Category: Politics

In undergraduate school I learned that there are three ways of turning out the party in power. Those three ways are, an economic downturn, a major foreign policy blunder, or monumental corruption. Last night’s election returns are primarily the result of our current economic downturn.

Clearly, Americans are looking to the Republicans to right the economic ship of state. In the election last night the Democrats were repudiated at Federal level, the State level, and the local level. Not only did the US House of Representative change hands but Republicans also picked up to 10 Gubernatorial seats as well taking control of at least 18 state chambers from Democrats. Republicans now control 54 state legislative chambers seeing a net gain of at least 680 seats in state legislatures. Last night confirmed the perception that America is a center-right country.

Or maybe we should say that the Center of the country is perceived as a center-right right country. One aspect of the election that is fascinating is that the Country looks like a sandwich with blue bread covering the red filling. The Democrats own the West and East Coast as well as major metropolitan areas in between while the Republicans own the larger part of flyover country. Any inroads the Democrats made into flyover country between 2006-2010 were almost completely wiped out last night. America is a divided country with fewer and fewer issues over which to find common ground.

Part of this division is augmented by the reality that Red Americans are divided with themselves. While Blue American true believers have no doubt about their progressive nature, Red Americans are a self-divided people. On one hand Red Americans desire want all the advantages of big government while on the other hand they say they want their individual liberty. On one hand Red Americans want all the perks of the welfare state while on the other hand they are angered at being taxed at the level it takes to run a welfare state. Americans are schizophrenic. I offer proof of this in the observation that the same voters who voted Republican in order to reign in spending are people who would instantly put Democrats back in office if Republicans actually began cutting entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, Government Schools, Educational grants, and other like programs. If one desires to balance the budget, it simply is the case that this is where one must go to cut.

Unfortunately, for America, turning the Democrats out of power and placing power in the hands of Republicans is like taking the keys from someone who was convicted for driving while intoxicated and giving them to someone recently convicted of hit and run. Republicans have never shown the will power to do what American have said, by their vote, that they want accomplished. Republicans, like those who voted them into office, are schizophrenic. On one hand they talk about fiscal responsibility but on the other hand they pass things like the prescription drug law for seniors as they did during the Bush administration.

All of this is part of the reason why I can say that the country is perceived as center-right. If the country was really center right it would demand the end to not only the new health care law but also the end to programs like Social Security, Medicare, Corporate Welfare, and government schools. If the country was really center-right it would demand the end to the Federal Reserve.

As such, I expect that Republican hegemony will be short lived as voters become frustrated with both their inability to turn the economy around as well as being aggravated at any genuine attempt to turn the economy around.

Pivoting slightly, another interesting result of the 2010 election is the increasing racial dynamic that is making up electoral politics. The 2010 election revealed white flight to the Republican party. This is significant given the fact that the Democratic party has long received the lion’s share of the Black and Latino vote. The harsh truth is that this also breaks down between the producers (largely, though not exclusively whites) increasingly coalescing in one party (Republican) while the profiteers of the American welfare redistribution system (largely, though not exclusively minorities) remain coalesced in the Democratic party. If this dynamic hardens it could make for some interesting political governance and campaigns in the near future.

For more details on this theme see,

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/03/exit_polls_unprecedented_white_flight_from_democrats__107824.html

One more thing that needs to be said before we close. As long as Ben Shalom Bernanke can massively inflate the money supply as he has done we see revealed why elections don’t matter and why the FED must be ended. As long as this kind of thing can be done, quite apart from legislative oversight, elections are largely a dog and pony show. If the FED can not be shut down then it really is not possible to correct the American economic affairs.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/09/21/obama_mexicans_were_here_long_before_america_was_even_an_idea.html

There is so much wrong with this 85 second clip it is difficult to detail it all.

1.) Notice the pronoun “We,” and the way Obama uses this pronoun. The “We” has Obama identifying with the pre-American Indians, Mexicans, and Colonial Europeans over against Americans. Obama has embraced a narrative where he identifies more closely with the pre-American inhabitants of this country than he does those people who actually were Americans. The inhabitants that Obama is identifying with in his “We” statements are the inhabitants that the Americans had to contend against in order to become a nation and in order to keep their nation.

2.) When Obama finally turns his pronouns to America (“What made ‘us’ all Americans …) the usage is to identify the pre-American inhabitants as the true America. (Remember … Obama is speaking before a Hispanic organization.) The true America is the outgrowth of the original America that existed before the idea of America.

3.) Obama mentions that all these groups … “Shared the same land.” Knowing Obama’s lean I can’ t help but wonder if this is a swipe at the European understanding of owning land. Before the mean evil Europeans showed up with ideas of land ownership the original peoples shared the land. Certainly, Obama’s convictions are that private property is counter-productive.

4.) Obama says that before America was even an idea that this was the shared land of Mexicans. Before America was an idea would have had to be some time before 1776. Mexico became a country in 1810. You do the math, because Obama clearly cannot.

5.) Obama insists on the idea that America is a proposition nation. Obama says that America was made because of shared values that we (the pre-America “We”) hold so dear. Here is the problem. I am willing to bet that I don’t share any values with this man or with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. As such, either they aren’t Americans are I am not an American. I’m guessing that they think it is yours truly who is not an American since I don’t share their values.

6.) Obama then quotes from the Declaration of Independence (that same Declaration of Independence that referred to his earlier mentioned Indian tribes as “savages”) but he leaves out a key phrase in his quote. He leaves out the phrase … “Endowed by their Creator,” and quotes the Declaration of Independence as if it doesn’t make reference to a “Creator.” It is very difficult to believe that this was just an “oversight.” It is more in keeping with the little things this man does and says to show contempt for the country.

7.) Obama zeroes in on “equality.” But of course it is not the “equality” which the Founders believed, but it is the “equality” of the French Revolution. It is the equality of sameness.

“They (the White House) just kept telling us how good it (the 2010 midterm election) was going to be. The president himself, when that (the disaster of the 1994 congressional mid-term election) was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’

Rep. Marion Berry
Retiring Arkansas US Congressman

“The vision of the anointed begins with entirely different premises. Here is not the innate limitations of human beings, or the inherent limitations of resources, which create unhappiness but the fact that social institutions and social policies are not as wisely crafted as the anointed would have crafted them.’

Thomas Sowell
The Vision Of The Anointed

The current administration is awash in the vision of the anointed which the first quote above reveals. The problem in ’94’ according to Obama is that in ’94’ they didn’t have someone as smart and capable as himself running the midterm campaign. You see this arrogance that is consistent with the vision of the anointed run throughout this White House and the current Democratic party.

In the last 5 days I’ve received two phone calls from a young erstwhile supporter of
Republican Tim Walberg for US Congress. Walberg was the Congressman for my district until Democrat (Socialist) Mark Schauer beat him in the 2008 election cycle. Schauer and Walberg serve as the perfect example of Tweedledee Republican and Tweedledum Democrat. As a matter of principal they don’t disagree on very much. Where disagreement arises is only on the question of degree.

For example, Schauer is a classical socialist redistributionist. He revealed that by voting for Obama’s Death care legislation. Yet, when “conservative” Walberg was in office he also had no problem spending taxpayers money as the letter below reveals. Walberg sent this when he was still in office.

Dear Friend:

As I travel the 7th District, I have met with numerous religious groups, elected officials, non-profit organizations, school leaders, and small business owners who have all expressed one common message – times are tough, budgets are tight, and funds are scarce. Since I’ve been in Congress, I have discovered that a valuable and under-utilized source of assistance for religious groups like yours is federal grants.

Religious organizations, in particular, help the community strengthen itself through social functions, charitable work, and by providing a safe haven for those in their hour of need. I know, however, that these valuable services come with a cost, and this is where I encourage you to explore the potential for federal grants to help you fund your community building endeavors.

In order to share what I’ve learned and what may be of great interest and support to you, I am hosting workshops on How to Access Federal Grants on … I encourage you to attend. The first session from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. will discuss how to properly write a proposal to obtain federal grant from a Grant Writing Specialist from the University of Michigan….

Respectfully yours,

Tim Walberg
Member of Congress

Now, keep in mind that this clown is supposed to be conservative. He’s so conservative that he wants to teach his constituents how to most effectively suckle up to the teat of the Federal government in order to get their share of the ill gotten booty.

This is a guy who rails against excessive taxation. So on one hand he complains about the Feds taxing to much but on the other hand he encourages and teaches people to behave in such a way that the excessive taxation must continue. It’s the glaring inconsistency of being against higher taxes while at the same time being for the spreading of money around and for setting up seminars so your constituents can learn how to access the Federal pool of money created by the higher taxes that you putatively oppose. This kind of stuff just wants to make me scream!

Next, I wonder if Congressman Walberg realizes that the reason budgets may be tight and funds scarce (first paragraph in his letter) is because people are being over taxed. Does he realize then that his promotion of “accessing Federal Grants” leads to budgets being tight and funds being scarce?

One wonders if Congressman Walberg ever considered that one way to build a community is by letting people in the community keep their money. That money that Congressman Walberg wants religious organizations to access is money that was stolen from other people in other communities.

Walberg is no conservative! Walberg has no problem with stealing from one group in order to give to another. His only problem with Statist Government would be when the Statist Government isn’t redistributing money in the direction Walberg would like to see it go.

You would think a former Evangelical pastor like Walberg would take seriously the 8th commandment, but I guess it’s ok to steal as long as it is for a good cause.

It’s hard to say if guys like Walberg do more harm in the ministry or in politics.

I appreciate my young friends desire to be politically active but there are better people than Tim Walberg to spend his effort upon.

Oh … and by the by … I will change my mind on this only if former Congressman Walberg publicly repudiates this letter and promises never to do anything like it again.