I will not waste your time recounting how leftists and communists worldwide have pounded their “global warming” and “climate change” hysteria over the last fifty years. You have seen and heard their apocalyptic warnings on a daily and hourly basis.
Sadly, the “green” movement has succeeded to such a degree that the lifestyle and activities we love could soon be gone, and we may now be facing a real apocalypse. Decades of indoctrination in schools, media, and pop culture has blinded us to political decisions that will have permanent consequences. The energy industry will no longer be able to meet our needs as highly efficient and inexpensive carbon-based fuels are being eliminated in favor of alternative technologies that don’t exist yet and perhaps never will. Our standard of living is already starting a decline that we may not be able to reverse.
The political and socio-economic implications are devastating because democratic nations have ceded the use of cheap energy and the accompanying economic growth to malevolent authoritarian governments.
And it’s all based on a lie. A deliberate one, but nonetheless a proven lie.
The Clintel Foundation (Climate Intelligence) was founded in 2019 by an independent group of climate scientists who study the climate change issue and communicate the results of their unbiased research. They have published a simple World Climate Declaration:
Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming
Warming is far slower than predicted
Climate policy relies on inadequate models
CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth
Global warming has not increased natural disasters
Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities
We can’t afford another year, day, or hour of delay. We have to stop the insanity NOW. We must reject all of the green nonsense, all of it, starting today.
Elections have consequences. Last week in a CNN interview President Trump was asked what his plan is to restore the economy. His answer: “Drill, Baby, Drill!”
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Lies, lies – I can’t believe a word you say Lies, lies – Are gonna make you sad someday
You may have heard that our South Carolina governor recently signed legislation that authorizes $1.3 billion of Palmetto State taxpayer cash, infrastructure spending, and tax incentives to Volkswagen/Scout for the construction of a new electric vehicle manufacturing plant near Columbia that might employ 4,000 workers and perhaps 4,000 more later if the new company survives.
Many of us are scratching our heads over the implications of this bill. Most baffling is that while this legislation was under consideration our legislators promoted several bills that would prevent the encroachment of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) precepts into our state. ESG may be the biggest threat to freedom in our time – when fully implemented, it will give government full control over all personal and commercial activity by assigning “social scores” based on which transactions are deemed environmentally and/or socially acceptable. ESG is enforced by manipulating our funds via digital currency. If that sounds familiar, it’s because communist China is well down that path, using social scores to influence spending, income, and activities. Thanks to state-controlled electronic banking, the CCP can track the activities of any person or company and stop any transaction or confiscate funds at any time. Here in the USA, companies are already being refused bank loans and services because of the nature of their business. Gun manufacturers and oil-related companies are the among the first targets. South Carolina bill H3564, introduced by my representative Doug Gilliam along with reps Burns and Leber, would prevent our state government from doing business with companies that discriminate or operate under the cloud of ESG. Well done!
But at the same time, many SC congressmen who staunchly oppose ESG voted to support the gargantuan handout to Volkswagen, who state Senator Shane Martin called on the Senate floor “the poster child for ESG”. At a recent local meeting Representative Gilliam said he can’t find any indication that Volkswagen will engage in ESG or require its local vendors and suppliers to do so. But the VW website features a large segment on “supplier sustainability” which requires vendors to comply with their directives for “sustainability management, environment, human rights and working conditions, ethics and compliance, as well as responsible sourcing of raw materials.” Any South Carolina vendors who don’t measure up will presumably not make the cut.
Senator Martin also pointed out that the cost per new job is roughly $350,000 and articulated how many other critical state programs could make good use of those funds. I submit that if the goal of our legislature is to create new jobs, and incentives to employers is their method of choice, why not just offer a calculated tax credit to loyal, existing SC employers for every new job they add? Isn’t a new job at the local retailer or construction site just as valuable as a VW job? Our home-grown companies would love to be able to afford the $58k annual earnings for hourly jobs touted by VW and subsidized by taxpayers. It would be less disruptive to existing companies who don’t need new competitors taking away their trained employees. It would be quicker, and less costly – no new interstate ramps or infrastructure needed. Not to mention the taxpayers would not be saddled with the risk of bankrolling a foreign-owned, China-dependent “woke” company in an industry that, to date, has not been able to operate profitably without heavy government subsidies and that causes more environmental damage with open-pit mining and disposal of heavy-metal components in batteries than it can ever offset. Even Ford, despite Herculian effort, has not been able to build EVs profitably and announced new plans to double-down on high-tech carbon-fueled vehicles. Volkswagen’s CEO has admitted that the company is being politically forced into its ESG position both by European interests and heavy-handed Chinese influence.
South Carolina taxpayers are fronting $400 million in cash to VW. SC legislators justified most of the other $900 million as permanent infrastructure which will serve the area in the future, plus tax incentives. To their credit, lawmakers did put in “clawback” provisions which would require VW to pay us back in case something goes wrong. Hopefully we won’t have a Solyndra-type situation to deal with. In the end, the VW proposal was, on the surface, just too sexy for 96 of our 108 voting legislators to resist.
Still, the dichotomy between VW and ESG doesn’t go away. If VW follows through with their ESG plans and ideology, both internally and to associated entities (including the state), how will South Carolina actually enforce our new anti-ESG laws?
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Money changes everything I said money, money changes everything We think we know what we’re doin’ That don’t mean a thing It’s all in the past now Money changes everything
[RockinRightSide News Service – 3/20/23] Civil war has broken out in the once-prosperous central African nation of the Ugandi States. Brutal violence in the streets has replaced the domestic tranquility and personal freedoms that made the nation a “shining beacon on a hill,” admired by all the world and a prized destination for immigrants fleeing oppression and poverty in their home countries.
The conflict started three years ago when the sitting president of the Ugandi States, Donno Trompo, was re-elected by a large majority of the populace, but the entrenched opposition party, who had maintained de facto control of the government throughout Trompo’s term, used a variety of dishonest and illegal tactics to steal the election. State media suppressed news of the election anomalies and proclaimed challenger JoJo Bidenu as the legitimate president of the Ugandi States.
As the Bidenu administration met to certify the illicit election, Trompo supporters who had gathered at the nation’s capital to protest, were beaten and sprayed with chemicals by state police on the steps of the Ugandi States capitol building. When police ratcheted up the violence, what had been a peaceful protest got out of hand. It was later learned that Bidenu government infiltrators aggressively attempted to instigate a riot and breach of the capitol building to justify their election theft. Despite allegations of protester violence by the Bidenu regime, no state officials were seriously harmed.
Four of the protesters were murdered by the authorities; one was shot in the face, one was bludgeoned to death, and two died after being struck with flash bang grenades. The Bidenu regime denied these atrocities, but the events were recorded on incriminating video. Hundreds more protesters were arrested and imprisoned on unfounded and unproven charges. Many of these prisoners were kept in inhumane, filthy jail cells for months and years without access to health care, families, attorneys, or court dates. Most Ugandi States citizens were unaware of the plight of these political prisoners as the Bidenu administration and state media hid their existence from public view.
All pretense of fairness and justice was abandoned in the Ugandi States court system as judges installed by the Bidenu regime refused to hear evidence or provide any form of due process. All of those charged with crimes were presumed guilty. The Ugandi States once-revered constitution was nullified, replaced by a spoils system that rewarded supporters of the Bidenu regime and punished Trompo loyalists.
Civil unrest grew as financial conditions in the Ugandi States deteriorated under the Bidenu regime. Citizens bristled at the government’s corrupt confiscation of wealth and distribution to connected cronies. Government overspending and manipulation of currency, interest rates and financial markets led to rampant inflation which fueled poverty and homelessness. Most banks were forced out of business leaving desperate depositors pondering how to recover their life savings.
Thousands of Ugandi States citizens died after a man-made weaponized virus escaped from a Bidenu-funded laboratory. Using the ensuing pandemic as cover, the regime imposed lockdowns which destroyed businesses and schools, and caused chronic depression. Then the government mandated forced vaccinations that turned out to be deadly rather than therapeutic.
Reports surfaced of Bidenu and his family members taking bribes from foreign governments and companies in exchange for favorable treatment and payments from the national treasury. Ugandi States taxpayers were enraged.
The tinderbox of public sentiment in the Ugandi States was already volatile when the corrupt courts of the Bidenu regime arrested former president Trompo on specious charges. It was the final straw in a long series of provocations that citizens could no longer tolerate.
The capital city of the Ugandi States is now under siege as military and other security officials contemplate which side of the conflict to join. Police departments that were defunded and abandoned by the Bidenu regime are unable to restore order as government loyalists loot and burn cities.
Meanwhile, adversary nations are weighing their military options with the resource-rich Ugandi States government in utter disarray.
Prayers are in order for this nation teetering on destruction. More news will be forthcoming as events develop.
** This article is a parody
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Trump won, and you know it Trump won, and you know it Fox News won’t even show it Trump won, and you know it
No, I’m talking about our elected officials and the $31.4 trillion debt they have accumulated. The number is so mind-numbing, so incomprehensible, one must ask “how the hell did that happen?”
Well, it just slipped up on us, bit by bit. We kept electing sweet-talking, career-building big spenders to political office. We were seduced. Democrat or Republican, even if they meant well going in, it was just a matter of weeks before they were swallowed up by the swampers and lobbyists. They quickly learned to play by the club rules to get re-elected, and getting re-elected is the key to stratospheric income potential. They got high on spending, so they did more. And more. And we were enablers.
Some politicians were wealthy before they were elected. And some of these are among the best representatives we have, because they didn’t go to DC to get rich. They don’t need to sell their souls to lobbyists for campaign funds. But too many candidates are elected by spending butt-loads of our money on campaigns, only to become stupid-rich a few years later by getting paid off to spend more butt-loads of our money.
Then there is the lack of transparency by our federal government and their propaganda division (news and social media). We never hear about their drunken spending on a detail basis. If we did, we would have a mass aneurism. Follow this link – it is enough to give you at least a headache.
But back to “how the hell . . .”
My small town received $3.8 million in American Rescue Plan “Covid” relief funds. Not one dollar was spent on Covid. Covid was just an excuse for federal officials to throw money at us to look like heroes and get re-elected. It’s not tax money – they just printed $1.9 trillion and our kids and grandkids will have to pay it back when the Chinese take over. Imagine how easy it is to pinch a little money off the top of each local grant? And I sure don’t get the “Rescue” part. If you were on a rooftop floating down a flooding river, would you want somebody to swoop in, take your money, spend it at the local brothel, and call it a rescue?
The feds said ARP funds could be used for whatever purpose local officials wanted, as long as it could be loosely categorized to one of the leftist priorities. So you folks in Alaska and Montana bought my town a new street sweeper, some city vehicles, some raises for city employees, and some new sewer lines, plus you paid off some past-due utility bills for our residents and businesses. And we here in South Carolina paid for new turf on a recreational football field in Ohio and a weird “public art display” in New Jersey. But don’t worry, it’s all “free” because it came from the feds, not our own local taxes. If we were asked to buy $200k of plastic “art” for a library in New Jersey, it wouldn’t go over well.
“COVID” emergency fund spending in New Jersey – photo courtesy MyCentralJersey.com
Meanwhile, spending addicts from both parties fall all over each other to funnel war money and equipment to Ukraine, depleting our own defense resources, but can’t find the money to harden our electrical grid, protect our internet, or seal our border from fentanyl traffic.
Ask any addict – step one toward recovery is recognizing that you have a problem. We have to convince our officials that we can’t keep supporting their spending habit.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
You like to think that You’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah It’s closer to the truth to say You can’t get enough
The proliferation and power of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in recent years has become a threat to democracy in the USA and around the world.
Approximately 1.5 million NGOs operate in the United States. These NGOs undertake a wide array of activities, including political advocacy on issues such as foreign policy, elections, the environment, healthcare, women’s rights, economic development, and many other issues . . . Their sources of finance include donations from private individuals (American or foreign), private sector for-profit companies, philanthropic foundations, or grants from federal, state, or local government. Sources of finance may also include foreign governments. There is no prohibition in U.S. law on foreign funding of NGOs; whether that foreign funding comes from governments or non-government sources.
Primarily a tool of the political left, the NGO has become the preferred method to funnel enormous amounts of money and power to those who implement their often-clandestine liberal policies.
For example, in the 2020 presidential election, the Democrat party mobilized an army of workers in blue cities all over the country to harvest ballots, work the polls as ballot counters, and perform whatever other work, legal or not, required to win. Most of these shock troops were hired and managed by NGOs using leftover Covid funds and other federal grants.
The most compelling evidence to date has emerged in “2000 Mules,” the upcoming documentary by conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, who draws on research by election integrity group True The Vote to expose suspicious ballot harvesting. Using cellphone geotracking and surveillance video, it shows a network of “mules” in battleground states busily collecting ballots from get-out-the-vote NGOs and stuffing them, a few at a time, into multiple drop boxes in the dead of night.
Meanwhile, at the southern border, millions upon millions of illegal immigrants cross into the USA aided and abetted by Democrat-operated NGOs. These immigrants are given first-class tourist treatment on the way to destinations all over the country where they are set up with taxpayer-funded housing, food, medical care, education, and often voting privileges. Texas is investigating the Biden administration’s unholy alliance with NGOs and its role in the border crisis.
Since none of this is legal and is strongly opposed by taxpaying Americans, it must be done in secrecy. NGOs are the perfect vehicle for corruption – they can be created and discarded quickly, leave no traces, have unlimited access to non-taxable grant funds and private contributions from zillionaires, and are accountable to no-one.
What’s worse is that Democrat legislators can grant taxpayer funds to NGOs with the full expectation that large sums of money will be returned to them as campaign contributions. Planned Parenthood rakes in about a half billion dollars from the government per year and gives at least 10% back to Democrat members of Congress, plus large contributions from well-paid Planned Parenthood executives. Is it any wonder this despicable organization gets funded year after year?
These unelected, unaccountable, shadow organizations are at the root of much of the corruption we decry in our government these days. Increasingly they are used by foreign governments as political weapons and agents of covert invasion all over the world.
It’s time for our new Congress to take a hard look at NGOs and their dirty deeds.
While the mid-term election was no fun for real conservatives, it sure put a spring in the step of media pundits, Democrats, Never-Trumpers, and Senate and House leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.
Before the week was over, every political junkie was obsessing over (a) who is at fault for the “red fizzle” and (b) who would be the new House (majority) and Senate (minority) leaders.
The folks in my opening paragraph quickly blamed former president Donald Trump, whose alleged failures included endorsing weak GOP candidates who ultimately lost (his actual record was 216 wins to 19 losses), not spending his entire super PAC on candidates (he spent $16 million out of his estimated $100 million war chest), and taking a verbal shot at his presumed 2024 presidential opponent, Ron DeSantis, just before election day.
Conservatives, meanwhile, faulted GOP leadership. The Big Macs (McCarthy, McConnell and Ronna Romney McDaniel, RNC chairwoman) made their share of unforced errors, funding such stellar conservatives as Lisa Murkowski, while snubbing Trump favorites Masters, Oz and Bolduc. And some say the party’s policy messaging was not strong enough to win on-the-fence voters.
Despite a challenge from Florida senator Rick Scott, McConnell was elected Senate minority leader, on a 37 to 10 vote thanks to Murkowski and other members of the Quid Pro Quo Caucus. McCarthy, on the other hand, appears to be on the way out. Russ Vought, president of Citizens for Renewing America and Trump’s OMB director, told followers tonight that no fewer than 37 Republicans are firmly against McCarthy and that Andy Biggs will likely be the new speaker. Lee Zeldin, who narrowly missed in the New York governor’s race, is vying to replace McDaniel for the chair of the RNC.
In the bigger scheme, neither Trump nor the Big Macs were responsible for the “red fizzle”. The Democrats in battleground states have expanded their cheating playbook to include “malfunctioning” (thus unavailable) voting equipment and late, late, late ballot counts, resulting in some upsets that were beyond absurdity. In fact, the Democrats have become so skilled at election cheating that some Republicans fear they will never win another election unless they learn to cheat even better.
Now I have good news and I have bad news.
First the bad news. Most Americans have no clue who the leaders of the House and Senate are. They are not aware that hundreds of political prisoners have been held by our Democrat administration for two years in putrid conditions without due process. They don’t know that our economy is a $40 trillion house of cards. They are blissfully unaware that our president is fatally compromised to the Chinese, the Russians, the Ukrainians, and whoever else his corrupt family has sold influence and US assets to. They know nothing because our media/government/education cabal keeps the truth hidden from them.
Now the potentially good news. We may have the most conservative group of congressmen and women ever. And we have the opportunity to put new congressional leaders in place who are principled and driven, and who understand the urgent danger our nation is in. They may not be able to pass laws through our feckless Senate or our administration. But they can expose the fraud and corruption with investigations and hearings. They can defund or destroy the corrupt three-letter agencies that have been weaponized against the American people. They can shut down the government if they have to. And they have the power to wake up America’s sleeping voters to the shame that we have become, perhaps in time to save us from the fate of Cuba and Venezuela.
Of course, all of this was possible at times in the past when we had a congressional majority. But without a courageous and moral leader of the pack, our lawmakers have been stymied.
I hope we get it right; this may be our last chance.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
I met him at the candy store He turned around and smiled at me, You get the picture? (Yes, we see) That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack
Not long ago the left was howling about raising the federal minimum wage. America’s economic tailspin, thanks to our current administration’s “destroy-America-first” policies, has removed that demand from the political discussion. With the incumbent party throwing borrowed billions around to discourage people from working while stifling energy production to kill the economy, wages have exploded upward as employers desperately compete for scarce labor.
A federal minimum wage law was always a stupid idea. Following that logic, we would have minimum prices for gas and milk. Soon we would be out of gas and milk as producers could not operate profitably against inflation.
We were taught in ECON 101 that government intervention in free markets always results in economic disaster. I’ll bet the concept of “laissez-faire” is no longer found in high school and college textbooks, or if it is, it is lambasted. Most articles I found on the web criticize laissez-faire as being mean to dumb and disabled people. What isn’t mentioned is that laissez-faire works perfectly in a charitable Judeo-Christian society like ours once was. As workers’ own needs are met and they gain wealth, they are almost always happy to share it with the truly needy, and private solutions are always more effective than government programs. Remember the government’s “War on Poverty?” We lost.
Our elected officials either don’t get it or don’t care and are only in government for careers, power and profit. The ideal congressman would have one question first and foremost about ANY new bill presented: would this law infringe upon individual economic freedom in any way?
Please teach your kids and grandkids about laissez-faire and free markets. It is the only economic system that keeps prices perfectly right while improving products and quality of life. I’m afraid under Bidenomics we will soon all be driving Yugos again.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
And as they’re trapped inside At a used car lot on the other side of town A liberal guy and a liberal gal Buy a Yugo….
At a used car lot on the edge of town A liberal guy and a liberal gal Buy a Yugo And they drive with pride
Cause if there’s one thing that this world needs It’s environmental friends who’ll take the lead In a Yugo
They say, “people don’t you understand Those suburbans are ruining the land” But they’ll wish they had a full size van one day They point fingers at you and me They say we’re too blind to see But do we simply use our heads And choose another way?
As those small wheels turn Fifty miles to the gallon And their knees on their chest They’re gonna save enough gas For all of the rest In a Yugo
Then one day on the interstate They suddenly lose control They swerve to miss a baby duck They’re squashed beneath a produce truck But they drove with pride…
And as the crowds drive past a little flat car You know they saved a lot of gas But they didnt get far In a Yugo
And as they’re trapped inside At a used car lot on the other side of town A liberal guy and a liberal gal Buy a Yugo….
Yesterday I grabbed a couple of quick lunches at McDonald’s. I always liked their two-cheeseburger meal, and Mickey’s drive-through was quick and right on my way.
Sticker shock! Each regular size two cheeseburger lunch was $8.50 after taxes! I swear about a year ago the same meal was under $4.00. Just a single cheeseburger, which used to be on the dollar menu for a buck, is now $2.50. Again, I say, 9% inflation my ass!
Even worse, the burgers were microscopic – they used to make 8/1 burgers – 8 patties to a pound. The ones I got yesterday are 10/1 or maybe as small as 12/1. And the “small” coke they now serve with a meal looks like a Dixie Cup!
So: $7.50 plus tax for a crappy little Mickey D’s lunch. Right across the street is our favorite Mexican restaurant. They serve fabulous Mexican dinners for $8 to $10 dollars, and the portions are so large we usually share a meal or take a carryout box. And (the best part) a huge schooner of Dos Equix for $5! Needless to say, that place is jammed all the time. The service is excellent, everything is clean, and the food is awesome.
So, I’m not shedding any tears for these big fast-food chains with their prices inflated by 150% and portions “shrinkflated” by 25%. These guys are just flat out profiteering on the COVID crisis, which BTW, was over a long time ago and never should have happened in the first place. From now on, our rare dining out excursions will be to good local businesses.
Side note: don’t forget that when prices are double what they were last year, so are sales taxes. So you can expect cities, counties, and states to be doubling their salaries and/or going on spending binges. Makes me miss Montana, where there is NO sales tax.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Yeah, there was ham and there was turkey There was caviar And long tall glasses With wine up to hyar And somebody grabbed me Threw me out of my chair Said “Before you can eat You gotta dance like Fred Astaire”
Today we had a glass installer come out to spec and estimate a glass shower door for our new home.
When we asked about the cost, he said, “Who knows? Yesterday I got a call from my glass supplier, and he said next week my cost would be increased by 30%. And this is after a price increase in June. Plus, the 10% fuel surcharge for delivery of his product has doubled.”
This is typical of the quotes I have been getting for all kinds of building materials and labor. Everything is up 50% to 100%.
Last week we were grocery shopping at Costco. On our shopping list was large pork loins – last month the cost was $1.99/lb, and my wife thinks they have been at that price level for a long time. She was stunned to see the new price: $3.99 per pound. Isn’t that about a 100% increase? We didn’t buy them.
Here’s a math lesson, used by accountants and fifth graders worldwide. Percent increase is calculated as follows: new cost – original cost = amount of increase ÷ original cost = percent increase
$3.99 – $1.99 = $2.00 ÷ $1.99 = 100%
The good news is we still got a hot dog and Coke at Costco for $1.50. That price has been the same since 1985. The founder of Costco once told the current CEO, Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you!” He clearly knows where Costco’s buns are buttered.
As of this writing, BidenGas averages $4.52 per gallon. A year ago it was $3.25.
$4.52 – $3.25 = $1.27 ÷ $3.25 = 39% in 12 months
And the inflation is much worse compared to TrumpGas, the average price when Biden took office in January of 2020 ($2.60).
$4.52 – $2.60 = $1.92 ÷ $2.60 = 74% in 18 months
So tell me, in your neighborhood, is there anything that doesn’t cost at least 50% more than it did a year ago? Where does this 9% figure come from? Can we trust anything the federal government tells us these days?
Exactly one year ago, President Biden said, “You’re not going to get COVID if you get these vaccinations.” Guess who got COVID last week? Liar.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s secretary of homeland security, said, “Look, the border is secure.” As the Border Patrol points out 207,000 “migrant encounters” in June alone. Not to mention all of the illegals who did not turn themselves in to authorities to get their EBT cards, cell phones, and plane tickets to their US destination of choice. Secure? Liar.
The really sad thing is this inflation is intentional. Don’t tell me that the Biden administration and the World Economic Forum fatcats don’t know that huge government spending and debt from fiat currency causes inflation – any kid out of ECON 101 knows that.
I’m sorry, when the Biden administration and the liberal news media (sorry, redundant) tell me that inflation is 9%, I’m just not buying it. I know when I am being “zoomed”.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Guess you believed the world Played by your rules Here stands an experienced girl I ain’t nobody’s fool, bump you
There are so many crazy things going on these days it’s hard to focus on any one of them. Global warming? Supply chain? Inflation? Gas prices? Drag queens in grade schools? It’s all just mind numbing.
That said, I have had a couple of recent shopping experiences that I just have to share.
I have always been an economic hawk but have never really lashed out at welfare and social benefits. My thinking has been: “Hey, there will always be people who are unable or unwilling to work, and the cost of our welfare and food stamp programs is not that big compared to the ridiculous spending on so many other outrageously costly and corrupt spending programs.”
My thinking has changed in the past couple of weeks. It started with a trip to Dollar General.
Maybe you have never been in a Dollar General store. I live in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina. The nearest town to me has two gas stations and a Dollar General. Here in the South, there are Dollar General stores all over the place. They serve an important purpose and market for those of us who are not within convenient distance of supermarkets and other stores. Dollar General stores are cookie-cutter 6000 square foot units offering a lot of snacks, some groceries (frozen and refrigerated, nothing fresh), some hardware and household items, some drug store stuff – chances are if you need something in a pinch, Dollar General will have it, at a fairly reasonable price. It is the 21st century version of the small-town “general store”.
I admit I had always looked down my nose at Dollar General stores and made assumptions about anyone who might shop in one. But now I that I live in the “sticks” I find occasional need to go there.
Last week I made two trips to my local DG. On the first trip, I watched a dad with three small boys on a shopping spree that was nothing short of bizarre. Dad was a piece of work: he had thousands of dollars of tattoos all over his arms, neck, and face; a $100 Lakers jersey; and a bunch of body jewelry. The “family” entered the store after me and proceeded to fill two carts with reckless abandon. Chips, candy, ice cream, candy, snacks, chips, candy, pop, beef sticks, candy. They ran the aisles like wild animals, throwing stuff into the carts without any consideration of what an item costs, whether it is nutritious, whether it fits their budget. You know how you shop, making each purchase decision based on value, need, and priority? This was not happening.
They pulled up to the checkout and the total was about $175. No worries, Dad whipped out the EBT card! I was looking for something that would nourish those boys, but the only item with any protein was a frozen pizza.
A few days later, my wife and I were in line at the same Dollar General behind a mom who had filled three big baskets in pretty much the same manner. She had no concern about the cost of anything, or of running out of funds, because she too had a magic EBT card.
From all appearances, the welfare crowd has more EBT funds than they can spend. They are wild-eyed in their pursuit of comfort food – in fact, it seems to me that this might explain the preponderance of 300 lb. single moms on the streets of America. Dollar General, and many other retailers, have built a wildly profitable industry on the EBT gravy train.
How is it a good thing to provide unmotivated, unemployed people more junk food than they and their children can possibly consume? The damage to their health is only exceeded by the damage to their work ethic. Do these kids have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever becoming productive citizens?
I am not opposed to providing a safety net for those who can’t take care of themselves. My fear is that we are creating a class of welfare zombies who will never even consider working for a living.
Actually, it’s not just my fear. It is an intentional strategy by our liberal government whose world-view is premised on a dependent class of mindless slugs who will vote for anybody offering a limitless supply of Cheetos and Mountain Dew.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Now me and my baby we talked late last night
And we talked for another hour
She wanted me to go down to the welfare sto'
And get a sack a-that welfare flour
But I told her, 'No'
'Baby and I sho' don't wanna go'
I said, 'I'll do anything in the world for you
I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
Now, you need to go get you some real, white man
You know, to sign yo' little note
They give ya a pair of them king-toed shoes
I want no a-them pleat-back, soldier coat
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby and I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
President Roosevelt said, on welfare people
They gonna treat everyone right
Said, they give ya a can of them beans
And a can or two of them old tripe
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby, and I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto', now
Well now, me and my baby we talked yesterday
And we talked in my backyard
She said, 'I'll take care-a you, Sonny Boy
Just as long as these times stay hard'
And I told her, 'Yeah, baby and I sho' won't have to go'
I said, 'If you do that for me
I won't have to go down to that welfare sto'
Welfare Store Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson (1940)
Rockin' On The Right Side 