Stop Pulling the Wagon

Watching episodes of Jay Leno’s  “Jaywalking” , “Battle of the Jaywalk” etc. ( check it out on Youtube)  is very entertaining and funny.  Many of  those interviewed and questioned are clearly well educated people.   A substantial number saying they were college students/graduates, teachers, managers etc..  Many of the answers given were amazing.

When asked where the Cold War was fought, one of Jay’s questionee’s figured it had to have been fought in Antartica because its cold there.  I guess we defeated the Antarticans?

Now I don’t claim to be the brightest person around.  Just sort of an average guy.   But I am real sure of three things:

• The Cold War was not fought in Antartica.
• You don’t give the keys to your new car and a bottle of whiskey to a teenager.
• You can’t spend your way to prosperity with a credit card.

But I would be willing to bet  that if we presented the above as questions to those in charge of our government (Federal and State) they would probably not score more than 33% on the test.

California is getting ready to release thousands of felons because of budget cuts and some Federal Judge who decided that they are overcrowded and not getting all the health care and other things they are entitled to.  (They receive better health care now than probably 90% of the rest of us.)

Maybe we should send these released felons to serve in Congress.  I’m thinking they would likely steal less and waste less money than the group that is in there now.      

Bob Bandy

Living in California is a little like being trapped in an episode of The Simpsons.

I am specifically thinking of the episode in which the entire family went to Electric Shock Therapy at Doctor Marvin Monroe’s Family Therapy Center.  Each of them was given a button with which they could Zap another member of the family during the Therapy session.  Once started, they continued to Zap one another until they finally caused such a drain on the electrical grid that  the lights across the whole town started to flicker.

California is now like that.  A dysfuntional state that is in the process of Zapping itself into darkness.  Functional if not literal darkness.  Zap, lets solve our financial problems by laying off fire fighters and law enforment personal.  Zap, lets solve some more of our financial problems by releasing felons from prison.  Zap, lets solve this years financial woes by borrowing from future budgets.  Zap, more Regulations to drive business out of the State.   And, maybe my favorite:  zap, lets raise taxes so more people who pay taxes will leave the state.  Zap, Zap Zap —- The lights are starting to flicker.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor I think many of us Californians thought we had Conan the Barbarian riding to our rescue.  Certainly he would jump in, muscles rippling, crack some heads, slay the evil Serpent King Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) and we would all live in peace and prosperity.

But Conan had never met an enemy before quite like the Simpsons.  Little did we all suspect that we would see our hero morph into a kind of Conan the  Simpson.         

 Bob Bandy

Credits: The Simpsons 1994 – Theres No Disgrace Like Home – Matt Groening/Creator  Conan the Barbarian 1982 Directed by John Milius – Universal Pictures/20th Century Fox

I hope I am wrong but am afraid I am not.

It seems to me that our Congress and Administration is  in the process of doing something Osama Bin Laden tried, but failed to do when he planned the destruction of the  Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.   One of Bin Laden’s major goals was to severely damage, and he hoped, destroy our economy.

Our Government (Administration and Congress)  is now exploding our national debt by spending something like one hundred and eighty five percent of revenues.   In addition they are in an ongoing campaign to destroy what is left of the economy through Government run Health Care, Cap and Trade and other wasteful “Boondoggles”.

They are running up a crushing debt that our children and grandchildren will have to face as either ruinous taxation or hyper-inflation or both.

As POGO said:  WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US.  (Walt Kelly)

Osama Bin Laden just might be laughing himself silly in a cave somewhere.  We are doing it to ourselves!

Please tell me I am wrong!

Bob Bandy 

I am seriously concerned that our culture lacks the collective self discipline to survive.  Let me explain.

It is my belief that at some point the number of individuals who want to live without rules, responsibility or consequences for their actions  may reach “critical mass” and our great experiment with self government may decay into anarchy and chaos.

I do not know what that critical mass is but I suspect that five percent of our population cannot support the other 95 percent.  The “math don’t work”.

Think about it.  Most of the worlds great belief systems are founded in personal self discipline.  Success in almost all endeavors  requires we apply discipline to achieve goals.  Consider Business, Academics & Sports.  Am I wrong?

Bob Bandy

One of my pet peeves is being treated like I am stupid.  I once worked for a company that kept cutting costs by reducing employee benefits.  These decisions were presented to us as “enhancements”.  It got to the point that if I heard the word “enhancement” I would automatically reach to protect my wallet.

Our government does the same thing.  They talk about not raising taxes on most of us while they continue to spend more and more money they do not have.  To cover this increased spending they “borrow” money from our  (grand)children and raise non-income taxes and “fees”.  Fees are just taxes with an identity crises.

Now they are considering implementing something called a Cap and Trade Policy which involves charging us fees for the creation of a “Greenhouse Gas” called carbon dioxide and leaving a “Carbon Footprint” on the planet.  I don’t want to worry you but when you breath you exhale carbon dioxide.

They have finally figured out a way to tax me for breathing!

I know where I would like to leave my carbon footprint!

Bob Bandy

Bernie Madoff “Investments” or the Social Security “Trust Fund” – Which is the bigger Ponzi scheme?

The above is one of those questions you think has to be a “trick question”.  The answer is seemingly too obvious.

Here is another one:  Congress (which I often refer to as Dis-organized Crime) or the “Mafia” (sometimes called Organized Crime):  Who “taxes” its constituents less and runs the most efficient organization?  Again,  too obvious?

One more.  What is the difference between a government tax and a government fee?  This one is really a bit of a trick question.  The answer is the difference in spelling.  Not like asking what is the difference between a pile of manure and a bag of manure where there is a real difference.  The bag.

A final one.  What is the difference between what we are told by congress and a bag of manure?  You got it!

Bob Bandy