Yearly Archives: 2009

It Ain’t All Washington

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Folks in the Palmetto State – like most in the country – are extremely upset with the actions of the President and, especially, Congress.  And for good reason.  Both have shown an arrogance – nay, disdain – for the American voter/taxpayer by creating and foisting upon the nation unpopular and expensive legislation.

No matter what the people say through emails, phone calls or town hall meetings, our national “leadership” have ignored what the people want and need in order to promote wild agendas, pork barrel projects and lucrative sweet-heart deals for themselves and their cronies.

It’s shameful and the call to “throw the bums out” is resonating across the continent.  In an NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll earlier this week, 79% of respondents disapprove of the job Congress is doing.  At the same time, President Obama’s numbers, though not as bad as those for Congress, are taking a nose dive as well.

No joke!  These “leaders” are not just running the country into the ground, they are destroying the fundamental principles that created and maintained the greatest nation in the history of mankind.

But this abandonment isn’t isolated in Washington.  Look, too, to the State House in Columbia.

For a generation (at least), the South Carolina General Assembly has spit in the eye of the citizenry it is supposed to represent and allowed sub-par government to stifle progress and prosperity in the state.

The disgusting state of education in South Carolina alone is enough to indict the legislature, but it goes far beyond schools.  A disastrous unemployment rate, taxes that hammer small business, fiscal corruption, unfettered development at the expense of farms and traditional neighborhoods, the inability to attract needed manufacturing and other true job-creating investments … and on and on and on…

No… it ain’t all Washington and the problems facing the country and state can’t be blamed just on “blue” states that put liberal politicians in power in D.C.

YOU – the South Carolina voter – are to blame because you allow the same bunch of good-ol’-boy thieves to go to Columbia every year and rob you blind.  YOU let them make South Carolina’s classrooms dumber every year and YOU keep the jack boot of oppression firmly planted on the throat of progress.

It can’t even be called “status quo” because things don’t stay the same, they get worse.

So for those of you who get so indignant at Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, think about what South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Senate President Glenn McConnell and others like Senators Hugh Leatherman and Jake Knotts are doing to the state.  TO the state, not FOR IT.

Ya wanna get mad?  Fine!  Good!  But make sure you realize that much of that anger should be directed locally and not just at Washington.

~ G.S.


The Question

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There have been many questions raised during the course of the national health care “reform” debate:

  • Why now?
  • Why so fast?
  • How much will it cost the country?
  • How much will it cost me?
  • Who will benefit?
  • What will happen to my coverage?
  • Will I be able to keep my doctor?
  • Will people be denied coverage because of age?
  • Who will decide what will be covered?
  • Will coverage be mandatory?
  • What will happen to private insurance companies?
  • Will there be a government option?
  • What will it do to the national debt?
  • How will it affect Medicare or Medicaid?
  • What impact will it have on small businesses?
  • Will illegal aliens be covered?

All of these are legitimate and need to be asked and, surely, there are many more.  Frankly, none of these have been answered to my satisfaction, which brings up another – why not?

But let’s pretend for just long enough to read this post, that all of the above have been addressed and meet my or your criteria.  There is still one question left.

Do you trust the government with your health care?

I was fortunate to spend nearly 35 years in a federal agency that does work.  But those are rare.  Look at a few federal service agencies and departments:

  • Postal
  • Veterans Affairs
  • Health and Human Services
  • Housing
  • Energy
  • Education
  • Bureau of Prisons
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • OSHA

For very good reason, we have little or no faith in these and other government products.  So,

Do you trust the government with your health care?

After everything else has been discussed, debated, deliberated and disputed, ask yourself –

Do you trust the government with your health care?

If you do and your answer is “yes,” then maybe you deserve what you get.  If you honestly believe you can trust the government with your health care and all that goes into and grows from such a huge intrusion on your privacy and the well-being of the nation, then I’ll have to ask just one more question of you.

Why?


Honesty In Sarcasm

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Chart: Heritage Foundation [click for larger image]

As he was speaking about the government wanting to raise the debt ceiling, I heard a member of the U.S. Congress say – sarcastically – that he and his colleagues are “here to spend money.”

For me, it was like one of those moments in a movie when a blinding light is accompanied by a choir singing .. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

But this was more of an “Ah HA!”

The Congressman that made the comment really didn’t say anything we didn’t already know, but he put it into words that we’ve not heard one of his station say before.

Senators, Representatives, Members of General Ass emblies and State Legislatures seem to actually believe that they are voted into office for the purpose of spending tax revenue.  Most of the laws they pass (their secondary purpose in life) revolve around spending money.

Is THIS what you voted for?

Was “Finding ways to spend tax dollars” on the “Issues” tab of their campaign website?  Was it part of their party’s platform?

Most organizations require approval by stakeholders before large sums of money are committed.  Does Congress do that?

PPPTTTTTTTTTTHHH!

Those thieves spends hundreds of thousands – even millions – to get elected to jobs that pay $174,000.  Anyone here think they do it for the honor of public service?

Nope.  As the Congressman said, they do it to spend money.  YOUR money.  MY money.

And when we complain that they are also spending our children’s and grandchildren’s money, do you think they care?

If you do, you’re nuts.  They DON’T care.  They’re getting theirs and that’s all that matters.



Poll Dancing

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A friend sent me a recent survey by Public Policy Polling that indicates South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has a higher approval rating that eight other governors.  The eight are:

  • John Baldacci (D) of Maine
  • Jan Brewer (R) of Arizona
  • Jim Doyle (D) of Wisconsin
  • Jim Gibbons (R) of Nevada
  • David Paterson (D) of New York
  • Bev Perdue (D) of North Carolina
  • Ed Rendell (D) of Pennsylvania
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of California

There are several curious things about this poll.  There are three Republicans on the list, but Republicans hardly of the national trend towards a more conservative government.

According to this poll, Sanford’s approval rating is 36%, but only 51% disapprove.  That is almost astonishing.

The governor of South Carolina – the buckle of the Bible Belt – commits adultery, engages in additional misbehavior to accommodate that adultery, and is given the heave-ho by his wife, yet only 51% of those polled disapprove of him as governor?

How can this be?

For Sanford, there isn’t much difference between approve-disapprove (15 points) and undecideds (13 points).  A fifty-one percent negative is still fatal, politically, but wouldn’t you expect this to be more like 70%?

Now, numbers can be read any way one cares to accept them, but given all that Mark Sanford has been through – just about all of his own making – it’s remarkable that only one half of respondents disapprove of him.  And how many of those are Democrats?

In the current Red State environment, there is more fear of government than there is disdain for personal behavior. Mark Sanford stood up to the toxic Barack Obama and the dangers of big(ger) government. He challenged the state’s General Assembly and the status quo that has paralyzed progress in the Palmetto State for generations.

As my friend said: “I think it’s because people still believe in his ideas – and that could be his legacy. Also I think regular taxpayers are more concerned about jobs and good government than dead-end political witchhunts.”

Could this simple poll with it’s odd numbers portend a change in direction for the state in next year’s elections?

Why not?