Littlestuff Weekender-10-1-2011

Here we are in October, and in many respects it resembles Groundhog Day. President Obama has apparently proposed extremely higher tax increases and additional spending to be used to bolster his re-election, but the GOP House and the Harry Reid-led Senate act as if they’re indifferent. Meanwhile our beloved leader is traveling around the country speaking to everyone who will listen and asking them to help him “pass this bill.” The ironies are amazing: he rarely produces a bill, but relies on rhetoric, and speculation runs high that he really doesn’t want this one to pass so he can blame the GOP for their inaction and failure to help the unemployed. This view has credence because of the huge tax increases that he is proposing. He knows that the Republicans will not go along with such a blatant skimming of the private sector while our economy languishes in the doldrums.

The GOP presidential sweepstakes has hit numerous speed bumps and potholes as it follows its tortuous path. One can witness the diversity of federalism (and the necessity for aggressive 10^th Amendment action) as various states conduct their straw polls, and as Republican debates become more frequent. Each state seems to have differing preferences and different order of finishing for the candidates. The question is: do those differences reflect the base’s desires or the strength of candidate’s organizations?

Here in Ohio what would be a routine local election day in November has become rather heated and important with three (3) statewide issues on the ballot. Issue 1 would extend state judges age limits to 75 (currently 70) for running for office or re-election (the people yawn). Issue 2 is an attempt to repeal Senate Bill 5 which was enacted to allow more freedom for local governments and school boards when negotiating with their employees. In the early ‘80’s Ohio adopted “collective bargaining and binding arbitration” standards for the various locales. Since that time many local units have been mired into fiscal bogs as they scramble to fund escalating pension and health benefits. A favorable (Yes) vote on the issue would continue to allow local governments to bargain, but wouldn’t force them to do so and wouldn’t require binding arbitration.

The third issue, Issue 3, The Healthcare Freedom Amendment, would in essence exempt Ohio from the monstrosity of Obamacare. The underlying premise of the issue is that no one in Ohio can be forced to purchase health insurance. The individual mandate is the precursor to national healthcare, and Issue 3 attempts to preempt the federal government’s overreach. As Obamacare moves to the Supreme Court, this issue may prove to be mostly symbolic, but it is absolutely necessary as a statement to reinforce individual rights and state supremacy. If our state legislatures were not so firmly attached to the federal teat, they would have been doing their jobs by resisting federal encroachment into our lives for the past several decades. Too bad so many of them are career politicians who love the expansion of government power at all levels, and many of them lusted for congressional seats so they weren’t about to undermine federal power.

Buckeye voters have five weeks to decide the future direction of the state and send a message to the General Assembly to stop playing footsie with the Feds and protect Ohio’s sovereignty. The campaigning on both sides of Issues 2 and 3 will be intense, but citizens must choose between a corrupt and bankrupt Nanny-state and a glimmer of hope for freedom and self-determination in Ohio. As Arte Johnson used to say…..”Very interesting.”

There is another big issue for folks in the Buckeye State that is rocketing down the pike as Democrats seek to wrest control of the redistricting/reapportionment processes from the huge GOP majority in the General Assembly. In addition they are challenging recently-passed legislation that alters some election laws in the state. All three branches of government plus one are now heavily engaged in the political aspects of how our nation and our states are governed. The legislative bodies, the administrations, the courts and now the people via referendum are all engaged in a mighty battle for the heart and soul of our future. Personally, I pray that we have a future as our nation resembles Greece on bankrupt steroids more and more every day.

Have a great weekend. Programming note: On Wednesday I’ll be sitting in for Brian Wilson from 3:00-6:00pm on 1370 WSPD so my 6-7:00pm show will not be on that day.  

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

   

The Tortise and the Hare

The turtle is an amazing creature. It ambles along at a steady pace….seemingly going nowhere but shuffling towards its goal. The rabbit ricochets all over the place with frenzy and appears quite often to be off the path to victory. Aesop and his fabulous fable about the tortoise and the hare provide the background for today’s column. If you recall the story, the hare dashed ahead of the tortuously slow tortoise. Thinking that he had easily won the race, the hare lay down for a pleasant nap, and the steady tortoise passed the sleeping bunny to win the race. This old and informative fable can be used to illustrate the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

As the GOP campaign begins to develop, we have had some sputtering starts and withdrawals. In addition, we continue to have speculation around the possible entry of others into the fray. So far various straw polls and preference polling have lent a “flavor of the week’ element as different individuals have managed to capture the fancies of voters in different states. Michele Bachmann stunned the pundits with her victory in Ames, Iowa, and Ron Paul was within breathing distance of her victory. Herman Cain has garnered victories in Denver at the Western Conservative Summit and more recently in Florida. Ron Paul has, in addition to his 2^nd place in Iowa, won the New Orleans republican Leadership Conference straw poll, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) preference, and the California favorability vote.

The media and Establishment-anointed leaders, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, have NOT won any of the straw of preference polls although they have been performing rather well in general polling for primaries and the general election. Although the media and their resident pundits enjoy speculating about the horse-race aspects of the contest for the GOP nomination, it seems as of this point in time, some 13 months until the people trudge to the polls, that no one has a clear advantage. The two most likely candidates for the role of the “hare” appear to be Romney and Paul. Dr. Paul has polled consistently well but does not have the support of the moderate or RINO wing of the party. The entrenched self-designated leadership of the Republican Party tends to favor a middle-of-the-road candidate whom they believe would have a greater appeal to a broader segment of the electorate.

Former Governor Romney seems to have collected the support of much of the staid establishment GOP although some are attempting to convince Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey to enter the race despite his repeated refusals to do so. If Christie holds fast and stays out of the race, then it will probably be Romney versus whoever has staying power (i.e. cash). Cain’s dramatic victory in Florida will rocket him to the upper tier of candidates for the present time, but he must use his new-found celebrity status to raise some serious cash to continue the momentum. Dr. Paul is well-funded, and his organization grows stronger every week. In addition, Congressman Paul has an energetic and loyal cadre of young people who can add “feet on the ground” to his media advertising purchases. He will need every dollar and every volunteer to overcome the GOP Establishment opposition. They enjoy the benefits of big government nearly as much as their Democrat counterparts do, and they do not want a Paul candidacy that is pledged to downsizing the federal government.

As the hares hop around the landscape seeking to attract attention and support, the battle for TOP TORTISE is shaping out to be between Romney and Paul with Cain and Perry getting fitted for shells. Perry’s mercurial beginning has faded quickly, but enough anti-Romney people exist to keep his hopes alive. The Perry supporters might be defined as “pragmatic conservatives.” They are people who generally lean conservative but are unwilling to rock the electoral vote by supporting someone whom they believe too extreme or too inexperienced. The Republican movers and shakers seem somewhat schizophrenic as the moderates and token conservative pragmatists seek to boost their preferred candidates. The moderates believe that most Independents prefer milquetoast non-entities, and the conservative pragmatists sense that the conservative base will abandon the party if a sufficiently conservative candidate is not nominated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Paul continues to plug along as Herman Cain catches fire.

http://youtu.be/ERW8z8Y6MHk

Exciting times are ahead, but we must NEVER forget that the goal is to preserve and restore our Republic. A victory for more-of-the-same will be a pyrrhic one. Trust the tortoise, and beware the hare.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

Stashin' Passion

You probably recall an interview from Detroit shortly after President Obama was elected. The woman who was the subject was ecstatic because she believed that the President was going to give her and others some money. When asked where she thought the money would come from, she answered “Obama’s stash.” I’m certain that many of us chuckled at her apparent naiveté. It seems, however, that at some level she was correct. Obama does have a “stash,” but the Detroit lady’s cut will be much smaller than she had expected. On the other hand his big business cronies have been faring well.

The President may have been a lowly community organizer when he ran for the Illinois State Senate, but he learned the politics of the Chicago streets very well. “The Chicago Way” requires an unflinching and unrepentant commitment to rewarding one’s friends and crushing one’s foes. All progressives and most Democrats believe that they have a proprietary interest in public funds….formerly your money. Once the taxes or fees have been coerced or confiscated from citizens, they become the personal bankroll for the leftie politician. The money can be budgeted for programs and policies that favor groups that are safely ensconced in the leftist voting bloc.

While directing advantageous budgetary allocations toward compliant groups is an important element of leftist politics, the recipients must be continually reminded who their benefactors are. It follows, therefore, that massive funds are required to “inform and educate” the masses so that their voting will allow the looting cycle to continue ad infinitum. To effectively reach the people with a message of beneficent government requires massive amounts of funds. Soliciting campaign money from the smaller recipients of government largesse can be an effective strategy, but $25 and $50 donations will not accumulate quickly enough to underwrite a broad based ad campaign.

Entering from “stage left” are the idealistic dedicated leftists who have entered the world of capitalism by becoming innovative entrepreneurs. Like many progressive lefties their ideas of “ought to” are rarely grounded in reality. Their innovative concepts may be intriguing and creative, but the market and consumer demand are not yet favorable for their products or services. Some of their concepts are politically correct, but can never become commercially viable….unless they can secure a “sugar daddy” to underwrite or finance their trip into dreamland. Other development concepts are more feasible, but why invest your own assets when government is available to provide funding? Two glaring examples stand out. The Solyndra fiasco in California and the Petrobras development in the deep water off Brazil are representative of the type of cronyism this administration has employed to reward political friends and contributors.

Given the two examples that have been cited, it should be clear that President Obama has distorted the so-called “stimulus” funding to reward his political allies. As the Federal Reserve Bank cranks out more dollars, the President’s friends are rewarded by raids on public funds, and the citizens of the nation are penalized with increasing debt and decreasing currency values. The Obama “stash” has been found. It is not a vault at Fort Knox. It is not a shoebox under the President’s bed in the Whitehouse. It is not Al Gore’s famous “lockbox.” The Obama stash is a keyboard in Ben Bernanke’s office at the Fed. Those stash-driven keyboard strokes are underwritten by higher prices for consumers, and an increasingly uncertain economic future for Americans. The Obama stash ultimately begins and ends in your pocket, but the lady from Detroit is still waiting for her cut from the stash. I suspect that she’ll vote for him again because she does not yet understand that the “stash” is a myth, and his promises to her were meaningless. Meanwhile, George Soros enjoys the profits from Petrobras, and the Solyndra executives plead the Fifth Amendment. The Obama campaign re-election fund continues to grow in anticipation of another four years for looting the people of the United States and dashing the dreams of the Framers and the Founders.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

 

Liberty and Community

There are two tensions that dominate our political and social living. They are individualism and community. Each has its necessary functions, but they are often at odds with one another. As individuals we often feel coerced into accepting community-wide decisions that we may believe to be unwise or too restrictive. Conversely the community may resent the iconoclast who harshly criticizes cooperative efforts. Even the most steadfast loner is aware that once in a while the group format is necessary for survival. Most community members, too, understand that there are times and circumstances that become unmanageable in the midst of the group. One must focus on the issue and complete the task alone. That is what is known as personal responsibility.

Most effective community ventures are ad hoc affairs. The people come together to resolve an issue that affects the whole area. The most common examples of ad hoc organization can be found in communities that have experienced a natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, massive flooding or any number of potentially devastating events. The disaster often isolates the community from the outside world, and the residents must join together to secure some degree of individual safety. The most hardened individualist will embrace the community’s collective program to survive and recover.

Government represents the most forceful and permanent aspect of a community’s attempts to work collectively. The passage of rules, ordinances and laws replace the informal organization of spontaneous unity found in ad hoc event-oriented cooperative efforts. The rule making becomes a permanent element of the community, and individual laws may extend beyond their original justification. While some may view the individualist as a contrarian, her or his heightened sense of self-purpose and self-interest generates a reluctance to accept the community restrictions. Because of the power for enforcement, all government rulemaking or legislation is by nature…tyrannical. If an individual resists the rule,….for whatever reason…the collective power of the governing unit can be forcefully used to secure her or his compliance.

Not all laws, regulations or rules are wise, nor are they necessarily fair or equitable. The community (government) believes that total compliance is necessary for order and cooperative living. The individualist chafes at what appear to be meaningless attempts to coerce conformity. The individualist swims against the stream while the communitarians choose not to make waves. The slow creep of tyranny moves unabated when people suppress their individuality and fail to stir the waters of discontent and caution.

People who love liberty and citizens who protect liberty are the original “surfers” or “wave riders.” We need more of them. In a guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal (Monday, 9/26/2011), Senator Susan Collins of Maine has called for a moratorium on regulations. She revealed that there are 4200 rules or regulations waiting to be approved that could negatively impact the economy. It’s about time. Now begin repealing the others. The community is not infallible, and the individualists must resist the oppressive tyranny of a community run amok. Stand tall, and don’t be afraid to fall.

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed. 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo.   www.wspd.com