Misogyny Now?

"And somehow, somewhere on the road to insanity, this most vile organization has developed victim status..."

And just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water - she is back. Okay, not really her, but her kid. Who am I talking about? The daughter of "Ma" Richards off course. "Ma" Richards, the former loud mouthed governor of Texas, who was such a pain in the butt to the Bush family. Who could ever forget her insipid line she said about George H. W. Bush from the 1988 DNC Convention - "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." She was able to parley this line into winning the Texas Governorship for one term in 1990. In 1994, she was defeated by George W. Bush.

So that was her 15 minutes of fame. Not too long after George Bush was inaugurated as Governor of Texas, "Ma" Richards died. However, she did have a daughter named Cecile. And like her mother, Cecile soon became a darling of the left. How much of a darling? She is now in charge of the "Holy Grail" of the Democratic Party - Planned Parenthood. Plus, she is pulling down almost $600/year for running this most evil non-profit. 

Yesterday, Cecile was called to testify in front of Congress. There she was, getting asked the tough questions by all those mean old sexist Republicans. Oops. I forgot. The DNC folks have been reading their Funk and Wagnalls. The old rich white guys in the Republican Party are no longer sexists, they are misogynists! Of the highest order no less. It is the "War of Women" all over again!

In our world of topsy turvy, we now have an organization who has been caught red handed, doing things to the unborn which are immoral at best, and grossly illegal at worse. And how is the Congressional investigation of this organization playing out? Well the Democrats on the panel are simply outraged! How could they treat this poor woman this way? The questions, the accusations! Outrageous!

How do I think this will end up? As usual, a nothing burger. The Republicans will get a black eye, and Planned Parenthood will continue on with their butchery. And our tax dollars will continue to pour into this "not for profit" organization. The vile organization that pays outrageous salaries to executives while killing the unborn. We as a society will keep turning a blind eye to the murder and the sale of baby parts. We will accept the fact that all the videos we have seen are "highly edited" or "doctored".

Back just for a minute to our world of topsy turvy. Today, if we disagree with our mixed race President, we are racists. If we keep an eye on young Muslim men who attempt to book passage to Syria to join ISIS, we practice Islamophobia. And if we question an organization like Planned Parenthood (run by a very liberal woman), we are Misogynists. Okay Scottie - I am ready. Beam me up!   

When to shut down...

"The only problem with the government 'shutting down' is so few people will notice..."

This might come as a surprise to some. But here we go. I think shutting down the government over raising the debt ceiling is a waste of time. And there are reasons for that statement. That being said, having the government shut down because the House (yes, I will lay this on the front porch of the House), could not have budgets ready long before the end of the fiscal year, might be necessary. But if it does shut down, the House Republicans will have to get ready to accept the blame.

First let me address the debt ceiling issue. It took me a while on this one, but I have come around. Raising the debt ceiling allows us to pay for things (or borrow to pay for them) that have already been authorized. People that say the good faith and honor of this country are at stake when we pay (or borrow to pay) our debt. I agree. We elect people to appropriate money. If they appropriate too much, it is on us then to ensure our debts and bills are paid. It is like when your teenager takes your credit card and charges too much. You are responsible for your kid's actions.

However, we should not be put in a position to always having to raise our debt ceiling. Period. Every time we spend money we don't have, money which is not budgeted, we "put stuff on the card". It then becomes an obligation for us (as a nation) to assume. So to go through this stork dance every time we come bumping up against the debt ceiling is futile. If we don't want to go through this anymore, we should not overspend.

Now here we are on September 29th, and I can smell something brewing which is not the coffee in the kitchen. It is a stop gap measure. It will keep the government running and the lights on. For how long? Maybe 60 days or so. Then there will be another. And another. Until everyone gets tired of it and decides to just do another continuing resolution. And what gets solved? Nothing. All the President's pet rocks keep getting funded. The debt keeps going up. And we come one step closer to becoming Greece.

I saw an article recently that Planned Parenthood is now more popular that the GOP. If that headline did not say it all. How could an organization, who has been caught red handed doing to most heinous acts to the unborn, possibly be more popular than the political party who is trying to defund them? Why? Because the GOP is looked upon by many citizens as loads. This is not the party of 1994. The party who came up with the Contract for America. Back then, the GOP ran on that contract, and then once in office, they honored that contract.

So now that the GOP is getting a new Speaker, let me help just a bit on how not to be so unpopular with the masses:

• Your primary job is the purse. Do a budget. Live to the budget. Have the budget done in plenty of time. Be prepared to defend your budget if there is push back from the Senate or the President. If the budget dies in either the Senate or the Executive Branch, you will have at least done your job in submitting one. And by the way, the budget could or should be done in multiple segments rather than one ugly lump.
• When you run for office by saying you will eliminate the IRS, repeal or reform ObamaCare, or whatever - make sure once in office you continue on with that quest. Words and action must become one. Tell the people, show the people in your home district that you are a person of principle. That you are tirelessly carrying their concerns forward. That is why they elected you.
• In the House of Representatives, every taxpayer dollar must be looked upon like it was your own money. It is not "funny money", it is our money. The reason we have an $18 trillion dollar debt right now is just for that reason. And by the way - at some time this massive debt will come due. I have yet to hear any plan from anyone on how this will be handled.
• Quit blaming everyone else for the mess. Both sides have spent and continue to spend recklessly. Once you get to Washington, you are Washington. You are part of the problem, so go fix yourself.

Well, that is it in a nutshell. I am now going to sit back and watch the next chapter of Washington entropy unfold in front of my eyes. Mr. Smith - where are you when we need you? 

Drip, drip, drip...

"Some lies are simply lies. The lies told to sell ObamaCare to a gullible public were nothing less than whoppers. And they continue to drip, drip, drip in."

It seems like hardly a month goes by when there is another story in the paper or on the news about our skyrocketing health insurance premiums. What? How can that be? Premiums, shortly after 2010, were supposed to start going down - way down. Doing a bit of fact checking (because I can't trust my memory as much as I used to), I went back to 2009 to see what our President PROMISED us about our premiums. Not just once, but on multiple occasions, he PROMISED our premiums would go DOWN an average of $2,500 per year per family. And once in a while he (or one of his paid liars) would even claim it would happen by the end of his first term.

By now, many in the public who actually have to pay for their health insurance, feel like they have really been taken for a ride. Mr. "Yes, I will still love you in the morning", has not shown us much love at all. In today's newspaper was another story about certain health care premiums going up in 2016. How much? Like a Roman candle much. Some going up 50% over last year. In fact, according to the CBO and other fact checking organizations, since 2009 the average family premiums has not gone DOWN by $2,500/year - it has gone UP over $4,000/year! What the what?

Okay, but at lease with this new health coverage, enough cost containment was built in so it would not cost the taxpayer anything. In fact (and I do remember this clearly), the President told the nation on MANY occasions, if this new healthcare act raised our national debt "one dime", he would not sign it. Well Mr. President, that must have been "lawyer speak". Because according to the CBO, ObamaCare will not cost the taxpayers "one thin dime". No, it will be much, much more than that. Over the first 10 years, it will cost over $1.7 trillion dollars. All to be financed by debt and much higher premiums.

Are you feeling the love yet? Are you feeling just slightly used? Do you remember when your "spider senses" started tingling when the President and his paid liars told us we were getting more for less? How that did not make sense? Welcome back to reality. Now we are stuck with a lemon and the paid liars continue to tell us we are getting better - all the way to the poor farm. 

The odd part is after seeing how our other entitlements have become huge drags on our debt and deficit, we would run head first into another entitlement. And it will not take long for ObamaCare to become a major debt contributor. The CBO estimates by 2025, annual spending on this new entitlement will be over $200 billion - over triple what the paid liars told us it would be.

But who cares about all that downer stuff. We got the signature achievement done in his first term. And it will be historic. ObamaCare and the Iranian nuke deal we just agreed to will cement his role in history.

Revisionist history will look upon this two events favorably. Real history will show them for what they are - classic failures and BIG FAT LIES!

Citizens, not subjects....

"This group of unelected idiots are upside down in their thinking, their strategies, and worst of all, how they perceive our liberties..."

There they go again! That bunch of fun loving kids who are going to help us live better, love better, and maybe just be better! These kids are awesome (and talented)! They have figured out a way to go from regulating how we flush our toilets, to how we commute and how and where we should live! Soon this unelected, unregulated, and most of all, unnecessary group will tell us what and how much to eat! And who is it? The Metropolitan Council of course!

Now they have their sights set on Andover. Andover, a sleeping little bedroom community just north of the cities. And why Andover? Because the city has been too successful in developing a livable community. Crime is too low. Poverty is too low. Taxes are too low. The quality of life is too high. All these factors make a chef's salad of reasons why Andover must be changed. And it will be up to this group of outlaws called the Met Council to make it happen.

Now forget for a minute that this plan makes no sense. That has everything to do with fixing something which is not broken. The Met Council has proven time and time again they can tinker with things which do not need tinkering with. Yes, they are very good at making things worse and much more expensive.

The Met Council, using nothing but their assumed authority, wants Andover to put in some "mixed" housing. Sorry - need to get rid of the code speak. "Mixed" housing is low income housing. For poor people. Section 8 housing. 

In fact, the Met Council is going to use everyone's tax dollars to hire "counselors" who will assist and promote poor folks from the metro area proper in how to move to Andover. There are however, some very minor problems. First, the good people, the taxpayers, the residents of Andover do not want "mixed" housing here. With Section 8 housing comes crime. Sorry - it is the truth. Next, Andover does not have public transportation. That is right folks. No choo-choo trains, no buses, no nothing. Poor people will just be stuck living in their subsidized housing. Finally, Andover does not have the social services that poor folks need. Sorry - they do not exist here.

It won't be much longer before the Met Council thinks some races are having too many kids. And then, like their role models in Communist China, the number of kids we have will be regulated. And the sex of the kids will be regulated.

Well guess what Met Council? Those of us in the hinterland who come under your "authority" have taken just about enough of your crap. We are not like the minions you control in the bluest part of the Twin Cities. No, the people out here are cut from a different stock. And that stock is called liberty.

You want a fight? You want to come into our backyard and try and control us? Bring it on! Next time we get a real Governor, each and every one of you in the Met Council will be history.

et tu Mr. Speaker?

"Was he a good Speaker of the House? Depends who you ask. The establishment, the cartel loved him. Tea Party? Not so much."

Well this one is going to be hung around the neck of the Tea Party. And that is fine with me. Is it true that there are more Republicans in the House under John Boehner? Yes. By the same token however, it has become more and more evident that Speaker was the consummate deal maker. The only problem is that the deals always seem to favor the President.

Even though the "Commie from another Mommy" (aka the cartoonist from the morning fish wrap paper), blamed the Tea Party for Boehner's departure in today's insulting cartoon, there was a modicum of truth contained therein. And I will take the liberty of speaking for some of the Tea Party members. Nobody hated the Speaker - we just wanted him to 1) keep his promises and 2) ensure the Constitution was being followed. It really is all that simple.

There really are some of us blurry eyed optimists who believed when we took over the House things would be much different. I know, I know. The insiders will say there are nuances which most of us peons just don't understand. Well we do understand this much. We have a President who is out of control. Not following the rules. The Constitution. The House of Representative holds the purse strings. That is a very large hammer to use. And yet the House has done nothing. Nothing but cave. Over and over and over again.

We have just a handful of days before the end of the government fiscal year. Many of the more conservative representatives are fed up with our government's support of Planned Parenthood. We could tie funding up in knots if we wanted to. Have all the President's "pet rocks" tied up with it. But no. "What if the the people revolt and vote us out in the next election?" Well then we get voted out. Who cares? Because right now having a RINO House Leadership is not doing anyone any good.

And as pissed off as I am about Planned Parenthood, I am even more ticked about the Iran nuke treaty. Both Boehner and McConnell should have been fired for that one. And Bob Corker should have been fired also. However, because we are a "go along, get along" group, we did not challenge the President. We did not insist this treaty be handled as a treaty. So it became an "agreement" and passed with enough votes to make it veto proof. The status quo won, and Israel lost. Peace in the Middle East lost.

So good-bye Mr. Speaker. Thanks for you service to the country. I know in your heart you believe you done good. But in reality you did not. Hopefully our next Speaker will show us the difference between a conservative and a progressive. We don't need to see the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. Because there really is none. Not even a sliver.   

The root cause...

"What I learned in the business world was if there was a problem, you needed to go to the root cause to fix it. Otherwise it just keeps coming back..."

Okay. I have had just about enough. I have been polite and kept my mouth shut, but I can't take it anymore. As we all know, Pope Francis is in the states right now. He has some deep concerns - poverty, climate change, immigration and refugees. I could write articles on each of these, but today I will only focus on the world wide refugee issue. Right now, that is my pet rock.

Currently, the United States has taken in quite a few refugees. Not as many as Europe, but still quite a few. So many in fact, a couple cities in Minnesota look completely different than they did ten years ago. That being said, there is currently pressure for the United States to take in even more refugees. And therein lies the real issue.

Why does the world have so many refugees right now? Why can't these people live in peace and tranquility in their native homeland? Why come to Minnesota where the climate is different, the customs are different, and the faith is different? Answer? Get ready Pope Francis, this is going to be a tough one - terrorism. Yep, Islamic terrorism. Killing Muslims who are the wrong flavor. Killing Christians of any flavor. Killing gays and undesirables. We are watching ethnic cleansing at its most brutal.

And what do we hear from Vatican City? Not much. Except, we need to take in more refugees. And what do we hear from the United Nations, who by charter is supposed to prevent this carnage? Nada. Except, we need to take in more refugees.

And by the way, it would be nice if the Pope would visit Saudi Arabia after the pilgrimage is over. Talk to the royal family about taking in some fellow Muslim refugees. The Saudis are dripping with money, have hundreds of thousands empty tents with air conditioning, and the climate and faith are similar to the refugee's homeland. 

One of my social media friends responded to a post by saying the Pope is a man of peace cannot advocate war. My response was short and to the point. War is already here. We did not declare it - it was declared on us. And who is us? The United States, Western civilization, Christians. And yes, Holy Father, you too. You are considered most evil by the terrorists and are high on their hit list.

Christian Scriptures teach two very important things about the times we are in. First, countries who turn their backs on Israel, lose God's favor. Trust me, we don't want to be in that boat. Second, many refer to Jesus as the Prince of Peace. And He is. That being said, when He came to Earth 2,000 years ago, He came as the Lamb of God. When he returns, He will return as the Lion of Judah. And it will be all business. To right these terrible wrongs.

I could have a lot more respect for the Pope's message if it was balanced. Yes, the civilized world needs to take in more refugees. However, the civilized world also needs to make the refugee's homeland safe once again so they can return home. If it involves force, so be it. 

Actions have consequences. If you go into a country and brutalize, rape and murder the people, don't look for a soft landing. It is as simple as that.    

Life under the Overlord

"He truly does act like an Overlord. He believes we are only his serfs, who need to be managed and controlled." 

The plan is working fine thank you. Another signature accomplishment tucked firmly under his belt. During his first term it was ObamaCare. A health plan that still half the country does not like. But who cares? What do they know? Every month ObamaCare survives without repeal or reform, its roots go deeper into our infrastructure. It is like an invasive species which has infected one-sixth of our economy.

However, his most current score was the nuke treaty with the Iranians. To the Overlord, this is just about as good as the Camp David accord. And he played our Congress like dupes and oafs. I have never seen anything like this before.

Many of us who live under the Overlord, and really try to pay attention, have his game down pat. We are overwhelmed to the breaking point. It reminds me of my work hay-days in the 1980's. Many days when I got to work, I would have so many things to do, I did not know where to start. For an instant, I was simply overwhelmed and frozen in time. That is until I could get my bearings straight. And that is what the Overlord continues to do. Heap so much crap on the country, we don't know where to start. We become overwhelmed and frozen in time. By the time we get our bearings straight, he has already heaped more on us.

Worked like a charm during Fast and Furious. Eric Holder got a pass and skated out of town without so much as a slap on the wrist. Brian Terry's family on the other hand, received no justice. The Benghazi mess also is unresolved. At a minimum, it was clearly dereliction of duty. The chief protagonist to this travesty? Why she is running for President and leading in many of the polls. And the families of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty? It seem like justice delayed is rapidly becoming justice denied.

The VA wait times are worse than ever, the IRS continues to be a rogue organization, and who knows what the NSA is up to. But by far and away, the worst part is this. The people we have sent to Washington to stop him, to keep him under control, to ensure he abides by our Constitution, are being played like fiddles. All the power they have has been voluntarily ceded to the Overlord. Our representatives are so helpless, so neutered, they can't even defund an organization which kills American babies and then sells their body parts. 

I must give the Overlord some credit. Many thought he would be a buffoon if elected. I sure did. He would have been in so far over his head, nothing would get done. We were so wrong. As an experienced community organizer, he knew exactly how to gum up the works. His days of studying Cloward, Piven and Alinsky have paid off handsomely. As soon as the Pope leaves, the Overlord will reveal some other major transformation he wants to inflict on the country.

So how is life under the Overlord? Just fine if you take the blue pill. However, if you take the red pill and like to pay attention, life can be very painful. We have yet to find one person, one single person, who can keep the Overload in check. I am afraid our pain will continue for another 484 days...  

Dark clouds gathering

"The sky has gone from azure blue to overcast to dark clouds starting to gather. And our 'sky' is our country..."

I have been thinking quite a bit as of late. Thinking about our world, our country, our communities. I was thinking about how our world has changed since World War II. How we fought so hard, gave up so much blood and treasure, to defeat an enemy more evil than anyone could imagine. How after the war we not only rebuilt our economy, we also helped rebuild the economy of our defeated enemies. How with blood, sweat, tears, and Yankee ingenuity, we build the greatest country, the greatest economy, the world has ever known.

I am a boomer. This is the world I grew up in. The country my parents, our parents, prepared for us. What happened to this world of promise? This world where the sky was the limit? Where the sky was often blue? Some say things changed in the 60's. Viet Nam, The Great Society, whatever. Others say the change began to take effect under Franklin Roosevelt during the New Deal. All I know is now is this -  in 2015, the New Deal, the Great Society, has turned into the raw deal for many of us.

In Washington, we can't do much at all these days. We can't pass a budget. Continuing Resolutions (CR) have become ordinary rather than extraordinary. Our debt keeps growing into the stratosphere and beyond. And, NOBODY seems to care. That in of by itself is one of the darkest clouds we have.

Our energy policy is non-existent. Zip, nada. We have a Energy Secretary who looks and acts like a cast member from the Wizard of Oz. We can't even build a much needed pipeline from Canada. We are getting ready to shutter our coal powered plants. Power plants which are MAJOR energy producers. And then we are going to pull the plug of some of our nukes. And what are we going to use to replace them? No plan as yet. And probably won't be ten years from now.

Our world is on fire. Genocide has become reality once again. It is no longer something we only read about in a history book. Christian babies are being stomped to death in the street; young Christian children crucified or beheaded. Adults burned, buried alive, drown or shot. And unlike in World War II, where the menace was confronted and eliminated, we are spectators. It is okay to sit and watch carnage from the sidelines.

In our country, we don't give a damn we have butchered tens of millions of unborn babies. Since Roe v. Wade became law, abortion clinics have become a cottage industry. And what is our leadership doing about it? We are fighting over the definition of "late term". We have video-graphic evidence that baby parts from abortions are being sold. Sold! Like a commodity. And yet our President and his party seem to be just fine with this.

Ladies and gentlemen I really don't mean to sound dour, but we are in a world of hurt. And because many of our "changes" have come slowly, we don't realize we are frogs in boiling water. The bottom line as I see it? And this is tough to say. We are being governed by idiots. Clueless, gutless idiots. Not the leadership we have had in the past. Not a Ronald Reagan who once again showed us we could be that bight shining city on a hill. No. Today our leadership is comprised of selfish, political, ideologues. No leadership there.

That is why I am seeing dark clouds gathering. If Hillary becomes president, our slide into Gomorrah and serfdom will continue. Please Lord, let a leader who can truly lead rise up. One who recognizes our Constitution and will protect and defend it. One who understands what American Exceptionalism is. Without strong leadership, the dark clouds will soon turn into a very damaging storm.      

My bite of the apple

"Plan? What plan? We will just keep spending until the balloon pops. And then the ship will really hit the sand..." 

This morning I awoke to the smell of coffee and the din of conversation as my live in family members were leaving for work. I grabbed some brew, read the paper and then fired up my laptop. Overnight, one of my more left leaning FB friends sent me a copy of a MSNBC (do they still exist?) story showing our deficits have been slowing down. He gave me an "I dare you" to ponder this story and then maybe write on it. Okay. I will take the bait, and then take my own bite of the apple.

I opened a Master Card. It had a huge open to buy of $50,000. I went nuts spending like crazy. Soon I reached my limit. No big thing. The bank kept raising my open to buy limit. But this back breaking debt was becoming an impediment to doing other things with my money. The cost to service this debt was high, but it could be worse. Since the Fed has kept the rates close to zero, I could make my monthly payments to service this gigantic debt.

Earlier this year I gave an excited squeal as I did our mid-year financials. I told my wife the amount of money we were charging was less this year than the previous year. In fact, the trend as of late was every year the amount we put on the card was less. However, the amount of payments we made were just taking care of interest only. Therefore our debt principle kept going up. And up. And up.

Recently, the Fed was considering raising interest rates 25 basis points (1/4 of a percent). Chump change many would say. That is unless you have a $50,000 balance on your Master Card. In fact I did some "bunny math". If the Fed raised rates by 100 basis points, that would be an entire percent on the prime. I would no longer be able to afford paying the interest on this loan.

Okay - I don't have a $50,000 Master Card balance. But the United States does (of sorts). We have a $18,400,000,000 debt and growing. The past few years it just has not been growing as fast. But it is still growing. And that is just the debt. We also have unfunded liabilities that few talk about. Why? because the number is so high, it is scary. A hundred trillion dollars scary. And the plan to address that is....plan? What plan?

Here is the bottom line. My Dr. Buzzkill statement. We are living on borrowed money and borrowed time. If the Fed normalized our interest rates right now to where they should be, we would not be in another recession, we would slide into a deep depression. The cost of money to service a debt as high as we have would simply overwhelm everything else like a giant red tsunami.

Here is one more piece of "good news". Since my FB friend had hit me with a NBC news story this morning (sort of NBC as it is MSNBC), I decided to return the favor. According to a NBC Politics story from February 2014, 2015 is the last year of the declining deficits. Then deficits are projected to go back up. In fact, the CBO Director testified on the Hill by 2024 the spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security alone will be 80% of our GDP. Ouch.

So to all my friends, I can only say this - good luck. As the pin draws ever closer to our balloon, the Wizard continues to live in Oz. And more and more money experts are now saying the same thing - if you have some cash, spent it. Buy something or go someplace. Sooner rather than later, that will no longer be an option.  

Agenda 21 - Red Herring or Trojan Horse?

"Many believe this to be insidious. It is the beginning of One World Government. Or putting it another way, living in the collective..."

I have been hearing more and more as of late to get ready for a new, full frontal assault by the Agenda 21 folks. So I have been doing just a bit of research on this as of late. And what I found out is very interesting indeed.

First off, the reason we are going to be receiving a seven course meal on Agenda 21 is quite simple - the vast majority of Americans have no idea what it is. In fact in 2012 a survey was done on 1,400 Americans. About 10% supported it, about 10% oppose it, and about 80% have no idea what it is. In addition, as much as many of us would like to hang this one around Obama's neck as it would fit so nicely, it was President Bush (41) who signed onto this in 1992.

The complexities of this monster are such that I will not go very deep. In fact, the first thing I would like to point out is why it even exists. It was signed in Brazil. The drafting of this document started as early as 1989. The original concept was sustainability, and how the continued deforestation of rain forests was going to harm the planet. But it then grew into so much more.

The document itself is a giant - almost as big as ObamaCare. The 40 chapters consisting of 700 pages are divided into four sections:

• Social and Economic Dimensions
• Conservation and Management of Resources for Development
• Strengthening the Role of Major Groups
• Means of Implementation

Since 1992 there have been four subsequent conferences (the latest being in 2012) which edited the original document or reconfirmed support for it. However, we need to put Agenda 21 aside for a moment and talk about something much closer to home - ICLEI.

ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is a first cousin to Agenda 21. Although not related by paperwork, ICLEI strongly endorses the goals of Agenda 21. Also in Chapter 28 of Agenda 21, Local Agenda (LA21) are strongly encouraged. ICLEI fits that definition nicely.

In Minnesota we have 12 cities or counties which have signed on to ICLEI. I know this will come as a shock to many, but Minneapolis is one of them. In fact, all of Hennepin County is. Anoka County however is not. But here is the kicker. The Metropolitan Council (of which Anoka County is part of) of the Twin Cities has bought into this bath water hook, line and sinker. And that is how the circle is joined. Agenda 21 into ICLEI into Met Council power grabs. It really does affect all of us.

So the next time you hear any of these terms - sustainability, redistribution, equity, fairness, Agenda 21, LA21, ICLEI or Met Council, let your ears perk up. The concept of Agenda 21, and everything associated with it, is ANTITHETICAL to our basic Constitution and very way of life. Some Euphoria minded folks in our country may no longer care about that, but I sure the hell do!   

Uncontrolled Costs

"Some in government think we all have an unlimited amount of cash. Cash to be used to pay for their social engineering..."

I have some bad news. Then some worse news. There are some huge cost increases coming down the pipe. That is the bad news. And they don't have to be increases this high. In fact, they don't even have to be increases at all. But they will be. And that is the worse news.

Some wonder "what costs?" Let us visit just a few:

ObamaCare - To paraphrase our President's former pastor, "ObamaCare costs have come home to roost." Two recent examples. First, one of my daughters who has a job working for the county government, recently was notified that by 2017, her current insurance policy will no longer apply. Right now, she has an "okay" policy. Not great, but okay. Not however, in the eyes of the government. It is too good. Cadillac good. So to keep from paying the ObamaCare Cadillac tax, the county is going to dump it and replace it with something more expensive for the employee.

Also this past week, more stories are emerging about the projected increase in Part B Medicare. For those who don't know, Part B is the "Medicare Supplemental" that is paid by the Medicare beneficiary. Why is this a big deal? First off, it is yet another example of the lie which was used to sell this worthless bill. Second, there are retirees who really do live month to month. They don't have a lot of extra money laying around. Absorbing this extra cost could really be tough for them. Or impossible.

Energy - The Administration War on Coal is going to cost this country a mint. I'm sorry - wrong way to put that. It will cost the people who live in this country a mint. I have addressed this before. Our state gets almost half its energy from a coal powered plant just north of the Twin Cities called Sherco. Both the President and our Governor would like to see this plant shuttered. Why? It burns coal.

There is no viable plan "B" to what kind of fuel we could use to replace the coal. Bottom line - our electricity costs will keep going up. And up. And up. Last month for the first time, our electric bill crested $400. We do not live in that big of a house and we did not use our air conditioner much at all. If we don't do something to stop this War on Coal, five years from now $400/month might be cheap.

Education - More and more people are scratching their heads on why higher education costs so much these days. And the costs keep going up and up and up. Many people (myself included) do not understand why we cannot take more classes online. This is the age of Google for crying out loud! We don't need much brick and mortar to educate our young. We don't need pricey text books. We don't need a bloated administrative staff like many colleges and universities have.

In most colleges and universities the band just continues to play on. Costs keep going up and they are either passed on to the students, taxpayers, or both. There is never any effort to control costs - only shift them. There is no thinking outside the box to come up with a better mouse trap. Nope - just keep the status quo. Watch this one folks - just like the other two above, it is a ticking time bomb.

Just so this does not ruin your day, don't worry too much about these uncontrolled cost increases. We can pay for them with the large increases in pay we all get every year. Or not. 

Reality Check

"Yes, she is a Democrat. Yes, she is liberal. And yes, she is my friend."

This might shock some of my friends. Some of my longtime friends already know this. The woman in the picture is Sandy Pappas. She is a big deal in the Minnesota Senate. She is a Democrat. She is a liberal. And she is also a friend of mine. Has been for years.

I have known Sandy since I was 16. I was in some high school plays with her. She was in high school and remains today, a very, very nice person. In 1997, she ran for Governor against Norm Coleman and lost. She maintained her role in the State Senate.

I ran into Sandy in 2011 at a high school gathering. We chit chatted about high school, families, and so forth. Then I asked how things were going in St. Paul (I was ginger as her party was currently in the minority). She looked at me and smiled. "We are going to be in control of both the House and Senate after this next election." I asked her why she was so sure. Her reply - "Because it is important for us to do so." And they did it.

Lesson to be learned here. I remember a line from the movie The Thin Red Line. A general officer asked one of his colonels how bad he wanted to take a beach head. The colonel replied, "As much as it takes sir". Democrats seem to want power so bad in both St. Paul and Washington, they do what ever it takes. As Sandy said, it is important to do so.

I am a simple man so I look at things from a simple perch. I see things happning in a serial fashion:

• Protect - Republicans have got to maintain control over the House in Minnesota. The same is true for the House of Representatives and Senate in Washington. More on this later.
• Win - Republicans have got to win the Minnesota Senate this next election. There is nothing we can do about the Governor's job as we let that slip away last election.
• Perform - More and more people are convinced there is not a dime's worth of difference between the "R"s and the "D"s. Government continues to grow no matter who is in charge. We need to be able to give people hope. Show them we know how to control the size of government. Government is not a juggernaut - it is an organization. We created it - we can un-create parts of it. 
• Vote - I think we have seen in many past elections, especially the last two governor races, Democrats will unite and vote for anybody on their ticket. Even if the person is very flawed. Chris Christie said "We can't govern if we can't win." That is true. In 2012, millions of people who voted from McCain in 2008 stayed home rather than vote for Romney. The result - we ended up getting the worst President this side of Mars re-elected.

So here is the reality check. 2016 will be here before we know it. The damage done to our country has been incalculable. We need to win this next one. We have to win this next one. It is an all hands on deck event. Our motto should be taken from the Al Davis playbook - "Just win baby, win!" End of story.    

Rethinking Jimmy Carter

"How was our 39th President? At one time, I thought the worst in history. However after the 42nd and 44th Presidents, maybe he was not that bad after all..."

In the past, few have been harder on the Carter presidency than I have been. I remember once when I was going through a rant on how bad things were in the 70's, a friend of mine gave me some prophetic advice. "Don't be too hard on him. In our life time there might actually be someone worse." I laughed and told him I sure hoped not. Turns out between Carter and now we have had two presidents who were worse.

Just like history has been very kind to John Kennedy over the years, it is also starting to soften on Jimmy Carter. True, during Jimmy Carter years the economy really went in the tank. True, during Jimmy Carter years economists had to coin a new term - stagflation. True, under the Jimmy Carter years, the housing industry almost died because of 16% fixed mortgages (if you could get one). And true, during the Jimmy Carter years a puppet government in Iran illegally detained 52 innocent Americans for 444 days - and we did nothing.

But he also did some good things while President. He deregulated a way over-regulated trucking industry (The Motor Carrier Act of 1980). That was good not only for the truckers, but also our country. The Camp David accord was historic. Peace still exists to this day between Israel and Egypt. 

But I am rethinking Jimmy Carter mostly for what he did not do. He did not diddle with women who were not his wife. He did not besmirch the Oval Office by engaging in oral sex with an intern. He did not commit perjury to a grand jury. He did not lie to the American people on TV. He did not give nukes to the Norks (although he was on the negotiation team). He did not give nukes to the Iranians. And he did not transform America from a Republic into a Monarchy.

When Ronald Reagan was sworn in, the Iranians immediately released our hostages. They knew if they didn't all hell was going to rain down on them. Ronald Reagan then rebuilt our military, starting with the Navy. No more cannibalizing ships so they could put to sea. He fixed the economy by giving us one of the biggest tax cuts in the history of mankind. He restored our faith in America once again. And the entire time he was rebuilding and fixing things, not one word, not one, tearing down Jimmy Carter. Contrast that to our current guy. He continues to this day to blame and skewer G. W. Bush.

No, I would take a Democrat like John Kennedy again in a heartbeat. Kennedy was more conservative than many of today's RINOs. I would take Jimmy Carter over another lying sack of stuff like Bill Clinton or another Socialist like Obama. I may not have agreed with how Jimmy Carter ran the country, but he was a good man. A decent and fair man. A man of deep faith and convictions. History will be much kinder to President Carter than it will be to Clinton or Obama. And you can take that to the bank.

   

Platform Please!

"I want my country back. I want the world's protector of freedom and liberty back. I am tired of being only a spectator to carnage and suffering..."

Glenn Beck has said many times. 2016 is it. All the cards are on the table. If we elect another squish like we did in 2008 and 2012, we are done as a country. Period. We need a platform we can all get behind. We need a platform we can all agree on. We need a platform well can convince the general public to believe in. That it is right. In other words, it needs to be very succinct and to the point.

For example, Syria is hell on Earth right now. And what is our national posture? Nothing. What is our party's posture? Nothing again. Refugees in almost record numbers are flooding into Europe. Many want to come here. Why? They can't live at home anymore, because they might be killed. Killed by a group of 14th century butchers.

If I had written a novel like this scenario in 1984, many would have thought it to be science fiction. It would have shown America to be a dystopian society. Nobody would have believed America would have let this happen. Never, never, ever. But it did.

If the Republicans really want to maintain being the Party of Lincoln, the party of political relevance, the party of liberty and freedom, it better get off it's prat and come up with a sound platform. Especially concerning the biggest threat this country has faced since World War II.

And why does this Islamic threat matter? If don't we counter it, ObamaCare, our almost $19 Trillion debt, the IRS scandal, the VA mess, our devalued dollar, Benghazi, Planned Parenthood, you name it - will not matter a wit.

What to do. First off, cancer, if not irradiated or treated with extreme chemo, will just continue to spread. In other words, if we don't go into Syria and Iraq and kill EVERY LAST ONE of these bad guys, it will at our peril. We need to restore the homeland of Syria and Iraq so these folks can go home. ISIS or ISIL or the Islamic State needs to be relegated to the history books.

Next, we need to go into Somalia and take care of Al Shaab. We need to let the Somalia people go home. They are not happy here. They have told us as much. We need to help them have a free homeland. If Al Shaab resists, they will suffer the same fate as ISIS.

Finally we will deal with Boko Haram. No more watching child trafficking from across the Atlantic. No more infanticide. No more kidnapping. You steal children, you rape children, you kill children, you die. Simple as that. 

Now. Does the Republican Party have the stones to come up a platform which reflects that reality? Like I said, this is for all the marbles. If you are not yet paying attention for 2016, you better be. And this is no joke.

Bringing what to the party?

"The current refugee crisis is a 'cluster' of historic magnitude. And it will only get worse from here..."

We have a real mess in this country. We have a real mess in Europe. And that mess is called immigration. On one hand, my heart really goes out to these people. They have been through the wringer and back. However, on the other hand, enveloping a good part of another country is hard for any country to do. Especially when it is a Muslim country coming into a Judaeo/Christian country. 

I have told this story before. In the 1980's I needed to go to Australia for a negotiation. I needed a visa. I had to jump through hoops in providing documentation. Why? Just in case I overstayed my visa, they wanted to make sure I was financially self sufficient and would not be a burden to their social services.

However we don't do that. Europe does not do that. We take in hundreds of thousands of refugees and immigrants who do not speak our language, have very little education and practically no training. They come here, get settled in, and then what? Many want the United States to adopt Sharia Law into our Constitution. What say you about that Code Pink? By the way, if we did adopt Sharia, Code Pink would be in pink burqas and not allowed to say anything (maybe not a bad thing).

Here is the thing that concerns me. The volags have done their bidding. They have worked with the State Department in getting scads of folks settled here. Then once the volags are finished with that - they leave. The communities are then in charge of caring for tens of thousands, many of whom have no desire to become citizens, and no desire to assimilate. So what is the next step? Seems there is no plan. Never has been. 

Well buckle up folks. The tsunami is coming and it has nothing to do with water. We are now bringing in 100,000 Muslims a year (no Christians from Syria thank you). By 2030, our State Department estimates our country will have a Muslim population of 6,200,000 people, mostly immigrants. Again, with no plan other than to give them all food stamps, cell phones and general assistance. 

Should I say it folks? Should I say what many of us have been thinking? Many of the new refugees bring nothing to the party. No skills, no education, no ability to speak our language. Many detest our way of life and our faith. They do however, love the benefits. So in the absence of a master plan by our handlers in the government, we will soon end up with more Cedar Riverside type enclaves. Little pockets of a former country existing within the borders of our country.

The answer? Beats me. Ask your Congressman or Senator. I plan to.   

Needless Infighting

"The Republicans have a terrible habit of eating their own. Of forgetting they are the adults in the room. The result? Needless infighting..."

I got kind of a kick out of watching the debate last night. In particular, some of the discussions on Planned Parenthood, the Constitution, ObamaCare, our tax system, illegal immigration, the border, ISIS, Iran and so on. And why would I get a kick out it? I may be a bit slow, but this is how I look at things.

By now, the Republican Party should have a platform going into the 2016 elections. In that platform, all pertinent issues are spelled out. When debates are held, questions are asked on each element of the platform. Every candidate will then give his or her vision on how to accomplish the goal of that element. For example, lets use abortion and defunding Planned Parenthood. If the party platform states that we are against abortion and the continued funding of Planned Parenthood, every candidate would explain how he or she would do it. For a candidate to say he or she is pro-choice, thereby going against the party platform, that is whole different problem.

So sticking with abortion for just a minute, the question the moderator should NOT ask is "Are you pro-choice?" The question asked should assume the candidate is pro-choice and wants to defund Planned Parenthood. Therefore the question would be something like, "What steps are you going to take while working with Congress, to defund Planned Parenthood?"

Now I like Jake Tapper. He is not a rookie. That being said, he did a crappy job last night. He made our team at times look like school kids. Some candidates did rise above the fray - others did not. In fact one even reverted to grade school name calling.

I love to listen to men and women of vision. And not just vision, but how to put that vision into play. What I don't want to hear is "gotcha" questions, squabbling, or needless infighting. Seriously - out of the 3 or 4 hours of both debates last night, I saw very little visioning. And I don't give a rat's butt if someone smoked a joint 40 years ago. Or what happened at Lucent Technologies or HP twenty years ago. Or if one of the candidate's casinos went belly up in Florida. I don't bleeping care!

So before debate number 3, can we please show the other side as well as the undecided voters we have our poop in a group and not just a bunch of infighters? Vision people, vision! That will win the day!   

Drama Queens

"The last thing we need is a bloodbath at the OK Corral." 

Oh boy. I think there is going to be drama on the old TV tonight. Start of the new season? Not quite yet. Soon however. No, the drama tonight will take place in the Republican debate. Why do I think so? The powers that be, the "big cigars", the power brokers, have had just about enough of this enigma, Donald Trump. I believe the word has gone out across the board to come out with guns blazing.

And why do I refer to Mr. Trump as an enigma? Simply put, in all my days I have never seen a politician like him. Some would refer to Ronald Reagan as the "Teflon President". Well compared to Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan was like the "Stickum President". Trump has in the past, and continues today, to say the most outlandish things. And his popularity just keeps rising.

This has been very frustrating to a dozen or so other candidates. Many thought they would be in a much different place by now. Some are still stuck in the single digits. So it is time to break out the big guns. Prepare for a major battle. Yes, and some of the gunfire might be aimed at Dr. Carson also. 

Why are people fascinated by Donald Trump? Many reasons really. One is his unlimited guts. He knows he is going to be gang tackled tonight. Is he scared? Not a bit. "Bring it on", he would say. "Hit me and I will hit back harder". Dr. Carson on the other hand, is much nicer, much less of a fighter. Punches might hurt him. He might not want to fire back.

I will be watching it with one of my long time friends and "politics coach". I think both of us will be looking past the Drama Queens to see who emerges as the statesman (or stateswoman). After six plus years of watching the clown car load and unload, we really need to have the adults back in charge. Tonight we may start to see which adult that might be.