Kill the Bill!

As the Senate leapfrogs over hurdle after hurdle in getting Obamacare passed, our Constitutional rights are being trampled. The Democrats' solution for healthcare reform consists largely of forcing citizens to purchase healthcare or face a fine, levied through the IRS (can you imagine the paperwork this is going to generate, as you have to provide proof of health insurance at every turn?). This is a federal mandate to purchase a service in order to be a citizen in good standing, and it is not Constitutional.

The Constitution lays out what powers the federal government has, and expressly grants all other powers to the states. This is why the comparison of the "buy health insurance or pay a fine" mandate to the requirement in most states for car insurance before you can drive is false. States are not subject to the same restrictions as the federal government.

President Obama, on some basic level, understands this, yet it appears that he has perverted this concept in his mind to make his socialist, utopian worldview workable in this country. Consider this quote from a 2001 interview: "... [G]enerally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can't do to you. Says what the federal government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf ... I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change."

Redistribution, huh? Turns out that redistribution of wealth is the driving force behind every single initiative espoused by the Obama administration. Socialists -- and Barack Obama is a Socialist, make no mistake -- like to fancy themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods, taking from the evil rich and giving to the downtrodden poor. This allegory is false; in the lore of Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in collusion with Prince John, was robbing the people blind while Richard the Lionhearted was off fighting the Crusades. In this fallacious comparison, Big Business is cast in the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham, with Capitalism in the role of Prince John and President Obama as the hero, Robin Hood, standing in good stead in the absence of his king, Socialism. You and I are the peasants of Nottinghamshire.

Well, I don't know about you, but I do feel like I'm being robbed blind ... But not by Big Business and his boss, Capitalism. I'm being robbed, and my future children, and their future children, are being robbed, by the socialistic concept of higher taxes, bigger government, more entitlements for people who are gaming the system. I do not believe in institutionalized, enforced charity. I give what I can, sometimes until it hurts, to causes I believe in. As the federal government raises taxes again and again, my personal ability to give is being diminished by degrees. The causes I want to support will necessarily begin to suffer, and causes I abhor -- Planned Parenthood, I'm looking at you -- will benefit.

The Constitution does not give the federal government the right to take my money and give it to those who want to fund abortions, or give kickbacks to Mary Landrieu or Ben Nelson (and Florida, Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont ...) in exchange for votes, or whatever else.

I never thought I'd agree with Howard Dean, but in this case I do (albeit for diametrically opposing reasons): KILL THE BILL.

The War in Afghanistan: A Blueprint to Failure

When President Obama took office, he appointed General Stanley McChrystal to command the troop on the ground in Afghanistan, asking him to make a recommendation on what was needed. General McChrystal did so; according to some reports, he asked President Obama to send over 75,000 additional troops. It was widely reported that McChrystal's report requested 40,000 troops, but rumors persist that 40,000 troops was the minimum requirement by McChrystal. After seven months of delay, Obama committed to sending 30,000 additional troops to supplement the ground forces in Afghanistan. Furthermore, he made the announcement in front of an audience of West Point cadets, who were required to be in their seats a full three hours before the speech was set to begin and who were instructed to "respond enthusiastically."

Are you kidding me? Why should the rising officers in our military be forced to waste hours of their lives waiting -- for security reasons; if we can't trust our cadets in matter of Presidential security, I would argue that we can't trust anyone -- and then not even be allowed to react in a way that reflects the way they really feel? A lukewarm troop surge, combined with a seven month delay in action, added to what Obama called a "firm deadline" for withdrawal (yeah, why not tell our enemy exactly how long they just need to lay low?) adds up to one of the weakest displays of foreign policy I can imagine.

Mr. President, it's simple: give the troops what they need to kick butts and take names, or BRING THEM HOME. By doing this halfway, you're condemning troops to die in vain.

Thoughts on the Recession

Recessions are no fun. Even if you personally are doing okay, there's a ton of guilt associated with spending when others can't afford their utility bills. This guilt is completely counterproductive, because those who are doing okay have an obligation to keep the economy rolling along, but the guilt is no less real when filtered through this prism.

Here's the thing, though, about the recession: the government is trying to spend its way out of the hole, regardless of the fact that this strategy has never worked in the history of our country. I'm not going to go into the specifics, because they're boring, but I was taught in school that the New Deal got this country out of the Great Depression. That is liberal, revisionist garbage. The New Deal extended the length of the Depression and anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows it.

The hard truth is that recessions are necessary in a free market system to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The idea is to weed out businesses who misused their capital or are following unsustainable business practices. It's like a forest fire. Forest rangers often submit the forest to controlled burns in order to clear out the dead undergrowth and allow for new green life. This recession is the forest fire of the financial world, and we would be better off for it, assuming the government doesn't stick its power-grabbing nose in where it doesn't belong.

Oh. Too late.

Too big to fail?

I changed my mind; defense will have to wait.

Let me start this post by saying: I reject the notion of "too big to fail."

The Bush administration pushed through the TARP funds with the explanation that the collapse of the housing market was turning into a collapse of the banking industry, and these two segments of our economy were collectively too big to fail.

Nonsense.

It sounded good, and a lot of people were convinced. I, at the time, agreed that the collapse of the housing market plus the failure of the country's biggest banks was a recipe for Depression-with-a-capital-D. I didn't, however, think that TARP was a good idea, even then. The idea was that we would lend this money to the banks and then, when they were back on their feet, they'd pay the money back -- with interest! And then the government would use that money to pay down the deficit! And if you believe that, I have a lovely five acre plot of land on the island of Atlantis to sell you.

What really happened? Well, the banks got back on their feet (although they did so by taking TARP funds and then refusing to lend out any money, so the housing market fell even further and small business owners were up a creek; this is what happens when the government hands out billions of dollars with NO RESTRICTIONS on its use) and paid the money back to the government: $45 billion from Bank of America, $25 billion from JP Morgan Chase, a total of $116 billion repaid. It's a miracle! Now it's time for the government to pay down the deficit with the repaid TARP funds, right? Right?

Does anyone else hear crickets?

Oh, shocking! President Obama announced on December 8, 2009 that the TARP funds (an estimated $200 billion, which leaves us something like $84 billion short, given the repayment numbers) will now be used to stimulate job growth, including money for green jobs and alternative energy technologies. Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Isn't that what the stimulus packages were for?

Note to the federal government: STOP SPENDING MY MONEY. The deficit is currently so high that it's the equivalent of $111,000 for each tax paying citizen in this country. If I ran my personal finances the way the federal government runs the nation's finances, I would be left with no choice but to drop off the grid and hope my creditors never found me, because there would be no way I could ever dig out of the hole. And the government would let me go under, because I'm not too big to fail. Furthermore: they should let me go under. They should ship me off to debtor's prison and throw away the key, because MY extreme irresponsibility should be MY problem, not the nation's. (For the record: I am not extremely irresponsible; our mortgages, car payments and student loans are our only outstanding debt. That sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, but my point is: no credit card debt or personal loans.)

Well, I believe in capitalism and the free market. These principals have served our country pretty well over the past 200+ years. No other country in the course of the world's history has gone from not existing to being the most powerful, richest country in the world in the span of less than 200 years. And how did we do it? We allowed companies to compete with each other -- in fact, we enacted antitrust legislation to force competition -- and let those who couldn't hack it go out of business. We followed a Constitution drafted by some of the greatest thinkers that ever lived, which clearly laid out what the federal government could -- and more importantly could NOT -- take under their auspices. In short, we lived like capitalists.

That's the opposite of what's happening today. Today, the government is directly running the automobile industry in this country, putting salary caps (and levying punitive taxes on bonuses up to 90%) on highly paid individuals, bailing out businesses who failed to be responsible with their capital, and attempting to take over the health care industry as well. None of these things are Constitutional, and Congress is deaf to the public outcry.

"Where there is liberty, there is my country."

I really, really want this to remain true (get back to being true?). I started this blog because I'm disgusted with the way our country is headed. It's possible that no one will ever see it, but I need an outlet for my worries.

First, some background: I'm a married woman in my mid-to-late twenties, with no ties whatsoever to politics beyond my vote, who no longer self-identifies as Republican because the Republican party has lost its way. I supposed I'd be best classified as a conservative Libertarian, because I think that the government should get its grubby paws off my freedom.

More substantive entries are forthcoming, when I get my thoughts together. I think I'd like to start with the current administration's attitude towards defense.

P.S. The name I wanted for this blog, "In Haec Verba" ("In These Words") was taken ... And when I looked up the now-defunct blog, it turned out to be a defense of the exact opposite of my point of view. How 'bout that.