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

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

What If Our Government Ran Like A Business?

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

govt and business Our country was built on business. Free market, survival-of-the-fittest, improve-or-die business. The United States of America has always been the land of opportunity – a place where success is not only possible, but fully expected by those who follow the timeless and dependable business formula: work hard, be fair and honest, embrace change, meet the customer’s needs, strive for continual improvement. Roll up your sleeves, git ‘er done. Take care of business.

American business people know how to build success and wealth that is shared by all. It’s a perfect system, where vendors, employees, owners, and customers all benefit when the business model is executed right. Our Constitution was written by geniuses – all of them businessmen. It empowers individual citizens and protects our property rights, both of which build prosperity. The framers clearly viewed daily life as business.

We are, and always have been, good at business. So why do we suck so badly at government lately?

GDP growth is stagnant. As our labor participation rate shrinks, our debt explodes. Real wages and buying power have plummeted. Federal government gets bigger while the quality of its work gets worse. Our military has atrophied, our infrastructure is pathetic by international standards, and we have achieved banana-republic corruption status. TSA security lines at airports are three hours long. Our government can’t control our borders, but they are laser-focused on who goes in which bathroom.

It seems like our federal government can’t get anything right these days. Maybe it’s because we haven’t had any business people running the show for a long time. Washington, DC is now bulging with academics, lawyers, and career politicians.

If a business leader were in charge of our federal government, he or she would find a world of opportunities for easy and quick improvement.

A business leader would establish accountability. In business, if an employee or a manager is given adequate resources and training and still doesn’t get the job done, he or she is fired. In the federal government nobody is fired – ever – no matter how egregious their performance or corruption. We can no longer afford government employee unions. The outrageous pay rates and guaranteed benefits, the horrendous productivity, the protection of bad employees and the corrupt crony connections between government unions and politicians must stop. Without the drag of government unions, the cost of government could be significantly and quickly reduced, and performance improved.

A business leader would face fiscal realities. Unlike the current group of academic dreamers and socialists in government who think throwing taxpayer money at any problem will solve it, business people know that money does not grow on trees or printing presses and does not magically cure every hiccup. Believe me when I tell you that no company (at least none that survives) budgets like our government does. Can you imagine Ford increasing its budget for production of each model by 15% every year, regardless of sales and profit? Of course not. Ford, and every other company, large and small, operates by zero-based budgeting. Every department or product must justify every dollar spent with performance and profit, every year.

A business leader would set and maintain priorities, and establish a functional management structure. Sadly, our federal government has become a patchwork of obsolete and redundant agencies and departments with overlapping or obsolete agendas and nobody really in control. Survival and success in government work relies on political connections, not performance. Bureaucrats are rewarded based on the number of employees they acquire, not on their accomplishments – and certainly not for efficiency! Every successful private enterprise has a business plan. We need a government plan, with real and measureable objectives, and a solid management framework to ensure that the objectives are met.

Government insiders, and most liberals, would argue that government can’t be run like a business, because it does not exist to react to consumer demand and offer a product. I disagree. Citizens have needs that must be supplied by the federal government, and they are set forth in the Constitution. Unfortunately, our behemoth government cranks out mountains of products that we don’t want or need, and does a pretty lame job of providing the services we do. Some will say that most of the cost of government is “entitlements” that can’t be reduced. That’s BS. Built into the cost of entitlements is a huge bloat of inefficiency, fraud, and corruption.

Of course the nation’s executive must share power with Congress. But that’s no different than a private business being driven by consumer demand. The leader must have vision and the ability to direct and motivate others.

If Donald Trump is elected, we may have the opportunity to see if our government can be run more like a business, and if that results in improvements for American citizens.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

And I’ll be taking care of business (every day)
Taking care of business (every way)
I’ve been taking care of business (it’s all mine)
Taking care of business and working overtime! Watch out!

Bachman Turner Overdrive – Takin’ Care of Business

To My #NEVERTRUMP Friends: Let’s Roll the Dice!

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 3

Trump I voted for Ted Cruz in the South Carolina primary. Last night, after getting Trump-thumped (again) in Indiana, Cruz pulled out of the presidential race.

Many of my friends and acquaintances who “Rock on the Right Side” are really bummed today. They say they will never vote for Trump. A number of them have disowned the Republican Party or proclaimed it dead. Some express fear that Trump will start a trade war with China and trash our economy (presumably worse than it already is). The angriest among them shout that Trump is a Democrat plant, intent on destroying the nation once and for all.

I remember how bummed I was when Obama was re-elected in 2012. I knew what to expect from his second term, although I admit my surprise that Congress didn’t put up any resistance at all. So I understand your despair on V-D day (Victory for The Donald). If I could, I would buy each of you a beer and we could all cry in them together.

But just one beer.

I agree that Trump, at times, sounds like an idiot, despite his insistence that he “has a good brain” and is “very smart.” I know that he is not all that interested in the Constitution, that he has supported liberals, and that he is on the wrong side of some pretty important values issues. He’s rude. He’s coarse. He’s arrogant. I get it. But I will be voting for him in November anyway. Here’s why.

First of all, it must be repeated that we know for certain how awful life under Hillary will be. If you don’t know that, or are in denial, I can’t help you. Hillary will be Obama on steroids – ten times more aggressive and fearless – and we won’t be able to count on Congress or the Supreme Court to defend us. This alone should be all the motivation you need to take a chance on Trump, or maybe you have children or grandchildren to think about. On the other hand, if you strongly believe our priorities should be making safe zones for college students, building special bathrooms for .06% of the population, shutting down energy production in the USA while China builds a new coal plant every week, and igniting warfare in our country over race, sex and income level, just let Hillary win.

Consider, too, that for the last eight years our nation has been led by politically-correct academic knuckleheads. Is it any wonder our economy has tanked when nobody in the administration knows anything about business, economics, trade, foreign relations, military strategy, or anything else? What if, for a change, we have a president who brings in qualified experts from the real world to replace the self-serving government weenies and delirious socialist academics currently running our federal government?

I can’t guarantee that Donald Trump will do that. He hasn’t shown a whole lot of depth or detail to back up his populist promise that he will “make America great again.” But he might.

He might make the EPA back off and let the USA become the energy powerhouse of the world. He might beef up our military, knock out the terrorists and regain the respect of other nations. He might protect us from the plague of uncontrolled immigration that is destroying Europe. He might clean house on our bloated, inefficient and corrupt federal government and make it work for the people. At least Trump won’t have to pay back crony campaign contributors and lobbyists.

There is the chance that things could be a hell of a lot better than they are now, and fairly soon.

I’m willing to roll the dice.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Say now baby, I’m the rank outsider,
You can be my partner in crime.
Baby! Baby!
You got to roll me and call me the tumblin’ dice!

the Rolling Stones – Tumblin’ Dice

My boys are getting a little bit wrinkled – but they still rock!

The Insider GOP CrapBurgers Have Finally Hit the Fan

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 3

How 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

CrapBurgers 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)

Tough Political Decision? Let History Be Your Guide

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Decisions, 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

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!

Easy First Step to Make USA Stronger – Eliminate EITC

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

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).

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

Where 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!

Are The Three Stooges Running Our Energy Policy?

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Gas is down to $1.65 a gallon here in South Carolina, and dropping.

It seems like only yesterday we feared industrial nations would need more oil than could be produced, and that we might even run out of oil. The price of oil spiked upward, motivating scientists and entrepreneurs to search for new sources and methods for meeting the world’s growing need for affordable energy.

rusty-wind-turbine Pressed by our federal government, and rewarded with huge taxpayer-funded subsidies, domestic energy providers tried wind power, but that was a bust. It quickly became evident that windmill farms are horribly inefficient, difficult and expensive to maintain, and damaging to birds. Not to mention they are an eyesore. Now thousands of rusting, inoperative windmills blot the American landscape, and the ones that still work require ongoing federal cash infusions.

Solar power didn’t work either. The cost per unit of power produced was even worse than wind, requiring financial support from taxpayers to bring it to market. Solar panels take up too much real estate, are subject to weather, and could only provide a small part of our electrical needs even in the best of circumstances. In the scramble for easy government money, corruption in the solar power industry was rampant.

The government even forced us to add ethanol to gasoline, despite estimates by scientists that corn ethanol production uses six times more energy than it produces. The push toward ethanol threw a monkey wrench into the agricultural industry.

But while the federal government (like always) failed miserably to solve the problem, the free market (like always) came through with flying colors, finding a way to affordably meet our current and future energy demands. Guess what? It’s still oil and natural gas. Thanks to new high-tech methods of finding and tapping oil and natural gas reserves with a small and ecologically benign footprint, we now have an overabundance of available energy.

So now we can get rid of the expensive, corrupt, and unproductive taxpayer subsidies for solar power, wind generators, electric cars and ethanol plants, right?

Sigh.

Today our congressmen and women are voting on yet another bloated omnibus spending bill which includes:

a five-year extension of the solar investment tax credit (ITC)
a five-year extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC)
an increased allocation to the Department of Energy, most of which gets used for subsidies and contracts to politically-connected cronies
a three-year extension of the land and water conservation fund (LWCF), which will result in even more government ownership of resource-rich land

The uber-rich will still get $7500 from taxpayers for each $100,000 Tesla electric car they buy. The owner of Tesla will rake in millions more in subsidies. Meanwhile your own ten-year old Chevy will die prematurely from burning 10% ethanol while the prohibitive price of The-Three-Stooges-1 beef erases steaks and roasts from your grocery list. And the pure gas you buy for your boat, which can’t use ethanol, costs 70 cents per gallon more than the stuff with ethanol added. Huh?
I think I know who is in charge of our energy policy. Larry, Curly, and Moe.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hey Moe! Hey Moe!
Well, nyuck nyuck nyuck nyuck!
La da dee, la da dee!
Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

The Curly Shuffle – Jump N’ the Saddle Band

I Know Why Government Officials Pay For Patriotic Pregame Shows!

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

This week the poo hit the fan when Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain complained about the millions of taxpayer dollars going to owners of professional sports teams for the privilege of having patriotic, pro-military programs at their games.

Sports fans assumed, naturally, that team owners were providing the patriotic tributes to veterans and active-duty servicemen and women at their own expense, because they love the country that made them wealthy. A few owners do provide prime-time for free, but many don’t. These owners are the same uber-wealthy team owners who make taxpayers build or renovate stadiums every few years, threatening to move their teams out of town if the taxpayers don’t build them more high-rent corporate luxury boxes. Would a guy who sells your kid a half-sized crappy hot dog for eight bucks give away five minutes of high-visibility pre-game for free?

But lest you think the owners are the only villains in this smelly episode, there’s more to the story.

Some years ago when I lived in Montana, I noticed that all of the college sports broadcasts were sponsored by the state Worker’s Comp fund. I thought that was strange. Why does the Worker’s Comp Fund buy advertising? Viewers of their TV ads can’t buy anything from Worker’s Comp. Employers only buy worker’s comp insurance because they have to.

Then one day at a minor league baseball game in Helena I noticed the huge Worker’s Comp advertisement on the outfield fence. And when the announcer welcomed the several hundred Worker’s Comp employees who were attending the game on free tickets that day, the little light bulb over my head lit up. All advertisers get free tickets . . .

Free tickets! THAT’S why government officials buy advertisements with taxpayer money for sports teams!

I wonder how many seats the Montana state agencies own at Grizzly Stadium? And how many NFL tickets at Fedex Stadium were bought by the taxpayers? The Pentagon lamely defends their top-tier sports-venue expenditures as recruiting expense. But the other mid-level government desk-jockeys who write checks to sports teams all over the country sure can’t use that excuse.

It’s not enough that bureaucrats at every level of government make more money, work fewer hours, and have less responsibility than the people whose money they throw around. It’s no coincidence that career politicians like Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid become ridiculously wealthy while working as “public servants”. No, this is worse:

They all get to sit at the 50-yard line while we are in the nose-bleed section, if we can go to the game at all!

Living large on somebody else’s money is a good gig if you can get it.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Take me out to the ball game!
Take me out with the crowd!
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don’t care if I ever get back!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Pete Frampton

Pete’s take on the baseball classic: