Recent 9-11 Deaths

According to Jay Carney and all the news outlets, an anti-Muslim movie trailer is the cause of the 9-11 American consulate deaths in Libya and escalating riots around the world despite the fact that quite a number of protesters were armed with machine guns and rocket grenade launchers.

This conclusion is ludicrous. This trailer was first released in July on YouTube, but Muslims waited until 9-11 to get upset enough to burn consulates and kill people?

Instead of asking hard questions the news media and White House spokes people are focusing on Romney's comments after Obama apologized for upsetting the religious sensitivities of Muslims. My religious sensitivities are insulted on a daily basis by films, TV, and the Internet, but I'm told that I have to accept it. It's one of the consequences of living in a free society, although I have a lot to say about courteous speech some other time.

I didn't know that Romney is responsible for our foreign policy? I thought President Obama was, but if that were true then the news media would have to be drilling him for answers.

Healthcare vouchers?

During the DNC Obama attacked Ryan's plan to give Seniors the option to select a voucher plan for healthcare. Conventioneers acted horrified, but at the very same time in Washington, Obama's Health and Human Services Department was launching a pilot program to shift two million poor seniors out of Medicare into private health insurance plans overseen by states.

Eighteen states have applied to participate in this program and Massachusetts has already been approved. States will be given federal funds to purchase managed-care plans for people who are either disabled or poor enough to qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. 

Ryan's plan is very similar to this and I'm very happy to see the federal government trying something new. Ryan's plan gives all future retirees currently under the age of 55 the choice to remain on Medicare or use a voucher to purchase private healthcare.

Right now Health and Human Services isn't giving those two million poor people any choice. I hope they will get better care than I'm receiving under Medicare. I'm going on three weeks now without a diagnosis or treatment for a blown out knee. 

Either Obama was playing to his audience during the convention or he doesn't know what's going on in his own administration. 

Welfare State

We have a welfare state, whether it's Reagan's 18% percent of GDP or Obama's 28% and climbing percentage of GDP.

Republicans want to protect the safety net by balancing the budget so that 2008 doesn't happen again, reduce taxes, reduce tax loopholes, and rethink business and industry regulations.

Democrats want to protect the safety net by increasing taxes on anyone earning more than $250,000 a year, tax fossil fuels out of existence, and borrow almost a trillion dollars a year more to pay for health care, infrastructure, and green energy.

If Democrats win back Congress and the Presidency, will anyone want to start a new business or hire new workers unless it's subsidized by the government?

We need at least a decade of fiscal conservatives to be elected and we voters need to hold them to a pledge of balancing the budget, cutting taxes, reducing loopholes, and preserving the safely nets of Social Security and Medicare. Duplication in government offices and services need to be identified, reduced by attrition, and then merged or eliminated.

We need to finish up these foreign wars, use returning troops to protect our borders and shores, pare down troops to peacetime numbers, and begin replacing outdated ships, planes, and equipment.

Empty Promises

Thursday night Obama made more empty promises. He's going to rebuild America by using money saved by ending war, the so called “Peace Dividend”.

NEWSFLASH – there is no pot of gold sitting around that was used to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan! We borrowed most of that money. Now we have to pay it back, or in the very least, pay back interest on those loans.

We are Broke! We are in Debt up to our great, great, great, great grandchildren's necks! What's it going to take to make politicians and regular folks understand that?

Open your frigging eyes people. Empty promises, cheering crowds, and slick speeches are not getting us anywhere.

We need to let loose the creative juices of this country to expand our economy with the most minimal restrictions possible. Government needs to step back a bit, release its death grip, and let this growth occur.