Common Sense

Don't forget ....

The Sunday edition, January 18, 2009, of the Hagerstown Herald Mail had a 2 page photo of Obama along with the words "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Let's pray he follows that oath, especially the last 10 words.

But we should also ensure that every elected official complies with that same ideal.

What is it that allows our bureaucracy to stray so far from this mindset?

As a friend stated, they must be required to check their common sense (and brains) at the door.

How can our federal and state governments be so out of touch with mainstream America?

Are the bureaucrats so clueless that they can only chase the special interests who have come to permeate our society?

Do they not understand that tax-paying, property-owning Americans are tired of the rhetoric and hair-splitting divisiveness?

Whether it requires term limits. prohibitions to office, or a deep, dark depression, something will surely happen.

Our society is not unlike a huge pendulum, swinging to and fro. We have become a nation of instant gratification seeking, must-haves.  We live on credit and believe that more of the same will get us past this economic problem.

If only that were possible.

Sadly when the pendulum swings back, it won't stop at the center. 

The Patriot Sharpshooter

PS - I guess after they messed up the oath and had to "re-do" it the next day, it's a harbinger of things to come.  I'm glad they added "so help me God."

Universal Health Care - Another Urban Myth About to Become Reality!

A writer in Sundays Herald Mail outlined his plan for "universal health care".  He argued that universal care was readily affordable, the various plans just needed to be combined to form one vast pool that would be available to everyone.

Here's a couple of problems with that.  Not everyone will spend the money on health insurance.  Massachusetts found that out with their "universal" plan.  It is mandatory and still some are not paying their share. Will the United States implement a "mandatory" health care system?  Certainly the 50% or so that pay no taxes would be in favor of such a plan.  Will Congress and other bureaucrats embrace the same standards?  Doubtful.  Since bureaucrats love to tell us what we should do, then exempt themselves from their onerous plans, I would bet the farm that we taxpayers will be required to enroll, while the aristocracy is above such requirements.

A major problem with universal care is the idea that all care and care providers are equally matched.  Some doctors graduate at the top of their class or are experts in their chosen fields.  The rest, well lets just say that some are less qualified.  If the degrees are given on a curve, some have to be barely passing.  So where do the best doctors/nurses end up at?  Is it the inner cities?  Or do they live and work where their families are safe, their own children get a good education and they can excel in their fields?

Another issue that many fail to accept is that America already enjoys the best health care in the world.  Need a diagnostic or medical treatment?  Go to another country and see how quickly your needs are met.  Certainly American companies must endure an endless bureaucratic nightmare before a product or treatment is introduced to the American market, but that is a result of lawyers and their inane approval process.

How about this - A 30 year old and a 70 year old both need identical expensive medical treatment.  Obviously the 30 year old has a much longer time to pay taxes while the 70 year old is pretty much done.  Who do you think would get the bean counters nod? 

A friend recently had the misfortune to visit our local hospital during a late evening.  They were amazed at the number of homeless people occupying seats.  Seems the emergency room is a perfect place to spend these cold long dark nights.  Winos looking for a warm seat, simply go to the hospital and sign in.  The nurses know many by name.  What's your ailment?   I have this cough, my eyes hurt, I have a pain in my chest, my stomach hurts, I don't have any feeling in my arm/hand/foot, I can't breath well. The nurses can't turn anyone away.  What happens if someone dies?  So to avoid an embarrassing moment, the homeless get a warm place to hang out, a clean bathroom and some conversation.  Not a bad deal when you consider it's "free".

Oh America is the land of milk and honey, at least for the ones exempt from these insane ideas.

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Funny Money - Not!

Think there isn't a bunch of funny money floating around?  The following article is about Hillary Clinton "forgiving" a $13 MILLION personal loan to her presidential campaign.  The article is quoted as saying that the Clinton's reported an income since leaving office 8 years ago of @ $108 MILLION.  Not bad for a couple of speeches every year!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/22/hillary-writes-m-campaign-loan/

Yet major businesses, after having lost BILLIONS through greedy business decisions, are convincing our illustrious leaders to "help" them via massive tax-payer backed bailout schemes.

Does anyone smell an odor?  Are we taxpayers that stupid that we allow this type of fiscal irresponsibility?

How brazen and inept are our leaders?  Apparently very according to the "plan" they are promoting.

Of course it ain't their money so what the heck?!?!!!!!

If it all goes down the drain, the only people who are gonna be stuck are you and me.

Ever get the feeling we should be kissed?

How all this shakes out is beyond this simple minded country boy.

All I can surmise is that, based upon current economic conditions and nearly all knowledgeable predictions, America and the entire world are in for a long economic adjustment period.  Some estimates predict that conditions will continue to deteriorate through 2009. 

Will the more drastic predictions come true?  Will the United States renege on it's worldwide financial commitments?  Will the dollar become worthless?  Will unemployment reach record levels?  Will Americans accept an even more socialist bent?

Me?  I'm gonna wait on the check Obama promised everyone....

The Patriot Sharpshooter

What if????

Seems our illustrious leaders are not beyond discarding the Constitution and implementing martial law. http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/military_domestic_use/2008/12/23/164765.html?s=al&promo_code=763E-1

While many find no problems with our bureaucracy taking control of our lives, the implications are frightening.

The economic future is cloudy and uncertain at best.  If, and this is a very real possibility, we enter a depression, civil unrest is certain.  Imagine if the masses who rely on a monthly governmental sustenance check suddenly receive nothing.  Imagine if there is no food in the supermarkets.  What will be the result?  Certainly not very pleasant and most likely deadly.

A magazine writer I read has a good track record of being accurate in his predictions.  Without going into great detail, suffice it to say that his predictions of urban unrest are very strong. 

The article linked above lists an attack on US soil as a reason for implementing martial law.  In 2003, the military establishment was seriously contemplating the scenario of discarding the Constitution.  Given the effects of 9/11, it isn't difficult to imagine that playing out.

Many believe that the soldiers and police will protect us from disasters, natural, domestic and foreign.  All one has to do is look at the small catastrophe's that have occurred and extend that out to a national level.

What minimal effect would the military be able to have?  Police are not manned to a level to to control the simplest event.  A simple accident shuts down an entire highway. Fire and/or rescue companies are staffed with volunteers.  Faced with the of aiding their family or responding to an unknown location, which will volunteers choose? What will result when there is a major catastrophe or civil unrest?

Common sense should tell us all whether dialing 911 or ordering a pizza will elicit the quickest, most reliable response. 

Sure the liberal press loves to shove a camera in a bureaucrats face and ask seemingly endless stupid questions.  But in a regional or national disaster, will you be able to ensure the safety of yourself and loved ones or will you hit the speed dial on your cell phone and become outraged when no one answers?

Look in the mirror for your answer.

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Happy New Year! (Manna From Heaven)

Wouldn't it be great to live in a world that offered unfettered security?  You would never be hungry, never sick, have all the money and stuff you would ever want!

Some of the bailout schemes being presented and those elbowing their way to the trough would make you believe that government is the answer to all that ails us.

Would be nice if that were true!

A study of past bureaucratic systems and schemes proves just the opposite. 

Whatever system or scheme presented, the reality is that every amount of money has finite limits.  Whether it is based on gambling, taxation or, as bureaucrats like to call them, "fees", the well has a bottom.  When the money runs out (or the well goes dry) that's all there is.

The Federal government has the luxury of being able to print more greenbacks.  When it does though, there should be something to back them up.  Since the feds stopped issuing silver certificates, the devalued dollar has spiraled to being worth less and less. 

With the bail-out and stimulus give-aways being initiated and proposed, the taxpayers are being put into the position of facing taxes beyond anything ever before considered.  Certainly many responsible, tax-paying citizens are asking "what goofy bastard is driving the bus?" 

No bureaucratic system has ever raised more revenue by raising taxes.  But Maryland follows blindly along these very premises.  Robert Ehrlich, a one term governor, acquiesced to a tax-and-spend mentality. Maryland spending increased from @ $21 BILLION to over $27 BILLION in 4 short years. Under Glendening our budget grew from $11 BILLION to a whopping $21 BILLION in the 8 years before Ehrlich.  In 2003, a legislator I know whined about the "drastic hard choices" the General Assembly was "forced" to make. They cut measly $200 MILLION out of a whopping $21 BILLION budget!  Not even a 1% cut.  Can anyone sympathize with these dolts? 

O'Governor is shamelessly raising taxes AND spending money like there is no tomorrow.  Perhaps this economic disaster is past due. It seems that the only way any common sense/fiscal responsibility will ever return is through a complete meltdown. Marylander's saw the largest tax increase in history and just one year later are told we are facing a BILLION deficit.  This can be onerously described as NO PLANNING! Was anyone fired over this fiasco? 

Sadly many will have to suffer along with those who expected the manna to drop miraculously to earth.

I  have survived by being the pessimist, plan for the worse and accept anything better. Do what you can for your loved ones and pray for the best.

Let's hope that 2009 brings better times.

Happy New Year to all!

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Cutting Expenses - A "novel" idea!

Seems O'Governor is being forced to furlough some state employees for a brief period to "save" money. 

Let's be brutally honest. Will the rest of the state miss the bureaucratic red tape?

Will the earth stop revolving?  Or is this the beginning of a long needed direction?

We taxpayers can only pray it is the later.

The list of commissions, bureaus, agencies, departments, laws, fees and taxes is painfully long. Sign onto your local county government, Boards of Education (BOE), State or Federal websites and you will become ill looking at how much control the bureaucrats exert over our lives.

Heck, even police departments have websites with more information than any sane person could ever justify.  The BOEs website is filled with meaningless numbers and data.  Yet we are bombarded with claims of "world class" education.  There is much truth in the saying that "Figures lie and liars figure."

And it is all at our expense.  More positions to be filled, more information to be dispersed, and to be perfectly blunt, none is worth a hoot!

Ever tried to call your local permits office?  If you haven't you are in for an extra special treat.  I asked my boss for a contact name & phone number one day.   When the person I dialed answered the phone, I identified myself and the first words I heard were, "HOW DID YOU GET THIS NUMBER?"

Kinda says it all huh?

Working in private enterprise requires that a profit be made. Why else would the boss take the risk? Yet we watch bureaucrats, whose primary function is to occupy space and consume oxygen, continue to drain our valuable resources, waste our tax dollars and create more hurtles each and every day.

Now tell me again how much our system needs repaired.

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Merry Christmas to all!

Has anyone seen a return to the fundamental Christmas?  When the only thoughts were about Christ and family?

Watching and reading the sales promotions would have one believe that Christ and family are not even a consideration anymore.  I know many of you do not subscribe to this perspective. 

In this holiday season, give thanks for your blessings, spend some quality time with family and friends. Consider whether those expensive gifts are really appreciated or whether they are simply consolation to your ego.

Maybe it is my declining years that have most affected my perspective, but my "need" to acquire stuff, has been replaced by my appreciation of good health, family and close friends.

So this Christmas holiday, consider your blessings, enjoy time with your loved ones, make exceptions for the differences that seemed insurmountable before and give thanks for those things that seem so minor.

God bless all, Merry Christmas and a joyous, prosperous New Year!

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Guns, God and apple pie!

I had to throw in the God and apple pie for good measure.

Some of the hysteria surrounding the recent election is kinda like closing the barn door after the animals escaped. But some of it certainly bears a closer look.

Firearms sales have gone up as has ammunition.  People who have never owned a gun are scrambling to acquire one.  A lot of people are snatching up assault rifles as a guard against a possible ban. Rumors? are being circulated about bullets being laser serial numbers and that all existing bullets and ammunition must be discarded after 2010.

There are supposedly 75 million gun owners in the United States.  That is certainly more than the number of votes the winner received in the last election.

So where were the gun-owners?  Did they fail to vote?  Or did many buy the endless promises?  Certainly some did, but why?  Why are so many disillusioned by the stupid acts of the current administration?  Are those elected officials the best we can find to serve us?  Maybe we do have the leadership we deserve!

I am obviously a gun owner.  I belong to the National Rifle Association (NRA). I subscribe to the written words of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, not the twisted meanings that are embraced by liberals.  So what has jaded so many gun-owning, tax-payers today?

Could it be the sad fact that with enough money, anyone can buy the presidency?  Could it hinge upon the obvious that there are many serving in local, state and federal positions who are not only incapable, but criminally irresponsible?  If you have money and influence, regardless of your political association, you can skirt the laws that govern most of us?  From simple traffic violations to heinous crimes, embezzlement to murder, the "rich and famous" are never held to the same standards  that God-fearing, tax-paying citizens face everyday.

Here's a refreshing (and probably unattainable) thought - What if our bureaucrats suddenly acted fiscally responsible?  What if government suddenly adhered to the letter of the Constitution?  What if bureaucrats suddenly served to the wishes of the majority and ignored the special interest and lobbyists?

The principles that this great country were founded upon are rapidly disappearing.  Are we beyond returning to those ideals? 

I started off this article about guns, gun owners and their supposedly virtues. I guess those ideals are disappearing too.

The Patriot Sharpshooter

Still working? Be glad!

Seems the economic downturn is beginning to cause some angst among employees, as it well should.

Regardless of who was elected earlier this month, the new President is gonna have a tough job.

The current plans to "bail out" those who are in financial straits is a joke.  The administration and advisers are hoping against hope that throwing money at the problem will "solve" it. 

Has anyone thought this through?  The present financial crisis is the result of greed (and a lot of stupidity). I have always advocated a "follow the money" perspective to determine a root cause.  This premise has NEVER failed to arrive at the primary cause.   Giving loans to people who could never repay them certainly compounded the problems, but what about those who were rewarded (financially) for writing BAD loans?

Certainly each of us knows at least one person who has lost their job after years of service. Is this a peek into the crystal ball?  When Citicorp announces a 50,000 people reduction, does that forecast a dismal outlook?  Or when the big three United States automakers stock plummeted and threatened bankruptcy, can difficult times be far off?  The recent teary-eyed pleas from automakers and the UAW are almost laughable.  Did this financial crisis just suddenly appear? How many years has the auto industry wheeled merrily along on the backs (& ignorance) of the American consumer?  Strange that the foreign automakers aren't bemoaning the same downfall, though they certainly must be suffering some of the same sales slump.

This Christmas season will certainly define America's priority.  Will families goes (even) farther into debt?  Many certainly will, though the wiser ones will take the higher frugal road. Cash should be the national buzzword, but I would bet that "charge it" still comes from the lips of many shoppers.

Yet we have bureaucrats who most having never worked in private industry compiling a "plan" to salvage the American economy.  Talk about an oxymoron!

Financial advisers are labeled "nay-sayers" for predicting a long, painful recovery.  Is there any reason to believe that America, or the entire world, deserves any kind of break?

Perhaps the scariest thing is the huge (REALLY HUGE) amount of money our bureaucrats are pledging to "save" our economy.  Numbers bantered around run from $700 BILLION to more than $7 TRILLION!  Other insane numbers include $45 TRILLION needed to satisfy Social Security debt and $10 TRILLION (and growing) in a national debt.  I seriously doubt that any human can fathom the real meaning of such amounts. 

Sadly, we, the tax-payers, are eventually going to get stuck for this bill. Maybe not all of it, but certainly for something.  The whole scenario is not unlike your household budget.  You earn "X" dollars and must spend "Y" dollars to meet your obligations.  The remaining "Z" dollars must be a positive number.  If you are spending more than you earn, the only result is an impending disaster. 

It would seem the only "plan" that any of our illustrious bureaucrats can offer is an empty promise.

The Patriot Sharpshooter

 

Anonymity - Is that why we write?

A recent political observer was berating bloggers and discounting all we write because we choose to be anonymous. His argument was that because we chose anonymity, our musings are of no value, that we are taking "pot-shots" at visible figures and that we have no credibility what-so-ever.

Is he right?  Certainly those who chose public life are targets for every unsubstantiated claim.  But what about the claims brought on by facts?  Do we bloggers know that most of what we spotlight will be forgotten faster than the time it took to compose and publish?  There is so very much information on the Internet, both false and true, that the true information often gets deleted along with the lies. 

I personally have had a number of public officials berate me for exposing sensitive subjects.  They claimed that "they had done nothing illegal".  I'm sure all of us have personal accounts of politicians/bureaucrats who may not have committed an illegal act, but whose actions were certainly NOT ethical.  Several recent Hagerstown council people were investigated by an ethics panel.  Though the actions smacked of elitism, no illegalities were exposed and ethics violations were dismissed. 

Today's elected and appointed officials seem to consider themselves immune form the same accountability standards that are used to measure private citizens actions.

Why is that?  Wasn't it the norm to hold public officials to the "higher standard"?  Weren't bureaucrats expected to set examples for us common folk?

A friend urged me to write and venting my frustrations certainly acts as a safety valve. I even stopped for several months recently because I was overwhelmed by the constant negativity stemming from the endless ineptitude of elected and appointed bureaucrats. 

Perhaps that is their strongest advantage.  While we struggle to affect some simple changes, some fiscal responsibility, the bureaucracy stream-rolls along, burying those who question actions in a vat of red tape and obfuscation.

Even lawsuits, a last resort, are difficult.  We must solicit funding the best way possible and still pay the defending (bureaucratic) side. Then we are left to fume over a liberal judges decision that invariably acquiesces to the governmental position.

All this considered, where is investigative reporting?  Have reporters lost the drive to find the nugget hidden among the volumes of insignificant chaff?  Is the printed word doomed because the there are no in-depth writings, that journalists simply repeat the "press releases" and never questions whether the offering is factual or biased?

Is this all the reasons that conservative talk shows are successful, while liberal propaganda must have tax-payer support to continue?

Blog on, comrades.

The Patriot Sharpshooter