Let’s pick on Conservatives

 

I have spent many hours complaining about Liberals. I think it is about time I devoted some attention to Conservatives, or more appropriately, what conservatives have become.

The Republican National Committee website says: “The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge.” Wow. [I took a diversion here and went to the DNC web site and looked at their history. No mention of the Democrat Party being united in its support for slavery before the Civil War, or founding the Ku Klux Klan and establishing Jim Crow Laws after the Civil War. Or even that they consistently and repeatedly defeated anti-lynching legislation. That’s ANTI, as in laws to STOP southern democrats from hanging black folks. To their credit, the Democrats were once viewed at the party of Free Trade. My, how platforms change.]

I started doing some research and got bogged down in conservative liberalism and liberal conservatism, and even libertarian conservatism. So much for Wikipedia clarifying anything. So skip the history…everyone is allowed to change their mind. As George Carlin once said, “you know, you grow”. Let’s grab some of the talking points from the RNC website, since the popular belief is that RNC = Conservative.

I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I’m down with this. I firmly believe in personal responsibility, to a fault. I do not expect anyone to run in and fix things for me. If my life sucks, I need to look at the choices I made that brought about the suckage. Will it always be my fault? No. But that’s life. It still isn’t the government’s job to give me happy pills.

I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

Absolutely. There are two classes of people in the world. Us, and “The Assholes”. The Assholes are unique in that they have no distinct race, gender, or geographic origin. They just seem to appear and try to interfere with the lives of those around them. And they often smell.

I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

Yup. Socialism doesn’t work. People will solve their own problems when they decide the problems are big enough and affect enough people to need solving.

I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

Yeah, OK. I love fiscal responsibility. But wait a minute? Why the fuck don’t you actually do this? I mean, you had a rubber stamp president and control of both Houses of Congress. And you go on a spending spree (a Taser on every utility belt!) and pass shit like the Patriot Act where you turned EVERYONE into “the enemy”. And what’s with this “yellow” shit? I mean, the “current threat level” has been “Elevated” for the past 7 years. We actually piss money away maintaining a web site to let the public know that “gee, we think there might be a threat out there…somewhere…maybe”. Christ on a biscuit guys, do you think that we didn’t figure that out when two rather HUGE buildings fell down right before our eyes? And we give badges to idiots to enforce rules that are completely meaningless. I’m serious. Read it…two bottles of saline because he has two eyes. Brilliant!

I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.

Well, you win on the “governing least”, but unfortunately you are indistinguishable from the Democrats on that front. Neither party governs, or at least doesn’t lead worth a crap. But that is another rant. But let’s think for a minute about these “critical functions”. Defense. OK. Trade Agreements. Yeah. Taxes. Suck but yes. War on Drugs that cost more than the GDP of most African Nations and with mandatory sentences that make penalties for possession greater than for First Degree Murder? Whaa? Like that other party, this is a case where the “Republicans” need to rethink what is “critical” at the National level.

I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

Ooh. States Rights. Messy messy. I generally agree with this philosophy, but the Federal government must provide the ultimate framework the states operate within. Otherwise we go back to Southern Democrats and lynching’s. Ok, cheap shot. But the Feds need to set the standard for how to conduct an election so that it is both fair and the results are available in a timely manner. But should the Feds be directly involved in setting educational standards for local communities? I would hope the States could handle that. After all, we have people getting college degrees all over the country who pick teaching as a career. You expect me to believe there is not a consensus as to what a 5th grader should know?

I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

Huh? This is one of those “catch all” statements that you think allows your party to come in and fuck with me, isn’t it?

I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

Yeah. But only if they send us their oil. Otherwise they don’t deserve peace.

FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.

Whatever. This is kind of a "put your money where your mouth is" thing. If you could prove this you wouldn't be losing to a Democrat.

So does Republican = conservative? Fortunately no more than Democrat = communist. And enter the Religious right. This is where I really start getting real heartburn. Small government? Check. Low taxes? Check. Leave me the fuck alone? Check. Screw the shit out of anyone that fucks with me, my family, or my country? Check. Spend resources checking on my morals? Not! Send medical resources to a third world country but restrict treatments and education based on some arbitrary rules that you decided an invisible spirit told some guy to write down? Fail. I’m not anti-religion, but I just don’t buy into “human” interpretations of the “divine”. I mean, seriously. If people are living in poverty without even basic medical care or sufficient food, should we really be teaching them that a woman must to submit to her husband and that condoms don’t work?

Well, I’ve hit page three and I know most people stop reading my blogs if they are longer than a paragraph. Sorry. Lots of thoughts bouncing around up there and it can take a while to put them to words in a way that people don’t misunderstand. Bottom line is I’m socially moderate but a fiscal conservative. We have an obligation to our fellow man but I believe he/she has an obligation to us as well. I do not value human life beyond all else (any more than I consider trimming trees to be a form of plant torture - google it). If you choose to sit in your house and smoke crack all day, fuck you. I hope you starve. If you choose to come out of the house and drive your crack addled brain around, we should dispose of you before you harm someone. You get one strike. Not three, not a dozen. If you can’t learn, you’re fucked. There are plenty of people out there trying to be productive and to provide under difficult circumstances. You do not get to pull them down to your level.

Finally. Read this. I like his points but I don’t agree completely simply because I believe that a party having a supermajority in Congress and control of the presidency as a bad thing.

They just need to make me Queen.

*Pink*

Addendum...after writing this blog I discovered this guy. You saw him in my previous post, but here is an even better clip. It's funny we both came up with the stuff about Jim Crow and the KKK.

Posted by BubbaJake @ 8:50 am EDT | Permalink | 10 Comments

Too, too funny

Yes, I ripped it from Rachel Lucas.  Do I need to be thinking all of the time?

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 5:56 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Growth of Nonprofits

 

I have a niece that majored in “Non-Profit Management”. There is a lot of money in non-profits. On average the Red Cross pays a manager $105K/yr. Of course, she is down in Argentina marching in anti-government protests. Obama would be proud.

I have always joked that non-profits are simply a means of employing liberals outside the fast food industry. In reality it is only partially a joke. However, there is irony here to savor. Liberals want the government to spend money. Health Care, Education, Environment, Energy…there is a long list of pet causes. Yet the money can come from only three places. And they all have negative consequences.

1) Raising taxes. If you want something funny, read Whoopi Goldberg’s rant about why she doesn’t get any tax breaks but still votes for liberals who raise taxes. Raising taxes slows the economy, causes jobs to move overseas, and hurts the poor more than it hurts the rich. And to get any real money, you need to have more people and businesses to tax than causes receiving the funds.

2) Borrowing money. Borrowing works for short term needs, but the assumption is that you will have enough money to pay the loans. Keep borrowing and soon you are living in a van down by the river.

3) Print more money. This is a unique solution and has lots of downsides. See what it has done for Zimbabwe or back in pre-WWII Germany where a wheelbarrow of cash might get you a loaf of bread. Print lots and it is worthless.

And yet, keep in mind that the opposite of any of these, reducing taxes, paying off debt, and (to a lesser extent) contracting the money supply, have positive benefits. Why are none of our candidates talking about these?

But back to the nonprofits. Candidate for Life Obama wants everyone to consider passing on that greed job and instead looking at “National Service”. Translated, take a government job or a “position” at a nonprofit. Or even better, “volunteer”. Don’t aspire to be part of the corporate greed machine. National Service is a much nobler calling.

My question is where is the money going to come from? True, government and nonprofit job holders still pay income taxes. And those people will still pay sales taxes and property taxes and Universal Service Fees. But those taxes are not enough to pay their salaries. More money is needed. If everyone is employed by the government and a nonprofit, there is no growth. There is no production, no innovation. There is no creation of wealth. There is only the destruction of wealth as taxes are raised to pay for a society of leeches. Eventually you are taxing the leeches 100% so that you can pay 90% back to the leeches and piss the other 10% away on a bridge. Salaries drop, tax revenues drop, and eventually all we have left are a few useless bridges that no one can drive on.
That is not to say that there are not important government and non-profit jobs. There will always be a need for Regulators, Judges, Teachers, and Police. These people perform functions that we have deemed necessary to the health and well being of our society.

Ok, so the government needs to make some money. We’ll have the equivalent of a national bake-sale. We task this influx of government employees to make or grow something that we can sell (outside the U.S.) to get more money so we can pay our workers and still build bridges. You think this can last?

As a thought experiment, it is always useful to take something to the extreme. For example, a society of nothing but Police. Imagine it. Nothing but Teachers. It doesn’t take long to realize that the key to any society is balance. Unchecked corporate greed is bad. But eliminate the profit motive and society ceases to function.

So back in our “bake-sale” country, imagine Drone #1283AW working to grow cucumbers going to the overseer and telling him he has an idea for machine that would be in every home that would make it easy for people to draw pictures and add columns of numbers, which would cause a revolution in communication and bring new efficiencies to all kinds of industries and even create industries that don’t exist now. All this drone, we’ll call him Bill G., needed was time off work to pursue his idea. It will make a lot of money and employ a lot of programmers and generate billions in tax revenue. For god’s sake, it will give birth to the 20 second porn clip!

The government response…most likely “get back to work”. I cannot see innovation occurring under a system like this. Extreme? Yes. But we would not have what we have today if the government was in charge of making all of the decisions.

It amazes my still that people think the government should just set the price for a gallon of gas (to help out the little guy). Then they complain when government interference results in shortages and long lines at the pump (ala Atlanta). And yet these same people think that the government setting the prices for medical treatment will not result in shortages and lower quality of care. Screwing with the economy has consequences. It upsets the balance. Changing regulations upsets the balance. Trade agreements upset the balance. Pushing all of the children into teaching jobs upsets the balance.

Sometimes society or the economy will rebalance to something that is improved. But only when the people are free to seek out a solution and the environment is not so restrictive as to prevent the implementation.

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 11:24 am EDT | Permalink | 12 Comments

Voter Fraud

 

There are claims in the early voting in West Virginia that people are picking Democratic candidates and “right before their eyes” the vote is being switched to the Republican candidate.

Now, before you jump on your “I’m not surprised, the Republican’s are corrupt” bandwagon, open your mind and think about this for a minute. If I was going to reprogram a voting machine so that it favors a certain candidate or party, don’t you think I could do it such that “evidence” isn’t presented to the voter as they are standing in the booth looking at the screen. Isn’t it far more likely that it was 1) a generic machine error, 2) operator error, or 3) people lying because they have an agenda?

This is kind of like the voter intimidation claim coming out of Wisconsin? If you didn’t notice, the Republican Party sent out an email asking for people to volunteer to be poll monitors “…at inner city (more intimidating) polling places. Particularly, I am interested in names of Milwaukee area veterans, policemen, security personnel, firefighters etc. ... If you have any connections with such organizations, please pass that information on.” The democrats took this email and ran with it claiming that the Republicans were looking for big burly men to intimidate people at inner city polling locations. After all, everyone who isn’t a racist knows that inner city = democrat and white male = intimidation.

Bullshit.

Anyone with a brain knows exactly what this email says. Poll monitors are never popular people, regardless of the party they come from. And, thanks to Obama and the press, this election is racially charged. So is it wise to send a 120 lb. white chick to an inner city polling place to observe and possibly report observed violations of voting laws? Hence the Republicans imply in an email that they need people who can work effectively in an intimidating environment. Big deal. Could they have worded it better? Sure. But the real issue is that the Democrats once again, turn this into a false accusation or racism against the Republican Party. And this works because they know that a significant portion of the sheeple will believe it without thinking. And they will pass it on by word of mouth until the message morphs into “Republicans are coming to our polls to try and intimidate us into not voting”. So those polls, and may others, are going to be intimidating environments for any Republican. If you doubt me, check out the video here: http://www.2old2play.com/Blog/Permalink/14538/27972

People have lost the ability to act rationally and reasonably. Anyone with a contrary opinion is a jerk and needs to die. Check out (fast forward to 2:19).

I love the explosions in the background. Unfortunately that is what it feels like today if the subject of politics comes up. Only religion is worse.

On that note, I had breakfast at a diner this morning. There is a gentleman I see there regularly and we sometimes chat. This morning he was talking about a political candidate who he thinks is gay because he keeps bringing up “homophobia”. I let that go. Then he brought up another candidate for the school board who is a supporter of teaching “intelligent design” in the schools. I stated my disagreement. Long story short, as I was leaving he expressed his disappointment in my belief that religion shouldn’t be taught in schools and that the bible shouldn’t be interpreted literally by saying “and you seemed like such a nice person”.

Well, you know what Bud? I am a nice person. I just exercise my free will and choose to hold an opinion different than yours. Deal with it.

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 11:37 am EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

Universal Health Costs...err...Care

So you think Universal Healthcare is the solution?  A place similar to that put forward by the Democrats just bit Hawaii in the ass.

Gee...I can afford coverage, but why should I bother when there is this "free" thing out there. 

Why is it that idiots..err..voters cannot figure out that there is no such thing as "free".  And why do liberals automatically assume that profits are bad?  "Profit" is the incentive to keep costs low and customers happy.  Take away profit and watch health care costs rise until taxes have to be increased or care has to be rationed or eliminated in order to control the costs.  And the Government has no history of making difficult decisions like these.  Every time they stick their nose into Health Care, they can't stick to the basics, they add on chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, mental health care, "wellness" coverage...gilding the Lilly until costs skyrocket. 

But you really can't blame them.  Who can say "no" to the Masseuse lobby?  Even Congressmen need happy endings.

*Pink*

 

 

 

Posted by BubbaJake @ 2:30 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments