Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Do principles matter?

I thought my last Blog would  generate many comments, and it did. Especially from two of my favorite people who are also vociferous in stating their opinions (not always agreeing with me...).

As of this writing it looks like things are back to square one with Obama and his Democratic Senate refusing to accept anything but "status quo"; raising the debt ceiling and moving forward with more spending increases. These deadlines normally cause politicians to cave and come to some kind of agreement and that may happen this week.

But I wonder if our elected officials are really negotiating and voting for their principles or to protect their job? I suspect the latter. All politicians are sworn to obey the Constitution but many "interpret" it differently. Since the country is split 50/50 then it's reasonable to expect Congressmen and Senators to follow the desires of their constituents...after all that is what a Representative Republic is all about. So maybe gridlock is a perfectly normal result.

The Tea Party takes the brunt of the attack, but I believe only because of the main stream liberal media.  I have been to several Tea Party rallies and all these folks want is for the government to stop the madness in spending and get the out-of-control government under control. I have never seen a radical or violent demonstration of any kind at a Tea Party rally, yet that's all you read about in the MSM, while very little is ever read about the "occupy" radicals who practice violence at almost every occasion. If in one of the Tea Party demonstrations across the country someone flies a Confederate flag that's all you will see on the main stream news for days. 

So in the end this 50/50 split is good in a way...maybe not if it puts the government into default (which could not happen without Obama directing it), but those Tea Party candidates were sent to Washington in 2010 to stop the spending madness and some I believe are willing to "go down with the ship" and sacrifice their careers for their principles. Smart move; maybe not; but if they lose their careers they will be able to say "I did what my voters sent me to do and what the Constitution required me to do".

In the end, the solution to all this madness is simple, the country needs a leader.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Fiscal cliff...again

We have been here before, government shut down, and the debt ceiling looming in a week or two. The democrats say; "Give us a clean 'continuing resolution' and extend the debt ceiling and we will then negotiate". It's like an alcoholic saying; "If you let me have one more drink, then I will finally quit".

I for one am sick of seeing this country spend their way into oblivion - a trillion dollars more every year than we take in, with no end in sight, and every day we get closer to what I believe will be a big crash. I don't know if it will be the stock market crashes, the financial system crashes or hyper-inflation (what if that $50,000 you saved for your child's education would only get them through the first semester?).

So I am going to take a radical position in this blog, and I am sure I will get a lot of comments:

First - We should keep the government shut down until the individual mandate in Obamacare is extended a year (like the employer mandate) so they can work the bugs out. And Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, and all other companies and unions with exemptions must participate in Obamacare like every other ordinary American.

Second - We should let the debt ceiling come and go and refuse to increase it. Some say the government will then "default" - bullshit (pardon me). The monthly interest on the national debt is approximately $20 billion and must be paid, but it is only about 10% of the monthly revenue this country takes in. That leaves 90% of our monthly income to pay the remaining bills. Some experts say this will mean a 10-15% cut in government expenditures and may cause another recession. Another recession? When have we ever left the last one?

A good manager could make this work, every American knows there must be 10-20% fat in our government. Yes this would cause short term pain, primarily for government workers and subcontractors, but at some point the alcoholic has to have a drastic "intervention" or he will die a slow death.

I ran three companies during my career and there were times when a 10-15% cut was necessary, and there was pain, but in every case the company came out healthier and in some cases growth exploded.

The problem with this administration is that even if this scenario were to happen they would play politics instead of thinking of the country . Instead of prioritizing spending they would make it as painful to the American public as possible. As they have done recently by funding PBS (and "big bird") and Planned Parenthood while locking out WWII vets from their memorial, closing the Statue of Liberty and Grand Canyon, and refusing to pay death benefits to military families who lost loved ones fighting in Afghanistan - a disgrace, and one that Obama will never live down. In the military's eyes he and Chuck Hagel are now down there with John Kerry and Jane Fonda.

But I believe that if we face the pain now and work our way through it, the lemmings in this country that blindly follow Obama will finally see what he and his administration have done to our Constitution and way of life.

Let's dig in our heels and not pass this mess on to our children and grandchildren.