Tag Archives: russ vought

Leader of the Pack

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photo courtesy of HotCars.com

While the mid-term election was no fun for real conservatives, it sure put a spring in the step of media pundits, Democrats, Never-Trumpers, and Senate and House leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.

Before the week was over, every political junkie was obsessing over (a) who is at fault for the “red fizzle” and (b) who would be the new House (majority) and Senate (minority) leaders.

The folks in my opening paragraph quickly blamed former president Donald Trump, whose alleged failures included endorsing weak GOP candidates who ultimately lost (his actual record was 216 wins to 19 losses), not spending his entire super PAC on candidates (he spent $16 million out of his estimated $100 million war chest), and taking a verbal shot at his presumed 2024 presidential opponent, Ron DeSantis, just before election day.

Conservatives, meanwhile, faulted GOP leadership. The Big Macs (McCarthy, McConnell and Ronna Romney McDaniel, RNC chairwoman) made their share of unforced errors, funding such stellar conservatives as Lisa Murkowski, while snubbing Trump favorites Masters, Oz and Bolduc. And some say the party’s policy messaging was not strong enough to win on-the-fence voters.

Despite a challenge from Florida senator Rick Scott, McConnell was elected Senate minority leader, on a 37 to 10 vote thanks to Murkowski and other members of the Quid Pro Quo Caucus. McCarthy, on the other hand, appears to be on the way out. Russ Vought, president of Citizens for Renewing America and Trump’s OMB director, told followers tonight that no fewer than 37 Republicans are firmly against McCarthy and that Andy Biggs will likely be the new speaker. Lee Zeldin, who narrowly missed in the New York governor’s race, is vying to replace McDaniel for the chair of the RNC.

In the bigger scheme, neither Trump nor the Big Macs were responsible for the “red fizzle”. The Democrats in battleground states have expanded their cheating playbook to include “malfunctioning” (thus unavailable) voting equipment and late, late, late ballot counts, resulting in some upsets that were beyond absurdity. In fact, the Democrats have become so skilled at election cheating that some Republicans fear they will never win another election unless they learn to cheat even better.

Now I have good news and I have bad news.

First the bad news. Most Americans have no clue who the leaders of the House and Senate are. They are not aware that hundreds of political prisoners have been held by our Democrat administration for two years in putrid conditions without due process. They don’t know that our economy is a $40 trillion house of cards. They are blissfully unaware that our president is fatally compromised to the Chinese, the Russians, the Ukrainians, and whoever else his corrupt family has sold influence and US assets to. They know nothing because our media/government/education cabal keeps the truth hidden from them.

Now the potentially good news. We may have the most conservative group of congressmen and women ever. And we have the opportunity to put new congressional leaders in place who are principled and driven, and who understand the urgent danger our nation is in. They may not be able to pass laws through our feckless Senate or our administration. But they can expose the fraud and corruption with investigations and hearings. They can defund or destroy the corrupt three-letter agencies that have been weaponized against the American people. They can shut down the government if they have to. And they have the power to wake up America’s sleeping voters to the shame that we have become, perhaps in time to save us from the fate of Cuba and Venezuela.

Of course, all of this was possible at times in the past when we had a congressional majority. But without a courageous and moral leader of the pack, our lawmakers have been stymied.

I hope we get it right; this may be our last chance.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I met him at the candy store
He turned around and smiled at me,
You get the picture? (Yes, we see)
That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack

LEADER OF THE PACK – the Shangri-Las


Economic Good Things

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Yesterday Congress passed yet another drunken-sailor budget, which would suspend the debt ceiling for another two years and result in an additional $322 billion in spending, ballooning the deficit to $22 trillion dollars.

Not long ago my conservative friends and I took to the streets protesting the unfathomable $16 trillion debt that the federal government had foisted upon our children and grandchildren. Then we got steamrolled by Obama, not exactly a top-drawer economist. Even holding both houses was not enough to stop the spending tsunami, and before you could blink, the Democrat socialist revolution had overtaken Congress.

In an effort to extinguish my “hair on fire” I set out looking for some little rays of economic sunshine among the dark clouds. Here’s what I found:

  • DEREGULATION is driving the economy at an unexpectedly brisk pace. All around I see businesses starting and expanding, construction projects popping up like popcorn, opportunities for workers of all types at premium wage rates, and consumer spending and optimism going through the roof.
  • FOREIGN TRADE POLICIES, TARIFFS AND ALLIANCES – President Trump clearly understands the “art of the deal”, and his push-back against China is bringing positive change. Protests in Hong Kong might drive regime change, or at least policy change. And Trump’s outsized influence on Brexit, Iran, Russia and North Korea all have economic implications. While international trade is not a “zero sum” game, other nations are finally feeling the heat of dealing with an “A-team” on the economic playing field.
  • ENERGY INDEPENDENCE – For a very long time, the USA economy was like many American families – one paycheck away from bankruptcy. At any time a Middle Eastern mullah could shut off the supply of oil, plunging our economy into chaos. That threat is now extinguished.
  • AGENCY REORGANIZATION – Russ Vought and Mick Mulvaney of the OMB are tightening the noose on agency leadership, getting more bang for the taxpayer buck, down-sizing and decentralizing, and updating personnel and procurement procedures. Every day they are changing the government culture to more closely operate like private business.

When Mulvaney was my congressman, we had several discussions about federal spending, with me venting my frustration that the debt was exploding and nobody cares. Mulvaney, always the pragmatist, said, “We can’t fix the deficit and debt by reducing spending. It’s way too late for that. We will have to outgrow it.”

At the time, Mick’s message was not what I wanted to hear. And I still would like to see a more mixed approach: cut spending while the economy is healthy and growing. But the appetite for restraint is just not there. Not with the Democrats and many weak-kneed Republicans in Congress who win re-election by giving away free candy. Not with the president, who had to adopt the same stance to guarantee re-election and time to complete his mission. And frankly, not with the under-informed spoiled-brat public, most of whom pay no federal taxes and whose ranks are swelling every day with immigrants from nations who have never participated in a consumer-driven supply-and-demand economy.

Can our debt keep expanding without consequences? Probably not. But all you can do is all you can do.

I used to employ a business strategy that seemed to work pretty darn well. Every business is segmented into products, or markets, or divisions. Too many executives and managers put all of their energy and focus into the underperforming segments of their businesses, ignoring the segments that are smoking hot and growing. I always promoted the strategy of putting maximum effort and resources into what’s doing well instead of beating your head against the wall trying to fix the losers.

So yes, we had a bad budget deal. Boogers. But if we look closer, there are a lot of “good things” going on.

Seems this worlds got you down
Your feelin’ bad vibrations frown
Well, open your eyes girl, look at me 
I’m gonna show you how it ought to be
We’re gonna’ have a good thing
Such a good thing baby

Good Thing – Paul Revere and the Raiders

In memory of Paul Revere, one of the truly good guys in the history of rock and roll.

Mulvaney Set to Drain the Swamp

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mulvaney-alligatorFor a long time I have suspected that because liberals see everything through the prism of skin color, they assume conservatives do too, and are therefore racists.

Only recently have I realized that the same is true of political corruption.  Liberals think that conservatives who run for office or accept administrative posts must be doing it to enrich themselves unethically because that’s what they, the liberals, do – or would do, given the chance.

For instance, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) excoriated HHS nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) during his hearing for a $300 profit he made on a stock purchase in a company that benefited from a ruling his committee made.  Her condescending rebuke was designed to paint Price as a monster who made shady self-serving deals using his government influence.  How rich.  Warren, a “one-percenter” with assets estimated at $10 million, falsely claimed Native American heritage to land a professorship, and received $350,000 for teaching one  college course.

Democrats point out, with faux concern and anger, that President-elect Trump’s cabinet picks are mostly wealthy individuals.  Like Trump himself, his nominees have accomplished a level of business (not government) success that not only builds wealth, it also indicates competence.

The Democrats can grandstand and delay, race-bait and class-envy ad nauseam, trying to hold up the confirmation process.  But it won’t work.  The swamp will be drained.

Only the shallowest of observers can’t see that these all-stars are not in it for personal profit.  Quite the contrary; they are sacrificing their earning power and precious time as an act of patriotism, service and charity.  And isn’t it just possible that the wealthy Democrats, most of whom have never earned a dollar in the private sector, are panicking at the prospect that their own gravy train may soon fall off the tracks?

The Trump team tapped budget hawk Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to head up the Office of Management and Budget.  Mulvaney was a co-founder of the uber-conservative Freedom Caucus and has a stellar resume in budget, finance, and business – both inside and outside the Beltway.  Mulvaney isn’t rich – during legislative sessions he slept in the closet of his office.  But he is focused and determined.  And he is building his own all-star team, starting with Heritage Action brainiacs Russ Vought and Jessica Anderson.  The Beltway is abuzz today with talk of a plan to reduce the national debt by $10.5 trillion in ten years, based on the Heritage Foundation’s Blueprint for Reform published last year.

This is what common-sense Americans have been praying for since Rick Santelli’s rant on CNBC gave birth to the Tea Party in 2009 – a glimmer of hope that our children will not have to deal with the economic destruction caused by our monolithic $20 trillion federal debt.  In his rant, by the way, Santelli gave kudos to Wilbur Ross, another Trump appointee.

President-elect Trump calls it “draining the swamp”, which encompasses both rooting out corruption and slashing out-of-control spending.  It makes me picture OMB Chief Mulvaney in the role of Amos Moses, that badass Cajun in the Louisiana bayou, knockin’ alligators in the head with a stump!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideNow Amos Moses was a Cajun
He lived by himself in the swamp
He hunted alligator for a living
He’d just knock them in the head with a stump!

Jerry Reed – Amos Moses

 

I love this 1982 video of Jerry Reed and Glen Campbell rockin’ it up with this funky, swampy, bluesy version of Reed’s “Amos Moses.”  You won’t find more guitar pickin’ power in one camera shot.  Reed is most widely known as Burt Reynold’s sidekick in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies, but he was an outstanding musician and songwriter, and was revered by guitar players world-wide.  Among his innovations was the “claw” style of picking, which he allegedly taught to Chet Atkins.  Campbell had a stellar career until it was derailed by alcoholism and, later, Alzheimer’s disease.  He started as a studio guitarist, was an early member of the Beach Boys, and eventually had his own television show plus many gold records.