Killing the Golden Goose
The View from the Middle
No, this isn’t the title of Bill O’Reilly’s newest book, but it should be. Hopefully you’ll all remember the Aesop’s Fable of the Goose that laid a golden egg each morning for its owners making them, as you might guess, quite wealthy. At some point, however, this “one egg per day” delivery system was not enough to gratify the greedy owners. They theorized that the goose must be full of gold to produce its eggs, so they cut the goose open to have access to all the gold at one time. Of course, this just killed the goose and deprived the owners of their steady and even generous income.
The United States is the modern-day version of the Golden Goose. It provides the world with a steady flow of wealth through its generosity and ingenuity. The US economy, for example, is about $20 trillion per year. That’s 25% of the world’s GDP, which is remarkable since we represent only about four percent of the world’s population. Every country in the world wants access to this huge market, and the US is very accommodating, importing about three trillion dollars worth of goods and services from them.
The United States is also the most generous country in the world. The citizens of the US give about $300 billion dollars to charity, which represents 1.4% of our annual GDP. No other country is even close to that number. In fact, the next closest country in terms of giving is New Zealand, whose people give .8% (that’s less than one percent) of their GDP. That’s only about half of the rate of the US citizenry, but since their economy is so much smaller its absolute dollars given is dwarfed by the US.
And our government is also the most generous in the world, giving about $40 billion in 2017 to over 100 countries around the world. And this, of course, is just another example of the citizens of the United States giving, because, as I have told you many, many times – THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO MONEY. Every dollar our government spends or gives away comes from its citizens or is borrowed in our names. We, The United States of America, are truly the world’s Golden Goose.
So, how and why would anyone want to kill this Golden Goose? Let’s look at “how” first. The easiest way to kill this Republic is to just overwhelm it. As this 7,000-person caravan (the nice term for this invading army) approaches our southern border, it’s a good time to talk about the cost of illegal immigration to the United State. And don’t forget, since the government has NO money, the cost is actually yours.
The cost to you for every illegal immigrant is $8,075 per year for a total of $135 billion dollars in 2017. Education is the biggest burden, accounting for $46 billion of that total, with medical care coming in at almost $30 billion. Public education is, of course, free to them, and while they don’t buy many insurance policies, most of these illegal immigrants use our emergency rooms as their primary care providers. Welfare and Judicial costs round out the top four economic burdens this group places on our budgets, combining for another $32 billion per year.
Of course, this assumes that we have only 12.5 million illegal immigrants in our country today. Yale University has just done a study that estimates that we are more likely to have 22 million illegals in our country. If this is true, our annual costs go up from $135 billion a year to about $240 billion. The caravan / invading army of 7,000 alone could cost us over $56 million dollars next year, provided they all get in.
As a country, we need to understand and control these costs. We are compassionate, as our giving proves, but we do not have unlimited resources. We also have a culture, a constitution and an economy to protect. Are these people assimilating into our “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” republic? What are our national employment needs? Do we need more low wage earners? Do we need more professional people? These are all things that must be managed if we are to survive.
But there are some who do not want America to survive as a free people and free market country. Back in 1966, American socialists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven proposed a strategy to overwhelm and thus destroy America’s welfare system through a guaranteed income program. This plan is still being pursued today by many politicians on the left. Unlimited illegal immigration, or even uncontrolled legal immigration, is simply an extension of that “overwhelm the system” strategy that is aimed at our entire constitutional republic.
We are the most compassionate and generous country in the world. We are the Golden Goose. Don’t be fooled into disemboweling the foundations of this great country by the misguided and fallacious promises of those who want to destroy America as we know it. Perfect we are not, but this still is the greatest country in the world which will only get better because of our people, our culture and our constitution.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
First Woman President? Not Hillary!
The First Woman President of the United States
The View from the Middle
Friday afternoon, after I heard Senator Susan Collins’ speech about her decision to support Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court, I was certain I had the topic for this week’s article. Her speech was fantastic. It was well constructed, well-reasoned, compassionate, thoughtful and courageous. It will be talked about for years to come, maybe decades to come. It was the perfect speech for the perfect time in many ways, and I will write about it next week. But for this week, I have to talk about Nikki Haley.
Out of the blue this morning, Nikki Haley announced that she was retiring as our Ambassador to the UN. While many people were shocked by this news, I was not. First of all, she took this role to get the international experience that I think she knew she would inevitably need, and she took it at a time when the world was a mess. North Korea was launching missiles all over the Pacific Rim and testing nuclear devices on a regular basis. ISIS still had hopes of completing their califate. Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator was using chemical weapons on his people, obliterating President Obama’s red line. China was stealing our intellectual capital, manipulating their currency and blocking any fair participation in their markets. And Russia was being – Russia. The world was a real mess.
And in less than two years, Nikki Haley (along with Mike Pompeo and President Trump) has brought the world to a place that Obama could only have dreamt of. North Korea isn’t launching or testing anything. They have returned our prisoners and we didn’t have to send them plane loads of cash to get them, and now they have offered to allow us to inspect some of their nuclear testing and development facilities. Syria stepped over the chemical weapon red line and got 60 Tomahawk missiles in their ear for their effort. Iran’s economy is in shambles and on the edge of making a new, realistic nuclear deal. China is watching Canada, Mexico and soon, at a theater near you, the European Union making reciprocally beneficial trade deals with us and wondering how they can do the same and still save face. Let’s face it, the world is in a better place than it was in 2016.
And the rest of her resume is equally impressive. She started her career in the South Carolina state legislature, so she understands the law-making process. She was a very successful two-term governor of South Carolina. Next to the Presidency, a governorship is the highest executive position in politics.
She’s a low tax, small government fiscal conservative. She’s a compassionate pro-life social conservative, and if you should listen to anyone on immigration, it should be Nikki Haley. Both of her parents are legal immigrants from India, and she is a strong advocate for legal immigration and for an e-verify system that puts pressure on employers to be honest participants in that process. Nikki Haley’s only problem is what to do in the next four years until she starts her official run for the White House.
A stint in the US Senate would be a perfect finishing touch on her political resume, but South Carolina already has two Republican Senators, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham. Both of these gentlemen are popular and young (Scott is only 53 and Graham 63) especially when you compare them to the likes of Diane Feinstein who is 85 and running this year for another six-year term that would keep her in the Senate until she is 92. What to do with Nikki Haley?
First, she needs a rest. So, let’s give her the next few weeks off. Then, I think she would be the perfect replacement for Jeff Sessions, Trump’s current Attorney General. I was actually in favor of Sessions’ appointment back in 2017, but the fact is he has been an absentee Attorney General ever since he recused himself from the Russian probe. Her appointment would continue to round out Nikki’s resume while giving Trump someone he can trust in that role and someone who can actively perform every aspect of that job.
So, you’ve heard it here first. Nikki Haley for President in 2024. The Democrats will have to show their true colors as they will try to trash this truly qualified woman. Nikki, however, will have the energy (she will only be 52 in 2024) and the resume that that Hillary Clinton didn’t have in 2016. Note to Nikki Haley – You go girl!!
The View from the Middle
Friday afternoon, after I heard Senator Susan Collins’ speech about her decision to support Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court, I was certain I had the topic for this week’s article. Her speech was fantastic. It was well constructed, well-reasoned, compassionate, thoughtful and courageous. It will be talked about for years to come, maybe decades to come. It was the perfect speech for the perfect time in many ways, and I will write about it next week. But for this week, I have to talk about Nikki Haley.
Out of the blue this morning, Nikki Haley announced that she was retiring as our Ambassador to the UN. While many people were shocked by this news, I was not. First of all, she took this role to get the international experience that I think she knew she would inevitably need, and she took it at a time when the world was a mess. North Korea was launching missiles all over the Pacific Rim and testing nuclear devices on a regular basis. ISIS still had hopes of completing their califate. Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator was using chemical weapons on his people, obliterating President Obama’s red line. China was stealing our intellectual capital, manipulating their currency and blocking any fair participation in their markets. And Russia was being – Russia. The world was a real mess.
And in less than two years, Nikki Haley (along with Mike Pompeo and President Trump) has brought the world to a place that Obama could only have dreamt of. North Korea isn’t launching or testing anything. They have returned our prisoners and we didn’t have to send them plane loads of cash to get them, and now they have offered to allow us to inspect some of their nuclear testing and development facilities. Syria stepped over the chemical weapon red line and got 60 Tomahawk missiles in their ear for their effort. Iran’s economy is in shambles and on the edge of making a new, realistic nuclear deal. China is watching Canada, Mexico and soon, at a theater near you, the European Union making reciprocally beneficial trade deals with us and wondering how they can do the same and still save face. Let’s face it, the world is in a better place than it was in 2016.
And the rest of her resume is equally impressive. She started her career in the South Carolina state legislature, so she understands the law-making process. She was a very successful two-term governor of South Carolina. Next to the Presidency, a governorship is the highest executive position in politics.
She’s a low tax, small government fiscal conservative. She’s a compassionate pro-life social conservative, and if you should listen to anyone on immigration, it should be Nikki Haley. Both of her parents are legal immigrants from India, and she is a strong advocate for legal immigration and for an e-verify system that puts pressure on employers to be honest participants in that process. Nikki Haley’s only problem is what to do in the next four years until she starts her official run for the White House.
A stint in the US Senate would be a perfect finishing touch on her political resume, but South Carolina already has two Republican Senators, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham. Both of these gentlemen are popular and young (Scott is only 53 and Graham 63) especially when you compare them to the likes of Diane Feinstein who is 85 and running this year for another six-year term that would keep her in the Senate until she is 92. What to do with Nikki Haley?
First, she needs a rest. So, let’s give her the next few weeks off. Then, I think she would be the perfect replacement for Jeff Sessions, Trump’s current Attorney General. I was actually in favor of Sessions’ appointment back in 2017, but the fact is he has been an absentee Attorney General ever since he recused himself from the Russian probe. Her appointment would continue to round out Nikki’s resume while giving Trump someone he can trust in that role and someone who can actively perform every aspect of that job.
So, you’ve heard it here first. Nikki Haley for President in 2024. The Democrats will have to show their true colors as they will try to trash this truly qualified woman. Nikki, however, will have the energy (she will only be 52 in 2024) and the resume that that Hillary Clinton didn’t have in 2016. Note to Nikki Haley – You go girl!!
Monday, October 8, 2018
Merrick Garland - The Question
I would appreciate your help in an unscientific survey, and I will be glad to share the results no matter what they are within two weeks of this post.
The question - In an effort to unite the country and reach out to Democrats, should President Trump add Merrick Garland to his list of potential Supreme Court Justices? Merrick Garland is the Circuit Court Judge who President Obama nominated for the Supreme Court, but was never considered because Mitch McConnell sighted the "Biden Rule" which suggests that the Senate should not entertain a Supreme Court Justice in a Presidential election year.
A simple "Yes" or "No" in your Facebook comments section or on my blog page will suffice. Add any other comments you like, but a yes or no is all I need. And as always, pass this link on to your friends and family to improve the reliability of the results.
Thank you, Kevin C
The question - In an effort to unite the country and reach out to Democrats, should President Trump add Merrick Garland to his list of potential Supreme Court Justices? Merrick Garland is the Circuit Court Judge who President Obama nominated for the Supreme Court, but was never considered because Mitch McConnell sighted the "Biden Rule" which suggests that the Senate should not entertain a Supreme Court Justice in a Presidential election year.
A simple "Yes" or "No" in your Facebook comments section or on my blog page will suffice. Add any other comments you like, but a yes or no is all I need. And as always, pass this link on to your friends and family to improve the reliability of the results.
Thank you, Kevin C
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
The Lynching of Brett Kavanaugh
The Truth About the Lynching of Kavanaugh
The View from the Middle
It started with fill-in-the-blank protest signs and social media posts about the next Supreme Court Justice nomination. Some of these mindless, zombie protesters didn’t even have the brains to actually fill in the blank before they released their messages. Some twitter and Facebook messages were actually released with “Put Nominee’s Name Here” space saver slots still in them. The left didn’t care who the nominee would be. They would oppose Mother Theresa if Trump nominated her.
This was followed by the delay, resist, persist and throw hissy fits offensive in the Judiciary Committee’s opening meeting. Before Senator Chuck Grassley could even start the meeting, Democrats called for a vote to adjourn. This was followed by one delay tactic after another. And if they weren’t using some procedural tactic to postpone the proceedings, they were employing the “heckler’s veto”. Rabid, and in all probability paid, protestors interrupted judge Kavanaugh at every opportunity. It was clear that the left was not interested in actually listening to the nominee.
And, when all this failed, Senator “I’m way too old for all this” Diane Feinstein released an unsubstantiated accusation of Brett Kavanaugh despite the accuser’s request to stay anonymous. This, in my opinion, turned both Judge Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford into victims. But that was OK for the Democrats. Any life is worth trashing if it serves their cause. After that, the Democrats brought in the “hypocrisy train” to try to derail the proceedings and the Kavanaugh nomination.
First, Richard Blumenthal, the Senator from the state of denial, demonstrated he has no sense of shame or propriety when he quoted the jury instruction, “falus in uno, falsus in omnibus”. This saying translates generally to, “If a witness lies in one area of a testimony, the jury ‘can’ reject all of his testimony”. This is the guy who lied to all of America when he claimed that he had served in Vietnam. Given the principle of “falus in uno, falus in omnibus” tricky Dick Blumenthal should certainly not be on the Judiciary committee of all things and should probably have been censored by the Senate. Also, if irony were a crime, Richard Blumenthal should get life in the electric chair.
And then we have Corey Booker, Senator from the state of delusion, who has admitted to sexually assaulting a woman while he was in college. Now, he is trying to hold a man who has categorically denied such activity to an entirely different standard. How can these guys do this with a straight face?
They are all trying to turn our entire system of justice and our national culture of “the presumption of innocence” on its head. Something may have happened to Ms. Ford, but she can’t remember the date or time of the event that occurred 36 years ago. All the people she has mentioned in her accusation not only don’t remember it, but deny it ever happened. While she can’t remember how she got to the party or how she got home, her memory is selectively vivid. She also provides no contemporaneous corroboration. While many women hesitate to report a sexual assault to the police, they frequently share the experience with a friend, a teacher, a coach, etc. Ms. Ford did not. Even Rachel Mitchell, the sex crime expert who questioned Dr. Ford for the Republicans, concedes that she couldn’t take this case anywhere near a courtroom. In fact, she admits that she couldn’t even seek a search warrant given the facts in this case.
Finally, the Democrats have created a new phenomenon. It’s called “group hypocrisy”. In their final interview with Judge Kavanaugh, virtually every Democrat Senator asked the judge to demand an extended FBI investigation into this matter. In fact, this was their primary demand. Yet, when this wish was granted, not a single Democrat voted to move this nomination out of committee for a vote before the entire Senate. They lied. They couldn’t care less about what is revealed from this extended investigation. They’re not interested in facts. Their goal has always been to resist and delay. It is obvious to me that truth and progress are not their motivations.
Here’s some advice for Democrats that will be good for their future and for the future of this country. Stop your hysterical, hyperbolic, deceptive character assassinations. You have already called virtually every conservative person in America misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, racist bigots. Now you’re attempting to publicly lynch a man who has spent his life in the service of this country without providing a shred of actual evidence. In the short term, this tactic will energize the conservative base. In the long term it will destroy the character and believability of your party. For, to summarize Alexis de Tocqueville’s two volume work, Democracy in America:
“America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
The View from the Middle
It started with fill-in-the-blank protest signs and social media posts about the next Supreme Court Justice nomination. Some of these mindless, zombie protesters didn’t even have the brains to actually fill in the blank before they released their messages. Some twitter and Facebook messages were actually released with “Put Nominee’s Name Here” space saver slots still in them. The left didn’t care who the nominee would be. They would oppose Mother Theresa if Trump nominated her.
This was followed by the delay, resist, persist and throw hissy fits offensive in the Judiciary Committee’s opening meeting. Before Senator Chuck Grassley could even start the meeting, Democrats called for a vote to adjourn. This was followed by one delay tactic after another. And if they weren’t using some procedural tactic to postpone the proceedings, they were employing the “heckler’s veto”. Rabid, and in all probability paid, protestors interrupted judge Kavanaugh at every opportunity. It was clear that the left was not interested in actually listening to the nominee.
And, when all this failed, Senator “I’m way too old for all this” Diane Feinstein released an unsubstantiated accusation of Brett Kavanaugh despite the accuser’s request to stay anonymous. This, in my opinion, turned both Judge Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford into victims. But that was OK for the Democrats. Any life is worth trashing if it serves their cause. After that, the Democrats brought in the “hypocrisy train” to try to derail the proceedings and the Kavanaugh nomination.
First, Richard Blumenthal, the Senator from the state of denial, demonstrated he has no sense of shame or propriety when he quoted the jury instruction, “falus in uno, falsus in omnibus”. This saying translates generally to, “If a witness lies in one area of a testimony, the jury ‘can’ reject all of his testimony”. This is the guy who lied to all of America when he claimed that he had served in Vietnam. Given the principle of “falus in uno, falus in omnibus” tricky Dick Blumenthal should certainly not be on the Judiciary committee of all things and should probably have been censored by the Senate. Also, if irony were a crime, Richard Blumenthal should get life in the electric chair.
And then we have Corey Booker, Senator from the state of delusion, who has admitted to sexually assaulting a woman while he was in college. Now, he is trying to hold a man who has categorically denied such activity to an entirely different standard. How can these guys do this with a straight face?
They are all trying to turn our entire system of justice and our national culture of “the presumption of innocence” on its head. Something may have happened to Ms. Ford, but she can’t remember the date or time of the event that occurred 36 years ago. All the people she has mentioned in her accusation not only don’t remember it, but deny it ever happened. While she can’t remember how she got to the party or how she got home, her memory is selectively vivid. She also provides no contemporaneous corroboration. While many women hesitate to report a sexual assault to the police, they frequently share the experience with a friend, a teacher, a coach, etc. Ms. Ford did not. Even Rachel Mitchell, the sex crime expert who questioned Dr. Ford for the Republicans, concedes that she couldn’t take this case anywhere near a courtroom. In fact, she admits that she couldn’t even seek a search warrant given the facts in this case.
Finally, the Democrats have created a new phenomenon. It’s called “group hypocrisy”. In their final interview with Judge Kavanaugh, virtually every Democrat Senator asked the judge to demand an extended FBI investigation into this matter. In fact, this was their primary demand. Yet, when this wish was granted, not a single Democrat voted to move this nomination out of committee for a vote before the entire Senate. They lied. They couldn’t care less about what is revealed from this extended investigation. They’re not interested in facts. Their goal has always been to resist and delay. It is obvious to me that truth and progress are not their motivations.
Here’s some advice for Democrats that will be good for their future and for the future of this country. Stop your hysterical, hyperbolic, deceptive character assassinations. You have already called virtually every conservative person in America misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, racist bigots. Now you’re attempting to publicly lynch a man who has spent his life in the service of this country without providing a shred of actual evidence. In the short term, this tactic will energize the conservative base. In the long term it will destroy the character and believability of your party. For, to summarize Alexis de Tocqueville’s two volume work, Democracy in America:
“America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)