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This Week with The Chicowitz: |
[last week: "The Chicowitz Goes Country"]
| Each week our Boomer-in-Charge, Hershel Chicowitz, has something to say about life, society, or what's going on... from the perspective of a baby boomer. This is what's on his mind the week of February 8: |
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It was true in 2009. Looking back, we can see just how true it was. And
it is still true today. March 2009: (OK, I know; it should be "Truth in which We Must Believe." But it's a headline; gimme a break. Besides, I am picking up on an Obama campaign slogan. It's an artistic liberty.) Several times in the last decade I have remarked that I have never seen such a wide disconnect between reality and the nonsense being spewed by our politicians and dutifully reported by the mainstream press with total disregard for the truth. In these times, the truth is one of the most important commodities. Without it, we make rash and dangerous decisions. In this case, the absence of truth will cause great harm to our democracy for generations to come. Because the mainstream press refuses to point out the the truth, I feel it is imperative for me to do so. I welcome your comments about these truths. But please do not attempt to deny them. Denial is one of the strongest forces of nature; and in this case, one of the most costly. "Bankruptcy Every 30 Seconds" Early in his presidency President Obama authoritatively and passionately pushed his plan for socialized medicine with an extremely disturbing claim:
"Every 30 seconds"? Not true. It is simply not true. He's just making it up. The administration could provide no source for that outrageous number. During the presidential primary campaign in 2008, Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, "Over half of all the bankruptcies in this decade can be tied to personal health emergencies." Even if that were true, it would not amount to "every 30 seconds." Not even close. "By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their home." OK; but by the end of the year, it could cause .5 million Americans to lose their home; or 3.5 million; or 176.75 million; or 453 million; or none at all. Barack Obama is just making up numbers in order to to scare the American people. His claim is baseless; it is careless, misleading, and irresponsible. The president is fomenting the fears of the American people with false information in order to push his socialist agenda. This is not leadership; it is symptomatic of a malicious, dangerous dictator.
 Government Spending All government spending does not constitute an "investment." The half-billion dollar mis-named "visitor center" at the U.S. Capitol has made it harder, not easier, for visitors to tour the building that they own. It was a half-billion dollar boondoggle, not an investment. Tens of billions of dollars in the president's "stimulus package" and the budget he recently submitted represents a foolish waste of money, not an investment. To use the excuse for any government expense that is it an "investment" is misleading and irresponsible. An idea for an expense may be worthwhile, but it is not necessarily affordable. It may be a very good idea for you to replace the windows in your house with double-pane, insulated windows. But if your salary was just cut in half, and you fear that you may be laid off, it would not be a smart idea to spend your money replacing your windows. The same is true for the federal government. Though the costs to "save" the banking system may be justified, they place an enormous burden on every taxpayer. And they will do so for the next 30 years. This is not the time to spend money on other projects which may be desirable or worthwhile. They are simply not affordable.
Government Cost-Cutting
When has the government ever cut its own costs -- the billions of dollars it spends on itself? The Congress is not interested in cost-cutting; it is interested only in power.
GM Bankruptcy GM and the Congress and the president have warned us about the dire consequences of a failure of General Motors: three million workers would lose their jobs. It would create catastrophic results across the economy. No, it would not. If GM declared bankruptcy, it could continue to operate while it restructured its debts, just as Kmart, Delta Airlines, Texaco, American Airlines, and many other successful companies have. And, suppose worse came to worse... suppose that GM closed its doors. Boom. Gone; done. Three million workers laid off. Well, that may cause a disruption, but not necessarily a calamity. In 2008, Americans bought about 8 million cars (give or take a few). GM sold about 2.5 million of them. Well, in 2009 Americans will buy about 7 million cars; presumably, about 2 million of them will be GM cars. If GM has closed its doors and does not sell a single car, those 2 million car buyers will still buy a car -- just not a GM car. That's good news for Ford, and Chrysler, and Toyota. They'll have to ramp up to sell 2 million more cars that they otherwise would not make or sell. They'll need workers to make those cars. Where do you suppose they could find skilled carmakers? This is not complicated, folks. U.S. taxpayers have already poured $20 billion into a failing venture. GM and the Congress want more, for their own selfish reasons. Those reasons make no business sense. The Congress and the mainstream press are trying to scare the public with lies and outrageously misleading statements. Shame on them!
Global Warming Blind adherence to the exalted church of global warming is a fantasy we simply cannot afford. There has been no global warming in the last decade. (Evidence is here.) The amount of global warming that has been measured in the last 100 years falls within the margin of error. In other words, we do not know for certain that ANY global warming has occurred. That is why the leaders at the church of global warming want it referred to as "climate change." It does not take a degree in meteorology to realize that there has always been "climate change"... and there always will be. But there is little, if anything, that we can do about it. Al Gore still claims that "the debate is over," despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Global Al refuses to debate the issue, but has had to back-track on claims he has made recently. Those scientists who claim to believe in man-made global warming may have a vested interest in saying so. Their income may be derived from government funds and other grant money provided to study global warming. If global warming is revealed to be a fraud, their income could decrease dramatically. No one has been able to prove that whatever global warming may have occurred is due to man's activity, or, if it has, that nature has not compensated for it. Even the experts have admitted that if the United States takes extreme measures to reduce "greenhouse gas" emissions, the environment differences would be extremely small (though the cost in dollars and to our way of living would be dramatically large). To spend hundreds of billions of dollars and force us to change our lifestyle and infrastructure on a dubious premise is just plain idiotic. Those proposing such a change have a vested interest in forcing us to do so. The issue is not global warming; it is power and control over our lives. I wrote about global warming at length here. To believe that we understand the universe and all its forces is some combination of naivety and arrogance -- and certainly foolish. To attempt to punish us by forcing us to adhere to a set of restrictive standards because of this false belief is misguided and immoral. And to hide your real agenda in doing so is despicable.
Stem Cell Research Stem cell research is a moral issue, not a factual issue. The claim by President Obama to the contrary is false and disingenuous. I offered some plain, common sense thoughts about stem cell research here.
Card Check: Employee Free Choice The "Employee Free Choice Act" is anything but. Congress is considering "card check" legislation which will eliminate the secret ballot that employees currently have in union representation elections. The purpose of what they have mis-named "the Employee Free Choice Act" is to make it easier for unions to muscle their way into private enterprise by pressuring employees to vote in favor of a union. This is about enhancing the power and influence of union leaders, directly opposite the concept of "employee free choice."
Gitmo Closing the prison camp at Gitmo will not solve anything. Those demanding that we do so have no plan for what to do with the detainees. Moving them somewhere else will cost millions of dollars, and will likely make securing them more difficult.
Torture/Water-boarding There is considerable debate as to whether water-boarding constitutes torture. It sounds to me very much like a fraternity initiation ritual. In any event, no one can provide credible evidence that the U.S. military has used water-boarding more than a few times. That makes it is hardly worth all the fuss in the press and the White House. The detainees at Gitmo are generally treated far better than they had ever previously been.
Energy Independence We cannot become "energy independent" within the next decade, especially by excluding the two most valuable assets in that effort. The president is counting on unproven, expensive technology to meet his stated goal of making the U.S. energy independent within a decade. That is absurd. Even the president has admitted that his ideas would cost the consumer a great deal of money. The president has ruled out the use of the most efficient source of energy, nuclear power, as part of the solution. And he has indicated his desire to bankrupt those who develop the most abundant source of energy in the United States, coal. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the president's plan is not about energy independence; it is about forcing the public to spend hundreds of billions of dollars and adhere to stringent standards imposed by the federal government. It is not about independence. To the contrary, it is about dependence upon and yielding power and freedom to the government.
Ethanol Burning a major source of food in order to produce fuel for vehicles is a terrible idea. Ethanol is expensive and inefficient. It is a viable alternative only because of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. In other words, we are paying more for a gallon of gas than what shows at the pump. Like they do with so many of their foolish, idealistic plans, politicians have ignored the "law of unintended consequences." They pretend that forcing us to use corn to fuel our automobiles will not have any effect on the price and availability of corn... you know, a major source of food. The politicians and the bureaucrats do not understand business, and they do not understand the basic law of supply and demand as it relates to price. But they do understand power. And that is what drives their desire to force us to burn food. Increasing the use of ethanol will be enormously beneficial to large corn harvesters -- companies like Archer Daniels Midland, which contributes millions of dollars to political candidates... at great expense to consumers. Like so many ideas emanating out of Washington, it is a foolish idea that we simply cannot afford.
Nukes in Iran Every western leader has said that we cannot allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons, but none has said what he will do when "peaceful" methods fail, as certainly they will. They are all cowardly dodging the most important part of the issue. Only Israel has indicated a willingness to deal with the issue realistically. Job Creation First it was 10 million jobs; then it was 5 million jobs. In October, 2008, candidate Obama promised "5 million green jobs in the next decade." Green jobs -- make no mistake -- green jobs. Then it was reduced to 3.5 million jobs - plain, ordinary, old vanilla jobs; but 3.5 milion of them. At last check it was "create or save 3.5 million jobs." So there ya' go. If you still have a job in 2012, you can thank Barack Obama. Yours was one of the ones he saved. President Obama has used the term and promoted the principle of accountability more than once. But how could one possibly measure how many jobs his administration has saved?
The audacity of deception. So what's the sense in saying you can save a specific number of jobs? It's just nonsense, then; just plain nonsense meant to add credibiity to his administration to people who focus on good intentions rather than measurable results. The truth is that the only time the government creates a job is when it uses your tax dollars to hire someone to work for the government.
Doublespeak
Bill Clinton highlighted the practice with, "It depends on what the definition of the word 'is' is." His doublespeak was almost comical. By contrast, the doublespeak of this administration is dangerous.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has forecasted that Obama's 10-year budget forecast is a tad optimistic... by over 2 trillion dollars. That's $2,000,000,000,000.00. The president is using, as part of his forecast, an economic growth rate of 4.5%. That is a good rate... for a strong economy. We're not likely to see a strong economy for at least 2-3 years. The Obama administration is not naive or pollyanish -- it is destructively deceitful -- doublespeak at its worst. The press is reporting that the president has promised to cut the deficit in half by 2012. To be fair, as far as I can tell, the president has not said that. What I heard him say is that he "intends" to cut the deficit in half by 2012. That fits well with the Democratic religion: judge Democrats by their intentions, not their results. (The President will triple the Bush deficit, but by the end of his first term halve the deficit, as if tripling and then halving it is not increasing it. Doublespeak -- multi-trillion-dollar doublespeak.) Nobody with half a sense of economics believes that the administration will live up to its "intentions." It is doublespeak; and it is dangerous.
Subsequently, he has said that earmarks that go to state and local governments are good; but that earmarks that go to private industry are bad. The truth is that this president has no intention of eliminating earmarks. And he is counting on you believing his doublespeak to allow him this despicable fraud.
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Hershel will have something else to say on February 15; mark your
calendar 
to
remind you to come back to BBHQ every Monday.
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Did you miss last week's essay, "The Chicowitz Goes Country"? You can still read it here.
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Personal Stories of the Chicowitz: Life is Good! A Tale of Two Toes Exploring My Roots: A Chicowitz History A Trip to the Dentist The Chicowitz Gets Dumped - Again! Just Shoot Me! He Sleeps with the Fishes My Little Girl, Princess Why am I Still Single? The Plastic Surgery Saga Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House... Not! Our House - Part 2 Our House - Part 3: Reclaiming the Past Middle Age and the Mazdamobile Down for the Count That Dirty Dancing Contemplations on the Hereafter Tool Time with the Chicowitz The Chicowitz Goes Country Born to be Screwed Mr. Brownthumb The Mixer - A Singles Story Crab Cakes Midlife Crisis: In December, Traditions of Christmas: Teach, Preach & Nag: Travels with Princess: A View from Hurricane Alley: Election 2004: Election 2006: Election 2008: |
A Boomer Remembers...: The Cuban Missile Crisis High School Sweetheart I Remember the 50s The 60s: Life was Sweeter The New American Dream Another Side of the Greatest Generation Where has all the Music Gone? Memories of the Sock Hop Remembering the Chairman of the Board Restless in Seattle The New Math We Are Not One Boomer "And Here's to You, Joe DiMaggio" The Days of Summers Past The Seeds of Character A Letter to a Teacher I Want a Clark Bar! When Music was Fun Decoration Day - The Measure of Sacrifice 11/22/63: We Remember Flashback: The Y2K Hysteria When the Music had Words Ronald Reagan: Hard-Wired Decency The Great Carsoni Love Songs of the Chicowitz Do You Remember These? V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N -- We're on Vacation! A Watergate Success Story Straight Talk on Social Issues: Freedom: Mostly, Just Silly Stuff: The Terrorist Attack of 2001: The Chicowitz on Iraq: |
We're open to offerings from visitors to BBHQ. If you have something to say of interest to boomers, write it as well as you can in 800 - 1,000 words, and send it to us. We can't guarantee we'll publish it, but we'll surely consider it.
If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"The 5000 Year Leap," by
W. Cleon Skousen. The title does not
adequately identify the content, though the concept of the 5,000 year
leap is astounding. The subtitle, Principles of Freedom 101, is
much more applicable to the subject. This book carefully and clearly
summarizes the thinking of the brilliant founding fathers of our country,
the ideas behind the "miracle that changed the world."
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Copyright © 2009-2010, Baby Boomer HeadQuarters - WWW.BBHQ.COM - All rights reserved._
What the Obama
administration has presented sounds like a SNL sketch parody of Orwell's
"1984." The president's first budget, which adds over a tillion dollars
to the federal debt, is titled, "A New Era of Responsibility."
