"Coalition of the Dependent"

Hillary won big in South Carolina with a 50 point win in the primary.  The turnout of voters was down as it has been in all the Democratic primaries so far, which indicates a lack of enthusiasm, but she carried the black vote by a large margin. It amazes me that the black vote is so monolithic supporting democrats exclusively, especially Hillary in this primary.

Why do blacks and to a certain extent Latinos, vote almost exclusively democratic? Here is what I don't understand - after 8 years of a black president, black unemployment and poverty are at an all-time high and yet the black community still supports any democratic candidate. If you look at every city where black ghettos exist and black people are mired in poverty, there is one constant - the city has been run for decades by democrats. These communities have a 70% birth rate to a single parent, education is poor because the teachers unions have stifled performance, and drugs are rampant.  And yet these folks continue to support a president that offered "Hope" to everyone, especially those minority communities.

But this is not a big issue to most democrats in power, they want a "coalition of the dependent" and I believe without them the Democratic party would not exist, and they know it. Race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton's livelihood and power would not exist without this dependent coalition. Teachers unions in poor communities have locked the education system into mediocrity, charter schools are discouraged, and welfare has kept people into poverty as a lifestyle.

Bernie Sanders' enthusiasm is fading, but give him credit for being honest; he understands the problem in minority communities and is serious about solving it. I don't agree with his solution of more dependency, but to watch Hillary pandering to the black vote is sickening. Unfortunately the democratic machine is too strong to be defeated by the idealism of the millenniums and disaffected democrats of Sanders supporters. At least Bernie is honest about being a socialist, Hillary is a socialist in sheep's clothing and will lie whenever and wherever it is required to further her candidacy.

Jack Kemp was a former NFL quarterback and conservative Congressman. Many reading this Blog do not remember him, but he proposed for many years a system of  "Enterprise Zones" in minority communities that taught residents the free enterprise system and assisted them in setting up small businesses; he believed that would "feed" on itself and he was probably right. Once people experience the free enterprise system they will never go back.

So how do you eliminate the coalition of the dependent?  I believe in to ways; an education system that produces people that think for themselves and the restoration of the family unit. If you are a child born without a family unit, you start out in life with a big disadvantage. I feel sorry for the millions of black folks that idealistically voted for "hope and change" and 8 years later have lost "hope" and have experienced no "change".  

"Bernie v Billionaires"

"America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major developed country on earth, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is wider than at any time since the 1920's"

This is a quote directly from Bernie Sanders' web site. It may be true but I do not have the time to research his statistics. Let's assume it is true...but what are the reasons and what are the results of this country producing more millionaires and billionaires per capita than any country in the world? And why shouldn't we take away more of their money and redistribute it, after all these "wealthy' people don't need all that money do they?

There are not very many billionaires in this country that have inherited their wealth. Here are some of the billionaires in Forbes top 15 - Bill Gates - Microsoft, Warren buffet - Berkshire Hathaway, Larry Olson - Oracle founder, The Koch Brothers - Koch Industries, the Walton family - Walmart, Jeff Bezos - Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook, Phil Knight - Nike ...and I could go on (including Beyonce and JayZ). These entrepreneurs produced a product that people wanted and they probably had no thoughts when they started about becoming a millionaire or a billionaire, they had a great idea, worked their ass off, and their business was successful. Bernie sanders says "the system is rigged" if that's true how did so many people in our lifetime (many who started from scratch), become millionaires and billionaires?

I recently read an article which analyzed the Forbes list of 400 wealthiest Americans. These 400 created 10 million jobs in the country. The top 100 founded companies that employed on average 40,000 workers.
 
This class warfare which is a staple in the Democrats play book is getting old. As of 2015 The top 20% of wage earners pay 84% of all taxes, the lower 50 % pay on average 2.9% and the bottom 20% actually get paid by the government. Hey Bernie why is that not fair?

I am not a billionaire, nor am I jealous of them, but I did start a successful tech business from scratch; so did many of my entrepreneurial friends. And if you count real estate especially here in California you could call us millionaires. But we also remember the long hours, great risk putting all our assets on the line, and periods when the business almost "went south" and no one will ever convince us that the free enterprise system attacked by Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, is "rigged". 

Bernie has proposed a top income tax rate of 54%, with a capital gains rate to match (up from the current 25%). With state and local taxes the top earners could pay 75% in California and New York. Who is going to work for three quarters of the year and give that income to the government - no one. Under a Bernie Sanders society the high wage earners will just go offshore and our economy will tank. "Socialism" has a proven record of failure, but 'progressives' like Bernie and Hilary continue to want to repeat it and try again.

Bernie says the wealthy should pay their "fair share". To me, giving even 50% of your income to the government borders on being 'fair', no matter how much you make. To pay more than 50% is simply "confiscation".

"Debate chaos"

This debate was ridiculous...what has our politics come to. Or maybe it's just our culture. It seems like whoever is the loudest and makes the most insults commands the most time, and wins.  Kasich and Carson were the only adults on the stage tonight in my opinion...sadly they are at the bottom in this competition, what does that say about us?

You can see why the folks are so turned off with politics, they want to hear about solutions to problems not a "food fight". But I guess that's what our society is expecting and it is displayed even in awards shows like the Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammy's where people have forgotten to be gracious and feel they have to make a 'statement'.

Oh well, this will be a short Blog, next Tuesday could be a big game changer or the Trump machine could keep rolling. And maybe some sense will come to this primary season.

And it's not much different on the democratic side where the choices of Hillary or Bernie show just how pitifully deficient our leadership choices are. I'm going to bed :-)  
  

"The Juggernaut"

Juggernaut: something (such as a force, campaign, or movement) that is extremely large and powerful and cannot be stopped.


I should preface this Blog by saying that I am not a Donald Trump fan...but I am a realist. It doesn't seem to matter whether the media is against him (Washington Post recent Op Ed comparing him to Hitler) or as his opposition tries to destroy him with millions of dollars of negative ads...he keeps winning. I am not saying his campaign fits the definition of a 'juggernaut' but so far he is getting the votes, and spending much less money than his opponents. The amount of money being spent to stop him is astonishing; as of the South Carolina primary here is the amount of money spent so far:


* Jeb Bush - $81 million (and it is estimated his Super Pac spent another $40 million)
* Marco Rubio -$50 million.
* Ted Cruz - $17 million.
* Donald Trump - $8 million.

 The result: Jeb is out and Rubio and Cruz are double digits behind. Trump has been called a 'political huckster', 'P.T. Barnum of politics', 'political snake oil salesman', and many other names not appropriate for this Blog. But in today's era of sound bites and people's worship of entertainers he is in his element; you cannot turn on a news or opinion show without seeing him. The SEC primaries are one week from today and this will be the big test. If Trump wins those, his campaign will fit the definition of a 'juggernaut' and we will have to get used to it.


I have no idea what kind of president Trump would be, but he has touched a nerve with many Americans. Can we round up 12 million illegal immigrants and deport them - NO, is illegal immigration a very serious problem in the country that the average guy wants fixed - YES. Can we ban Muslims from entering the country -NO, but are Muslims responsible for 95% of terrorist attacks around the world and do Americans want some assurance that terrorist attacks will be stopped - YES. Is our economy stagnant with few good jobs for the average guy; and do many people think it is because of jobs being moved offshore - YES. Do many people think this country has lost esteem in the world and we are being taken advantage of by Russia, China, Mexico, Iran...etc. - YES. These are some of the issues that Trump has zeroed in on and with his 'pied piper' marketing genius he has convinced many Americans that he can solve those problems, with a dose of 'panache' thrown in.


So we will see. On the democratic side the candidates are pitiful (in my humble and somewhat biased opinion). But democrats have the demographics with the major electoral vote states in their favor, but with their candidates there is no enthusiasm. In Iowa and New Hampshire democratic votes were down over 20% while republican votes were up 20%. In South Carolina democratic voting was down 30% while republican voting was up 30%. In the Nevada Caucuses the turnout last night was double what it was last time, so right now enthusiasm is definitely with the republicans.


There is not much enthusiasm on the democratic side with two socialists trying to outdo each other with offers of 'free stuff' and their embarrassing pandering to the minority and anti-police vote. 'The Bern' lost some momentum in Nevada but the democratic vote in South Carolina next Saturday will tell us more. Pray for an indictment Bernie!

"So long Antonin"

What a shock losing this great jurist this week. I wish we lived closer to DC, I would just like to have been able to pay my respects at the Supreme Court today.

Being a conservative I agreed with most of Antonin Scalia's decisions over the 30 years he served this country. But he was more than just a Conservative, he had this solid 'originalist' interpretation of the Constitution and did not waver. But learning more about this man during the past week we could all take a lesson from him. His liberal peers on the court even though they differed significantly in their philosophy were some of his closest friends. Justice Ruth Ginsberg lauds him as the most honest and charming person she had ever known and one of her closest friends. He was even  teaching liberal justice Elena Kagan to hunt, which was one of his loves.

Maybe one of the legacies he will leave behind is the ability to have deep philosophical differences with someone and still be close friends. I recall years ago Ronald Reagan and House democratic leader Tip O'Neil would fight all day and then sit down together at night over a drink, and they got things done. That is not the case in DC now where division between parties is paramount. I lay the blame for much of this on Obama, although I'm sure my liberal friends will disagree. In his State of the Union speech this year Obama said that he wished he could have done more to bring people together. Think about that statement and then ask yourself why he is not going to Antonin Scalia's funeral, the first President in our lifetime not to honor the death of a long standing Supreme Court justice. I am beginning to agree with Marco Rubio and believe this guy knows exactly what he is doing and dissing Scalia's memory is just part of his narcissistic personality.

Anyway, here's a toast to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, may he rest in peace.  His legacy will live on and history will record him as one of this country's great statesmen.

"Crunchtime"

So far in this primary election season the experts are scratching their heads. It was supposed to be a Hillary coronation and Jeb with his $120 million was supposed to crush all his opponents on the republican side. It's not exactly working out that way.

Hillary's crown is being stolen by a 74 year old socialist who for 25 years was an insignificant congressman who finally realized that if you offer people enough free stuff and convince them the system is rigged against them, you get votes. It is the classic democratic playbook but Bernie decided to take it to the extreme and caught the Hillary campaign with their pants down. And as of today 'The Bern' is slightly ahead nationally in one poll....wow the Hillary campaign has to be in a panic mode along with her big donors.

And on the republican side, in some polls Jeb is in last place even with 'W' campaigning with him. And tonight Jeb's campaign announced that they are bringing in the 'big gun'....mama arrives in South Carolina tomorrow. He has become the 'Rodney Dangerfield' on the republican side, spending millions of dollars and 'getting no respect'.

One message the voters are sending loud and clear; they are sick and tired of the so-called political dynasties and just want them to go away.  The democrat's caucus is in Nevada Saturday and then they vote in South Carolina next Saturday. The republicans vote just the opposite. So in the next week the situation will become even more focused. Trump has maintained a solid 1/3 of the vote but with five others splitting the remainder. As others drop out (if they do) it will be interesting to see where those votes go. Trump also has other campaigns in a panic, and today keeping his name in the news he picks a fight with the pope while his opponents wonder what the hell is happening.

The talk shows along with Saturday Night Live are having a field day. Jay Leno on a guest appearance last night told this joke: "What do you call a person that digs up dirt on Bernie Sanders?...an archaeologist."  I thought this was funny and sent it on to my liberal friends but got no response...why do liberals have no sense of humor? Stay tuned...

 

"Political Chaos"

'Chaos': Complete confusion and disorder: a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything. 

That sounds about where we are in this election season.  We started out with an interesting array of candidates: a combination of establishment Republicans and Conservatives on the Republican side and a combination of Socialists on the Democratic side (one who is on her way to being indicted).

Both of the last debates were meaningless:

The Democratic debate was a yawner; you could have slept through three fourths of it without missing anything. Both socialist candidates tried to outdo each other offering potential voters every entitlement in the book without any requirement to work for it, and with the same tired message "The system is rigged, you don't have a chance, and the successful people in this country should redistribute some of their wealth to you", without any discussion of how in the world it would be paid for. What I found despicable was Bernie and Hillary's disparagement of this country, the police in this country, and the successful people in this country in their blatant attempt to pander to the 'Black Lives Matter' group and the poor and minority vote in general.

The Republican debate was a "food fight". As a Conservative I was embarrassed especially with Donald Trump who was his usual bombastic, arrogant self but made statements that were outrageous. Any reasonable person, either Democrat or Republican does not believe George Bush was responsible for 9/11. Trump is the antithesis of decorum.  So rather than discuss issues we saw two hours of stupid attacks. It is interesting that Trump still leads by a large margin in the polls and now adding to the chaos, today he was threatening again to run as an Independent if the RNC doesn't "treat him better".

If you look at Trump and Bernie, both candidates that should not even be in the running, you can only conclude there is significant anger against the 'establishment' in this voter base.

But now add to the chaos the death of Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia,  Bloomberg's threat to jump in as an Independent, Hillary's potential for implosion if she gets indicted, and the growing controversy over Super Delegates .  Hillary already has 361 Super delegates pledged to her even though Bernie is way ahead in votes. The fix is in folks, poor Bernie Dangerfield "gets no respect' and if Hillary gets indicted Joe Biden has his white horse saddled and ready to ride in. 

If this was not such a serious election it would be fun watching all this chaos, but at least there will be plenty to Blog about and it will be interesting.


   

"New Hampshire speaks"

The voters in New Hampshire have spoken but do we know what they said?

This was the first real primary vote since Iowa was a Caucus. First some numbers - 526,090 New Hampshire voters voiced their opinion: 279,263 Republican and 246,827 Democrat. The Bern and the Trumpster came out as winners, and they now head south. Bernie took Hillary to the woodshed  beating her by 22 points and it was embarrassing watching her and Bill on that stage during her concession speech spinning and smiling, almost like they had won...what a joke. And Bernie went on and on with his acceptance speech for 30 minutes spewing the same message of 'free everything' for people that vote for him and a continuous litany of how Wall Street and "rich" people are screwing the folks.


Trump won easily but against a large field with Kasich second, Cruz third, Bush fourth, and Rubio fifth. After disappointing results Christie and Fiorina dropped out today reducing the field before another debate Saturday. Dr. Carson with 2% of the vote has decided to hang in there and so has Jim Gilmore who had a grand total of 133 votes (I had no idea he had that many relatives in New Hampshire).

The amount of money spent on this primary was astounding. Bernie and Hillary continually rant about how money controls politics. Well let's see how money has controlled this primary. Bush spent an astounding $37 million in New Hampshire; $1200 per vote and came in fourth. Trump spent $40 per vote and won, and Cruz spent $18 per vote and came in third. So much for money controlling politics. People are angry and establishment candidates with all their money and support cannot break through with their same old message.

So everyone heads south and the primary season expands. Hillary says; "Don't worry the Black and Latino vote will carry us in future primaries". The DNC must be in a panic. Not only because Bernie thumped her in New Hampshire, but every day more comes out about her illegal email activities as Secretary of State. What if she is indicted? Some say Joe Biden will come in on a white horse to save the day or Bloomberg will jump in as an Independent.  Poor Bernie the Rodney Dangerfield of this political season "can't get no respect", even from his own party.  But Bernie is on the offensive, meeting with Al Sharpton this morning in Harlem hoping the Sharpster will come out and say to his followers: "Can't y'all feel the Bern"...I'm not so sure, but I have lost some respect for Bernie pandering to this race hustler.
                                     
Anyway, we will see what happens as we move forward. I have friends (a few) that believe Bernie is on a roll to the White House...we'll see. The guy isn't exactly a powerhouse legislator; after a quarter-century in Congress the Bern has been the chief sponsor of three bills that were signed into law:  One that increased the annual cost-of-living raise for veterans’ benefits and two others renaming U.S. Postal Service offices in his home state of Vermont...quite an accomplishment in 25 years of political service. So pay attention Republicans, this guy they call 'The Bern' could be tough if he gets the nomination.

              

"Feel the Bern"

There are two candidates that baffle me this election season - Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. We will leave the Trumpster for another Blog since Bernie is such an interesting subject.

I find this guy they call 'The Bern' fascinating even though I wouldn't vote for a socialist unless he was running against a Clinton. But you can tell he is the real deal and sincerely believes in socialism; he is not the classic politician who tells people what they want to hear. I always respect someone who honestly defends what he believes in.  A friend of mine thinks I discriminate against him because he is old - hell I am two years older (but not running for President).  I am against him because he is a socialist who, like the Sirens singing to Odysseus, is seducing his followers with the promise of an endless list of 'free stuff'.

Bernie has taken the democratic playbook to a new level. On an emotional level it is very difficult to compete with the philosophy of socialism. After all who does not want free unlimited health care for everyone, free college for everyone, free child care for everyone, free 12 weeks paid family leave plus two weeks' vacation plus one week sick pay for everyone, and on and on...but reality most of the time trumps emotion (pardon the pun).

So how is all this 'free stuff' paid for? Again, on an emotional level it's easy to convince many voters those wealthy corporations and rich (usually successful) people should redistribute their income to less fortunate members of society. It is the Carl Marx model that has never worked but is continually recycled by the democrats in one form or another.

It is not the intent of this Blog to present a dissertation on Capitalism vs Socialism but many experts including economists on Bernie's side admit that his system cannot work by just raising taxes on the rich - taxes will have to be raised on everyone. And even Mr. Sanders admits that, but he also insists that "it will be made up by savings in other areas" (no heath care premiums, no college costs, etc.). So in effect he admits that we will all pay for his programs one way or another. So the bottom line with socialism is this: One way or another you are going to pay for it, so do you want the government running things or do you want free enterprise running things. The answer can be made with a few simple comparisons: Amazon's web site vs the Obamacare web site, or Citi Banks ability to track your Visa activity and immediately recognize criminal activity; or the US government's ability to track visitors who overstay their visa, or illegal aliens who simply disappear. You make the choice.

But the Bern does have remarkable energy, his speeches remind me of fire and brimstone sermons as he waves his arms and condemns the corporations and rich people, and his siren song convinces his followers that they are entitled to some of the wealth earned by successful people in this country and should be redistributed to them in the form of 'free stuff'.

Obviously I do not support 'the Bern'; on the contrary if he is the democratic nominee I will do my small part to work toward his defeat. But I do respect this lovable curmudgeon who has taken on the Clinton machine, one of the most corrupt political dynasties in the history of this country, and is giving them a run for their money.

The Race for the White House begins.

Now that voting has started I have decided to bring my Blog out of hibernation (OK, I have also been lazy). But before I start commenting on election results, let's remind ourselves where we have been the past 7+ years and what we are voting for. Maybe this year Americans will finally get a chance to see where the country stands - a true Progressive (or maybe even a Socialist) against a true Conservative.  The country needs to have that vote.

 Merriam Webster; Progressive:  'of relating to, or characterized by progress'.

There was a time when people on the left called themselves 'liberals', but over time that description of their philosophy started to have a bad connotation, probably at the time of the Carter presidency. So the liberal left decided to redefine their philosophy and started calling themselves "Progressives", and over the years they were successful in convincing the American voters to elect a young, good looking junior Senator with a golden speaking voice as the first real "progressive" president. And the fact that he was the first black president was frosting on the cake; Progressives were on cloud nine.



Well, let's see how the country has "progressed" since the Obama administration took power seven years ago:


The economy
The economy has been in the doldrums for the duration of this administration averaging around 2% growth (the last quarter of 2015 was a pitiful 0.7%). The Obama administration blames it on Bush, and 'W' did leave them a mess, but folks it has been 7 years and trillions of dollars later! Some say this economic growth is the 'new norm', if that's the case this country will never have a chance of reducing our $18+ trillion debt and our kids and grand kids will inherit the mess.

We are told unemployment has come down from 10% to 5%, but the real story is the number of people who stopped looking for a job. Experts (including our man Bernie Sanders) that don't spin these numbers estimate the actual unemployment rate is 10.3 % in 2015. The labor participation rate is the lowest it has been since Jimmy Carter (another real 'Progressive'). Some of this is due to demographics (baby boomers retiring), but much of it is because there are few good jobs. But that is not the complete story - the USA is becoming a "part time" employment society.  We have the highest number of citizens working part time in our history.

And with 47 million people now on food stamps, and a dramatic increase in welfare and disability payments the USA is drifting toward becoming an "entitlement society".

Foreign Policy

The fiascoes in the Obama/Clinton/Kerry foreign policies are so numerous it is mind boggling - too many to properly cover in a blog but here is a reminder:
- Iraq: Bailing out without leaving any troops behind, opening the door for ISIS.
- Egypt: Standing back and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood while turmoil there caused us to lose a longtime ally.
-  Libya: Hillary Clinton's crowning achievement; encouraging the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi which has left a failed state ruled by terrorist factions including ISIS. The true story of the Benghazi fiasco is yet to be told, but Hillary just lying to the country and especially the families of the fallen Americans makes her unqualified to be Commander-in-Chief. If the reader has not seen the movie '13 Hours' I highly recommend it. The movie is not political and does not blame Hillary, the State department, or Obama, but you leave the movie embarrassed for this country when our military did not even try to assist those Americans in trouble.
- Syria:  Another absolute mess. Hillary and Obama teamed up to support the civil war to depose Assad and when it looked like Assad was going to use chemical weapons, Obama drew his 'red line'.  Assad used chemical weapons and Obama did nothing, further confirming what a feckless commander-in-chief he is. Now, who knows what is going on in Syria with several rebel factions against Assad, ISIS controlling one third of the country and the Russians bombing who knows who?
- Afghanistan: A continuing disaster...in my opinion, no matter what anyone does the next few years, ten years from now this country will still be back in the seventh century. We should cut our losses and leave.
- Iran: History will determine whether or not the nuclear deal will work, but did you feel the way I did seeing our sailors kneeling down with their hands on their head? And when John Kerry 'thanked' the Iranians for releasing them it reminded me of what a weak person he is and of his actions after the Vietnam War.

I could go on about Russia annexing Crimea, terrorism throughout Africa, etc., etc.,...but to summarize Obama's foreign policy in a few words; 'the world is a mess'.

This Blog is getting too long and I could talk further about subsidized green energy, stifling regulations, deteriorating race relations, hatred of police, IRS corruption, Fast and Furious, terrorism fears, and on and on...

A recent poll shows that only 14% of Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction. If this is "moving forward", Merriam Webster has their definition of 'Progressive' wrong. I suspect the ex-liberals, who are now "Progressives" are already trying to think of a new name for their political philosophy.

But Republicans are also at fault with the mess this country is in, the 'establishment' Republicans in Washington have been a failure to the folks that elected them. After taking over the House and Senate with promises to the voters that they will take action against the Obama administration's policies they have been feckless.

Is this one of the most important elections in our history? We hear that every presidential election, but I believe it is the most important since Carter/Reagan. I hope the Republicans nominate a true Conservative so the voters can decide what kind of country they want. We know what the Democrats are offering - a Socialist or a 'closet' Socialist  (who may also be a criminal).

Here's a final thought - The Democrats and liberal media have always portrayed Republicans as the party of the 'angry white man', while they are the party of 'diversity'.  Isn't it interesting that the top four Republican candidates after the Iowa caucuses include two Latinos and an African American, while the Democrats are offering up two old, decrepit, white, career socialist politicians...how's that for diversity.