Paul Ryan – Honorary “Old Bean Counter”

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Today’s selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate is encouraging to me. Not because I have any great insight as to which candidate gives Romney the best chance of beating Obama this fall – I don’t know anything about the art of politics.

What I do know is that our nation’s greatest problem is the state of our economy – the debt, the sagging GDP, the drop in productivity, the unemployment rate, declining personal wealth and income, and the inability of our government to change its failed fiscal policies. If we solve our economic problems, most of our other problems will solve themselves.

On this blog you’ve heard me opine about how us “Old Bean Counters” could get things straightened out. I feel like Ryan is one of us. Not so much old, but he is definitely a Bean Counter.

He stands alone as the only person in DC able to produce a do-able budget that points to a brighter future (although I would advocate a more aggressive turnaround). He knows that any successful business – or government – must be run by the numbers. Not by feelings, or wishes, or diplomacy, or hope.

Ryan has shown that he is practical, realistic, and optimistic. He is able to cut to the chase and make a decision. He knows how to hold people and processes accountable through controls. Our government is no different from a business – Dollars In, Dollars Out. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.

From the somewhat benign position of vice president, Ryan would not be able to make sweeping changes on his own. But the fact that Romney chose him indicates to me that Mitt “gets it”. He is a realist, and he knows that straightening out the economy must be top priority.

So in addition to his veep candidacy, I would also like to hereby nominate Paul Ryan for the lofty position of “Chief Bean Counter”. We need ya, buddy.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

A Well Respected Man – the Kinks

IRS Director Shulman – YOU’RE FIRED!

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 2

I loved Mr. Spacely. He was the kind of boss who could make a decision. When George Jetson screwed up, Spacely would jump up on his desk and scream, “Jetson . . . YOU’RE FIRED!”

If only our government worked like that. These days, nobody in government is ever responsible for anything. And nobody ever gets fired.

Take, for instance, our current IRS Commissioner, Douglas Shulman. Probably a nice man. Loves his family and is kind to puppies. But for God’s sake, according to the US Treasury Inspector General’s recent report, his department failed to prevent 1.5 million fraudulent tax returns last year, costing the taxpayers $5.2 billion!

The level of ineptitude, if not outright treasonous subterfuge, is astonishing:

the report says the IRS intentionally did not review applications for individual taxpayer ID numbers, mostly used by illegal aliens
they sent 23,560 refunds to ten bank accounts totalling more than $16 million
23,994 tax refunds were sent to ONE ADDRESS in Atlanta totalling $46.3 million
the inspector general estimates that the IRS will issue $21 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over the next five years.

In the real world, this kind of lunacy could not happen. Only in ObamaLand is this possible.

If Mr. Spacely was in charge, he would be screaming “Shulman, YOU’RE FIRED!”

And if I were in charge, I would be going after Shulman’s boss.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hit the road, Jack –
And don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more!
Hit the road, Jack –
And don’t you come back no more!

Hit the Road, Jack – Ray Charles

Come On, Bullock! 78,000 Duplicate License Plates?

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

The Montana Dept. of Justice sure has a beautiful new website. The first link on the DOJ’s main web page takes the user to a slick advertisement for Steve Bullock, Democrat candidate for governor, paid for by Montana taxpayers. Beneath a huge photo of the handsome, smiling attorney general are glowing reviews like this:

A native Montanan and father of three, Bullock aspires to make Montana safer, especially for children and families. At the beginning of his term in January of 2009, Bullock identified four priorities and has worked with lawmakers, local law enforcement officers, therapists and others to turn his ideas into results.

His employees sure did a top-quality job on that web page. And how nice that he cares about the children (see this post).

Wouldn’t it be nice if Bullock’s staff would work as hard at keeping license plate numbers straight?

A year ago at a meeting of the Legislative Audit Committee, the DOJ admitted that even though they were “aware” of numerous data integrity problems in their new (2009) $28 million Merlin computer system, they had not yet made an effort to correct the errors.

The performance audit for 2012 included transaction testing and interviews with staff, county employees, and patrons. The auditors reported that many errors occurred during the conversion process from the old system that were still not fixed at the time of the audit. Other problems resulted from a program “sequencing error” in 2011 which was subsequently corrected, but the bad data remains.

The auditors pointed out that the lien information on many vehicle records was faulty – the MVD had failed to remove liens from registrations when they were paid, or when a vehicle registration was transferred to a new owner. Nice.

But even worse, the audit identified over 78,000 duplicate license plates in the Merlin system. State Senator Eric Moore found that his gooseneck trailer was identified as a red Chevy truck – stolen, by the way. One can only imagine the havoc these duplicate plates and numbers have created for vehicle owners, insurance companies, and law enforcement officers. Still, Bullock’s staff isn’t in any big hurry to get the problem solved. They hope to have “a substantial part of the project done by November of 2012.”

In his defense, I guess Bullock doesn’t have a lot of spare time to supervise his Dept. of Justice operations. I mean, there are all of those Democrat fundraisers to attend.

Hey, I know! Let’s get the state employees who designed the “Bullock for Governor” web page on the DOJ website to work on the Merlin system! They obviously know what they are doing!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
(thanks to M for the tip on this story)

Jive talkin, you’re telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin’, you wear a disguise
Jive talkin’, so misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin’, you just ain’t no good

Jive Talkin’ – the Bee Gees

Crony Capitalism At Its Ugliest

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Eric Clapton with Gibson Les Paul guitar

Is it any wonder American businesses are afraid to open their doors in the reign of King Obama?

Today Gibson Guitar’s CEO Henry Juszkiewicz announced that the company has settled with the Dept. of Justice, who ruled last year that Gibson had violated the Lacey Act by importing unfinished rosewood for guitar fingerboards from India and Madagascar.

It was clearly another case of “picking winners and losers”, the Obama administration’s favorite political tool – used to bludgeon opponents and reward cronies and contributors.

You see, most guitar fretboards are made with imported rosewood. Guitar manufacturers often buy fretboards which have been manufactured in India, and the Indian government is grateful for the business (memo to Obama – most nations appreciate the chance to employ their citizens). In fact Martin Guitars imports the very same rosewood for its guitars, from the same suppliers that Gibson does. If this is a crime (which it has not been proven to be), it certainly is a victimless one.

Gibson plants were raided by armed federal agents, who confiscated $1 million worth of rosewood inventory. They were shut down for a time, and now the company has been extorted for a $300,000 fine and a $50,000 “contribution” to the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Martin’s use of the same rosewood has never been questioned.

Oh, did I mention that Gibson’s CEO Juszkiewicz is a Republican supporter, while Martin’s CEO, Chris Martin, is a long-time donor to the Democrat party?

We have always been taught that there was a presumption of innocence in this country, and an opportunity for defense and redress if we have been wrongfully charged. Unfortunately in today’s world where government agencies and czars rule with impunity, that’s no longer the case. A bureaucrat can be judge, jury and executioner.

“We’re in this really incredible situation. We have been implicated in wrongdoing and we haven’t been charged with anything,” Juszkiewicz said. “Our business has been injured to millions of dollars. And we don’t even have a court we can go to and say, ‘Look, here’s our position.”

Due process be damned, this is politics.

The “picking winners and losers” tactic has worked so well on the national level that our Montana Democrat administration has taken the page from the Obama playbook. Stay tuned as that story develops.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps – George Harrison
(guitar solo by Eric Clapton on a GIBSON LES PAUL )

How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Last night I got an amusing “push poll” telephone call from the Democrats about the Montana governor’s race.

From Wikipedia: A push poll is an interactive marketing technique, most commonly employed during political campaigning, in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. Little or no effort is made to collect and analyze response data. Instead, the push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll.

The use of push polls as a political tactic has grown tremendously in recent years, as campaigns have realized that direct marketing calls on behalf of their candidates just don’t work. Depending on the political orientation of the receiver, honest political messages either “preach to the choir” or are summarily rejected. So the campaigns must rely on deceit to win votes.

I rather enjoy receiving a push poll call, especially from “the other side”, because it gives me insight into how stupid the political organizations think we are.

Would you say this call makes you annoyed, disgusted, or homicidal?

I always ask the telemarketer (usually a young, oh-so-polite female) if she can identify who commissioned the poll, knowing that the answer will be: “I’m sorry, but I am not allowed to know who is requesting this information – I just work for the XYZ Research Company.”

This call started out with the usual classification queries: do I consider myself a Democrat, Republican, or Independent? If I had to vote today, would I vote for Hill (the Republican) or Bullock (the Democrat)? Then came the obligatory effort to feign neutrality by asking a few mildly provocative questions about each party’s candidate.

And then the fun began. “Please state the level of your concern when you hear the following question: It has been reported that Rick Hill has supported euthanizing all senior citizens and wants to cut education budgets by eliminating cafeterias and making children eat insects for lunch in the school restrooms. Would you say you are very concerned, somewhat concerned, concerned, not very concerned, or not at all concerned?”

It’s tempting to “mess with” the caller. “Well, it depends on how much we have to spend on those insects . . .” But the girl on the other end of the phone is just a kid making minimum wage, totally oblivious to what she is doing, or why. I usually try to gently educate, but I can’t claim much success.

The “poll” questions are always multiple-choice. Just once I wish I could answer fill-in-the-blank. My answer would be: “How stupid do you think we are?”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

What kind of fool
(What kind of fool do you think I am)
Do you think I am now
(What kind of fool do you think I am)

What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am) – the Tams

Our Federal Govt. – Dumb and Dumber

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

And now, here’s the latest headlines from Right Side News:

The IRS estimates they will pay out $21 billion in fraudulant refunds within the next five years. I bet it’s triple that. They received 2,137 returns from one address in Michigan in one year. They sent him $3.3 million dollars in refunds. It never occurred to the IRS top management to add one line of code to their program that checks for multiple returns or refunds at one address. By the way, your kids and grandkids will have to pay the $21 billion (or more) back to the Chinese, who loaned it to us so we could give it to the crooks. Nice work, guys.

The White House ignored the warnings of their own budget analyst when he said the Solyndra loan would cost the taxpayers a quarter billion dollars less if they would just let it collapse. They didn’t, of course. It wasn’t their money, it was yours. And they really didn’t want to be embarrassed.

Our Missile Defense Agency has been putting our top-security computers at risk by downloading porn from Russian web sites. Well, it’s been kind of slow around the Missile Defense Agency office. They don’t have anything important to do.

In spite of the mind-boggling increase in our national debt, the feds just keep buying more cars, increasing their fleet to 449,000 vehicles. The taxpayers now provide only one car for every seven federal employees. But we make it up to them by providing smart phones for all of them. That way they can watch porn and play Angry Birds without having to use the office computers.

The Post Office is now in default, owing billions of dollars on union employee benefits that it can not pay for. Oh well, it’s okay. Hey Bernanke, could you start that printing press back up?

And that’s the news for this afternoon. Actually there’s more, but I think I need a drink . . .

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

We think we know what we’re doin’
That don’t mean a thing
It’s all in the past now
Money changes everything

Money Changes Everything – Cyndi Lauper

You May Be a Racist . . .

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 4

Because I frequently disagree with some political adversaries, I have frequently been called a Racist. There seems to be a direct connection: disagree with me? You must be a racist.

That causes me to think about what qualifies someone as a racist. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, here goes:

You may be a racist IF:

Racism is ugly and intolerable. So is race-baiting. When someone from one political persuasion instantly assumes that anyone who disagrees is a Racist, maybe it is the “pot” calling the kettle “black.”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The color of your skin don’t matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why Can’t We Be Friends – War

Please Don’t Vote

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 2

“Get Out the Vote”! It’s a good thing, right? Everybody should vote! It’s your responsibility as an American. It’s patriotic. It’s for the good of the country.

Ask anyone you meet – should every American be allowed to vote? The automatic, enthusiastic, unequivocal response is always: “Yes!”

Just for the exercise, let’s set aside our rigid posture (and the Constitution) and ask, “What is best for our country, and our childrens’ futures?”

Should a person who has never paid taxes get to vote? Where else in the circus of life can a person decide how another person’s money is spent? Half of US citizens pay no federal income taxes, but they still get to elect those who spend the money taken from the other half. Isn’t that a golden opportunity for corruption? I’ll break this down: “Vote for me, and I’ll give you somebody else’s money.

I VOTED! WOO HOO!

Should a person who has no understanding of candidates, issues, government, history, or economics be allowed to vote? Let’s be honest, a large percentage of our citizens are economically and politically illiterate. They don’t read or watch any news. They don’t know who the vice president is. They can’t find China on a globe. And they are absolutely not able to make an intelligent decision about how our government should be run for the benefit of all.

We don’t let children vote. Why? Because we assume they have no clue what they are voting about. Unfortunately, when it comes to important events, many of our adult voters are child-like in their understanding of the world. An astute and well-educated fifth-grader is more qualified to vote than many adults.

Should a person who can’t prove eligibility get to vote? A state legislator from a college town here in Montana was recently testifying against stricter identification rules for state voters. “This is so unfair!” she wailed. “If we lengthen the registration period, how are our out-of-state and international students going to be able to vote?”

In a world where personal identification is a requirement of daily life, asking a voter for ID is just common sense, and everyone knows it. Those who oppose it clearly intend vote fraud.

It may seem that I want to take away the average guy’s right to vote. I don’t. But I do think that every voter should have skin in the game – when each voter pays at least some taxes, he will be more interested in how the money is spent. I think our education system should be dramatically improved so that by adulthood, each citizen knows our country’s history, understands economics, and is equipped to vote intelligently. And I think we should protect the sanctity of our electoral process by making sure that only eligible voters cast ballots.

Call me a rebel.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’d like to help you son,
But you’re too young to vote!

Summertime Blues – the Beach Boys

Montana’s Share of the Stimulus (my eyes glaze over)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 2

Here are some tidbits from www.recovery.gov, the federal government website that provides information about the $765 billion in stimulus money spent under the Recovery Act since February of 2009.

Montana received just over $1.5 billion under the Recovery Act. $1.1 billion of that was awarded in the form of grants.

The largest single recipient was the Montana DOT at $208 million. Second was the Fort Peck, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes at $67 million, followed by Montana Opticom, LLC, a provider of fiber optic internet facilities, at $64 million. Native American tribes altogether scored about $180 million, not including payments to reservation cities, hospitals and schools. K-12 education received about $150 million, while about $133 million went directly to cities and counties. Post-secondary education got about $110 million.

Randomly digging into details reveals some interesting expenditures. Energy Solutions of Moab, Utah billed $105 million for “remediation services” and subbed out a fair portion of that to smaller companies, also mostly from Utah. Like $45 grand to “David’s Elite Thrones” for what appears to be porta-potties, and several million to companies like “Cj5 Enterprises” and “Fraley & Co., Inc.” – firms so mysterious that they are not mentioned anywhere on the web.

The McLaughlin Center in Great Falls got $760,000 for a high-tech microscope system. Eleven Boys and Girls Clubs got an average of $40k each. Domestic and Sexual Violence Services of Carbon County received about $500k for their counseling and housing program. Their report says this created two full-time jobs.

When I see huge dollars like this bouncing around like pinballs, the cynic in me says that the corruption, waste and paybacks to cronies must be astronomical. The top two officers from Energy Solutions split $4.5 million in annual salaries. Still, looking at some project details – like the rehab of barracks at Malmstrom AFB, I see local companies doing real work and paying real employees. That $25 million dollar job was won, and mostly subbed out to locals, by Sunstar, LLC of California. Their top two guys take salaries of $75k each.

Kudos to Recovery.Gov for making this extensive spending detail transparent and available online – the State of Montana should take heed.

The Recovery Act was intended to produce jobs, and it did that – but the CBO reported that the cost per job is about $228k, and most are temporary. Did the Recovery Act do any good? Probably. Did the taxpayers get full bang for their bucks? Doubtful. Are we and our children further in debt? For sure.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

There ain’t no use to tarry so let’s start out tonight
We’ll spread joy, oh boy, oh boy, and we’ll spread it right
We’ll have more fun, baby, all way down the line
If you’ve got the money, honey, I’ve got the time