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The sky is not falling
I realize that talk of “doom and gloom” is not very uplifting and that it doesn’t do much to make people feel better about the future. More and more of what is written these days, as well as what is shown on TV can undoubtedly be classified as such and a lot of what I write could certainly fall into this category as well. I would like to take a moment to somewhat defend, or at least help to justify these actions because they serve an important purpose.
It’s easy to talk about the things that make us happy. Entertainment is a huge part of the typical American lifestyle and with good reason. Keeping our minds distracted with pleasant thoughts can be a great help when there are troubles in life. However, we still have to deal with our problems and ignoring or denying them won’t make them go away.
No one wants to be burdened with problems that they feel they have little to no control over. The growing problems of our country, most of which can be directly related to our government, is a great example of this.
Most Americans feel as though there is nothing that they can do, personally, to help fix what’s wrong with our country. Our elected representatives certainly don’t help when they essentially thumb their noses at us while continuing to ignore our requests and focus on their own political agendas. This can be extremely frustrating for us to deal with and it is important that we don’t simply ignore this problem.
It may make us feel better to stay distracted, or to focus on the good in our lives, but this isn’t going to change the fact that the problems will still exist. We need to stay vigilant and do what we can to improve our situation. Things can get better, but we will all have to do our part to make this happen.
Things may not be so good right now, but I truly believe that things are going to better. It would be great to write about pleasant issues, but those aren’t the things that need attention. We don’t need to fix what’s right.
I will continue to write about the issues that I feel are important and that need help in correcting. Let me hear from you on the issues that you feel are important to our nation.
As long as we stay informed, we can, as a team, make a positive difference.
When did the default answer become yes?
So you’re walking through the mall one day when a man with a clipboard approaches and asks you to sign his thousand page contract. I would like to think the first thing you would do is ask what it is that you’re signing. If you were told, “I don’t know, just sign it. I’m sure it’s good for you,” what would you do? Would you blindly sign something you haven’t read?
The reason I ask is because I can’t understand when the default answer became yes.
When asked to make a commitment to something it only makes sense that you should fully understand exactly what it is that you are signing on to. If there is any confusion, I would like to think that a smart person would say no, at least until they better understand what it is they are being asked to do.
Simply signing on to anything that is passed in front of you is a certain recipe for disaster. Are you signing away your life savings? Did you just agree to something you are morally against? Could it be you just gave someone permission to replace your house with a wildlife refuge? You can’t know if you didn’t read what you were signing.
Much the same way that more and more people are doing this with everything from credit card applications to their home mortgage, our government representatives are doing the exact same thing. The big difference here is that when you apply your signature, it is only you that is responsible for this action. However, when your representative does this, they are making all of us responsible for their singular action, essentially signing all our names on the dotted line.
Only a fool, an absolute fool, would sign onto a program that they have no idea what it involves. When a fool signs your name on the dotted line, to say you feel outrage should be an understatement. It should be absolutely maddening to all Americans that our representatives are signing bills into law that they haven’t even read. It is inexcusable, irresponsible and doesn’t fall under the legal definition of fiduciary duty that they have to the American people.
When Barack Obama was running for president, he claimed that he would require that there would always be time, for both Congress and for the people, to read new bills before they would be voted on. This was a great idea, but so far it hasn’t happened. So far, everything has been rushed through so quickly that even now we don’t fully understand what we as a nation have signed on to. Why? What are they trying to hide?
For this reason, we must start holding our representatives responsible for their actions. They are making commitments for the American people that we may never be able to live up to, or may not want to live up to. It is important to remember these actions affect us all. Perhaps when we start to get bills that are worth voting for, we will finally get the chance to read them…
Your cash for their clunker
Cash for clunkers has been described by Washington as a huge success as it has helped to sell a great many cars, stimulating the economy, while helping those in need to upgrade their vehicles. But what is the real cost?
To a degree, the concept was a good one. We all, as a nation, should chip in and help those less fortunate to buy a better car, while saving the environment with cleaner, more energy efficient vehicles. Looking at how many cars were sold through the program clearly showed that a lot of people liked the idea. Even though the Government is the one taking credit for all this, it is the people of the United States that made all this possible.
The one good angle of this program is the concept of charity. It is a great thing to give help to those who need it. However, this is not truly the case with Cash for Clunkers. Not everyone who participated in this program really needed the help, although they happily took advantage of just one more “free” giveaway. After all, it was paid for using the government’s money.
While some may have needed help, you can’t call it charity when you force everyone to participate by paying into a program for the benefit of a few. Because tax money is being used to fund this system, and since few actually pay their taxes voluntarily, we being forced to support this system, whether we agree with it or not?
Everyone who took advantage of this system should be thanking their friends and neighbors for pitching in to make it actually happen. Any way you slice it, this system was nothing more than another form of income redistribution. Just like all other forms of “welfare”, money was taken from those that have it and given to those that the government thinks should have it.
We will all be paying for this program, and a great many of people who funded this program needed their money far more than those that got it. At the same time, this has also removed a great number of inexpensive vehicles from the used car market, where people who didn’t have much to spend on a vehicle will now have far fewer options. Making this even better is that because these “clunkers” will now have to be destroyed there will be fewer parts for people to use to rebuild and repair their vehicles to keep them running.
Only time will tell the true cost of this program. The people giving up cars that were paid for will now have the pleasure of making car payments again. Let’s hope this doesn’t create another crisis in the future. We can’t afford to bail out those who can’t afford a new car and wish they had their “clunker” back.
I will not support any bill that singles out a targeted group of people. My default answer to these “free” programs will always be NO!
Free cops don't come cheap
Earlier this month Julián Castro welcomed a new government grant that will provide $10.3 million dollars to hire 50 new cops for San Antonio. He was quick to point out that this “is great news for our city” and how “these will be officers on the street working with neighborhoods to make San Antonio safer.” All that sounds great, and I absolutely support our law enforcement community and truly believe that we need more of them, however, there is much to this that isn’t so great.
While it may appear a blessing that we are receiving this “free money” to hire these new cops, it is critically important to remember that we are still paying for them. The government has no money of its own to hand out. The government only has money that it takes from the people and from business through taxes. Because the money for these programs is coming from deficit spending, once you include all the extra interest we must pay for this “free money,” as well as all the extra administrative and regulatory cost added by the government, we will be paying far more than the original $10.3 million for these new cops.
Just as important is what we do when the “free money” runs out. The current plan is to start setting aside about $250,000 a year, for the next three years to help fund these new cops once the grant runs out. However, this is not much of a long term solution, especially considering that it is expected to cost $5 million to keep these 50 positions going.
Making this even better is that our current legal system is overburdened and our jails are overstocked. While our city leaders push forward on projects like expanding the river walk and improving our parks, they continue to ignore what it takes to make San Antonio a safer place to live. There is more to controlling crime than simply adding more cops to the streets.
As someone who has had to deal with the high crime rate of San Antonio, I have seen first hand the weak links in the chain. We can’t expect our cops to do their jobs effectively if they aren’t supported with a more efficient court system and an increase in jail capacity. Simply put, if we can’t get the bad guys off the streets, we can’t expect to live in a safer society, regardless of how many cops we have.
While it’s great that we are getting more cops here in San Antonio, it is unfair to pass this cost on to other areas of the country. If we need more cops here, we should find a way to pay for them here. There is absolutely no need to get the federal government involved with the funding of our local law enforcement, as they only add unnecessary complexity and extra cost. Once all is said and done, the new “free police officers” we were given may not look quite as appealing once we get the bill for them…
The Power of a Great Salesman
By now, just about everyone is familiar with the Bernie Madoff scandal. His investment company swindled billions of dollars from thousands of people, affecting everything from retirement programs to personal life savings. Bernie is now facing 150 years in jail for his actions, but how did he get to this point?
You would have a tough time finding someone who is willing to just throw their money out the window. People work far too hard for their money to just give it away without getting something of value in return. However, people do this every day as smooth talking salesmen find what it takes to get you to part with your wallet.
Visions of sugar-plum fairies dancing with unicorns on top of rainbows is what flows through your mind as you’re sold your bill of goods, only later to discover you didn’t exactly get what you thought you were getting. This isn’t just a story of a shady used car salesman or even a cooked investment broker; this is also the story of your typical politician.
Most laws aren’t passed on telling people what it will cost them, or even what the possible downsides are. Politicians sell laws based on what they think the average person needs to hear to support it. Few would ever support programs with high costs and small benefits if they were honestly told what they were signing on for. This is why hard to sell programs are often hidden inside of bills that started off with great intentions.
This is the system that has led to us changing the name of the “Cap and Trade” bill to the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” Few were in support of the program when its name better described what it did, but a quick name change suddenly brought support for a program that, if you were to actually read it, would scare anyone with even a small amount of common sense.
Bernie Madoff was a great salesman, but so is Barack Obama, Barney Frank and Henry Waxman. All of these people, and many more, are trying to convince you to do things that you probably wouldn’t if you really thought it through. Quick, quick, quick… The time to act is right now… You can’t afford to wait… It’s the pitch of a great salesman and an effective tool – act before you think.
You expect to get this type of treatment when you pull into a used car lot, but you shouldn’t expect it from your government. When you vote for a politician you put your trust in them that they will do what is right for you, as well as the rest of the country. No one likes to be taken advantage of, but that’s where we are headed as a nation.
With the next round of elections you will have a chance to change your representation. You have plenty of time to research this choice so there is no pressure to make a rush decision. No high pressure salesman is going to force you into your decision. It’s time to stop buying into the sales pitch of our current representation and start electing people that will work with us to make the right choices for our country.
Who’s driving?
Harry Waxman recently said that the Republican Party is rooting against the country by voting against all of the new programs created by the Democrats, such as the Stimulus Package, Cap and Trade, and Healthcare Reform. His idea that Republican are voting against these programs to keep them from passing is simply wrong. Everyone knows that there just aren’t enough Republicans in power to keep these bills from passing, essentially making their votes irrelevant.
Those that are voting against these programs, Republicans and Democrats, are doing so because they know they are harmful to the country. Even the Democrats admit that they are getting more calls against these programs than they are for them, but yet most of them vote them through anyway. Republicans are voting the way they are because they are trying to do what’s best for the country and they are listening to the people they represent.
Our country is moving fast to a crossroads where one side is pulling for common sense and the other is pushing for socialism. Next year’s elections will prove that there are consequences for all political actions. Only time will tell which side will be rewarded and which side will be punished. Chose your side carefully though as it will only get harder to change course the further we head down the wrong path.
What does it cost?
What do you expect from your government? More to the point, what do you want from your government? Before you answer that, think about what it would cost.
Everything has a price to be paid, and all too often we forget that when we ask for things from our government. Sure, it’s easy to see that building roads, subsidizing Amtrak and bailing out failing businesses cost money. When the government pays for these things they are using your money! Remember, the government has no money of its own; it only has what it collects through taxes, from you!
Other programs, even though their intentions are good, also have a price to be paid. It cost money when your neighbor gets a tax break for being a first time home buyer. It may not seem like it does, but the break he gets has to be made up by taking more from the rest us.
My point isn’t that your neighbor shouldn’t get a break, it’s that we should all get a break. The only way to make that happen is for the government to stop taking our money only to make us jump through hoops, or meet certain conditions to get it back. It’s our money! We worked hard to get it, and only we know how best to use it.
The next time you hear of a new government program, stop to think about what it will cost. Even if it’s a program you can take advantage of, remember that your neighbors will be paying for it. Nothing the government does comes for free and it’s time we start remembering who it is that’s paying the bills…
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Texas District 20 is currently represented by Democrat Congressman Charlie Gonzalez. Learn more about my opponent at the following links:
www.watchdog.net
www.votesmart.org
www.opensecrets.org
www.govtrack.us
www.opencongress.org
www.ontheissues.org
www.sourcewatch.org
projects.washingtonpost.com
www.legistorm.com
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