Central African Nation Erupts in Violence

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Tom Balek Standard 1

[RockinRightSide News Service – 3/20/23] Civil war has broken out in the once-prosperous central African nation of the Ugandi States. Brutal violence in the streets has replaced the domestic tranquility and personal freedoms that made the nation a “shining beacon on a hill,” admired by all the world and a prized destination for immigrants fleeing oppression and poverty in their home countries.

The conflict started three years ago when the sitting president of the Ugandi States, Donno Trompo, was re-elected by a large majority of the populace, but the entrenched opposition party, who had maintained de facto control of the government throughout Trompo’s term, used a variety of dishonest and illegal tactics to steal the election. State media suppressed news of the election anomalies and proclaimed challenger JoJo Bidenu as the legitimate president of the Ugandi States.

As the Bidenu administration met to certify the illicit election, Trompo supporters who had gathered at the nation’s capital to protest, were beaten and sprayed with chemicals by state police on the steps of the Ugandi States capitol building. When police ratcheted up the violence, what had been a peaceful protest got out of hand. It was later learned that Bidenu government infiltrators aggressively attempted to instigate a riot and breach of the capitol building to justify their election theft. Despite allegations of protester violence by the Bidenu regime, no state officials were seriously harmed.

Four of the protesters were murdered by the authorities; one was shot in the face, one was bludgeoned to death, and two died after being struck with flash bang grenades. The Bidenu regime denied these atrocities, but the events were recorded on incriminating video. Hundreds more protesters were arrested and imprisoned on unfounded and unproven charges. Many of these prisoners were kept in inhumane, filthy jail cells for months and years without access to health care, families, attorneys, or court dates. Most Ugandi States citizens were unaware of the plight of these political prisoners as the Bidenu administration and state media hid their existence from public view.

All pretense of fairness and justice was abandoned in the Ugandi States court system as judges installed by the Bidenu regime refused to hear evidence or provide any form of due process. All of those charged with crimes were presumed guilty. The Ugandi States once-revered constitution was nullified, replaced by a spoils system that rewarded supporters of the Bidenu regime and punished Trompo loyalists.

Civil unrest grew as financial conditions in the Ugandi States deteriorated under the Bidenu regime. Citizens bristled at the government’s corrupt confiscation of wealth and distribution to connected cronies. Government overspending and manipulation of currency, interest rates and financial markets led to rampant inflation which fueled poverty and homelessness. Most banks were forced out of business leaving desperate depositors pondering how to recover their life savings.

Thousands of Ugandi States citizens died after a man-made weaponized virus escaped from a Bidenu-funded laboratory. Using the ensuing pandemic as cover, the regime imposed lockdowns which destroyed businesses and schools, and caused chronic depression. Then the government mandated forced vaccinations that turned out to be deadly rather than therapeutic.

Reports surfaced of Bidenu and his family members taking bribes from foreign governments and companies in exchange for favorable treatment and payments from the national treasury. Ugandi States taxpayers were enraged.

The tinderbox of public sentiment in the Ugandi States was already volatile when the corrupt courts of the Bidenu regime arrested former president Trompo on specious charges. It was the final straw in a long series of provocations that citizens could no longer tolerate.

The capital city of the Ugandi States is now under siege as military and other security officials contemplate which side of the conflict to join. Police departments that were defunded and abandoned by the Bidenu regime are unable to restore order as government loyalists loot and burn cities.

Meanwhile, adversary nations are weighing their military options with the resource-rich Ugandi States government in utter disarray.

Prayers are in order for this nation teetering on destruction. More news will be forthcoming as events develop.

** This article is a parody

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Trump won, and you know it
Trump won, and you know it
Fox News won’t even show it
Trump won, and you know it

Trump Won and You Know It – Natasha Owens

The Digital Dollar – Follow the Money

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Tom Balek Standard 3

It was only a matter of time.

The late, great Rush Limbaugh taught us that whenever there is something really strange going on, especially with our government, just seal out the distractions and follow the money.

I became alarmed a month ago when our Federal Reserve Bank announced that they have developed technology that would enable them to convert our currency to a “digital dollar”. Cash and private banking could soon be a thing of the past.

My observations:

The big banks have been cozying up to the Feds for a long time now, squeezing out smaller and local banks. Only the biggest banks can afford to comply with the onerous federal regulations. Following the money, I’m guessing there is a piece of the government pie already cut for them in this digital dollar objective. The banks clearly have no problem sharing our privacy and our funds with the feds, who are now pushing to restrict unreported cash withdrawals to $600 or less.
The loss of small banks who can make loans and meet local transactional needs is crushing small business in our country. This dovetails with the woke left’s desire to hollow out the middle class. Follow the money.
Once our funds are under the control of the federal government, how long will it be before they establish “equity scores” with which to value our accounts? (Hmm, working white guy, your dollar is worth 35 cents. Unemployed minority migrant, your dollar is worth $2.75, automatically deposited to your account by the government.)
The next step would be controlling our behavior by withdrawing or withholding digital dollars from our accounts based on “social score” or inappropriate activity. This is happening already in China and Canada. (You went to a Trump rally? You contributed to the trucker protest? You posted “Let’s Go Brandon” on your Facebook page? Sorry, your funds are frozen! Your company sells pillows and contributes to voter integrity projects? Sorry, you can’t have bank accounts!)
With the national debt at $33 trillion and interest rates rising, we are about to become Argentina if taxes aren’t increased. But you won’t have to worry about writing a check to the IRS – they will just lift it from your digital dollar account.

I wonder if commercial banking is going to be completely eliminated and/or merged into the Fed. Banks continue to shed jobs. Try calling your bank on the phone: “Your call is very important to us, your wait time is approximately 42 minutes . . .” And now the woke big banks are firing half of their employees because they refuse to get vaccinated with a chemical that has been proven to not work again the China virus, and (according to the CDC) has killed as many as 200,000. Following the money, maybe the big banks are working toward a merger with the Federal Reserve?

The USA became the economic engine of the world based on freedom, including the right to earn, keep, and spend our own money. But we, and the rest of the world, are now facing the “Great Reset”, which is predicated on sharing the wealth based on skin color and equity. (Follow that link to the World Economic Forum if you really want to get scared.) India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are lined up to go digital as well. The EU is looking at perhaps next year.

So how can we protect our assets? Gold? Cryptocurrency? Real estate? Any of these can be confiscated or controlled by over-reaching federal government. Prayer might be the only answer.

I’m afraid it will take a huge and sudden resistance (hopefully non-violent) by the masses to this aggressive radical transformation of our nation and world. The masses will have to be made aware and educated first, and there is precious little time left. The woke leftists must be defeated at every level at every opportunity, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

When you follow the money, nothing is insignificant.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Who’s watching?
I don’t know anymore!
Are the neighbours watching me? (Who’s watching)
Well is the mailman watching me? (Tell me who’s watching)
And I don’t feel safe anymore, oh what a mess
I wonder who’s watching me now
Who? The IRS?!

Somebody’s Watching Me – Rockwell

ENES KANTER FREEDOM – NBA JOURNEYMAN, CONSERVATIVE SUPERSTAR

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Tom Balek Standard 4

ENES KANTER FREEDOM – photo courtesy MSNBC

I love basketball. I played and coached basketball for most of my years on God’s green earth.

Okay, I know, it’s hard to love the NBA when the players, owners, and league officials cowtow to communist China, Nike, and anybody who promises MORE MONEY, while disrespecting the United States by kneeling for the national anthem.

But stick with me for a minute. I have always been a Utah Jazz fan. We lived in Utah back in the Stockton and Malone days – back when the “pick and roll” was sacred and all players stood at attention during the national anthem. I taught my daughter the pick and roll when she was 9 years old.

Like many fans, my team loyalties continued well after leaving the local markets. I still love my Utah Jazz and my Kansas City Chiefs, having lived in those areas, watching hundreds of games, and being caught up in the local pro team frenzy. (Add the Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian football team from our Montana days.)

So when former Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter (now with the Boston Celtics) jumped into the headlines as a shining conservative star, outspoken in his opposition to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s oppression of Uigher Muslims and Venezuela’s totalitarian leader Nicolas Maduro, it got my attention.

Last year when the left gained the upper hand in US politics, the NBA was quick to play the race card, with LeBron James leading the charge against “systemic racism” and criticism of the USA, our values, and our history. At the same time, the NBA embraced Nike, a known civil rights abuser in China, and the Chinese Communist Party, whom the NBA had been courting for many years as a mass consumer of all things NBA, including broadcasts and licensed products.

When the Chinese abuse of Muslims, aggression against Taiwan and Nepal, confiscation of shipping lanes in the South China Sea and crackdowns on civil rights in Hong Kong hit fever pitch, the NBA, including its leading celebrity LeBron James, was dead silent.

Who stepped up in defense of civil rights and freedom? A first-generation immigrant from Turkey, Enes Kanter.

Kanter is, by NBA standards, a journeyman. I was struck by his athleticism and drive when he played for the Utah Jazz, and he plays the same role for the vaunted Celtics. Still, Kanter is not a “star” like LeBron.

But he is a superstar to American conservatives, because he is a strident, if lonesome, voice against totalitarianism, anywhere in the world.

Kanter, a native of Turkey, grew up in fear of totalitarian government. The New York Post quoted Kanter saying, “I remember a teammate posting something online against [then-President Barack Obama] and I got nervous for him,” he recalls of the high school incident in 2009. “I asked him, ‘Dude, what are you doing? They will put you in jail.’ He laughed hysterically and said I was confused. I was shocked that, within the next two days, the police did not come to his house and pressure him to say he was sorry or take away his family. If you did that in Turkey, you would be arrested for sure.”

Now, Kanter speaks out against oppressive regimes, and he understands the danger we face as the United States slides toward the same fate. He even legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom to celebrate his new life in the USA. He recently became a US citizen.

Kanter’s fervor for freedom has not come without cost – he has been threatened by the Turkish government that imprisoned his father, and he faces kidnap and arrest if he leaves the USA.

Kanter has been a regular on conservative TV and radio stations as a beacon for freedom. NBA legend Dominique Wilkins recently surfaced as a supporter of Kanter and his mission. Meanwhile, the NBA continues to embrace the “woke” agenda while ignoring civil rights abuses.

“When I was nine years old, my mom told me to always stand up for what’s right — even if it means sacrificing everything,” he said. “From that day forward, I have always been outspoken. Now I am on a big stage and there are so many dictators out there who are destroying people. God gave me this platform, and I have to use it for the good fight.”

So my first pick for the NBA all-star team is not LeBron James, or Steph Curry, or James Harden – great players all. My favorite player is now Enes Kanter Freedom, a true – and new – American Patriot.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from my home
FREEDOM – Richie Havens

INCOMPETENCE!

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Does this sound like anybody you know? Hmm . . . maybe our federal government? Maybe the Biden administration? Maybe the Democrat Party under Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer? The crazy team on the Marxist crazy train?

Does the term “incompetence” bring to mind minority leader Kevin McCarthy or Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, neither of whom has ever initiated or demanded a regular-order federal budget, instead playing the “continuing resolution” game year after year?

Is it just me, or is the incompetence of our elected officials becoming absolutely mind-boggling?

Anyone who has owned a business, or has been a manager at any level, or for that matter, has been a line-level employee who gives a damn, completely understands the term incompetence. It just can’t be avoided. It slaps you in the face when you see it. Incompetence is so intolerable, and smells so bad, that families go to war over it. Workers quit their jobs over it. Customers flee from suppliers over it.

Have you had a boss who is or was incompetent? Did it piss you off so badly you couldn’t even see straight?

Just for fun, let’s look at some specific recent examples of the incompetence of our national leaders:

Our nation needs a low-cost, reliable energy supply and just one year ago enjoyed economic success and foreign policy prowess as the world’s leading producer of energy
- until the Biden administration cut off pipelines and drilling, while pressing for scientifically indefensible green policies, and advocating for competing nations’ carbon-based energy development, even begging OPEC to increase oil production to hold down the inevitably skyrocketing gas prices
Americans endure endless business, education and home life shutdowns, mask mandates and vaccine requirements due to questionable government and media COVID-19 “science”
- while our federal government overturns all existing border controls and encourages tens of thousands of illegal migrants to walk into our states without any vetting or medical clearance, and while hundreds of thousands of American COVID patients die without being allowed access to proven, inexpensive therapeutic drugs
Federal budgets blow trillions of taxpayer dollars on corrupt schemes to reward political supporters disguised as “community organizers” who work feverishly, and illegally, to ensure the re-election of their leftist sugar daddies

The founders of our nation embraced a free-market economy and expected that government would dovetail into a routine that rewards competence. You build a better mousetrap at a lower price, and you are rewarded. I think almost everybody feels that government should run like a business – after all, what else does government do but receive and distribute money?

So how the hell did our government, made up of those we have elected, become so INCOMPETENT?

The only way out of this mess is to do what any business must do to survive. Find employees and managers who are competent, and FIRE all the incompetents.

Tom Balek, Rockin’ On the Right Side

Feeling better now that we’re through
Feeling better, ’cause I’m over you
I’ve learned my lesson, it left a scar
And now I see how you really are

You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good
Baby, you’re no good!
YOU’RE NO GOOD – Linda Ronstadt

The USA: Back in the USSR!

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Tom Balek Standard 2

We used to laugh at Boris and Natasha, never dreaming that the USA would someday replace the former USSR as the world’s most stupid, backwards, nonsensible socialist nation.

Did you feel sorry for Soviet moms waiting in line at the grocery store only to find empty shelves? That could never happen in the mighty USA, the world’s economic dynamo and home of free markets, right? Lately American shoppers are finding not only empty shelves and six-month lead times for ordinary products, but also Argentina-style price inflation.

The United States once had a vibrant free press that would investigate government corruption in a New York minute, while in the USSR, Pravda was the only news available to Russian citizens, and it was nothing more than propaganda straight from the totalitarian Soviet government. Hmmm, kind of sounds like CNN, MSNBC, and Facebook, right? Hunter who?

The USA, through applied technology and free enterprise, became energy independent and enjoyed the economic boost that abundant and affordable energy (oil and natural gas) can provide. But wait, our new administration is pushing alternative energy without considering the scientific realities: solar and wind can’t come close to the reliability, sustainability and low cost of petroleum energy.

Cars from the USSR back in the day were almost useless. Check out our new $50,000 high-tech electric cars that require a 75 amp service for recharging when most homes only are wired for 100 amps, and our electric grid limits us to only three Teslas per block in most cities. Plus the puny 274 mile range of our best hybrids and 10-hour recharge cycle makes long distance travel impossible even if you can afford the cost of the electricity that is ten times the cost per mile of gasoline.

But we still have our freedom, right? At least we don’t have a KGB watching our every move and abusing our rights. No, we have the FBI tapping our phones and emails and instigating “insurgencies” to harass and arrest anyone who opposes our oppressive federal government.

Soviet elections were known world-wide to be manipulated. Now the USA sets the world standard in election fraud, making Vladimir Putin look like a piker.

But boy, the Soviets sure screwed up in Afghanistan, didn’t they?

What a bunch of losers! So glad that couldn’t happen to our vaunted American military – our foreign policy is so superior that we now have a transgendered four-star admiral in leadership. Thanks, Mr. President, for striking fear into the hearts of our adversaries.

Yeah, haha. The old Soviet Union sure was a joke.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the U.S.S.R.

Back in the USSR – the Beatles

The “China-fication” of America

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Tom Balek Standard 5

Two months into the Democrat takeover of our nation, I am plenty worried. Not about myself and my wife. Not about our children. Our grandchildren? You bet.

As I recover from the shock of a stolen election followed by the unraveling of all the progress made over the last four years, my worldview has begun to clarify. I think I am finally beginning to understand what’s going on.

My son asked me today, “Do you really think we will never again have a fair election?” After some thought, I had to admit that the likelihood of a real election in our near future is pretty remote.

Look at it this way – the Democrats now have control of the three branches of federal government, the news media, the education system, the military, the judiciary including the Supreme Court, the FBI/DOJ/CIA/State Dept., the entire federal bureaucracy, most of corporate America, the internet, social media, pop culture, entertainment and sports. Their control is so complete that they are able to steal an election in front of God and everybody, get away with it and laugh about it, with virtually no opposition. They can presumably do that again, repeatedly. How in the hell could we traditional Christian conservative Americans expect to ever gain back even a tiny portion of control over our government or our destiny without a deadly civil war?

It appears that the United States (and perhaps the civilized world) has come to accept the Chinese model of government, culture, and morality as the new paradigm of success. After all, the communist leaders of China have maneuvered their huge nation from abject poverty and utter failure to world champion status in just a few decades. Yes, their model richly rewards the ruling elites while “genociding” or “disappearing” unwanted citizens. Yes, their air is unbreathable, their genome-bending diseases are unstoppable, and any disagreement with the CCP is brutally, even militarily, extinguished. But the billions of people in the great Chinese middle class have been elevated to a sustainable, somewhat comfortable standard of living. That is, as long as they do as they are told, maintain an acceptable social score under constant surveillance, and accept mediocrity for their entire lives.

We apparently want the same one-party control system that China has. No need for citizens to make decisions of any kind. No need for freedom of expression, religion, or truth. The government knows best, just shut up and live.

There’s only one problem here. China was able to build their system by using and abusing American knowledge, creativity and money. If America wants to emulate China, who will we look to as our “cash cow” to finance our growth and progress? Guatamala? Mexico? Using the wealth they pilfered from us, China has already taken over most of the third-world at breakneck pace.

With Democrats now controlling every aspect of American civilization, and promising (already delivering) the China model to our nation, those of us over age 40 who give a damn about our grandchildren don’t seem to have a lot of options.

But there is one last hope. And it is that individual states will re-affirm their sovereignty, rights and freedoms under the Constitution of our forefathers. If there is no room for the “Make America Great Again” spirit in our nation, I pray to God that there is room for it in our states. If we have hope to restore the USA to greatness, that hope lies in the flyover states, not the metropolitan coastal areas that are willing and happy to sell their pitiful, fearful souls to the federal government for promise of a crust of bread. May God bless the United STATES of America!

I stumble into town just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
And plans for everyone
It’s in the white of my eyes

China Girl – David Bowie

The Foreign Policy President

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Tom Balek Standard 1

When President Reagan said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” he set the bar high for future American leaders when it comes to bold foreign policy endeavors. He never shrank from a challenge, never wavered in his convictions, never ran from a threat. Respected and sometimes feared, Reagan was one of a kind. Or was he?

Surprisingly, we now have a president who might achieve even more.

Last week President Donald Trump announced that the United Arab Emirates and Israel had signed an agreement to normalize relations between the former adversaries. While the Democrats and their lap-dog media put all their energy into preventing Trump’s re-election, his administration was quietly brokering a deal that may result in a Middle-East peace that has eluded his predecessors.

Many more Arab nations are expected to follow suit, opening communications, travel, shared security, religious pilgrimages and commerce throughout the region. The gains are multilateral, not just favoring Israel.

“President [Donald] Trump is the best friend that Israel and the Jewish people have ever had in the White House and will be remembered in Jewish history forever,” said Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He then went on to tell the American audience that, “the vast majority of Israelis adore America and adore President Trump. He is a real rock star in Israel.”
blaze tv

President Trump, with no political education or experience, is racking up foreign policy wins.

Trump is bringing American soldiers home after decades of pointless wars, much to the chagrin of neo-cons.
NATO members now pay more for their own military protection after being called out by the American president, reducing the financial burden for US taxpayers while improving defensive readiness.
His opposition to China’s bullying of other nations is picking up global support, highlighted by his throttling of Huawei’s 5G security threat. China knows that Trump will lead a newly-aroused world coalition against any imperial moves on Hong Kong, Tibet, or Taiwan, and will not flinch in trade negotiations.
Trump’s “America First” border and immigration policies find strong favor among US citizens, even while he offers protections for DACA.
Trump’s support for Brexit threw a monkey wrench into the EU’s sovereignty-eating machine.
The world-wide pandemic, whether real or contrived by his political enemies, appears to be only a bump in Trump’s economic road, with astronomical third-quarter growth predicted.
Our president has shown that he is more than a match for the ambitious and clever Russian president, having hit every Putin curve ball thus far into the bleachers.

There is actually one more cherry on the foreign-policy tree that is now seemingly within Trump’s reach. It is no longer unthinkable that the Korean peninsula could be reunited, eliminating regional instability and nuclear threat.

President Trump’s critics never offer a rationale for their Derangement Syndrome other than dislike for his personality. As for me, I’m not tired of winning yet!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m winning, I’m winning
I’m winning, I’m winning
I’m winning
And I don’t intend losing again

Winning – Santana

Can Anything Good Come From This Man-Made Crisis?

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Ten years from now, what will Wikipedia say about the Coronavirus Crisis of 2020, when many of the most successful nations and their citizens will have been reduced, at least for a while, to second- or third-world status?

What will our grandchildren think of us, knowing that we chose to destroy our own companies, industries, family savings, careers – not to mention burying the kids in debt – in exchange for the possibility that a few already-medically-compromised senior citizens might extend their lives by another year or so? Will there be a chart comparing the lives actually saved from the virus to the lives destroyed by the imposition of martial law?

Probably not, because facts and numbers don’t matter any more. There was a time when issues were won by the person (or group or nation) who possessed the facts, or made the best case from a logical, numbers-based examination including historical honesty, instead of feelings and “nice-ness”. Now, group-think and political correctness rule. We no longer have to analyze facts, because the winner is always the one who gets the most “likes” from his friends.

Is there anything good that can come from this? My hope is that after this self-forced error has run its course, we will have learned a few things.

Maybe we will learn to be independent thinkers again, not so quick to trust the “experts”, the career politicians and the news media. We might even question the motives of decision-makers when they don’t seem to make common sense.

Maybe we will understand that in its current form our government reacts to any threat by throwing our money at it in a childish panic. After all, the only thing a government official can do is spend our money – unlike the private sector, which can actually create things of value and solve problems. Maybe we will be moved to change our government structure to prevent these harmful knee-jerk mistakes. Maybe we will be more pro-active and prepared for threats.

Certainly some marginal businesses and industries will perish. Certainly other new business opportunities will appear. Certainly some unscrupulous, powerful people will get richer (somebody please check out George Soros’ net worth before and after the man-made “crisis” of 2020). The businesses that survive will be leaner, stronger, and quicker than they were before.

We might finally realize that our education system is a shambles. Through the lock-down we proved that we can home-school our children, and they actually come out of school smarter than when they went in. We also showed that on-line learning is a more efficient model than exotic campuses full of imperious, overpaid, Marxist instructors.

And it’s possible, just possible, that the “one world” agenda of open borders and happy, smiling faces moving unfettered and unvetted across the globe will be proved inferior to smaller, self-governed and self-contained nations who defend their values and identity. And that there are considerations other than short-term profit in foreign trade and immigration decisions. We might learn to trust, but verify, the intentions of other nations.

One thing is already clear. The world is made up of “blamers” and “solvers”. God grant us the strength and smarts to choose wisely so we never have to go through this again.

Tom Balek- Rockin’ on the Right Side

Seems this world has got you down
Your feelin’ bad vibrations frown
Well, open your eyes girl, look at me
I’m gonna show you how it ought to be

We’re gonna’ have a good thing
Such a good thing baby

Good Thing – Paul Revere and the Raiders

Economic Good Things

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Yesterday Congress passed yet another drunken-sailor budget, which would suspend the debt ceiling for another two years and result in an additional $322 billion in spending, ballooning the deficit to $22 trillion dollars.

Not long ago my conservative friends and I took to the streets protesting the unfathomable $16 trillion debt that the federal government had foisted upon our children and grandchildren. Then we got steamrolled by Obama, not exactly a top-drawer economist. Even holding both houses was not enough to stop the spending tsunami, and before you could blink, the Democrat socialist revolution had overtaken Congress.

In an effort to extinguish my “hair on fire” I set out looking for some little rays of economic sunshine among the dark clouds. Here’s what I found:

DEREGULATION is driving the economy at an unexpectedly brisk pace. All around I see businesses starting and expanding, construction projects popping up like popcorn, opportunities for workers of all types at premium wage rates, and consumer spending and optimism going through the roof.
FOREIGN TRADE POLICIES, TARIFFS AND ALLIANCES – President Trump clearly understands the “art of the deal”, and his push-back against China is bringing positive change. Protests in Hong Kong might drive regime change, or at least policy change. And Trump’s outsized influence on Brexit, Iran, Russia and North Korea all have economic implications. While international trade is not a “zero sum” game, other nations are finally feeling the heat of dealing with an “A-team” on the economic playing field.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE – For a very long time, the USA economy was like many American families – one paycheck away from bankruptcy. At any time a Middle Eastern mullah could shut off the supply of oil, plunging our economy into chaos. That threat is now extinguished.
AGENCY REORGANIZATION – Russ Vought and Mick Mulvaney of the OMB are tightening the noose on agency leadership, getting more bang for the taxpayer buck, down-sizing and decentralizing, and updating personnel and procurement procedures. Every day they are changing the government culture to more closely operate like private business.

When Mulvaney was my congressman, we had several discussions about federal spending, with me venting my frustration that the debt was exploding and nobody cares. Mulvaney, always the pragmatist, said, “We can’t fix the deficit and debt by reducing spending. It’s way too late for that. We will have to outgrow it.”

At the time, Mick’s message was not what I wanted to hear. And I still would like to see a more mixed approach: cut spending while the economy is healthy and growing. But the appetite for restraint is just not there. Not with the Democrats and many weak-kneed Republicans in Congress who win re-election by giving away free candy. Not with the president, who had to adopt the same stance to guarantee re-election and time to complete his mission. And frankly, not with the under-informed spoiled-brat public, most of whom pay no federal taxes and whose ranks are swelling every day with immigrants from nations who have never participated in a consumer-driven supply-and-demand economy.

Can our debt keep expanding without consequences? Probably not. But all you can do is all you can do.

I used to employ a business strategy that seemed to work pretty darn well. Every business is segmented into products, or markets, or divisions. Too many executives and managers put all of their energy and focus into the underperforming segments of their businesses, ignoring the segments that are smoking hot and growing. I always promoted the strategy of putting maximum effort and resources into what’s doing well instead of beating your head against the wall trying to fix the losers.

So yes, we had a bad budget deal. Boogers. But if we look closer, there are a lot of “good things” going on.

Seems this worlds got you down
Your feelin’ bad vibrations frown
Well, open your eyes girl, look at me
I’m gonna show you how it ought to be
We’re gonna’ have a good thing
Such a good thing baby

Good Thing – Paul Revere and the Raiders

In memory of Paul Revere, one of the truly good guys in the history of rock and roll.

Trump’s Legacy – Freedom

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Tom Balek Standard 1

This week President Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Obama/Kerry nuclear agreement with Iran.

It was, like most Trump foreign-policy speeches, brief, direct and common-sensible, putting America’s security and interests first. He pulled no punches, calling the original deal “a great embarrassment to me as a citizen and to all citizens of the United States.”

Trump made a concise, compelling case for dumping the agreement. But he added one potent paragraph at the end of his speech that was even more significant:

Finally, I want to deliver a message to the long-suffering people of Iran: The people of America stand with you. It has now been almost 40 years since this dictatorship seized power and took a proud nation hostage. Most of Iran’s 80 million citizens have sadly never known an Iran that prospered in peace with its neighbors and commanded the admiration of the world. But the future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history, and glory to their god.

We now have a president who understands the human value of self-determination that Americans share. He gets it. And as his presidency evolves, more people around the world will get it, too.

Despite the “resistance” of his short-sighted adversaries, Trump will make his mark of freedom around the world, without spilling American blood and wasting our hard-earned wealth. Eventually Iran’s people will overrule their despotic leaders and rejoin the free and modern community of nations. North Korea will follow suit. Venezuela will not be far behind, and recent cultural progress in Saudi Arabia holds promise for the defeat of Muslim extremism and the expansion of personal freedoms across the Middle East.

We Americans have often assumed that our success is a direct result of our unique form of government. No doubt, to this point the design and execution of our democratic republic has been a major contributor to our growth and prosperity. But the details and nuances of how our government works is secondary to the single, underpinning belief that we hold most dear – above all else we Americans treasure our personal freedoms.

President Trump’s work toward eliminating the nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea is much more than a military exercise. The people of these nations, and others, may soon realize that our president is helping them gain their freedom.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side