Illegal Immigration – Problem Solved!

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 1

We conservatives are repeatedly blasted in the press for being too rigid in our positions. They say we impede progress because we refuse to negotiate with our political opponents. Today I am going to reach across the aisle. I’m now willing to compromise with the liberal Democrats and the spineless, shivering Republican leadership in Washington, DC. (I’ll probably skip Eric Cantor, no time for lame ducks.)

Today I agree with the liberals: let’s continue Obama’s open-border policy. All the hordes of undocumented Central American and Mexican aliens walking across our southern border? Let ’em in, I say. The 60,000 helpless illegal immigrant kids expected to enter our social welfare system this year? No problem. illegal-immigrant-children

“Well,” you ask, “what are we going to do with all of these uneducated, destitute adults and wave after wave of homeless, hungry children?”

I have the answer! Let’s send them all to Washington!

We recently visited Washington, DC and saw hundreds of very large. solid federal buildings with plenty of space, good heat and air-conditioning, modern bathrooms and food facilities. Surely our liberal friends in Washington would have no problem inviting the people they so cherish to share their space, their food, and their bathrooms.

The Capitol building, for instance, has many large open areas. Since President Obama is pulling our armed forces out of the Middle East anyway, he could move all the unused beds and equipment from the barracks right into the Capitol complex, so the immigrants could share space with the congressmen and senators. Harry Reid would love having the kids running around and playing in the offices and chambers. Heck, Nancy Pelosi would probably volunteer to do some diaper duty in the nursery!

And on our visit we also saw many thousands of federal employees, almost all of whom vote for and support the liberal Democrats. I’ll bet they support open borders and unrestricted immigration, too. They wouldn’t mind giving up their jobs pushing elevator buttons, sweeping the halls, and queuing up lines of tourists to these poor, needy Central Americans, would they? Our federal government workers are so highly skilled and motivated that they could easily get jobs in the private sector.

Federal officials, you can stop busing load after load of illegal kids from Texas to Arizona. Just send them to Washington, DC where they will be wanted and loved.

And what a great example those compassionate DC people will set! Why, I’ll bet the Hollywood liberals will follow suit and open their homes and workplaces up to the incoming hordes of homeless immigrants, too. The new hombres y mujeres would be welcomed to take over all the jobs on the sound stages and studios, and the Democrats who currently work there could go milk cows in Wisconsin or something. I’ll bet some of the immigrants would make great actors and actresses, too. Who needs George Clooney and Tom Hanks? We can all read subtitles.

You know, I think I like this “compromise” stuff. The DC bunch can get what they want: lots and lots of illiterate future Democrats, right there in Washington, DC where they can be cared for and controlled. Meanwhile, out here in the states we can have jobs for our taxpaying citizens and balanced budgets in our governments.

Problem solved! Send all the illegal immigrants to Washington, DC where they can live together with their superheroes.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why
Why can’t we live together?
Everybody wants to live together!
Why can’t we live together?

Santana – Why Can’t We Live Together?

Another “BFD” for Obama – How Many More BFDs Can We Take?

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

smug_obama I have reported to you Rockers many times that I am on the President’s mailing list. I get an e-mail almost every day, usually just to ask me for five dollars.

Most of the time it provides me amusement. Today, not so much. I got four letters from my friend Barack and his operatives today. Yes, one of them asked me for three dollars. But the other three were back-slapping, high-fiving, chest-bumping celebrations of Obama’s latest and greatest attack on our economy and citizens.

Here is one of them, from Jim Messina, Obama’s data-mining and mass-media guru:

Friend —

This is a BFD:

The New York Times is calling President Obama’s plan “the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change” — he’s proposing new EPA standards to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants, the single biggest source of the pollution in the United States that causes climate change.

Listen, it should come as no surprise that polluters and groups that like things the way they are have already started fighting this with everything they’ve got. The best thing we can do is show just how many Americans believe this is the right thing to do.

Add your name right now — stand with President Obama and support aggressive action to fight climate change.

Announcements like this are why we all do this work. It’s proof that grassroots organizing really does pay off. Climate change activists have fought for years for EPA standards on carbon pollution — and this week President Obama is making it a reality.

This fight is about our future, but the effects of climate change are being felt right now — it’s linked to stronger weather, from more frequent and severe droughts to floods, storms, and wildfires.

It’s affecting public health, too. Over the past three decades, the percentage of Americans with asthma has more than doubled, and climate change is putting those Americans at greater risk of landing in the hospital. Over half of all Americans live in an area where air pollution levels are too often unhealthy to breathe.

But while we place limits on dangerous air pollution like mercury, arsenic, and lead, existing power plants have had no national restrictions on the amount of carbon pollution they can emit.

None at all — until now.

The President’s plan promises to cut carbon pollution from power plants for the first time, setting a new standard for action on climate change.

As I write this, powerful interests on the other side are lining up their dirty budgets to try to tear this down. They have plenty of allies in Congress that will try to stop us.

I’m asking everyone who cares about this fight to stand up and say so today — stand with President Obama and new carbon pollution standards.

The media will not let us forget for a moment that this is the first black president. Who cares. I’m more concerned that he is the first president to bypass congress with proclamations that are given the force of law. The first to openly flaunt the constitution and decide which laws will be enforced. The first to deny the sovereignty of states, not to mention citizen’s rights including the rights of private property.

Certainly Obama is the first president to repeatedly look directly into a camera (actually a teleprompter) and lie with impugnity. Calling carbon dioxide “carbon pollution” is so brazen that he must think we are all cretins. Claiming that the carbon dioxide that we exhale, and that makes all plant life possible, is causing droughts AND floods, storms AND wildfires, is an insult to our intelligence. Worse, he seeks to intentionally damage the well-being of all Americans. Why not just break our kneecaps?

Obama’s letter to me today said, “I’m not going to wait to take action on this.” The anointed one will accept no limits to his authority.

I thought Joe Biden’s BFD, ObamaCare, was an epically egregious assault on our economy and families. Now comes BFD number two, using the EPA to ruin entire industries, destroy countless jobs, and raise energy costs to crushing levels.

The next BFD will be complete amnesty and open borders – you can expect an executive order for this purpose the moment Congress leaves for summer recess.

I really wonder if the United States can withstand any more BFDs from the first BFD president.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Big Deal! So what? Who cares?
You just got lucky, that’s all
Oh oh, it’s a real big deal!
Oh, yeah!
Oh oh, it’s a real big deal!
Big deal!

Big Deal – LeAnn Rimes

Country gal Leann Rimes rocks it . . . Big Deal!

My Best Friend, Barack, Would Like You To Have A Free Cell Phone Too!

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 2

As you know, my friend Barack gave me a free cell phone a while back.

I don’t use it, but I still have it just in case I need to call Hillary and ask her who wrote Susan Rice’s make-believe talking points about the Benghazi attack. You know, after seven committee investigations, they still haven’t got around to answering that simple question.

Or I might need it to ask Speaker John Boehner why he doesn’t think Susan Lerner needs to explain how so many Tea Party groups and their contributors got singled out for “special treatment” by the IRS.

I probably should use my Obama Phone to call my friend Barack’s wife, Michelle. I have been meaning to ask her how many of the Nigerian girls were released by the terrorists after she “selfied” her hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

Anyway, it looks like the Obama Phone (Lifeline Assistance) program is still going full speed ahead. I got a letter the other day asking me if I have any friends or relatives who might need a free cell phone. It says:

Dear Tom: (I was kind of surprised they used my name — Barack always calls me “Friend”) We hope you are benefiting from your (free phone). Now you can help others benefit too, by spreading the word to your family and friends! If eligible, they can also apply for Lifeline Assistance and get a FREE phone with 250 FREE voice minutes each month and 250 FREE texts each month. Voicemail, call waiting and caller ID included!

We’ve enclosed two applications for you to share with family and friends who live at a different address. If you need more applications, please ask your family and friends to visit (our website) or call (our number).

Since you are my friends and family, I thought I had better let you know that our government would just love to give away more free cell phones. You know, they are printing all that money at the Federal Reserve, and it just keeps piling up and getting in the way. My friend Barack and all of the wonderful people in Washington, DC want to keep their streets clear so their limos can get to those fun parties, like the correspondents’ dinner. You can help them out! Just take one of these free Obama Phones, and they can shovel up some of that money and send it to Carlos Slim (the world’s richest man, and a big Obama donor).

Isn’t it wonderful living in America, where anybody can get a free cell phone, and nobody has to pay for it? We get free food stamps and free Obama Care. I can’t wait until the Obama Cars program starts up and we all get free cars!

Our friends in Washington, DC, like Barack, and Boehner, and Pelosi and Reid promise they will give us Americans free stuff as long as we vote for them. And they will even give free stuff to people who are not Americans as long as they vote for them too! How cool is that!

Boy, have we got it good, or what?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

People let me tell ya ’bout my best friend!

Tell Me Again – Why Do You Support Amnesty and Illegal Immigration?

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

ramirez10 So tell me again – why do we want to offer amnesty to illegal immigrants and encourage even more legal and (mostly Mexican) illegal immigration? (statistics from Mark Levin’s outstanding book “Liberty and Tyranny”, comments by me)

Mexico only requires school attendance through the eighth grade. One third of Mexican immigrants to the US have not graduated from high school. Any wonder why our literacy statistics are headed south? Or why the flood of unskilled and uneducated immigrants is pushing down pay rates in the US?
One third of immigrant-headed households are on at least one major welfare program. No problem, we can just print more money, right?
One third of immigrants lack health insurance. These are the uninsured “Americans” that we are compelled to cover under ObamaCare.
Over one half of Mexican immigrants are here illegally. If our federal government and “sanctuary cities” do not enforce immigration laws, we encourage even more illegal immigration.
9 percent of the population of Mexico was living in the US in 2004, and in 2007, 27% of Mexico’s labor force was working in the US and sending home $20 billion per year. Mexico’s corrupt government and dysfunctional economy cannot sustain its growing population, so they export their labor force to the US, and the proceeds are sent back to Mexico – representing a major proportion of that nation’s income.
One out of five students in 2006 was Hispanic, and at current growth rates by 2050 the majority of US students will be Spanish speakers. The stress put on US schools by immigration is reaching crisis proportions.
More than 55 million individuals in the US speak a language other than English at home – 34 million speak Spanish.
The current level of assimilation of all recent immigrant groups is lower than at any time in US history, and Mexicans are the least assimilated of any group. Immigration no longer produces the “melting pot” of grateful and talented immigrants who became patriotic Americans and made our nation great. Instead, we are rapidly becoming a balkanized, polarized country.
Mexican adolescents are imprisoned at rates 80 percent greater than the general immigrant adolescent population. The US already has by far the greatest incarceration rate in the world.
Hispanic women have the highest unmarried birthrate in the country – over three times that of whites and Asians, and nearly 1.5 times that of black women. We already know how destructive the increased number of unwed mothers is to our economy.

I will be accused of racism for reporting these truths. Believe me, I have no ill will toward Mexicans or any other ethnic groups. My only aim in presenting this argument is the economic survival of the United States. Mexico certainly does not allow illegals to cross their borders.

The percent of US residents actively working is now at an all-time low. Wage rates continue to decline. Our competitive edge against other nations is gone due to our relative lack of skills and education. What could possibly justify encouraging and allowing more unskilled and needy immigrants to move in? If we stopped the flow of low-wage unskilled workers into our economy, businesses would adjust – they would increase labor rates and/or efficiency. As long as we tolerate the status quo, businesses will take advantage of the profit opportunity – and the immigrants.

Obviously there is only one justification for amnesty and tolerance of illegal immigration, and it applies only if you are a liberal politician or bureaucrat who cares nothing for the future and security of American families. You want to accumulate as many bodies as possible to be dependent on you, to vote for you, and to keep you in your permanent political positions of power.

Ugly, isn’t it?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Tell me why you cried
And why you lied to me!

Tell Me Why – the Beatles

Amazing colorized footage of the Beatles from their first movie “A Hard Day’s Night”

The Biggest Democrat Lie EVER!

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 1

For years now Democrat leaders have fought efforts to beef up voter ID laws tooth and nail. Last week President Obama stepped up to the podium and with a straight face declared:

“The stark, simple truth is this: The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act became law nearly five decades ago,” Obama told a meeting of the National Action Network, a group founded by civil rights leader and MSNBC television anchor Reverend Al Sharpton.

“Across the country, Republicans have led efforts to pass laws making it harder, not easier, for people to vote,” he said.

Translation: “If you think voters should be expected to identify themselves at the polling place, you are a RACIST.”

That’s not the “stark, simple truth.” It’s the biggest lie ever. A naked, ugly, partisan lie. Requiring voters to prove they are who they say they are has nothing whatsoever to do with racism. It is merely a simple and effective tool used all over the world to ensure the integrity of elections.

Democrat leaders continue to play that tired, old race card against Republicans – the only strategy they have left in the face of 78% public approval for voter ID laws. And the Lame Stream Media shamelessly continues to support the big lie.

It’s such an obvious lie that it frightens me to think that the Democrats even dare to say it. Minorities (legal American citizens of color) are no less capable of showing their identification than anyone else. And they should be furious at the President, the Democrat leadership, and the media for calling them that stupid and helpless.

Everybody knows there can only be one reason for anybody to disapprove of validating each voter: the desire to cheat.

There is no evidence that anybody would be prevented from legitimately voting because they do not have identification. I challenge the media and the Democrats to come up with 100 eligible voters – legal citizens of the United States – who have no form of identification or no means to get one. Show them! Put them in front of the TV cameras! I challenge you!

They do not exist. If there actually were Americans who are so disengaged from ordinary daily life that they have no identification, the Democrats would be falling all over themselves to get them enrolled in social programs. For which they would need identification, of course.

So there is the lie. And now here is the truth. Only one person could be opposed to a common-sense law: the person who wants to break that law. Banks have security systems to prevent theft. Only bank robbers would be in favor of eliminating that security.

The Democrat leaders have perfected many methods of voter fraud in recent years. Last week DEMOCRAT spokesperson Al Sharpton, at a rally for “voters rights”, hugged DEMOCRAT Melowese Richardson, a poll worker who admitted – and was convicted for – voting for DEMOCRAT Barack Obama five times in the 2012 election. It is but one small example of a huge and accelerating problem.

Thank God only 22% of Americans are that crooked. That would indicate at least half of all Democrats support voter ID. The other Democrats persist with the biggest lie EVER.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Lie to me
It doesn’t matter anymore
It could never be
The way it was before

Lie to Me – Jonny Lang

“Science Deniers” vs. “Economics Deniers”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 2

mad scientist According to the Left Side, we Neanderthals who Rock on the Right Side don’t buy that mankind is destroying the earth, so we are, by definition, “science deniers“.

How dare we question them? They are the ‘intelligentsia’. They own the facts. Their “science” is unassailable. They don’t really have any proof, but if you don’t agree with them, you must be an idiot. You probably think the Earth is flat! You probably don’t even accept that Albert Einstein’s great-great-great grandmother was a newt!

Well, I may not be an Einstein, and I admit I got a C in eighth grade science (actually Mr. Anderson paddled me for passing notes in class, that didn’t help). But I have a question for you scientists:

If your “science” is so perfect, and you are so sure that mankind is destroying the earth via “climate change”, why have none of your predictions come true?

In 1975, according to Newsweek Magazine, you scientists were convinced that global cooling would “portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now.” News Flash: didn’t happen.

Then in 2007 Al Gore predicted that “all Arctic ice would be gone by 2013”. Um, Al, if that’s your science, I think I can safely deny that. Didn’t happen. In fact, there was a record ice-pack in 2013.

Go ahead, Left Side. Call me a “science denier”. I’m not convinced that man is capable of causing global climate change. Don’t these same scientists admit that the earth was much warmer — and also much colder — in prehistoric times, well before Lady Gaga was “born this way”?

I’m pretty sure all of the uproar about climate change is more about power and money, and not so much about temperature. Al Gore charges $100,000 per speech and his Global Investment Management company has made a killing dealing in Climate Change drama. And the UN building is full of little despots rubbing their fists at the prospect of slipping some carbon-tax guilt money into their pockets.

Speaking of money, it seems to me that the Left Siders are “Economics Deniers”.

They won’t accept that printing and distributing ever-growing gobs of cash waters down the value of existing dollars. They can’t believe that paying people not to work for several years contributes to unemployment. It doesn’t make sense to them that flooding our country with cheap foreign labor results in lower wage rates.

They don’t believe in the power of the free market, and the flawless balance of supply and demand. They can’t accept that $17 trillion of debt is a problem for our children.

They won’t buy that unequal incomes are the result of unequal effort or talent.

The Left Side are the ones in denial. The Economics Deniers.

But let’s not talk about that! Let’s talk about gay marriage! Or how barbaric it is to expect women to buy their own birth control pills! Or how those stupid Right Siders are “Science Deniers” who don’t care about global warming!

So far the Left Side has not blinded the Right Side with their “science.” Good thing.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The spheres are in commotion
The elements in harmony
She blinded me with science
“She blinded me with science!”
And hit me with technology

She Blinded Me With Science – Thomas Dolby

Watch this great live performance by Dolby – glad to see an old-school Telecaster in the studio with all that SCIENCE!

Question About the Tea Party? So Call Me, Maybe?!

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 5

Montana Headlines:

Huffington Post: “Tea Party Candidate Gets Turned Away By the (Montana) GOP For Spreading Racist Views”

Great Falls Tribune: “Tea Party Candidates Challenging Democrats In Eight (Montana) Legislative Primaries”

the Raw Story: “Muppet-Hater Leads Wave of Tea Party ‘Extremists’ Running As Democrats in Montana”

One minute we hear “the Tea Party is Dead”. The next minute, every other hopeful in the upcoming primaries is labeled a “Tea Party Candidate”. Which is accurate?

In Montana, it’s neither. The Montana Tea Party Coalition is an active and politically robust group made up of local Tea Party leaders from across the state. And it does not endorse candidates or parties. What’s more, neither the Montana Tea Party Coalition nor any of its affiliate members have ever heard, seen, or met these so-called “Tea Party Candidates”.

Last week Montana newspapers reported two stories with the words “Tea Party Candidate” in the headline.

The Great Falls Tribune broke the news, on a tip from an anonymous flame-throwing far-left blogger, that a number of “apparent Tea Party conservatives filed to run against bona fide Democrats in the June 3 primary.” Who determined that these people are “Tea Party” candidates? The candidates themselves did not claim to belong to any Tea Party. According to the Montana Tea Party Coalition, none of the eight candidates identified in the article are members of a coalition affiliate.

And regardless whether they are actual Tea Party members, what makes them less “bona fide” than the other candidates? The Tea Party believes in smaller governments, fiscal responsibility, and constitutional freedoms. We only want to preserve the American Dream – more good jobs, no crushing debt, and rising standards of living – for our children and grandchildren. Do “bona fide” Democrats oppose these principles?

Why didn’t the Great Falls Tribune talk to any of the easily-accessible Tea Party organizations in Montana – perhaps the very visible and active Great Falls Tea Party Patriots right in their hometown?

Then the Billings Gazette and other state and national media gloated, “GOP congressional candidate Drew Turiano has been branded a racist by the Yellowstone County Republican Party and turned away from the group’s key political event.” Most of the headlines called Turiano the “Tea Party Candidate”. Again, the Montana Tea Party Coalition maintains that nobody in their ranks has ever had contact with Turiano.

I called Drew Turiano today and asked him if he is a member of any Tea Party affiliate. “Well, no,” he said. “I just believe in most of the Tea Party principles.” Does that qualify him to be called the “Tea Party Candidate” in the race for the critically important, and only, US House seat from Montana? I looked at Turiano’s website today and found no mention of Tea Party other than the headlines of the linked news stories. Chuck Johnson, Capitol Bureau Chief for Lee Newspapers, told me that he recalled Turiano identifying with the Tea Party in an earlier interview. But again, no one in the media took the initiative to check in with the real Tea Party.

Meanwhile, the extreme left-wing blogs and the mainstream media can’t wait to find something – anything – about these candidates that they can use to vilify the Tea Party. Especially tasty are charges of racism in the Tea Party, a flat-out fabrication. Turiano was called a racist because he believes illegal immigrants are illegal and should be returned to their home countries. He made the mistake of referring to the Eisenhower-era deportation program called “Operation Wetback” – named by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, not Turiano. And the Tea Party is guilty of racism by association. Both charges – racism and association with Turiano – are false, but that doesn’t stop the left or the media. The Montana GOP didn’t exactly hit this one out of the park either.

So, to set the record straight – there are ZERO “Tea Party Candidates” in Montana. And please guys, next time you have an issue or a question about the Tea Party, would you just call us and ask?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here’s my number, so call me, maybe
It’s hard to look right at you baby
But here’s my number, so call me, maybe!

Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

Run! It’s Those Scary, Racist Tea Party People!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 6

image courtesy of SodaHead.com

Bigotry and disinformation are alive and well in the USA.

In Washington, DC for a Tea Party Patriots leadership conference, my wife and I entered our hotel elevator and joined three black women, expecting a friendly conversation with some locals. Their eyes dropped to the prominent “Tea Party” ID badges we wore, and the reaction was stunning.

The youngest of them jumped back against the wall, her eyes wide with palpable fear. The other two also shrank back, hands over mouths, mumbling obvious displeasure. It was as if Count Dracula himself had appeared before them.

“Hmmph. Tea Party, huh? Mmm, mmm, mmm, not good, not good . . . ,” the older ladies lamented.

We were stunned speechless. Before we could come up with a response, the door opened at our floor and the younger one jumped past us to the hallway. We followed.

“You people are trying to take my job away from me!” she shouted over her shoulder, rushing away from us as quickly as possible.

My wife and I looked at each other, wondering what her job is, why we would want to “take it” from her, and what we would do with it if we got it. As the young lady fumbled for the key to her room, I blurted out, “Wow, if you are afraid of Tea Party grandmas and grandpas, you need a new source of information!” Her door slammed.

Back in our room we tried to make sense of what we had just seen and heard. While race wasn’t mentioned, I’m very sure it played a role, because the left and the media have so successfully branded the Tea Party as racists.

My mind went back to the speakers we had just enjoyed at our Tea Party Patriots 5-year celebration event. One was Sonnie Johnson of Breitbart News, a bright and beautiful young African-American woman who abandoned her prepared speech to talk instead about something that “hit her heart”. Miss Johnson decried the federal government’s quest to replace God and religion with government dependency. She passionately prayed for the success of the Tea Party and America.

I remembered the fiery words of Anita Moncrief, the hard-nosed little African-American woman who, as an ACORN official, finally had to blow the whistle on the corruption that oozed between that organization and the Democrat party during the Obama campaign. “That was not helping people,” she cried. “I got tired of the victimhood and the race card.” She now works with True the Vote.

K Carl Smith, black Tea Party leader, spoke eloquently of Frederick Douglas‘ respect for the constitution and belief in limited government. US Representative Raul Labrador joked about his status as a “Puerto Rican Mormon Tea Party Member”. George Rodriquez, Mexican-American radio host and president of the San Antonio Tea Party, observed that every family wants the same opportunities for prosperity, regardless of race.

These people, and so many like them, not only know the Tea Party, they ARE the Tea Party. Which raises the question: Would the black ladies in the elevator have feared Sonnie if she had entered the elevator instead of my wife and I?

The Tea Party Patriots want to ensure that the children and grandchildren of all Americans have a chance to enjoy the freedoms and economic opportunities that we did. Yet the hateful left and the mainstream media have demonized us so successfully that under-informed black women fear for their safety in the presence of white grandparents wearing Tea Party badges.

It’s sad. And it has to stop.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley

Boehner, Reid and Friends Are Playing Us for Fools

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 3

cartoon courtesy Rhode Island Insider Our federal government is dysfunctional. Everybody knows it.

Most people blame the polarization of politics in America today. The Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything because they have deep ideological differences, right?

Maybe not so much. Our entrenched political leaders in Washington – Democrats and Republicans alike – are less driven by ideology than they are by money. This is nothing new, but it sure seems to be accelerating.

The untold secret, closely guarded by the press and the political oligarchy, is that politics inside the Beltway is hopelessly corrupt. The average American assumes that lobbyists work for big, evil corporations seeking to buy political favors. Sadly, the opposite is more often true. Our political leaders live and breathe to extort money from corporations, fattening their campaign coffers and their own wallets by promising (or threatening) to pass (or not pass) legislation that will affect profits. They write bills specifically for the purpose of shaking down a given company or industry – often writing and then erasing the same proposals over and over to generate fresh cash with each iteration. Democrats and Republican leaders frequently collude on legislation, agreeing to pass it after all palms have been well greased. Legislative leaders repeatedly stall votes until the appropriate ante has been paid.

Peter Schweizer’s book “Extortion – How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets” lays out the schemes in non-partisan detail. Here’s an example: In 2011 the Wireless Tax Fairness Act, written specifically to help AT&T and Verizon prevent local taxation on cell phone bills, was stalled in the House, waiting for a floor vote.

“Everyone expected Boehner, given his general aversion to raising taxes, to support the bill and hold a vote. But as the months went by and mid-October arrived, it was unclear whether the vote would ever come.”

“Members of Congress from both parties had their hands out. Employees of Verizon and AT&T wrote over two hundred checks totaling over $180,000 to the campaign committees of members of Congress during September and October of 2011. Finally, he declared a vote for the bill on November 1, 2011, and on the day before the vote, Boehner’s campaign collected the toll: thirty-three checks from wireless industry executives, totaling almost $40,000. Twenty-eight of those checks came from executives with AT&T. The day of the vote, employees of Verizon sent twenty-eight checks to members of Congress.”

“The tribute had been paid. The vote was held. The Wireless Tax Fairness Act passed the House easily on a voice vote.”

Actually, the more polarized the Democrats and Republics seem to be, the more money they can raise. They love conflict, and work hard to preserve it.

Let’s stop being naive. There is a reason why the United States has slid to 19th place on the “least corrupt government” ranking by Transparency International. There is a reason why Congress writes thousands of bills for every one that is passed. There is a reason why Congressmen begin their careers with modest wealth and end them fabulously rich. There is a reason why a lobbying firm will frequently work for both Republicans and Democrats. There is a reason why so many lobbyists are related to politicians. There is a reason why the president’s campaign contributors get federal contracts. There is a reason why 154 (and counting) tax breaks are written to be “extended” every year or so instead of put in place permanently.

It’s called corruption. But you will never hear the press talk about it, and to this point no candidate has mentioned it.

The framers of our Constitution didn’t build in malware that would stop corrupt individuals from taking financial advantage of their positions. They relied on the voters to elect people of character.

We can’t afford to send one more corrupt or corruptible person to Washington. We must fight to remove Pelosi, Boehner, Reid, McConnell and Obama. Our last, best hope is the Tea Party – until we get principled people in the positions of leadership in Washington, DC nothing will change.

The Democrats and Republicans have played us for fools for far too long.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Everybody plays the fool,
They use your heart just like a tool.
They never tell you so in school
Everybody plays the fool.

Everybody Plays The Fool – the Main Ingredient

Compromise? Yeah, Right!

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 2

For you youngsters: these are “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” – a toy from the 1960s.

Are you tired of getting blasted because you don’t feel like compromising your important conservative principles with the liberals – first liberal Democrats, and now liberal Republicans?

The left calls us racists. They claim we hate women. They say all we care about is tax cuts for the rich. They repeat the most insulting and dishonest characterizations without conscience. And then they blame us for refusing to “compromise.”

Have you ever seen a liberal compromise on anything?

Compromise in the mind of a liberal does not have the same meaning that it does to you and I. To them, compromise only travels in one direction. Reaching across the aisle means moving from right to left, never the other way.

Recently many pundits and talk-show hosts who became wealthy pretending they are conservatives have joined the attack against the Tea Party. Karl Rove has gone so far to the left that he has lost all credibility, even among milk-toast Republicans. Michael Medved, Bill Bennett, and Mike Gallagher still throw out the occasional conservative talking-point biscuit, but in-between they soft-shill for the president and Democrat leaders and their big-government ideology. They say conservatives can’t compete with the liberals politically, so we must become more like them – we must “compromise”. In recent years we have offered plenty of weak-kneed Republicans to the voters, all eager to compromise. Tell me, guys. How is that workin’ out for ya?

In Montana, a group of Republican state legislators apparently worship at the altar of compromise. Calling themselves “responsible Republicans“, they frequently side with the Democrats, even on critical issues.

What is it about “compromise” that is so noble and righteous? If you know that something is wrong and harmful, why would you condone it, even a negotiated measure of it?

Should Franklin Roosevelt have compromised with the Nazis? “Hey, Adolf, how about this? We’ll stay out of your way if you would just promise to shut down the incinerators every other day.”

Should the 1964 civil rights advocates in the Senate have compromised with the southern block of Democrats who said, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states”? Maybe they could have agreed to allow blacks to vote only every other year, and attend integrated public schools, but only through sixth grade?

graphic courtesy of Litchfield Ecclesia Tolerating illegal and unconstitutional acts, or looking the other way when government malfeasance results in the loss of American lives is every bit as onerous as voting against the principles of those who elected you.

There are details that can be compromised in a representative government. Should we build a four-lane highway or two-lane? Do we really need new streetlights this year?

But an elected official who won’t stand on principle when he or she knows for certain that the wrong choice will cause serious harm to the citizens has no business in government.

And he or she has no moral authority to criticize those of us who will stand for important principles.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Mercy’s hard to find
It’s just a state of mind
Drop the slack, get out the way
We don’t have another day
Right is right, wrong is wrong
Right is right, wrong is wrong

Right is Right – Rufus with Chaka Khan

No video today, just a smokin’ hot song from one of my all-time favorite soul singers that came to mind with this topic.