Littlestuff Weekender-4-23-2011

On the national scene there are a couple of significant markers ahead. The first is the question of whether or not to increase the national debt ceiling (we’ve already exceeded the number). I would urge you to “Google” Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and check out his reasoning for NOT raising the ceiling. He illustrates how our debts payments and vital government services can be maintained with current cash flow. While I totally agree with him, I surmise that the President and the spending-addicted appropriators will do as they darn well please and allow a debt “crisis” to occur to “show” the American that if they cannot borrow more money, then government can’t function. It’s the same tap dance your local schools perform when they “cut” busing and extra circulars to “prove” they need the levee.

It’s your money, but the clowns at every level of government are determined to force it from you in order to hire more bureaucrats who tell you how to live your life…or they give to “deserving” people without consulting you. Never, ever trust any politician who does not mention individual liberty or personal freedom as a necessary requirement of the nation. Liberty is your right…given by God, and no system or no politician has the authority to usurp Him. Some politicians may cite “freedom” as a justification for increasing the size of government to give you “freedom” from pain, want or responsibility. Learn to discern the difference.

The Ohio landscape is becoming intense. The Ohio Project’s “Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment” is moving along quite nicely, but it needs a big signature-gathering push in the next two months to place the state constitutional amendment on the ballot. Meanwhile Joint Resolution 2 is slinking through the legislative process. It will also put the feds on notice that Ohioans do not wish to play their silly healthcare games. JR 2 does require a 2/3 affirmative vote from each house of the legislature before it can be certified for the ballot. John McAvoy, chair of the Ohio Project, told us on my radio show last night that if both measures are successful (petitioning and resolution), then the parties will get together and pick the best for the people to vote “yes” or “no.” The petitioning must continue because one or two chicken politicians could upset the legislative remedy.

Governor Kasich supposedly has a 30% approval rating. Take heart, John. If thirty per cent of the audience follows anyone in the media, it is a ratings runaway.

You may be getting this late this weekend because we had a severe lightning strike at our home last night, and our internet modem appears to have taken the heat…despite a multiplicity of surge protectors. I have a meeting this morning (Saturday), and when I return, I’ll try to correct the problem.

For those of you of the Christian faith…believers in Christ, this week is special. As a preacher friend once said to me, without the resurrection….Good Friday and Christmas would be ordinary days. This season is special, too, because of the accuracy of its historical timing. The Passover season can be traced back to Egypt, so honoring the last days of Christ’s earthly life can be done with reasonable historical timing. Christmas, on the other hand, is not so precise.

The Rally for the Constitution on the Village Green in Canfield, Ohio, has been tentatively rescheduled for Saturday, May 14^th to begin at 11:00am. If it goes forward, I hope to see YOU there.

On Thursday May, 5^th, Sherriff Mack will be presenting at the North Central Ohio Conservatives at Camden Falls, Rt. 231 and 224, just south of Tiffin. Program begins at 6:30pm. If you can arrive early, Carmie’s Restaurant right there in the building has some really great chow. The entry price is $5 unless you are active or retired law enforcement, then you and your beloved get in free of charge (beloved means your spouse, not your watch commander). Sherriff Mack has a terrific message for all law enforcement people and ALL citizens. Here’s his website:  www.sherriffmack.com .

For those of you who follow Christ, have a wonderful and blessed Resurrection Sunday. For those of you who are on the fence…read the Book. For those of you of other faiths, have a wonderful, serene and beautiful weekend.

We’ll be on 1370 WSPD on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this coming week from 6:00pm to 7:00pm for “Eye on Toledo.”  That’s 1370 on your AM dial or www.wspd.com if you are streaming.

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Trump Suit

As one who has played hours of euchre in my wasted youth, I am quite familiar with the term “trump suit.” In fact, it’s legendary euchre mythology that the nine of trump is always worth a “trick.” Donald Trump’s recent actions and words have prompted me to liken him to a deck of cards. He has been “clubbing” President Obama over the birth certificate issue. He has attempted to use his “spades” to dig a deeper hole for the Obama presidency. His “heart” appears to be pointedly focused on himself, and the “diamonds” represent his constant bragging about his personal wealth and success.

Amateur magicians do card tricks, and, for me, it will take much more than verbal agility and sleight of hand to win my vote. So far The Donald has not won me over. His bombast efforts to capitalize on the “birther” issue have been quite entertaining, and at times Obama’s people appear to be squirming. What is alarming, however, is that so many citizens mistake Trump’s statements as proof of his courage and candor. Donald Trump is first and foremost a showman. He has rightly discerned that his attacks on the president’s lack of birth documents would be an issue that would result in TV and radio bookings and numerous queries from perplexed members of the Main Stream Media. For many in the nation the birth place question is an intriguing one. For Trump it is a gimmick. Pure and simple. He doesn’t really care about the circumstances surrounding the president’s origins. He merely seeks to “stir the pot.”

On policy issues Trump’s answers and responses are extremely shallow. Although he claims to appreciate and honor the Constitution, many of his solutions for vexing problems are clearly outside the parameters designed by the Founders. Herbert Hoover encouraged restrictive tariffs to create an economic fortress America in an effort to thwart the recession or depression that was on the immediate horizon. Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on the Chinese will wreak similar havoc in our present fragile economic condition. In addition it will radically tick off a major holder of our national debt at a time when we have yet to devise a solution for reducing our costly indebtedness. If Donald were a farm boy, he would know that it is unwise to poke the hornets’ nest with a stick…especially when the surly hornets have bad attitudes. Although he claims to support the Tea Party movement and to be a committed conservative, Trump’s mercurial and inconsistent history would suggest that he’s merely pandering to the most energized elements of the electorate. In other words like any other momentum-grabbing populist, he’s playing to the crowd.

If you are one of those voters who are enamored with Trump’s “tell it like it is” approach, please note that in 2009 and 2010 he contributed campaign funds to Anthony Weiner, Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel. Those may have been expedient and opportunistic moves for him and his business enterprises, but the underwriting of destructive lefties is not a principled stand. Certainly we want a president who can “get things done.” We should prefer someone who molds his policies and goals to fit within the Constitution, to protect and defend individual liberty, and to be anchored to enduring principles. I see no evidence of those positions in the Trump agenda…whatever it may be. Please recall that many people were won over by the Obama sizzle while many of us were warning that the underlying steak was rotten. We should not; we cannot afford to chase the sizzle again. Our situation is too fragile to allow our nation to gamble on a gambling kingpin.

Trump’s bravado and bombastic style have sucked some of the air out of Obama’s grand scheme for announcing that he’s seeking reelection. That is good. Trump’s incessant demands for a birth certificate have forced the media to acknowledge a very troubling issue. In March I addressed that issue with a column (Birth of a Nation-03-07-2011) so I believe that it’s a fruitless pursuit, but I’m pleased that someone is willing to chase his tail while the rabbit hops away. In showbiz parlance…Trump is an energetic and entertaining opening act. Now bring on the main event.

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It's My Party

If you are sick and tired of being given the same old choices when you go to cast your vote, your state legislature and the two old tired dominant parties are generally at fault. For more than 150 years the Democrats and Republicans have been taking turns holding power nationally and in most states. There have been periods of time when one party or the other dominated the political scene in various states and the country. Most of us, I suspect, would not consider one-party rule a healthy prescription for good government. Two party rule is marginally better…especially when the two parties have become so similar to one another. Two party rule does not serve the electorate when the parties collude on the practice of governing even if they openly disagree on the policies for governance.

In 1854 at Ripon, Wisconsin, the Republican Party was formed, and their 1860 candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. Although several upstart parties have through the years attempted to crack the vise-grip hold of the two decrepit parties, they have generally been unsuccessful. The GOP bills itself as the party of small government and economic prosperity yet it joins hands with the Democrats to enlarge the federal government to an uncontrollable level while approving legislation that negatively impacts the abilities of Americans to earn and to prosper. The Democrats, on the other hand, claim to be the party of the “little guy,” but they insist on promoting intrusive Nanny-state government that over taxes and limits freedom for most of our citizens. The Republicans often follow their lead to increase the scope, power and oversight of the government while severely curtailing the rights and freedoms of the people.

The two party system can be a workable one IF the two primary parties provide contrasting visions for the country. While the current two parties do use their public relations units to articulate varying positions, their actual practice is to share an unyielding commitment to bigger, more intrusive and more powerful government. Words do matter, but “actions speak louder than words.” The actions of BOTH parties lead to a loss of individual liberty, economic freedom and property rights for every citizen of our once-great republic. While pretending to differ about the important philosophical questions that face our nation, they have willingly and knowingly colluded to undermine the Constitution of the United States and the God-given unalienable rights of our people. How long will we continue to endorse this insane path to our country’s destruction?

Because of their monopolistic/oligarchic practices the two parties collude by limiting third party access to the balloting process in many of our states. If a third party cannot achieve ballot access in several states, it limits that party’s opportunity to challenge the status quo on a nationwide basis. The two old parties control the election apparatus lock, stock and barrel. While “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were guaranteed to us at our founding, the two old parties have joined together to de-value life by allowing babies to be killed, our liberties to be eroded through the growth of large intrusive government, and our pursuit of happiness to be defined by government edict rather than via individual choice. Open the windows of freedom, fellow citizens, and let in the fresh air of liberty. Demand that your states allow real choice at their ballot boxes. Third party candidates can provide the constitutional balance that has been sacrificed by the two old parties. Third parties can hold the old two-party oligarchy accountable. Third party candidates can advance the ideal of “we the people” that has been lost by the two old parties.

We citizens can continue doing things the same old way with the same old results, or we can insist that our states open the padlocks of access so that we have real choices when we vote. Merely changing the names and faces within the two-party structure is similar to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The two old parties have guided us toward the iceberg and have not shown that they have the courage and the wisdom to change course. Opening the system by allowing more legitimate parties who respect the Constitution and smaller government may be our last best hope. You can wager your bottom dollar (a worthless one) that the career politicians of the two old parties will not be around to mourn when our ship of state collides with the iceberg of reality.

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Tail, Meet Dog.

The late nineteenth and the twentieth century was a period of amazing global economic growth. Resources were discovered and new industries blossomed as the world, and particularly the United States, became powerful industrial enterprises. The drilling of the oil well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, added a new dimension to the coal-fired industrial movement already in progress. Mining, manufacturing, drilling, smelting, assembly and transportation all experienced phenomenal growth. New workers migrated from the farms and small villages of America to seek jobs in the new industrial environment. Although the jobs were plentiful as the economy accelerated, some of the titans of industry abused their workers as they sought to capitalize on the growth and secure near-monopolistic market share.

If you are familiar with the Tennessee Ernie Ford song, “Sixteen Tons,” you probably recall the line “and I owe my soul to the company store.” Some manufacturing and mining companies constructed entire villages complete with stores nearby the worksite. These developments were constructed for the hordes of workers who arrived from the towns and farms of rural America. A worker could receive staples and other items from the store, and his purchases would be deducted from his weekly paycheck. Some of the “company stores” charged exorbitant prices, and the workers would find themselves in debt to the store…a position of virtual bondage.

Workplace safety was a huge issue in the early days of the United States’ economic expansion. The old technologies and some of the newer ones were extremely dangerous, and workers would suffer debilitating injuries or even die. Though the owners of the mining and industrial appear to be insensitive and calloused, their recognition of the dangers associated with their work places may have been somewhat blunted by the steady stream of new workers arriving from offshore and rural America. There were some workers or their advocates who rightly recognized that many of the working conditions in industrial America were deplorable and dangerous. As a result, they sought to organize the workers to achieve safer conditions at the worksites and better contracts for the employees. There are several nuanced elements of the early labor movement in the United States that I have left out of this little flashback…such as some of the international unions’ affiliations with the socialists or communists. My purpose was to provide a thumbnail sketch of the environment when industrial unionization began.

Zoom forward to the present time. For the most part unionization of the industrial and extraction industries has been successful. Conditions have dramatically improved as technology and contracts have provided safer, more humane worksites and conditions. In addition the unionization movement has spread to other sectors of the national scene such as retail workers, the craft trades and government employees. The unions’ efforts have been so successful and pervasive that it is difficult to identify a sector of the national economy that has not been impacted by them. The power of the labor movement has been assisted by various states allowing the “closed shop” rules that make it mandatory for an employee to join the union at a given company. The forced membership has generated huge amounts of money to underwrite full-time union officers and employees and provides vast sums for political activities to assure that union-friendly politicians are elected to office in local, state and national positions.

Just like a government program that seeks to over regulate within its sphere after its original mandate has been achieved, the labor movement has morphed beyond its initial purpose. Nonsensical workplace rules, restrictive prevailing wage laws and massive political power have transformed the union movement from that which protects the abused into one which often is the abuser. The public good and the community’s, state’s and nation’s best interests have been thrust aside to protect the greedy interests of the “working people.” Incompetent or slothful employees are protected by the system while energetic and creative ones are discouraged. As a result, the balance has shifted from insensitive industrial barons to greedy, power hungry union bosses and capos whose primary interest is their own self-interest. They do not serve the nation, and consequently they do not serve their membership. If the nation falters or fails, so do the “workers.” The bosses will slink off to their island retreats, smoke their high-priced stogies and enjoy the good life. Our country, our people and our children will be left holding the bag. The new dangerous alliance in America is the government, big weak-willed corporations, and huge immoral unions. It is a mixture and a recipe for disaster.

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...and the Outhouse.

Prior to our moving back to Ohio we lived in Rochester, Illinois. Rochester is a small village about 8 miles from the state capitol of Springfield. We lived in a new subdivision there and had wonderful neighbors who have become enduring friends. Rochester is a charming little village that has begun to enter a growth spurt as a bedroom community. Running through the village is an abandoned rail line that has been converted into a walking or bicycling path. The line begins in Springfield and is intended to run to Taylorville…some 20 miles away.

While we were living in Rochester, my wife became a member of the Rochester Women’s Club. Although a small group, they wanted to take their community service ideal very seriously. Through a series of fundraisers, the Rochester ladies had finally accumulated $10,000.00 which they were going to use for constructing a toilet facility and drinking fountain on the Springfield to Taylorville exercise trail. Their plan was to use the club’s funds for purchasing materials, and then to solicit volunteer labor from their husbands and other people in the community.

The ladies encountered government interference from the beginning. First, they had to establish the club as a non-profit 501C(3) in order to encourage tax-free contributions. The process took several weeks because the bureaucratic hurdles, vagueness and delays somewhat mystified the community-minded women. When they presented their idea to the village council, they were informed that they would need formal plans from an architect in order for the crapper project to move forward. Early estimates suggested that architectural fees would be in the neighborhood of $30,000.00…huh? For an outhouse? At this point had I been in charge, the project would either have been abandoned or a “porta-potty”, faucet and hose would have been provided to the runners, walkers and bikers.

But the determined ladies of Rochester would not be denied as they forged on to present the village of Rochester with an outhouse worthy of Central Illinois royalty. The construction and sanitation issues continued to accumulate, but they charged forward. The ladies were informed that any labor used to construct the magical receptacle had to be paid the prevailing wage. Huh? For an outhouse? No hubbies and neighbor guys, no volunteers from the town, they were not permitted to give of their time and their talents. There were federal, state, county and village laws, rules, regulations and ordinances to maneuver if the “trailside toilet” were to become a reality for the anorexic runners and obsessed bikers who used the path in their efforts to outrace mortality.

The committed effort to raise $10,000 for an outhouse and fountain on the trail had morphed into a $60,000 King of Crappers because of red tape and incessant government busy-body interventionism. The camaraderie that might have developed from having the volunteers work together for the community was never realized. The additional $50,000 that might have gone to other worthwhile community projects was lost. I’m not certain, but I suspect that a small group of wonderful ladies have lost some of their fervor for improving the village.

Over the years the high school football stadium has offered opportunities to nearly a thousand young players and many more cheerleaders and band members. Literally thousands of family members and fans have attended functions and games at the all-volunteer stadium. Once upon a time there were three small communities which merged together to form a new one and high school football proved to be a unique catalyst for forging a new identity. Meanwhile some seven hours to the west strangers running or riding through the Village of Rochester may stop to dump their bodily wastes and refresh their parched lips without ever knowing the hurdles that were encountered by the wonderful ladies of the Rochester Women’s Club.

Oh, you may be curious about where the additional $50 grand came from. The Village applied for a stimulus grant for the remaining balance, so non-runners or those who do not bike on the trail can help pay for the outhouse with their tax dollars. And….some shepherd in Wyoming, or a croupier in Vegas, perhaps a waiter in Orlando, a crossing guard in Boston and any number of taxpayers across the nation have contributed in some small way to the dripping and dumping by athletic Illini. This column was not written to ridicule Rochester or the ladies of the Women’s Club, but it does illustrate how far we have drifted. Over-burdensome regulations are offset by government grants…we pay doubly. 

The Stadium and the Outhouse illustrate why our nation is headed for the crapper.

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