Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

You're above the System. Over it.
Beyond it. We're "them." We're "they."
We are the Men in Black
--Men in Black (1997)

Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession.
I have come to realize
that it bears a very close resemblance to the first
--President Ronald Reagan

Well, we're off, we're off, we're off!
I'll tell you what it is! (what is it God dang is!?)
It's some kinda Texas psychobilly freakout, that's what it is!
--Psychobilly Freakout, Reverend Horton Heat
_____________

America is a nation that bases its national policies and life upon denial of truth and the acceptance of lies. Our policy is to lie, and our lies are our policies.

Some of our guiding myths are:

• The government exists for the benefit of the people

• Deficit spending will solve all of our problems

• Taxation rates in our nation are lower than those in socialistic states like England, Sweden, Norway, etc.

• The government can spend us out of recession and depression

Let's discuss:

Government of, by and for the people does not exists anywhere except on paper. Elective government doesn't work because we elect people that are likable and who resemble us.

This means they can't even conceptualize what $787 Billion in a stimulus program means, or even what it looks like. Our legislators can't imagine what a trillion dollar war deficit actually means. Our lawmakers are just like us: They haven't got a clue, but unlike Ranger, they will not admit their ignorance.

Local officials are equally uninformed, and the city and county managers do some fancy footwork to keep things running, despite our politicians. Spending money that you do not have is not a policy that can be successful on any level.

In the past, the U.S. could squeak by with this fallacious thinking because we were an expanding and growing nation. No longer the case, we must now shift our thinking and jar our senses into pursuing realistic goals. Contraction rather than expansion is a necessary turn. The nature of our curent status requires it. This is not your dad's post-WWII America.

When one defies nature, famines result; to defy economic realities is to court national disaster. You cannot spend money you don't have and cannot pay back, and expect to prosper. We are a nation in production contraction, not expansion.

The fact is, the actual U.S. tax rate is higher than that of the socialist countries we denigrate. If we consider the costs of servicing our national debt, the monies that we spend are concealed from our oversight, but that does not mean they are not real. It still comes out of our pockets -- it is just deferred.

Let's get back to what Ranger knows best -- walking a trail and tactical movement. When in combat and moving to contact, it is a fact that the easiest trail is always the most dangerous. Our leaders always take us down the easiest trails because we want them to, but it always leads to disaster.

The U.S. would be better served if we raised taxes, while curbing government spending. The leaders of both parties are leading the American citizens down the aisle leading to the slaughterhouse. Judas goats are not leaders.

Don't smoke 'em if you don't got 'em.

Attention: Deficit Disorder

Every time it rains it rains
Pennies from heaven.
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven

--Pennies From Heaven, Bing Crosby

We're so sorry, Uncle Albert
We're so sorry if we caused you any pain;
We're so sorry, Uncle Albert
But there's no one left at home

--Uncle Albert, Paul McCartney
__________

''The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows (''Rules 'Hiding' Trillions in Debt.'')

Of course, our government follows the Enron school of creative bookkeeping, and so does not tally in all of its outstanding debt. But if they did an honest audit, it would reveal:

''Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined.''

''This hidden debt is the amount taxpayers would have to pay immediately to cover government's financial obligations. Like a mortgage, it will cost more to repay the debt over time. Every U.S. household would have to pay about $31,000 a year to do so in 75 years.''

Because real people like you and me have to cover that tab, we might get angry if we saw the actual black hole that is our government at the moment. The board which sets federal accounting standards is considering requiring the government to follow normal accounting rules.

Unsurprisingly, the White House and the Congressional Budget Office cry foul, saying ''the programs [Medicare and Social Security] are not true liabilities because government can cancel or cut them.''

I've noticed the same ethos in two small business transactions this week. Target stores and Pier I each assured me that my purchase could be returned at any time, given I saved my receipt. However, upon being approached for a return, both asserted their new policy of the two-month cutoff. "Sorry, but the rules changed sometime between when you purchased the item in good faith, and came in to cash it in."

Isn't that the new way forward? The New Deal is no deal. Cut bait when you tire of the fish in that pond--it's not like they can walk to another. Toss in a few melamine pellets and they'll go belly up. . .a lot easier to catch that way.