Hearding the Crimson Cats

It must be frustrating to be a Socialist in the United States right now…

So close!  So very close…

And yet there is fear.

While Democratic Socialism is imploding in Europe, the true believers continue to push forward.   While “austerity”, which used to be known as fiscal responsibility, is being proposed in order to save the EU from a complete meltdown the Socialists will have none of it.  (The Socialist Party will secure the majority in the parliament of France this week.)

The Left is determined to destroy the current paradigm in Europe (just as they are in the U.S. and elsewhere) but they are getting in the way of a much larger goal.

In their refusal to listen to (take orders from) President Obama they are giving the entire world a glimpse of what they really want.  The total and complete collapse of everything remotely resembling free-markets and individual rights.  It is desirable to them… it is their stated goal… not something to be avoided or concerned about.  Marxists will tell you that in order to rebuild you must first have a “clean” canvas.  Marx told us that the complete collapse of Capitalism is what must happen before the Social Utopia will be realized.

We (non-socialists) watch what is going on in disbelief.  We “can’t” (don’t want to) believe that there are people out there who wish to destroy our way of life so that they can design it the way they think is best.  It seems beyond our comprehension, but it is not… we just don’t want to confront what that really means.  And we don’t want to think of what that would require of us… how we see our friends who espouse liberal ideas… the energy we will have to expend in trying to stay informed and aware… the sacrifices and personal responsibility we will have to shoulder in order to protect our way of life.  It’s uncomfortable.

But no matter how we want to “feel” about it, there is an ideological war going on, and it has been for 100 years.  Free-market Capitalism has been incrementally losing for all of that time.  The European Social Democrats finally see their opportunity to seize the day and have fully committed.  The Free-Market Capitalists are nowhere to be seen.

However, President Obama sees clearly that the American people are watching.  The 24-hour news cycle, government caused housing catastrophe and individuals involvement in the markets through their 401k’s have provided them with a better understanding of trade and economics.  (Getting better everyday.)  This better understanding is leading them to see the conflict in front of them.  The conflict of two mutually exclusive ideas.  Socialism (the ideology of subjugation) vs. Capitalism (the ideology of individual freedom).

Here is the risk for the U.S. Left: The voters might come to their senses before we pass the point of no return.  This possibility has our homegrown Progressives concerned… if the “masses” in the U.S. wake up soon enough, through the election process they could begin rolling back some, most or all of the Socialist scheme’s foisted upon them over the last 10 decades.  From the point of view of Leftists like president Obama et al, this is very inconvenient.  The Left cannot allow this to happen.  Their dilemma is they control the public schools, mass media and an entirety of one, plus most of the other major political parties… what else can be done?  They are relying on you not getting up to speed fast enough to stop them… this is where we are.

(For Anti-Socialists like me…This is what makes the next series of U.S. elections so very important.  It goes far beyond voting for your favorite guy, or the most handsome or best speaker.  It goes far beyond “wasting your vote to teach them a lesson“.  It is really about the beginning, the first steps down the road, of returning to the rights of man and a country our founding fathers envisioned.)

For the Worlds Progressive Leftists it’s about the brass ring.  It’s about winning a war they have been fighting right in front of you since the day you were born.

But U.S. Leftists realize how important American participation in this “beautiful transition” is.  The problem remains getting the world’s Leftists in lockstep is like herding Crimson Cats… they remain red, but keep going their own directions.

In this there is hope.

There is hope… in personal education, and open discussion, of economics and individual freedom.  There is hope in demanding the press do their job and keep politicians in check whether they happen to like them or not.  There is hope in initiating cordial conversations which challenge your friends to explain their points of view out loud so they have to make an effort to think about what they think.  There is hope… if you don’t give up and give in.

The United States is the last country on Earth that is in a position to represent the individual.  The Socialists have control over all the other countries… and how is that working out for the self-proclaimed “smartest people” in the room?

Unfortunately, they would tell you “pretty well”.

Keep an eye on the cats.

(For any of you Leftists who suffered through this entire missive, let me ask you a question.  When has it ever worked out well for the Proletariat?  Pour yourself a cold glass of Moskovskya and think about that for a while.)

(Originally posted 061112)

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Making this Shutdown Permanent…

Is a good start. 83% of the Federal Government is still operational.  This may be exactly the beginning we need to save The United States from Bankruptcy.

With the Debt Ceiling Debate looming I’ve begun hearing, yet again, talk about Balanced Budgets.

Folks, we are Way Beyond Balanced Budgets being beneficial.

As we have discussed, It’s the Debt Dummy!

Only Debt reduction will set us on a path to recovery.

Those in Washington will, as usual, attempt to confuse you by using “Debt” and “Deficit” interchangeably.  They are very, very different words.

“Deficit Reduction” means we are still spending MORE than we have to spend… just less than we were spending before.  I know I don’t have to explain this, but it could even be $1 less… and the politicians will be doing victory lap’s as if some great accomplishment has been achieved.  Don’t be fooled, and don’t let them get away with it as usual.

“Debt” means, well… the money we owe everyone else because politicians have found it beneficial to their career’s to spend as much of our money as they can, and are now printing it so they can keep on spending.

I want you to stick your head out the window and scream at the top of your lungs “It’s the Debt Dummy, and we’re not going to take it anymore!”

I know I can count on all of you.

Cliff Diving

I remember my first time diving from the “high” board into the “deep end”. It was terrifying. However, once I did it, things changed. The act became less terrifying with each occurrence.

Is this what the spending addicts in Washington are actually afraid of?

Has the explosion of an already bloated government left us scared and shaking on the ladder? When you look closely at the proposed cuts to all departments associated with the ‘Fiscal Cliff”, or “Sequestration”, it becomes clear that they are far from scary and should really serve only as a starting point. (Not even a good starting point… but at least a starting point.)

Will government jobs be in jeopardy?  Yes.

Will government programs that are duplicated throughout our military taking focus away from more important projects be cut?  Yes.

Will it force our armed forces to rate in earnest what programs are worth spending taxpayer dollars on and which are not?  Yes.

I address the military specifically because that seems to be where the majority of “fear” is being generated in regard to what amount to be miniscule cuts.  When I say miniscule, what I really mean is ridiculously small in comparison to our catastrophic spending problem leading to our obese, soon to be fatal, debt load.

In case any of you are shaking your heads in my wanton disregard for the serious ramifications of “cutting the military” all I can say is… remember that money is fungible. If there is truly a program that must be saved, it will be saved.

So this brings me back to my original question…

Is Washington and all of our Politicians that dwell there afraid of “Going over the cliff” because it will not be a very big deal? Are they afraid that the American people will experience the aftermath and say to themselves “What’s the problem?” to be closely followed by “Let’s keep going!”

If we are serious about cutting spending this is a good start.

In regard to taxes…

If the Leftists are serious in their assertion that taxing the crap out of everyone “promotes growth”, as they claim that it did under Clinton, then let them fall on that sword.  (I was there, and it was a paper tiger in the name of “the tech bubble” combined with a mature House of Representatives that produced what appeared to be a surplus…) but I’m willing to give them a helpful push as sometimes the blade gets stuck…

There is nothing in government that can’t be corrected quickly under the crushing burden of a declining economy aside from new entitlements and abdication of authority from one branch to another.

When the economic health of the United States plummets… we will need heroes, of a fiscal conservative variety.  And, we will need a whole lot of them.

It was cold the morning I climbed the eleven steps and peered over the top of that diving board. Shivering I walked to the very end and peered over the edge. My memory always makes it higher than any cliff I have dived off since…