My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...

As I write this, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the validity of Obamacare, the socialized medicine debacle that foisted upon our country by the Democrats in Washington. And this plan is a disaster. The litany of weaknesses, wastefulness, and surprises hidden within the 2700 pages of this bill is too lengthy to enumerate. However, here is the bottom line regarding Obamacare: this bill was not about providing for healthcare coverage for the uninsured. No, it was about the federal government grabbing away power from individual citizens and forcing them to buy a product- in this case- healthcare insurance- and imposing a penalty on any citizen that did not do so. The power grab by the federal government in this bill was unprecedented, and it appears, fortunately, that it will be the undoing of this monstrosity. The concern expressed by the Supreme Court, and many citizens, was that if the federal government can force citizens to buy a particular product such as insurance, what is to stop the government from imposing mandates and penalties in other areas? And believe me, that would eventually happen. What is interesting is to see the reaction of liberals to the fact that this bill will more than likely be overturned. They are bewildered that anyone, including the courts, believe that there is a limit to federal power. Thankfully, the Supremes appear to be reinforcing that bedrock constitutional principle. And for you and me, this debacle known as Obamacare is a shot across the bow, one that should awaken all of us to the fact that there are, indeed, limits to the power and reach of the federal government, and we as citizens must be vigilant to keep those limits in place.

I just got a text from my wife that said "You're such a child sometimes." That really annoyed me, because I thought I had hidden her phone better than that.

All of you know we are going to run a $1.5 trillion deficit in this country for this fiscal year, right? And you know that our total debt now exceeds $15 trillion. And any of us that cares knows that there is a lot of rhetoric that is coming out of Washington about reining in spending and even more bombast about having to raise taxes to help bring our nation's dire financial situation under control. So, good people, in a time of supposed austerity, a time of getting our nation back on sound finacial footing, why has President Obama requested $770 million in federal funds to combat global warming in developing countries? According to the Congressional Research Service, President Obama has asked for another $770 million for anti-global warming initiative in Latin America and Asia under the Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI). Now...HEY.. WAIT A MINUTE! Did you say ANOTHER $770 million? You should know that this administration has already spent $2.5 billion in other countries to mitigate the effects of "global warming", which has been shown to be a specious theory designed to transfer wealth to environmentalists and green leaning liberals. Keep this in mind the next time someone from Washington is telling you that you need to give them more of your hard earned dollars and that they- our elected leaders- cannot cut any more government spending.

I do all my addition and subtraction in my head rather than with a calculator. After all, it is the thought that counts.

There is a paradigm shift that has been taking place in our country, and it has profound implications for the future of this great nation. That shift? We have become an entitlement nation, and in the process, have transformed "wants" into "rights". And when wants become rights, two things happen: someone (read: the taxpaying citizens of this country) has to pay for those supposed rights; and secondly, the government increases its reach into our lives to protect those so called "rights". Healthcare is a flashpoint, and the battle being waged over the unconstitutional reach of government in promulgating socialized medicine is just one front. We have seen the government take up the cause of the "right" to birth control, provided to anyone via our tax dollars. There will be other fights in healthcare, and in other areas of our lives as the government moves to usurp more power from you and me and as more people demand that their wants become rights and entitlements. Here is a thought for all those that are claiming "rights"- take a read of the constitution. Nowhere in there is there a right to birth control, healthcare, free cell phones provided by the government, free mortgage bailouts for underwater homeowners, the list goes on and on. And I know all about that "happiness" thing that's in there. Read it. I'll wait. You and I have the right to "pursue" our happiness. We have a right, within the constraints of the law, to work as hard as we want without limitation on the fruits of our labors, and to use those fruits the way we want. That is all. None of us are guaranteed the right to BE HAPPY. Yet today, that is what we want- the government to make us happy. And this country is in peril until this attitude, this paradigm shifts back to what our Founders intended when they talked about Happiness.

A friend I haven't seen in a while said he had gotten married and had a "trophy wife". After I met her, I can see that he didn't finish in first place.

And that, my friends, is my view