The Most Important Pledge They Forsook

Just when we thought (& hoped) the House Freshman Republican class of 2010 (& all the rest of them for that matter) had come around to a financially responsible position re America's (& your) future we find that 65 of the 87 Members of the 2010 House Freshmen Republican class have once again abandoned ship.  No, I am not referring to their stated desire to retain the most popular features of ObamaCare – which is awful & despicable enough - but rather in this case to their broken pledge to forsake (redefined) earmarks – the home-state special interest projects that many lawmakers love because of the favors that flow back from the earmark recipients to the originating politician.

 

Last month the aforementioned 65 House Freshmen Republicans signed a letter to the Speaker endorsing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB).  Senator Jim DeMint, working against the signatories of this letter to the Speaker, reports that 90% of the tariff cuts in the bill benefit 10 or fewer companies & that 40% of the tariff cuts help just one firm so ask yourself just how does this bill benefit America? – the answer is it doesn't – but it could very well politically benefit, in the short run, the supporters of the bill, of course @ the expense of the rest of us.  In summary, the purpose of the bill is to target special interest breaks that really are earmarks in the way they effectively work in one district but not another.

 

These tariff cuts are just another example of the myriad number of so-called tax expenditures that your elected representatives use against you to funnel your own hard earned money to special interests that help these politicians get re-elected.

 

Below is the complete list of the Members of the House Freshmen Republican Class along with their percent favorable ratings from the Club for Growth, a small-government group that focuses on economic & tax issues.  The ones who signed the aforementioned letter to the Speaker are highlighted in red.  I am sorry to report to my NJ neighbors that Jon Runyan of NJ is one of the signers (& is in the bottom ten Members of the 87 Member freshman class).  Other signers who are disappointments are Lou Barletta, Rob Woodall, James Lankford, Tim Huelskamp, Tim Scott, & Allen West (whose overall anemic rating of 64% is no where near the top of this class as many of us have suspected). Ways & Means Committee Chairman David Camp also supports this tariff measure so we can clearly see that the GOP is as much about getting reelected as BO is.

 

I strongly recommend that you look @ the list below & after doing your own research see if you want to support the ones rated above 90% who did not sign the above referenced letter. You have to look to find ones worthy of support – but they do exist as I have increasingly pointed out in many recent postings. 

 

But to all of the Tea Party readers of this blog there is another & more important pledge that these 65 politicians forsook  – "...but all Duties, Imposts, & Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."

 

 

Adams, Sandy (FL – 24) 68%                           

Amash, Justin (MI –3) 100%

Amodei, Mark not rated - Elected to the 112th Congress on September 13, 2011

Barletta, Lou (PA – 11) 47%

Bass, Charles (NH – 2) 48%

Benishek, Dan (MI – 1) 72%

Berg, Rick (ND – AL) 54%

Black, Diane (TN – 6) 71%

Brooks, Mo (AL –5) 86%

Bucshon, Larry, (IN – 8) 64%

Buerkle, ann Marie (NY – 25) 92%

Canseco, Francisco (TX –23) 64%

Chabot, Steven (OH – 1) 64%

Cravaack, Chip (MN – 8) 57%

Crawford, Rick (AR – 1) 53%

Denham, Jeff (CA – 19) 64%

DesJarlais, Scott (TN –4) 77%

Dold, Bob (IL – 10) 42%

Duffy, Sean (WI – 7) 58%

Duncan, Jeff (SC – 3) 97%

Ellmeres, Renee (SC – 2) 59%

Farenthold, Blake (TX – 27) 65%

Fincher, Stephen (TN – 8) 69%

Fitzpatrick, Michael (PA – 8) 43%

Fleischmann, Chuck (TN – 3) 86%

Flores, Bill (TX –17) 75%

Cardner, Cory (CO – 4) 70%

Gibbs, Bob (OH – 18) 64%

Gibson, Chris (NY – 20) 44%

Gosar, Paul (AZ – 1) 63%

Gowdy, Trey (SC – $) 97%

Griffin, Tim (AR – 2) 67%

Griffith, H. Morgan (VA – 9) 83%

Grimm, Michael (NY – 13) 46%

Guinta, Frank (NH – 1) 77%

Hanna, Richard (NY – 24) 77%

Harris, Andy (MD – 1) 95%

Hartzler, Vicky (MO – 4) 70%

Hayworth, Nan (NY – 19) 56%

Heck, Joe (NV – 3) 50%

Herrera Beutler, Jaime (WA – 3) 53%

Heulskamp, Tim (KS – 1) 100%

Huizenga, Bill (MI – 2) 90%

Hultgren, Randy (IL – 14) 78%

Hurt, Robert (VA – 5) 78%

Johnson, Bill (OH – 6) 70%

Kelly, Mike (PA – 3) 54%

Kinzinger, Adam (IL – 11) 56%

Labrador, Raul (ID – 1) 100%

Landry, Jeff (LA – 3) 94%

Lankford, James (OK –5) 77%

Long, Billy (MO – 7) 78%

Marino, Thomas (PA – 10) 60%

McKinley, David (WV – 1) 37%

Meehan, Patrick (PA – 7) 42%

Mulvaney, Mick (SC – 5) 99%

Noem, Kristi (SD – AL) 60%

Nugent, Richard (FL – 5) 73%

Nunnelee, Alan (MS – 1) 76%

Palazzo, Steven (MS – 4) 61%

Pearce, Steven (NM – 2) 78%

Pompeo, Mike (KS – 4) 86%

Qualye, Ben (AZ 3) 98%

Reed, Tom (NY – 29) 68%

Renacci, Jim (OH – 16) 68%

Ribble, Reid (WI – 8) 90%

Rigell, E. Scott (VA – 2) 82%

Rivera, David (FL – 25) 47%

Roby, Martha (AL – 2) 58%

Rokita, Todd (IN – 4) 88%

Ross, Dennis (FL – 12) 96%

Runyan, Jon (NJ – 3) 45%

Schilling, Robert (IL – 17) 54%

Schweikett, David (AZ – 5) 93%

Scott, Austin (GA – 8) 85%

Scott, Tim (SC – 1) 92%

Southerland, Steve (FL – 2) 94%

Stivers, Steve (OH – 15) 45%

Stutzman, Marlin (IN – 3) 99%

Tipton, Scott (CO – 3) 73%

Turner, Bob not rated - won in a special election on September 13th, 2011

Walberg, Timothy (MI – 7) 86%

Walsh, Joe (IL – 8) 99%

Webster, Daniel (FL – 8) 65%

West, Allen (FL – 22) 64%

Womack, Steve (AR – 3) 52%

Woodall, Rob (GA 7) 84%

Yoder, Kevin (KS – 3) 76%

Young, Todd (IN – 9) 77%

Maximizing Your Time In This Vale of Tears

Thanks to a long time subscriber for sending this calculator developed by Northwestern Mutual.  There are only thirteen common sense questions to answer that will help you decide whether or not you have the healthy habits that will maximize your time in this vale of tears.

 

 

 

 

Posting - "The Significance Of The Third Row" - Taken Down

 

Late Monday afternoon I received the following anonymous message from someone who read on ReturnToExcellence the original subject message re the seating arrangements @ Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta's Medal of Honor award ceremony.  

 

"As much as I hate to say this as I am a veteran, conservative, registered republican and can't stand what Obummer is doing to this nation, unfortunately Michael Berry is wrong on this one. His family was seated in the front row. If you Google pictures of the ceremony you will see his parents sitting in the front row. We can not be led down a road of misrepresentations and lie's in order to get heard, leave that for the left to do as they do it so well. Seek and find the truth."

 

The above photo indeed shows the family of Staff Sergeant Giunta seated in the first row – that is his mother & father looking back @ people also being honored who are standing in the third row.  The people standing are family members of the two platoon members who were killed in the altercation that led to the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Giunta.

 

Based on this information I have taken down the original posting from the blog & encourage everyone who sent the original May 10 posting to others to let them know also that the message was erroneous. 

 

I thank the anonymous responder & could not agree more with his/her sentiments regarding the importance of presenting truthful & accurate material so that informed decisions can be made.  That is what this blog is all about.  Thanks again.

Responses - Allen West Target - Antithesis Of BO

Several complimentary responses re last night's post on Allen West came in like – "Yes! he's great. Thanks for that Doug," & "Doug - Thank you for sending this to me I enjoyed it immensely," & "Lt. Col. West is exactly right. It can not be denied."  On the video shown on the blog posting presented Congressman West could not be more correct.

 

Below is one other response that is not as complimentary as the ones above.  It questions some of West's votes & as careful readers of this blog may have noticed so have I.

 

---Night Watchman's Response---

 

Allen West voted Yes on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on raising the Debt Ceiling, and on certain provisions of the Patriot Act.  As to what he said in the presented clip he is 100% spot on.

 

I have to believe there are reasons for some seemingly terrific representatives seemingly going rogue and it is best to get the answer cleared up before we crucify him or her. Reasons that we probably don't know and so we must take the time to find out why and reconcile that before we throw them out of office. I can't see voting "Yes" for any of the legislation that I mentioned above.

 

My overall opinion of Allen West is excellent... and so I will give him time... cause it will tell us.

Allen West Target - Antithesis Of BO

Lt. Col. Allen West has been the subject of several postings on RTE over the years. In 2010 West was elected to Congress in Florida as part of the Tea Party movement. Click here to see exactly why Congressman West is one of the House freshmen who is targeted by the statists – for starters he is the antithesis of BO.

Responses - Hannity Purposely Misleads - Unemployment Stats For Women

Below are two responses that are representative of exactly what I expected from last night's subject posting.  Neither responder is a left wing Democrat.

 

The first responder has no use for Sean Hannity & the second defends him.

 

Personally I stopped listening to Sean's radio program many years ago & only started re-watching FNC - O'Reilly Factor - after Judge Napolitano's best program on all of TV, Freedom Watch, was abruptly taken off the air a few months ago – try to explain to yourself why FBN did this.  Sean's show tagged along for me (after O'Reilly on FNC) & it has been hard to watch (stomach) on many occasions.

 

Sean (& Rush Limbaugh) has a supposed radio audience of between ten & fifteen million people (out of 310,000,000 Americans).  Although their audiences are a small portion of the total population it is a large enough group that commands a marketing audience who buy their advertised products so Sean & Rush throw enough red meat to their audience to keep their listeners engaged.  The problem for these announcers is when people start to notice some unprincipled & erroneous biases like I pointed out in the original posting.  I personally have noticed many more than a few slips from each of them.

 

Please remember that Janet Reno won both sides of her college debate competition re abortion when she presented both pro-life & pro-abortion positions equally as persuasive – & yet she obviously only believed in one.  Just imagine how persuasive Sean &/or Rush would be if they decided to present the statist side of things on their programs.

 

The standard for readers of this blog (& listeners of the Neal Boortz radio program) is to only follow what you know to be true, what you can prove to be true, & what makes sense to you.  This is the standard that I use in vetting every message I post for you.

 

---Response #1---

 

I missed it ...cause I never watch Hannity...

 

---Response #2---

 

Am not sure what the problem is?  Of course Sean uses stats for the political reasons the other side does with a vengeance.  Hannity has said that corporations do not pay taxes when he is talking about a company propped up by BO.  Maybe you should have listened longer. When the CEO of GE moved jobs to Mexico he eliminated American jobs.  Percentages can be misleading - don't know why anybody uses them, for exact information nothing beats the true number.

 

I'll guarantee Sean's statements were used to rebut the left's.  I would not give up on him - there is more truth that is stated from him than fiction or just half truth commentary from anywhere else. 

 

I think you're making a mistake.  Even if Sean made a mistake if no one rebuts anything it will be the same when BO is elected.

 

Sorry Doug I will continue to watch and listen to Sean although I am watching more science shows now anyway because everything is getting repetitive in the political world.

Hannity Purposely Misleads - Unemployment Stats For Women

 

Earlier this week Sean Hannity once again clearly revealed his harder than ever to conceal pro-establishment Republican Party stripes despite his constant claim to be a "Conservative – rather than a Republican" who is only interested in the good of the country.  What a crock.

 

On Monday I turned Hannity (on FNC) off when Sean & Dick Morris were bashing companies who paid no corporate income tax in 2011.  Anyone who knows the least bit about economics (let alone those who have attended any of my FairTax seminars or listened to my radio broadcasts posted on RTE) knows that corporations do not pay corporate income taxes – people do.  Why would these two influential broadcasters go against what they (have to) know is correct unless they are making a political point @ our expense.  I didn't wait to find out more as I turned off my TV in disgust.

 

On Tuesday night Sean stated the completely misleading statistic that women have lost over 90% of the jobs since BO took office.  Romney has fallen for the same statistical trick that will hurt him closer to the election if he continues to present this partial but misleading figure.

 

The stat overlooks the fact that over the entire recession (that started in December 2007 under Bush) men have lost many more jobs than women.  But the biggest job losses for men came earlier in the recession under Bush, and recovery for men has come faster under BO than it has for women.  Sean's stat is only important if you cared under whose administration you lost your job.

 

Please check out the above graph to see the statistics over the entire recession  - according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between January 2009, when BO took office, and March 2012, there has been a net decline of 740,000 jobs for both men and women, and that among women during this time period there has been a net loss of 683,000 jobs. Do the arithmetic to find out that 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under BO were lost by women.  The number of men who lost jobs since the start of the recession that began under Bush & still have not found employment is well over three million - thereby dwarfing the stats for women. 

 

Do you want to get your news from people who skew facts this way?  BO will have a field day rebutting this info over the next six months which once again naturally leads to a comparison of his record to that of GW Bush which is red meat for energizing Democrats who outnumber us.

 

Carol told me we are not watching Sean again.

 

 

Woodall House Counterpart To DeMint Senate Conservatives Fund

Thanks to responses like "I really appreciate the work of the Senate Conservatives Fund and just sent them another donation" & "Senator DeMint is very inspiring! Still wish he would step up to the plate" – these are responses to the last posting that highlighted the list of 2012 Senate candidates endorsed by SC Senator & FairTax co-sponsor Jim DeMint.  I hope you all checked out the candidates on this list & will support one or another of them with whatever resources you have available (time or money).  What a difference it will make to have several of these people join the caucus of Senators DeMint & Coburn – especially if BO is reelected.

 

I am equally as excited to let you know that lead House FairTax sponsor Rob Woodall (GA) has offered to help the reelection campaigns of the Members of his House freshman class that are in tough or close races – many of whom have been targeted by the statists.  Rob must be in a safe district himself (thank heaven) & is offering to help his fellow freshmen Members just like Jim DeMint is doing in the Senate for new candidates.

 

Below is a portion of the message I received from Congressman Woodall explaining this:

 

"The political attack apparatus is in high gear and is going after this freshman class in the House.  These men and women who joined me as newcomers to Congress this year represent what is best about our country – they are entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, parents, teachers, servicemen, and more. These newcomers and I are bringing reform to Washington, and defenders of the status quo attack us for it...they are ever-energized to defeat us.

"Will you commit to helping me reelect some of the true heroes in this freshman class? They are in tough districts. They have cast a lot of tough votes by standing up to the leadership of both political parties and simply doing what was right for their constituents...simply click here.. .my commitment to you is that every penny that you send in response to this request will go directly into the toughest races in America this year. How important are these races? These races will decide whether Nancy Pelosi regains title of Speaker Nancy Pelosi next year.

"Who do you know outside of our community – a college friend, a former coworker, a former neighbor, friends from church who moved away? Think hard…and remember everyone in your sphere of influence…and commit to giving them a call, sending them a postcard, or writing them a quick email - it could help a whole lot.  Elections this fall will be decided as they always are by four, five,and six vote margins. Together our efforts could make the difference!"

As many of you know Rob Woodall virtually single handedly represented & defended the Republican (Ryan) budget on the House Floor twice over the past week to ten days.  I have watched his work in this regard & am tremendously impressed.  He has been marvelous.  No one could not have done better.

 

Thanks to our Night Watchman we have already identified House candidate Eric Klingemann of Texas running in the May 29 Texas Primary & of course all of us in NJ know Anna Little in CD #6 running in the June 5 NJ Primary – both marvelous candidates in their own right & of course both are FairTax supporters.

 

You can also check-out GOOOH – a non partisan plan mentioned several times on this blog over the years that identifies patriotic candidates who would be good choices to replace professional career politicians.  GOOOH researches & then presents citizen legislators to serve a limited number of congressional terms – you can decide among their candidates who best fits this bill.

 

Lastly, & probably most obviously check out the list of Members of Congress who are FairTax co-sponsors – nine in the Senate & sixty seven in the House.  It is so important to support those FairTax co-sponsors who deserve your support in tough or targeted districts or states.

 

Over the past several months I have explained why all of us should find several voters (@ least three each) who most likely will support & vote for statist candidates & try to turn these voters around in their mindset to help preserve what is left of America's founding excellence.  The last two postings show that we have no dearth of candidates worthy of support so we still have a chance.  Make the most of it.

Jim DeMint's Senate Caucus List

All of us know that SC Senator & FairTax supporter Jim DeMint fought his own lonely battle for America in 2010 when he went against the Republican establishment & supported successful Tea Party Senate candidates Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, & Pat Toomey.  I wrote many times about the importance of having people like this – non-establishment Republicans – get elected who would caucus with senators DeMint & Coburn as a start for changing the statist American mindset around.

Please click here to hear Senator DeMint – the greatest thread holding America's liberty together.

In 2012 Senator DeMint is chairman of the Senate Conservatives Fund – a political action committee dedicated to electing strong conservatives to the U.S. Senate just like in 2010.  Senator DeMint's Fund does not support liberal Republicans (RINOs) and is not affiliated with the establishment Republican Party or any of its campaign committees – this is why Senator DeMint is once again hated by the establishment & should be admired by all of us.  Senator DeMint is for America & not the Republican Party.

More often than not The Club For Growth, Freedom Works, & Sarah Palin support the same principled candidates as Senator DeMint.

I have repeatedly advocated that all of us should back the best candidates we can find whether or not they represent our district or state.  Below is such a list of Senate candidates, supported by Senator DeMint in 2012, that I recommend supporting over your own local or state candidates unless your local or state candidates have proven they deserve your support:

1.  Jeff Flake of AZ has been the most financially responsible Member in Congress for years for oh so many reasons.  Mr. Flake is a FairTax supporter who would replace the capable Jon Kyl.

2.  Richard Mourdock defeated sitting Senator Dick Lugar in last week's IN Primary.  The 36 year incumbent Lugar tried every trick in the book including desperately becoming a FairTax supporter late last year – but to no avail.  Mourdock may need help in November even in IN.

3.  Senator DeMint backs Don Stenberg in the May 15 Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Nebraska. Stenberg also says "I'm proud to accept Senator (Rand) Paul's endorsement."  Sarah Palin is backing state Senator Deb Fischer.  Hard to believe you could go wrong with either Stenberg or Fischer.

4.  Marine vet Josh Mandel is the current Ohio State Treasurer & former Member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He is the Republican challenger to statist incumbent Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown.

5.  Businessman Mark Neumann represented Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 1999.  He is running for U.S. Senate with the endorsement of Jim DeMint.

6.  Ted Cruz is a candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination for the United States Texas Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison.  Cruz is backed by Jim DeMint & Sarah Palin.

If you are looking for a Senate candidate to support who will make the difference for our country please check out any of the above @ your own discretion.  In the next posting I will present a similar House message initiated by another FairTax supporter.

 

A Graduation Message

 

As the class of 2012 gets ready to graduate this spring the above three graphs do a good job of summarizing America's problems re both how ill prepared our students are to pass college level courses & why so much of a standard college curriculum is devoted to remedial work & why our graduates don't catch up in competing in the global economy.  Below is Bret Stephens' Global View column from today's WSJ that also summarizes the problem but even more importantly offers a solution that each graduate should consider.

 

Stephens: To the Class of 2012

 

Attention graduates: Tone down your egos, shape up your minds

 

Dear Class of 2012:

Allow me to be the first one not to congratulate you. Through exertions that—let's be honest—were probably less than heroic, most of you have spent the last few years getting inflated grades in useless subjects in order to obtain a debased degree. Now you're entering a lousy economy, courtesy of the very president whom you, as freshmen, voted for with such enthusiasm. Please spare us the self-pity about how tough it is to look for a job while living with your parents. They're the ones who spent a fortune on your education only to get you back— return-to-sender, forwarding address unknown.

No doubt some of you have overcome real hardships or taken real degrees. A couple of years ago I hired a summer intern from West Point. She came to the office directly from weeks of field exercises in which she kept a bulletproof vest on at all times, even while sleeping. She writes brilliantly and is as self-effacing as she is accomplished. Now she's in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.

If you're like that intern, please feel free to feel sorry for yourself. Just remember she doesn't.

Unfortunately, dear graduates, chances are you're nothing like her. And since you're no longer children, at least officially, it's time someone tells you the facts of life. The other facts.

Fact One is that, in our "knowledge-based" economy, knowledge counts. Yet here you are, probably the least knowledgeable graduating class in history.

A few months ago, I interviewed a young man with an astonishingly high GPA from an Ivy League university and aspirations to write about Middle East politics. We got on the subject of the Suez Crisis of 1956. He was vaguely familiar with it. But he didn't know who was president of the United States in 1956. And he didn't know who succeeded that president.

Pop quiz, Class of '12: Do you?

Many of you have been reared on the cliché that the purpose of education isn't to stuff your head with facts but to teach you how to think. Wrong. I routinely interview college students, mostly from top schools, and I notice that their brains are like old maps, with lots of blank spaces for the uncharted terrain. It's not that they lack for motivation or IQ. It's that they can't connect the dots when they don't know where the dots are in the first place.

Now to Fact Two: Your competition is global. Shape up. Don't end your days like a man I met a few weeks ago in Florida, complaining that Richard Nixon had caused his New York City business to fail by opening up China.

In places like Ireland, France, India and Spain, your most talented and ambitious peers are graduating into economies even more depressed than America's. Unlike you, they probably speak several languages. They may also have a degree in a hard science or engineering—skills that transfer easily to the more remunerative jobs in investment banks or global consultancies.

I know a lot of people like this from my neighborhood in New York City, and it's a good thing they're so well-mannered because otherwise they'd be eating our lunch. But if things continue as they are, they might soon be eating yours.

Which reminds me of Fact Three: Your prospective employers can smell BS from miles away. And most of you don't even know how badly you stink.

When did puffery become the American way? Probably around the time Norman Mailer came out with "Advertisements for Myself." But at least that was in the service of provoking an establishment that liked to cultivate an ideal of emotional restraint and public reserve.

To read through your CVs, dear graduates, is to be assaulted by endless Advertisements for Myself. Here you are, 21 or 22 years old, claiming to have accomplished feats in past summer internships or at your school newspaper that would be hard to credit in a biography of Walter Lippmann or Ernie Pyle.

If you're not too bright, you may think this kind of nonsense goes undetected; if you're a little brighter, you probably figure everyone does it so you must as well.

But the best of you don't do this kind of thing at all. You have an innate sense of modesty. You're confident that your résumé needs no embellishment. You understand that less is more.

In other words, you're probably capable of thinking for yourself. And here's Fact Four: There will always be a market for people who can do that.

In every generation there's a strong tendency for everyone to think like everyone else. But your generation has an especially bad case, because your mass conformism is masked by the appearance of mass nonconformism. It's a point I learned from my West Point intern, when I asked her what it was like to lead such a uniformed existence.

Her answer stayed with me: Wearing a uniform, she said, helped her figure out what it was that really distinguished her as an individual.

Now she's a second lieutenant, leading a life of meaning and honor, figuring out how to Think Different for the sake of a cause that counts. Not many of you will be able to follow in her precise footsteps, nor do you need to do so. But if you can just manage to tone down your egos, shape up your minds, and think unfashionable thoughts, you just might be able to do something worthy with your lives. And even get a job. Good luck!

Paul Krugman - Ron Paul Debate Highlights Choices For America

Please click here to hear the complete debate between Princeton University Economics Professor Paul Krugman & Presidential Candidate Ron Paul discuss the Federal Reserve System & other economic issues on Bloomberg TV on April 30.

The points & differences of this discussion are important for all Americans to understand so they can make a conscious decision as to whether or not they prefer the country to return to the excellence of our founding or to continue the progression toward the welfare state we are heading for under BO.  Voters will peacefully express what they want @ the ballot box in November. Unfortunately we do not have a suitable alternative to BO @ the moment so the result of the election could very well be flawed. 

I have written about people of substance not letting the poorest, lowest skilled, most uneducated people in the world take their life savings without a fight. That is where the civil war or uprising will come from – not the weak protesting the strong but just the opposite.

The FairTax Impact On Student Loans

The student loan series of messages this week has brought a lot of interest – no pun intended.  Thanks to a long time subscriber for sending the chart below he made that shows how the FairTax will help solve America's student loan problem – & just about everything else you can think of.

 

 

 

 

 

Responses - Mitt Misses A Chance To Make A Difference On Student Loans

Thanks to everyone who called or wrote re last night's subject posting.  The calls were mostly "what can we do?" in nature while the three written responses below demonstrate a thorough understanding of the tuition issue that plagues America – an understanding quantum leaps above the establishment Republican politician's understanding that a 3.4% student loan interest rate is less than a 6.8% interest rate.  How pitiful – not for them but that so many of us fall for it & don't know better ourselves.  At least we do.

 

I just finished a telephone town hall conference call meeting with NJ Congressman Leonard Lance where I asked him about the discrepancy of his voting for the Ryan budget & then voting for the freeze in student loan interest rates in direct contravention to the Ryan budget.  Naturally when he got done his circuitous explanation I had forgotten the question.  He also never considered any of the other points in the subject posting, that I brought up, meaning America is hopeless to reign in higher education costs if it depends on Lance & others like him.

 

All of the politicians in both wings of the one Big Government Party love to tell us about the tough decisions they are prepared to make, without specifying any of these tough decisions.  Of course they never make any tough decisions once they are in office preferring to wait until the next election cycle to once again tell us about the unspecified tough decisions they will be sure to make if only we re-elect them. 

 

The student loan interest rate issue provided Mitt, Lance, & all the rest of them a chance to take a stance that would not initially be popular but would have made a difference in turning the gargantuan higher education in America problem around from a cycle of higher tuition, college degrees, no jobs for graduates, back to higher tuition – a deadly combination for America & one whose time is about to run out.  I told Lance that BO has high jacked this issue & Mitt & the Republicans don't look good following his lead.  To this he finally had nothing to say.

 

---Response #1---

 

Doug

Yes. Mitt missed a very significant opportunity to specify how to change US entitlement mindset, reduce our debt, and to grow a stronger economy. Why is this so?

The government should be out of the student loan business. Government involvement increases tuition. Is it fair for taxpayers to subsidize student loans to many who will never pay back in full because they are huge risks? Sounds similar to government housing policy - lending to those least able to pay back. Students choosing study in majors that are not in demand by employers are huge risks. What is a better policy?

Students should get loans from private banks. If left alone banks will assess the risk reward of a student loan. A bright student with "A"s in calculus and 750 max SAT would be a likely reward for the bank. Contrast this to Ed Department bureaucrats. They poorly check return on investment in large part due to the fact that it is not their money they lend but taxpayer money.

But what about the very poor? Banks would still perform a similar risk reward assessment and the very poor would also get loans. And how else could one help the very poor? Via school vouchers which Mitt supports. Also via the FairTax which would eliminate regressive payroll taxes on the poor and provide checks to all up to the poverty level to mitigate impact of consumption tax. So the poor would at least live up to poverty level and be able to keep all of their paycheck free of federal taxes.

Maybe ( not sure about this ) one could argue for a federal role for student loans but it would have to be a tiny subset of who receives now. Maybe only those at poverty level and a TBD minimal SAT score.

Mitt thus could have made these points and put BO on the defensive. BO would have to explain (lie) why student loans do not increase tuition and why taxpayers should subsidize risky loans as they did for housing.

 

---Response #2---

 

In Mary Anastasia O'Grady's 4/30/12 WSJ column she says "Chile is swamped by leftist ideas.  The common principle: Economic inequality is immoral and the state has an obligation to correct it. Rather than push back against this invitation to tyranny, the right too often cedes the moral high ground to its proponents."  Although this article is about what is occurring now in Chile Mary says it is a cautionary lesson for Americans.  Don't you wish we (Mitt) could hear this message and do something about it?

---Response #3---

 

Doug - Again great post.

One other thought:

I read an article few weeks ago that Lenin tried hard to control banks, health care, housing, and education prior to the communist revolution. I believe these were the big 4 in the article. Does this sound familiar?

Would it be wise for a prominent Republican or strong capitalist independent to compare BO with Lenin? Maybe it would generate much debate and more of the naive electorate would better understand BO's goals.

Make a commercial with BO with Medvedev and a hot mic moment where he says "Just wait until after the election. By then I will have control of banks, health care, housing, and education. Then I can follow in Lenin's footsteps. But for now I need some time." Medvedev responds "I understand and will relay to Putin. And thank you for following Comrade Lenin."