Getting It Right - SEUEEEEEEEE!! SEUEEEEEEEE!! SEUEEEEEEEE!!

Everyone Get Ready…Here Comes The Pork!!

This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"The ‘Stimulus Bill’ has now been passed. Everyone line up with your hand out to be sure you get your fair share."
For years the public has endured dissertation after dissertation from our astute politicians bemoaning the dangers and faults of deficit spending and the soaring national debt, which is now over one trillion dollars. Each group took turns blaming the other group, while both engaged in wild, unabated spending with no budgetary constraints. Let me show you what one trillion looks like……..$1,000,000,000,000.00 !
I find it as difficult to comprehend this much money as it is for me to comprehend one light year of speed and travel.
Now, in the past few days, our enlightened group of leaders in Washington has passed legislation which will quickly double our national debt, when you total the bank bail-out money, auto union bail-out money, and the stimulus package. The new debt which our grand children will have to pay back will be $2,000,000,000,000.00!
Perhaps the most astounding part of this action is the fact that the entire ruling party enacted this huge 1087 page spending bill…without bothering to take time to read what the money is to be spent for. Each page represents $724 million dollars in spending! They just followed the instructions of their party leadership, put on their blindfolds, and voted as instructed. While they were voting they locked the few remaining Republicans into a closet located far enough away from the voting area to keep their frantic screams from being heard, and then enacted the bill.
The President does not want the terms "earmarks" or "pork" used when describing this massive funding program, so I will call it the PAPPB Bill. This acronym stands for "Party Appeasement and Political Pay-Back Bill". It includes something for everybody.
The speed and manner in which this PAPPB legislation was forced through the normally excessively slow and ineffective procedures used in our legislative branch of government vividly demonstrates another frightening aspect of our current political format. At the present time, three people are in complete control of our nation! The historical system of "checks and balances" does not exist. These three "rulers" can do whatever they want to do with our nation for the next two years…and there is nothing anyone can do about it!
President Obama is in complete control of the executive branch, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi is in complete control of the U.S. Congress, and Senator Harry Reed is in complete control of the U.S. Senate. These "commanders" give an order and all of the other Senators and Congressmen within their party obediently move to follow the command. It is as if they were puppets on a string. Our nation is currently as close to being a Dictatorship as it has ever been. The manner in which this stimulus bill was enacted clearly reveals the total ineffectiveness of all opposition. I find this very frightening.
Some parts of the stimulus bill are well conceived and will move our economy in the correct direction for recovery. However, in my opinion, too much of it is merely the usual political practice of "you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours", which allows both to enjoy funding of wasteful, unjustified local pet projects.
I feel the national stimulus approach should be almost totally directed towards actions which create permanent long term jobs, which would be created by programs which will enable our domestic industries and manufacturing companies to compete in the new global marketplace. The objective should be to create Free-Fair trade, not just free trade. We must level the playing field if we ever hope to be competitive. Some programs which I feel would provide long term job solutions include:
● Removal of free trade status for all products coming to our markets from countries which charge reduced, subsidized pricing for exports, while they charge higher prices for those same products within their country.
● Removal of free trade status for all products coming from countries which will not allow all U.S. made products to be sold on a free market basis within their country. This would include all agricultural products coming from the U.S..
● Providing subsidies in the form of tax credits to U.S. firms which ship their products to foreign countries where labor laws and environmental regulations are not on par with the requirements in the U.S.. The extra cost these government burdens create currently make U.S. products uncompetitive when shipped to these foreign nations. This would help level the costing formulas.
● Providing tax incentives on profits realized from export sales.
● In shipments made to countries where their government subsidizes their exporting industries through government funding and low cost industrial loans, and other cost reduction incentives, the U.S. government should provide transportation rebates for the cost of container shipping to these countries. This would remove transportation costs from the cost of the U.S. products when placed in these countries markets.
● Paying 50% of the cost of additional machinery and equipment when the company can demonstrate this equipment is creating a work station for a new job.
● If a company employs a new hire which is on unemployment or on welfare, credit the first six months of those entitlement costs to the company to offset training and initial payroll costs.
● Remove all of the minority and set aside requirements for obtaining Small Business Loans, and restore the program to assisting ALL small businesses. Also liberalize the restrictions on qualification and degree of guarantees to banks for small business loans from the SBA.
The funding solutions to our economic dilemma should be almost totally focused on jobs creation. If they will do this…they will be "Getting It Right".
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● President Obama is having a difficult time finding enough honest, tax paying Officials and Politicians to fill his cabinet. It appears it is as difficult to find an honest politician in Washington as it would be to find a virgin in the Mustangs Ranch whore house in Nevada.
● Last week I mistakenly gave credit to the FDLE for erecting the guilt admitting plaque recently placed on the Dozier campus. It was the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice which should get credit for that inappropriate act.
● The United Auto Workers Union is not agreeing to the needed concessions for enabling GM to participate in the government bail-out funding they need in order to continue operations. Good logic on their part in looking out for their membership??
● I see the police in Bay County are having a union organizing election to decide if the Teamsters will represent them in the future. It seems ironic to me that a mafia dominated union would be representing the police.
● Spring will soon be here! I am looking forward to the blooming azaleas and dogwoods….and bass fishing.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.