…SO WE’LL TAKE RICH PEOPLE’S
Re: Jeremy
Lott’s “We
Are Out of Money”:
Jeremy Lott wrote that “President Barack Obama handed his
political opponents a bludgeon the size of Thor’s hammer
Saturday.”
And where is the conservative or Republican “Thor” who can wield
it effectively?
Lift it, even?
None in sight, Mr. Lott. None in sight.
— A. C. Santore
Sometimes it is the simplest words that bring the clearest
definition to the problems at hand. With President Obama
declaring in national press that we are out of money, the cat has
been let out of the bag, or as my old Daddy would say in more
graphic rancher lingo, “The cow just got out of the chute gals,
get the heck out of her way!” What we all knew for so long is now
fully visible to all who are looking around the world. The once
great nation has now declared they are broke and their money is
worth nothing. His disclosure is akin to the emperor with no
clothes who was exposed for who he really was by a simple child.
Our own Emperor has announced it himself.
Between that announcement and dear Vice President Cheney speaking
clear discernable truth to Obama’s nonsense, the future is
looking somewhat brighter. We have now confronted real truth and
that is always needed before we can turn things around. For all
his empty rhetoric and naïve world view, this standing president
will hold the reins of a now run away horse and he, who had never
ridden a horse at all, will not be able to stay in his saddle.
I believe firmly that Congress may enact away but from this point
on not one-tenth will actually be put in place. For we have now
found ourselves bankrupt and announced it. What nation will want
to invest in our economy now? And as the economy turns as many
Chrysler-owned dealerships are closed and tangential businesses
along with them, we will soon see chaos breaking out all over.
The people are already hot under the collar over governmental
incompetence and nonsensical dealings with our real enemies, and
enough will be enough.
All in all, it makes me thankful to be so far away from the
Beltway in D.C. Here on the ranch we can view it all on stage.
And as disgusted as I am, that is far enough.
I’m praying for our country this one day after we remember those
who died for all we have now.
— Bev Gunn
Texas
A LITTLE MODESTY WOULD SUIT YOU
Re: Darrell Issa’s
An Airport for Somebody:
One is suspicious of anybody who allows something to be named
after him while he’s still alive — Republican as well as
Democrat. And the more often their name is bestowed, the
more suspicious one gets.
Couldn’t they just repress their egos and wait, until they’re
long dead and one is going down the highway wondering
“whose name is that on that sign, who is this highway named
after? What did he do?”
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida
NEVER SAY DIE
Re: Jay D. Homnick’s Civil
Lies:
America’s dalliance with Obama may leave Jay D. Homnick reeling,
disoriented and unmoored; in which case he had
better head back to port. Me, I’m mad enough to chew nails
and have just begun to fight.
— Douglas Herz
Pleasanton, California
THE D-WORD
Re: George Neumayr’s May the
Schwarzenegger Not Be With You:
I agree with some of George Neumayr’s points — but there is
another thing I have to add: one reason why the left mops the
floor with us.
I have just been over at the O.C. Register’s website. It
is a fairly conservative newspaper with a bunch of editorials
expressing the anger behind the rejection of the recent tax-hike
initiatives. Without exception, the anger was directed at
“Sacramento,” “the political class,” “politicians,” etc.
What word was not said? DEMOCRAT.
It is to the point where my intelligent, conservative mother,
being told that I was sick of the disaster that was California,
said “Well that’s a Republican governor, isn’t it?” This in a
state where Democrats have thoroughly dominated the legislature
for decades and wiped the floor with Arnold the one time he stood
up to them; he learned his lesson and never did it again. With a
Republican legislature, he would be annoying but there is no way
a government of all Arnolds would have created anything like this
situation.
Articles like Mr. Neumayr’s feed this type of thing. Yes,
“moderate” Republicans are annoying, but if when there is a
crisis conservative Republicans’ first instinct is to turn around
and rip into “moderate” Republicans, when do we hit Democrats?
Like this:
Democrats belonging to the Democrat party through the Democrat
enactment of Democrat laws at the behest of Democrat unions
passed the Democrat budgets filled with bloated Democrat programs
that saddled Democrat-dominated California with a Democrat
deficit that these Democrats (who belong to the Democrat party)
are responding to in the Democrat way by Democratically raising
Democrat taxes.
“The political class” isn’t on the ballot; Democrats are. When
voters go to the polls, if they want this nonsense to end they
should vote against Democrats, and if this fact is not conveyed
at a time like this when will it be conveyed? Granted the
California electorate, it may not help, but it should at least be
tried.
— Roy Koczela
IT’S THE FUEL ECONOMY, STUPID
Re: Eric
Peters’s
Obama Nails the Coffin Shut:
The car industry is hardly the last to flee oversees in search of
affordable labor cost. A sizable portion of GM, Ford and Chrysler
are already “imports” back into this country. I think I have as
good an idea of what is wrong with Detroit designs as any one,
and it isn’t CAFÉ standards by any means.
Detroit can’t design and sell any kind of domestically produced
passenger car for $20,000 or less that the bulk of Americans
want. Detroit designs go to the shop a lot more often than
Japanese designs. Even under warranty this still costs money and
aggravation that most people will avoid if possible. Honda has
never tried to gin up sales with longer warranties as Detroit
does. They don’t need to. A bad reputation is a terrible thing to
overcome when you are dealing with major purchases like vehicles.
Third, no company can make enough profit on vehicles in the
$20,000 range with the wage and benefit cost of Detroit UAW labor
to stay in business. You simply can’t be competitive paying high
school graduates $30.00 an hour average, carrying three
pensioners for every worker and giving away health care insurance
valued over $1000.00 a month per employee.
Fourth, all three Detroit based companies have been losing
billions for years and this started with the increase in fuel
prices. That connection can not be discounted Ford was supposed
to return to profitability in 2008…and they’ve borrowed tens of
billions to stay afloat. They weren’t going to make a profit in
2008 even without the financial meltdown.
What Eric doesn’t seem to grasp is that the average American with
the average wage in this country looks upon the math regarding
the purchase of a vehicle and its operating cost a whole lot
differently than Detroit does. It isn’t just the CEOs making 20
million plus that don’t get it. I still remember the days of 5
year loans and American design owners ending up owing more at
three years into the loan than the vehicle was worth.
At the end of the day, both a rancher in East Texas and I have
the same core problem here while having vastly different needs.
Cost of ownership. Few people can afford $4-5.00 a gallon for gas
and drive the national average with anything that barely gets up
to 20 mpg with a tail wind going down hill. That’s the bulk of
the Detroit pickups and SUVs. The difference between what I paid
3-4 years ago for gas and when it hits $4-5.00 a gallon is a
couple extra percent in my 401K. Guess which one is more
important in the scheme of things? The higher cost of vehicles
combined with uncertain fuel cost is going to create a death
spiral for the auto industry in general.
If we don’t fix the fuel problem, there is no fixing a domestic
industry that needs $30-50,000 dollar pickups, SUVs, mini-vans
and fleet purchases by government to remain profitable.
Economics 101 is going to win out here in the long
run.
— Thom Bateman
Newport News, Virginia
MORE FOR FEWER
Re: Tom Bethell’s
Population, Economy, and God:
I leave to theologians questions related to God, but let’s clear
up questions related to population and economic growth. Tom
Bethell falls into the trap of believing that rising prosperity
leads to lower fertility but not the other way around. The
evidence suggests that smaller families can make a major
contribution to economic development by lowering dependency
ratios and allowing parents to invest more resources in the
education of their children. As Bethell himself notes, “Countries
with the highest fertility rates are Mali (7.4), Niger, and
Uganda.” These countries are at the bottom of “the wealth chart.”
What he fails to acknowledge is that many of these impoverished
countries will remain at the bottom of the wealth chart, unless
fertility rates fall.
On the other side of the demographic divide, rising dependency
ratios in “aging” societies may pose economic challenges, but
those challenges can be largely met if older workers work longer,
the labor force participation rates of younger workers increases,
and appropriate fiscal policies are adopted.
— Robert J. Walker
Executive Vice President, The Population Institute
Washington, District of Columbia
REVERSE MEMORIAL DAY
Re: Ben Stein’s For
Crying Out Loud:
I am a retired U.S. Air Force guy as old as dirt. You, Ben Stein,
just happen to be the most admired person I’ve ever encountered!
As I tried to awaken from zombie to person with my first cup of
coffee this morning, I tuned on the TV and there you were, on
Fox. I only caught the end of your remark about Mr. B. Hussein
Obama, and I wanted to memorize it, but at 81 years I have had
more than enough ‘senior’ moments, like remembering things. This
morning was one of them so I simply forgot your marvelous,
eloquent, superb and accurate assessment of our ‘empty suit’
(AGH!) leader. Geez! Leader? That is a stretch!
Anyway, I wish to hell I can someday recall that excellent
declarative…it was on target and worth recalling.
Thank you, Ben Stein, for being Ben Stein. I am a much flawed,
USAF Retired old coot, who loves you.
— H.J.
Wilmington, North Carolina
GOP-SICK
Re: Larry Thornberry’s Republican
Establishment Strikes Again:
This is a “spot-on” assessment of what is going on in Florida.
Those Crist-endorsing fools STILL don’t get it, and are making
me, and this once-great country, ILL.
— Mark-John Kasperek
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
