Refugees Knockin’ At the Door – Don’t Let ‘Em In

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

(AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Someone’s knockin’ at the door! Somebody’s ringing the bell!

President Obama sings, “Open the door, and let ’em in.”

Never mind that public opinion weighs heavily against allowing Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. Or that one of the ISIS thugs who brutally murdered Parisians this week is thought to have used a fake Syrian passport, throwing question on whether refugees can be vetted. Or that thirty-one governors (at last count) are opposed to to importing Syrian refugees.

Other governors, like Republican Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana are doing the Kabuki dance on the refugee issue. They were for it before they were against it, and then for it again, kinda, but maybe against it. That kind of Charlie Brown leadership does not enhance political resumes.

Republican presidential candidates? Lock the door. Democrats? Let ’em in.

Refugee resettlement advocates would have us believe that this is not such a big deal – it’s only about a relatively small number of Syrians, most of whom are abused Christians, who are seeking refuge in the United States. If only that were true – any of it.

In the first six weeks of this year 98% of all Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. were Sunni Muslim. At least 75% of the immigrants flooding into Europe every day through doors specifically swung open for Syrians are not Syrian, and are not refugees. They are opportunists from third-world countries all over Africa and the Middle East, seeking economic benefits. Why shouldn’t we expect the same in the U.S., especially since nearly all refugees here are on food stamps, cash welfare, and other government benefits, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement?

Not mentioned by the refugee advocates are all the others who are arriving here – the unvetted non-Syrian refugees, the fake asylum seekers, or the illegals who overstayed visas or walked across our porous borders. The recent election of a refugee-happy prime minister to our north doesn’t brighten the situation.

Don’t fall for the crocodile tears. This is not a question of charity – those who clamor for more immigration and refugee resettlement are taking food from the mouths of our own hungry, jobs from our own unemployed, and the hope for a safe nation with traditional American values from our own children. There is no comparing today’s immigration and refugee situation with Ellis Island. This is nothing short of an invasion of our home by people who want to replace us, not join us.

If altruism demands that we help those truly in need, let’s help them in their home countries. Let’s help them defeat their oppressors, if that’s the cause of their misery. But if they won’t defend their own homes and families, and come knocking at our door demanding our food, shelter, and safety, we have no choice.

Close the door. Don’t let ’em in.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Do me a favor, open the door
And let ’em in!

Let ‘Em In – Paul McCartney

Liberal Comedy – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

So there we were, my wife and I, patiently waiting for the York County (SC) council meeting to start. I was one of several constituents there to make a statement in support of our councilman’s resolution to prevent the Refugee Relocation program from dumping third-world citizens in our county. I wanted to point out that bringing in needy refugees does not benefit our nation or citizens in any way, so it can only be viewed as charity. And taking money from taxpayers to give to a foreign charity without our consent is unconstitutional and illegal.

Next to my wife sat a 40-something guy – longish hair with a balding spot, rimless glasses, Mister Rogers sweater, 20-year old Birkenstock sandals. A slight lisp. I’m pretty sure that was his Prius in the parking lot, the one with the “Bernie Sanders Works For Me” sticker next to the faded “Hope and Change” decal.

My wife is a chatty sort of person, and of course she had to strike up a conversation with her next-seat neighbor. “Are you here to talk about the Refugee problem?” she chirped. I thought Mr. Birkenstock’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“What do you have against those poor people?” he said, revving up. “We should be helping them! It’s our duty as a society! What about the CHILLdrennnn?”

Yep, I had heard that sound before, on PBS. “The CHILLdrennnn.” I’ve always wondered why the Hope and Change crowd doesn’t seem to have any problem dumping $20 trillion of debt on the CHILLdrennnn. But I digress.

My wife is chatty, all right. But get on her wrong side and she is chatty like a Rottweiler. She lit into Mr. Birkenstock with a scorched-earth monologue detailing the many reasons why moving throngs of hostile, unemployable, non-English-speaking, permanent welfare recipients to York County at a time when we can’t even take care of our own underachievers, is a bad idea. “Why don’t you donate YOUR money to the refugees, instead of trying to take mine?” she asked.

Mr. Birkenstock shook his head at us, his face dripping with a condescending mix of pity and disgust.

The meeting began, and we all sat through hours of the mostly boring and often icky sausage-making of low-level politics. Then the agenda turned to how the county will manage the rapid growth we are currently experiencing. It was Mr. Birkenstock’s time to take the microphone.

“I am opposed to all this growth!” he wailed. “We don’t want any more of these big apartment buildings going up in our nice, peaceful neighborhood! The traffic is getting terrible. And what about the CHILLdrennnnnn! They can’t play safely in the street any more!”

We laughed out loud.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die
It seemed so funny to me
Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be
Lonely, oh so lonely

Laugh, Laugh – the Beau Brummels

Conservatives Fall For PBS Propaganda About Mulvaney, Freedom Caucus

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 2

This week Congressman Mick Mulvaney and some fellow Freedom Caucus members are under attack on the web and social media. But not, as you might expect, by liberal opponents.

The hits are coming from conservatives, both grassroots activists and inside-the-beltway veterans.

And guess what, Hillary? This attack really was caused by a whacko video! Last week PBS played a three-hour documentary about Congressman Luis Guitierrez’ three-year struggle to win amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants. The writers and producer of the piece made no attempt to hide their emotional advocacy for amnesty and open borders. But their methodology was a masterpiece of subterfuge.

In order to legitimize their position, the PBS writers were seeking a respected, well-known, solid conservative who favors open borders. They failed to find one, but they did stumble onto the remarkable and highly publicized film clip of Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) addressing a Hispanic town hall meeting in Gaffney, SC speaking only in Spanish. Mulvaney’s statements to that audience were consistent with the same message he had presented dozens of times to other groups: the borders and ports must be sealed, existing laws must be enforced, no amnesty for illegals, and improve legal immigration policies. But the carefully edited footage of Mulvaney, speaking eloquently in Spanish to a smiling group of Hispanics had a visceral effect. The casual observer would assume he joins Congressman Guitierrez arm-in-arm down the path of amnesty.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

These same conservatives laugh at the PBS hysteria about global warming. They see right through the propaganda in support of myriad other liberal issues. How on earth do they now decide that PBS is suddenly 100% accurate in their depiction of a solid conservative as a supporter of amnesty and open borders?

I have always known better than to believe everything I see on television, especially on PBS. And in recent years I have learned to not swallow everything that is published on the web. This post is in that category, so I urge you to please do a little research on Mulvaney and his positions on immigration (here’s a policy statement I found). Better yet, ask him – he is one of the most accessible politicians around.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that yeah

I Can’t Go For That – Daryl Hall with Cee Lo Green

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

K-12 Spending: more, More, MORE!

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Education spending. More is better, right?

For years we have heard reports that teachers are forced to buy paper and supplies out of their own pockets, that some teachers qualify for food stamps, and that there have been “draconian cuts” to K-12 education budgets for decades. Stories of the heartless underfunding of education are delivered with emotion and indignation, but seldom with statistical validation.

As student scores, college readiness and employability of graduates continue to decline across the U.S., the mantra of educators and progressives increases in volume and pitch. “More money. Just give us more money. All we need is MORE MONEY!”

Seattle Times Headline Ed Spending

At a recent conference on school choice presented by the Franklin Center, Dr. Ben Scafidi shredded many of the myths about American taxpayers short-shrifting students.

Scafidi, director of the Economics of Education Policy Center at Georgia College and State University, said spending per student continues to increase sharply, studies prove that student achievement does not rise as a result of more spending, and there is no evidence that students are any harder to teach than they ever were due to non-school influences.

The most compelling finding of Scafidi’s 2012 study titled “The School Staffing Surge – Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools is this:

From 1950 to 2009 the number of students increased by 98%. The number of teachers in public schools increased by 252%. Meanwhile the number of administrators and other school staff increased by 702%.

Scafidi said, “If from 1992 to 2012 our public schools had increased non-teacher staff at the same rate that it increased teaching staff, it would have freed up $26.5 billion per year in education funds. That could translate to an $8500 raise for every teacher, or a huge reduction in taxes, or scholarships that would allow many students to attend the schools of their choice.”

Opponents of school choice contend that students who remain in traditional public schools are harmed when budget dollars follow students to private or charter schools. But Scafidi points out that charter and private schools operate so much more efficiently than the traditional public schools that fixed costs for the existing schools (about 36%) can still be covered by available funds and the remaining students in those schools benefit by the reduced variable costs.

Clearly there is no direct equivalency between dollars spent per student and results. Test scores, graduation rates, and college matriculation at the private and charter schools I visited in Washington, DC were nothing short of miraculous compared to those of the traditional DC public schools, despite spending less than half the amount per student.

In previous posts I have reported school budgets in rural Montana schools of $22,000 per student per year. While many of these students are getting a great education, by no means are they twice as smart as their city-school peers. The cost is merely a function of declining numbers of students versus increasing costs, largely spending required by federal and state regulations and not the local school board.

I have personally seen many aggregious examples of non-academic school spending. One Montana school district with 350 high school students keeps a stable of five cruiser buses, most equipped with personal video players, for their athletic and extracurricular teams. Schools so small they can only play six-man football travel 350 miles to games. My local school district in South Carolina just spent $6 million on artificial turf. That’s got to affect the cost per student, without really improving student outcomes, wouldn’t you say?

Voters and taxpayers: next time you hear educators and progressives hollering for “more, more, more money!” you might ask how the extra dollars will be spent and how will students benefit. Better yet, demand that the dollars coming from your hard earned pay can go with each student to the school of his or her choice.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

And when you ask ’em, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer “More! More! More!”, y’all
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one!

John Fogerty – Fortunate Son

GOP Congressmen – Time To Take A Stand!

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

take-a-stand Have you ever had to tell the boss he’s wrong?

One of the stupidest things I ever did is something I am still proud of. Way back in the day I was a sophomore on the junior varsity basketball team, hoping to move up to the varsity squad. The first week of practice we were struggling to adjust to our new coach, who operated in Bobby Knight mode with a lot of yelling, cursing, and finger-poking-in-the-chest intimidation, but without as much knowledge and strategy as the famous Hoosier coach.

We were running a drill called the “three-man weave” where three guys pass the ball back and forth while running a weave down the court without dribbling, and the last one shoots a layup. Only instead of a basketball, we were throwing a huge 15-pound medicine ball. Coach charged up and down the sidelines, voicing his displeasure with our lack of manhood. My friend Larry and I were next up, and we charged off the baseline with another guy. Now, Larry was a great little player. But he couldn’t have weighed 90 pounds dripping wet wearing clothes, shoes, and a winter coat with bricks in the pockets. My pass was a little bit too far in front of him, and Larry didn’t have the strength in his sharp-shooting but skinny little arms to haul it in.

Coach lit into Larry like he had just sold his sister to a cannibal tribe, with maximum volume and vigorous finger-poking-in-the-chest. And I popped. “Come on coach, he couldn’t catch that!”

You could have heard a pin drop. Coach walked over to me, red-faced, eyes bugging out. I can still see that face, but I don’t remember what he said, because my entire life was whizzing before my eyes. Needless to say, I didn’t make the varsity squad. Hell, he hardly gave me any playing time on the junior varsity, and nothing I did on the court was going to change that. But Coach did seem to mellow a little after that episode, and Larry actually was doing pretty well, until his hard-scrabble itinerant family moved on halfway through the season.

I remember that snapshot event like yesterday because for one moment as a geeky kid I stood up and said “hell no” to the boss, knowing I was right and he was wrong, and that it mattered.

Our newly-elected Congress was sent to Washington, DC to stop the damage our nation has endured under the Democrats for the past six years. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans oppose Obamacare, support energy development, and want our southern border secured. The majority of us think it’s wrong for our government to choose winners and losers based on political party, gender, or race. We are terrified that our children face a national debt that has grown by $7 trillion dollars under President Obama.

And now President Obama’s unilateral, illegal and unconstitutional grant of amnesty, featuring work visas and eligibility for taxpayer-paid benefits to tens of millions of illegal immigrants (and millions more who will flood the untended border gates upon hearing the news) will cost the taxpayers another $2 trillion according to the Heritage Foundation.

Sadly, even as Republicans are staged to take majority control of the House and Senate, the party’s leadership does not seem willing to hear or follow the voice of the People. Next week Congress will vote on funding the government’s budget in the form of either a continuing resolution (CR) or an omnibus spending bill, providing them the leverage they need to defund executive amnesty. Despite the polls and the landslide election victory, the GOP leadership cites a list of imaginary roadblocks. “We don’t want to get blamed for ‘shutting down the government'”, they wail, despite the total lack of evidence that this tactic has ever had lasting repercussions. Another excuse offered is: “We can’t defund an agency that operates on fees rather than funding from our discretionary budget,” a claim which was totally debunked by the Congressional Research Service.

Then, according to Congressman Louie Gohmert, the House Republican leadership pulled a “bait and switch” on its members, making unannounced changes to Congressman Ted Yoho’s defunding bill moments before 216 Republican congressmen voted in favor of it. The last-minute additions may actually grease the skids for the president’s amnesty. This is the tactic made famous by Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi when she said, “We have to pass the (ObamaCare) bill to know what’s in it.”

Conservative firebrand Rush Limbaugh says there is only possible reason for the Republican leadership to oppose the will of the majority of voters and their own members: they must actually support the President’s amnesty plan.

62 Congressmen, including my own South Carolina representative Mick Mulvaney, showed courage and resolve by signing Congressman Matt Salmon’s letter to the house appropriations chairman, Harold Rogers, requesting a defunding rider. On a Facebook Town Hall meeting on Friday, Mulvaney said, “I have already told my leadership that I will vote against the Omnibus spending bill if it doesn’t contain defunding language.”

To those Congressmen and women who refuse to tolerate the bullying and finger-poking-in-the-chest, I say, “Good on ya.” And I encourage you to demand the same courage from your counterparts on the hill who know it’s the right thing to do. Sometimes you just have to take a stand when you know the boss is wrong.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

If you are confused check with the sun
Carry a compass to help you along
Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around

Stand – R.E.M.

Reid Out, McConnell In. I Should Be Happy, Right?

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 1

reid-and-mcconnell Two years ago Obama won re-election and the Democrat propaganda machine (war on women, everybody is racist, global warming, gay marriage, blah blah blah) seemed unstoppable. I was in shock and dismay for a long time.

Yesterday the Democrats got a serious butt-whoopin’ as voters roundly repudiated their tired cliches and failed policies, electing a flood of Republicans. Shouldn’t it feel better than this? Seems like we should be dancing in the streets.

Harry Reid is no longer the Senate majority leader. Hooray! Has there ever been a more corrupt, cynical, dishonest person in such a position of power? The best interests of the country and its citizens never made Reid’s priority list. The accumulation of personal wealth and political power were his only ambitions and he pursued both relentlessly.

Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell won his re-election bid, and will assume Reid’s role at the helm of the Senate. I should be happy . . . I guess.

Mitch McConnell is the face of the Republican insider club who promised he would “crush” the Tea Party. McConnell, John Boehner, and other old-guard Republicans view their sweeping victory as a death-blow to the conservatives – the very same without whose effort and money his Republican party could not have prevailed.

McConnell consummated his re-election by stating that he would not take any extraordinary measures to address our $18 trillion dollar debt.

Asked whether he would insist on more deficit-reduction before going along with raising the debt ceiling, McConnell noted that when the House of Representatives and Senate write their fiscal 2016 budget blueprints, there could be a “mechanism” for addressing this issue. – Reuters

Looks like it will be spending-as-usual in Washington, DC.

I’m trying to crawl out from under my wet blanket. What a joy it will be to have Joni Ernst, the soldier-mom from Iowa, in the Senate. She blew up the Democrats’ pet “war on women” mantra: “I’m a woman, and I’ve been to war. This is not a war.”

Scott Walker, the utterly fearless governor of Wisconsin, won his third election in four years, once more deflecting everything the Democrat machine and the unions could throw at him. He has managed his state prudently and efficiently, and treats his citizens like adults. If that isn’t vetting for a presidential run, I don’t know what it.

In fact, Democrats are job-hunting all over the country as voters continue to replace them at every level from school boards to state legislatures. My new home state, South Carolina, boasts a conservative all-star team that includes Nikki Haley, Trey Gowdy, Tim Scott and my own congressman, Mick Mulvaney.

Yeah, I guess it was a good week. But I have a message for Mssrs McConnell and Boehner:

We conservatives have expended great effort and money to stop the liberal Democrats’ assault on our Constitution and destruction of our economy. In some cases we had to, again, plug our noses as we marked our ballots. We saved your bacon, but not your pork. If you continue to disrespect and disregard us, there’s gonna be a showdown!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Bad dreamer, what’s your name?
Looks like we’re riding on the same train
Looks as though there’ll be more pain
There’s gonna be a showdown.

Showdown – Electric Light Orchestra

Take a minute to enjoy this amazing live performance by Jeff Lynne, the genius who glues together all the magical musical pieces known as the Electric Light Orchestra. As a musician, I marvel at the perfection of his production at every level.

Made in the USA – By Mexicans

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

mexican concrete crew My wife and I are building a new home. We are doing some of the work ourselves but the majority of the work is done by subcontractors, mostly hired through our general contractor. Working on a major project like this brings many current political and economic issues from the big-picture level down to the up-close and personal level.

Today, as our driveway was being installed, I had quite a discussion with the owner/operator of our concrete finishing company. Alex (not actual name) is a legal Mexican immigrant and has been doing business in the US for almost twenty years. He went through channels, got a green card, and studied English for two years. Alex pursued the American dream, and got it. He has handled several segments of our construction project, and does top quality work at a fair price. Working in the same space every day we got to know each other and today we spent some time discussing business and politics.

Alex’s business is doing well. In fact, there is much more demand for his work than he can fulfill. He would like to hire more employees and expand his business, but he can’t see a way to do it and still maintain quality. As a retired corporate manager and business owner, I offered some growth strategies and personnel practices that have worked for me. But his circumstances are quite different than mine were. You see, all of his employees are (probably) illegal Mexican immigrants.

In fact, almost all of the residential construction work in the Carolinas is being performed by illegal Mexican immigrants.

Why? Have Mexican immigrants taken all of the construction jobs because they will work for lower wages than American tradesmen? Are American men now too lazy or pampered to take on the difficult, physical work required in the construction trades? Have our schools convinced every American student that anyone who doesn’t pursue a college degree and a desk job is a failure? Did our government over-regulate our traditional construction businesses into extinction, so that only “under-the-radar” groups of illegal immigrants can function at a feasible cost?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

But there’s more to it than that. I talked with another general contractor today who was interested in hiring Alex and his crew for some of his projects, only to learn they are over-booked. “It’s a shame,” he said. “Most of the (American) subcontractors went broke during the housing bust five years ago, and they aren’t coming back.”

Alex and many entrepreneurial Mexicans like him are able to seize the market opportunities because they are connected to the available army of illegal Mexican immigrant workers. Alex can find them, hire them, manage them, communicate with them, and help them with the considerable personal challenges they face working in the shadows of American life. Still, his business growth is limited because he employs these men. “My business can’t grow,” he said. “None of my workers can advance to be managers because they don’t even try to learn to speak English.” He would employ English-speaking American construction workers, but there just aren’t any. It’s a very complex business model.

I had heard that Latinos are being barraged with liberal propaganda, painting conservatives, Republicans and especially Tea Party guys as hateful monsters to be avoided and feared. So I made it a point to tell my new Mexican friend Alex that I am a conservative. Tea Party, even.

Alex winced. “I’m not a monster,” I said. “I’m not a racist and a hater. You know me. You can’t believe the stuff you hear in the media.”

“Well, the conservatives don’t want to allow any immigration,” he said.

“Not true,” I countered. “We want LEGAL immigration for people who can bring value to our country. What we don’t want is dangerous, uncontrolled borders, or slackers coming here to take advantage of taxpayer-funded benefits. And we DO want our legal immigrants to assimilate – to become patriotic, law-abiding, productive Americans, not Mexicans who just happen to live in the US.”

Like you, Alex. Without you, and men like you, there would be no new homes under construction in my neighborhood right now.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Save me from this prison, Lord, help me get away
‘Cause only You can save me now from this misery
‘Cause I’ve been lost in my own place
And I’m getting’ weary, how far is Heaven?
And I know I need to change my ways of livin’
How far is Heaven?

How Far Is Heaven – Los Lonely Boys

My favorite Mexican band – Los Lonely Boys! (this song is also on my set list)

Is Federal Waste and Fraud Inevitable?

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 1

graphic courtesy of ProofDirectory.org My congressman, Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), frequently holds town hall meetings in his home district. Each meeting includes a half-hour presentation of current, relevant information and a one-hour question and answer period. Mulvaney tells his constituents what is on his mind, and then really listens to them. His responses are honest and direct, no evasion or weasel-words. He is knowledegable, articulate, engaged, and pragmatic.

Mulvaney sets the bar high for transparency and communication from a US Congressman. A while back I attended a meeting by a Republican congressman from North Carolina and the contrast is striking – from the outset he was defensive, unprepared, and seemed to consider the attendees to be combatants rather than constituents. He cemented his position as a Washington insider, solidly aligned with Boehner and the good-old boys, was not up-to-speed on facts and details, and had no intention of listening to any conservative point of view from his audience.

So I’m tickled to have Mulvaney representing me in Washington, DC. Still, I always leave his meetings totally bummed. Here’s why:

Congressman Mulvaney sees the waste, fraud, and over-spending in government first-hand and with clarity. He is loaded with anecdotes and examples of Washington’s out-of-control checkbook and frequently quotes from Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) “Waste Book”. Mulvaney knows how bad the corruption and ineptitude is, and hates it as much as we taxpayers do.

But then, after exploding our heads with his tales of fiscal terror, Mulvaney pulls the chain. “There’s not really much we can do about it,” he says. “The federal budget is so huge that it is impossible to find and correct problems in large enough increments to make a difference.”

Mulvaney points out that only 29% of our $3.5 trillion annual federal spending is discretionary – the rest is mandatory. If 5% of that $1 trillion in discretionary spending is wasted, we would need 50,000 fiscal repairs of one million bucks each to fix it.

So nobody even tries to stop corruption and waste.

Does that sound horrific? It’s actually worse. I would bet the percentage of waste and fraud in the discretionary part of the budget is much larger than 5%. Further, I submit that the waste and fraud in the mandatory part of the budget is just as bad or worse!

Our legislators have oversight responsibility, but do not have the time or resources to even begin to supervise federal programs and departments. And do you think for a minute the government bureaucrats give a damn about 5% of somebody else’s money being wasted or stolen? Quite the opposite – the more money their respective departments spend, the greater their power, prestige, and salaries. They know nobody is watching, and they know nobody ever gets fired.

So is our federal fiscal viability as hopeless as Congressman Mulvaney fears? It shouldn’t be. And I hate that we, as a nation, have given up.

Here are some suggestions from a retired CFO (me) who has run businesses by the numbers and knows that waste and fraud are not inevitable:

Eliminate government employee unions – it is impossible to manage people who can’t be fired, and it is immoral that the campaigns of elected officials are funded by the very employees they are supposed to manage
Prosecute any officials who are caught stealing or wasting federal funds
Pass a balanced budget amendment, with restrictions on raising taxes – in other words, set and adhere to a real budget
Audit and/or eliminate the Federal Reserve – the cancerous growth of our federal government will continue until we stop printing fiat money
Return most government functions and authority to the states – restrict the federal government to only those functions specified in the Constitution
Require detailed public online reporting of all federal spending – sunshine is the best disinfectant

And that’s just a start.

Could federal government waste and corruption be brought back under control? You bet! But, like Mulvaney, I fear that it won’t. Because as of now not enough Americans give a damn. Too many of us are under-informed, disengaged, overwhelmed, or mired in self-interest. Just the way the Washington insiders like it.

It will take a big bang – something really strong – to get our attention.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’ve been feeling so much older
Frame me and hang me on the wall
I’ve seen you fall into the same trap
This thing is happening to us all, yeah

Something so strong could carry us away
Something so strong could carry us today, yeah

Something So Strong – Crowded House

The lights went out but the sound system was working – so the band kept playing! Crowded House playing in the dark in 2007.

Same – Same – Same – DIFFERENT (Lindsey Graham)

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

same vs different Flashback to Kindergarten. One of the the first things we had to learn was how to decide which things are the same and which are different. It builds the foundation for organizing our knowledge.

At first blush, South Carolina politics is pretty straightforward. Governor: Nikki Haley, Republican. Senators: Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, Republicans. Representatives: Sanford, Wilson, Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Rice – all Republicans. Jim Clyburn, Democrat.

Here is your political kindergarten worksheet for this morning: Which of these South Carolina politicians is different?

Obviously, lone Democrat Jim Clyburn is sitting by himself at the South Carolina lunch table. But many South Carolina conservatives argue that another one of their elected officials is different.

This week the Charleston Republicans executive committee voted to censure Senator Lindsey Graham – again – for being too liberal, just ahead of the upcoming June 10 South Carolina primary. Four years ago he was unanimously censured by the same group.

Graham’s supporters point to his steadfast pursuit of Benghazi-Gate justice and his opposition to abortion. His critics claim he and his good friend John McCain are big-government “insiders” who too often appease the ruling Democrats instead of standing firm on conservative principles.

Those who seek to unseat Graham face an uphill battle. Six primary challengers are lined up against him, all solidly positioned to his right. Lee Bright appears to lead the pack currently, but the key to the election is whether the rivals can, as a group, win 51% of the votes and force a runoff election. If not, Graham will cruise to victory and a certain return to his DC post.

Graham will not debate his opponents until a few days before the election, and will likely not spend much of his reportedly huge political war chest, evidence of (according to critics) his insider connections.

There is one factor that may be Graham’s undoing: backlash to his imperious penchant for poking Tea Party conservatives in the eye:

“Everything I’m doing now in terms of talking about climate, talking about immigration, talking about Gitmo is completely opposite of where the Tea Party movement’s at,” Graham said. On four occasions, Graham met with Tea Party groups. The first, in his Senate office, was “very, very contentious.”

“The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.”

– quoted from NY Times interview

Conservatives can’t help but compare Graham to their governor, their other senator, and their Republican congressmen, all supporters of the Tea Party principles: constitutionally limited government, free market economics, and fiscal responsibility. If Lindsey Graham lines up on the opposite side of these convictions, I would have to mark him on my worksheet as DIFFERENT.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You see ’em drop like flies from the bright sunny skies
They come knocking at your door with this look in their eyes
You’ve got one good trick and you’re hanging on
You’re not the same!

Not the Same – Ben Folds