Racism In Elections

I don’t agree with most of Hillary Clinton’s political positions.  Hillary describes herself as a “Modern Progressive”.   She must think adding the “Modern” makes Progressivism sound less socialist. 

I do agree with something she recently said in one of her pre-Presidential campaign speeches.  She said, “Anyone that does not think race plays a role in elections is not paying attention.”  I totally agree because if President Obama did not carry over 90% of the black vote in his last two elections, he loses by a landslide.  If over 90% of the white vote voted against Obama, he loses by an even greater landslide.  Since these are the facts, were these elections racist?  Some people will say pointing out these facts is politically incorrect or even racist.

Should blacks vote for blacks?  Should espainics vote for espainics?  Should whites vote for whites?  This is wrong, but is clearly happening with some minorities. 

After President Obama was elected, I heard many people say, “Isn’t it nice we have a black President.”  This political situation is very dangerous because the candidate’s character and positions now become irrelevant.  Personally, I could care if President Obama is white, black, yellow, green, or purple.  Who is he, what are his qualifications, and what does he stand for?  That is what should be important.  I really get mad when I hear people called racist because they disagree with him. 

Race is a touchy subject, as most honest discussions about race are considered politically incorrect.  This is interesting because minorities ask for open discussions, but often only want a one-sided discussion.  They sometimes seem to want to proclaim their positions and demands with no discussion. 

Everyone has prejudices based on their personal experiences.  This is normal and maybe even good.  It may be part of our life’s learning experiences.  A prejudice may not be racist.  We have to stop using race in politics.  We must concentrate on the real issues facing this country. 

Bureaucratic Earmarks

In March of 2010, Sean Hannity did a series of shows on what he called the 102 worst earmarks.  A couple of   my favorites were:

·       #50 - Studying the impact of global warming on wild flowers in a Colorado ghost town ($500,000)

·       #49 - Bridge built over railroad crossing so 168 Nebraska town residents don’t have to wait for the trains to pass ($7 million)

·       #29 - Replacing all signage on 5 miles of road in Rhode Island ($4,403,205)

·       #15 - Deer underpass in Wyoming ($1,239,693)

·       #10 - Investing in nation-wide wind power (but most of the money has gone to foreign companies) ($2 billion)

The grand total for the 102 earmarks was $4.9 billion. 

The interesting thing is that not one of these earmarks was a Congressional earmark.  They all were federal government expenditures made by the President and appointed bureaucrats. None of them had the approval and in most cases not even the knowledge of Congress. 

In the past I have written blogs opposing Congressional earmarks attached to bills.  The total dollar amount is small as a percentage of the total government spending, but we have to start somewhere.  My biggest concern with Congressional earmarks was that they were used to pay off and reward political supporters and donors.  Any moratorium on Congressional earmarks may serve no purpose if the executive branch of the government is allowed to make the same and even less desirable expenditures. 

        The bureaucratic earmarks or expenditures are even worse and used for the same questionable purposes in many cases.  The Constitution gives Congress the control of the budget and all money spent by the government.  What has happened?  Congress has not passed a budget in years, and the executive branch of government and unelected bureaucrats seem to have carte blanche approval to spend whatever for whatever.  Congress is the legislative branch of our government and should control the purse strings.  Are we letting Congress become irrelevant?  How have we let this happen?  We must take our government back from the political ruling elite.

Outlaw the Avenger

A Dodge Avenger injured, and killed people on California’s Venice Beach boardwalk. 

We must outlaw the Avenger. 

The federal government must take action. 

We must stop this from happening in the future. 

We must do something. 

If only one person’s death is prevented, it’s worth it. 

Does this sound familiar?  There is no mention of the cost or effectiveness to do this.  There is no thought or concern for the rights of the people that now own or use a Dodge Avenger, or would like to own or use an Avenger in the future.  As long as it doesn’t affect me personally, who cares about individual freedoms anyway? 

I did not mention the driver, any control the driver had over the car, or any responsibility the driver had for the car.  If we don’t like something or something scares us, a portion of the population just looks to big government as the solution. 

Some people will say the Constitution does not guarantee the right to own or drive a car anyway.  How could it?  There were no motorized vehicles when the Constitution was drafted.  They say times and technology have changed, so how could the Constitution guarantee any personal liberties like driving a car?  They say the Constitution must be outdated since it restricts their political agenda. 

Isn’t it amazing how stupid these arguments sound when we are talking about a weapon that is a car.   I would again like to quote Benjamin Franklin.  “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.”

It's Complicated

          This seems to be a commonly used term recently.  What does it mean?  Some terms that could replace it are; I intentionally concealed things from you, I deceived you, I wasn’t honest with you, I covered up the facts, I lied to you, I lied about the cover-up.  Why would someone do this?  Are they just dishonest?  Do they put their personal interests above others?  Are they cheats or crooks?

        This type of behavior is becoming more and more prevalent in my opinion.  What has happened to being honest, a good work ethic, and Christian morality?  I think there is still a place for all of these in today’s society.

        I recently heard a Progressive say there has been fraud and corruption in government since the birth of this country.  I can’t say I disagree with that statement, but if that is true, what idiot would be in favor of big government?

        In the Customer Service chapter of my book, Business Fits: How to find the right business for you! I talk about never lying to a customer as one of the two most important points of good customer service.  The other one is giving the customer a prompt reply.  We can be honest in business and be successful. 

        My dad put a great deal of pride in his Word. He farmed the farm I was raised on for sixteen years.  He never had a written lease after the first year.  The next fifteen years were done on a handshake.  I wish we could do business like that today.  There are circumstances where we can with the right customer service.

         Some people think there are special circumstances that justify lying.  Some people expect and accept politicians lying?  Some people think all car salespeople lie and thus it is okay to lie to a car salesperson.  I give some great examples from when I was a new car dealer in my book, Business Fits.

I have four sons.  The youngest is named Adam.  Adam and his fiancé were parking in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado when Adam saw a bundle in the gutter.  When he picked it up he discovered it was $3,000 with an adding machine tape wrapped around it.  Adam briefly thought of keeping it, but turned it in to the police. 

        At the bed and breakfast one morning before Adam’s wedding, the boyfriend of his future mother-in-law was telling the story.  He concluded with, “Would you believe, the dumb kid turned it in to the police?”  He then pointed at me and said, “I blame you for that.”  I considered it a very nice compliment, although I’m not sure that’s how he meant it.

        The money was never claimed and Adam did later receive the money.  It was probably from some illegal activity.  I was very proud of my son.  Honesty is rewarded in many ways. 

        We can be honest and moral in business and we should accept nothing less from our elected officials and appointed bureaucrats.  If we don’t control and limit the power of the government we will eventually have a political elite ruling class.