Thoughts on this day, Easter

   Bob Schieffer said today that hate is strengthened by ignorance and love is strengthened by knowledge. I'd like to add that hate and love are choices we make. Something to think about.
   I reviewed SC law and found that abortions are legal on demand up to 24 weeks. To me, a 12 week abortion is a procedure. A 24 week abortion is akin to murder. Why did we have to allow this to happen? I imagine pro life people refused to accept any law legalizing abortions thereby marginalizing their positions as left wing extremism and when doing so the longer term slid through. It was everything or nothing. It's a shame. To use Bill Clinton's words, abortion on demand should be legal, and rare. And I add, no longer than 12 weeks in gestation.  
   I vote conservatively. Always have. Women should have control of their bodies. So should newborn babies who, though their lungs are not developed enough to sustain them,  are far enough along to be able to move and show signs of stress. Women who stop having periods while sexually active know  that they may be pregnant in plenty of time to have a test and have it terminated within the first 12 weeks if they decide to do that. Further, I hope that clinics have the option of refusing to do the procedure if it has gone too long. It may not be perfect but it is a positive move in an area where change is desperately needed.
   

Return of the Dark Ages May be Inevitable

   I am not a politician. I may be a low information voter. If I am missing the information that I need to rationalize insane policies that will certainly wreck this country then I can live with it. If you don't want to read the ideas of a regular working guy then go somewhere else.
   In my fifty eight years I have never seen a politician who showed so much emotion and so little logic than our President. Our country has one major crisis right now. It's not the need to control guns, through universal background checks is not a give away of the 2nd amendment. It's not abortion or women's rights. It's not Afganistan. It's not the Violence Against Women Act. It's not gays in the Boy Scouts of America and it's not health care. It's not the need for universal daycare. It's the debt. It's our spending problem...the fact that we are spending so much more than we are taking in. If we don't fix the debt problem nothing else will matter.
   Daily, it seems, the White House is pronouncing a new initiative to fix something important. Every day! President Obama must have a group working day and night to come up with new ideas to announce the next day.
   And the conservative party takes  the bait every time he does it. Then we get hit by the vitriolic hate of those who would "benefit" from fixing the new problem. And the liberal media announces that we hate those people. I don't have to say that is no way to run a country.
   Presently we are spending some 320 billion dollars a year servicing the debt. To give some comparison, the US annual military payroll is 150 billion dollars. We are experiencing  huge stress over 85 billion in sequester cuts. Listen. Interest rates will be rising shortly. They cannot stay down. It is beyond our control. When that happens our annual interest on the debt will increase something like  200 billion more dollars bringing the debt expense to over 500 Billion dollars a year. If we can't settle on cutting 85 billion now what do you think will happen when we are faced with 200 billion more? The answer...more borrowing to pay the interest. Then...all the taxes on the rich  that they can cough up and then heavy taxation of the Middle Class. In terms of recession causing taxes...you ain't seen nothing yet. It's going to be really ugly. It's going to be scary. And it's going to reflect the loss of America's wealth. It will have already happened and we will be dealing with the tragic consequences. Inconceivable changes are coming if we don't fix the problem and it may already be too late.
   We need a balanced budget and we won't get it unless we pass an amendment to the constitution calling for it. Neither will happen, more than likely. We have an utter failure of leadership of our government.
   What we need is a government that is responsible enough to meet the call and make the necessary changes to avoid the return of the dark ages. What we've got, well, I'm sorry to say, it is what it is. Interest rates will go up. When? As soon as the world realizes that we have a spending/borrowing problem. Acting on those realizations will force interest rates up in all countries so they will put it off as long as they can, but it is inevitable.
   Leadership begins at home. Leadership is born from our acts and attitudes. Changes  must be made. The coming Congressional elections could make this change and force the present administration to act in our behalf. This may be the last chance we have to turn this country around. Until then pressure can be brought to bear on Obama's supporters in Congress to do what this country and the world desperately needs for them to do.
  This story is already written. Interest rates will rise. We will shortly be struggling with interest payments which will sharply curtail anything our government wants to do for us. Huge tax increases are right around the corner for the wealthy as well as for the Middle Class. Politicians are laughing about the fact that America doesn't see it coming. None of them feel accountable. Our grandchildren will be paying for these excesses for which we have little to show. They will have to fix it.  Good luck, America.
   

Balance the Budget First

   It is easy to get sucked into the name calling and speculation online these days. Too easy. Part of me wants to rant like a crazy person. The other, the grown up part of me, knows better.
   I think most of the blaphemously nasty liberals on Twitter and other media are young, unemployed people. Maybe I'm wrong, but no one can prove it. From what they post it's not much of a stretch.They may be sitting in a cluttered bedroom, maybe eating Cheetos and drinking their Mom's beer. Maybe they haven't had a shower in three days and their greasy hair, their bed, the dirty clothes on the floor and their breath and their butts all smell pretty much the same. What they all have in common is that they are old enough to read each other's nonsense and some can vote.
   They make a hell of a squeal online, too. That's a problem. When we get into arguments with them we lose sight of our goals, joining the liberal games.
    I know there's something about a good argument that's beneficial, but not so much with these people. They are a distraction for me. What I see happening is an out of control, "Tax and Spend" Democratic President and Senate, taking us somewhere our generation has never been before. Our deficits and the fact of our printing money for "Stimulus" that isn't working will take us over a threshold from which we will not recover without incredibly high tax rates...all in the near future.
   President Obama is obviously following a distraction agenda. It seems every day he is doing something else to push our "Major-Important" buttons. Personally, I think that instead of being really smart he is really stupid. He alienates vast groups of voters with impunity. He is dividing us. The quibbling idiots online are simply tools of his trade. They are what Ann Coulter calls the Liberal Mob.
   They are distractions. His goal is to level the economy, spread the wealth. Nice idea, but it doesn't work that way. History has proven that time and again... fact that he doesn't understand...or refuses to acknowledge even to himself. That's why I think he may just be really stupid.
   Presently we are spending about 300 million dollars on interest on our debt. The annual payroll for the US Military is about 150 million. Interest expense is twice what we pay our military. That is incredibly high. Interest is low because we have been buying our own bonds at the government auctions when investing individuals and countries won't accept the low interest rates. At the same time we have been printing the money to buy these bonds. The dollar is devalued every time we do this. That's exactly why the price of gold is so high in dollars. That's why we can't afford to travel overseas. There are huge problems caused by devaluation of the dollar. That is for another time. The point is that our debt is way too high and getting higher.
    We cannot allow this government to continue to spend an extra trillion dollars a year that we don't have. If we don't stop it, the credit agencies will. By then we will be so much further down that road that we will be faced with extremely high tax rates and high interest rates. All of us. And he will say the same thing he is saying about the cliff and the debt ceiling. "Your Congress appropriated it, you spent it, now you've got to pay for it."
   In spite of his confident appearance, President Obama does not run our country. Our Congressional Representatives run this country. The Supreme Court makes sure it stays that way. The NLRB debacle is a good example of how the system is still working. My message here is that it may be so much more helpful to stabilize and then fix our nation if we use the tools at hand to really make a difference. Writing to Congressional Representatives puts real pressure on them to act in accordance with our wishes. The more letters and emails and, yes, Tweets...in large, large numbers...the more pressure we can exert. We must write to Republicans and Democrats alike. And we must write like the educated, working, responsible people we are.
   The liberal mob wants you to believe they are in control. That is a lie. We have control. If we are going to have anything more than astronomical debt, extremely high interest rates and 50-60% or higher income taxes we must act.  We must convince our Congressional Representatives that we are behind them and we must convince the Democrats that a balanced budget is attainable and important. Don't let President Obama scare you away from participating in your government. Don't let him scare you by telling you that Social Security and Medicare are  going to fail if we do this. There are intelligent changes we can make in these programs that will assure that they continue. The President does not want you to believe that. For the sake of our children's future and the future of our nation we must act. Health care, abortion, gun control...these are issues that have been here for all of my life. All of a sudden they are in the forefront...because President Obama is using them as a distraction. They are important. But they can be taken care of in time. And they can be addressed within the framework of a balanced budget. If we attend to them and allow our spending to continue as it is presently, soon this country will not resemble the nation we grew up in. First, balance, then the issues. Otherwise it will all fall apart.  Please contact all of your representatives today. Let them know what's important to you now. Jim Self
 
   

America is Broke, But Not Broken

   I would like to see our Government address the Social Security and Medicare costs, which are the beginning of the budget cutting experience. Presently we are hearing everything BUT that from our President and the Democratic Party.
   Some in the media agree. Some simply jump on the "Flavor of the Day" bandwagon, and with a microphone in every "What's in it for Me" and "Single Issue" person's..hands it is difficult to stay focused on this "elephant in the house"...Federal Spending.  "Our children will be saddled with this cost" are not empty words. Interest on what Uncle Sam owes  was 350 billion dollars in 2012. That is 50 billion dollars more than twice the US Military's annual payroll.
   We are on a short road to insolvency. Uncle Sam owes about $52000 for ever man, woman and child in this country. It would be nice if we could continue to borrow our way out of the mess we are in but the simple truth is that we cannot. Soon we will face rising interest rates and inflation. This will be beyond the control of the Government.
   Since the President seems satisfied with keeping the fires of perennial social issues burning and ignoring our financial straits, it is even more important to convey our Middle Class concerns to our congressmen and women. It will still work. Then system is designed that way. Please don't forget that. The internet and media ugliness will continue and will get worse under this leadership. I am afraid that is what he is all about...organizing liberal splinter groups that are by nature disunited, being that they are largely "single issue" people.
   We are broke, but not broken. Please write to your Congressional Representatives and let them know how you feel. Let's take back our government. Let's do some smart things together. Let's give them encouragement so they will be brave enough to fight for America.  

Rangel Wants To Overcome Some S. States' Attitudes

   Chuck Rangel of New York said that they need to overcome the attitudes current in some of the Southern states. He's trying to deliberately provoke us into  reacting in a stereotypically Southern,  angry way. I hope we don't do that. I just called him a douche bag and suggested that he could do better than that.
   So we have been through the "close call" cliff, which, in retrospect might not have been such a bad idea. Kicked it down the road. It may be the only way Obama and the democrats will consider addressing spending cuts.
   The House republicans have kicked the other can down the road...the debt ceiling can. Another can. Can't make a decision but they can kick the hell out of cans!
    I don't want to see them raise the eligibility for Medicare. Boehner wants it to go from 65 to 67. That's like putting a gun to our heads. Is the guy stupid? Does he WANT to lose the House in the next election? What's wrong with using vouchers for that group? Try them out. It's a HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN DENYING it, for Christ's sake!
   It's true what they say about how people may be living longer but that doesn't mean they are healthy enough to continue in the working population. Boehner needs to think about that. I'll save my comments about him for another morning.
   I wonder if the democrats don't want to talk about vouchers because vouchers could work...and they don't want that. They want the budget and deficit big so they can raise taxes. They will blame it on conservatives...fire up the liberal mob and win the next election. They don't care if my tax rate goes to 50%. It's winning that counts. Scary.
   Young people have a lot to lose. The interest on the current debt is 320 billion...twice the annual payroll for the US Military. Young people don't want to wake up in five years and say ,"What did you old guys do to us?" NOW is the time to get involved. It's looking like we older folks can't get a responsible government elected and may not ever be able to do it again.
  

    I don't blame the Republicans. I cannot trust Mr. Obama to do what he says he will do. Budget writing is a matter of spending and revenue. I want to see the spending cuts AND the revenue picture. This is not unreasonable to ask. We haven't had a budget in this administration in almost 4 years now. Tell me why we should trust you to do what you have refused to do in your first 4 years.
    In the words of Ronald Reagan..."trust, but verify". Revenue AND spending, Mr. Obama. At the same time. A budget. 

May 2012 Recession May Be Here

   I mentioned a while back that we will probably have another contraction/recession. Many , like myself, believe it is here. Currently we are in the downtrend. Note the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P over the last ten ays. It isn't looking good. Other indicators are showing recession. The trouble with recession is that it isn't acknowledged for some time after the money people know it for certain...maybe 6-9 months.  That gives the big money people...banks and hedge fund guys...a chance to get OUT slowly...without showing their hand and bringing the prices of stock crashing down. It comes down slowly and the media people who are supposed to know just fumble and scratch their heads. Meanwhile we have lost 30 or 40 % of our 401 K's that we have invested in stock funds.
   The state has a "Stable" fund that has been giving around 4%. It's guaranteed. THAT is where mine is. At least what is left of it after the 2007 drop. DON't think you are going to make money in stocks right now. Nobody is. You won't either. Greedy equals Stupid. Be smart. Protect yourself.