Forward Observation Post – Vermillion

Views and Vents from the Frontline of the Culture War

Archive for category Politics

Opening the Lock Box

Sep 27

Posted by FOPVermillion in Economy, Politics | No Comments

I saw this article about Social Security having problems because of the economy.  The points about cash flow and how people are dealing with being laid off are all reasonable and I will not argue them.

However, I have real problems with how the writer glossed over the issue of receipts being less than payments in the next two years.

The deficits — $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 — won’t affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit.

Sounds good, right?  If Social Security was a business that had $2.5 trillion in investments to draw on when things are tough it would be no big deal.  The thing is this is the government and not a business.  There is no savings, no surplus, and no Al Gore lock box where money is kept for a rainy day.  Next year and the year after that we will spend $19 billion more than we make.  That means that unless Congress runs a surplus during these two years, we will add to the deficit every year we have to draw from the accumulated surpluses.

If we are honest about the accounting gimmicks, we have $2.5 trillion in debt that is getting ready to be called in as people retire.  We are in a difficult position and pretending we have until 2037 when the “surplus” runs out to solve the problem is not productive.  Denial is a time honored political strategy when it comes to the third rail but we do not have eighteen years to come up with the ideal solution.

I do not expect we will have a solution right away especially considering the failure of the Bush Administration’s attempt to change Social Security.  However, we do need to be honest about the situation we are in and point out misrepresentation in the press and elsewhere when we see it.

- FOP Vermillion

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Sarah Palin Speaks in Hong Kong

Sep 23

Posted by FOPVermillion in Politics | No Comments

It was interesting to see the news today about Sarah Palin speaking at a CLSA event in Hong Kong.  Drudge linked to three articles here, here, and here that while they all discussed the same event, the versions were very different.  It sounds like the speech itself was fairly moderate with nothing that I saw as overly controversial.

I am a Palin supporter from the 2008 campaign so I admit I am biased.  I think what I read was a good start and it is going to help her standing with conservatives who may have been concerned she was lacking experience and gravitas.

Good start.  Keep it up Sarah and I may be on the 2012 bandwagon.

- FOP Vermillion

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Obama and World Regulations

Sep 19

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

I opened Drudge and I see the following headline:  “OBAMA PUSH FOR ‘WORLD’ REGULATIONS” which got my attention.  Now after following the link, it appears that the gist is that Obama want to further regulate the financial industry worldwide.  Now before I read the link I have to admit I was expecting some kind of one world government type of article.  Instead I saw a fairly modest article about the financial system.  Not what I want but not the scary WORLD REGULATIONS either.

When you get down to it, I certainly don’t want world regulations or government.  Lets face it for the most part the other options beyond our own suck.  We live in the best nation in the world with the best standard of living and we should not give it up in the name of fairness.  I will say I am fine with our system creeping outward although our lack of any imperial desires make it hard to grow the country.  We have a good thing going here and I would rather share it than pump up other systems that are not as good simply for the sake of not judging and being open minded.

I think it is OK to say “We’re #1!” in something other than sports.

- FOP Vermillion

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Terror in the News

Sep 19

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Iraq, Politics | No Comments

Al-Qaida is back in the news again.  This time they are talking about causing problems in Germany.  I don’t know much about German anti-terror policy so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they have not gone all weak and wobbly like we have here. Time will tell but with the elections coming on next week there is no time for them to change tactics now.  They will live or die based on the decisions they have made to this point.

Locally, we are not in much better shape.  With the recent arrest of the man in Denver, we are reminded again that Al-Quaida is still out there and wants us dead.  They have not been convinced not to kill innocents because we have a new more tolerant President in office.  I, for one,do not believe we were not attacked at home for the last eight years by accident.  However, the tools and more importantly the mind set that made that happen is being changed and I see us as much less safe.  It comes down to mindset of the leadership.  Is this a battle (war) or is it about criminal behavior (law enforcement)?  This is actually a very important starting point.  In a battle, you are trying to destroy the enemy and you will us whatever tactics you can to win while preserving your assets within the “rules” you have accepted.  Criminal activity is about punishment of the perpetrator AFTER the fact.  Law enforcement cannot do anything until a crime has been committed.  Hopefully the punishment is bad enough to discourage the next guy but the fundamental point is that if the goal was to kill/murder innocents in the one scenario you find and kill them first and in the other you lock up the bad guy and console the families who lost loved ones.

Count me in the battle camp.

- FOP Vermillion

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Fragile Safety

Sep 18

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

There is one group that revels in the weak staying weak and those are the predators.  As Obama removes protection that those in eastern Europe were counting on to keep them safe, those who need the fear and dominance for success are happy.  Rational people should not be threatened by defense.  Because I put bars on my windows and locks on my doors does not mean I want the neighborhood to get infested by criminals.  We had an opportunity to work with our friends and allies to make our neighbors safer from those who might threaten them and we blew it.  Those who wish to do harm eventually find a way to do so.  When that happens, it will not make anyone feel better to hear those who could have stopped the violence step forward and say “Oops, our bad.”

We had a chance to step up and help protect those who did not have the ability themselves and we chose not to.  There were many reasons given, and many more that will be made in the future,  However, in the end they will all come up short on the moral and ethical scale.

Here’s hoping the debate remains academic.

- FOP Vermillion

ACORN . . . It is in the Culture

Sep 14

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

Reading and seeing all the items about ACORN in the news and particularly at BigGovernment.com, it is obvious these people have serious issues.  The people in their offices of course are doing damage on hidden camera but it goes much deeper than that.  As the old saying goes, “fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.”  These people have now been caught three times and I suspect there is more to come.

The part that amuses me to no end is that James O’Keefe obviously went to several locations and yet they were so “normal” to the ACORN workers that they cannot remember when James and his “prostitute” visited their offices.  To me, this shows that what we are seeing is business as usual at ACORN.  They are so immersed in it, they can not see it.  For them, it’s the water in the fish tank and they are the fish.  James suited up and dove into the tank so we can see what it is like on the inside.  It is truely mind blowing what is going on there.

It looks to be another week of bad news for the folks at ACORN.  First there was the new video, then this evening they Senate passed and amendment to defund ACORN Housing, and it is just MONDAY.  I cannot wait to see what comes out in the next few days.

And it couldn’t happen to a better group of people.

- FOP Vermillion

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We Have the Momentum

Sep 13

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

As I was enjoying the start of the NFL season today, I would occasionally look on Twitter and read tweets about a counter rally in DC today by supporters of Obamacare.  I thought it was a joke.  There was nothing about it on the news or the sites I visited.  After seeing tweets about how bad it was and the counter rally being canceled, I decided there must be some truth to it.  A quick Google search proved that there was indeed a rally in DC today.  After going to some reports about the events, I can see why it was so under the radar.  They had 700 people, maybe as many as 1,000, at the BIG counter protest.  Combined with the people with the President in Minnesota means the pro-Obamacare crowd managed to bring together maybe 20,000 people to support a takeover of one-sixth of the economy.  Contrast this to the over ONE MILLION people who showed up on The Mall yesterday to show their support for the Constitution and protest big government.  The supporters and the passion are not there for Obamacare.  All the momentum is on the side of those opposed to “reform”.  I take heart in this.  I think that politicians are selfish and they want to be winners and right now, the message is not one that says “winner” from the perspective of the passionate voters.  If this continues, you will see the legislation stall in the house and die a quiet death as the leadership tries to avoid an embarrassing vote.

Let’s make sure we keep up the intensity.  We need to stay on this until we know this horrible attempt to take over the economy is dead.

- FOP Vermillion

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We the People in DC

Sep 12

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

This morning I am watching the people flowing into the capitol and I am impressed.  For the most part, the political elite have ignored the people  other than every other election and then gone back to their cozy offices and done what they wanted.  There were minor policy differences but overall the trend was to grow government and protect the political class.  Even those who have been for “smaller government” have not shrunk government from a spending or agency standpoint.  In recent memory, the tone deafness of the DC crowd has gotten worse.  Between immigration, prescription drugs, TARP, taxes, the budget, healthcare, and global warming, the solutions are more and more detached from what middle America wants or believes.  Each item has made some of us angry and frustrated, emotions that are building and growing.  When the power elite has had a chance to throw a token reform or change out there, they have decided not to do so.  This behavior is, in effect, putting a lid on the pressure cooker making the frustration boil and increase.  As we ordinary people have tried to be heard, we have been ignored and marginalized.  At tea party events and town hall meetings, we have not been listened to and the people in the MSM have tried to pretend they didn’t happen.  The result this attempt at marginalization are the 9/12 rallies today across the country.  We demand to be heard and be part of the debate.  The politicians in DC should be very concerned today.  The most recent number I have heard is 1.2 million people gathering in DC.  The reasons are many but the overall message is the same….. STOP.

We the People have “gone to Washington” and WE WILL BE HEARD.

- FOP Vermillion

Shooting Straight

Sep 10

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

After all the spin being put out there concerning the President’s speech, I really enjoyed the analysis done by Jay Cost over at Horse Race Blog. Jay cuts though the noise and provides a technical look at the process behind the issues and explains why something is likely to pass or fail. A good example of this is when everyone started assuming that the Democrats would be able to ram legislation through Congress, Jay pointed out how many Senators came from states that had been won by McCain in the last election.

So with that in mind, if you are worried about how the message today after the speech is the Republicans were mean, and that the Democrats are fired up you should read Jay’s blog entry for today.  The bottom line if you are a Conservative is Obama does not understand what his party needs to pass this and he missed the opportunity last night.

With wiffs by the President like the one he had last night, as well as the disarray in Congress, I feel better by the day that HC reform is dying and with it a great deal of political capital used up.

- FOP Vermillion

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Come and Take IT!!

Sep 8

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

This weekend, I came across a great video on Ace of Spades HQ from a town hall meeting where the speaker made a dramatic statement about the choices facing our legislators and the two main camps.  It is quite clear which camp she falls into.

Here is the video.





I love the part with the twenty at the end.  When it comes down to it, the politicians should have the ability to say to our face that they need to take our money because the other item whatever it is is more important and a better use of the money.

Today the “mystery woman” has come forward and it is a blogger who goes by Liberty Belle and posts at Redistributing Knowledge.  I love the extra detail she shares about what happened after her statement, which you can read here.

This is the debate we should be having about “need” and not about how many goodies we can get for ourselves before we get caught on the hook.  Once we have taken the bait, we no longer are dealing in dollars and cents but essential liberty and freedom for minor things in the grand scheme simply to maintain others’ power.  My freedom is not for sale.  Therefore, if a portion of my freedom is needed to make the grand scheme happen . . . .

COME AND TAKE IT!!

- FOP Vermillion

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