Tag Archives: news

This Just Doesn’t Make Sense!

Posted on by Standard 1

I live out in the boonies – a rural area in one of the poorest counties in South Carolina. And everywhere I drive out here I see big reels of fiber optic cable waiting for a crew to come along and dig trenches to install it.

Thanks, taxpayers, for ponying up the $50 billion plus to fund this misguided attempt to bring modern life to us hicks in the sticks. But your congressmen should have asked us before they wrote the contracts and checks to their big tech buddies.

When I carved out a spot in the woods for a new house and shop, I pondered how I was going to get internet and television service out here in the middle of nowhere. Satellite TV was and is available, of course, and we had been satellite customers before. But as the satellite carriers lose market share to streaming TV services they raise prices to stay in business, so satellite TV has become crazy expensive.

Unfortunately, the cable companies who pig out on taxpayer broadband funds have not reached our neck of the woods, and would not tell us if, or when, they would get here.

So we put a dish in our yard for TV, and a second dish for HughesNet satellite internet service. At the time HughesNet operated at the speed of dark – barely functional for email and maybe some web surfing, but forget about any kind of streaming. Another option was a cellular network hotspot, but we did not have towers close enough to make that practical either.

Then Elon Musk came to the rescue with his StarLink service – fast, reliable, and affordable. It replaced our cable and internet services with REAL high-speed rural broadband at half the cost of the fiber optic cable service our federal government is subsidizing. (Musk has donated Starlink devices to disaster areas all over the globe, providing free internet service in areas with no functioning infrastructure on the ground.)

SO WHY IS OUR GOVERNMENT STILL SPENDING SO MUCH OF OUR MONEY PUTTING IN OBSOLETE FIBER OPTIC CABLE WHEN STARLINK IS THE PROVEN FAST AND EFFICIENT MODERN WIRELESS INTERNET ALTERNATIVE?

Probably for the same reason they insist on replacing powerful, plentiful, affordable carbon-based energy with solar and wind electricity that can’t possibly meet our needs at any cost. Our government does not run like a business, continually maximizing profit and performance. No, our government officials only seek to pay off their lobbyists and campaign contributors. Once a spending program is approved by Congress, there is no turning back. Those dollars will be spent as allocated, regardless of whether it makes economic sense.

Now, take this senseless $50 billion broadband boondoggle and multiply it. How many more obsolete and nonsensical programs are burning through our limited tax dollars and exploding our debt?

Last year South Carolina’s Republican legislature gave $1.3 billion in taxpayer cash and incentives to VW to build an electric RV plant. The electric vehicle industry is flopping like a dying fish now, as it has become clear that even with taxpayer incentives electric vehicles will never be feasible. As obsolete EV production plants close all over the globe, new tech research shows hydrogen power may be the energy source of the future.

Godspeed to you, President Trump. You are the first president in many generations who looks at government spending from the taxpayer’s viewpoint, seeking real efficiency and transparency. And Elon’s DOGE effort was not wasted. It exposed, but failed to stop, the crazy wastefulness in our government spending.

If only our Republican legislators would see the light.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well, the blues jumped a rabbit and run him a mile
The rabbit sat down and he cried like a child
The blues said son you got to learn one rule
Don’t place no trust in a educated fool
Educated fool, educated fool
Educated fool, educated fool

EDUCATED FOOL – Boz Skaggs

Draining the Swamp – Trump 2.0

Posted on by Standard Reply

The first few weeks of Trump 2.0 has been exhilarating for long-suffering conservative Americans. Early reports of young brainiacs with their AI algorithms revealing mountains of waste, fraud and inefficiency are music to our ears. Volunteer auditor-in-chief Elon Musk and newly-confirmed director of Office, Management and Budget (OMB) Russ Vought hit the ground running – no, they hit the ground flying at hypersonic speed! They are determined to streamline performance, knock down the debt and deficits, and get rid of federal flab. As Trump would say, they are attacking the Swamp with a speed and ferocity “no one has ever seen before”.

So far, so good. Trump 2.0 has already:

  • eliminated DEI departments, programs and costs
  • attacked woke and politically weaponized practices
  • exposed inappropriate spending, targeting foreign and domestic outlays that taxpayers would never approve
  • required federal employees to show up for work and prove their merit
  • closed the borders to illegal immigration and started deportations
  • negotiated favorable foreign trade arrangements
  • promised to get rid of unnecessary and duplicative departments, unused buildings and unneeded personnel
  • identified opportunities for upgraded technology and efficiency

But all this swamp-draining optimism seems eerily familiar. I recall a similar feeling at the beginning of Trump 1.0, and found an old article I wrote about it eight years ago. My enthusiastic and well-intended predictions turned out to be embarrassingly inaccurate.

For one thing, my article focused on one of many less-than-stellar Trump cabinet appointees, Mick Mulvaney. Mick was plucked by Trump from his gig as SC legislator to seek and destroy federal waste and corruption via the OMB. It didn’t happen.

When we first met, Mulvaney impressed me. He was very bright, had a real grasp of Tea Party conservative principles, and walked the talk as a founder of the fledgling House Freedom Caucus. And he hired Russ Vought, a friend and mentor from Heritage Action, as his right-hand man. But I got a chill when I asked Mulvaney if he could implement zero-based budgeting to get our spending under control. He said I should forget about reducing spending. “Our budget is so huge and complicated that nobody in government will even try to cut spending – ever.” Mulvaney said that the only way to reduce the debt, which was about $10 trillion at the time, was to outgrow it by revving up the economy and tax revenues. Tax revenues grew rapidly, but spenders gonna spend – and some of them will spend $2 for ever $1 taken in.

Needless to say, Trump’s success at draining the swamp was about as real as my photo-shopped picture of Mick wrestling an alligator. The swamp creatures from the left and right were bigger and badder than Trump 1.0 bargained for, and he got his nose – and ours – bloodied.

But nobody ever said Trump is a quitter. He recognized his errors, he listened to good advice, he meticulously studied and planned, he literally dodged bullets, and he returned victorious to implement Trump 2.0. The stakes are higher this time around as our debt has ballooned to $36.5 trillion and is growing by a trillion bucks every 100 days. We don’t yet know if our Republican Senate and House will support Trump 2.0 or prefer the fetid smell of the swamp.

Last November American voters peered over the edge of a steep cliff. At the bottom we saw the extinction of our freedoms, our prosperous and moral civilization, and the future of our children. We turned away from the edge and now have One More Last Chance before we’re through.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Give me just a one more last chance Before you say we’re through I know I drive you crazy baby It’s the best that I can do We’re just some good ol’ boys, a makin’ noise I ain’t a runnin’ ’round on you Give me just a one more last chance Before you say we’re through

ONE MORE LAST CHANCE – Vince Gill

How Do They Spend ALL THAT MONEY?!!

Posted on by Standard 2

Our annual government spending is $6.5 trillion. Our debt is $34.7 trillion and rapidly growing. CLICK HERE TO LOOK AT THE LIVE DEBT CLOCK. It reveals some eye-popping statistics. Click on the individual fields to get more information. For example our debt is more than double that of China with less than a quarter of their population.

If you wonder why there is so much crazy stuff going on in the government lately, consider how hard it must be to legitimately spend $6.5 trillion dollars. I mean, that’s a humongous number! Our 435 congressmen are only in session for about 150 days a year, so they have to work really hard to get rid all of that money. Each congressman has to spend $100 billion every day they show up to work! Wow, no wonder they are so exhausted they can only work part time.

It is so hard to blow through that much money that, after giving some to foreign oligarchs for their wars and corruption, and taking as much off the top as they can without being obvious, our congressmen have to start passing it down to state governments as “grants”.

But it’s hard for state governments to spend that much money too, because they already have $2 trillion of their own money to get rid of. So the states pass some of their taxpayer money down to the local governments as “grants”.

But the locals already have their own $2 trillion, so it’s hard work for them to spend even more.

Yup, that’s $10.5 trillion of our hard-earned wages going to government at all levels each year. How the heck can we expect our overburdened government employees to keep track of all that money?


The South Carolina state comptroller just discovered $1.8 billion that has been sitting in a “clearance” account on the state’s books for 5 years. And they have no idea where it came from or where it should go!

This from a state legislature that just gave $1.3 billion in taxpayer cash, tax incentives and other spending to a foreign electric vehicle manufacturer while American EV companies are closing plants due to lack of demand and profitability.

Our government is not working the way it was designed. The constitution was set up as a way to keep the government out of our private business as much as possible – to let us make and spend (or keep) our own money without interference. But it wasn’t long before politicians figured out they could buy votes with OPM (other people’s money), and before you knew it half the country was living on OPM without having to make their own. And the government doesn’t even need to collect taxes, they can just print money and build debt indefinitely. Can you say inflation?

It’s just too hard for our government leaders to actually have to make things work. So our city governments grab grants to buy abandoned properties on Main Street and fund more music and art fairs. Our counties take grants to work on “economic development” by giving tax abatements to speculators as roads and bridges fall apart. And our federal government funds foreign wars and endless caravans of illegal aliens, but our own military can’t keep our ships afloat, our fighter planes flying, or enough trained personnel who are not in gender transition.

It can’t go on much longer. The debt clock says we have $267,000 of government debt per citizen plus another $75,000 of personal debt. We are all already busted!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I’m busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I’m busted
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won’t lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county’s gonna haul my belongings away cause I’m busted

BUSTED – Ray Charles

Here’s Today’s News You Didn’t Get

Posted on by Standard Reply

latest news

As a democratic republic, it is our duty to know what’s going on in the world and to direct our government to protect our interests. Unfortunately, these days our leaders only give us the “mushroom management” treatment, and the news media follows in tow.  If you don’t know what “mushroom management” is, check here.

While we gnash our teeth over the latest headlines – who Donald Trump offended today, what flag is flying where, and whether we will be sued if our barbecue smoke wafts over the neighbor’s fence – there is real international news taking place about which we are kept clueless. Here’s a sampling of news items you did not hear about today:

In a recent three-week period the Shanghai composite stock market lost a third of its value, and after a short reprieve, it dropped another 8.5% yesterday, as China’s economy shudders through a slowdown and a crisis of investor confidence.  The 21-day loss in value exceeded four trillion dollars.  Meanwhile, we are fixated on Greece, whose entire annual GDP is around $200 billion.  If China’s economy craters, it could have a profound effect on our own economy.  Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody told us what’s going on?  Do we even have diplomatic relations with China?

According to a top Indian nuclear scientist, Pakistan has the fastest-growing nuclear weapons program in the world and expects to have 200 nuclear warheads by 2020. Most of them are aimed at neighboring India, and they have developed a serious stockpile of high-tech intermediate-range missiles. The BBC reported that Saudi Arabia intends to buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan. There is international concern that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of terrorists. The Pakistanis also recently bought eight submarines from the Chinese.   When is the last time you heard anything about Pakistan?

Nigeria’s exports dropped 27% from the same period last year due to declining oil prices and the “unpredictable political environment.”  The Nigerian government continues to battle Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, while simultaneously trying to restore its police services and pay its teachers for months of back wages.  Meanwhile, reports emerged that a former Nigerian minister stole $6 billion of public money.  Life in Nigeria is rough these days.

Russia’s arms manufacturers are enjoying rapidly growing revenues despite western sanctions and a weak economy. President Vladimir Putin’s drive to modernize his military and the booming trade in arms exports has provided a double-digit annual growth windfall for Russia’s defense industry.  Simultaneously, China continues to build military facilities and claim ever-greater chunks of the South China Sea for economic and military purposes.  While our adversaries expand their forces, the Obama administration announces further cuts in US military power.

We know that the news business is not what it used to be.  It is naive to think that anything other than the most salacious and shallow headlines will ever appear above the fold.  Nor can we expect our government to keep us enlightened.  A few of us are blessed with representatives who go out of their way to keep constituents informed and involved. Most federal officials are only concerned with their re-election and power, and our money.  So it’s all the more crucial that we make the extra effort, as citizens of the still-greatest nation on earth, to be informed about what’s happening in the world.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Daddy is a rare millionaire
I don’t care
Yeah you got the muscle
I got the news

I Got the News – Steely Dan

 

 

Republican Fears in 1936 Same As Today

Posted on by Standard 3

image by rarenewspapers.com

image by rarenewspapers.com

My wife bought me a book of selected front pages from the New York Times, from 1920 to 1976, at a garage sale and it is a treasure.  It imparts some amazing insights into the news and the history of our nation.  I was astonished as I read this article from 1936.

THE TEXT OF THE PLATFORM – Cleveland, June 11

Following is the text of the party platform as adopted by the
Republican National Convention tonight:

America is in peril.  The welfare of American men and women and the future of our youth are at stake.  We dedicate ourselves to the preservation of their political liberty, their individual opportunity and their character as free citizens, which today for the first time are threatened by government itself.

For three long years the administration has dishonored American traditions and flagrantly betrayed the pledge upon which the Democratic party sought and received public support.

The powers of Congress have been usurped by the President.

The integrity and authority of the Supreme Court have been flaunted.

The rights and liberties of American citizens have been violated.

Regulated monopoly has displaced free enterprise.

The administration constantly seeks to usurp the rights reserved to the States and to the people.

It has insisted on passage of laws contrary to the Constitution.

It has intimidated witnesses and interfered with the right of petition.

It has dishonored our country by repudiating its most sacred obligations.

It has been guilty of frightful waste and extravagance, using public funds for partisan political purposes.

It has promoted investigations to harass and intimidate American citizens, at the same time denying investigations into its own improper expenditures.

It has created a vast multitude of new offices, filled them with its favorites, set up a centralized bureaucracy and sent out swarms of inspectors to harass our people.

It has bred fear and hesitation in commerce and industry, thus discouraging new enterprises, preventing employment, and prolonging the depression.

It secretly has made tariff agreements with outr foreign competitors, flooding our markets with foreign commodities.

It has coerced and intimidated voters by withholding relief to those opposing its tyrannical policies.

It has destroyed the morale of many of our people and made them dependent upon government.

Appeals to passion and class prejudice have replaced reason and tolerance.

To a free people, these actions are insufferable.  This campaign cannot be waged on the traditional differences between the Republican and Democratic parties.

The responsibility of this election transcends all previous political divisions.  We invite all Americans, irrespective of party, to join us in defense of American Institutions.

Alf Landon was unanimously accepted by the GOP as its candidate for president. He asked that two more planks be added to the platform before his nomination was final:  first, that sweatshops and unrestricted child labor be abolished and that laws be passed to regulate maximum hours, minimum wages, and working conditions for women and children; and second, that the US currency should be backed by a gold standard.

I find these old newspapers fascinating in so many ways.  The articles are written in clear but advanced language and style on the assumption that its readers were intelligent, informed, and educated – unlike today’s news which is written to a fifth-grade reading and comprehension level.

It’s very hard, if not impossible, to find a bias in these pages.  Even during the war years, events were described impartially.  The standard for journalists was: facts only, double- and triple-verified.  Political coverage was painstakingly even-handed and dispassionate.

All of the news on the Times front pages was real news – coverage of real events, with no fluff or pop culture.  A box in the top left corner promises “All the News That’s Fit to Print”.

In the 79 years since this front page of the Times was published, much has changed in the relationship between the media and the public.  Is news reporting dumbed-down because of us, or we because of it?  Do we tolerate biased reporting because we have no choice, or because we are able to choose news that fits our personal bias?  Either way, the loss of accurate, salient, unbiased news harms Americans and our progress as a nation.

The stories themselves remind me that ours is not the only time in history with grave challenges, conflict and tragedy.  Our parents and grandparents lived through a period of historic human suffering and heroism.  What must they think of our squabbles today over gender identity and political correctness?

And the story above, contrasting Republicans and Democrats, reminds me that some things haven’t changed much.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

And you may ask yourself
Am I right?  Am I wrong?
And you may say to yourself
My God, what have I done?
Same as it ever was . . . same as it ever was . . .
Same as it ever was . . . same as it ever was . . .

Once In A Lifetime – Talking Heads

Yesterday’s News

Posted on by Standard 2

newsOne year ago the news media fixated on a single story for several weeks.  It was so terribly important that it superceded everything else that was going on in the world.  It was as if nothing else mattered – this story was so critical to the life and welfare of every American that there was no room for any other news.   Even President Obama had to take time from his schedule to express his concern and thoughts about the topic.

Don’t remember?  Does the name Trayvon Martin ring a bell?

What have you heard about him lately?  Do you know how the case turned out?  Has anything changed in our lives because of the Florida incident in which Martin, a neighborhood watch volunteer, followed a young man he thought was suspicious, and ended up shooting him in a scuffle?

My point is this:  our news industry has devolved to the point where they now pick a salacious and often irrelevant or marginal news story and  elevate it to crisis pitch, while ignoring everything else that happens worldwide.   If the Trayvon Martin case was so earth-shakingly important, why have you not heard anything about it for a year?

Whatever happened to the Occupy Wall Street crowd?  Our media elites climbed all over each other to recount every syllable uttered by a tiny group of incoherent losers, affording them status on par with world leaders and history-makers.  Where are they now?  What happened?  Is it possible that MAYBE THEY WEREN’T NEWSWORTHY IN THE FIRST PLACE?

The media was quick to report that the Tea Party is dead.  It isn’t.  But the Occupy Movement sure as hell is.  Who is reporting on that?

Remember all the hoo-hah about ObamaCare?  We would all die if it was implemented.   Or we would all die if it was NOT implemented.  Either way, we were all going to die.  Three years later, not much has happened.

Michael Jackson.  Lady Diana.  Stories about pop culture icons deserve a headline, not an entire page of the calendar.

It’s a sad fact that the news business has become so much more business than news.  Rather than reporting actual news and letting the informed public determine what is important to them, the media now chooses the story it feels has the most commercial potential and milks it to the bloody end.

So when you see today’s front-page bold-type stop-the-presses big story, don’t get your underwear in a knot.  There’s a good chance it will be completely forgotten a year from now.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Who wants yesterday’s papers?
Who wants yesterday’s girl?
Who wants yesterday’s papers?
Nobody in the world!

Yesterday’s Papers – the Rolling Stones