On the Coming Civil War

Should Republicans see sweeping gains in the 2010 midterms, as appears all but inevitable at present, and should they down sufficient doses of Viagra to hold firm in their newly rediscovered Conservative virility, it would seem we’re in for quite the fight in the months between then and the 2014 presidential extravaganza.

Charges of the standard isms and phobias (say it with me: "racism," "classism," "jingoism," "sexism," "homophobia," "xenophobia,"...) will no doubt be hurled at the Right with unprecedented shrillness. For cuts to government spending, relative to the obscene expansions of the past several years (and yes this includes Bushie’s tenure) must now be draconian. Those made dependent upon government-issue “compassion” and those who profit from making them so shall howl with the savagery of the most devoted crack addict suddenly forced to endure sobriety. We give you--Greece! This will be a war, not of the "haves" versus the "have-nots" as it will be characterized, but of the "wants" versus the "want nots" - with government assistance the object in contention.

Yet again the utterly indispensable Heritage Foundation has compiled the four decades of tragic miscalculation and lip-splitting fraud that comprise "The War on Poverty" into an easily digested (though not easily stomached) study: “Confronting the Unsustainable Growth of Welfare Entitlements: Principles of Reform and the Next Steps.” Updated to include the Obama Administration's daily injections of epinephrin into the Welfare State the study highlights, among other stunners:

- Today, we spend 13 times more on welfare than in 1965 (even after adjusting for inflation)

- Since the 1960s, the United States has spent $15.9 trillion on welfare. And yet, despite the current state of the nation's debt, President Barack Obama plans to spend $10.3 trillion more over the next 10 years.

- The welfare state has made the problem of poverty worse by undermining the very fundamentals that decrease dependence: stable families and a strong work ethic. For instance, out-of-wedlock childbirth is at an historic high of 40 percent and means-tested welfare has grown faster than any other sector of government.

Heritage then goes on to make a number of common sense recommendations to bring the nation a millimeter or two closer towards financial sustainability.

1. Slowing the growth of the welfare state by rolling back welfare spending to pre-recession levels and capping it at the rate of inflation.

2. Promoting personal responsibility and work through work requirements in large welfare programs such as Food Stamps and housing assistance .

3. Providing a portion of welfare assistance as loans rather than as grants.

4. Ending the welfare marriage penalty and encouraging marriage in low-income communities, as the decreasing rate of marriage is the greatest cause of child poverty.

5. Limiting low-skill immigration as a significant portion (15 percent) of welfare spending goes to homes headed by lower skill immigrants with a high school degree or less. Also, the government should not provide amnesty to illegal immigrants, as doing so would instantly add millions of people to the welfare roles.

Achieving any one of these goals should prove as easy as sawing the gangrenous leg off of an unanesthetized soldier. Good luck with that, particularly as Barry and his cabal remain steadfast in their commitment to Keynesian salvation and Marxtianity as justification for their market-annihilating policies.

The path to fiscal sanity is clear. Should Republicans win the right to pursue it, will they have the will to do so?

Cheers,

Charlie

Keep the Entitlement Monster ALIVE!

“Only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy.”
- President-Elect Barack Obama

The President(s) of the United States are working tirelessly to extend more cash to the needy – be they profligate families, incompetent businesses, self-serving non-profits, tax-payer buoyed propaganda outlets, or corporate welfare queens.

We MUST keep the Entitlement Monster Alive!

Do your part. Support government stimulus of the economy, support unbridled unionism, support the expansion of the social safety net, support nationalized health care, and demand your rights as a dependent of the United States government.

Only thus can government of the people, by the people, over the people be restored.

Cheers,

Charlie

The End of the Beginning of the End

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
- Sir Winston Churchill, 1942 (happier times)

As congress continues its little badminton match with the America (i.e. GLOBAL) economy, consider the following:

1. The number we’ve all been trained to fix our sights on as the key to salvation - $700 billion – is a complete and utter guess.

2. The number we’ve all been told to fix out sights on as the key to salvation - $700 billion – is but a fraction of what it will cost America to buy it’s way out of the entitlement hell-hole it has made of its economy. (Click on graphic to enlarge, read, and weep.)

Now would be the time for the “represented” to contact their “representatives” and demand some serious “representation.”

This cannot go on. The Nanny State must be ousted and the Founding Principles reinstated, lest all be lost.

Cheers,

Charlie

Anvil-Headed Athletes to Teach Economics to Kids, Lefties

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” – Sir Winston Churchill

Recent reports of Amercan boxer Evander Holyfield's imminent destitution at his own hands has whetted one of our most outrageous desires: that people might actually learn something.

For financial fiascos such as Holyfield's are played out hourly in free market economies across the globe, sometimes in public disasters of Hindenburgian proportions, more often times in small pathetic little foreclosures, repossessions, and subpoenas hidden in the gloom of obscurity. The lesson, however, is always the same: wealth is more than the possession of money. Conversely, poverty is more than the absence of money.

It is this second aspect upon which we wish to elaborate, for doing so is not only at present taboo (i.e. great fun!), but also essential to ensuring that the aforementioned free-market economies remain, in fact, free..

At one time in the mores of Western culture, most particularly American culture, poverty was considered more a state of mind and a condition of habit than the mere want for products and services. Indeed, the vast majority of citizens were lacking staples, comforts, and conveniences even the poorest Americans today take for granted. What was not lacking, however, was the clear understanding that far more often than not, "poverty" was the product of feckless, foolish, and irresponsible behavior.

One could certainly choose to demonstrate unconditional Christian charity toward one's shiftless louse of a neighbor, but it was never expected - let alone mandated by government - that one do so. Furthermore, there was a keen understanding of human nature which maintained that doing so often made the "poor" person's "poverty" worse, as aiding them amounted to encouraging their disastrous ways. This had nothing to do with race. This had nothing to do with party affiliation. This was simply a mature appreciation for the responsibilities of all human beings interested in sustaining liberty and justice for all.

But as the 19th century outbreak of materialist thought took hold of the mainstream in the early 20th, human understanding of wealth and poverty shifted from focus on the principles and actions that produce them, to mere observation that they exist. “Some have and some have not and this is not fair,” became the full breadth and depth of analysis on the matter. Having effectively eradicated the quaint notions of the human soul and a Creator who endowed that soul with certain unalienable rights (and responsibilities), it remained for the State alone to fix this apparent economic imbalance. Thus the rise in the 20th century of socialism, communism, totalitarianism, and their smiley-faced American cousins The New Deal and the Great Society.

Today, advocates of “economic and social justice” point to the ravages of slavery, institutional racism, and greedy corporations as the roots of poverty in America and around the world; which brings us back to Mr. Holyfield and friends.
Mr. Holyfield is black and, at one time, a millionaire many times over, as were Michael Vick, Mike Tyson, Marion Jones, Latrell Sprewell, and many of the 60 percent of NBA players the Toronto Star recently reported as destined for destitution five years after retirement. It would seem no vestiges of slavery, nor racism, nor corporate greed prevented them from supping unrestrainedly at the table of American bounty.

Are we suggesting then that this riches to rags incompetence is a “black thing?” Dorothy Hamill, Jack “The Ripper” Clark, and countless Caucasian casino-rats, lottery winners, and one hit wonders now equally destitute provide ample refutation to that argument. (Beak-tip to Mr. Brian Cuban for his excellent documentation regarding the above!)

No, what we are suggesting – nay declaring – is that poverty in America is largely the result of willful stupidity; very human, very tragic, yet very avoidable stupidity. In the current highly flammable environment of political-correctness, however, to say so is to instantly disqualify oneself from any debate of consequence on the issue. Poverty is the result of racism, greed, and injustice and that is final!

Thus, the cancerous legacy of The New Deal and The Great Society metastasizes unchallenged, devouring America’s vast treasure of hard-earned wealth and character through endlessly increasing entitlement spending, making dependent children of American posterity in every possible sense.

Seeking to ensure this cancerous legacy continues further into the 21st century than it already has, is Mr. Barack Obama. His recently released “Emergency Economic Plan” for instance, recommends “forcing big oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record breaking windfall profits and use it to help struggling families” as well as pumping $50 million (any guesses as to whose?) into the economy to help states and local communities shore up the fiascos they’ve made of their own budgets. This comes on the heels of Mr. Obama’s sponsorship of the Global Poverty Act, an epic of sexy United Nations-sponsored socialism, making the United States legally accountable for eradicating extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. .

So much for the land of opportunity. Enter the land of giveaways. And when the bill arrives for all this, from whom might we expect remittance?

Mr. Obama recently suggested Americans take personal responsibility for reducing their dependence on foreign oil through individual actions such as inflating one’s own tires and tuning one’s own engine. Does not the same principle apply as regards poverty? By inflating one’s own personal initiative and tuning up one’s own can-do attitude, Americans could reduce their dependence on government hand-outs and reclaim the mantle of individual liberty and free enterprise that once was their glory.

The latter is as ridiculous to Lefties as is the former to Conservatives. Pity.

Regardless, we heartily endorse the extraordinary curriculum put together by Mr. Holyfield and friends and encourage children and Lefties everywhere to consider the lessons provided therein. Poverty is more than the absence of money. In free market economies it requires willful stupidity, a sound sense of entitlement, and leadership committed to exploiting the lot in order to ensure it’s blessings for one’s self and one’s posterity.

Take it from those who know, you are well on your way!

Cheers,

Charlie