More and More

So if we keep throwing money at the war, it will eventually be successful, right? Just like if we keep throwing money at education our children will get smarter. And if we keep sending our sons to Scouts without any parental involvement except to say that the Scoutmaster isn't doing his job, our sons will automatically become Eagle Scouts. And if our sons attend church and Scouts then they will go on a mission.

No, it doesn't work that way. We have to be involved and find the roots of the problem then look for the solution. Throwing money at the problem, like the recent stimulus package and health care bill, will bring us nothing but debt and less time.

Health Care Bill and Bankruptcy

Don't fall all over yourself worrying about if Harry Reid should be stomped, quartered, hanged, and then killed for his racial remarks during the 2008 election cycle. Of course he should, end of story. He won't win re-election in Nevada and will most likely resign in order to shield his son, in a race of his own for the governor of Nevada, further disgrace. Don't take your eye off of the ball when it comes to this ugly health care bill still in flux.

There was an excellent article at the Heritage Foundation today about the real cost of nationalized health care with regards to state budgets. Right now, and I know first-hand, that state budgets are cutting every expense they can and still come up short. The only way some of them are surviving are an influx of federal funds. But what happens when those federal funds run dry or are not renewed next year? Even more cuts and fewer services.

Amendment X - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Health care is not a right nor should it be enforced through legislative action on each state.

If this health care plan goes through it will make states more and more dependent upon the federal government for existence, which is exactly the plan of those in control. Then when a state, aka Texas, makes noise about independence or disagrees with federal policies (No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, TSA Airport Screenings) then they will be threatened with a cut of federal funding for their programs.

Let's not take our eye off of the ball to turn up our noses at Harry Reid or despair that Sarah Palin has been given a national platform on Fox News. Watch what health care does because if it is successful we are in for a whole heap of trouble.

Fresh Faces in Government

Love this article today in the Opinion section of the Deseret News. Check it out.

Big Brother and the Toilet

Read a hilarious, but maddening and somewhat depressing, article about the evolution of the modern American toilet from its obvious environmentally-unfriendly days of 5 gallon flushing power to the puny 1.6 gallon regulated babbling brook we find today. Has there actually been a massive increase in plunger sales or plumber calls since the government decided to regulate things like how much water our toilet can flush?

Regulate our toilet water? Sheesh, next thing you know they will want to regulate how much toilet paper an eating establishment carries in the bathroom. Wait. They already tried to do that in Florida.

Government control over all aspects of our lives is ruining this country. See the current health care legislation for the most egregious example. The uncontrollable lust for power and the greed to keep everybody equal and level reminds me of a place I spent time in. The former Soviet Union. For nearly 70 years they tried to control everything about a person and their life but look how that ended. Tragic.

We cannot afford a perestroika in America, it should never get to that point.

Your Recovery Dollars at Work

The story reported here is that federal stimulus money - $9.5 million - went to 14 fake zip codes in Virginia. Huh? The administration says it went to recipients who didn't know who their Congressman was - so why are we giving that much money to people who don't know their own zip code?

Love the accountability.

You knew it was a bad plan to start with and it has only gotten worse.

Karl Malone Gets It Right

I love Karl Malone. He, more than Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, and John Stockton were my sports heroes growing up in SLC in the 80's. They came to work everyday, played hard, and played the game the right way - with a couple of nasty elbows and body bumps thrown in.

Since John and Karl retired the NBA has gone deeper into a thug league, the gangsta image is alive and well. How do you combat that when the brightest stars are flashing bling, covering themselves with tattoos, and now pointing guns at each other in the locker room? It has made the game unwatchable.

The latest incident is that Gilbert Arenas, a member of the Washington Wizards, brought handguns to the locker room and after a gambling argument with a teammate, presented him with three guns to shoot it out.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. That type of behavior should ensure that Gilbert Arenas never owns another gun in his life.

Karl Malone, a gun advocate and responsible owner, wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about athletes and guns. I loved the article because it focuses on the accountability that most gun owners feel and the responsibility they take upon themselves when purchasing, owning, and carrying a weapon. A must read.

Thank you Karl Malone for telling the truth and, I can't believe I am saying this, articulating what so many responsible gun owners feel.

Mike Lee Announces Run For Senate

Mike Lee, son of former BYU president Rex Lee, announced today that he would run for the US Senate seat currently occupied by Bob Bennett. He joins Cherilyn Eager, James Williams, and Tim Bridgewater as challengers to Sen. Bennett this fall.

I am still investigating what the differences are between the 4 of them, more on that later. Sen. Bennett must sense the oncoming tsunami as he was on the new last night about security related to the new federal court house here in Salt Lake. Sen. Bennett was the one who secured the funding for that building and was commenting on the need for beefed-up security there in light of yesterday's Las Vegas shootings.

We are going to see a LOT more of Senator Bennett in the coming months as they move to the Republican primary in May. At this point it looks iffy that he makes it out of the Republican primary - I wouldn't bet on him.

Bennett NOT for Senate

Excellent article today on why Bob Bennett is not a good choice to represent Utah in the United States Senate. The author, Erick Erickson, is the editor of RedState. com and has good insight. I wrote a blog entry a few days ago about the same thing.

Sorry Senator Bennett, that nice Christmas card you sent to me won't work this year.

Good Worth Fighting For

Last night I was laying on my back looking up at the ceiling while Kathryn watched the end of the Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers. Interesting perspective to listen to the dialogue and not see the pictures.

Sam and Frodo are having a conversation about their journey and here is what they said -

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going... because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

There is darkness now but one day the light will come back, we are holding on and fighting for the goods things in this world. For our families, for our heritage, for our freedoms that were bravely bought with brave mens' blood, and for our God. May we remember to fight and know both the savor of victory and the bitterness of defeat.

Wild Dog Alert

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) (no relation, thank goodness), the Health Care Bill lynch pin, is begging state AG's around the nation to not go through with a lawsuit that would challenge the constitutionality of the proposed Senate version of the Health Care Bill if it indeed is signed into law. Read about it here.

Senator Nelson said he would cast the deciding 'Yea' vote for the bill if his state, Nebraska, was exempt from paying the coverage for any new Medicaid patients. Under current law the state pays no more than 50% of the costs and the federal government pays the rest, which could be greater for states who are poverty-stricken (or have poorly managed state governments). Nelson's provision would have the federal government pay 100% of the costs for all new Medicaid enrollees.

That is over $100,000,000 over the next 10 years.

For Nebraska alone. No other state, just Nebraska.

To refute the unconstitutionality claim he says that ALL states will get the same provision.

WHOA! Hold on! Tiny Nebraska (pop. 1.78 million) costs $100 million over 10 years to cover all new enrollees - about $56 per person over that period in Nebraska. Let's extend that out to the whole nation. USA population - 304 million x $56 = $17,024,000,000.

Yeah, $17 trillion over 10 years.

Of course President Obama has stated that "largest deficit-reduction plan in over a decade."

Good math Mr. President, an extra $17 trillion over a decade.

Don't call of the dogs, keep feeding them the Alpo.

Now Is The Time

2010 marks a mid-cycle election and now is the time to start making the distinction between the candidates. Primaries are coming up in the spring so don't wait until then to decide who you would like to support.

2009 was an interesting year for me, I dropped my membership with the Republican party and became independent. I don't care what party, or even if there is a party, that a candidate represents as long as they represent me and my beliefs. They could be Democrat or Republican, Constitutional or Libertarian, that distinction makes no difference to me. What matters is substance and what they stand for.

Who is up for re-election this year? Senator Bob Bennett is on the clock and I will work hard to ensure that he is no elected to represent Utah. I hope Mark Shurtleff doesn't come back into the race, he doesn't bring anything new to the table. Two candidates look good to me - Cherilyn Eager, James Williams, and Mike Lee (if he decides to run). Check them out as a conservative alternative to the now-conservative minded Bob Bennett.

Rob Bishop is also up for re-election but I think Rep. Bishop has done a good job, no complaints. There are no challengers at this point but I am sure one or two will pop up. They will need to be fairly right-wing to out conservative Rep. Bishop.

The last race I am looking at this year is for the local House seat that Jim Gowans occupies. 4 years ago my best friend tried to win that seat and didn't succeed. Gowans is a powerful man in Tooele with many connections in both parties. Jess was a strong candidate but still failed to reach the voters with his conservative message although all signs pointed to a strong showing. Voter apathy will continually remain the biggest problem in Tooele County. I don't know if Gowans runs this year or if he gives it up to a new candidate. Hopefully there are some good people who decide to take the plunge in the next month or two.

Now is the time to learn about these candidates and their positions. An exciting time of year!