only make another ship’s crew their victim. Third, it will send a clear, unmistakable message that there is a new Law Of The Sea — called The Chicago Way.

Such an initiative would immediately make pirates think twice while relieving pressure on the already-overwhelmed U.S. Navy, which simply isn’t big enough to protect the world’s shipping lanes. Sailors in the merchant marine are highly professional, certainly capable of protecting their cargoes and, more importantly, themselves. And since we already entrust them with ships and cargoes that can exceed a quarter of a billion dollars, it’s a no-brainer that they could, and would, act responsibly in an anti-piracy campaign.

Let’s be very clear about what will happen. When pirate corpses float up on the beaches of Somalia and Nigeria, there will be a shift in how the remaining pirates conduct their business. Translation: They’ll find a different profession, immediately. Bank on it.

There’s a direct correlation between pussyfooting with pirates and the huge spike in piracy. So let’s drop the empty threats, sink some pirate ships and kill the barbarians.

Then they can have their day in court. In Davy Jones’ locker.

 

Kill PIrates Says Chris Freind

Hostage Taking Postponed to ML King Day

The government is open for business again.  How nice.  Too bad it wasn’t open before we, as a nation, made fools of ourselves in front of every other nation in the world.  Or before several people lost money because of not being able to pay for student loans, which kicked their payment percentage all the way up ton 19%, or before billions of dollars of other costs incurred from loses due to programming and research that had to be done time, but was cut short, or ended, because of no funding for the scientists involved.  I even read that some people mortgages were foreclosed on during that short period of time.

I’m sure those farmers who had thousands of cattle freeze to death during the ice storm in South Dakota and who couldn’t call anyone to help with their costs through their federal insurance when their whole economic futures crashed are happy.  They would have been more happy if the Republicans in the House had done their jobs. No one knows what is happening with them now.

We at least know that there will be money until Martin Luther King Day.  On that day they will begin to hold us all hostage again.  Perhaps they will try to get us to stop celebrating Martin Luther King Day.  That would be something that is important.  Think of all of the money spent allowing us a weekend off where we can spend time with our families and loved ones.
We will see what our government will do then, but I have lost total confidence in them.  Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, or Liberal, or Libertarian, or a Socialist, I am sure you know a nut when you see one.  It seems, unfortunately, that we have many, many nuts running the government now and woe are we.  The congress is full of people who are more incapable than the least among us.  When that happens in a country it is on the way to the bottom like a sinking ship.

No Doubt I’ll Fit Right In

I’ve been absent from my blog lately because of my focus on the paper I’ll be presenting at an Oxford University Roundtable October 22-23. The task was even more demanding than I had originally imagined. I leave for England this weekend.

The roundtable consists of 13 presenters, 12 of whom (guess who 13 is) are college professors. The topic we’re addressing is “For-Profit Education” and the challenge it presents to contemporary higher education.

For the past nine months I’ve been preoccupied with researching and writing about a topic I had scant knowledge of this time last year. The university wanted an “outside” opinion, and hence my invitation to attend. So I’ll be standing among Oxford Ph. Ds armed with my diplomas (I may take them with me) from LaSalle and Rider colleges.

Hopefully, I’ll be seated close enough to King Arthur at the roundtable to ask him some questions that have obsessed me since my youth:

Excerpted from Good Writers Block

All Should Be Government Workers

I think I’ve finally found a way to solve the problems of high unemployment, and the growing dissatisfaction with Obamacare and the size of federal government: Guarantee the American workforce government jobs.

Let’s face it, the U.S. government is gigantic, and we don’t have a prayer of ever reducing its size. It’s grown steadily since 1965 and seems to have a life of its own.

Let’s shoot the moon and stop arguing over budgets and debt limits. It’s exhausting. And the dramatic gains in employment would make full economic recovery a reality.

Debt and deficits don’t seem to phase most of those in Congress and certainly not President Obama. The president drove the deficit over a trillion dollars for several years before it finally dipped south of a trillion this year. Damned Sequester.

Though the national debt stands at about $17 trillion, the administration is asking to raise the debt limit so it can borrow billions more.

So why not go with the flow and grow government even larger. Would anyone really care or even notice? Well, sure, you can count on Tea Party Republicans to spoil the fun and protest. Political extremism is such a drag.

Good news if you haven’t heard already. The government shutdown ended.

Think of it. Working for the federal workers would eliminate the contentious debate over the Obamacare. Thanks to U.S. taxpayers, federal workers have excellent affordable health care coverage and are exempt from those onerous Obamacare mandates.

Read more at Delco Conservative

Raising Debt Ceiling Failed Solution

After last month’s boardwalk fire in Seaside Heights, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, self-proclaimed fiscal hawk, immediately allocated $15 million in taxpayer money to business owners.

Sorry, Guv, but that’s why God made insurance. Government had absolutely no reason to get involved. Yet it did.

That decision is symbolic of how the United States became so paralyzed by its monstrous debt. A little here, a lot there, often for things that tug at the heart but have no relevance to government, multiplied countless times over decades. The result is municipalities and entire governments, such as Detroit and Puerto Rico, on the verge of collapse.

Now the Piper is calling the granddaddy of them all: The United States government and its incomprehensible $17 trillion debt, and no bailouts or bankruptcies can save that behemoth. Short of a complete reversal of business-as-usual in Washington — cutting debt rather than adding it — things are about to get uglier than ever before.

The airwaves are filled with “experts” admonishing Congress to raise America’s debt ceiling (the amount of debt the U.S. can legally incur) so as to avoid the “catastrophic” consequences of “default” if it doesn’t.

I’m not sure what’s worse: The deliberately disingenuous politicians and media outlets pushing that misinformation, or the ones who, without thinking, actually swallow that pap.

They want you to think this a complicated issue. It’s not. In fact, it’s remarkably straightforward: Aggressively rein in spending with a commonsense approach, or risk an eventual currency collapse that will turn America into a second-world nation in record time. It’s that simple.

So let’s cut through the white noise and look at the facts:

1. Without question, there will be pain if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, but there will be no default. By law, payment on the national debt comes first, and there’s plenty of money to pay our interest obligation ($220 billion) since revenue is more than 10 times that amount ($2.6 trillion). Granted, that’s a ticking time bomb since the principle isn’t being touched, but it’s clear we don’t have to incur more debt to “pay off” existing debt. So let’s not do it.

2. Most everyone concedes the astronomical debt poses a significant problem, yet every time the ceiling is reached, Congress raises it even further — and the shopping spree continues. This of course leads to more deficits and more debt, creating a vicious cycle. (Quick primer: The deficit is the amount we overspend each year; the debt is the total amount we owe). Enough is enough. Keep the ceiling where it is, and force the government to tighten its belt and live within its means, just as solvent businesses and stable families do. Identifying a problem yet looking the other way is impotence. Enabling its growth is cowardice.

3. All the economists, politicians and Wall Streeters who say that not raising the debt ceiling would be the height of irresponsibility need to look in the mirror. How is raising it any saner? Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result — in this case, thinking that increasing debt will prove beneficial — is lunacy. If they’re the best and brightest, I shudder to think of the dumb ones.

4. Prioritize the budget. Force Congress to finally do its job, making them fight like cats and dogs to fund what is most needed. You’d be amazed at how quickly they figure out what’s important — and what isn’t. Pass a law requiring across-the-board cuts. No exceptions, even the sacred cows of entitlements and defense. While it won’t be pretty, people will be much more accepting if they know everyone feels the pain. Most important, get the ball rolling on a constitutional amendment mandating a balanced budget, as almost all states have that requirement.

5. Magically creating money to pay our bills is insane, but the Fed has been doing just that, inventing $85 billion per month with a keystroke (they don’t even print it anymore. Ain’t technology great?), which then gets pumped into the “economy” via Wall Streeters’ pockets. That’s why, despite the stagnant economy, the stock market remains so robust, artificially propped up by an entitlement program for the super-wealthy. Wall Street has become so addicted to the Fed’s drug that the mere mention of cutting back sends the market tanking, so the funny money keeps rolling. This must end now, on our terms, before the big meltdown occurs, since what goes up must come crashing down.

6. While unfathomable a generation ago, the world now views America as an increasingly bad credit risk. That’s why there has been such a drop-off in the purchasing of Treasuries, and why the Fed itself is buying a trillion dollars’ worth each year.

Many are concerned with the substantial U.S. debt owned by the Chinese, but that’s yesterday’s news. Not only aren’t the Chinese buying Treasuries like they once were, but they (and the Japanese) have been dumping significant U.S. debt while buying gold and silver at a record pace. Think they know something?

The game is up, and everyone knows it — except those in Washington.

A wise man once said there’s what people want to hear, there’s what people want to believe, there’s everything else — and then there’s the truth. And the hard truth is that all of the easy answers are behind us.

To think America can’t fall is arrogance at best, stupidity at worst. It can, and will, unless drastic action is immediately taken, starting with the current debt ceiling being kept intact. Doing so would send an unmistakable message that America is serious about making a comeback. But raising it as a “solution” would be akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titantic.

Anyone remember how that turned out?