Category Archives: Our Economic Mess

Marriage – Gay and Otherwise

Posted on by Standard 3

We hear so much talk about gay marriage.  It was a major election issue.  Three more states approved it and others are working on it.  Many votes were based solely on a candidate’s position on gay marriage.

Before I go any further, let me go on the record.  My official position on gay marriage is:  I don’t care.  If two men or two women want to commit to each other, I think it’s great.  Is a law required?  I don’t know.  I do worry about kids without fathers, but that’s a separate issue.

With all the airtime, bandwidth, and hand-wringing over gay marriage, one would think it must be something important to the future of our nation.  Is it?  How many gay couples are clamoring to get married, anyway?  A thousand?  Ten thousand?  What impact does gay marriage have on our floundering economy, our national security, or our crushing debt?

Here’s an issue that has a HUGE impact on our floundering economy, our national security, and our crushing debt.  Heterosexual marriage. 

It is statistically undeniable that married couples and their children enjoy many advantages over singles.  And it is no accident that as the proportion of Americans who are married continues to decline, so does our economy.  As our economy declines, so does our national security.  And as individual economic performance declines due to the missing support structure of marriage, personal debt and dependence on government increase – resulting in seemingly unstoppable national deficits and debt.  Not to mention the other ills of poverty:  substance abuse, violence, undereducated and poorly-raised children.

Most married people are wealthier, healthier, happier and more productive than single people, especially single moms.  Most children from married families have a better life and future than single-parent kids.  I don’t even have to bore you with the statistics because it’s common sense and you know it’s true.

Our political leaders and entertainers either avoid or deny the importance of marriage.  In fact, our society has decided that cohabitation and single motherhood and the absence of commitment is just fine for heterosexuals.  But it is critically important that gays are married.

Enough already about gay marriage – why don’t we ever talk about the importance of MARRIAGE?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
(thanks and hugs to my bride of 39 years)

Going to the chapel, and we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel, and we’re gonna get married
Gee I really love you, and we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel of love

Going To The Chapel of Love – the Dixie Cups

Life In The Banana Republic

Posted on by Standard Reply

Back in the day we watched action adventure movies about Americans traveling in exotic far-flung countries.  It was so very foreign to our small-town Montana sensibilities – the drugs, the shady intrigue, the beautiful women.  There was poverty and danger around every corner, and it seemed that nothing could be accomplished in these mysterious places without paying off some government official.

We called them “banana republics” – countries where life was tough, the government was corrupt,  and only those with connections, wit, and maybe weapons avoided an unhappy fate.

We were enthralled with tense scenes from places where the government was all about secrets and raw, cold power; where ordinary citizens hid behind gray walls and doors, afraid of making some political “hit” list.  Everyone was poor – except those who worked for the government or had connections.  Personal success was just a distant dream, as winners and losers were chosen by the powerful.

It could never happen here.  We have checks and balances, and a president couldn’t just make laws, seize property and control businesses without the consent of the legislature.  This is America.  There’s no corruption here.  Our government leaders would never lie to us, or hide the truth.  Besides, our news people will always tell us what’s really going on, right?  And we have fair elections, where legal citizens get to choose how the government will affect their lives.

Drugs are illegal here.  Aren’t they?  I mean, I think they used to be.

And we don’t have to worry about people here being dirt poor, relying on scraps and handouts from the government.  Most of our people have jobs, and own their own homes, right?  We still manufacture stuff, and have plenty of our own cheap energy for our cars and houses, and everybody has a bright future here.  We still go to church on Sunday and take care of our neighbors and families.  Don’t we?

I’m sure glad we live in America, and not in one of those banana republics.  We have nothing to worry about here, let’s just party on.  Let’s have another joint.  Wanna dance?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

They’re pickin’ up the prisoners
And puttin em in a pen
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
Rebels been rebels
Since I don’t know when
And all she wants to do is dance

All She Wants To Do Is Dance – Don Henley

If Obama Wins – Then What, Montana?

Posted on by Standard Reply

courtesy ConsumerBoomer.com

  • No fracking, drilling, or pipelines – guess what that does to our Montana and US economies – and our future?
  • No coal plants in the US – if we are allowed to mine coal at all, we will probably not be allowed to ship it to the coast by train to meet the huge demand for Asian coal.  Coal dust blows off the train cars, you see.
  • Energy prices will double within a year – (see above).  We will continue to subsidize wind and solar energy companies, electric car manufacturers, and other chosen “winners”, many of whom will not survive economically.
  • $8 per gallon gasoline within two years.  Remember, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said he wants our gas price to be the same as Europe.
  • At least two more far-left Supreme Court Justices take the bench.
  • Severe restrictions on gun ownership and use (see above – Sotomayor says “the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”)  Hunting on government land is forbidden, and is severely restricted on private land.
  • Health care will be expensive and rare.
  • Government employee unions will rule with impugnity.
  • Inflation will skyrocket as national debt soars and the Fed continues to print funny money.
  • Conservative talk radio, free speech, free internet, and Fox News are toast.  The first amendment fades in our memories, like most Constitutional freedoms.
  • Our government will never again write a budget – as Harry Reid said, “There’s no need to have a Democratic budget in my opinion.”  Budget, schmudget.  They can always print more money and spend it however they want.
  • Obama and his administration will make life hell for everyone who opposed them.  Listen to Valerie Jarrett:

    …Valerie Jarrett is letting it be known that if Barack Obama secures election victory next week, there may be, quite literally, hell to pay for those who opposed him…

    …Jarrett told (staff members) ‘After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time.

    Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don’t forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded, the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve.

    There is going to be hell to pay. Congress won’t be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go.’

    She was talking directly to about three of them. Sr. staff. And she wasn’t trying to be quiet about it at all. And they were all listening and shaking their heads and smiling while she said it…

Obama has promised revenge too. If you ever spoke out against the left, watch your back.

I could go on, but it’s more than I can bear on the night before the most important, and the closest, political race of the modern political era. There is so much at stake. We can only pray for God’s mercy at this point. It may be our last chance before prayer is outlawed.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

So let’s bow our heads and pray –
with the unbelievable ZZ TOP

Have Mercy – and – Jesus Has Left Chicago

Budgeting For Dummies

Posted on by Standard 1

My wife and I were so excited when we bought our first home back in the 1970s, just a few miles west of Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls.   We hadn’t been there more than a month and were outside in the yard, raking leaves.  Suddenly we saw a huge plume of thick, black smoke rolling out of the base.

“What the heck is that?”  We looked at each other, and guessed that a plane must have crashed and exploded.

We looked in the newspaper the next day, and watched the TV news, anticipating a story about the mystery explosion at the base.  But there was no report.

Still curious, a few days later I asked a friend who worked at Malmstrom, “What was that big cloud of smoke at the base all about?  Was there a plane crash?”

Puzzled, he said nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.  Then he said, “Wait a minute, was that Friday?”  I said yes.  He said, “Oh, that’s normal.  On the last day of the month, they always pour their excess jet fuel on the ground and burn it so they get their full allocation for the next period.  They call it fire fighter training.”

It’s common knowledge.  The way budgeting works in every government department is thus:  you get what you got before, plus a little more.  Whether you need it or not.  Whether your department is functional or not.  Whether the program is still needed or not.  Whether we have the money or not.

Is it any wonder our governments are bloated, inefficient, and ineffective?  Can you imagine any family or business running like this?

Our US Senate has not even bothered to write a budget for over three years.  Didn’t seem to matter much, did it?

I can give countless other examples of the idiocy of our government budget process, but I’m sure you have plenty of your own.

Rick Hill, Montana candidate for governor, really got my attention when he said he would work to implement “Priority Based Budgeting” if elected.  It didn’t get much of a reaction in the press, but I think it is the singular most significant promise I have heard this year by any candidate for any office.



Imagine if Hill’s common-sense idea were implemented at all levels of government.  We would find thousands of government buildings and other assets no longer needed, agencies who compete inefficiently with each other to provide the same services, and buildings full of desks full of people whose purpose became obsolete long ago.

There is no excuse for the laziness of our elected officials, who shirk their oversight responsibilities for the myriad of government agencies and departments.

If elected, Rick Hill and Mitt Romney and other elected executives have a golden opportunity before them: they can press the RESET button.  It might work like this:

  • CITIZEN RESET – Every citizen who receives an entitlement (other than social security) has one year to re-apply for program qualification.  Are you receiving disability?  Let’s make sure you are still disabled (or ever were).  Are you on unemployment?  You will be required to show that you are actively making yourself available and employable.
  • GOVERNMENT RESET – Every department has one year to justify its existence, demonstrate and quantify the value it offers taxpayers, and request its first zero-based budget.  The executive will require legislative oversight that is meaningful, detailed, and transparent.  And all payments made by the government will be audited against the budget.

Using the data management capabilities that are commonplace in business today, fraud and waste in government are easily preventable.  In spite of their promises, our elected officials have never even tried, and there is no time like the present.

Oh, and all government employees will be required to read “Budgeting for Dummies.”  There will be a quiz.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Zero-based budgeting,
according to Billy Preston
(gotta love the hair!)

Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin’
You gotta have somethin’
If you wanna be with me

Nothin’ From Nothin’ – Billy Preston

Letters From My Friend, Barack

Posted on by Standard Reply

Every day I get a half dozen e-mails from my good friends, Barack and Michelle (we are on a first name basis, you know.)

They usually share some upbeat little story about their lives.   Today there was cute picture of Barack and Michelle giggling – it looked like he was telling her a big secret.  The note said I could have a chance to join them in Chicago on election night if I send them $5.  I wonder what the secret was about?

They look great, but I suspect beneath the surface they are having some problems.  They ask me for $5 several times a day.

My friend Barack is trying to get re-elected as President.  In his notes to me he never talks about things like the economy, unemployment, terrorists attacking our embassies, or the $16 trillion national debt.  I know he doesn’t want me to worry about that stuff.  And I don’t think it bothers him much.  Mostly he is worried about getting elected.

A couple of days ago he wrote:

Tom —

I don’t want to lose this election.

Not because of what losing would mean for me — Michelle and I will be fine no matter what happens.  But because of what it would mean for our country and middle-class families.

This race is very close.

I’m not willing to watch the progress you and I worked so hard to achieve be undone. Time is running out to make an impact — please don’t wait any longer. Donate $5 or more today.

Barack

I’m so glad that my friends Barack and Michelle are going to be fine no matter what happens, because I’m afraid he may be right – the progress he worked so hard to achieve could be undone in a couple of weeks.  The $16 trillion debt might stop growing.  The government takeover of the entire health care industry might be prevented.  The EPA may have to stop shutting down coal plants and allow those mean oil companies to drill again.

I’m sorry to say I am too embarrassed to write back to my friends, Barack and Michelle, and tell them that I can’t send them $5 today.  I’m still unemployed, I can’t sell my house, the dollars I have saved don’t earn any interest and I can’t buy much with them anyway.  So I’m going to use my $5 to buy a couple of beers.

Good luck, though, Barack and Michelle.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

How about a country classic today?

Let other folks worry what the future might bring
Just to sit and worry won’t get you a thing
My pants may be ragged but that’s all right
I’ve got five dollars and it’s Saturday night

I’ve Got Five Dollars – Faron Young

Sandy Welch Understands Economic Literacy

Posted on by Standard 1

Has there ever been a politician who didn’t tout the importance of a good education system?  I’ve never seen one.  They all agree.

Ask any citizen or businessperson what’s really important for success individually, or as a nation.  The answer will almost certainly include, “a good education.”

I find that education is like the weather – everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

We now have a chance to do something about education.  We can elect Sandy Welch as Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction.

A former math teacher and a successful school administrator, Welch certainly has the academic chops to qualify her for the position.  More important to me is her understanding of economics.

Schools today fail to equip our students with economic literacy.   We continue to turn out graduates who do not understand the basic facts of economic life, and they are walking targets to any financial or political shyster.  No subject is more critical.  Every American sets out each day to improve his or her family’s standard of living.

Sandy Welch gets it.  Early in her career, she worked for an accounting firm.  She wrote a book about financial fundamentals for teens.   She supports a curriculum that emphasizes a firm, internal understanding of basic economics that will accelerate every student’s success in life.

Welch has a clear understanding of the State Superintendent’s role on the State Land Board.  Unlike the incumbent, Denise Juneau, who lines up with environmentalists in opposition to coal extraction in Montana, Sandy Welch appreciates the importance of resource development to our school funding, and to the state’s economy and jobs.

We don’t do anything about the weather because we can’t change it.   But we can no longer consider education a spectator sport.  It’s time to do something.  We can get involved directly with our student’s coursework and classrooms.  We can participate in school board meetings and provide input to administrators.  We can view our schools as more than athletic venues.

And we can elect Sandy Welch as our next Montana Superintendent of Schools.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The dancing is kinda weird, but you gotta
love the sound of those great Fender amps –
It’s only two minutes . . . watch this
oldie but goodie by Herman’s Hermits

Don’t know much about geography
Don’t know much trigonometry
Don’t know much about algebra
Don’t know what a slide rule is for
But I do know that one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

Isn’t Mexico A Foreign Country?

Posted on by Standard 2

Have we completely forgotten about our neighbors to the south?  In last night’s “foreign policy” presidential debate, Mexico was not mentioned.

At least 60,000 have died in Mexico’s drug war over the last five years.

Repeat, and pause.  At least 60,000 have died in Mexico’s drug war over the last five years.

Moderator Bob Schieffer doesn’t think Mexico is important enough to justify wasting a question.  Neither Obama nor Romney took an opportunity to mention Mexico, or illegal immigration, or violence on the border, or the flight of US manufacturers across the border, or our dependence on Mexican oil, or our lust for Mexican drugs.  The Hispanic vote does not seem to be of concern to anyone.  Apparently, neither is the ongoing human carnage.

The focus of the entire debate was the Middle East.  Watching the proceeding, one would never know that just a stone’s throw from U.S. soil our Mexican neighbors suffer and die every day at the hands of criminal thugs and a corrupt legal system.  Or that Latinos, primarily of Mexican descent, will make up a third of our population by 2050.

Like it or not, our country is becoming browner.  Our future is intertwined with Mexico’s.  The nation, while sadly adrift, is not without merit, talent or resources.  It seems to me that even a little bit of attention paid to Mexico could deliver rewards – plus, we should sleep better at night.  We ignore Mexico at our peril.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Never mind your name, just give us your number
Never mind your face, just show us your card
And we want to know whose wing are you under?
You better step to the right or we can make it hard

On the Border – the Eagles

Obama – The Six Trillion Dollar Man

Posted on by Standard Reply



Overheard from Obama’s debate prep team:  “We have the technology – we have the capability to make the world’s first bionic president.  Better, cooler, smarter . . .  Oh wait, we already spent six trillion on that, it didn’t work.  Never mind.”

“The Six Million Dollar Man” (Lee Majors) could run like the wind and crush an anvil with one hand.  Fortunately, he was a force for good, not evil.

We spent SIX TRILLION DOLLARS on our current president – that’s how much our debt has increased under his watch.  And we can expect another bill of at least that much if he is re-elected.

Six Trillion Dollars ago, President Obama said he said he would cut the deficit in half.  Didn’t quite happen.

Six Trillion Dollars ago, the President said the rest of the world would respect us once again.  Umm, not so much.

Six Trillion Dollars ago, he said his would be the most transparent government in history.  Mr. President, what happened in Benghazi?  Can we see the Fast and Furious documents you hid, invoking executive privilege?  What’s the big secret about your college records?  And what the heck happened to that 7-layer Photoshopped birth certificate?

Six Trillion Dollars Ago, the President said,  “The Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.”  Mr. President, inside the beltway they say you don’t even talk to your own party leaders, much less anybody from across the aisle.

Six Trillion Dollars ago President Obama promised, “When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as the president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what’s in it before I sign it.”  Nope.  He said, “I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race. I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.”  Nope.  And he said, “When I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.”  Nope, nope, nope.

Too bad we didn’t get a warranty when we bought the Six Trillion Dollar Man.  Maybe we could get our money back.  For sure let’s not spend another Six Trillion on this same defective model.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Have a good laugh and enjoy some great R&B too.
Click the music link below and think Obama –

My man is smooth like Barry and his voice got bass
A body like Arnold with a Denzel face,
He’s smart like a doctor with a real good rep
And when he comes home, he’s relaxed with pep
He always got a gift for me, every time I see him
A lot of snot nose, ex-flames couldn’t be him

Whatta Man – Salt ‘N Peppa

You Take 16 Credits, What Do You Get? (Another Day Older and Deeper In Debt)

Posted on by Standard 4

Politicians, economists and educators continue to trumpet the importance of a college education.  At the Montana Conference for Education Leaders in Billings this week, academic experts nodded to each other that in our modern knowledge-based economy, finding a job without a degree will become increasingly difficult.

Yesterday we learned that two-thirds of college graduates last year had student loan debt, averaging $27,000.  Half of recent graduates can’t find jobs, and if they do, they find starting salaries have declined.

The issue is pretty complex.  College tuitions have increased at a greater rate than inflation.  Few students now work while at school.  Employers say colleges are not preparing students to meet their needs.  Americans  have become less nervous about debt and more comfortable with relying on government financial help.  Parents and students have not saved for college.  Many students use loan proceeds for all kinds of spending that is unrelated to school.  Some who receive loans and grants are not really students at all.

Add it all up and we face a $1 trillion student loan bubble.  And if you think all of that debt will be repaid to the taxpayers, I have a bridge . . .

Like the housing bubble, there will be a hue and cry to forgive the debts.  Some will say college education should be free – just like (gulp) Greece.

Is it a hopeless situation?  I don’t think so.   Here are just a few of many course corrections for our state universities that could turn the college cost/benefit dilemma around in fairly short order:

  • Limit student loans to educational costs only – tuition, books, perhaps on-campus room and board, and monitor recipients’ school attendance and performance
  • Take a hard look at the cost-drivers at our state-funded universities – is that new stadium necessary?  Are professor salaries commensurate with student benefit?
  • Eliminate the kickback corruption in the textbook industry – replace printed texts costing over $100 each with electronic media
  • Require student borrowers to have a documented plan for their educational path that leads to economic success – would a commercial bank make a business loan without a plan?
  • Allow and encourage employers (yes, those terrible profit-hungry abusers of the common people) to collaborate on-campus to make a direct connection between education and employment
  • Break up the radical left-wing academic bloc, eradicate their failed social engineering objectives and culture, and replace it with economic realism – the understanding that the reason one attends a university is to improve one’s ability to generate wealth for him or herself, a potential employer, and our nation.

Most important of all – we must prepare our K-12 students with a fundamental working knowledge of economics so that they are equipped to make rational career decisions at graduation.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You load 16 tons –
What do you get?
Another day older
And deeper in debt

Sixteen Tons – Tennessee Ernie Ford

Agenda 21 Is Finally on the National Radar

Posted on by Standard 2

A couple of years ago when Tea Parties and other conservative groups started warning about dangerous socialist influences infiltrating our local governments, I was a skeptic.  “I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” I thought.  “Agenda 21?  Sounds like Area 51.  That stuff is just too crazy to even my waste time thinking about.  I’m a realist, I’m worried about the economy and the national debt.  Don’t bother me with the fringe nutball stuff.”

The Agenda 21 story was never picked up by the mainstream media, but it seemed there were more and more news items about “sustainable” growth initiatives, and bike lanes, and expensive projects with marginal (if any) apparent benefits. A common theme was the proliferation of grants – “free” money from the federal government, usually involving NGOs (non-governmental agencies).  Although the money always comes with strings attached, it seems irresistible to cash-starved city and county departments.

When people I know and trust began rolling up their sleeves, standing up to their city councils and county commissions, and loudly “outing” the socialist agendas and harmful effects of these initiatives, I had to start paying attention.  If you have read this far and don’t know what Agenda 21 is, or why you should be concerned, it’s time for you to start paying attention, too.  You can start with the Wikipedia entry.  Probably the deepest research on the origins and dangers of Agenda 21 was done by investigators working for Glenn Beck.

According to Brushfires of Freedom Montana, a conservative and constitutional watchdog group, “There are literally thousands of Agenda 21 projects going on in Montana.”   New initiatives pop up almost daily all over the state and some are undoubtedly worming their way into your local governments – just look for the word “sustainable” and follow the grant money.

I was surprised to see this morning that Reuters published a feature story about Agenda 21 and it hit the other mainstream news sources.  While far from a definitive piece, just the appearance of Agenda 21 on the national radar screen is big news.

I’ll tell you what is definitely NOT sustainable – our government’s insatiable spending and the exploding national debt – and I will stay focused on that.  But at the risk of being labeled a “nutball conspiracy theorist”, I will stand with my conservative brethren and the state legislatures that have taken a stand.  Agenda 21 is a threat to our personal liberties that must be faced down.  It can’t be a secret any more.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Mmm mmm
Something’s comin’ over, mmm mmm
Something’s comin’ over, mmm mmm
Something’s comin’ over me
My baby’s got a secret

Secret – Madonna