My Economic Plan is Even Better Than Hillary’s!

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 2

Hillary-Money

I studied and taught economics but I still could never quite figure out the Democrat’s plan to improve our economy. But now I think I finally get it. I listened to Bernie and Hillary at the DNC convention, and it has all become clear to me. In fact, thanks to Hillary’s lesson in Democrat economics, I think I can now even beat the Democrats’ plan for creating jobs and improving the economy.

Hillary wants to at least double the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, right? She says $20 per hour would be even better. Well, I say if $15 is good, and $20 is better, why not $50? Heck, why not $100 an hour? Just think, if all the burger-flippers and lawn mowers and hotel maids made $100 an hour ($208k per year) they could buy so much stuff that there would be millions of new manufacturing jobs to make all the things they want to buy.

Plus everybody could eat their meals at fancy, expensive restaurants. So those restaurants would have to hire more waiters, and dishwashers and janitors. They would all make at least $208,000 a year, so they could buy more stuff too! You see how dollars circulate when a Democrat runs the economy? Everybody wins!

Wait, if everybody eats at fancy restaurants, the burger-flippers wouldn’t have anything to do. Oh well, they could play Pokémon Go when business is slow. Or they could stay home and do tele-work like our federal government employees do when it gets hot outside. Problem solved. Maybe the federal workers are playing Pokémon Go, too.

Hillary also wants to open our borders and ports so there will be many more immigrants coming to our country. She says we need more immigrants to do the low-paid jobs that Americans don’t want to do. She says immigrants are better at starting businesses than Americans are. She says immigrants add a lot more to the economy than they take from it. Well, then! If immigrants are so great for our economy, let’s invite all of the people in Africa to move in with us! And Mexico, and Myanmar . . . there are a lot of potential immigrants all over the world. Just think how great our economy will be when they all live here!

Oh wait, if minimum wage is $100 an hour, there won’t be any low-paid jobs for them to take. Hmm. But hey, there will be so many new jobs from everybody else buying stuff with their new higher wages, the immigrants can take those jobs. Hmm. But then where would the Americans work?

Shoot, this is getting kind of hard.

Well, Hillary says college education should be free for everybody, and student loans should just be written off. Probably a lot of Americans won’t have to work, then, because they will be going to college full time with free room and board. So there will be jobs for the immigrants. That’s how Greece does it. Oops, that didn’t work out very well for Greece, did it? And I guess maybe the immigrants will all be in free college too . . .

Dang it, it seemed to make sense when Hillary explained it. So how are we going to create jobs and grow the economy?

Oh, I know. Let’s just raise taxes on the rich!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Said when this is all over
You’ll be in clover
We’ll go out and spend
All of your Blue Money!

Blue Money – Van Morrison

Hilarious! Stephanopolous Lets Ellison Claim George Wallace Ran As Republican!

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 3

Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN)

You can’t write better comedy than this. George Stephanopolous and ABC News may have just put the Comedy Channel out of business.

On ABC Sunday Morning This Week, anchor George Stephanopolous – former Clinton employee, big contributor to the Clinton Foundation, and chief Clinton apologist – sat by and did not even blink when his panelist, Democrat Congressman Keith Ellison, laid this giant, stinking egg:

“Donald Trump is the worst Republican candidate since George Wallace.”

Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK), sitting next to Ellison on the panel, could barely keep from laughing out loud.

“I have to correct my friend, Congressman Ellison,” Cole told Stephanopolous. “George Wallace was a lifelong DEMOCRAT. He ran on the Democrat ticket, and we can’t let history be rewritten.”

The embarrassment on Ellison’s face was absolutely priceless. As a Democrat, and an African-American, Ellison has been brainwashed to believe that all Republicans are racists, and all racists are Republicans. He has bought into the Democrat re-write of history, which hides the fact that the KKK was a Democrat organization, and the Democrats fought integration tooth and nail. Learning that the bogey-man under his bed was actually a Democrat was a total shock. He literally saw his television career pass before his eyes.

But the really funny part was watching Stephanopolous throughout this Sunday morning news misadventure. Stephanopolous knew that Wallace was a Democrat and never batted an eye, hoping that nobody else would pick up on Ellison’s devastating gaffe. Even better, Ellison had just finished excoriating Donald Trump for being mean and unfair to the press.

At the other end of the panel, Donna Brazile, another lifetime Clinton lackey and DNC vice-chair, was nearly in tears as she apologized profusely for her Democrat National Committee’s abuse of Bernie Sanders, revealed by WikiLeaks after it was learned that Russians hacked the DNC email accounts and had the goods on chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Ever the good little Clinton puppy, Stephanopolous gamely tried to accuse Donald Trump of conspiring with Russian president Vladimir Putin to cause trouble for the poor Democrats.

Cole, having the time of his life, got in one more little shot. “The Clinton campaign might be worried that the Russians will report what they found on an email server in somebody’s basement,” he giggled.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Don’t think I’m bein’ funny when I say
you got just what you deserve
I can’t help feeling you found out today
You thought you were too good you had a lot of nerve
Laugh, laugh – I thought I’d die!
It seemed so funny to me
Laugh, laugh, you met a guy
Who taught you how it feels to be – lonely

Laugh, Laugh – the Beau Brummels

Laura Ingraham Rocks the Convention!

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 1

laura ingraham

In case you missed it, Laura Ingraham gave the stemwinder speech of the year Wednesday night at the 2016 Republican national convention. Her beaming smile made her tenacity all the more electric as she grabbed the delegates, and millions watching on TV, by the throat with her conservative common sense and razor wit. Here are some highlights:

“My dad enlisted in the Navy in WWII. My mom waited tables until she was 73 years old. My dad worked at his car wash. My parents flew the flag at our house, and not just on the fourth of July. They scrapped and saved. My mother made my clothes. She wore the same winter coat for 40 years. Any extra money in our house went into the bank for our education. And we learned that there is dignity in every job. Every job! No matter what you do. You see, my parents didn’t believe there were jobs that Americans wouldn’t do!”

“Respect is in decline in America once again. The people don’t respect the government. The government doesn’t respect the people, not even our veterans. Politicians don’t respect the Constitution. Many do not respect the life of the infant in the womb or the elderly who languish alone. Others don’t respect the police . . . and many in public office don’t enforce or respect the rule of law. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Clinton?”

“We should all – even all you boys with wounded feelings and bruised egos (and we love you!) – you must honor your pledge to support Donald Trump now. Tonight!”

“We need a president who believes in the Constitution and will fight for us, not against us. Treat us like an ally, not an enemy. Fight alongside with us. We are not the enemy, we’re the people! We’re not your servants, you’re ours!”

“And to all my friends up there, in the press. You all know why, in your heart, Donald Trump won the nomination. Because he dared to call out the phonies, the frauds, and the corruption that has gone unexposed and uncovered for too long. Too long! Do your job!”

“Donald Trump respects us enough to tell us the hard truth about what has happened to our country.”

Laura was so hot, so spot on, that the left immediately peed their pants, and proceeded to make up a cartoonish tweet accusing her of giving her audience a Nazi salute – which was, of course, scooped up by the breathless lamestream media. You can’t make this stuff up! A single mother of three adopted kids who rose from humble beginnings to graduate from Dartmouth and then become a clerk for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, a defense attorney, a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, a best-selling author, a radio and TV superstar – is a Nazi, according to the desperate left.

Maybe there’s hope for common sense, grass roots, patriotic, hard-working Americans after all. Rock on, Laura!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hey kid, rock and roll

Rock on, ooh, my soul!

Hey kid, boogey too, did ya?

Hey shout, summertime blues

Jump up and down in my blue suede shoes

Hey kid, rock and roll, rock on!

Rock On – David Essex

Well, ole Dave still sounds like he did back in 1974, but he has um, aged a bit.  Unlike the rest of us!

Young Americans Are Screwed – They Think Capitalism Is Just Not Fair

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Checking-Smartphones

I’m worried about our American youth. I know, grandpas have been saying that forever. But I am worried, and it’s not about social changes. It’s about our economic future. Here’s why:

The Millennials are mostly socialists. The battle for ideological control of our schools has finally been completely won over by far-left socialists. There is no longer any competition – the history and values that were the core of education up until the sixties are now banished from all schools, kindergarten through college. Patriotism, pride in our history, self-sufficiency, respect for all religions, reverence for truth, the importance of marriage and family, the virtue of colorblindness – all are gone. Maybe forever. Students are not allowed to question or oppose any of the socialist tenets. But the larger problem is this:

Young people are not taught to understand or value free-market capitalism, and this will doom them and future generations to mediocrity at best.

Also, an exponentially growing proportion of our residents immigrated from nations with government-controlled economies. Many move here to take advantage of free-market capitalism, only to find our government, media, and schools openly hostile to it. Financial success is vilified and wealth is assumed to have been stolen from the people. Showered with social services and cash benefits, and plugged into school systems that immediately indoctrinate their children to idolize American socialism, our immigrants, like Millennials, offer little hope for the advancement of capitalism and free enterprise.

I recently met an Uber driver in Washington, DC. Bright, outgoing, and optimistic, he loves Uber because it enables him to make a few bucks in between classes. He plans to graduate from his all-black university next year with an IT degree and then get a good job. The young man graciously allowed me to offer him some “grandpa” advice, which was this: “Please consider at some point going into business for yourself. Find something you can provide that is really in demand, and it will make you happy and wealthy. I learned in my career that owning your own business is more fun, rewarding, and fulfilling than working for somebody else.”

He pondered that for a few minutes, and then thanked me profusely. “Nobody ever told me that,” he said. “My advisors only talk about getting a job. I’m going to really think about this.”

Ironically, the young driver is already an entrepreneur, but doesn’t recognize his Uber gig as the epitome of free-market capitalism. Sadly, but predictably, Uber is under attack by leftists all over the world. After all, capitalism is just not fair.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well, you know in the old days
When a young man was a strong man
All the people, they’d step back
When a young man walked by
But you know, nowadays it’s the old man
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days

Young Man Blues – the Who

Drummer Keith Moon steals the show on this live classic by The Who. Fun!

Hillary Will Continue Obama’s “Don’t Do Stupid Sh*t” Foreign Policy Strategy

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 1

photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

President Obama once summed up his foreign policy strategy as: “Don’t do stupid sh*t.”

On the surface, that sounds like a pretty good plan. I have often said Congress functions best when it is on one of its many long recesses, like its upcoming paid vacation from July 18 through September 2. When they aren’t in session at least our congressmen aren’t writing bills ‘supporting the support of transgender acceptance‘ (yep, it’s a real bill), or bailing out Puerto Rico and the Post Office, or doing a sneaky-workaround to allow Lindsey Graham’s favorite crony, Boeing, to sell airplanes to Iran via a taxpayer-guaranteed loan through the corrupt federal Export-Import Bank.

I pretty much like it when Congress is “not doing stupid sh*t.”

But as a long-term strategy, especially for something as critical and far-reaching as the foreign policy of the world’s still-barely-greatest-but-fading-fast-superpower, “don’t do stupid sh*t” has some flaws. After all, “stupid sh*t” is in the eye (or the nose?) of the beholder. When he took office, Obama adopted the position that everything his predecessor did was “stupid sh*t”, and vowed that our country would never do any “sh*t” like that again. Under President GW Bush, Russia and China were pretty well in check, the military surge had stabilized Iraq as their fledgling democracy took root, and our armed forces were re-tooled and modernized. Apparently that didn’t meet Obama’s “smell test”. But giving Iran a half-trillion dollars with which to build their nuclear weapons program and fund terrorism? Inviting hundreds of thousands of unvetted, illegal immigrants to indulge in our social services buffet, exacerbate our unemployment, push down wages and stifle our economic growth? Naw, that’s not “stupid sh*t.”

Another major flaw in the Obama foreign policy plan: some might confuse “don’t do stupid sh*t” with “don’t do any sh*t.”

Obama failed to help Iran’s “green revolution” oust their nation’s radical Muslim leadership. He stood on the sidelines as former allies (or at least peacekeepers) in the Middle East were toppled and replaced by tyrants and terrorists. When Russia began pushing around its former minions in Georgia and the Ukraine, Obama laughed it off. “Boys will be boys.” He smiles and waves as Russian and Chinese jets buzz over the bows of our depleted and duct-taped warships.

Most critical of all, while our president was proudly implementing his “don’t do stupid sh*t” foreign policy, our adversaries were doing all kinds of scary, aggressive “sh*t”. China has all but claimed the entire South China Sea as its own private domicile and locked up the world’s supply of strategic rare-earth metals. While the US nuclear capability has been whittled down to a few 1950s era B52’s and a couple of rusty Minuteman missiles, Russia has developed 14 new state-of-the-art tactical and strategic nuclear systems. Obama’s do-nothing policies have made our nuclear arsenal the equivalent of Cuba’s auto industry.

And now Obama’s partner in foreign-policy crime, Hillary Clinton, waits in line to dutifully continue the strategies that have brought them universal praise from leftists and globalists worldwide.

Oh boy. Eight more years of “don’t do stupid sh*t.”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The time is right, your perfume fills my head,
The stars get red
And oh, the night’s so blue.
And then I go and spoil it all,
By saying something stupid
Like “I love you”

Something Stupid – Frank and Nancy Sinatra

Sorry, no live video of this dad and daughter classic exists. Some nice photos though, and worth a listen!

First Common Core Math, Now Common Core Law!

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

COMMON CORE MATH

common core problem

COMMON CORE LAW

“Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton told Congress under oath that she did not send or receive any classified emails. You just said under oath that she, in fact, did send and receive classified emails. One of you is lying. Are you lying?”

“No.”

“Then did Secretary Clinton lie?”

“I can’t say that she did.”

“Is it against the law to keep sensitive, classified emails on an unsecured, private server?”

“Yes.”

“Did Secretary Clinton keep sensitive, classified emails on an unsecured, private server?”

“Yes.”

“Did Secretary Clinton break the law?”

“No.”

The government lawyers have turned America on its head. Next thing you know there will be men in women’s bathrooms.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o’clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned into to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love

Lawyers In Love – Jackson Browne

Bill Tells Loretta, “Don’t Worry, Baby!”

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 5

bill clinton jet Loretta’s jet pulled off the runway and onto the tarmac at the executive end of Sky Harbor Airport. Glancing out the window she spotted a familiar sight.

“Oh look! There’s Bill’s plane!” she said, pointing to the big gray Gulfstream parked on the outside edge of the field. “I’d recognize it anywhere.”

Moments later, her phone rang. “Hi, Loretta, it’s Bill. Do you have a minute?” Soon he was bounding up the steps into her smaller, but comfortable government-issue Lear jet.

“That’s a beautiful plane you have there, Bill,” Loretta said.

“Oh, that old thing? It’s all the foundation could afford. Shoot, you ought to see the 727 my friend Jeff Epstein had. We called it the “Lolita Express” because of all the young honeys Jeff kept on the plane for those trips to Orgy Island. Yeah, heh heh, I was on that thing about every other weekend for a few years . . . ”

“Oh, um, Mr. President, I’d like you to meet my husband . . . ” Loretta interrupted.

“Nice to meet you, man,” Bill said, shaking hands. “You must be pretty proud of Loretta here. I remember when I put her on the bench, and now she’s the AG. You know if my wife gets elected, she’s going to need some good people – Supreme Court justices, cabinet positions. Of course that’s if she doesn’t get indicted.”

“But, Mr. President, I don’t think we are supposed to talk about that,” Loretta said, with a worried look. “After the FBI investigations are finished, it will end up on my desk.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that, Loretta,” Bill grinned. “We’ve been through some little scuffles like that before, and nothing ever comes of it. It’s like I told Ron Brown when the FBI and all those other guys were after him, you know, right before the election? Yeah, he said he would have to testify against me and ‘Hil’ to the grand jury in a few days. I told him, ‘Don’t worry Ron, things will work out’. Too bad about that plane crash.”

Loretta gulped. “But Mr. President, there is so much evidence about all the billions of dollars you and your wife raised for your foundation, and it looks like you were doing favors for other countries and bankers and . . . I just don’t know how I can stop it from coming out . . . ” She looked liked she might cry.

“Now, Loretta,” Bill crooned, patting her on the shoulder. “You’re not the first one who faced a tough decision. Our friend Vince Foster was in charge of handling the information on our little Whitewater problem, and some things for Hillary, and he was really worried too. But look, nothing came out of that either.”

Bill got up to leave. “I sure do enjoy those grandbabies of mine. I’ve got a new one, you know.”

“Yes, I have grandchildren too, from my husband’s previous marriage,” Loretta whispered, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

“Keep an eye on those grandkids,” Bill said as he started back down the steps. “I’m sure nothing will happen to them. Take care now, I’ve got a tee time.”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Don’t worry baby.
Don’t worry baby!
Everything will turn out all right.

Don’t Worry Baby – the Beach Boys

Trump: Hillary Does the Hanky-Panky

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Last week Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said, “Hillary Clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency.”

My reaction was, “She’s got some big shoes to fill, there, Donald!”

Politics has always been a dirty business, but for the most part our presidents have been on the up and up. Some, like Grant, Arthur, Harding, and Reagan were surrounded by corruption but didn’t actually line up at the buffet themselves.

Then Hope and Change happened, and suddenly presidential corruption was elevated to an art form and a lucrative industry. While presidents have always found ways to reward their friends and supporters, the $800 billion blank check President Obama received for stimulus and recovery packages opened the floodgates for rampant, criminal cronyism.

Getting elected to the top political office in the world takes money. A lot of it. And big contributions usually come with expectations of payback. President Obama did not disappoint. Peter Schweitzer points out in his corruption expose, “Throw Them All Out”, how ten members of Obama’s 2008 campaign finance committee parlayed $457,000 in contributions into $11.3 billion in grants and guaranteed loans for companies they own and/or direct. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The half billion dollar Solyndra scandal was one of the few crony boondoggles that hit the presses. According to Schweitzer, there were many more, and larger, that were never publicized: Solar Trust of America, $2.1 billion. First Solar, $4.7 billion (primary owners include Ted Turner). Leucadia Energy, $3.5 billion. Brightsource, $1.4 billion (primary owners include Robert Kennedy, Jr.).

The purpose of the stimulus was to create jobs, but Schweitzer says most of the grant and taxpayer-guaranteed loan money ended up in the pockets of uber-rich Obama campaign donation bundlers. A $100 million grant to Basin Electric in tiny Beulah, North Dakota created just 8 jobs. Former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers loaned $10 million to the National Democratic Convention when the hometown (Charlotte, NC) event ran short of funds. He was rewarded with environmental waivers and $300 million in grants – a good portion of which was allocated to projects already completed!

Yes, Obama sets the Hanky-Panky bar plenty high for his successor.

But Hillary is no piker. She sold access and influence to cronies and foreign governments for billions of dollars that were laundered through the Clinton Foundation, even during her tenure as Secretary of State. As Secretary, she brokered lucrative deals between foreign countries and US corporations in exchange for huge checks.

But unlike Obama, who has no shame about how he distributes the taxpayer’s money and makes no effort to hide it, Hillary goes to great lengths to avoid transparency. Umm, I mean getting caught. She removed records of 75 secret meetings with donors when she was Secretary of State. She set up her own personal email server and deleted perhaps 30,000 messages, putting national security at risk just to hide her Hanky-Panky. She was paid enormous sums for speeches she made to banker friends on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, Democrats giggle at Donald Trump because he is not raising cash at Clinton’s torrid pace.

After Obama, and with the possibility of a Clinton presidency looming, maybe it would be good to elect a leader who doesn’t have to do the Hanky-Panky to pay back his cronies.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I never saw her, never never saw her . . .
My baby does the Hanky-Panky!

Hanky-Panky – Tommy James and the Shondells

Big Government Elitists Are On The Run

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 1

cartoon by Gary Varvel

Voters in Great Britain took a courageous stand against their heavy-handed, uber-liberal, politically correct, elitist big-government overlords at EU headquarters in Brussels yesterday. They said NO to open borders. NO to uncontrolled Muslim immigration. NO to global-warming hoaxes. NO to stupid monetary policy and negative interest rates. NO to profligate gender-bending. NO to anti-Christian aggression. NO to over-regulation of businesses and micro-management of personal lives. NO to identity politics and fear of offending everybody. NO to corruption and croynyism. NO to rampant welfare programs. NO to top-down decision making by unaccountable bureaucrats.

Other European nations will likely follow Great Britain’s lead and jump ship soon. Enough is enough.

Could this be the start of a world-wide movement back to “normal” government? Mainstream America has repudiated its permanent political class, and despite the best efforts of the DC insiders (both Democrats and Republicans) to barricade the Beltway, the ascendance of common-sense outsiders to national leadership looks more likely every day. Don’t be fooled by the liberal-media polls who try their best to throw cold water on the “throw-the-bums-out” movement. European pollsters predicted right up until election day that the Brits would stay in the EU – and were embarrassingly wrong.

Government is nothing more than dollars-in, dollars-out, just like any business. And every competent business manager knows that the way to make good decisions is to push them down to the lowest possible level of the organization. Family decisions should be made at the family level. Cities, counties, and states can manage their own affairs. We shouldn’t expect or allow our federal government to handle much more than borders, national security, and foreign policy. When condescending, elitist government officials try to micromanage every aspect of human life, the result is Venezuela.

Socialism has never worked. It never will. America will be great again. And those who jump off the socialist European Union ship first will be healthy and robust again too. Those who don’t are in for some tough times. Other confused nations (Canada? Australia?) will see the stark contrast and will move back to sanity.

It’s been a long wait. But something tells me we are in for something good.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Something tells me,
I’m into something good!

Something Good – Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits)

Yep, Herman is still around! He does a great weekly “British Invasion” radio show on Sirius/XM radio, full of salacious stories about his young teenage years which he spent bar-hopping with his older (and reportedly decadent) Beatles and Stones buddies. Herman admits the stories may or may not all be factual, but they sure are entertaining.

Let’s Take Another Look at Military Draft of Young Women

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

photo by S. Olson, courtesy LA Times

I became draft-eligible in 1973. It was during the last, ugly days of the Vietnam War. The war was winding down, the fighting was still intense, combat casualties were high, and Americans, including many guys my age who were serving “in country”, wondered what the hell we were doing there. We clearly weren’t fighting to win.

At that time the military draft operated on a lottery of birthdates. As the draft date approached, I resigned myself to the possibility that I might soon be headed for ‘Nam. But then Selective Service ended actual conscription just before my age group became eligible.

It was a big relief. I was a patriotic young guy, but nobody wanted to be drafted during the waning years of the Vietnam War. According to street legend, the “FNGs” (f’***ing new guys) were immediately sent to the front line and were the most likely soldiers to come home in a bag. Nobody wanted to be the last one to die in the jungle.

So as it turned out I never served in the military. But I have always had a fascination with all things military. I can’t resist combat air museums, decommissioned ships, and war documentaries on the History Channel. Friends my age take on a wistful look and a wry smile reminiscing about their military days. I have a hole in my soul where military service might have been.

This week our Senate passed the 2016 NDAA (National Defense Appropriations Act), a bill which funds military operations. It included a rider that would make women eligible for Selective Service. The House had earlier passed their version of the appropriations bill which did not include a provision for drafting women. Now the two legislative bodies will meet in conference to hash out the differences in their bills.

I sincerely hope the House wisdom will prevail, and we will not submit our young women to Selective Service.

I know that our young women are as patriotic and generally, if not physically, as capable as our young men. But I also know that the draft will only be reinstated if there is a real calamity – a serious conflict that involves deadly, boots-on-the-ground, man-to-man combat.

Yes, I said it. “Man-to-man” combat. In a winner-take-all battle, our enemies will not be sending 18-year old women to the front lines. Our soldiers in combat will face the enemy’s most hostile, physical, violent young men: jacked-up warriors who don’t give a rip about gender equality.

Female former marine Jude Eden said, “Combat is not an equal opportunity for women because they don’t have an equal opportunity to survive.” And study after study has proved that combat units which include women consistently underperform. By drafting women, we risk sending them to the front lines. And by sending them to the front lines, we risk endangering not only our brave but overmatched women; we are handicapping our brave men.

Our patriotic American women will always play a vital role in our military, and they are free and welcome to join the service branch of their choice voluntarily. But our congressmen should know that setting young women up to be the next conscripted “FNGs” headed for the front line in desperate times is something we just can’t live with.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone

Born In the USA – Bruce Springsteen