The Last Hurrah

"Wherever Palin goes, she counters Obama's magic." - John Batchelor

No need to counter “Obama’s magic”. Obama has no magic. It’s easy to counter magic that does not exist. Obama has shown himself as impotent at best - domestically as well as in foreign affairs. I note that New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California are not on her list of stops. Neither are any of the states in New England. These are states that have opted out of the Palin excitement. They, among other laggards, are equally important to the Union, albeit in a negative way. At some point each of these will require a bailout by the Feds that the whole country will be forced into paying for.

I note that Iowa, Texas, and Louisiana are slated for not just one but two visits each. No doubt, the governor of LA will be appearing with Palin on at least one of her visits. In TX, she pays homage to a former (now beloved) president, and Iowa is significant in terms of our electoral system.

Wherever Palin goes, she will bring her magic. She will sprinkle the deserving with it as one would sprinkle fairy dust. She is tremendously popular except among the constipated who currently enjoy power (if not brains). Sarah’s tour may well be the last of its kind, where the spontaneous outpouring of a hopeful people can be unabashedly celebrated for all it's worth. As I have said numerous times before: I believe there’s now a good chance that the 2012 will not come off in a form that we will be able to recognize.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Conspiracy Nutcase

Do I detect a pattern? I’ve been accused of being a conspiracy nutcase. But there appears to be a pattern nonetheless. Case and point: The so-called near world banking collapse installs Barack Hussein Obama in office amid the jubilant cries of the hopeful. Since assuming office, the crisis is said to have been averted, but every policy decision appears to be having precisely the opposite effect. New York State is said to go bankrupt by Monday. Other states are on the brink. In New Jersey, for instance, we have a governor who says all the right things but risks the wrath of the public sector unions as well as that of homeowners who can be expected to pay higher taxes for lesser services. In our town the local library has cut its hours of operation.

The ‘solutions’ being so vociferously discussed and fought over do not address the fundamental issue. They merely delay the inevitable. Money that is saved will immediately go to plug some other hole. And the whole thing is predicated on the expectation that the economy will gradually improve. Not much chance of that. Looks to me rather like the doubling down on a death spiral.

There has been much talk of ‘disaster’ lately. First there was the constant harangue about what we can expect if ‘global warming’ were to continue. After that particular ploy fell apart, there was the ‘disaster’ in the Gulf. Are these two connected? True, the first was theoretical; the second is real. Question: Was the second concocted to maintain the momentum of the first? Will it now become possible for our government to pass ‘cap and trade’, a scheme to rake untold billions into government coffers, quite without regard to what it will do to the private sector economy?

Additionally, there’s been trouble along our southern border with Mexico. Should it escalate into ‘disaster’, will that be the signal to cram immigration reform onto the books that (some say) would add millions of Democrat voters to the rolls, assuring (for lack of a better word) ‘Democrat’ control of over U.S. governance in perpetuity?

The pattern appears to be ‘disaster’, followed predictably by a blizzard of regulation, all designed to benefit one party. I will go further: These regulations, by the very definition of the word, are designed to limit the people’s freedoms. Whereas it can be said that the Bush administration also spent our money like a drunken sailor, what’s been happening since literally dwarfs all previous spending. It may have still been possible to grow ourselves out of Bush’s excesses by prudent policies designed to encourage economic growth. But now, most agree that even that hope has all but faded.

Lastly: Is it being deliberately done? In my view, yes. If this makes me a nut job, so be it. Just as there are alternate energy solutions out there (to my mind, illusory) - like wind, solar panels and perpetual motion machines – there are alternate economic models as well. There is the Islamic model involving such concepts as zakat and gharar, strikingly similar to communism and the overall concept of wealth re-distribution. There is feudalism and barter – all designed to concentrate power among the elite few. The vast bulk of us, reduced to worker bees, would exist solely for the benefit of the State which then decides whether we live of die.

A frontal assault on the very concept of democracy, I fear, is perilously close. It will assert itself with a vengeance within the next couple of years when we are likely to find that our choices at the ballot box are severely limited or inconsequential. It may also take the form of canceled elections. We remain under assault.

This is not to say that we remain victims. In fact, I believe, our present economic malaise is more due to our own determination to put on the brakes – passive resistance: not buying; not spending; not expanding our businesses; not investing; and, in some cases, not working. We are sitting on our hands. We are refusing to contribute to the success of a government whose policies we despise. We hold the reigns. If things continue to go the way they might, we may even decide not to vote.

New Jersey

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt compelled to say something good about any U.S. politician. Gov. Chris Christie certainly has been saying all the right things, which shows that he understands the problems facing New Jersey. Our state has been the butt of unkind jokes ever since I can remember. The political corruption here has become legendary. And in our current anti-corporate, anti-industrial, no-growth pro- environmental climate, people have been taking liberties to trash the state for everything from our highway system (“Which exit do you live off of?”) to the industrial haze that on rare occasions clouds the sky as one approaches New York City from the Meadowlands.

In truth, it all amounts to a bad rap. While the corruption has been real – like the gusher in the Gulf - New Jersey is a beautiful state. Its beaches are for the most part pristine and I’ll always remember our camping trips to the wooded hills of Sussex County where lakes abound along with the activities these engender. Our quiet – admittedly artificial – suburban landscapes are teeming with wildlife. Barely 25 miles from Manhattan we are proud to host deer, wild turkey, bear, fox, raccoon, fisher cat, badger, opossum and many other species too numerous to mention.

But, best of all, the people of New Jersey are a kind and generous lot. They are self-effacing. They bear all the insults with a dignity unmatched. They have suffered mightily under the burdens of usurious taxation. It’s only lately that they’ve also noticed that the trains no longer run on time.

New Jersey is routinely mentioned among the states facing severe fiscal problems. Successive Democrat and pseudo-Republican governors - egged on by unions, environmentalists, liberal judges and illegal immigration advocates - have taken the state on a wildly reckless ride. Inflows to the treasury no longer match proposed and mandated spending. Property taxes alone have risen to the highest in the nation. This has resulted in the shrinking of the tax base as those who have been able to quit the state have done so.

From what Christie has been saying, we can gather that he understands the problem. He speaks plainly. The question remains: Will he be able to turn things around? As a Republican governor, openly critical of the administration, he cannot rely on Washington’s help. Neither can he depend on the on the unions to volunteer much by way of give-backs. Their knives are already out and sharpened. The state’s teachers unions have already issued death threats. The state’s liberal newspapers attack him daily as they make reference, among other things, to his weight.

Still, he seems to be determined to take New Jersey to a better place. As JB rightly suggest, his success or failure portends much for the nation as a whole. Unlike the federal government, states cannot print money; and neither can the Fed (and get away with it). Should Christie succeed, it means there is still hope for us to turn things around. Should he fail, it means we have already come too far, and the only thing we can hope for is that the airbags work.

Tripping the Snare

My wife is currently editing a massive volume detailing the official tax code for American corporations and individuals. It is something so voluminous, so intricate, it bears updating every six months. In her estimation, it is impossible for any one individual to know the entirety of legislation that governs it. As such, it is entirely possible that the majority of people charged with complying with these laws, even after having taken utmost care, can still run afoul of them in some obscure way. As such, we all have become guilty of some arcane transgression. As such, we all are guilty of crimes should someone take the trouble to embark on a witch hunt (for oversights we may have committed) for the sole purpose of laying us low.

It's a bit like the speed limits on NJ highways which no one observes precisely. And even those who do are now suspected of running drugs or guns, or driving without documentation. In short, if someone has it in for us, they could in theory trip the snare any time they wanted to.

Take Governor Patterson (NY), for instance. He was said to have intervened for a friend in a domestic violence case. For this he is being hounded out of office (by the very man who wants to unseat him). I would say, if Patterson hadn't intervened, it would indicate a problem (of character). What are friends for if they are straight-jacketed and kept from executing normal responses?

Only our president and those in his favor seem to be immune from scrutiny. You are already well aware of the litany of transgressions of which this president is guilty. But he is the president; he holds the reigns. This, sadly, is roughly the definition of a third world nation.

Socialism Works - Not

Been hearing a lot of talk on local radio by the governors of what is referred to here as the tri-state region: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. All the governors are facing tremendous shortfalls in revenue. Christie in NJ promised that he would not raise taxes because he knows that raising taxes gets people nervous and drives business out of state. He concedes that taxes are too high already and businesses are either leaving or not expanding. Even if he were to lower taxes now, it would take considerable time for a turn-around to kick in. In the meantime, the state is tapped out. It has to cut expenses. This means lay-offs, service cuts and efficiencies. Yet, there are so many basic and federally mandated costs that even the most stripped-down, bare-bones budget would run in excess of the ever shrinking revenue pool. Governor Christie will need Washington’s help in the form of bail-outs (at least until the overall economy improves).

New York’s Patterson is facing a similar dilemma. Plummeting revenues have put the State in a real bind. Patterson has the additional problem of Albany’s legislature having been utterly dysfunctional for many years now. Wrangling over budgets has not only produced red ink, but also bad blood. New Yorkers who can afford it are more than likely to leave the State for lower tax states if they haven’t done so already.

Ditto Connecticut…

One of the biggest problems the states have is unions. As most state workers are unionized, their wages and benefits are not subject to market conditions. Most can expect automatic raises which creates a situation where in these difficult times state workers on average make more than workers in the private sector. As money from the private sector is diverted to the public sector, both public and private sectors can expect at some point to go belly-up.

What you have here in the North-East is the mechanics of a classic tail spin. People are desperately hoping for a deus ex machina intervention. They are hoping for the economy to turn around. Only a growing and vibrant economy can avert the disaster that everyone envisions. Obama promises to turn the economy around; he promises jobs; he promises health care… New York, New Jersey and Connecticut lawmakers’ hopes, all are dangling by a single thread: federal bailouts. They know they are too big to fail and only Washington can print money.

New York’s Bloomberg is upset. He knows that printing money only hastens the fall. His sole hope is a revival on Wall Street. He’s heard the latest Obama proposal of cutting the banks down to size. He knows this would kill any hope of stemming the red ink tsunami that is clearly on its way.

The architecture now in place that predicts what most likely lies ahead is not likely to change for at least the next three years. Insolvency and the electoral process has become a horserace. Insolvency currently has the edge. Ironically, this architecture contains a wild card as well. It’s the people’s resolve to deliberately slow down their horses – not to consume, not to trade, not to expand, not to do anything to advance this crazy system that seems to operate entirely for the benefit of our present political leadership; that seems intent on bleeding us dry for the purpose of advancing some global Utopian hell. The harder they squeeze, the less they can expect to get from us. The end result may turn out to the same, but at least we’ve denied them the right to say, “Socialism works.”

Accepting Thugocracy

What amazes me is how easily we accept and submit to thugocracy and outright corruption. Here in NJ, for instance, it is routinely reported that ACORN and the unions are engaging in massive (absentee ballot) voter fraud. At the same time, it is said that that the gubernatorial election here is too close to call. I have yet to hear a rendering of what we might expect if there were no fraud.

For better and for worse, fraud seems to have become incorporated into NJ’s election process. The subtext reads that Republicans, in order to win in this very blue state, simply have to be able to overcome their (somehow) divinely-ordained handicap and recognize fraud as a fixed reality (always giving the advantage to the Dem side of the ledger) that is now so entrenched as to have become, for all intents and purposes, sanctified.

And the people unquestioningly accept the premise and dutifully go to the polls in the vacant performance of their civic duty that guarantees only the continued flight of those who can afford to get out, and the continued rape of those who cannot.

The elections in Afghanistan were not much different. As I understand it, Karzai’s opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the process, branding a runoff as superfluous. Everyone agrees that the first election was fraudulant and seems to be okay with it. It is not inconceivable that the U.S. itself persuaded Karzai’s opponent to quit the field with bribes and/or threats.

Meanwhile, here at home there’s been a run on the treasury – the people’s money – that can only be described as theft. Meanwhile, as taxpayers dig ever deeper into their pockets, it never occurs to them to ask is it legal, is it fair, is it constitutional? What is the down-side of bankrupting a nation? – I’m talking to you Soros!