My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...


There are so many things to talk about that are going to impact our country that it is difficult to chose , but Imma gonna start with this one. You remember way back at the outset of our national nightmare known as the presidency of Barack Obama, we were told that our nation desperately needed to enact a stimulus program to create jobs and get our economy moving. Well, $666 billion dollars (and counting) later, how has that stimulus thing worked out for us? According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors (which, by the way, are all hand picked by the President), the stimulus program has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs- either in the public or private sector. Quick math tells me that each one of these jobs that was created or saved cost the American taxpayer  $278,000. Let me say that again: each job cost the American taxpayer $278,000. Folks, that is an incredibly inefficient expenditure of our tax dollars. The private sector creates jobs at a fraction of that cost.  Furthermore, the Council of Economic Advisors reports that the economy would have naturally created these jobs over the same period of time without the tax burden that it has placed on you and me as productive citizens. The truth is that the stimulus was a sop to the Democratic constituencies that helped to sweep Obama into the White House. Here is my surprised face:

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.



The pot is starting to boil when it comes to talk about raising the debt limit for our country. The Obama administration wants the debt limit raised by $2 trillion dollars to, in their words, "keep the government functioning and avoid a shutdown". Here is what you should know: the federal government WILL NOT shut down. Will it continue to operate all departments and services if the debt ceiling is not raised? No. If the debt ceiling is not raised, here is what will happen: the government will still have revenue and will still have an abundance of cash on hand, but not enough to run every department. The federal government will, like you and I have to do in lean economic times, prioritize their spending. Sure, national parks may close; some government offices will close and some services will be suspended, and the leaders in Washington are going to have to decide where to spend the funds they have and the tax revenues that will continue to flow into the federal coffers. You can bet that this will be politicized; in fact, the cynic in me says that the current administration will continually threaten not to make the August social security payments to our seniors, even though those funds will be there. Pay attention to this battle in Washington, and realize that this is a prime opportunity for our country to enact some fiscal restraint and rein in the burgeoning and bloated bureaucracy in Washington.

My first job was at an origami company, but it folded.

The 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, in section four, "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned..." Some who want to increase the debt ceiling have posited that this means that the Executive Branch of the federal government can bypass the Legislative Branch and arbitrarily raise the debt ceiling. Watch this closely, because if this attempted it will be the basis for a constitutional showdown. The fact that this is even being discussed is audacious beyond belief. This is characteristic of the mentality of this administration and indeed all of Washington. The belief that our leaders can centralize power and that they know what is best for us is a conceit that must be monitored and curtailed.

I have the body of a god. Unfortunately, it's Buddha.

And that, my friends, is my view.