For the most part this blog deals with political events and current events. I try to offer opinions on pressing issues and generally create discussion. I hope I have been successful in that effort. Today, however, my mind is wandering back to an event from my past that re-emerged recently and has haunted me until I decided to write this piece. I hope this has value for you. It has for me.
Several years ago I was driving with my aunt, who at that time was a recent widow. I don’t remember where we were going or why, I just remember that we had gotten ourselves lost. When I finally decided that I didn’t know where I was, I brought up the matter with my aunt. I noticed that she was crying. I thought this is crazy. We are going to figure out where we are in a few moments and everything will be fine. As it turns out, that was not the reason why she was crying.
She said “I used to get so mad at your uncle. It seemed every time we went driving, we would get lost. He would never prepare for a trip by checking a map and he wouldn’t stop and ask for directions. It used to just drive me crazy. Today though, I would give everything I own just to be lost with him one more time.” That comment stuck in my mind and as I said re-emerged recently.
My aunt died a few years later and went on to join my uncle. Who knows why such events come back into one’s memory. Perhaps they are lessons we are taught that from time to time come back to us to help us along our life’s journey. I am sure we all have those experiences.
Now that I am in my seventy-first year on this earth, I think of these things. How would my life be if I suddenly had to face it without my life partner? How important are those little irritants that are a part of life. Would they still be irritants? Or would they become precious memories? Our lives become so fixed and in some ways mundane. We eat, sleep, and the next day do it all over again. We fret about our kids. We worry about the market. And the next day we do it all over again. The reality is that this is my life. These are the memories that will sustain me if I were suddenly alone.
Some time ago I wrote a piece about living like you are dying. Don’t let a day go by that is wasted. You will never get to see it again. While it is easy to say, it becomes more of a challenge to live it. This is what I am going to do. I plan to live out my days with the understanding that all that is my life may well need to be the memories that sustain me later. Even the little irritants. I plan to hold those as precious memories. I hope you might do the same.
Ron Scarbro August 13, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
IMMIGRATION, WHAT IS IT?
There is a serious debate going on in this country. That debate is about immigration. In 2006 I wrote a column that was published in the paper and I thought I would revisit it and update it a bit for this blog.
Yes, this nation is indeed a nation of immigrants. There is no doubt about the contributions they have made over the years and there is no doubt about the contributions they will make in the future. So, what is the problem? It’s really quite simple. What’s going on here is not immigration, no, what I am talking about is illegal trespassing.
Consider this. Let’s say you own some property. Let’s say you have fixed up the back yard the way you like it. You have a beautiful garden, fruit trees, and lovely landscaping. For reasons that you choose as a free American property owner, you decide to post the property with no trespassing signs. Then, out of the blue, along comes a family who decides to move into your backyard. They disregard your signs. They pitch a tent and set up house keeping. They decide to go into your garden and pick your vegetables. They climb your fruit trees and pick your fruit. Their children run wild and tear up your beautiful landscaping. It even goes beyond that. One of them gets sick and decides to go to the hospital. You are billed not only for the ride to the hospital, but also the entire bill for the hospital, doctor, and the medicine. Beyond that they expect you to change all the road signs to a foreign language so they won’t be in any way inconvenienced. It goes further. They decide to send their kids to school. For this to be successful you must provide the children an education in a foreign language. Now, to put the frosting on the cake, you can’t get rid of them. Some of your neighbors band together filing frivolous lawsuits, with the help of the ACLU, trying to prevent you from evicting them because they are poor. They are under-privileged and have no other prospects. This could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
Immigration on the other hand goes something like this. A family from a foreign country wants to become Americans. They go through the proper channels, fill out the necessary paperwork, begin to learn to speak English, and wait their turn. When they arrive, they obey the laws. They get jobs, get educated, join clubs etc. In other words, they assimilate into our society. They become Americans. They do not try to turn this country into the cesspool they just escaped from. They go on to produce as any natural born citizen and contribute the same as anyone else.
Simply put, immigration is good, and illegal trespassing is bad. Is that so difficult to understand? Like you, I have heard all the arguments. My favorite is they take the jobs that natural born citizens will not do. Hogwash. They work cheap and drive down wages for everyone else. Another argument is if we kick out the illegals, avocados will cost five dollars apiece. That’s BS. If I want an avocado, I will pay what it costs or not. If the farmer who raises avocados cannot produce them at a profit, he will produce something else. I am not required to guarantee him a profit by subsidizing his illegal labor force.
The arguments fall on my deaf ears. We cannot continue to accept any and all the poor and downtrodden from all over the world. Depending on whom you believe there are around twenty million illegals living in our country taking American jobs and availing themselves of our resources. That is totally unacceptable. Let’s get control of our borders and keep them under control. We should continue to welcome new Americans to our shores. Legal, mind you, not trespassers who flaunt our system and our laws.
August 6,2011
Yes, this nation is indeed a nation of immigrants. There is no doubt about the contributions they have made over the years and there is no doubt about the contributions they will make in the future. So, what is the problem? It’s really quite simple. What’s going on here is not immigration, no, what I am talking about is illegal trespassing.
Consider this. Let’s say you own some property. Let’s say you have fixed up the back yard the way you like it. You have a beautiful garden, fruit trees, and lovely landscaping. For reasons that you choose as a free American property owner, you decide to post the property with no trespassing signs. Then, out of the blue, along comes a family who decides to move into your backyard. They disregard your signs. They pitch a tent and set up house keeping. They decide to go into your garden and pick your vegetables. They climb your fruit trees and pick your fruit. Their children run wild and tear up your beautiful landscaping. It even goes beyond that. One of them gets sick and decides to go to the hospital. You are billed not only for the ride to the hospital, but also the entire bill for the hospital, doctor, and the medicine. Beyond that they expect you to change all the road signs to a foreign language so they won’t be in any way inconvenienced. It goes further. They decide to send their kids to school. For this to be successful you must provide the children an education in a foreign language. Now, to put the frosting on the cake, you can’t get rid of them. Some of your neighbors band together filing frivolous lawsuits, with the help of the ACLU, trying to prevent you from evicting them because they are poor. They are under-privileged and have no other prospects. This could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
Immigration on the other hand goes something like this. A family from a foreign country wants to become Americans. They go through the proper channels, fill out the necessary paperwork, begin to learn to speak English, and wait their turn. When they arrive, they obey the laws. They get jobs, get educated, join clubs etc. In other words, they assimilate into our society. They become Americans. They do not try to turn this country into the cesspool they just escaped from. They go on to produce as any natural born citizen and contribute the same as anyone else.
Simply put, immigration is good, and illegal trespassing is bad. Is that so difficult to understand? Like you, I have heard all the arguments. My favorite is they take the jobs that natural born citizens will not do. Hogwash. They work cheap and drive down wages for everyone else. Another argument is if we kick out the illegals, avocados will cost five dollars apiece. That’s BS. If I want an avocado, I will pay what it costs or not. If the farmer who raises avocados cannot produce them at a profit, he will produce something else. I am not required to guarantee him a profit by subsidizing his illegal labor force.
The arguments fall on my deaf ears. We cannot continue to accept any and all the poor and downtrodden from all over the world. Depending on whom you believe there are around twenty million illegals living in our country taking American jobs and availing themselves of our resources. That is totally unacceptable. Let’s get control of our borders and keep them under control. We should continue to welcome new Americans to our shores. Legal, mind you, not trespassers who flaunt our system and our laws.
August 6,2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
I was listening to a local talk radio program here recently. The subject of discussion was a shooting in a local housing authority complex. It seems that shootings at this complex are not necessarily rare. So the question arose, why? Why do people who are generally poor resort to violence and other uncivilized acts to resolve their differences? In most cases these are welfare recipients with subsidized housing and food stamps and they come from a long line of welfare recipients. They also have subsidized medical care and all other sorts of state care. Drugs are rampant in this area and dealers regularly ply their trade. I am sure this incident is not uncommon in housing authorities elsewhere.
The discussion among the listeners centered on the fact that these people were just ungrateful for the help they received from the state. As is always the case, no real solutions were offered during the discussion.
It occurred to me as I listened that I saw things a bit differently. I will take this forum to offer those thoughts. First, these people, for the most part, are irresponsible. They were not born irresponsible. They were trained to be irresponsible by the “Massa” of the plantation. That “Massa” is the government.
Liberal governments have for years believed it was necessary to subsidize this large segment of the population, probably to get their votes. This care has created a culture of dependence that pervades and chokes an entire society. Families are destroyed by absent fathers. Babies are born to little girls who themselves are children. The fathers of these babies show no responsibility for their offspring. They wouldn’t recognize responsibility if it hit them in the face. Many turn to illegal activities because there is little punishment. They use the excuse that they make much more money selling drugs than they could ever make doing legitimate work. The truth is that they probably can. Young girls say their benefits from welfare increase with every new baby they produce. That is also probably true.
The big question is would anybody want to change this way of life? What is in it for them to change? Generation after generation has been trained into this dependence and it is not going to end with a flip of a switch. Schools have been rendered impotent. The public school system has practiced discrimination through low expectation. The victims of that discrimination have responded by continuing their victimization all through their lives thus reproducing new generations of victims.
Here is a reality. You cannot expect responsible behavior when you encourage and reward irresponsible behavior. Why is that so difficult for the powers that be to understand? Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If the “Massa” truly wanted a different result, the “Massa” has to try a different approach. It kind of makes you wonder if our government truly wants a different result, doesn’t it?
So who is responsible? Is our government content with warehousing a huge segment of the population in housing authorities with no way of escape short of death or prison? Is a large segment of our population content with this plantation way of life with no escape? I personally cannot believe either of these choices is absolute.
For now, if you are in that life and you choose to get out, here are some recommendations. First, you must learn and use English, not street slang. You must dress in civilized clothing, not thug uniforms. Pull your pants up. Turn off the rap music. Stay in school. Keep your pants zipped up. Get a real job. Successful lives are not gifts for bums. They are reserved for deserving people who are willing to work hard and not look for excuses for failure. If you came to me looking for a job with your cap on sideways, pants down to your knees, and talking street crap, I wouldn’t even consider you. If you don’t like that, that’s just too bad. I regularly discriminate against morons. Incidentally, so do most employers in this country.
So who is responsible for this situation? I will let you be the judge. One thing is clear. It will not change until responsible people, either victims or perpetrators, decide to change it.
Ron Scarbro August 3, 2011
The discussion among the listeners centered on the fact that these people were just ungrateful for the help they received from the state. As is always the case, no real solutions were offered during the discussion.
It occurred to me as I listened that I saw things a bit differently. I will take this forum to offer those thoughts. First, these people, for the most part, are irresponsible. They were not born irresponsible. They were trained to be irresponsible by the “Massa” of the plantation. That “Massa” is the government.
Liberal governments have for years believed it was necessary to subsidize this large segment of the population, probably to get their votes. This care has created a culture of dependence that pervades and chokes an entire society. Families are destroyed by absent fathers. Babies are born to little girls who themselves are children. The fathers of these babies show no responsibility for their offspring. They wouldn’t recognize responsibility if it hit them in the face. Many turn to illegal activities because there is little punishment. They use the excuse that they make much more money selling drugs than they could ever make doing legitimate work. The truth is that they probably can. Young girls say their benefits from welfare increase with every new baby they produce. That is also probably true.
The big question is would anybody want to change this way of life? What is in it for them to change? Generation after generation has been trained into this dependence and it is not going to end with a flip of a switch. Schools have been rendered impotent. The public school system has practiced discrimination through low expectation. The victims of that discrimination have responded by continuing their victimization all through their lives thus reproducing new generations of victims.
Here is a reality. You cannot expect responsible behavior when you encourage and reward irresponsible behavior. Why is that so difficult for the powers that be to understand? Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If the “Massa” truly wanted a different result, the “Massa” has to try a different approach. It kind of makes you wonder if our government truly wants a different result, doesn’t it?
So who is responsible? Is our government content with warehousing a huge segment of the population in housing authorities with no way of escape short of death or prison? Is a large segment of our population content with this plantation way of life with no escape? I personally cannot believe either of these choices is absolute.
For now, if you are in that life and you choose to get out, here are some recommendations. First, you must learn and use English, not street slang. You must dress in civilized clothing, not thug uniforms. Pull your pants up. Turn off the rap music. Stay in school. Keep your pants zipped up. Get a real job. Successful lives are not gifts for bums. They are reserved for deserving people who are willing to work hard and not look for excuses for failure. If you came to me looking for a job with your cap on sideways, pants down to your knees, and talking street crap, I wouldn’t even consider you. If you don’t like that, that’s just too bad. I regularly discriminate against morons. Incidentally, so do most employers in this country.
So who is responsible for this situation? I will let you be the judge. One thing is clear. It will not change until responsible people, either victims or perpetrators, decide to change it.
Ron Scarbro August 3, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
WHAT'S NEXT???
I’m sitting here watching the stock market go to hell in a hand basket. It reminds me of Rome burning while the Emperor fiddled. Those people we have hired to do the business of government are showing their complete incompetence. It is clear they don’t care what happens to our economy or to the country. Our credit rating is about to be reduced because of our fiscal mismanagement. IRAs and savings accounts across the spectrum are in the process of tubing. Home values have continued to slide. Unemployment is staying at tragic levels. My question is, “What’s Next?”
Maybe I just don’t understand the nuances of big government. Maybe my lack of intelligence won’t let me grasp the intricacies of our economy. Maybe I just don’t know anything. Well, I’ve thought about that. I have considered that maybe it is just me. Maybe this is all going to work out and we will continue to exist and prosper as we have in the past. Or maybe I could be right. It looks to me like we are heading for third world status in all phases of our existence.
We are two countries trying to live as one. On one side, we have the producers who work and pay their way. On the other side, we have those who expect to be taken care of for their entire lives. In the middle we have our elected representatives who seem to want only to be re-elected and will do anything and say anything to that end. Meanwhile Rome burns.
Since we elected Barak Obama and presented him with a Democrat Senate our country has begun a slide that we may not be able to extricate ourselves from. It should be clear to everyone that the policies in play are not working. One more quarter of below 2% GDP and we will officially be in another recession. The change that was promised seems to be a change from prosperity to destitution. To those of you who voted for this moron, is this what you expected? Are you better off today than when this bunch of incompetents entered office?
We need to step back and look at the qualifications of people who we elect. These are the people who speak for us. They decide what we would decide if we were there. Consider what we have in Washington now. It looks more like a schoolyard game of tag than a serious effort to deal with the business of government. Intransigence lives on both sides of the aisle. Compromise is a thing of the past. What’s next? Don’t these morons know that if our credit rating is reduced, our costs, interest on the debt, home loans, and everything else, are going to skyrocket? The “golden rule” applies. Whoever has the gold makes the rule. That happens to be the rating agencies and for some reason they don’t seem to care if our economy tubes.
I promised myself when I sat down to write this piece that I wouldn’t continue the fear mongering that the media has been selling. I promised myself that I would try to find some bright spots in this mess. One major bright spot is that Obama’s popularity is tubing as fast as the economy. He certainly looks like a Jimmy Carter one term President. Another bright spot is that many of these firmly entrenched Congress people who have been responsible for this fiasco will be unemployed in the next election. Neither you nor I created this mess. This is the creation of Presidents and Congresses present and past. We didn’t cause this but we damn sure can fix it. Here’s how.
Destiny is calling you out there. If you are an intelligent American who has the country’s prosperity and security foremost on your mind, consider offering your services to this country. If you possess leadership qualities and know how to compromise, you may have a future in government. It is clear that you will not face much competition from those sitting Members of Congress. They have shown no such qualities.
So, what’s next? I wish I knew. I am ashamed of what politics has become. I am appalled with the idea of career politicians. America needs honest people willing to work. As always the future is up to us. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us.
Ron Scarbro July 29, 2011
Maybe I just don’t understand the nuances of big government. Maybe my lack of intelligence won’t let me grasp the intricacies of our economy. Maybe I just don’t know anything. Well, I’ve thought about that. I have considered that maybe it is just me. Maybe this is all going to work out and we will continue to exist and prosper as we have in the past. Or maybe I could be right. It looks to me like we are heading for third world status in all phases of our existence.
We are two countries trying to live as one. On one side, we have the producers who work and pay their way. On the other side, we have those who expect to be taken care of for their entire lives. In the middle we have our elected representatives who seem to want only to be re-elected and will do anything and say anything to that end. Meanwhile Rome burns.
Since we elected Barak Obama and presented him with a Democrat Senate our country has begun a slide that we may not be able to extricate ourselves from. It should be clear to everyone that the policies in play are not working. One more quarter of below 2% GDP and we will officially be in another recession. The change that was promised seems to be a change from prosperity to destitution. To those of you who voted for this moron, is this what you expected? Are you better off today than when this bunch of incompetents entered office?
We need to step back and look at the qualifications of people who we elect. These are the people who speak for us. They decide what we would decide if we were there. Consider what we have in Washington now. It looks more like a schoolyard game of tag than a serious effort to deal with the business of government. Intransigence lives on both sides of the aisle. Compromise is a thing of the past. What’s next? Don’t these morons know that if our credit rating is reduced, our costs, interest on the debt, home loans, and everything else, are going to skyrocket? The “golden rule” applies. Whoever has the gold makes the rule. That happens to be the rating agencies and for some reason they don’t seem to care if our economy tubes.
I promised myself when I sat down to write this piece that I wouldn’t continue the fear mongering that the media has been selling. I promised myself that I would try to find some bright spots in this mess. One major bright spot is that Obama’s popularity is tubing as fast as the economy. He certainly looks like a Jimmy Carter one term President. Another bright spot is that many of these firmly entrenched Congress people who have been responsible for this fiasco will be unemployed in the next election. Neither you nor I created this mess. This is the creation of Presidents and Congresses present and past. We didn’t cause this but we damn sure can fix it. Here’s how.
Destiny is calling you out there. If you are an intelligent American who has the country’s prosperity and security foremost on your mind, consider offering your services to this country. If you possess leadership qualities and know how to compromise, you may have a future in government. It is clear that you will not face much competition from those sitting Members of Congress. They have shown no such qualities.
So, what’s next? I wish I knew. I am ashamed of what politics has become. I am appalled with the idea of career politicians. America needs honest people willing to work. As always the future is up to us. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us.
Ron Scarbro July 29, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
WISHING WON'T MAKE IT SO
The peace and serenity of one of Europe’s most socialistic progressive countries was exploded this week. Norway, a country with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world, was assaulted by one of their own with guns and bombs.
Initially most believed this was the work of Islamic extremists, but as it turns out, it was a native son who just seems to be another nut case with an imagined gripe and the willingness to kill. And kill he did. As of this writing 71 are dead with several more wounded. The final death totals will doubtless rise.
Now I am not going to take this opportunity to pick on Norway. They have enough problems. Most of the dead were children from a camp. I am not even going to chastise Europe for their socialistic view of government. What I hope to offer is some common sense.
Once again this carnage was caused by an individual, not a weapon. Obviously this moron was able to arm himself as well as either build homemade bombs or get them from somewhere. All the laws in the world didn’t stop him. No, what stopped him was another gun. He was shot, but fortunately he has survived to have his “day in court.” If they can keep this piece of excrement alive, we all will get to hear his story and his tale of woe. Personally I would just as soon gut shoot him with double ought buckshot and feed him to the hogs. But that would be uncivilized, oh well.
There are lessons here for all the world. Lesson number one, there is evil in the world. All the wishing otherwise doesn’t change that. The “head in the sand” approach has never worked. We all need to face the reality of evil among us. That doesn’t mean we should be afraid. No, it just means we all need to be as prepared as possible for this evil. If the camp counselors in Norway had been armed, they possibly could have stopped this agony much sooner. Again, the only way to stop a gun is with another gun.
The next lesson for all of us in this tragedy is to pay attention to what is going on. There is a real effort afoot in this country to attempt to establish restrictive gun laws similar to Europe’s. It would work no better here than it has there. Complacency is the enemy of freedom. There appears to be a few billionaire socialists attempting to change our way of government. They are trying to buy this country through bribes and contributions to legislators. It wouldn’t take much investigation to discover who they are. Some of them are European transplants who are trying to turn our country into the cesspool they escaped from. We have to be vigilant.
The title of this piece is “Wishing Won’t Make It So.” We cannot wish ourselves into prosperity and we cannot wish ourselves into utopia. There are inescapable realities out there. Evil, envy, stupidity, and who knows what else. I believe today there are morons in caves trying to figure out ways to disrupt our way of life. They would love to topple our financial structure. We have been fortunate so far. Now is not the time to sleep at the wheel.
My heart goes out to the Norwegian people and especially the family members of the dead and injured. I wish for them a return to their peace and serenity. I wish for them a return to their utopia. But, alas, wishing will not make it so.
Ron Scarbro July 23, 2011
Initially most believed this was the work of Islamic extremists, but as it turns out, it was a native son who just seems to be another nut case with an imagined gripe and the willingness to kill. And kill he did. As of this writing 71 are dead with several more wounded. The final death totals will doubtless rise.
Now I am not going to take this opportunity to pick on Norway. They have enough problems. Most of the dead were children from a camp. I am not even going to chastise Europe for their socialistic view of government. What I hope to offer is some common sense.
Once again this carnage was caused by an individual, not a weapon. Obviously this moron was able to arm himself as well as either build homemade bombs or get them from somewhere. All the laws in the world didn’t stop him. No, what stopped him was another gun. He was shot, but fortunately he has survived to have his “day in court.” If they can keep this piece of excrement alive, we all will get to hear his story and his tale of woe. Personally I would just as soon gut shoot him with double ought buckshot and feed him to the hogs. But that would be uncivilized, oh well.
There are lessons here for all the world. Lesson number one, there is evil in the world. All the wishing otherwise doesn’t change that. The “head in the sand” approach has never worked. We all need to face the reality of evil among us. That doesn’t mean we should be afraid. No, it just means we all need to be as prepared as possible for this evil. If the camp counselors in Norway had been armed, they possibly could have stopped this agony much sooner. Again, the only way to stop a gun is with another gun.
The next lesson for all of us in this tragedy is to pay attention to what is going on. There is a real effort afoot in this country to attempt to establish restrictive gun laws similar to Europe’s. It would work no better here than it has there. Complacency is the enemy of freedom. There appears to be a few billionaire socialists attempting to change our way of government. They are trying to buy this country through bribes and contributions to legislators. It wouldn’t take much investigation to discover who they are. Some of them are European transplants who are trying to turn our country into the cesspool they escaped from. We have to be vigilant.
The title of this piece is “Wishing Won’t Make It So.” We cannot wish ourselves into prosperity and we cannot wish ourselves into utopia. There are inescapable realities out there. Evil, envy, stupidity, and who knows what else. I believe today there are morons in caves trying to figure out ways to disrupt our way of life. They would love to topple our financial structure. We have been fortunate so far. Now is not the time to sleep at the wheel.
My heart goes out to the Norwegian people and especially the family members of the dead and injured. I wish for them a return to their peace and serenity. I wish for them a return to their utopia. But, alas, wishing will not make it so.
Ron Scarbro July 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
WHO OR WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO BELIEVE?
Of course the budget and debt ceiling talks are going on now. One side says we must not increase the debt ceiling without equal cuts in spending. The other side seems to favor an ever increasing government with unlimited money to spend. Which side is right? Is either side right? Who or what are we to believe?
The ads are all over TV and newspapers. Both sides seem to have plenty of money to further their agenda through advertisement. The professional medical lobby is crying about potential cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Teachers unions are screaming for more money. Who should we believe?
Just recently President Obama said on TV that unless a budget ceiling increase is approved by August 3, veterans benefits and social security checks may not go out. This has been reported as total nonsense. The checks will go out. So, who are we to believe?
Both sides appear to me to be petulant children. It is reminiscent of kids playing marbles and one saying either you play my way or I will take my marbles and go home.
Those of you who know me know that I am not smart enough to have the answers but I do have some thoughts. Personally, if I were a sitting Member of Congress, and had any thoughts of re-election, I would pay attention to the last election. I think the people spoke loudly and clearly with their vote. There is a fiscal conservative awakening across this country. The Tea Party is having an effect. They will have an effect on the next election as well. Polls show that most people think we are headed in the wrong direction with the free spending and increased taxation that is going on.
None of us knows what the truth is regarding the budget or the spending. None of us really knows what, if anything, we are borrowing or from whom. None of us has the capacity to comprehend the amount of money that travels to Washington DC every day of the year, nor the amount of money that flows back out to who knows what project or group. We probably will never know. To most of us, they are just numbers. Call me a skeptic, but I think that is the way those in power want it.
What are we to do? Do we have a role? Do you really think your letters have any effect on how a Congressperson votes? If you are a conservative Republican and your representative is a liberal Democrat, do you really think they would pay any attention to your letter? Your representative will vote his party line, period. There is only one thing that affects how a representative votes beyond his party affiliation and that is fear of losing re-election.
That is the hammer that the voters have. It is the only hammer. Today we have a Congress full of children who pursue their own self interests without regard to their responsibility to the people who elected them. The moment their address changes, their allegiance also changes. They need to be returned to sender.
Our problem is simple. Most of the American people don’t care enough to even vote, let alone be discriminating in their vote. I think most people don’t even know why they think the way they do politically. We seem to be a flock of ignorant sheep who are led by any shepherd who is attractive and glib. We all need to get smarter.
As I said earlier, I’m not smart enough to figure this all out, but I have to believe if we got together and truly learned the plans and positions of our potential representatives, we could change this mess. We have to hold these people’s feet to the fire. We need to get rid of those whose self interest takes precedence over the needs of the electorate. They work for us. We pay their salary. They need to be treated as employees and not as celebrities.
As a side note, can you just imagine what would happen if veterans benefits and social security checks are not sent out? I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Ron Scarbro July 13, 2011
The ads are all over TV and newspapers. Both sides seem to have plenty of money to further their agenda through advertisement. The professional medical lobby is crying about potential cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Teachers unions are screaming for more money. Who should we believe?
Just recently President Obama said on TV that unless a budget ceiling increase is approved by August 3, veterans benefits and social security checks may not go out. This has been reported as total nonsense. The checks will go out. So, who are we to believe?
Both sides appear to me to be petulant children. It is reminiscent of kids playing marbles and one saying either you play my way or I will take my marbles and go home.
Those of you who know me know that I am not smart enough to have the answers but I do have some thoughts. Personally, if I were a sitting Member of Congress, and had any thoughts of re-election, I would pay attention to the last election. I think the people spoke loudly and clearly with their vote. There is a fiscal conservative awakening across this country. The Tea Party is having an effect. They will have an effect on the next election as well. Polls show that most people think we are headed in the wrong direction with the free spending and increased taxation that is going on.
None of us knows what the truth is regarding the budget or the spending. None of us really knows what, if anything, we are borrowing or from whom. None of us has the capacity to comprehend the amount of money that travels to Washington DC every day of the year, nor the amount of money that flows back out to who knows what project or group. We probably will never know. To most of us, they are just numbers. Call me a skeptic, but I think that is the way those in power want it.
What are we to do? Do we have a role? Do you really think your letters have any effect on how a Congressperson votes? If you are a conservative Republican and your representative is a liberal Democrat, do you really think they would pay any attention to your letter? Your representative will vote his party line, period. There is only one thing that affects how a representative votes beyond his party affiliation and that is fear of losing re-election.
That is the hammer that the voters have. It is the only hammer. Today we have a Congress full of children who pursue their own self interests without regard to their responsibility to the people who elected them. The moment their address changes, their allegiance also changes. They need to be returned to sender.
Our problem is simple. Most of the American people don’t care enough to even vote, let alone be discriminating in their vote. I think most people don’t even know why they think the way they do politically. We seem to be a flock of ignorant sheep who are led by any shepherd who is attractive and glib. We all need to get smarter.
As I said earlier, I’m not smart enough to figure this all out, but I have to believe if we got together and truly learned the plans and positions of our potential representatives, we could change this mess. We have to hold these people’s feet to the fire. We need to get rid of those whose self interest takes precedence over the needs of the electorate. They work for us. We pay their salary. They need to be treated as employees and not as celebrities.
As a side note, can you just imagine what would happen if veterans benefits and social security checks are not sent out? I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Ron Scarbro July 13, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH YET?
HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH YET?
This morning the Labor Department announced the unemployment rate for June increased to 9.2%. Last month when the rate went up to 9.1% President Obama said this was just a blip. What is 9.2%? Is this another blip or is this the straw that will break the back of this incompetent administration? We added less than 20,000 new jobs for the month and we need to add over 200,000 a month by the next election to get the unemployment numbers down to 8%.
Just yesterday David Plough, the guy who is primarily responsible for the re-election of Obama, said that we Americans were not troubled by these numbers and that it is much ado about nothing. Wanna bet? Obviously they are trying to lessen the impact of these unemployment numbers on Obama’s re-election. If he thinks the economy isn’t going to play a role in the elections he is sadly mistaken.
Just today a new poll reported that 68% of those polled thought the country is going in the wrong direction with only 24% thinking we are going in the right direction. This cannot be happy news for those trying to inflict this bunch of incompetents on us for another four years. As a side note, do you ever wonder who those 24% are? I can only conclude they must be recipients of the largess of this government. At any rate it will take considerably more than 24% to re-elect Obama.
It is clear to me that whatever this administration is doing, it is not working. They are attacking this problem from the wrong direction. The only way this economy is going to grow or expand is first the stock market has to stabilize. You cannot regulate it into prosperity. That stability will occur when the government gets out of the way. That is going to have to happen first so that people will once again feel they will have a future with enough wealth to exist. In fact it is even called the “Wealth Effect.” Secondly businesses have to feel that they know what the next few years are going to look like. They have to know what their costs are going to be, i.e., health care insurance, taxes, etc. Right now they don’t have a clue. Labor unions are going to have to be restrained so that businesses can stay in America and be competitive.
How is this going to happen? First the restrictions and regulations on business are going to have to be reduced. The government is going to have to get out of the way of progress. Governments do not produce anything but rules and taxation. Whatever money any government possesses has been purloined from the citizenry through repressive taxes and fees. No doubt we need some taxes to fund the necessary functions of government, such as defense, infra-structure, etc. Over the years we have gotten away from our constitutionally permitted functions though. I don’t know about you but I am tired of trying to support the world. Now the UN has decided we need to give them trillions of dollars over the next forty years to assist poor countries, under the guise of “global warming”. More nonsense.
Obviously we need a change in our government. That is why we have elections every four years for Presidents. The guy we have now is a miserable failure and it isn’t looking like it is going to get any better over the next few months. Every reader of this column needs to consider these thoughts and ask yourself, “Is this my choice of direction for America?” If you are like me and think we are headed for the toilet, then it is up to us to make some changes.
This mess is fixable but we need adults with some ability and intelligence in charge. We cannot spend ourselves into prosperity, because as Margaret Thatcher once said, eventually we will run out of other people’s money.
Ron Scarbro July 8, 2011
This morning the Labor Department announced the unemployment rate for June increased to 9.2%. Last month when the rate went up to 9.1% President Obama said this was just a blip. What is 9.2%? Is this another blip or is this the straw that will break the back of this incompetent administration? We added less than 20,000 new jobs for the month and we need to add over 200,000 a month by the next election to get the unemployment numbers down to 8%.
Just yesterday David Plough, the guy who is primarily responsible for the re-election of Obama, said that we Americans were not troubled by these numbers and that it is much ado about nothing. Wanna bet? Obviously they are trying to lessen the impact of these unemployment numbers on Obama’s re-election. If he thinks the economy isn’t going to play a role in the elections he is sadly mistaken.
Just today a new poll reported that 68% of those polled thought the country is going in the wrong direction with only 24% thinking we are going in the right direction. This cannot be happy news for those trying to inflict this bunch of incompetents on us for another four years. As a side note, do you ever wonder who those 24% are? I can only conclude they must be recipients of the largess of this government. At any rate it will take considerably more than 24% to re-elect Obama.
It is clear to me that whatever this administration is doing, it is not working. They are attacking this problem from the wrong direction. The only way this economy is going to grow or expand is first the stock market has to stabilize. You cannot regulate it into prosperity. That stability will occur when the government gets out of the way. That is going to have to happen first so that people will once again feel they will have a future with enough wealth to exist. In fact it is even called the “Wealth Effect.” Secondly businesses have to feel that they know what the next few years are going to look like. They have to know what their costs are going to be, i.e., health care insurance, taxes, etc. Right now they don’t have a clue. Labor unions are going to have to be restrained so that businesses can stay in America and be competitive.
How is this going to happen? First the restrictions and regulations on business are going to have to be reduced. The government is going to have to get out of the way of progress. Governments do not produce anything but rules and taxation. Whatever money any government possesses has been purloined from the citizenry through repressive taxes and fees. No doubt we need some taxes to fund the necessary functions of government, such as defense, infra-structure, etc. Over the years we have gotten away from our constitutionally permitted functions though. I don’t know about you but I am tired of trying to support the world. Now the UN has decided we need to give them trillions of dollars over the next forty years to assist poor countries, under the guise of “global warming”. More nonsense.
Obviously we need a change in our government. That is why we have elections every four years for Presidents. The guy we have now is a miserable failure and it isn’t looking like it is going to get any better over the next few months. Every reader of this column needs to consider these thoughts and ask yourself, “Is this my choice of direction for America?” If you are like me and think we are headed for the toilet, then it is up to us to make some changes.
This mess is fixable but we need adults with some ability and intelligence in charge. We cannot spend ourselves into prosperity, because as Margaret Thatcher once said, eventually we will run out of other people’s money.
Ron Scarbro July 8, 2011
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