Obituary of Common Sense !

Today, we mourn the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

Common Sense lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the Millennium. No one really knows how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools; hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness.

For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in from rain, the early bird gets the worm and life isn’t always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and it’s okay to come in second.

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including feminism, body piercing, whole language and new math.

But his health declined when he became infected with the “if-it-only-helps-one-person-it’s-worth-it” virus. In recent decades, his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal legislation.

He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers and enlightened auditors. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies; when reports were heard of six year old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; when a teen was suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch; when a teacher was fired for reprimanding an unruly student. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but couldn’t inform the parent when a female student is pregnant or wants an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments, regarding questionable regulations for asbestos, low-flow toilets, smart guns, the nurturing of Prohibition Laws and mandatory air bags.

Finally, when told that the homeowners association restricted exterior furniture only to that which enhanced property values, he breathed his last.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son Reason. His three stepbrothers survive him: Rights, Tolerance and Whiner.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Author Unknown

Sometimes, short messages are more powerful than long ones.

There are also some other great quotes by my favorite economist of all time (Milton Friedman) on the Right Wing News blog.

To put it in perspective, if you make $50,000 a year, and assuming you live paycheck to payheck, and you reduced your expenditures by the same percentage, you would save $1.65 per year.  Wow, that’s really impressive BHO.  Keep up the symbolism over substance campaign.  Do you really think we’re all that stupid?  (somebody, check my math please?)

As I search to find a political label, I find there really isn’t one that fits my needs. If I had to pick one, it would probably be more closely aligned with the Libertarian party, but most of them find religion repugnant. Since I’m a proud Christian, I don’t fit in well that that either.

So, for now, I guess my political party is the TEA party. Hmmm. It think that fits in well.  So, look for a photo of me burning my “Republican” party card soon.

Here’s a snapshot of my oldest daughter and one of her friends with Lady Liberty.  Notice how sad the statue looks:

This was a terrific day for the country.  Sooner or later, these corrupt politicians will get the message.

“The American people are slow to wrath, but when their wrath is once kindled, it burns like a consuming flame.”

I found this on a web site about an Orlando Tea Party.

Liberals would never admit they don’t like capitalism because saying so is patently absurd.  I doubt they would even admit it to themselves.  The bottom line: liberals really don’t like capitalism because “it’s not fair” (you can almost hear the whining in the background).

The fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives is this: conservatives believe in “equal opportunity” and liberals believe in “equal outcome.”  It’s that simple.  Capitalism provides for equal opportunity, but by its very nature, there will be winners and losers.  For the most part, the winners are those that worked the hardest and risked the most.  In the liberal mind, the “losers” should be entitled to what the “winners” have earned, even if they didn’t work as hard or risk as much.

Capitalism doesn’t automatically provide for those that don’t work hard or take risks.  Liberals hate that.  The irony of it all is that without capitalism, there be be virtually no philanthropy to provide help to those that truly do not have the “opportunity” to succeed.

It’s funny how liberals like to present themselves as the champions of “the common man.”  This idea was popular prior to capitalism because the parts of the population that were “successful” got that way because they were born into nobility.  They did not earn their wealth, they were born with it and “entitled” to it simply because of who they were.

Capitalism changed much of that.  Yes, some kids are born into wealth, but at least in most cases it was because their parents earned that wealth.  It had nothing to do with notions of “nobility.”  Yet, the champions of the common man want the general population to hate the successful ones as if they got that way only because of their ancestry.

Since the passing of the Stimulus package, I have already seen a glut of offerings of contracts, using taxpayer funds, to supposedly promote growth.  The dirty little secret is how these contracts are let and managed.  In all cases, they are managed by low level bureaucrats that define the requirements in whatever way they want to define them.  At least in one instance so far, I’ve seen these bureaucrats get infuriated because we dared to make efficient use of the money.  That’s right, we turned back in $80,000 on a $400,000 grant and we were chastised for doing it.  “You have to spend it all!  Figure out how.”  On another contract proposal, we were advised to bring in some other organizations with “name recognition,” to give the project credibility.  When we told them the institution they recommended automatically adds 40 percent to all of their contracts for “administrative overhead,” they said.  “So be it.”

Now, there are literally hundreds of these projects flooding the “market.”  I just read a proposal for a project to “subsidize youth employment.”  It’s a 30 page request for proposal, and it allows a total of two weeks to prepare the response to spend $1.4 million!  In just one town.  This is going on all over the country.  While these projects may have some merit, they will waste taxpayer money at an alarming rate.  And if there were even a slight chance the funds might contribute toward growing our economy, it will be frittered away by the bureaucrats that manage the contracts.

This is precisely why relying on the government to fix our economy is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Unfortunately, including the specificity would require the use of examples, e.g., “No our right to free speech was never meant to allow pedophiles to promote their sick lifestlye on the Internet.”  And with this, leads to more loopholes, because we couldn’t possibly think of all the ways people would want to abuse the “right” provided.

I’m sure there would be a way to do this, but it would take a group of very smart people, of the caliber of our founding fathers, to pull this off.  I know I’m not smart enough to do it, but I truly believe they’re out there.  I’m also confident they would not come from the political realm.  These people would need to be of the strict constructionist camp, not the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

What’s really happenng is we’re allowing these opportunist polliticians to make their play as populists.  They don’t get that opportunity very often, so that’s why you see them scramble for the camera every time one of them gets near.

The Democrats are the ones scrambling the most.  They realize this is causing damage to the image of “the annointed one,” and it scares them.   It will likely cause trouble the next time they try to go on yet another spending spree, and they are simply scared to death.

Don’t let it fool you.  When you see the likes of Sen Dodd, boldly chastising AIG for sending out bonuses, you should automatically be suspicious.  After all, it was his amendment that specifically called for allowing the bonsues to take place.

Apparently, he’s getting VERY good ratings, so naturally the critics are coming out of the woodwork.  Why is it every time something popular occurs, there’s a groundswell of opposition that soon follows?  Some people can’t stand for others to be successful.  Most of the opposition classifies him as a “Chicken Little.”  There are many reasons for that, but mostly it’s because Glenn is the antithesis of political correctness–and that ruffles a lot chicken feathers.  While Glenn is clearly conservative, you can’t put him in the “Republican” category, so he has no shortage of critics from that side either.

I must say, I really like this 912 project concept.  As a businessman, I see the elements of good branding in this, but best of all, the idea is terrific.  From my view, it’s a “throw the bums out” initiative, meaning that if you’re following the old political status quo, we don’t need you.  If we could be successful doing that, we might just have a chance at saving our country from this new radical, socialist agenda that’s taking hold.

Take a stroll over at The 912 Project and see what it’s all about.

A little curse word here and there is normal I guess, but using the f-bomb 36 times in an 800 word conversation is ridiculous.

It’s hard for me to imagine someone like this holding such a high position in government.

There’s a great post over at The American Elephant about “The New, New Deal.”  Check it out here:

I wonder what residents of Miama, Tampa, or Naples Florida woud say if Cuba was lobbing rockets into their cities on a daily basis?  Do you really think the U.S. would tolerate that?  Not a chance.  We’d level that island inside a week.  So why should Israel be so measured in their response?

Great piece on this on “The Absurd Report” blog.

“They buy into the theory that opposing the use of force–for whatever reason–is inherently ‘noble’ and not a gutless renunciation of the will–and ability–to resist aggression or any other sort of organized evil.  As long as someone else gets on with fighting the war, they can enjoy the luxury of continuing to oppose it to prove their moral superiority.”

From:  Field of Dishonor, by David Weber, Bean Publishing, 1994.

I saw Nancy Pelosi on television yesterday with her renewed vow saying “The swamp still needs to be drained.”  This was in reference to her quote in 2006 as follows:

“What we have to do is drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. Until we drain the swamp and bring integrity to the political process, we won’t be able to go forward.”

Am I the only one who sees the unbelievable irony in this?

I can just imagine their glee right now.  And best of all, since everyone’s in the giving spirit without having to look for ways to pay for it, they get to look good to all the money grubbing, “I deserve a handout,” people who voted them in.  They must be beside themselves.  They can spend on anything they want and just call it a stimulus package.  After all, we’re in a crisis, right?  Everyone needs a handout.

I sure hope this one works better than the last one.  Yes, most everyone got a check in the mail from Uncle “moneybags” Sam.  And how did it help?  Hmmm.  I’m still waiting to see the dramatic impact.  My guess is a lot of it went to paying down the credit cards for people who already bought things.    Yeah, that stimulates things.

Despite all the bantering, ranting, complaining, etc., you read on this site from me, it’s good to be reminded of what a splendid world He created for us.

Let us spend this day thanking Him for it all!

I’ve done my best to teach my children well, but at some point, you have to let your kids find their own way.  Still, there’s something odd about sending your kids off the get educated, knowing they will be taught falsehoods.  Unfortunately, the alternatives aren’t pretty.

I wish college campuses were what they claim to be–a place where open discussion and free thought have been heralded for years.  Yeah, it’s open and free, as long as it’s full of liberal tripe.  If one tries to be conservative on campus, the best they can hope for is becoming one of the “unclean.”  Conservatives on campus are the modern day lepers.

To make matters worse, my daughter will have only turned 17 the same month she graduates from high school and will have been driving on her own for less than a year when she goes off to college.  She’s always been a free-spirit, which is another way of saying she likes to be contrary.  So, whatever Mom and Dad think must be wrong.  Toss her in with these wolves at the university and no telling where she’ll stand politically when the indoctrination is over.

No matter what happens, I’ll still lover her like I always have.  I have some experience in this.  My 31 year old son went off to college being of a conservative slant.  By the time he finished graduate school he was a liberal of the flaming variety.  But I still love him like I always have.  So don’t let anyone tell you you can’t love a liberal.  You can.  I do.  And I will continue to do so for as long as I live.