Young Americans and the Parable of Stockton

Public employees in Stockton, California are upset that the city's bankruptcy
filing will affect their careers, their health benefits, and their pension benefits.  One
retired lady in particular was angry that her promised health benefits would be
cut or eliminated, and she was furious with the mayor and the city council.

I understand her anger and the tragic position she finds herself in...but the
current city officials are not the cause of her problems.

First, her problem was caused by incompetent or corrupt politicians, long gone,
who promised her pensions and health benefits beyond the funds they could
provide for them.  Then, they "guaranteed" her pension benefits "at little or no
cost to the taxpayers" because they were only providing backup for benefits
that would be paid for out of pension fund earnings.



They knew they would be long gone before the bill came due, and some other
poor sap would be stuck with it...and she probably voted them in office again
and again because they "cared for her".

Secondly, her problem was caused by the pension fund managers, who, year
after year, continued to project fund earnings far in excess of actual likely
earnings.  This made their budget look good, and, if they didn't reach the
earnings, the taxpayers would have to put up the money to guarantee the
benefits to their members.  No sweat.

And thirdly, the problem was caused by the public service union that represented
her, using her dues to bankroll the election campaigns of politicians who would
reward the union with sweet-heart deals.  Those deals made the union look
good to her, at least until the money ran out and taxpayers got tired of being
taxed to pay for better benefits than they, themselves, received.

But, she was probably pretty happy to take those benefits and to vote for
the candidates that her union told her would give her more.  In short, she was
lied to and used by politicians and unions in their search for power and
influence, and now she should realize she's been suckered.

OK, young Americans, what's the lesson in all this for you?  What do you
care about her problems?

Well, what do you think the "Affordable Health Care Act" is all about?  It's
going to let you stay on your parents health insurance for a few more years?
Wow!!  It promises everybody something yet, somehow, costs taxpayers
less?

What it really does is put you on the hook to pay for yours, and everyone
else's, health insurance as well...as well as give politicians the right to decide
what you will pay and what coverage you need.

Regardless of what Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama say, there
is no free lunch...and, if you're dumb enough to believe there is, you're
going to be stuck paying the bill

And, when Republicans and Democrats alike say they're lowering the "payroll
tax" to put more cash in your pocket, what they are NOT saying is that the
money is coming from your social security account, or, they are borrowing
the money to replace it in your social security account and are increasing the
national debt that you will have to pay, sooner or later.

One way or another, it affects you.  Go into this next election with open eyes.
Be aware of the consequences of your choice, when you vote your
conscience.  Don't think you're getting something for nothing, and end up
being tuckered and suckered all the way down the line.   

Henry Kissinger and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

"Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" will soon be screening in movie theaters throughout
the country.  I've got to admit, my first reaction to this was pretty negative...but then
again, it is pretty creative to piggy back the good vibes of a national hero onto a schlock,
pop movie.

One of our pressing national concerns is what to do with Washington politicians out of
office.  These sad, derelict vagabonds wander far from the halls of power, reduced to
using their inside knowledge to lobby their replacements.  True, financially, they are well
rewarded...but spiritually, they are shattered souls, begging for favors from the new
power brokers.

Or, they are reduced to lecturing at elite universities, confirming to already pampered
and entitled students, that it is indeed noble to go into public service and tell the rest of
us how to live our lives.

To provide a productive life for these lost souls, we could do worse than offer them
employment as actors.  Instead of using dead politicians to make new movies, we
could use live politicians (when they are out of office) to remake old movies and
television shows.

Who wouldn't want to see Chris Christie and Barack Obama as "Laurel and Hardy",
or Barney Frank and George Bush (either Bush) as "The Odd Couple"?  How about
Boehner and Obama as "Martin and Lewis"?

White-bread Mitt Romney could change his image, playing a street-wise Richard
Roundtree in "Shaft", or as Marlon Brando's "Godfather".  How about George W. Bush
as Jon Voight's "Midnight Cowboy"?

George H. W. Bush as John Wayne, "Read my lips, pilgrim".  Bill Clinton would be a
perfect Alec Baldwin in "It's Complicated", or playing Charles Durning's Governor, singing
and dancing to "The Sidestep" in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (never heard of
this one?  Look it up on youtube).

Perhaps I'm a wee bit sexist (OK, I'm a pig), but wouldn't you like to see Hilary, or
Condoleezza, "Do Dallas"?  Why not "Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and
Madeleine Albright--Tomb Raiders"?

Las Vegas could get in on the action, too.  How about a Chippendale's Review with
Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack
Obama as "Presidents Gone Wild!!"?  It won't be the first time someone waved a dollar
in front of them.

OK, so maybe it would be a little bit exploitive of, and demeaning to, their former
positions (or to themselves)...but at least they'd be earning an honest living...and
when they die, Hollywood could turn them into vampire slayers with a clear conscience.
 





   

A Citizen's Decision

In their heart of hearts, all believers see perfection of the human condition as a possible
and worthwhile goal.

If you're a cynic, you believe that you can use the popular sentiment for such noble
causes as the means to achieve your more worldly goals of achieving political power
and control.

If only enough of the correct, enlightened, people are in positions of political power,
the believers know our problems can all be solved, if only we behave as they tell us
to behave...because, of course, they know best.

What a wonderful world is in store for us, if only the liberals or the conservatives, the
socialists or the fascists, the theists or the communists, or the monarchists, have their
way.

Even Ayn Rand and the libertarians seem to believe that rationality will deliver us to the
promised land...as if humans could, or would, ever attain pure rational behavior.

The truth is, no man is perfect.  No man knows the entire truth.  No man would see
himself, or his family and friends suffer, if he had the power to prevent it, even at
the expense of others.

OK, maybe "no man" is an exaggeration.  Perhaps there are some, few, truly exceptional
individuals out there who fit this profile.  You and I and maybe Jesus come to mind,
but other than us, I can't come up with any politician, bureaucrat, executive, professor,
businessman, or union leader who fits the bill.

Actually, I'm not that sure about you, either...and, if I'm really honest about it, I know
I'm no saint, for sure.

It continues to amaze me how the founders, so many years ago, saw the problem with
human nature and designed a structure to protect the individual from abuse at the hands
of a federal government run by the few and the powerful.

None of the prior, existing forms of government, or the more recent structures such as
Socialism, Communism, or Fascism, have proven themselves more effective or more free.

And the more modern incantation of American government...a sort of cacophony
of Democrats and Republicans competing for re-election funds from corporations,
unions, ethnic groups, religious groups, environmental groups, and every other
special interest group conceivable, does not seem to be much concerned about
the freedom and welfare of the individual, either.

The founders knew that, if the power was there to be used, it was there to be
abused...and it IS human nature to abuse it.

It's time to reel in some of the power the federal government has taken, to limit the
reach of the government, and to return it to its original mission of protecting
individual freedom.

But the truth is, fault lies not with the politicians and organizations that abuse the
system for their own benefit, but with the individual citizens, who do not see
themselves as individuals, but as part of a collective group that is trying to pressure
the federal government to confer benefits on their group at the expense of other
individuals or groups.

Somewhere, somehow, it has become more important to be a black, white, Latino,
or gay American...to be a businessman or union member, to be gender-centric, or an
American with disabilities, or of a particular religion, etc...than it is to be an American.

When citizens identify more with their interest group than with their rights and
responsibilities as individuals, they become easy prey for politicians who would
divide and manipulate citizens, in their search for power and control.

Preventing the federal government from taking from some and giving to others is
a proper goal in many instances, but it will never happen unless citizens view their
individual liberty, rights, and responsibilities as more precious than is their right to
organize into collective groups to petition the federal government to take from
others and to give to their particular interest group.

Citizens do get the government they deserve.