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!

Mixed Emotions When Mexican Driver Kills Mexican Child And Flees Back to Mexico

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 1

photo courtesy Charlotte Observer

I have been following a story in the Charlotte, NC news for several days now which still grips my attention for a variety of reasons. I find myself wrestling with my reactions to each development, and trying to sort out the implications of the profound change Charlotte, and much of America, has gone through in recent years.

I write this post not to make any particular point, but rather to illustrate how our emotions are manipulated by the politically-correct news media.

The tragedy began when a mother was crossing a street in East Charlotte with her young son and daughter in hand. The girl let go and darted across the street, and her six-year old brother followed. He was hit by a beat-up white work van. The driver, identified by witnesses as “a Hispanic man in his mid-thirties with curly black hair,” stopped briefly, saw the child lying gravely injured on the street, and then sped away.

Like any parent, my first reaction was horror at the sudden death of a child, and sympathy. Immediately following that was my suspicion and anger that the driver is probably an illegal immigrant.

A year ago Charlotte’s political leaders chose to declare it a “sanctuary city”, one of hundreds of cities across the country that refuses to turn illegal immigrants, including criminals, over to federal authorities for processing and deportation. Since then Charlotte has attracted growing numbers of Hispanic illegals, and the crime statistics have tilted heavily in their direction.

In support of the sanctuary city stance, Charlotte news outlets do not identify illegal immigrant criminals as such. A respected African-American business owner was recently murdered in my Charlotte suburb by a Honduran laborer, and the fact that the killer was here illegally was never reported by the Charlotte press. But since the murder occurred on the South Carolina side of the lake, the Rock Hill (SC) Herald reported that federal immigration and customs officials were involved.

Here’s where the bouncing emotions and questions come in. My “I’ll bet the driver is an illegal” reaction to the hit-and-run incident probably matches the vast majority of my neighbors. If he is here illegally, the driver likely has no insurance, perhaps no driver’s license. Even though it was clearly an accident, and the driver is doubtless torn with guilt, his entire life in the USA is clandestine, so he had to run. I feel sorry for him. Wait, no I don’t, he fled the scene of a fatal accident. I noticed that the child’s family is also Hispanic, and I can’t help but wonder if they are also here illegally. But so what? The child’s death is no less tragic. The boy’s family told reporters they want the driver found and prosecuted. Would the Charlotte police have turned him over to ICE if they had caught him?

The driver has now been identified as Juan Antonio Quintanilla-Garza, and the press will only report that Charlotte police believe he is “out of state.” The words “out of the country” would be too revealing. Quintanilla-Garza probably left corrupt, backwards Mexico to try to help his own family. He became a criminal in the process.

The accident was not caused by illegal immigration. It could have happened to anyone, by anyone, anywhere. But it became more than an accident when the driver took off. And the flood of illegal immigrants to our country, plus the disproportionate incidence of crimes by illegals, plus the inexplicable “sanctuary city” policies that enable and protect illegal immigrant criminals all combine to scramble our emotions into an omelette of anger, fear and frustration.

It’s not about racism. It’s about borders, and security, and economics and enforcing the laws. And in the middle of it all is a dead kid.

What a mess.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You’re not the only one
With mixed emotions
You’re not the only ship
Adrift on this ocean

Mixed Emotions – Rolling Stones

Shiny Objects Distract Us From Making Our Mark On History

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Battle-of-Verdun Many people today think that our time in history is oh, so important. They believe that life today is more dangerous, more difficult, more demanding than ever. By the very definition of evolution, we must be the smartest people who ever lived. We are the result of human progress. The Western world is now “progressive”, so our collective decisions about how we live and what we do must be better than ever before. We are the current revision level. The latest. The best.

Maybe it’s time to think honestly about our place in history.

Sometimes when I catch myself whining about what a rough day I had, I think of the guys who stormed the beachhead at Normandy in the face of withering machine gun fire. Or the men who charged the enemy at Khe Sanh. Or Verdun. Or Gettysburg. Or Lexington. Or Fallujah.

I think of the frontier families who left all their comforts behind to travel west on a wagon, taking a life-or-death chance to find peace and prosperity in a new, untamed land.

I think of the kids who went to work at the age of 9 in a coal mine or sweat shop because they knew the family had to eat. And the people who face disability, disease, and injury and keep on working.

Our grandparents worked harder every day than we will on our best day. And knowing the challenges they overcame, they were probably smarter than most of us, too. Throughout history people have endured tremendous hardships, and have accomplished remarkable achievements. Many gave their lives to protect others from evil. How do we stack up against our predecessors?

The news pundits tell us that the 2016 presidential election is the most important one ever, to the exclusion of all other topics and events. With seven months until the election, there is nothing else on planet Earth worth reporting other than what our presidential candidates have to say about the most critical topics.

Sadly, the most critical topic right now seems to be whether the few hundred transgendered individuals who exist in our country should use a bathroom labeled “men”, “women”, or “other”.

We may not be fighting for our existence in a global war, but it’s not like there aren’t still serious challenges facing today’s world. Poverty still exists. Genocide continues. Despots and ideologues threaten peaceful citizens. Unborn children are slaughtered. But these big, historic issues are kicked aside by academic, media and political leaders who distract us with frivolous, fraudulent shiny-object issues, and our candidates are only too happy to join them in changing the subject: Climate change. Women’s rights. Safe rooms for college students who fear “white privilege”. Perceived police brutality. Gay wedding cakes.

Frankly, life in these United States is pretty good for most of us. We can preserve the qualities we inherited. We can make life even better, both at home and around the world. But it won’t happen unless we find and elect political leaders who have learned from history, who have a vision of what our place in history can be, and who don’t get distracted by shiny objects.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.

Those Were the Days – Mary Hopkin

Angry? No, I Just Want A Change!

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

smelly-diapers1 I’m tired of being called “angry” by the media, the liberals, and the wannabe Republican presidential candidates.

I’m not angry. When a baby has a full diaper, is Mom angry? Is the baby angry? Is everybody around the baby angry? No, they just want a change. They can’t stand the smell anymore. They are uncomfortable with the way things are. It is obvious that things can’t stay the way they are. They all require a change and they demand it. I’m not angry. I just can’t stand the smell any more. I’m motivated for a change.

I’m also tired of being called a racist.

I’m not a racist. Just because I think Americans who were born here, who cut out Washington and Lincoln silhouettes in grade school, who still get teary-eyed when somebody sings a heartfelt rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, should not lose their precious jobs to foreigners who don’t even want to learn our language, let alone become Americans – that does not make me a “racist.”

And I’m tired of being called “stupid”.

I’m not stupid. No, I don’t believe for a second that our cars and washing machines and toasters are destroying the earth that God created and has kept spinning for the last 5 billion years or so. NASA says it’s not true. 31,000 scientists say global warming is a hoax, and the data “proving” man’s inhumanity to Earth has been manipulated and contrived for nothing more than personal profit. Carbon emissions and greenhouse gases have been around forever – forest fires, volcanoes and sun spots cause way more crap in the atmosphere than man could ever aspire to. So stop calling me a “science denier” and “stupid”.

One more thing – I’m tired of waiting for the people who are supposed to be on my side to stop calling me names that were once only found in the liberals’ playbook. I never thought I would hear Republicans calling me – a long-time advocate and supporter of conservative principles – angry and racist and stupid.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I was a lonely soul
I had nobody till I met you
But you keep a-me waiting
All of the time
What can I do?

Tired of Waiting For You – the Kinks

Here’s a cool old clip of brothers Ray and Dave Davies and the Kinks. They impressed the hell out of me when I was in junior high and still top the list of all-time great garage bands. The Davies brothers are famous for their epic sibling battles – fortunately, they haven’t killed each other yet, and still put out some great music.

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)

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!

Cruz Plays Hardball on National Security

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Our 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.

PTL! 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.

I 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!

Let’s Fix Immigration – Voters Demand It, And It Can Be Done

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard 2

illegal_immigration Americans are worried as hell that our country, like many other Western nations, is hurtling headlong toward third-world status or worse by failing to control our intake of legal and illegal immigrants, asylees, and refugees. I attended a Trump rally last night at a jam-packed arena, and when he promised to deal with the immigration crisis the place exploded. It is unquestionably the priority item on voters’ minds this election year.

Most of our elected leaders, and some citizens, believe that it is impossible to solve our immigration and refugee problems, and we have no choice but to accept whatever happens. As long as we have the current bunch of knuckleheads in Washington, DC, I agree, there is probably no hope.

Their standard line is, “Even if you could build a wall on the southern border, you can’t round up 10 million illegals at gunpoint and bus them out of the country.”

That kind of talk is shallow, cynical, and lazy. Nobody in his right mind would attempt an armed roundup. And there are many illegal immigrants who have been here for many years, raised families, and have become responsible Americans – we can’t treat them the same as the border-hopping drug dealers. It will take a little bit of time and work to straighten this mess out.

By the way, there are probably at least 50 million illegals in the country now, not 10 million (that statistic is at least ten years old and was grossly underestimated then). Just wait until the birth rate of the immigrants and their extended families exponentially kicks in.

The DC knuckleheads can’t do it, but if we can elect some officials who will actually listen to what the American people want, and take some firm but basic steps, it’s not impossible. Here’s what I, your humble correspondent, would do.

Stop Illegal Immigration

Build the wall.

Tighten security on the Canadian border

Abolish the TSA and turn security responsibility (including identity information technology) over to the FBI, who would contract and oversee private security companies to protect borders, airports, marine ports, and any other egresses. Build stiff financial penalties into their contracts for any security failures. Make the contractors compete for the best performance at a reasonable cost. Reward the successful contractors and terminate the weak ones. Allow them to profile travelers and use any new technology or innovation that works.

Require any foreign nations with passengers/freight to the US to cooperate and meet our standards, or refuse them direct access to our ports.

Establish a security clearance process so that US citizens who travel frequently can be vetted one time and can then move through our ports easily.

Fix Legal Immigration

Revert to the proven effective legal immigration policies of the past that favor limited numbers of immigrants, based on economic conditions, who are self-sufficient, bring needed skills and talents, and will assimilate to our American language, laws, and customs. No more floods of needy third-world, predominantly Muslim, refugees who end up in monolithic ghettos on benefits. Stop using immigration as a forced-charity program, and stop allowing asylum to anyone with a lame story who asks for it. No more H1-B mid-skilled foreigners who take jobs away from Americans.

Establish a sensible work visa system for needed temporary labor, such as seasonal agriculture workers. Enforce minimum wage laws and appropriate working and living conditions.

Have the FBI contract and oversee private IT companies to establish an electronic control system that rigidly tracks all non-citizens on US soil. Non-citizens do not have Constitutional rights and must comply with restrictions and monitoring, utilizing chipped ID cards, GPS, surveillance, or any other methods.

Deal With Illegal Immigrants or Visitors Currently Here

No more government-paid benefits of any kind to non-citizens. Period. This policy change alone would make a huge difference.

Non-citizens who are employed must obtain renewable work visas. Perform rigid enforcement and stiff penalties against non-compliant employers and non-citizen employees, enforced by the FBI. Foreign employees will pay income tax but not social security or any other benefit-related taxes.

Any non-citizen convicted of any serious crime will be deported, along with family members, and permanently barred at the borders and ports.

A few key points: Our government has proven it can not perform any real work with efficiency and effectiveness, so we must turn over the critical tasks of information management and security enforcement to private contractors with firm oversight by Congress and the FBI who should publish performance statistics on the internet. The TSA is a bloated, inept, expensive failure. It must be eliminated. Private businesses who compete with each other for profit have no problem finding process improvements and cost reductions at the same time.

It is metaphysically impossible for the United States citizens to even make a dent in the poverty and insecurity of the entire planet by bringing the poor to our country – follow this link to an amazing video for proof . Forcing taxpayers to participate in the dangerous and ineffective relocation of third-world populations to our own county in the name of charity is just plain crazy. If we think it is in our national interest to help foreigners, it makes so much more sense to use our knowledge, wealth, statesmanship, and military capabilities to help eliminate poverty and oppression where it exists.

And (against my libertarian nature) I believe it’s time for everyone on US soil, citizens and non-citizens alike, to possess a national ID card and use identification technology like other modern nations do.

We have the opportunity to learn from the current and ongoing immigration disaster in Europe. Let’s not miss it. Show me where I’m wrong. Argue the details. But don’t say there’s nothing we can do about the immigration and refugee crisis.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I hear you knockin’,
But you can’t come in.
I hear you knockin’,
Go back where you been!

I Hear You Knockin’ – Dave Edmunds

Dave Edmunds still sounds mighty fine.

Liberal Politicians Make Me Want to Holler!

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

frustration I spend a good part of every day shaking my head. I know you do too. We ask ourselves, “what is wrong with these damn dumb liberal politicians?

For a long time I thought there could only be two possible explanations for why liberal politicians (both Democrat and Republican) act the way they do. In order to believe and do such ugly, hateful, damaging and illogical things, they must be either stupid or evil. Stupid, for instance, when they increase federal spending on frivolous stuff and refuse to cut spending on anything, no matter how corrupt or obsolete, while our national debt approaches $20 trillion and personal incomes stagnate or decline. Evil, for instance, when they insist on using taxpayer funds for killing babies and selling their body parts and then call anyone who objects a “woman hater”.

Some say maybe these liberal politicians are regular people who just never grew up. But I don’t buy that. My five-year old grandkids have already, on their own, figured out that the guy in the baggy red suit with the heavy southern drawl is not Santa Claus. Reindeer do not land on the roof. And the tooth fairy thing? The kids are just in it for the money. They haven’t grown up yet, but they aren’t stupid.

Somehow liberal politicians are immune to paradox. They think expecting a woman pay $9 a month for her own birth control pills is a “war on women”. But they can’t wait to import hundreds of thousands of Muslims, most of whom believe a woman should not be seen or heard, go to school, drive a car, hold a job, or have a clitoris.

Liberal politicians still make the wild-eyed claim that asking a voter to provide identification is a naked attempt to suppress the minority vote. Is there a human being alive in this country with no identification, other than the illegal and unvetted immigrants who can’t vote anyway? There can only be one reason to not verify the identity of a voter, and that is to enable vote fraud. Liberal politicians line up in lock-step on this one. Stupid? Or Evil?

I could go on all day, and so could you. They won’t allow a Christian bakery to refuse to make a gay wedding cake, but they love the Muslims who routinely execute gays. Guns in the hands of responsible citizens are unacceptable, but don’t touch the ones used by the liberal politicians’ bodyguards. Ordinary families can’t have school choice, but the rich liberal politicians can.

I ruled out the theory that they just never grew up. And I don’t think they are stupid. They might think we are, and that we will continue to swallow any old crap they throw out – like, “I never had sexual relations with . . . “, or “there were no classified documents on my server” or “I never blamed the Benghazi attack on a video”, or “all of our hard drives crashed at exactly the same moment”, or “we can’t stop this horrible legislation even though we control both houses of Congress.”

I know, you are shaking your head too. Makes me wanna holler. Throw up both my hands.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side Rockets, moon shots. Spend it on the have-nots.
Money, we make it. ‘Fore we see it you take it.
Oh, make you wanna holler. The way they do my life.

Crime is increasing. Trigger-happy policing.
Panic is spreading. God knows where we’re heading.
Oh, make me wanna holler. They don’t understand.

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) – Etta James

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite singers. It was written in 1971 by the amazing Marvin Gaye, but the lyrics couldn’t be more current. Gaye’s song never went anywhere until Etta James recorded her arrangement in 1998, and since then it has been covered by stars like John Mayer, Grover Washington, Joe Cocker, the Chi-Lites, and many other artists. We got to see Etta on her last tour before she passed, and it was really special. Sorry, no live video of her doing this great song exists.

Concealed Carry Explodes Thanks To Obama Administration

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

ConcealedCarry

After the horrific slaughter and maiming of Americans in San Bernardino by two Muslim terrorists last week, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said her greatest fear is that there might be retaliation. She worries that “anti-Muslim rhetoric might lead to violence.”

Did I miss something here? Didn’t the violence already happen, Ms. Lynch? Don’t you worry that maybe more Muslim bad-asses are going to shoot up a couple dozen or maybe a couple hundred more American infidels?

This is just one more – one of so many – insults to the American people by our current administration. Our attorney general is more worried about offending a few Muslims than she is about the lives and safety of the other 97.8% of us. Meanwhile, our president remains laser-focused on protecting us from global warming.

Have no doubt, there will be more violence involving radical Muslims. But it won’t be anti-Muslim rhetoric that causes it – Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists don’t randomly kill people because of their religion. Only Muslims do that, and you can bet that any new religious violence will be perpetrated by Muslims, against non-Muslims. There will be more violence when the swat team sends the Muslim murderers to meet their maker, or their virgins, or whatever. Is that considered retaliation, Ms. Attorney General? Is that bullying?

I suspect that Ms. Lynch, as an official of the Obama administration and disciple of the liberal left, doesn’t approve of Americans carrying firearms in their purses, on their belts, and in their cars. Too bad.

This administration’s failure to face up to an existential, world-wide socio-political disaster has left us no choice. Rather than call out the bad guys, our president pushes an agenda to disarm the victims.

Firearms sales are going through the roof. Shooting ranges are slammed. Concealed carry permit applications are breaking records. Law enforcement agencies and officials are encouraging citizens to arm themselves. Americans have always supported the second amendment. We talked about carrying weapons to defend our families and others. Thanks to the Obama administration, we are now doing it. We are not going to wait for the swat team any more.

Despite the full-throated hysteria in the liberal media about moms with Glocks in their purses and the price of Smith and Wesson stock going through the roof (up 8.5% today), the arming of responsible American citizens is a good and natural thing.

Thanks, Barack – you have single-handedly done more to promote self-defense gun ownership than anyone dreamed possible.

I’m a big believer in the free market. Supply and demand has always worked, and it always will. When there is a demand for something, it will be supplied, one way or another. Right now, there is a demand for personal safety and security. Our current government is unwilling to supply it, but fortunately the writers of our constitution provided us an alternative – the Second Amendment.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas