OWS

I have had a lot of people ask my opinion of the OWS movement. This week, several people, up to and including the President, likened OWS to the Tea Party. This has had some wide-spread and varying levels of both acceptance and anger. The pic that I have attached, which may or may not be readable, had some good points (and some arrogant points) that I thought deserved some attention. So, here goes:

The original outcry of the Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Party was against the over-taxation of the citizens to pay for the gluttony of the government. The Tea Party voiced opposition to 'favored' businesses (aka businesses that were giving millions of dollars in lobby money in exchange for special treatment) receiving "special treatment." The Tea Party opposed laying the price of the failed banking industry on the backs of the tax-payers.
Ironically, I could remove the words "Tea Party" from that entire paragraph and replace it with "OWS movement" and be completely correct. As is often true in politics, the goals are similar...it's the application that is different. Both groups had similar goals but launched into completely different directions. The Tea Party took the approach of infilitrating the Government and fixing it. OWS took the approach of taking the streets to make the Government listen. I'm not defending or attacking either approach, as both have had success in our country as well as others. The problems always come in when a group loses focus of it's goals and objectives. The Tea Party made waves about "special treatment" for businesses and "too much federal government" and then (as soon as they had the nation stage) proclaimed that raising any tax on the "specially treated" businesses was wrong, and that part of "limiting" the federal government should be by GIVING the government power over social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc). They lost their effectiveness because they lost sight of their primary objective.
Conversely, OWS started marching for the same goals. But their protests are aimed at people who not only aren't listening, but at people who don't HAVE to listen. I doubt that there is a single billionaire investor on the planet that sets his own feet in the NYSE to do trading. He doesn't care if the streets are filled with protestors. In fact, he is dining sumptuously because all of the protesters are buying food and supplies from companies that he has invested in. If their presence causes a ripple in the banking industry, he doesn't care. He's invested for the long haul. The ripples across the banking industry and stock market only affect those people who have smaller investments...like 401K's. If the industies collapsed, the people hurt the most (percentage wise) would not be the billionaires, it would be the middle-class who have saved their entire lives to be able to retire.
To me, both movements are spinning their wheels. If OWS truly wants to make an impact, they should learn a couple of lessons from the Tea Party. Stop protesting on Wall Street. Go protest in front of the Governor's mansion and the State Building. Demand that a constitutional convention be called to stop lobby-money bribes. Demand that an amendments be drawn up and ratified. In order to be effective, one has to realize where differences can be made. The local and state officials need to be re-elected to survive. The Wall Street billionaires don't. The time and energy is being mis-directed.
Truthfully, I'm scared of the misdirection. As these mobs grow, and the clashes increase, eventually mass rioting will ensue. Mobs are not known for making great, rational decisions. They generally lead to destruction, followed by looting and chaos. These will never be good for our country, especially when we have enemies who would love an opportunity to catch us unaware.
My advice for the day:
Tea Party: Get your morality out of your politics. 'Adam and Steve' have NOTHING to do with limited federal government and fixing out-of-control spending. At some point, you may have to give up one to achieve the other. Make your choice now. If you continue to push candidates who are socially conservative in a country that is NOT socially conservative anymore, you will end up giving the election to people wha are socially liberal AND economically liberal. By trying to tack-on morality, you are puching moderates into the liberal camp.
OWS: Direct your efforts to get things changed at the people who can actually change them. It's ok to be angry. It's ok to recognize that things aren't fair. It's better to do something constructive about it. Blocking the common man from getting to work or getting on the subway is not helping your cause. Go cause friction with the people who need your votes.

Now, let's see if I can get myself detained by the new powers that the government is voting itself....

Todays rant.

Angry Rant

I have suddenly been pushed to my limits of annoyance. I am secretly hoping for subzero temps so that the “Occupiers” will go home. They are nothing but an angry mob of idiots. While I understand the anger of taking billions of dollars in bailout money and then giving themselves millions in bonuses, I find the anger to be mis-placed. If the government walked up to the average citizen and offered them a million dollars for no really good reason, I wonder how many would turn it down. Most of us would take it...which makes us hypocrits. Wall Street is as much a victim of the government welfare as the “welfare class” is.
Ultimately, what irritates me about the protesters is that they have no demands. They have no rallying point about what they hope to accomplish. When there ceases to be a point of concession, they cease to be a hopeful rally and become nothing more than an angry mob.
Well, guess what? I’m angry as well. Only I’m not angry at a Free-Market System, because I have a CHOICE when it comes to where and when I spend my money. I’m angry at a Government that taxes the hell out of me and gives the money *to* the system. “Too big to fail” is a problem. And the problem is that we allowed a few businesses to become the cornerstone of our economy, so we CAN’T let them fail without causing a major depression. And so the GOVERNMENT, NOT WALL STREET, takes my money and bails them out. The company recovers, but the new-found recovery money NEVER makes its way back to the taxpayers who LOANED them the recovery money…it goes back into the pockets of the very men who caused the failure to begin with…followed by a pat on the back from the Government, who incidentally happened to get a little lobby-money on the side.
My anger is about CHOICE. The government has taken my choices away. I choose to buy a product because it has higher quality and is less expensive. How DARE our government then tax me to prop up the crappy company? Let them succeed on their own merits or let them fail in their incompetence!
“Too big to fail” happened BECAUSE of our OWN laziness and greed, NOT Wall Street’s. We stopped buying that microwave at Ma & Pa’s electric shop because Walmart was cheaper. We stopped buying that Stove from Ma & Pa’s appliance store because Home Depot was cheaper. We stopped buying our textiles from the local variety store because Target was cheaper. We stopped buying meat from the local butcher because Jewel’s imported beef is cheaper. WE bankrupted the middle class away and now complain that CApitalism is making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. WE’RE the ones who made the poor, poorer and the rich, richer EVERY time we spent a dollar at the conglomerates instead of in our neighborhood shops. STOP blaming Capitalism, we did this to ourselves! These Ma & Pa shops that used to have 5 or 6 middle-class employees closed down, bankrupt. Their employees end up working for minimum wage at Menard’s (that’s WHY their products are so cheap, BTW), and we complain that the rich guy is oppressing the poor. No, my friend, WE did this TO them!
So now where are we? We are a country full of consumers, in bondage to the corporations that we built by our petty greed…and now we’re pissed off at them. As the old saying goes, ‘you made your bed, now lie in it.’ But that’s not what we want to do. We want to “Occupy Wall Street” and blame them for taking the money that we threw to them.
Knock it off. If you don’t like Wall Street, stop giving them your money. Buy local, stop using credit cards, stop second-mortgaging your life away. Learn to live within your means. And if you’re going to protest, protest the Government’s involvement in giving away your hard-earned tax dollars.

I believe.

I’m an unashamed capitalist and a 10th amendment libertarian. This means that Republicans and Democrats both hate me…and both love me…depending on the issues at hand.

I believe that Capitalism is imperfect.
I believe that any other financial system is worse.
I believe that “taking from those who have and giving it to those who do not,” demotivates everyone from working harder. If 10% of my wealth is going to be “redistributed” then I’ll just work 10% less and keep what I have.
I believe this sentiment is shared by people who make $10,000 a year or $10,000,000 a year. This is why over-taxing the rich backfires EVERY time, REGARDLESS of what *seems* fair.
I believe that rich corporations will find ways to stay rich. If over-taxed, or fined, or EPA’ed to death, the corporations will cut costs to maintain profits. Those cost-cuts are typically either the loss of American jobs or increased prices…both scenarios hit the poor and the middle-class the hardest.
I believe in the concept of equilibrium. There is a teeter-totter that would find its own balance if the federal government would allow it to reach an equilibrium on its own.
I believe that it is NOT the government’s job to create jobs or take care of people. It is the job of the government to maintain a climate that promotes growth and prosperity…the best way to do this is for the government to butt-out. The most destructive force to the common man is a power-hungry politician…far more dangerous than a rich mogul. The rich man is smart enough to know that his continued profits rest on the prosperity of his business.
I believe that Bill Clinton signing NAFTA into law caused at least 40% of the current economic breakdown.
I believe that Jimmy Carter signing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1976 caused another 40%. Just as Herbert Hoover was blamed for the great depression, G. W. Bush took the helm of the Titanic just before the iceberg was sighted. NOT that he did much to steer it to safety….
I believe that Bill Clinton was probably more fiscally conservative than G. W. Bush. The difference was the advisors that they surrounded themselves with.
I believe that entitlements don’t help people move on; they cause people to become more dependent. Entitlement breeds more entitlement.
I believe that no one simply “deserves” something for nothing. If people are in need, put them to work…don’t just hand them a link card, a medical card, and a rent voucher.
I believe that people receiving aid should have to pee in a cup. I have to be drug-free in order to work, why in HELL should they NOT have to be in order to keep NOT working???
I believe that our court system is overcrowded due to stupid laws and loopholes. Raise fines, and disbar sleazy lawyers…use the prisons for the people are a menace to society, not the people who jay-walk too often.
I believe that prison is NOT just for rehabilitation. As it turns out, it *IS* a punishment too. Cut the cable cord, conjugal visits, and the gyms. Re-introduce hard labor and chain-gangs. Let’s make prison a bad place to be.
I believe that legalizing conceal-and-carry laws would eventually reduce crime…since currently the only people who conceal-and-carry are criminals, what could it hurt? I can’t speak for criminals, but I’d think twice about mugging someone if there was a 50/50 chance that they had a .357 under their jacket.
I believe that Immigrants should have to conform to the ways, customs, and laws of America…NOT the other way around. If you don’t like our ways, go home.
I believe that trying to apologize and/or make retribution for the past is stupid. I can’t change the fact that my great great-grandfather wronged your great great-grandfather. Your OWN choices in your OWN life brought you to where you are today, not some story to a distant past. Accept responsibility for your actions and let’s go have a beer.
I believe that politics has become an exercise in futility. Political positioning and party-loyalty has taken away all responsibility and common sense. It’s been replaced with radicals being elected, in an attempt to *undo* what the LAST radical did….
I believe that this polarization would cause a civil war if we weren’t such a lazy nation.
I believe I’m sufficiently depressed now.

stop whining and DO something...

I received several emails relating to a blog post that I made several months ago. The emails were really good and made some very strong statements that I think that every American needs to hear. For this reason, I am reposting the following blog entry:

One of the most frustrating things for me, as an American Citizen, is the disconnect between our government elitists and the patriots that they are elected to represent. Our founding fathers formed this country on a platform of anti-establishmentarianism. The framers of our constitution had just seen, first-hand, the ugly truths of monarchies and lack of true representation. They framed the constitution on the idea of citizen-governments representing the common man. Citizens would be elected, serve, and then return to their lives. Reading any of the documents written by our founding fathers will easily show us that they were fighting against the idea of political elitists…perhaps what we would call ‘career politicians.’ They spoke out against the idea of a strong federal government. They recognized that the stronger the federal government, the weaker the people.
So now we sit, some 220 years later, and what do we see in our government? We see decisions made against the will of the people. We see political elitists sit in congress for decades. We see politicians make laws for themselves: They vote themselves raises; they vote themselves pensions; they vote themselves their own cost-free healthcare system; they make laws that exempt them from minor traffic violations if they are on their way to work. They pass the cost of this on to taxpayer without any citizen representation. We have embraced the Government that the colonists fought and died to free us from. Make no mistake, I love my country, and I love the constitution. I just don’t believe that we are the country that we used to be because we fail to abide by the constitution that once governed us.

I believe that it is time for a Constitutional Convention. These can only be called under two circumstances: called by Congress or called by Governors. Obviously, Congress is not going to limit their own powers, so I call on the Governors…and I call on citizens to contact their Governors to call a Constitutional Convention.

Once called, there needs to be several items on the agenda. Once these items become Amendments to the Constitution, I believe that a huge number of problems in this country would solve themselves.

Amendment # 28. Congress shall pass no laws that pertain solely to themselves and Congress shall pass no laws that exclude themselves. Congress shall not have its own pension plan (they can contribute to their own retirement, like the rest of us. Make them retire on Social Security, and we’ll see how quickly SS issues get fixed). Congress shall not have its own Healthcare plan (they can have the same healthcare program that they have forced on the rest of the country. Again, we’ll be surprised how quickly Healthcare reform and Medicare get fixed if they have to depend on them.)

Amendment #29. There shall be a term limit for all federally elected officials. The term shall be limited to two back-to-back terms and shall apply to any and all elected positions. After one fallow term, any official is eligible to run for any office.

Amendment #30. There shall be a balanced budget. In the event that a balanced budget can not be reached by the appointed (and non-extendable) due date, the government shuts down all non-military services, including salaries. Seven days later, each district will hold a “no-confidence” vote pertaining to their congressional representatives and the President. A negative vote of 50% will cause the representative’s opponent (to be determined by the number of votes cast in the last election) to assume the seat. A positive vote of 50.01% allows another seven days for a budget to be reached. If a budget is still not reached, the representative’s opponent in the last election automatically assumes the seat. The new officials shall receive no pay until a budget agreement is reached.

Amendment #31. Maintaining a balanced budget. The Federal budget must remain balanced throughout each year. Any newly proposed bill/law must be budget-neutral or it can not take effect until it is completely funded by a new year’s budget. Any bill/law that is passed, but unexpectedly becomes budget-negative is immediately withdrawn. Any department that operates outside of their budget closes down as soon as their allotted budget is expended.
The only exceptions to maintaining a balanced budget are in times of unforeseen catastrophe. In these cases, the budget can be over-ridden by a 66% Congressional vote. This vote is only valid until the end of the current budget. At the next budget, the catastrophe monies must be repaid as part of the new budget. Any on-going monies must be included in the budget. The only exception is war-time. Wartime expenses require a 66% vote of Congress, and must be reimbursed by the next year’s budget.

Amendment #32. There shall be no National Debt. Until the time that the debt has been paid down, all interest plus two percent of the debt’s principle shall be a mandatory part of each year’s annual balanced budget until such time that the debt is eliminated.


How’s this for a start? I really…REALLY encourage every person that reads this (and agrees with it) to forward it to as many people as you can…but more so, I encourage you to pressure your governmental officials by making sure that your senators, representatives, and governor are on your list of forwards…. Most constitutional amendments came to reality because of public outcry, NOT because of political lipservice. There is no such thing as an armchair-citizen. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution!