“Most Govt. Spending Is Mandatory – That’s BS

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Federal officials and elite media pundits ridicule conservatives who demand lower government spending levels. They say only 24% of the budget is discretionary, and most of that is military spending, so there is nothing anybody can do about increased spending and debt without taking a hatchet to social security benefits.

Horse Hockey. There is a heck of a lot of discretion in that “mandatory” spending.

The Heritage Foundation points out that in 1965 only 27% of federal spending was mandatory. By last year mandatory spending had grown to 63% of the total, and it’s not just a function of our aging population. Over time our government has pushed a ton of new spending into the mandatory category.

Our government has made the discretionary decision to give millions of legal and illegal immigrants and refugees social security benefits, medicaid, disability, earned income credits, and a host of other “mandatory” federal benefits and subsidies. The majority of foreign-born in our country are on one or more welfare programs. And this does not even begin to address the cost of education, health care, fraudulent tax returns, cost of police and prisons and other infrastructure that cost billions. Our government has made the discretionary decision to not enforce the borders, to not follow up on visa violations, and to not keep illegal alien criminals out of the country. There is nothing mandatory about inviting foreigners to dip into the American taxpayers’ soup.

Our government has also made the discretionary decision to not crack down on waste and fraud in the mandatory spending programs. A study by Senator Tom Coburn’s office indicated as many as 45% of disability claims were questionable. Social security and food stamp fraud is rampant.

When it comes to spending, our government doesn’t have a reputation for using good discretion. It has dropped billions of public dollars on corrupt and hopelessly inefficient green energy programs and other corporate cronies. It has stifled economic development with disingenuous environmental and social programs. By its fed policy to eliminate interest, it has destroyed the US currency and transferred much of the wealth saved by a generation of middle class families to the big banks and their benefactors.

Our government has made discretionary payroll decisions that have resulted in government workers earning far greater compensation than private sector workers do, and many of them are frightfully ineffective and inefficient. Five of the six wealthiest counties in the United States are Washington, DC suburbs. Much of the cost of these discretionary payroll decisions are embedded in mandatory spending.

Worst of all, our government has made the discretionary decision to pass on an insolvent nation to our future generations by refusing for decades to even write, much less balance, an honest zero-based budget. They didn’t have to do it, they chose to, pandering for the votes that bring them personal power and wealth.

I, for one, am tired of hearing that there is nothing anybody can do to reduce government spending because it is “mostly mandatory”. Elections have consequences, so we had better elect people who won’t use lame excuses to defend this unsustainable spending and debt.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You made me love you,
I didn’t want to do it!
I didn’t want to do it!
You made me want you,
And all the time you knew it!
I guess you always knew it!

You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) – Judy Garland

National ID or Uncontrolled Immigration – Make Up Your Mind

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Curveball As a teenage baseball pitcher I had a pretty good fast ball, and liked to throw everything hard. But my curve ball just wasn’t working. Then I got a physics lesson from my coach. “Son, ” he said, “you can either get speed on the ball or spin. But not both.”

He was right of course. The more spin you put on the ball, the more it will curve. With less spin, the ball will go straighter, and faster. Watch the “jugs” gun at a professional baseball game. A good pitcher throws a 95 mph fast ball, but his curve ball will come in at about 80 mph.

I think of that lesson whenever a news story reveals the trade-off between security and freedom.

Conservative Americans tend to guard their anonymity. They don’t think the government has any right to know a lot of details about their lives. Many just don’t trust the government to keep our information confidential, and recent examples of sloppy data security and failure to prevent hacking would seem to support that skepticism.

Others worry that corrupt government officials might actually use personal data to harm us for political purposes. Again, there is recent evidence that this kind of stuff happens; the IRS has become a weapon of personal destruction. It’s not hard to see why many Americans would prefer to be invisible to their own government.

But many of the same people who want to fly beneath the government’s radar also demand that the government provide us optimum security, which would require the feds to know a lot about everybody who is inside our borders. Here’s the hard truth: you can have security or anonymity, but not both. Speed or spin.

The United States has a serious problem with immigration in all varieties: legal, illegal, and refugee. Unskilled and under-educated illegals, mostly Mexicans, flow across our southern border, wreaking havoc here that would not be tolerated in their home country. USA Today reported this week that 76% of immigrant families with children are on welfare. Media sources say about 30% of inmates in our federal prisons are illegal immigrants, but that number is based on “self-reported” immigration status by prisoners and is likely much higher. Criminals who are illegal immigrants are routinely released by law officers in our sanctuary cities. Illegal immigrants have made a multi-billion dollar industry out of tax fraud – the IRS is totally indifferent to the outrageous refunds they receive, using fake tax returns and fake social security numbers.

Immigrants who are legally admitted to the US with temporary visas for work, education, or other purposes, often overstay their visas or take up permanent residence. Vote fraud by citizens and non-citizens alike is a growing problem, largely due to the failure of precincts to prove that voters are legitimate. Identity theft losses continue to accelerate.

Homeland Security, ICE, and the other federal agencies all say there is nothing they can do about any of these problems because they just can’t keep track of everybody.

Well, people, it’s time. It’s time for all legal American citizens to have a micro-chipped USA identification card, and the federal government must update its technology to be able to identify every human being within our borders. Our government should collect DNA, retinal scans, palm scans, or any other physical individual identification from everybody who lives here, visits here, or is discovered to have arrived here. The technology is readily available, and the cost should be more than offset by savings.

Scary? Yes.

But so is the reality of thousands of Muslim refugees arriving on our shores unvetted at a time when Iran is on the verge of receiving $150 billion and a free pass to build nuclear weapons which it will share with its aligned Muslim terrorist groups from all over the Middle East. So is the prospect of a US economy crushed under the weight of an exploding population of needy, unskilled third-world immigrants and refugees, reproducing at a much greater rate than native-born Americans. So is the loss of our national identity, our character, our traditions, our heritage, and our sense of unity, as American-born citizens become outnumbered by foreigners who don’t speak the same language, don’t understand our unique system of government, don’t recognize our laws, and don’t intend to assimilate into our common culture.

It may be hard to trust the government after what we have been through the last several years. Under the circumstances we have no choice but to trust, and we’d better be careful who we put in power. I don’t see how we will ever get this hot mess back under control until we know who is who.

Speed or spin. Security or anonymity. Time to make up our minds.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
And pick up on one and leave the other behind?
It’s not often easy and not often kind.
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? – the Lovin’ Spoonful

The Guy Who Works At the Dump is Angry

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

boehner-and-mcconnell-3 I haul my own garbage to the dump. Call me old fashioned. Or cheap. Or both.

Here in South Carolina we have “waste collection and recycling” centers conveniently located around the county. Instead of sending out an army of men and trucks to pick up trash door-to-door once a week, whether we need it or not, our county lets us take our trash to them. No charge (other than the small cost of operation added to our property taxes). No wasted miles, no noisy diesel trucks fouling the air, no bloated union driver pensions. It’s one more example of how refreshingly common-sensible I find our state and local government to be – unlike our federal government.

Yesterday my truck’s radio was tuned in to my favorite political talk show, and as I jumped out at one of the huge trash collection bins, I couldn’t help but notice the caretaker’s radio was on the same station. “You have a great job,” I kidded him. “You get to just sit around and listen to Rush all day!”

That started our discussion about the current state of political affairs and, of course, the presidential campaign. And it reminded me how ignorant the mainstream media and the political elites of both parties are about the voters’ state of mind this time around. It is unfathomable to me that they still underestimate or totally dismiss the level of discontent out here on the street.

The man at the dump is backing Donald Trump all the way, and he defends his position vigorously with facts and figures about the damage illegal immigration is doing to our country. He is furious with the corrupt Republican house and senate leaders and the sheepish representatives who abandoned their conservative promises for fear of retribution. He is pro-life, pro-second amendment, anti-ObamaCare and anti-Iran-agreement.

Just like virtually everybody I meet.

My next-door neighbor is educated, wealthy, and black. He is raising his three beautiful girls with traditional conservative American values: work hard, have respect, be responsible, and don’t expect to receive anything you don’t earn. He hasn’t picked a presidential candidate yet, but is watching the race closely and says he will vote for the most conservative one.

The guy that set up my pool table puts in sixty hour weeks, and he loves it. He enjoys the competition, the financial rewards, and the independence of owning his small business. He just bought a bigger building and will be hiring more people, but government intrusion makes running his business difficult, and the anti-America agenda of the left just makes him mad. “I can’t understand these liberals. They waste so much time and money on things that really aren’t important, and won’t deal with the things that are.”

This week I attended Congressman Jeff Duncan’s “Faith and Freedom” barbecue event. In addition to some fine barbecued pork, we also got a heaping portion of red meat politics from presidential contenders Governor Scott Walker, Dr. Ben Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz. These guys know what is on the minds of the common folks, 2000 strong, who sang the national anthem with inspiration and harmony. The candidates hit every hot button: Planned Parenthood, ISIS, tax reform, energy independence, ObamaCare, Iran, national debt, corporate cronyism, honesty and values. They know the man and woman on the street are angry at the Republicans they elected and who refuse to represent them.

“If you elect me,” Ted Cruz bellowed, “I will always tell the truth, and I will do what I said I would do!”

Trump’s supporters unanimously appreciate the way he “tells it like it is.” After initially dismissing Trump as a serious candidate, pollster Frank Luntz finally admitted, “Trump is punishment to a Republican elite that wasn’t listening to their grassroots.” Charles Krauthammer insisted in a recent editorial that Trump’s nomination would guarantee Hillary Clinton a victory. Then he added, “Yes, I understand. The anger, the frustration, etc., etc., that Trump is channeling. But how are these alleviated by yelling “I’m mad as hell?”

The guy at the dump is mad as hell, and he doesn’t know what else to do. Like the rest of us, he studied the issues and voted for people who promised they would be conservatives when they got to Washington. We thought we elected conservative majorities in both houses, but things keep getting worse.

The DC elites need to put down their martini glasses, cut their Martha’s Vineyard vacations short, and take a good hard look at the guy on the street. He’s angry, and they had better not ignore him any longer.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

There’s a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
And he’s always at home with his back to the wall.

Angry Young Man – Billy Joel

Charlotte Taxpayers Get Fouled Again On Stadium Upgrades

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

TIME WARNER ARENA – photo by LeighSells.com

Charlotte won its bid to host the 2017 NBA All-Star game, and already the calculators are overheating.

Last fall Charlotte’s city council committed local taxpayers to $27.5 million in upgrades to Time Warner Arena, enough to persuade NBA commissioner Adam Silver that the Queen City deserves the event. The city will spend at least an additional $6 million on All-Star Weekend, including a $600,000 hosting fee to the league and another $600,000 in incremental police, fire, and medical costs.

The city of Charlotte shares ownership of Time Warner Arena with the Charlotte Hornets, having paid $260 million of the original construction cost in 2005. The arena replaced the Charlotte Coliseum, which was built in 1988 and was the home of the Hornets for 17 years before it was demolished despite a public outcry.

About $1.5 million of the cost will be paid from hospitality taxes and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority is forking over a similar amount. Mecklenburg County and the state of North Carolina will also be asked to chip in, but the rest of the cost will be borne by city taxpayers. Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who boasts a net worth of $1 billion thanks to the appreciation in the value of his team, has offered to pay $150,000 of the tab out of concession profits.

Charlotte Mayor pro tem Michael Barnes said, “We have to invest in assets the city owns.” The city’s somewhat vague contract requires it to maintain a facility that is “among the NBA’s most modern”. The city council approved the spending on a partisan 9-2 vote. One of the dissenters, Republican Ed Driggs, thinks the taxpayers are on the receiving end of a flagrant foul.

“Many don’t believe public money should be used to subsidize a for-profit business,” Driggs told the Charlotte News Observer. “How do we rationalize the terms of this? We pay all the capital costs and receive no proceeds. What kind of partnership is this?”

Charlotte taxpayers are still looking for an ‘unnecessary roughness’ penalty flag after the city council gave NFL owner Jerry Richardson $87.5 million for questionable improvements to Panther Stadium. And the fiscal finish line is nowhere in sight for the uptown money-pit Nascar Hall of Fame, which cost $194 million in public funds and is still losing over a million bucks a year.

The residents of Charlotte own some of the finest sports facilities that money can buy, but most can’t afford to enjoy them, thanks to ever-escalating ticket and concession prices. The players seem to have more success negotiating with team owners, as evidenced by Cam Newton’s new $104 million contract with the Panthers.

Maybe Charlotte taxpayers need a new agent.

• this article can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena, a sponsor of “Rockin’ On the Right Side” •

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Sometimes building ivory towers, sometimes knocking castles down
Sometimes building you a stairway, lock you underground
It’s that old-time religion, it’s the kingdom they would rule
It’s the fool on television, getting paid to play the fool

The Big Money – Rush

I play in a three-piece band on weekends and am occasionally looked down upon by a prospective venue booker who thinks that it takes a bunch of musicians to make good music. Hmm. Here’s a pretty darn good little three-piece band:

Hillary Stills Wants “The Village” To Raise Our Kids

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

it_takes_a_village 20 years ago, First Lady Hillary Clinton uttered perhaps her most memorable and politically-revealing declaration, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Borrowed from an ancient African proverb, “It Takes A Village” quickly became her mantra, frequently repeated on talk shows and speeches throughout her husband’s presidential campaign. A book by that title was published in 1996, and while Mrs. Clinton claimed to have written it by herself “in longhand,” it was ghost-written by Barbara Feinman, who was none too pleased that she received practically no acknowledgment for having done all of the heavy lifting.

Clinton’s assertion that “it takes a village” has been the subject of conservative derision and outrage pretty much ever since. Bob Dole summed up the reaction of conservatives when he addressed the 1996 Republican Convention: “… with all due respect, I am here to tell you, it does not take a village to raise a child. It takes a family to raise a child.”

Clinton doubled down on her contention when she unsuccessfully ran for president in 2007 and tripled down this year in her presidential campaign launch speech, saying, “It takes an inclusive society. What I once called “a village” that has a place for everyone.”

My local newspaper today includes an article about “Operation Backpack.” Now in its third year, the York County Sheriff’s Foundation program provides backpacks and school supplies to county schools who pass them on to families “in need.” It is one of literally dozens of similar programs in the area.

School supplies and backpacks are now one more thing that parents are no longer expected to provide for their children.

I am more baffled every day by the change in our culture. There was a time, not long ago, when we expected parents to take care of their children and be responsible for meeting their needs. Today, it apparently does take “A Village” to care for many of our children. Parents (single mothers) are no longer asked to feed their children, with SNAP, WIC, free school breakfasts and lunches provided by the leaders of The Village, year-around. They don’t have to buy Christmas presents thanks to the many generous gift programs. There are clothing drives and free entertainment and camps and cultural opportunities. Housing is free under Section 8. Minority children are usually offered free college educations, regardless of merit, and enjoy hiring preferences. Ours has become a culture of entitlement for anyone who is deemed “needy” by the leaders of The Village, and those who acquire the title are considered courageous and honorable – held in high esteem by the liberal media and the undiscerning.

A single mother who is hooked into today’s benefit programs has practically no responsibility for raising her children. She can spend the family’s cash benefits entirely on her own entertainment, since everything her children could possibly need or want is provided by The Village.

In Hillary Clinton’s world-view, this arrangement works perfectly. Parents can’t be trusted, so The Village must raise the child according to the directions of its leaders. The child learns to depend on The Village and the system is perpetuated, generation after generation. The leaders of The Village are permanently empowered.

I have a soft spot for disadvantaged kids, and I know that many of them aren’t blessed with parents who are able to give them what they need. Been there. The Village can be a life saver. Unfortunately, it’s the leaders of The Village and their self-centered ambitions that worry me. Forgive me if my family chooses to take full responsibility for raising our children, providing for them on our own, and teaching them to be independently responsible for the welfare of our future generations.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

(instrumental)

Quiet Village – Martin Denny

Those of you who follow my blog regularly know that I always associate a song performance with the topic of my rant. This is, to date, the weirdest one ever. Thinking of “the Village”, I couldn’t escape a childhood memory. My single-mom family didn’t have a television, and I spent many hours listening to my mother’s eclectic (to say the least!) record collection. Prominently included was an album by Martin Denny featuring “Quiet Village” – a set of gentle, somewhat Latin but ambiguously Polynesian compositions, featuring guys doing bird whistles and monkey howls. It was corny but mysteriously cool. Check it out!

I’m About To Give You All My Money, Give Me Some R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

What does government do? What CAN government do?

In a nutshell, the only thing government can do is spend our money. Period. That’s all, folks.

Our governments – city, county, state, federal – pass bills that spend our money. Whatever they do, it involves spending our money. If they are doing more, that means they are spending more money. The more they do, the more they spend. If we criticize them for not doing enough, that means we think they are not spending enough of our money.

Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Greenie Meanie Weenie, it doesn’t matter. The only reason any politician exists is to spend our money.

The longer a politician is in office, the more money he/she has spent. In fact, those elected officials who rise to the top of the food chain find themselves in position to spend even more money than everybody else. They get re-elected by promising to spend more of our money. Two of the most powerful people in Congress are the heads of the Appropriations Committees. In the Senate, that would be Thad Cochran (R-MS) – whose last election is legendary in the annals of dirty and criminal political maneuvers. In the House, it would be Hal Rogers (R-KY), known as the “Prince of Pork”.

Thinking Americans have come to realize that more government, bigger government, more spending has not solved our problems as a nation. Big government has only funneled money from some of us to others of us, but has not improved the standard of living for all of us. Those with government connections continue to thrive while the middle class has all but disappeared and the growing underclass has become hopelessly dependent on government programs.

It took a few hundred years, but today’s politicians have figured it out – election and re-election can be easily won by buying votes with somebody else’s money.

If this sounds cynical, I’m sorry. Tell me where I’m wrong.

But there is good news. We can get out of this mess, and it’s an easy fix. All we have to do is ask every candidate for public office one simple question: Will you reduce the size and cost of government?

If the answer is yes, give that person money and vote for him or her. If the answer is no, run like hell.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m about to give you all of my money
And all I’m askin’ is for a little respect
When I come home.
Hey, hey, hey!

Respect – Otis Redding

You thought I was giving you a song by ARETHA didn’t ya! Otis Redding wrote and recorded Respect in 1965. Aretha Franklin covered it two years later, and it became a classic – one of the rare instances where the cover beats the original. I do this song every weekend with my family band Caution! Blind Driver, and our audiences are always surprised when I sing it instead of our female vocalist, my daughter Jenny. Here is a video of Otis singing this R&B standard on Dec. 9, 1967. Sadly, he was killed the next day in a plane crash.

Greece, Hot Fudge Sundaes, Boehner/McConnell, and Junior-High Economics

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

hot fudge sundae In 1966 I was a junior high kid in small-town Montana when I got my first – and maybe most important – lesson in economics and personal finance.

That year was a whirlwind of change for me. I had just left city life in the projects with my welfare mom to live with my dad, a hard-working small-business owner. Everything was new – the small-town culture where people are accepting but demand responsibility; the freedom and fresh air walking through the woods and fishing in the beautiful mountain streams; the first exposure to the working world where one gets only what he earns; the little family luxuries like having clean clothes to wear and breakfast on the table every day.

But back to my economics lesson.

I didn’t know it at the time, but the crabby old guy who owned the local drug store was actually on a one-man mission to teach economic responsibility to the local youth. Allen’s Drug Store featured an old-fashioned soda fountain, and old-man Allen served up a world-class hot fudge sundae: whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry on top. For a quarter!

Like most small-town kids at the time, I was doing odd jobs and making a buck here and there. I also got an allowance of fifty cents per week, which seemed like a fortune to me. A quarter for a hot fudge sundae at the drug store was well spent, and I had bought a few for cash before I learned from my older sister that Mr. Allen would actually let you “charge” the cost of a sundae, and you could pay him later.

I ran right down to Allen’s and ordered up my hot fudge sundae. “Can I charge it?” I asked. “Sure,” Mr. Allen said. I felt like a big shot.

The next day I was back at the drug store, charging another sundae. It just doesn’t get better than this! And within another day or so I was back again. And again.

One day Mr. Allen went to his little box of index cards, picked out mine, and saw that I owed him for a half-dozen sundaes. “I’m afraid this is the last one, until you pay your bill,” he said. I was a little bit ticked off, because I had already spent all my money on Mad magazines, baseball cards, and other important stuff. But then I started thinking about the whole “charge account” thing, and it started to make sense. Mr. Allen couldn’t just give me free sundaes forever. And I couldn’t eat sundaes every day when I was only bringing in fifty cents a week.

So I went without sundaes for a while and saved enough money to pay my bill. My sundae consumption went way down. I found that they actually tasted a lot better on the rare occasion when I decided to buy one – for cash.

Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Allen.

Today the nation of Greece defaulted on its IMF loans. Banks put limits on withdrawals. Stock markets tumbled worldwide. It’s not that Greece’s economic collapse is, on its own, that big a deal – their GDP is only about equal to that of Louisiana. What really scares thoughtful people is that other European nations – and the United States, the world’s largest economy – are following the same path as the Greeks.

Even junior high kids can understand that spending more than one earns is a recipe for disaster. Our Federal Reserve, and the European central banks, held interest rates to zero for many years so that our governments could borrow and spend (pandering for votes) to the point that repayment of the debt is metaphysically impossible. In addition to the federal insolvency, local and state governments have promised pensions and benefits to their employees (again, pandering for votes and union support) that citizens will never be able to afford.

It is embarrassingly simple. If we don’t elect conservative officials with at least junior-high level economic skills, and if we don’t allow them to restrict government growth and spending, there will be no more hot fudge sundaes. Try telling that to your grandkids.

Boehner and McConnell have to go. So do the many representatives whose sole interest is holding on to their positions and power. Our only hope is to support and grow the Freedom Caucus, Congress’ conservative wing and the only antidote to the liberal Republican leadership. And we must elect a president who understands economic reality. At least at the junior-high level.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Got to pay your dues
If you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don’t come easy!

It Don’t Come Easy – Ringo Starr

A fun little romp with George and Ringo!

First Obama Phones – Now Obama Web

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

This week the FCC will review and perhaps vote on a proposal to expand the “Lifeline” telephone subsidy program to include entitlements for broadband internet services for the poor.

The Lifeline program was authorized by Congress with good intentions in 1985. It provided subsidies for land-line telephone service to the poor, on the theory that a telephone is necessary to maintain basic health and safety. The program, funded by federally mandated surcharges on consumer telephone bills, flew under the radar until 2005 when it was expanded to include cell phone service. The subsequent rapid growth and explosion of fraud and abuse in the program drew considerable attention as free cell phones, derisively dubbed “Obama Phones”, were widely distributed – even unscrupulously collected and resold – with little qualification or oversight.

The program cost $1.4 billion in 2014.

To test the veracity of reports that virtually anybody could apply for and receive an “Obama Phone”, I filled out an online application (honestly) and hit “enter”. Four days later I had a new cell phone, complete with 250 minutes of cellular service per month and unlimited texts. It’s mine to use, apparently forever, no questions asked. And I don’t think anybody would consider me the slightest bit “needy”.

In 2012, pushed by congressional oversight, the FCC attempted to assert some discipline in the program. While costs were somewhat reduced, the rampant fraud continues, according to FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly. He wants to see the Lifeline program cleaned up before any consideration is given to expanding the entitlement. O’Rielly would:

Set a budget for the Lifeline program – it currently has no limits on spending

Disallow any increase in the reimbursement rate paid to providers for adding broadband services

Limit the services covered under the program

Offer subsidies to only those who really need it – a survey indicated 19 out of 20 Lifeline users would have their own smart phones even if the program didn’t exist

Require participants to have “skin in the game” – no more completely free phones

Senator David Vitter (R-LA) wrote a scorching letter to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, calling the program, “. . . one of the most abused and fraud-ridden federal programs ever.” He excoriated Wheeler for denying the Office of the Inspector General the authority to investigate.

After decades of relative obscurity, the FCC, under Wheeler, is grabbing headlines with regularity this year. Their new “Net Neutrality” rules took effect last week, making internet service providers regulated utilities like phone companies, and preventing them from charging higher rates to high volume customers. Congress has vowed to undo the new provisions and might even cut the FCC’s budget.

Some view the FCC’s move to expand the Lifeline program as a natural and timely adjustment to rapid change in communication technology. Others say it is just one more entitlement – payback and pay-forward for the political support of a growing segment of government-dependent voters.

This article can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m free to choose what I please any old time
I’m free to choose what I please any old time
So hold me, love me, love me, hold me
I’m free any old time to get what I want, yes I am

I’m Free – the Rolling Stones

Here’s a nice and kind of obscure tune by the Stones – enjoy!

USDA Food Stamp Program Benefits Yemen

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

photo courtesy LegalInsurrection.com

About 25 years ago my wife and I were on a vacation trip in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had just got out of our car on a downtown street near the post office when a wild-eyed, shaggy-haired young guy ran up to us. “Hey!” he yelled. “You guys wanna buy some food stamps? 50 cents on the dollar!”

We were so caught off-guard, all we could say was, “No thanks.” He ran off to the next stranger on the street – “Hey! You wanna buy some food stamps . . . ”

After we figured out what had happened, we realized we should have called the police. But we were a couple of naive middle-class Americans, who, like most, never had the time or inclination to figure out ways to commit fraud. It honestly never crossed my mind that one could sell his taxpayer-funded benefits at a discount, receive cash, and spend it on whatever floats his boat more than groceries for the kids.

Even then, before EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards, the fraud was painfully easy. Food stamps were printed on paper and they were as good as cash. I could have easily saved 50% on my next grocery shopping trip. And the “needy” young guy on the street could have landed a weekend supply of Ludes and Mary Jane, compliments of the taxpayers. Neither of those outcomes were the intention of LBJ, or the legislators who passed his Food Stamp Act in 1964 and upgraded it several times since, or the taxpayers who write checks to the IRS every year. Little did we know that the food stamp fraud problem was going to get worse – much worse – over time.

We all exchange frustration about being in the grocery checkout line behind somebody with a cart full of extravagant fare, paid with an EBT card. We are alarmed when we hear that SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) will cost over $84 billion in 2015. We wonder why schools plan to feed kids during the summer months, as well as throughout the school year, when their families already presumably receive food stamp benefits.

photo by Tameka Moore AL.com

This week a Birmingham, Alabama task force raided twelve convenience stores and arrested 17 suspects involved in an alleged food stamp fraud ring. The convenience store owners had been buying EBT cards from their customers at 50 cents on the dollar, and using the cards to buy merchandise for resale, including steaks at Wal-Mart. Worse yet, some of the Muslim store owners were accepting EBT cards in exchange for cash payments to individuals in

Yemen. This was no small operation, as officials identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent transactions. And authorities only have the resources to deal with a tiny tip of this huge Alabama iceberg. Food stamp fraud cases like this show an accelerating trend all over the country.

While it is somewhat reassuring that some fraud cases are being prosecuted, it is disheartening to know that we are not even scratching the surface. Citizens question why our government agencies aggressively promote benefit programs regardless of whether recipients are legal citizens or not. There is inadequate prevention and policing of the rampant fraud by both consumers and providers. Our border and immigration policies invite throngs of third-world indigents who hold little hope of becoming contributors to the economy and land here fully expecting benefits.

A group of clear-headed conservative Congressmen have lined up behind Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) to introduce the ‘SNAP Verify Act of 2015’ in hopes of putting the brakes on the food stamp fraud program. The law would require EBT users to present photo ID cards when making purchases.

Unfortunately, until Democrats and less-conservative Republicans recognize the scope of the problem, and put some teeth into enforcement, food stamp fraud will only get worse.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

It’s a cheating situation,
A stealing invitation
To take what’s not really ours
To make it through the midnight hours

A Cheating Situation – Moe Bandy

Just the Facts, Ma’am. Economic Facts.

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

“Just the facts, ma’am.” – Detective Joe Friday, Dragnet

Here are some economic facts that the mainstream media and the government don’t tell you!

No speech is worth a half million dollars. In recent years Bill and Hillary Clinton have received some ridiculous amounts for speaking engagements – as much as $750,000 for one Bill Clinton speech in China. I’m sorry – there is no person on Earth whose words are so precious that they command that kind of money. The only reason anybody would give Bill or Hillary Clinton such a huge sum is with the expectation of some kind of political favor in return.

You will never again receive any meaningful interest for the money you have saved. There are 18 trillion reasons why, according to Forbes. The Federal Reserve has held interest rates to near-zero for over ten years now, enabling our government to borrow and spend sums that it will likely never be able to repay, with or without interest. This has certainly done no favor for Americans who earned and saved money. Consider this: if the interest rate on our $18 trillion national debt increased to the normal historical level of five percent, it would cost our government almost a trillion dollars a year – about a quarter our current annual budget!

Do you think anybody in Washington, DC will allow that to happen? You might want to look for an investment alternative to that savings account or certificate of deposit.

No Congressman or Governor can become a multi-millionaire from only his or her salary. Our US Representatives earn $174,000 per year, plus expenses. The cost of living in Washington, DC is crushing, and some members sleep in their offices to avoid the hefty DC apartment rental rates. But many legislators have enjoyed tremendous gains in net worth during their tenure as public servants. The median net worth for members of Congress exceeds $1 million. And while many public officials were wealthy before their elections, it seems that profit opportunities abound for those whose votes and influence can generate winners and losers in the private economy. Former house leader Nancy Pelosi, for example, directed a billion dollars in subsidies to a light-rail company which was a big contributor to her campaigns and also listed her husband as a major investor. Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer parlayed some insider information about a mining operation into a hefty sum. Former senate majority leader Harry Reid reportedly retired as details of a number of financial scandals were about to surface. Other examples of public officials striking it rich abound.

The Affordable Care Act is not making health care more affordable. This year’s Milliman Medical Index, which tracks health care costs for employer-provided plans, shows an increase of 43% for employees and 32% for employers since the ACA took effect. A dramatic increase is expected in 2018 when the “Cadillac Tax” provision kicks in. And while the total cost of health care by traditional measurement has not increased as rapidly as many ACA critics predicted, a hidden cost is the 21 new and higher taxes that were implemented as part of the ACA. Medicare is now partially funded by transfers from the general fund, and that amount will increase in upcoming years.

Immigration is not a boon to our economy. Due to lack of education and employable skills, immigrants – both legal and illegal -use welf immigrant-welfare-use-4-11-f1 are and public assistance programs at a much greater rate than native-born Americans. 71% of Hispanic immigrants with children received public benefits in 2009.

Contrary to President Obama’s contention, most successful wealthy Americans are not “lottery winners”, whose good fortunes are the result of dumb luck. 80% of millionaires are the first generation of their family to get wealthy. Most are self-employed, and have a spouse who helps them succeed financially. My financially astute wife points out that she never met a wealthy person who set out to be rich. They were so busy working and building their businesses that they didn’t have time for unprofitable activities.

The economy is not as rosy as we are told by the administration and the media. The labor force participation rate remains at a 37-year low, and the average real wage (adjusted for inflation) has not increased much since the 1970s. Many middle class Americans can no longer afford to take vacations without sacrificing something else.

Just the facts, ma’am. Nothing but the facts.

this article can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Look into my eyes
Can’t you see they’re open wide
Would I lie to you baby
Would I lie to you

Would I Lie to You? – the Eurythmics