My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...

As 2013 draws to a close, let's prepare to bid farewell to our flop eared mascot that has graced the Friday blog. He has served well as an appropriate symbol for the lack of direction from our elected leaders. 2014 holds a myriad of challenges and opportunities, and our mascot for the upcoming year has been selected for his optimism in the face of uncertainty. I hope you will enjoy him.

Congressional negotiators, led by Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray, have reached a compromise budget deal. As you recall, the previous budget deal extended the ability of the government to operate until mid-January before the debt ceiling was reached. There have been hosannas from both parties that this ushers in a new spirit of bi-partisanship and will show the American people that Washington can work. Yeah, about that. Here are three key points about how Washington works based on this recently crafted budget deal. Spending caps that had been imposed by previous budget deals are obliterated with the new proposed budget The Budget Control Act of 2011 set spending limits agreed upon by both parties. The new Budget deal blows through these limits by $63 billion dollars in the first 2 years. The agreed upon budget does not "raise taxes", instead it raises fees such as increased TSA security fees for all airline travelers. Those fees do not go into the dedicated budget of the TSA, however. Instead, they go into the General Fund to be spent by Congress in any manner. Finally, the supposed savings that come through spending cuts do not begin to take effect for 10 years. Congress- both Republicans and Democrats- have shown repeatedly that they cannot and will not control spending and lack the backbone to address the real drivers of our debt, which is entitlement spending. This is disappointing and fiscally dangerous for our country.

During this holiday season, I keep hearing people talk about "whirled peas". I don't see what the big deal is about pureed vegetables.

I cannot help but laugh when I think of the charlatans in global warming extortion hoax, led by none other than spotted Al Gore. You recall their dire predictions that, among other things, the Arctic ice cap was going to melt and that soon we would be able to buy beach front property in Arizona because of rising ocean levels. Earlier this month, scientists released a report that said the Arctic ice pack had GROWN 29%, adding 533,000 more square miles of ice than one year ago. As reported in the UK Daily Mail, a majority of scientists that have no ties to the global warming scam are forecasting that our planet is entering a period of global cooling that will last until well past the middle of this century. As I have always admonished, follow the money. Gore and his cronies were set to make billions off this scam. And Mother nature is proving them decidedly wrong.

Bigamy: one wife too many. Monogamy: same thing

Pay close attention to Executive Orders that President Obama will exercise. As the country moves away from the radical Left and President Obama, moderate Democrats have been distancing themselves from his socialistic policies. Coupled with Republican opposition to his destructive initiatives, this means that very little of his agenda can and will get passed in the remaining term of his presidency (WHEW!). Because of that fact, look for Obama to legislate via Executive Order. Watch closely his action in the environmental realm, as he has made no secret of wanting to impose expensive and ineffective carbon restrictions on businesses here in the U.S. Those restrictions will cost jobs and lower our standard of living by raising the cost of food and all forms of energy. Those restrictions have no chance of passing in Congress, which is why he will use Executive Orders. The destructive nature of this presidency and those on the left require that we get more involved as citizens and we engage the process of communicating with Washington and demanding accountability. Fail to do this, and we will all suffer long after this administration is out of office.

Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

And that, my friends, is my view.