Musings on the Week

Musings on the Week

March 28, 2015

Constitution - “To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.” Calvin Coolidge.

Politics – Barack Obama is a classic “lame duck” President: manipulative, disingenuous, divisive, and vindictive and the cause of most of his problems: losing support by Democrats in Congress, lost all support by Republicans, and dismissed as ineffectual by foreign leaders.

Politics – Barack and Michelle Obama have traveled more than any other first couple, spending $44.4 million in taxpayer money on travel for 31 international trips lasting 119 days.

Scandal – Fast and Furious cover-up continues: several guilty participants were demoted, not fired, ATF Director finally retires, replaced by Thomas Brandon who oversaw the cover-up.

Politics - This week’s distractions from the sluggish economy and ObamaCare: mandatory voting proposal and distorted interpretation of Netanyahu’s view on two-state solution

Politics – The Clintons epitomize the culture of corruption with scandals and cover-ups, first in Arkansas, then the White House, then State Department and now the Clinton Foundation.

Politics – A CBS news poll found that Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating has sunk to 38% of Americans, with just 42% saying she is honest and trustworthy.

Politics – One scenario Hillary Clinton declines to announce is that she will fundraise until she announces she will NOT run, then convert the money into a personal political slush fund.

Politics - My Conservative Dream Team remains Scott Walker for President and Ted Cruz for Vice President, delivering a combination of executive leadership and conservative principle.

Politics – Republicans will not accept Democrat Presidential candidate criticism that Ted Cruz has only been a senator for a short time, without any real executive experience, whose biggest qualification is he went to Harvard Law School, with a foreign name and mixed ethnic background, with questions about his birth certificate – sound vaguely familiar?

Media – Republican Presidential candidates have embraced digital media for marketing messaging, after being a novelty in 2004, an add-on in 2008, and a must-have in 2012.

Patriotism - “Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.” Calvin Coolidge.

Budget – President Obama’s budget was rejected by the Senate by the vote 98-1, just like the previous votes in 2011 and 2012 rejected both times without a single supporter vote.

Taxes – The Value-Added Tax is a turbo-charged national sales tax on goods and services, introduced with a low rate but quickly ratcheted up quietly as a stealth revenue source.

Pensions – San Diego converted their unsustainable defined-benefit public sector pension program into a defined-contribution 401(k) program to avoid the unfunded liabilities trap.

Energy – Companies that use “100% renewable” energy are only saying they are connected to the power grid, where renewables are less than 6% with no distinction reflecting its source.

Healthcare – Denying safe DDT to prevent malaria and other insect-borne diseases to third world countries has killed millions every year, despite a lack of scientific proof of any harm.

Education – The United States spends the most on education, but receives the worst return on investment trailing the rest of the industrial world in thinking abilities and workplace skills.

Poverty – Depending how you define “poverty,” the U.S. has either wasted 50 years and trillions of dollars and not improved the poverty rate, or after adjusting poverty estimates for food and housing benefits, refundable tax credits, and more realistic inflation rates reveal a much lower poverty rate than reported and the War on Poverty was a success!

Military - “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.” Calvin Coolidge.

Military – Bowe Bergdahl has finally been charged with desertion for leaving his unit in Afghanistan and joining the Taliban, and traded for five Guantanamo Taliban terrorists.

GWOT – It is unclear how Obama’s war strategy is working: exiting leaving a vacuum behind in Iraq; backing the wrong regime in Egypt; faced down without concession in Syria; phasing out without victory in Afghanistan; ambassador murdered in Libya; chased out of Yemen; and stage managing the development of nuclear weapons in Iran… any improvements?

GWOT – President Obama sees terrorism as a collection of disconnected rogue groups fighting at cross-purposes, and Ignores core ideology, Islamic extremism, that unites them.

GWOT – In nation after nation (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, etc.), Islamic jihadis are destroying Christian churches and murdering its members with no response by this country!

Iran - What part of “Death to America” does the Obama administration not understand, and how many times must it be screamed in Tehran before it is finally heard as a real threat?

Iran – President Obama continues to cite a fictitious Islamic fatwa against nuclear weapon development to justify his pending deal, and proving himself a Muslim “useful idiot.”

Israel – The White House was directly involved in an attempt to unseat PM Netanyahu with the State Department spending millions to American campaign consultants and advisers.

Egypt – The forty year Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty is still holding up and evidenced by Israel just signing a $4 billion deal to supply natural gas to Egypt.

Africa – Approximately 1.2 billion people continue to live in poverty, with the World Bank identifying the Sub-Saharan Africa alone as home to one-third of the world’s poor!

David Coughlin

Hawthorne, NY

http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/