Littlestuff Weekender-10-29-2011

Yesterday I attended Congressman Bob Latta’s (R-OH5) town hall meeting about agriculture. He discussed the likely breakout of the new ag budget/farm bill given the makeup of Congress and the fiscal constraints (odd….that’s never stopped Congress from spending in the past). The operative word for the day was “nutrition.” Bob anticipates that fully 75% of the Agriculture Budget will be targeted for nutrition programs….food stamps, Women infants children (WIC), and other similar government giveaways. The reason that those items remain in the ag budget is to ensure the votes from urban representatives. I understand, but since when should the bribe or the cost of the vote be three times the actual amount dedicated to agriculture?

Certainly as a strict constitutionalist, I am philosophically opposed to any direct government involvement in agriculture. Subsidies and direct payments should be phased out, and the market should be unfettered to provide a more realistic basis for the true cost of food and fiber. On the other hand, if our economically-challenged legislative cowards continue to underwrite other economic sectors and individuals belonging to “distressed” groups, then let’s continue to fund conservation efforts and crop insurance for our agricultural producers. If we continue to borrow obscene amounts of money to fund questionable and unconstitutional programs, we may as well continue assisting the 2% of our population who feeds and clothes us. Finally, one could argue that food and fiber production are vital national security interests. You can figure out why I wrote that.

Anecdotally, it seems to me that the agricultural sector has been more prone to bubbles and busts over the past several decades than have other economic sectors. Extreme weather often leads to inflated prices for crops and produce, and the agricultural community faces weather-based disaster on a regular basis. Early frost damages citrus, excessive rain may retard corn planting or harvesting, severe drought destroys crops, hayfields and pastures, and bitterly cold winters with minimal snow cover can negatively impact the winter wheat crop. Every weather phenomenon that damages urban areas can be as deadly for agriculture, but because of the broad acreage and sparser population, the losses go relatively unreported.

Briefly, I did have a moment to discuss the critical status of Lake Erie with the Congressman, and will continue to stay in touch as we pursue state-driven remedies as opposed to allowing the feds to mess it up. It’s time for Ohio and other Great Lakes states plus our neighbors in Canada to step up and resolve the issues ourselves and for the benefits of OUR CITIZENS…..

We have slightly more than a week until Election Day here in Ohio. Many of our local communities have offices up for consideration as do school boards, and other boards and commissions. Three statewide issues dominate the Buckeye electoral scene….especially Issues 2 and 3. Issue 2 is the ballot effort by public employee unions and their private sector fellow travelers to repeal SB 5….the public employment reform bill. A “yes” vote will continue the effect of the bill, and a “no” vote will repeal it. This issue will be a demonstration of pure electoral power. The outcome will determine the future solvency of the state and most of the local jurisdictions in Ohio. As of 10/27 the repeal effort had spent $17.3 million with another $4+ million on hand. The supporters of retaining the legislation had spent somewhat more than $7 million. It’s a showdown over who is in charge…taxpayers and their elected officials or the unionized public employees. I urge a “YES” vote. If the repeal fails, citizens must hold local officials accountable so that they NEVER AGAIN negotiate to give away the keys to the treasury.

Issue 3 is a constitutional amendment that forbids the state of Ohio from implementing the individual mandate contained in ObamaCare. Without the individual mandate in force, the remainder of that noxious legislative nightmare can be discarded piece by piece. This issue is a showdown between our citizens, state sovereignty and federal over reaching. A “YES” vote will tell the feds to take a hike and prevent the state government from implementing the mandate. Please vote “YES” on Issue 3.

Issue 1 deals with the retirement age for judges. It interests me nearly as much as a bucket of warm spit. I want constitutional judges with sound judgment. I don’t care how old they are as long as they aren’t napping and drooling while on the bench. I’ll probably vote “Yes” because geezers have rights too.

We’ll be on the air Monday night next week because we’re being preempted by the Tuesday night University of Toledo football game and the coach’s show on Wednesday. So to satiate our hordes of eager listeners, management asked us to do our little hour of pot-stirring on Monday, 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo. Our Monday guest will be James McCall, an independent candidate for President of the United States.  www.wspd.com

Tonight (Saturday) we are going to our son, daughter-in-law and grandson’s home for dinner and the OSU-Wisconsin football game. PJ, Heather and Sully have invited us plus a few of their friends to watch the Buckeyes dismember Bucky Badger.

Please remember…it’s not good parenting to eat all the Reese Cups from your children’s candy haul, and it’s really unfair if you leave them only the candy corn and apples while you greedily munch the remainder.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Mon.6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo.  www.wspd.com

  

Unintended Consequences

Anyone who has lived long enough to climb onto the school bus without Mommy’s help knows that much of life involves dealing with unintended consequences. Your little six-year old body navigates up the big steps, and whoa! That nasty little Tonya is sitting in YOUR seat. You astutely recognize that you have 4 reasonable options: complain to the bus driver, sit in Tonya’s usual seat, choose another seat, or pummel the snot out of Tonya. Each of those options can lead to a chain of consequences that may be difficult for your fertile six-year old mind to anticipate. The bottom line is that we learn that much of life is coping with unintended consequences…sometimes successfully and other times not so well.

The micro or personal impact of unintended consequences translates more starkly into macro or group settings because the potential number of outcomes grows exponentially when more actors and situations are involved. Thus it should not require an advanced degree in logic for an observer to expect a multiplicity of unintended consequences whenever some bright bureaucratic agency or other government body attempts to craft a law, rule or regulation for all the 310 million people who reside in the United States of America. Foul-ups abound as citizens (and others) scramble to comply with or to avoid the heavy hand of Big Brother.  

Possibly one of the most egregious outcomes from bureaucratic over reach can be seen in the Endangered Species Act. Insignificant snail darters and other minor species have enjoyed the comfort of federal government protection while our national economic engine has suffered because of misplaced federal policy. We currently import 70% of our oil needs….a significant portion from nations who resent us and would harm us in an instant if they didn’t want our money. The largest source of our imported energy is Canada…whose environmental concerns are similar to ours, but they do operate their domestic energy production much more sanely than we do. The unintended consequences include higher energy costs for Americans because shipping and transportation add to the bottom line. Because of their bureaucratic misfeasance, thousands of energy production jobs are exported rather than contributing to local economies throughout the United States. Our national security is at risk because of the necessity for energy to fuel our armed forces in times of conflict. A final unintended consequence (there may be others, but I suffer from limited insight) is the division in the caused by such an unrealistic policy. One often has to choose between the ideal and the pragmatic in order to survive. You may love your pet pig, but pork is tasty. You can’t have the pig and eat it too. We can protect the minnow (darter) and harvest the oil or gas, but our heads-in-the-clouds, unrealistic bureaucrats have determined that protected minnows (they are slightly larger than a large paper clip) are more important than the needs of the people of the nation.

If would be great if the snail darter example were an anomaly, but in most government interactions with the people, it is more indicative of the norm. An all-powerful government enterprise assumes that its ability to use force to assure your compliance is enough justification for it to pursue harmful policies. An unthinking, illogical and power hungry institution believes itself to be the source of all knowledge and good. Some might be alarmed that some of our citizens worship at the altar of government. It isn’t all that surprising because uninformed and weak people have worshiped golden calves and other inanimate objects for ever….with similar results as those who worship government….decay followed by disaster. The snail darter is NOT an item of worship, but it does represent one of the vestments of our unholy government.

All government actions lead to unintended and often devastating consequences. The one-size-fits-all policies and programs yield a plethora of consequences throughout our nation. The good intentions of clueless lawmakers and bureaucrats generate multiple disruptions for our citizens.

Snail darters should be used for bait, and we should “drill, Baby, drill.” Please leave us alone. We’ll do just fine.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

We’ll be on WSPD…Monday 6-7:00pm.  1370 WSPD   www.wspd.com

What is your vision?

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18

We have a year until the 2012 elections. The 2011 local and issue elections are less than two weeks from now. Issues, candidates, parties and interested groups will all be vying for your money, your time and your support. If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I believe principle, character and integrity are vital elements for deciding whom or what to support in the political arena. Those attributes refer to the candidates or the groups that are promoting various issues. The final critical facet to be considered involves you….yes you. What is your vision for your community, your state or our country? If you possessed absolute power to remake everything, what would your perfect picture illustrate?

We often chide or laud political leaders for visionary perspectives or lack of them. George H. W. Bush didn’t think too highly of “that vision thing,” but he wasn’t re-elected either. We desire the leader who has a firm vision for the future but a clear pragmatic grasp of present reality. This is a rare combination because we associate visionaries with inspiring rhetoric, big ideas and even larger dreams. The pragmatic realist, on the other hand, rolls the shirt sleeves and puts her head under the hood to torque, twist and tweak (a Ross Perot flashback). Our schizophrenic desires seem to be for a grease monkey who’s a gifted poet. The ideal leader may be out there somewhere, but the poet generally doesn’t want to wade in the sludge of politics, and the idealistic grease monkey doesn’t want to “waste” months or years trudging around the nation, state or district trying to convince voters that he or she can “fix it.” The doer wants to “do,” not talk about it.

As one of the group of deciders (voters), it is your duty to design the template for the type of leader that you wish to assume office. The pattern or “jig” should frame the vision, and the internal cuts, miters and routing should identify the principles, character and integrity of the candidates. It is your vision for the nation, the state or the community that should define which candidate or issue you support. Nuts and bolts, gears and shafts, bells and whistles are important elements for identifying the important qualities for a potential leader, but the entire assembled powertrain is needed for the vehicle to move forward.

When you imagine what our perfected 21^st Century United States should be, what role do you envision for the federal government? If you believe as I do that it should be limited to the enumerated powers of the Constitution, try to picture in your mind how we move from the sluggish invasive apparatus we have now to the smoothly running structure you desire. Too often constititutionalists have fallen for the slicksters who promise to deliver “smaller government” but fail to clearly define what they mean. If you have the picture or the template, then your questions for the candidate will expose her of his meaningless assertions and promises for what they are. If you do not have the template, the ideal firmly chiseled into your mind, the career politician or the eager opportunist is more likely to win your support and ultimately disappoint you……again.

But Charlie, you might protest, that’s their job. They should share their visions so we can thoughtfully weigh them. You may have a point, but we no longer live in the 18^th Century when our Founders and Framers debated what our future should be. Our current crop of “statesmen” contains few philosophers and even fewer thinkers. If you truly wish to preserve and restore the republic, you must contrast the model for the present era and support only those who share your goals. As you know so well, a person or a nation without a firm goal is condemned to wander aimlessly. If the goal is defined and clear, the path to reach it becomes clearer. If the politicians can deliver no more than lofty rhetoric and empty phrases, the people are duty-bound to design the goal and choose the pathway.

When we assemble something new, the bright shiny parts are rather easy to place together in an orderly fashion. We may make some mistakes in the process, but we can quickly dismantle and reconstruct the item. Restoring and rebuilding is usually much more difficult. Parts are greasy, rusted or worn. Tearing the old piece apart is laborious and breaking critical components is a very real possibility. Finding replacement parts may be nearly impossible so we’ll have to build or machine new ones. Fortunately we have the manual as our reference. We have The Constitution of the United States of America, and it is almost brand new because it hasn’t been used very much in the past. Draft your vision, build your dream, and perhaps….they will come.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

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

Promoting the Narrative

The elites in government, politics and media appear to have a very low opinion of the people of our nation. They may refer to us as lemmings, sheeple or other less flattering terms. They view us a collection of unthinking mobs that are one misstep away from neanderthalism. We are the drones, the worker bees and the “bots” of the American political landscape. Some of us are characterized as knuckle dragging right wing extremist weirdoes. If they thought that we thought, they would accuse us of brain-dead group thought. But they don’t think we think so they think that we are collectively and coincidentally stupid.

With advent of the Tea Party and related movements public awareness of government and political matters has increased dramatically. Distrust for the reigning political power elites has grown substantially as people become skeptical of their government and the media that reports about government action. To a lesser degree the citizens have become wary of the two primary parties….the Republicans and the Democrats. They have controlled national power for a century and half often appearing to act in collusion to deny the rights of people and their property while expanding the overarching role of government in the everyday lives of individuals. The “stupid” masses are catching on. They see the avarice and greed, the lust for power, and the disdain the power elite projects when toying with citizens’ lives. They get it.

The people who pay the taxes and do the heavy lifting in the nation are beginning to understand who the true “sheeple” are….who it is that follows the herd mentality. Everyday citizens do not have “talking points” or “media narratives.” We see, we ponder and we react. Powerful elites react but often fail to see, and even more rarely ponder. Their behavior reminds me of that old joke….ready, shoot, aim. If you follow the political news as closely as I do for this column and the radio show, you will note that many career politicians and mass media types use similar descriptive phrasing. If they like the idea, it’s “innovative, creative or new.” If they find the idea repulsive, they call it “extreme, strange or controversial.” Objective observers and true journalists could escape the herd by using terms such as “unique, different or thought-provoking.” They do not, so they join the mass of other non-thinkers who condemn what they do not understand. Their lack of understanding springs from their dearth of curiosity, shortage of intellect and fear of being ostracized by the herd.

When discussing policies or other political personalities, if all the power elite and the media drones were in the same room, their repetitive mantras could be taken for chants. Same words, same inferences, same assumptions govern their public discourse. It’s as if all were reading from the same teleprompter. Their echoing is described as the “dominant narrative.” The view that all the ‘right” people accept as correct. Their approach is very similar to a group of pseudo-intellectuals who have all read a book review (but not the book) and sit around discussing the nuance of the plot and the author’s true intent. Their approach has no basis in reality, but it is tethered to the statements and pronouncements of others in their circle of uninformed jerks.

The members of the circle are aghast when someone deviates from the narrative. The heresy could topple their illogical house of unreasonable cards. They react, therefore, with passion and fury to denounce the violator of the silent compact to promote the dominant narrative. After all, lemmings do not enjoy an alternate route when racing toward the cliffs of delusionary self-destruction. The power elite and their tools the mass media operatives are somewhat flummoxed by the Tea Party/Patriot movement and Libertarians. The citizens study the Constitution of the United States, read legislative bills, and question candidates and proponents. They are skeptical of the dominant narrative. They seek alternate sources of information and confirmation. They ask troublesome questions and raise bothersome issues. While a “movement,” they are not a singular organization that can be dismissed or totally marginalized. And they (gasp, gasp) claim to want a smaller constitutional government that defends EVERYONE’S individual rights….not only those of the elite.

The elites and purveyors of the dominant narrative assume that a large nation of 310 million persons requires a massive number of laws to insure the social order and minimize chaos. Their response to the small-government proponents is to claim they are uninformed, unenlightened and unsophisticated. Any parent, group leader or organizational specialist can deflate the dominant narrative because larger more diverse groups require fewer rules to promote cohesion. A plethora of rules designed to address minor specific issues frustrate the larger group because broad applications are unworkable and often counterproductive. Frustrated individuals join with others with similar complaints and resist the arbitrary issuance and enforcement of arcane rules.

The slow-witted elites will someday discover that their dominant narrative is false….has always been false, and will cause them to be surprised when the people finally rise up and reject their paradigm. The people are discovering that the dominant narrative is fiction. The elites will learn that reality bites.

One final note: The dominant narrative is the enforcement arm of political correctness.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

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