the Centrist

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Sometimes the Lord puts a burden on your heart, and you must obey that still small voice within, that is, if you are to be true to yourself. That is what I have felt for the most part, in my writing career. It may mean that you will not exactly be the most popular kid on the block, but so be it. Fear not you of little faith, my rational is not only spiritual, you see, I am at heart a scientist. The first aspect of that vocation is: I simply do not believe in co-incidence; and the second: I try my best to learn from history. When I look at the obvious, out of control spending when America no longer has an economic engine, I see this nation headed to the point of no return. According to financier Steve Forbes (Fox News), in order to balance the budget by 2014 it would take a 95% tax rate… and that is without the addition of the Housing Bill or any other spending to date. It really boils down to Achem’s Razor, or KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. The simplest solution is almost always the proper solution. For instance when tough times are thrust upon our households, what is the first conversation we have with our spouse? Is it not, “Where can we cut and what can we do without?” Unbelievably, that conversation has yet to be initiated in Washington.
There are simple solutions which do not involve the taxpayers for each dilemma. Perhaps the easiest is the housing crisis. First and foremost only 6% of homes are in default. Second, rather than a convoluted bureaucratic solution, the banks should be required to increase the term of the Mortgage and lower the percentage. Their profit would be made up by increasing the term from say 30 to 60 years and fixing the rates. The auto industry can equally be solved simply, by increasing the defense budget and making much needed tanks, guns, bullets, bombs, armor, hummers, strikers, etc. This would keep people employed and our troops well equipped. If that influx of monies does not rejuvenate them, then the reorganization of Chapter 11 should be the solution. As far as banks are concerned, they have had their time at the trough. If these geniuses cannot figure their way from here it is time for other banks to take over. But keep government out. And it is time to assign blame: both parties are responsible for this problem: be it the Democratic Congress forcing banks to make unsubstantiated loans, or the failure of oversight by the Republicans, they precipitated the crisis. And now the one party system ruled by the iron fist of Democrats and their radical overspending will deepen it.

Therefore, it is not merely ‘socialism’ that I fear, because truth be told, we have not been a truly capitalistic nation for decades. Rather it is because America has never ventured this far into debt, and been beholding to so many foreign powers. Moreover, as President Obama continues to double down on our debt he has quietly cut the production of our most formidable weapon which would insure superiority in fighter planes, the F22. Moreover, he has cut the military budget by 10% in a time of war and rampant spending. This is, in my opinion, a mistake of biblical proportions. In the midst of that cut he committed another 17,000 troops to the impossible terrain of Afghanistan. Perhaps the only claim to fame by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was the use of technology, rather than boots on the ground, to win the first phase of the war in Afghanistan. The only reason that front is in jeopardy at this time is a combination of the inaccessibility of radical tribes in Pakistan, remaining off limits to massive US air strikes, and the utter failure of NATO forces to hold their terrain. The territories assigned American troops had succeeded in an unprecedented manner, until those troops had to cover for our ‘allies’. But now with the budget cuts, he is putting the American military in harm’s way with limited supplies and air support for a war which historically cannot be won on the ground.

The bottom line is that we are in unprecedented times, with a man who has had no more experience than being a community organizer, state senator, and served only half a term as a US Senator. It puts one in mind of the last inexperienced President, Jimmy Carter. Remember how he came to power? It was in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the resignation of President Nixon. The public clamored for ‘change’ and Carter promised ‘better days’. As good as his intentions were, however, the things he tried were not successful. In fact, he created far more serious problems than he solved… i.e. we are still fighting the Iranian radicals in Middle East which he created.

All I can say is that we must hold on tight, and pray that Americans wake up to this brave new world, reject it, and get back to simple private sector solutions. If they do not, it will be the end of America as we know it. Perhaps, I should ask you the question candidate Clinton asked 16 years ago: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago”?

From Blogger Bud:
President Carter: Profile In Incompetence

Jimmy Carter became our 39th president at the young age of 52. His experience: a one-term governor from Plains, GA, where he managed the family peanut farm and taught Sunday school; a graduate of the Naval Academy and served seven years in the Navy, leaving as a lieutenant. … As good as his intentions were, however, the things he tried were not successful… The centerpiece of Carter’s foreign policy was human rights, and he did achieve one noble success – a peace treaty between Egypt ‘s Anwar Sadat and Israel ‘s Menachem Begin. Unfortunately, that later led to Sadat’s assassination at the hands of Muslim radicals… he was naive and incompetent in handling the enormous burdens and complex challenges of being president… He wrongly believed Americans had an ‘inordinate fear of communism’, so he lifted travel bans to Cuba, North Vietnam and Cambodia and pardoned draft evaders. He also stopped B-1 bomber production and gave away our strategically located Panamá Canal.

His most damaging miscalculation was the withdrawal of U.S. support for the Shah of Iran , a strong and longtime military ally. Carter objected to the Shah’s alleged mistreatment of imprisoned Soviet spies who were working to overthrow Iran ‘s government. He thought the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, being a religious man, would make a fairer leader. Having lost U.S. support, the Shah was overthrown, the Ayatollah returned, Iran was declared an Islamic nation and Palestinian hit men were hired to eliminate opposition.
The Ayatollah then introduced the idea of suicide bombers to the Palestine Liberation Organization, paying $35,000 to PLO families whose young people were brainwashed to kill as many Israelis as possible by blowing themselves up in crowded shopping areas. Next, the Ayatollah used Iran ‘s oil wealth to create, train and finance a new terrorist organization, Hezbollah, which later would attack Israel in 2006.
In November 1979, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranians stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Not until six months into the ordeal did Carter attempt a rescue. But the mission, using just six Navy helicopters, was poorly executed. Three of the copters were disabled or lost in sandstorms. (Pilots weren’t allowed to meet with weather forecasters because someone in authority worried about security.) Five airmen and three Marines lost their lives.
So, due to overconfidence, inexperience and poor judgment, Carter undermined and lost a strong ally, Iran, that today aggressively threatens the U.S., Israel and the rest of the world with nuclear weapons.
But that’s not all. After Carter met for the first time with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, the USSR promptly invaded Afghanistan. Carter, ever the naive appeaser, was shocked. ‘I can’t believe the Russians lied to me,’ he said.

The invasion attracted a 23-year-old Saudi named Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan to recruit Muslim fighters and raise money for an anti-Soviet jihad. Part of that group eventually became al-Qaida, a terrorist organization that would declare war on America several times between 1996 and 1998 before attacking us on 9/11, killing more Americans than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
On Carter’s watch, the Soviet Union went on an unrestrained rampage in which it took over not only Afghanistan, but also Ethiopia, South Yemen, Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique, Grenada and Nicaragua. In spite of this, Carter’s last defense budget proposed spending 45% below pre-Vietnam levels for fighter aircraft, 75% for ships, 83% for attack submarines and 90% for helicopters.
Years later, as a civilian, Carter negotiated a peace agreement with North Korea to keep that communist country from developing nuclear weapons. He also convinced President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to go along with it. But the signed piece of paper proved worthless. The North Koreans deceived Carter and instead used our money, incentives and technical equipment to build nuclear weapons and pose the threat we face today.
Thus did Carter unwittingly become our Neville Chamberlain, creating with his well-intended but inept, unrealistic and gullible actions the very conditions that led to the three most dangerous security threats we face today: Iran, al- Qaida and North Korea .
On the domestic side, Carter gave us inflation of 15%, the highest in 34 years; interest rates of 21%, the highest in 115 years; and a severe energy crisis with lines around the block at gas stations nationwide.
In 1977, Carter, along with a Democrat Congress, created a worthy project with noble intentions—the Community Reinvestment Act. Over strong industry objections, it mandated that all banks meet the credit needs of their entire communities.
In 1995, President Clinton imposed even stronger regulations and performance tests that coerced banks to substantially increase loans to low-income, poverty-area borrowers or face fines or possible restrictions on expansion. These revisions allowed for securitization of CRA loans containing subprime mortgages.

By 1997, good loans were bundled with poor ones and sold as prime packages to institutions here and abroad. That shifted risk from the loan originators, freeing banks to begin pyramiding and make more of these profitable subprime products.
Under two young, well-intended presidents, therefore, big-government plans and mandates played a significant role in the current subprime mortgage mess and its catastrophic consequences for the U.S. and international economies.
Hardest-hit by the mortgage foreclosures have been the citizens that Democrats always claim to help most—inner-city residents who fell victim to low or no down payment schemes, unexpected adjustable rates, deceptive loan applications and commission-hungry salespeople.
Now we’re having to bail out at huge cost Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the very agencies that were supposed to stabilize the system. In time, this should improve the situation. But the party of Carter and Clinton that midwifed our mortgage mess now wants to be trusted to take over and have the government run our entire system of health care!
Don’t forget his “incompetent” interventions in the elections of Nicaragua (Daniel Ortega), the elections of Venezuela (Hugo Chavez) and his “stupid” decisions with Cuba (Fidel Castro). This should shed some light on where the blame should go for our current problems.

Lighter Side
from Ron and Judy
Subject: FW: You think English is easy???

Read to the end for a new twist:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce .
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove it dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row …
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

Blogger Bud-Fred and Larry get married in California.

They couldn’t afford a honeymoon. So, they go back to Fred’s Mom and Dad’s house for their first married night together.
In the morning, Johnny, Fred’s little brother, gets up and has his breakfast. As he is going out of the door to go to school, he asks his mom if Fred and Larry are up yet.
She replies, ‘No’.
Johnny asks, ‘Do you know what I think?’
His mom replies, ‘I don’t want to hear what you think! Just go to school.’
Johnny comes home for lunch and asks his mom, ‘Are Fred and Larry up yet?’
She replies, ‘No.’
Johnny says, ‘Do you know what I think?’
His mom replies, ‘Never mind what you think! Eat your lunch and go back to school’
After school, Johnny comes home and asks again,
‘Are Fred and Larry up yet?’
‘His mom says, ‘No.’
‘He asks, ‘Do you know what I think?’
His mom replies, ‘Ok, now tell me what you think?’
He says: ‘Last night Fred came to my room for the Vaseline and I think… I gave him my Super glue.

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