Made Lemonade Again

Still recovering a bit from last May's "thousand year flood" in Nashville, my family watched nervously as water rose yet again around our house. We were not particularly comforted as a mating pair of mallard ducks swam past our front steps. My Mom inquired if now was the time to bug out, asking if should evacuate while we still had the chance. I said, "Heavens no, think how lucky we are to own a piece of beach front property." To local readers, stay safe out there.

Cart Without Wheels

As the almost irrelevant and completely unendurable Oscar telecast is further politicized by the Left, the flagging broadcast began to resemble the failing Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. Fortunately, the Oscar telecast ends relatively shortly. Unfortunately, the Obama administration will be here to do more damage for some time to come (and you can not change the channel or turn our dear leader off). He owns the remote control to the home theater system until his successor is sworn in- presuming we have another Presidential election. The era of hope and change (hoax and shame) drones on and on.

Navigating Uncharted Waters

America has been the moral beacon for much of the world. Not to say that the US has been perfect by any means, but we have served as a compass by shining the light of freedom. We have been known rightly as the Land of Opportunity, producing the least stratified society that there has ever been. In America, the poor almost universally have indoor plumbing, constant electricity, television, and motor vehicles and the economic liberty to rise above poverty. Typically, those in the lowest income bracket who have children even own the latest gaming system and have some sort of Internet access readily at hand. Yet, from the way the Democratic Party, the Obama administration, and trade unionist tell it, America is among the most deprived places on earth. Pity the poor government worker whose compensation package with benefits only averages more than the typical income of families (largely comprised of non-government workers) across the United States. And what of Obama's foreign policy- it is benighted and backwards- waiting more than nine days to call out tyrannical murderer Qaddafi by name, ignoring the plight of oppressed Iranians, living under the thumbs of mullahs and Ahmadinejad, but immediately pushing US ally Mubarak out. Mubarak suffered such popular discontent because he was seen as a pawn of America for honoring his commitment to the US vis-a-vis peace with Israel. And I never thought I would see my formerly righteous nation demanding that Israel make the most sacred places to Jews Judenrein- cleansed of Jews- demanding Jews abandon Judea and Samaria and most offensive of all, leave East Jerusalem. "Next year in Jerusalem" has been the most fervent call of the believing Jew since the Babylonian Exile, since the diaspora was imposed on the Jews thousands of years back- not next year in Manhattan or Madagascar or Peoria for that matter but Jerusalem. What an immoral, racist notion that Obama and the US State Department now demand that the equivalent of what Mecca means to the Muslims for the Jews be rid of Jewish presence, have Jews who originally owned the city be evicted from it, and the most dearly held areas to the Jews be made Jew-free.

Not Bieber Fever

A spirit of revolution grips far flung places around the globe. It is not merely the youth on fire as we witnessed in that year of resistance 1968, it is the international labor movement with trade unionists roiling streets and capitals as wide ranging as Egypt, Greece, and Wisconsin. The great difference being that in Egypt, the struggle was actually about freedom, while in Greece, the fight emerged over austerity imposed economic hardship, and finally in Madison, demonstrators and their Democrat cronies are up in arms over pure unadulterated greed. They wish to maintain their spoil(ed) system though the state no longer is able to reasonably generate the means to pay for it. The street action in Egypt was fully justified, in Greece, totally expected as cuts due to insolvency dig deep into the people, while in Wisconsin, the protest is self-serving, selfish, and economically insane.

No Bonus Army

In times of economic turmoil, why should public sector workers be insulated from what those who do not work for government must endure? Why should the rest of us suffer more by having to bear that much more additional expense to subsidize our new public masters so they and their families maintain prosperous lifestyles while ours diminish? The Democrats speak of shared contribution but taxpayers are being bled dry paying local (property and wheel) tax, state (sales and for most states, income taxes), and Federal tax (income tax or even withholding which bites harder as gasoline prices soar and across the board inflation kicks in) as our public workers resist giving an inch. They demand the rest of us sacrifice but are not willing to join us. Let us pray for the sake of the nation and the vast majority of our people that Republicans stay strong in their fiscally responsible principles until they win the day.

Events Overtake US

When addressing the course of events in the Middle East, the Obama administration is at sea and rudderless. In the context of international relations, it is increasingly apparent that Obama was awarded his Nobel Peace Prize prematurely and that Barack Hussein Obama is ill-suited to the task. President Obama may read a few tomes about Ronald Reagan- Obama may compare himself to Ronald Reagan- but he is no Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was at a point in his career an actor but as US President, Reagan shaped the course of history. Rather than waiting to be acted upon, Reagan took the bull by the horns and led. Barack Hussein Obama is being tossed about by Egypt, Bahrain, and now Libya and can not find his equilibrium or any ideological anchor. Ignoring popular discontent for more than two years in Iran after Ahmadinejad stole reelection while jumping immediately on US ally Hosni Mubarak does not betray moral ambivalence of the Obama foreign policy team. Castigating Israel for the so-called settlement enterprise does not portray moral clarity. The Obama administration's conduct of US affairs of state in the Middle East is proving to be morally repugnant.

More Costly Outcomes

So just how much has been spent on our Federal government stimulus program and just how many jobs have been saved (a nebulous figure never used before the Obama administration and one impossible to accurately tabulate) or created? The short answer is that no one knows just yet and we may never be able to figure it out. The tally for the cost is seemingly continuing to rise. Just yesterday, The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan reported that the cost of stimulus has actually been adjusted upward by thirty-four billion dollars more than originally projected to $821 billion according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. In the context of all the Federal government is spending, $34 billion may not seem like much but a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you are talking Weimar. In any event, jobs saved and created does not add up as unemployment remains at levels higher than when the so-called job saving stimulus was passed.