Are You One of “Them”?

Posted on by Standard 2

This election is reported to be close.  Razor close.

If Romney loses, will we see conservatives rioting in the streets?  Will Republicans burn cars and smash out windows?  No, that won’t happen.

But already Democrats are promising civil unrest and outright violence if Obama loses (apologies for the coarse language).

Of course there are nutballs in every large group, and I tend to dismiss them.  Still, predictions like the following by Bryan Fischer, spokesperson and Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, become more common by the day:

“I think there’s going to be unrest. I think there will be blood.”

And it is pretty common knowledge that it’s unwise to put a conservative bumper sticker or decal on a vehicle – there is a likelihood that the vehicle will get “keyed” (paint scratched) by an upset liberal.

“Townhall.com columnist and best-selling author, Katie Pavlich, took to Twitter to report on typical vicious intolerance from the Left. Her brother, a college student, put a Romney bumper sticker on his car. Unhinged libs then vandalized his car, keying it and ripping all stickers off of it. They also damaged and ripped off his license plate.” – via Twitchy.com

Even Obama supporters should beware the wrath of their fellow libs – this week vandals keyed “Obama” into the trunks and slashed seats on two cars parked near a home in Los Angeles with Romney signs in the yard.  It turns out the cars belonged to a young couple who are Obama volunteers and supporters.  Because  they are unemployed, they are staying with the wife’s parents, who happen to be conservatives.

At a Tea Party rally in Racine, Wisconsin, liberals dumped roofing nails throughout the parking lot.

Liberals even smeared feces on a Romney sign in Virginia.

I could still write all of this off as the work of a few isolated left-wing whacko nutballs.

But last night I had dinner with a very connected, well-traveled and knowledgeable national political leader (sorry, I won’t reveal the name for obvious reasons) who is genuinely and seriously worried.

“If Obama loses a close election, there will be riots in cities all across the country,” she said.  “I am certain of it.”  And she convincingly described the evidence she sees in her travels.

Now I’m starting to take this seriously.  I will never understand the motivations of these people.  Or how half the citizens in our once-great nation can continue to identify with them.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hey! said my name is called disturbance
Ill shout and scream, I’ll kill the king, I’ll rail at all his servants
Well, what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock n roll band
Cause in sleepy London town
There’s just no place for a street fighting man

Street Fighting Man – the Rolling Stones

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

The Spinning Wheel of Soft Corruption

Posted on by Standard Reply

Two political television ads for opposing candidates are running concurrently in Montana and they illustrate with startling clarity how our national politics has devolved.

One says Senator Jon Tester can’t be trusted because “he received more money from lobbyists than any other DC politician”:





The opposing ad rips Congressman Denny Rehberg for publicly stating that “lobbying is an honorable profession.”





Both candidates are guilty as charged –  they accept money from lobbyists.  A lot of it.  Because they have to.

It is the spinning wheel of soft corruption, and it spins day after day, election after election, in races large and small all over the country.  It takes a lot of money to get elected, so politicians accept donations from special interest groups who seek to control or influence their votes.  The special interest groups have a lot of money to give them, because of the huge profit opportunities that exist in a “government gone wild.”

Can a candidate avoid the spinning wheel?  Is it possible to raise a competitive war-chest of funds without selling at least a part of one’s soul?

Ask Sharron Angle, who challenged the Godzilla of the Democrat party, US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for his seat in 2010.  Her brilliant new book “Right Angle” peels back the curtain to reveal how ugly the political process has become.  Sharron tells the story of a fellow assemblywoman in the Nevada legislature who admitted she couldn’t support Angle’s bill because she had accepted a contribution from the casino lobby, as did nearly every legislator in Nevada – except Sharron Angle.  Sharron confronted her (former) friend:

“You can say you hate the bill.  You can say that it is unconstitutional for government to interfere with regulations on private business.  You can say that it is not Republican and would send the wrong message about its support of less government regulation.  But do not ever tell me you’ve been bought!”

I said it so coldly that I shocked even myself.  She was stunned, too.

“I have not been bought!”  She was emphatic.

“Really?” I said.  “Let’s review our conversation.”

Sharron Angle could not be bought, and was still able to win a seat in the Nevada legislature.  She narrowly lost in the big race against the incorrigibly corrupt Reid, whose special-interest contributors included, against all reason,  the National Rifle Association.  She says,

“It takes courage to resist.  It takes insight to recognize the trap.  Some do, many more do not.  Easy money is the lobbyists’ deadly Kool-Aid.  It is the same corruption that John Adams recognized and said would destroy our Republic.”

Last year in a brief personal visit with Denny Rehberg, we were bemoaning this very issue – the spinning wheel of money and soft corruption that makes the political world go ’round.  Rehberg said, “I don’t need to run for the Senate.  My spot in Congress is probably secure for as long as I want it.  The only reason I decided to put myself and my family through this is we can’t afford to leave the Democrats in control of the Senate and this seat is important.”

That makes me feel a little better.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Another timeless classic featuring
David Clayton Thomas

What goes up, must come down
Spinnin’ wheel, got ta go round
Talkin’ ’bout your troubles it’s a cryin’ sin
Ride a painted pony,
Let the spinnin’ wheel spin

Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat and Tears