Author Archives: Tom Balek

Loser Pays – What a Concept

Posted on by Standard 1

lisa loserAmerica has a big problem that gets almost no attention in the media, despite the fact that it costs consumers untold billions of dollars every year, inhibits innovation and progress, and enriches lawyers who take advantage of real victims.

The USA is the only nation on earth that does not have a “loser-pay” provision built into its legal system.  As a result, the production of class-action lawsuits is one of our most lucrative, if rancid, industries.

A class-action lawsuit is born when an attorney claims that a deep-pockets business or institution has harmed a large number of innocent victims by some action or failure to act, real or imagined.  The plaintiff attorney has no risk; if the judge or jury decides the suit is without merit, his only cost is the loss of his time.  If he wins, the financial windfall can be gargantuan.  Meanwhile the defendant faces one of two miserable fates:  at worst, a punishing, if not crippling, financial settlement; at best, a huge legal defense bill.

Many class-action suits are flat-out frivolous, and rely on a corporation’s (or its insurer’s) desire to quickly settle out of court rather than face a lengthy, expensive trial that may damage it’s reputation if not its financial viability.   Other class-action suits are built on a genuine grievance.  Unfortunately, the primary benefactors of the process are the attorneys for both sides, as their compensation comes off the top of the proceeds, leaving a pittance to be shared by a large number of victims.

It only happens here.  All other nations have some variation of a “loser pays” provision, whereby the initiator of a lawsuit must pay all the costs of litigation if his claim is found baseless.  It makes a litigant think twice before filing a suit that is less than genuine.

Unfortunately, we all bear the cost of this legal lemon in higher product costs, jacked-up medical bills, higher taxes, and a slowed-down economy with producers and developers unwilling to take risks.  A trip to McDonald’s illustrates the absurdity, from the coffee cup labeled “Warning!  Contents may be hot!” to the small blow-up Happy Meal toy marked “Warning! Do Not Use as a Flotation Device!  Do not ingest!”

Our federal government agencies, seeing the success of private attorneys in this extortion racket, have developed their own version of the game.  They single out a deep-pockets company and threaten it with unsurvivable fines, which can only be avoided by accepting a “consent decree” that requires some kind of behavior modification desired by the government.

Our political leaders seem fixated on a lot of small-ticket issues.  If you know a congressman looking for a pretty easy policy change that promises real, immediate financial benefit for every American, here’s two words to whisper in his ear:  “Loser Pays!”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideSoy un perdedor
I’m a loser baby,
So why don’t you kill me?
(Sprechen Sie Deutche, baby)

Loser – Beck

 

One of the weirdest songs ever on my blog site.  But I like it.

The Insider GOP CrapBurgers Have Finally Hit the Fan

Posted on by Standard 3

wake-up-alarm-clockHow long have we been trying to wake up the Republican party?  Even before emergence of the Tea Party, the mainstream “real” Americans who go to work, pay their taxes, mow their own lawns and worry about their kids’ futures were trying to express that we are fed up with the political correctness, the deceit, the secularization, the corruption, and the failed domestic and foreign policies of our government officials.  We’re sick of not being heard.  We’re tired of being lied to.  We’re sick and tired of the condescension.

Year after year we worked for candidates, contributed to campaigns and causes, studied and wrote and taught conservative principles.  It only got worse.  “They just don’t get it,” we complained to each other.  We sent officials to Washington who we thought were conservatives, only to see them melt into the cushy lap of the DC Cartel, rendered incapable of standing up to the leftist leadership, who ran roughshod over our values and our wallets.

They offered us loser McCain.  They put up loser Romney.  They gave us Speaker Boehner, and Justice Roberts and Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan.  They refused to stop funding for Planned Parenthood and to keep nukes away from Iran.  They funded opposition to conservative candidates. They stood by and silently watched the president abandon our allies, and condoned his military “shrinkage”. They would not defend our constitution or our borders. They signed off on one porky CrapBurger budget after another, ballooning our debt.

Now, finally, the CrapBurgers have hit the fan.  We actually have two presidential candidates, Cruz and Trump, who are not in the pockets of the Cartel.  And the Insider Republicans are FREAKING OUT.

It’s a  pathetic sight.  Today the Insider Republicans trotted out Romney, the guy who couldn’t even match up against the worst president in our nation’s history, to try to bully the outsider candidates who now threaten their DC cocktail party invitations.

Listen to Romney and the Insider Republicans bashing the challengers:  “You’re a RAAAACIST!  You’re a nasty rich guy taking advantage of little old ladies!  You hate women and the handicapped!  You are an intolerant Christian!  You hate the poor and the immigrants!  You hate gay people!  Racist! Racist! Racist!”

Sound familiar?

When Hillary Clinton was asked,  “What is the difference between a socialist and a Democrat?” she had no answer.  I’d like to ask the Insider Republicans, “What is the difference between you and the Democrats?.”wimpy.-King-Features1

They still don’t get it.  They know their very existence is threatened, but they don’t know why, and it looks like they are incapable of understanding or change.

It’s time to start over.  And it’s way past time for the Insider Republicans to stop asking me for money every five minutes.  I will NOT pay you Tuesday for another CrapBurger today!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideCrapBurgers and Sleazy Lies
You fooled us once and you fooled us twice
The Inside Republicans have met their demise
No more CrapBurgers and Sleazy Lies!

to the tune of CheeseBurger in Paradise
(apologies to Jimmy Buffet)

 

Just Sayin’ . . .

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Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton, after winning the SC Democrat primary proclaimed: “Despite what you hear, we don’t need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers.”

If Hillary thinks we need to make America whole again, why does she continue to divide Americans into “victim groups” by skin color, by achievement and income level, by religion, and by sex or sexual orientation and pitting us against each other?  Hillary promises to continue Obama’s direction when she is president.  Are people going to grow more divided and suspicious of each other every year during her presidency, too?  Just sayin’ . . .

al-sharptonThe Reverend Al Sharpton (along with Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell) has announced that if Donald Trump is elected president, he will leave the country.

Um, can we make sure the good Reverend has paid his $4.5 million in back taxes before we let him out?  And by the way, would somebody please find out what church the Rev is preaching at every Sunday?  Just sayin’ . . .

juleanna gloverWashington insider and GOP consultant Juleanna Glover said, “If Cruz doesn’t beat Trump in Texas, there’s going to be full-scale panic.”

Seems to me if the Washington insiders are scared to death of Trump moving into their neighborhood, that might be exactly why people are voting for him.  Just sayin’ . . .

Leonardo_DiCaprio_2010Environmental activist / actor Leonardo DiCaprio told Vanity Fair he was terrified when global warming caused the weather in Calgary to rapidly change on his recent visit.  “There would be eight feet of snow and then all of a sudden a warm gust of wind would come,” DeCaprio cried.

Anybody who has spent a winter on the east slopes of the Rockies will tell you it happens all the time, Leo.  It’s called Chinook winds, and it’s been going on since long before those evil white men first set foot in Montana or Alberta.  Just sayin’ . . .

chriswallaceOn Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace badgered Ted Cruz, repeating the juvenile and baseless insults thrown at him by his opponents in the recent presidential debate.  When an exasperated Cruz charged that Wallace was using Trump’s opposition bullet points, Wallace flew into a rage.  Wallace did not ask Cruz a single policy-related question during the interview.

Isn’t this the same Chris Wallace whose eyes well with tears each week as he lists the political figures who won’t answer his requests for an interview?  Just sayin’ . . .

berniesandersBernie Sanders says a college education should be provided to all students free of charge.

You get what you pay for, Bernie.  You get what you pay for.  Just sayin’ . . .

 

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideTell me what I say,
Tell me what I say right now
Tell me what I say
Tell me what I say!

What I Say – Ray Charles

 

 

Heritage Foundation Eats An Elephant

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elephant_one_bite

graphic by Sean Gallo

Have you heard anything lately about the budget?  Is anybody still concerned about the size and growth of our federal government, our $20 trillion (and growing) debt, and the decomposing cadaver our economy has become?

It seems strange at a time when there is so much political buzz, nobody is talking much about our fiscal problem.  The presidential candidates from both sides show little or no concern, probably because the topic is not “sexy” enough for media coverage.

Well, I hate to be a buzz-killer, but the budget elephant is still in the room, getting bigger and smellier every day.

We have been repeatedly told by our political leaders and media pundits that our fiscal problem is too impossibly huge to even think about. Well, it’s not. This can be solved.  Why not roll up our sleeves and start working on it?  Like, now?

Fortunately, we still have one shining treasure in our national vault — the Heritage Foundation.  This group of geniuses has no fear of tackling big, vexing problems.  And they have a solution for our seemingly intractable spending problem.  It’s called the “Blueprint for Balance – A Federal Budget for 2017”.

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time. The Blueprint for Balance is a six-course elephant dinner:

  • SLOW THE GROWTH IN SPENDING, while fully funding national security needs
  • CUT TAXES by $1.3 trillion over 10 years
  • BALANCE THE BUDGET within seven years
  • REDUCE SPENDING by $10.5 trillion and cut the deficit by $9.2 trillion over 10 years
  • ELIMINATE BUDGET GIMMICKS and establish a process to address unauthorized appropriations
  • ELIMINATE PROGRAMS that produce favoritism and limit opportunity

These are not just wishes or slogans.  Each course is real-world, detailed and dollarized into chewable bites.

Here’s an example.  One of hundreds of cost-saving recommendations would eliminate subsidies for Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). This proposal saves $438 million in FY 2017.

When I lived in rural Montana, my electricity was provided by a rural cooperative with outstanding local service at a reasonable (albeit heavily subsidized) price. Now I live in an urban area with a huge nuclear power plant operated by the nation’s largest electric utility company only a few miles from my home.  My electricity should be cheap, right?  Oh heck no!  Because I am forced to subscribe to a ‘grandfathered’ rural electric cooperative, my rates are much higher than my neighbors who are served by the big guys. Plus the co-op gets taxpayer subsidies.

At the turn of the century it was necessary to establish rural electric cooperatives.  There was no other way to provide affordable electricity in sparsely-populated areas.  But like most government programs, it has outlived its purpose.

This is just one bite – there are hundreds of others, some big and some small, in the Blueprint for Balance. I hope my congressman is hungry, because I am going to ask him to start chewing.  Please ask yours to do the same.  If every congressman takes a couple of bites, we can do this.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideGonna live each minute,
‘Til I’ve had my fill
Aw, girl, I’ll be rollin’ in it!
Yes, yes, you know I will,!

Hungry – Paul Revere and the Raiders

 

 

Wanted: Tough Guys in Congress

Posted on by Standard 1

mick-mulvaney 2My congressman, Mick Mulvaney, keeps in regular contact with his South Carolina constituents, mostly via social media.  He is accessible, articulate, and sharp – a conservative / libertarian / pragmatist who seems to really enjoy doing the people’s work.

As a by-product of his accessibility, Mulvaney wears his heart on his sleeve, and doesn’t do a good job of hiding his frustration with the “system”.  That frustration was one of the reasons he was a founding member of the rebel Freedom Caucus.

Because we have such remarkable access to him, we pepper him with our own frustrations, hoping that since he actually hears our concerns, usually agrees with us, and seems to give a damn, he might actually be able to do something.

Today Mulvaney spent an hour or so on Facebook in an open question-and-answer session, something he does frequently.  Frustrated questions, frustrated answers:

Bob: “Can someone please tell me how we are going to survive, as a nation, with a $19 trillion federal deficit? It seems no one is concerned. We have entrusted our country to Congress and NO Congressperson is taking a stand against spending.”

Mulvaney: “The House Freedom Caucus is pushing exactly that. But as the debt isn’t a sexy issue right now, we get almost no media coverage.”

Micheal: “The Pentagon has been required by law to be audited since the 90’s but has failed to do so. How can we give them more money when we have no idea how they are already spending the money they’ve received?”

Mulvaney: “I’ve been fighting against the OCO [Overseas Contingency Operations] slush fund since I got to Congress. I just wish more people cared about how badly we waste money in the Pentagon.”

Me: “Mick, have you followed the land grabs out west? I’m originally from Montana you know, and my friends back there are pretty worried. Between the EPA, the BLM, and taking land for “national monuments” it seems like the federal government is hell bent on owning or micromanaging every acre west of Nebraska. What’s going on?”

Mulvaney: “We push reforms every year, but they don’t rise to the level of getting much media attention.”

$19 trillion is not “sexy enough”?  Nobody cares about wasted taxpayer funds?  Not enough media attention to stop the federal government from acquiring 80% of the land west of Colorado, and torturing (or murdering) the few citizens who own the other 20%?

What happened to the idea that the people set the objectives for their representives?  When did we start relying on the media to decide which issues are “sexy enough” to get attention?  If Congress is waiting for the media to set their work priorities and schedules, we have a big problem.

Congressman Mulvaney and the Freedom Caucus are the ‘good guys’.   We don’t need them to be ‘nice guys.’  What we need are some ‘tough guys’ who will take charge and get the important work of the people done.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

For you baby I would, swim the sea
Nothin’ I’d do for you that’s too tough for me
I’d put out a burnin’ building with a shovel and dirt
And not even worry about getting hurt
Ain’t that tough enough?
Tough Enough – the Fabulous Thunderbirds

Senate GOP – Don’t Give Up Like You Always Do!

Posted on by Standard 2

scaliaHere we go again.

Now we have lost Supreme Court Justice Scalia, the last and best guardian of the Constitution.  And you know — you just know — that the weak-kneed, self-serving GOP establishment Washington, DC cartel is going to cave in and give President Obama his replacement.

Afraid of appearing to be “mean”, lest the people who don’t vote for them anyway will dislike them even more, these DC weenies are still in the lineup despite batting .000 in the National Negotiation League.

I am one of the small handful of people who still listens to Michael Medved’s radio show; there are few choices in the wee hours of the morning.  Medved is the designated talk radio spokesman for the squishy Republicans.  His assignment is to defend and make excuses for the GOP liars in Congress who promised they would stand up to the Obama regime at election time, and now refuse to do so at every opportunity.

Today he opens his show with the topic, “Is Compromise A Dirty Word?”  He regularly excoriates conservative listeners who call his show to support Donald Trump’s hard-line populist positions against out-of-control immigration, bad trade deals, and the Obama/Kerry nuclear giveaway to Iran.

Medved is even more hysterical about Ted Cruz, insisting that Cruz has “no chance of being elected” because he refuses to be bullied into submission by the intractable left and their assault on virtually all of our traditional American values.

He even goes after Dr. Ben Carson, the quiet but tough-as-nails conservative who brought down the house at an event I attended last week at Winthrop University.  A coed asked him if he was concerned about the environment.  “Of course I am,” Carson responded with his usual warm, slow smile.  “I wouldn’t allow a company to dump chemicals in a river and harm everybody downstream.  But the stuff you have been fed about “climate change” — what a bunch of CRAP!”

An exasperated caller to Medved’s show was about at the end of his rope when the establishment apologist insisted that the Republican party is dead because they refuse to compromise with the Democrats to provide more freebies to the victim groups who are lining up behind Bernie Sanders-Claus.   “Why are we the only ones who have to ‘compromise’?” the caller complained.  “The Democrats never compromise.  They hold their ground or they advance.”

Medved’s answer was stunning.  “That’s not true!  Obama wanted to raise all taxes, and end Bush’s tax cuts.  But a few of Bush’s tax cuts were left in place!”   Right, Michael.  The Democrats didn’t get everything they wanted, just most of it – and to you and your DC Republican friends, that is a compromise on their part.

They still don’t get it.  I don’t know why, but it appears that they will never get it.   Churchill, in the darkest days of World War II, rallied his weary countrymen to victory with the famous words: “Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”

What will it take to convince our “always give in” Republican officials that this time it’s important?  Obama’s Supreme Court appointee will doubtless be the exact opposite of Justice Scalia, bringing irreparable harm to the country for decades to come.

You know that liberals will howl “unfair!” if the Senate doesn’t confirm Obama’s first pick.  If the shoe were on the other foot, do you think the Democrats would give the Republicans a free pass? Frankly, I will be surprised if Obama doesn’t make a recess appointment while the Senate is out of town.

Let’s just hope that maybe, for once, our Republican senators will grow a pair and hold the line until after the election.  And let’s vow to primary out any defectors this time.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideDon’t give up
’cause you have friends
Don’t give up
You’re not beaten yet
Don’t give up
I know you can make it good

Don’t Give Up – Peter Gabriel

 

 

Tough Political Decision? Let History Be Your Guide

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decisionsDecisions, decisions.  Man is a thinking animal, and every waking moment involves decisions.  Most are ordinary choices of personal comfort.  Some decisions are a matter of life or death, or even something so paramount that one will risk his own life to achieve the desired result.

Some of us are better at making decisions than others.  But one thing is clear – at the root of every decision is one primary element: self-interest.   And that’s a good thing.  The desire to improve our lives and the lives of the ones we love is universal, timeless and unbreakable.  God knew what he was doing when he designed the human soul.

God also put us all on the same planet, so we not only have to serve our own self-interests, we also must co-exist.  And that’s where it gets interesting.  We all want what is best for ourselves and our families, but we can’t agree on the best way to make that happen.  What might be best for you could be terrible for me, or vice-versa.

Those who see life from the “left” side believe individuals should sacrifice personal freedoms to gain physical and economic security as a group.  Socialism calls for more control by the state, assuming that most people are not so good at making decisions for themselves.  If decisions are made by fewer humans who are presumably smarter than the rest of us, there will be less likelihood of catastrophic failure.  Individuals will have their basic needs met, but will not have the chance to make decisions that might lead to far greater success and happiness for themselves and others.

Those on the “right” side holds the opposite as truth.  They would rather make their own decisions, because nobody is more interested in his own well-being than oneself.   One may totally fail, but he would rather have the opportunity to achieve a higher level of happiness and fulfillment than settle for bland shared security.

There is, of course, middle ground, and that’s where the war between left and right takes place. Fortunately, in this political battleground of decisions and the philosophical fog of war, there is a bright, neon sign showing the correct path.  It’s called history.

History proves that quality of life is always best where individuals have more freedom to make decisions in their own self-interest.  And hell on Earth is where all decisions are made by the state. If more state control is so great, how did that work out for the people of the Soviet Union? Or Cambodia? Or Nazi Germany?

Why does our entire educational system deny this historical fact?  How does a generation of our youth clamor to follow socialist demagogues who promise security but don’t explain the consequences of relinquishing individual rights and freedoms?  Could it be that the few who would be the designated decision-makers are acting in their own self-interest?

History also shows that there were, and still are, individuals who understand the value of individual freedom so well that they would make the ultimate decision to put their lives on the line to preserve it.

My message is this: when faced with a decision between group security and individual freedom, let history be your guide.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice

Free Will – Rush

 

Watch this fantastic Rush rocker featuring drummer Neal Peart and his HUGE set of DW drums.  Free Will!

 

#RANCHERSLIVESMATTER

Posted on by Standard 2
A memorial for Robert “LaVoy” Finicum is seen where he was shot and killed by law enforcement on a highway north of Burns, Oregon January 30, 2016. Four armed anti-government protesters held their ground at the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon on Saturday, two days after the FBI released a video of the fatal shooting of one of the group's spokesmen during a traffic stop. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

A memorial for Robert “LaVoy” Finicum is seen where he was shot and killed by law enforcement on a highway north of Burns, Oregon January 30, 2016.  REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

It has been a month since the standoff in Oregon between ticked-off ranchers and federal officers began.  I have been following the story closely, uneasily, just like the many similar stories before it.  The conflict between landowners in the western US and the feds has been boiling for a long, long time.

The plot usually goes like this:  A family works hard on their land, raising their children, being good citizens, paying their taxes and generally minding their own business.  They are good neighbors and watch out for each other.  They serve on the school board and the church steering committee.  They are careful stewards of their land, because it provides their home and livelihood.

In the rural West, people get along with each other.  They have to.  When there may only be a hundred people within thirty miles of your home, you learn to be civil, respectful, helpful and friendly.

Then one day a federal agency shows up, uninvited, with a truckload of rules cooked up in a faraway office building by activists and lawyers, on a mission that defies logic.  These are not people with names, like your neighbors.  Their authority comes from their initials: BLM, FWS, EPA.  Nobody elected them.  They can’t be fired.  They can’t be taken to court, at least with any reasonable expectation of results, because they can line up taxpayer-funded lawyers until hell freezes over.  They don’t have to make sense.

A Wyoming rancher is fined $16 million by the EPA for building a stock pond on his own land that was carefully planned and approved by the state.  The water leaves his property cleaner than when it came in.

Spurred by activists, the feds relocate Canadian gray wolves to Montana and other states, where they reproduce wildly, destroying elk herds, and wreaking havoc on privately owned livestock and pets.

BLM officials close roads that provide access to private property.  They disallow forest management on private land which results in raging fires.  They usurp generations-old water rights, and claim control over ditches and sloughs as if they were “navigable waterways”.  They relocate bison to open rangeland over the objections of nearby landowners.

The federal agencies just can’t seem to stop poking landowners in the eye.  And when proud, independent ranchers get pushed against the fence enough times, they stiffen up.  The Bundy family in Nevada had a standoff against federal officials when their grazing rights on adjacent federal land were surreptitiously changed.  Dwight Hammond and his father, Steven, had dustups with the BLM over controlled burns for pasture management.  When they set a backfire to protect their winter range against an oncoming fire, it jumped onto federal land and burned a small parcel, resulting in their arrest for arson.  They served a three-month sentence, but another judge later added five years for mandatory sentencing under an “anti-terrorism” act.

Then a group of upset ranchers, including the Bundys, seized a federal wildlife refuge building to stage a protest about the treatment of the Hammonds and others.  Another three-letter group – the FBI – soon arrived at the scene.  Video footage shows officers (FBI and/or state police) shooting Lavoy Finicum, one of the ranchers, to death as he stood outside his vehicle with his hands up.  A passenger in Finicum’s vehicle claims officers fired “at least 120” shots into the Suburban, and Ammon Bundy was hit in the arm.

It seems that encounters with officers are becoming increasingly deadly.  Only weeks before, Idaho rancher Jack Yantis was called by the Adams County sheriff to “put down” his bull which had been hit by a vehicle on a nearby highway.  As he was about to mercy-shoot the bull in the head, Yantis was pulled away from behind and shot to death by deputies.  His widow says it was cold-blooded murder.

All of these incidents are still under investigation, but since it is the government investigating the government, we shouldn’t expect any big revelations.

The right to own and enjoy the unfettered use of private property may be the single biggest factor in our nation’s success.  There would be a lot less conflict if the government would leave private landowners alone, and also if more land was owned by the private sector – 65% of all land west of Denver is owned by the federal government.

#RANCHERSLIVESMATTER

 

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideMaybe I’ll be there to shake your hand
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land
That they’ll be givin’ away
When we all live together

Share the Land – the Guess Who

 

Yep, Canadian Burton Cummings still wants to share the land with everybody.  Let’s send the BLM his way!

Easy First Step to Make USA Stronger – Eliminate EITC

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Our federal deficit and debt is so huge and out of control, there’s just nothing anybody can do about it.  We’re screwed, right?

Wrong.  We CAN fix it, and we must, if we give a damn about our kids.

Our debt and stagnant economy is a huge mess, that’s for sure, and the only way to clean up a huge mess is to start somewhere. I once stood awestruck on the deck of an aircraft carrier and wondered, “What was the first bolt the shipbuilders put in this baby?”  Some Assembly Required.  Instructions: 1.  Insert 40 mm grade 5 bolt 16432-A-1216 into the top left threaded hole in whizzle restrictor plate 76-523215654. 

You have to start somewhere.  And I have an idea where to start the task of repairing our budget and tax code.  We could do it tomorrow, it would be easy to do, and it would cost nothing.  In fact it would save the taxpayers a ton of money, and would, over time, improve the economy and actually increase revenue to the government.  Here it is:

Eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).EITC

Wait, come back!  I know you hate even thinking about taxes.  That’s why you, and almost all Americans pay some total stranger to do your tax returns instead of doing them yourself.  But this one little change would make a huge impact, and it’s easy.  Really!  Stick with me.

The earned income tax credit was enacted in 1975 under Gerald Ford.  It is, simply put, a federal welfare program.  Workers earning up to $52,000 per year are eligible to receive a direct credit on their tax returns, with the amount based on a number of criteria – mostly the number of dependent children.  What began as a modest little income booster for low-income parents grew over time (like all federal programs) into a monster.  The 2015 cost of the EITC is estimated at $70 billion.  But there are other insidious side effects that are even more harmful than the cost.

You have probably heard that almost half of US workers pay no federal income tax.  What you don’t ever hear is that many of these people get a tax refund even though they didn’t pay federal income tax. This includes foreign workers and illegal aliens.  In fact, a new cottage industry has sprouted where tax returns are filed for illegals, winning them big tax refund checks for EITC and dependent child deductions.  These returns go unaudited, with expedited payouts, despite rampant fraud including the claiming of children who never lived in the US.   Senator Chuck Grassley even learned that illegals can file for EITC for previous years in which they didn’t file taxes!

When some complain that the minimum wage is not adequate for the survival of families with children, you never hear about the EITC tax refund checks, among many other benefits, that are received.  At least 26 states also have their own additional EITC programs.

The most disturbing thing you don’t hear about the EITC is the damage it has done to the American nuclear family. Unmarried filers receive more EITC than married ones, and the direct result has been an increase in single-parent households.  Many parents just don’t get married because it would cost them a significant chunk of change.  At a time when 54% of 15 to 17 year-olds do not live with a married mother and father, this is just plain wrong.

Financial support from EITC and other programs enables and encourages many parents to remain single.  Others live together, but remain unmarried. I know a couple in this category.  Despite sharing a home for twenty years, and raising two kids together, she still calls him her “boyfriend”.  For many years she claimed the kids on her single-filer tax return and benefitted from EITC.  When she got a promotion and her income exceeded the threshold, her “boyfriend” claimed the kids on his single-filer return so he could continue to receive the full EITC.  Their combined income exceeded $60,000.

These are good, hard-working people, doing nothing illegal.  You can’t fault them.  But why is the federal government hell bent on destroying the institution of marriage?

When we eliminate the EITC we reduce the incentive for illegals to come here and defraud the taxpayers. We stop the disincentive to marriage.  I would require all workers to pay some federal income tax – even a small amount, so all would have ‘skin in the game’ and a reason to become engaged citizens again.  With $70 billion to work with, there are plenty of ways the loss of EITC could be replaced for low-income families. Wage rates would increase, employment numbers would improve, kids would have two married parents, and the quality of life in America would be back on the upswing.

 

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideWhere are you goin’ to?
What are you gonna do?
Do you think that it will be easy?
Do you think that it will be pleasin’, hey!

Livin’ In the USA – Steve Miller

 

 

Here’s a cool updated version of Steve Miller’s classic, “Livin’ In the USA”.  Somebody get me a cheeseburger!

Cruz Plays Hardball on National Security

Posted on by Standard 1

Ted CruzOur invitation to the Ted Cruz National Security Forum directed us to the “Morningstar Fellowship Church” in Fort Mill, SC.

Last week we attended Donald Trump’s blowout show (it was a show, not a forum) at the Winthrop University Coliseum, a 6,000-seat basketball arena.  We arrived two hours early and found Rock Hill gridlocked for miles around.  Probably as many people were turned away as were admitted – it was overbooked bedlam.  The Trump show was entertaining as hell, if somewhat light on policy details.  The highlight was the removal of a planted Hezbollah/CAIR supporter who played the part of racism victim on CNN that evening.

So today’s Ted Cruz event is at a church?  We went early just in case, but assumed it was, well you know . . .  a church, for a few hundred people.

We found ourselves standing in line outside a huge brick building, in a complex of huge brick buildings, and next to that was a REALLY huge brick building – like a 25-story tall hotel!  Only it had bricks falling off of it and it was obviously not occupied.  I asked the lady behind us about the big empty building.  She said, “Well, it’s a long story.  It was started back in the 80’s, but it never got completed.”  Then she mumbled something about PTL.

tammy faye.jpegPTL!  I had completely forgotten about the Praise the Lord Network.  Last time I saw that name it was in my mother-in-law’s check register when she was sending weekly $100 checks to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker from her kids’ trust fund.  Apparently she was not the only one.   This morning, when I heard mention of PTL, it evoked the image of Tammy Faye blubbering to a camera, mascara flooding down her face.  Allegations of rape and financial shenanigans brought the Bakkers’ multi-million dollar mega-church tumbling down in the late 1980s, and Jim did hard time in the Big House.

Anyway, MorningStar is not just a church.  It is a very large and busy evangelical organization that also takes an aggressive political stance.  MorningStar is headquartered in the resurrected remains of the Jim and Tammy Faye Empire, replete with a world-class facility for TV church services, a Las Vegas style “Main Street” of indoor shops, and an array of chic apartments and retirement homes.  The venue, featuring a large stage with impressive sound and lighting, easily handled the Cruz gathering of 2,000.  Unlike the Trump event, where Secret Service agents severely scrutinized attendees and took three hours to admit the crowd, the Cruz event had no security whatsoever.

My fascination with the MorningStar complex was almost a distraction from the task at hand: Ted Cruz’s “debate” with former CNN and ABC News commentator Jeanne Meserve, who played the part of liberal media egghead, teeing up softballs for Cruz to hit over the fence.

And he hit ’em like Babe Ruth.

Bang! “You want to know the stakes of the 2016 election?  If Hillary is elected, Iran WILL have nukes.  If I am elected, the Ayatollah will never have nuclear weapons.”

Pow! “Under this president, the golf courses of America have never been safer.”

Boom! “I will put a wall on the southern border.  And I’ve got someone in mind to build it!”

Smash! “Out of 7 billion people on Planet Earth, Obama chose the only one (Wendy Sherman) who had already failed at nuclear negotiations (with North Korea) to make a nuclear deal with Iran.”

Ka-boom! “On day one I will rip the Iran nuclear agreement to shreds, and restart sanctions.  I will tell Iran ‘shut down your nuclear program now, or we will shut it down for you.'”

Cruz blasted Obama and Clinton for operating in a “state of denial”, unwilling to even name the enemy.  Ms. Meserve, bravely playing devil’s advocate, challenged Cruz about his plan to deal with “disparate, small pockets of violence, such as what happened in San Bernardino, Paris, and Burkina Faso, where at least 28 victims died at the hands of al Qaeda fighters yesterday.”

“What is that?  What were those acts?” Cruz demanded.  “Terrorism,” Meserve replied.  “What kind of terror?”  No answer.  “Terror by whom?”  Still no answer.  Like the president, the former mainstream news reporter could not, would not say the words “radical Islamic terrorism.”  Whether that was in the script or not, it was sure effective, as Cruz pounded home his contention that a government that can not name its enemy surely can’t defeat it.

Cruz was relaxed, confident, and (dare I say it) presidential.  He left no doubt that, from the conservative viewpoint at least, he is well-versed in the details of our national security challenges, and is earnest about addressing them.  Mrs. Clinton should have grave concerns about facing either Trump or Cruz in front of the American voters.  Trump would gleefully reveal her status as a world-class-liar, and Cruz would expose her utter failure in international affairs, especially our national security.

The event was sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity, and Security (APPS), headed by Congressman Mike Rogers.

Rockin' On the Right SideI want security, yeah
Without it I had a great loss, oh now
Security, yeah
And I want it at any cost, oh now

Security – Otis Redding

 

Another stellar song by the late, great Otis Redding.  He just wants what we all want.  Security!