Savage Republican

I’ve written and preached many times on the looming and soon to be unstoppable Social Security and Medicare disaster. The Chair of the Dallas Federal Reserve now estimates the current “infinite horizon discounted value” is $99,000,000,000,000 (yup, you read it right, “trillions”). “Infinite Horizon Discounted Value” (I really like that term! It’s such a high brow way of saying “We’re screwed!” ) is a term that tells us what we need to put away today, now, this hour, to meet the future debt of Social Security and Medicare. These numbers are not hidden. They’re not secret. They’re not mysterious or the result of conspiracy. Dallas Fed President Fisher, Dr. Walter E. Williams among many others have been telling us this for years. Williams also tells us that the annual growth of that “infinite horizon discounted value” is $4,650,000,000,000. I’ve also written that this is a future war between generations. The Baby Boomers first, then their children will start to draw on the system. Now, acknowledging the fact that there is no money in the trust fund, just a bunch of special Treasury Bonds (aka government IOU’s), what to do? Well, it seems that that inter-generational is arriving just a bit sooner than I thought.
From Drudge, there is this headline “Pension Losses Pit Old Against Young as States Beg For Relief...“. The problem? The growth in government necessitates growth in bureaucrats and government employees. After a time all those government employees retire and continue to suck off the public teat. Now that states are facing huge debts and pension funds have taken a hit, the state pension funds are also in trouble. In trouble to the tune of over $800,000,000,000. These are monies owed. The money invested by all the states in their pension funds, nationwide, was 57% of what they spent in police and fire protection.
Frank Karpinski, Exec. Dir. of the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island explains one side of the dilemma (raising taxes) quite nicely:”I don’t think anybody wants to do that, likes to do that or would say it would be an easy sell anywhere, especially given the current economic situation”. The other remedy is to reduce benefits. However, that also will be a hard sell according to John Adler of Capital Stewardship Program that invests for the Service Employees International Union (the same union that has turned to the government for help):”I believe that our members will oppose such initiatives in collective bargaining or in state legislatures.“
I’m not going to talk about the growth of government employee unions such as AFSCME. But, this article points out exactly what will be happening in just a few short years with a $99,000,000,000,000 “infinite horizon discounted value” debt. The only two future options are to raise taxes or cut benefits. Those two options will pit future benefit contributors against future benefit receivers. The present option is to radically address this problem now. But, you have the Democrats who opposed even a modest proposal from President Bush to allow younger workers to invest a small portion of their monies privately. And the prospects of something decent and workable coming from a Congress that can’t even run its own lunchroom or Capitol Visitors Center (that started out at a $71MM project bit came in at over $600MM and years late)? Or from a Nancy Pelosi who now runs the House of Representatives as her personal ideological fiefdom?
What also is telltale is where the states expect relief: the Feds. There are only three places the Feds get the “bailout” money: taxes (you pay), borrowing (you pay with higher interest rates and the hope that people will accept the Treasury Bonds), or just print the money (inflation or hyper inflation) whereby you pay as the purchasing power of the dollars you own evaporate before your eyes.
I’m reminded of the laws of physics and economics. The result of attempting to restrain natural forces is a larger expected result: say you have a pressure cooker and keep the heat on and don’t either reduce the heat or bleed off the pressure. Eventually the pressure cooker will catastrophically fail. In other words: it will blow up. Guaranteed. Same with economic laws. If something is probably going to happen, is forecast to happen and nothing intervenes to reduce its probability of occurrence, it will happen.
As I sign off on some of my emails:” Illic est a tempestas in horizon. Instruo pro is.” “There is a storm on the horizon. Prepare for it.“

Leon Panetta to head the CIA…well, why not. After all, my thoughts were Leon Panetta to the CIA would be like Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court (after all, she did volunteer for Meals on Wheels you know, which, if she lived in New York , would immediately qualify her for Senate and Archbishop of the New York City diocese). The only difference is that Harriet Miers has actual experience for the job for which she was nominated.
The money making quote from the LA Times, other than the headline:”Leon Panetta, a former congressman and Clinton chief of staff, would give Obama a political ally at the helm of the troubled spy agency” The LAT then goes on to, well, basically, excoriate the Panetta selection. Don’t get me wrong, the CIA has been in dire need of a house cleaning and fumigation from all of Jimmy Carter’s and Bill Clinton’s appointments. The CIA has ceased being an intelligence gathering agency that is constructed and charged to supply the President with intelligence and has become a political entity with its own agenda, the administration be damned. as much as I am loathe to say this (thermostats are heard to be clicking on in hell) I agree with the LA Times on this one.
Read the article. The LAT does a good job on the Panetta nomination.
Too bad they didn’t exhibit this type of real journalism over the past year or so.
One last thought: notice the problems brewing for Obama in both houses of Congress.
once again, a newby to the Oval Office discovers he’s not the only one with an ego in Foggy Bottom. The rules of engagement and adversaries change when you go from under a marble dome to a painted over/ fire rehabbed residence.

From a link at Hot Air, there is an editorial from the Wall Street Journal about the consistent inconsistencies that seemingly always favor Franken. The money making quote? “The Coleman campaign clearly misjudged the politics here…” Do ya think?!?!? I’ve written about the Coleman recount disaster here and here.
My friend Ed Morrissey, from Hot Air, was on the Bill Bennett Show this morning talking about the Coleman/Franken recount. After hearing the interview, I wrote to Ed expressing my thoughts:
“Ed-
Heard you on Bill Bennett this morning.

Mentioned on Rush, sought after by all the rest. And I can say “I knew him when he was just a Captain.”

I listened to your comparison of the Chambliss and Martin race with Coleman and Franken. There is/was one huge difference and that’s Dean Barkley. The third party candidate in GA only took in 3.4% of the vote. Dean took in 15.1%. There was no third candidate in the Georgia race for the run off. I’ve yet to see an analysis of the Barkley voters, but heard King and Michael do an analysis in early October that showed Dean bleeding more votes from Franken than Coleman. If you remember Ventura’s run in 1998, for every one vote he took from Coleman he took two from Skip Humphrey. My gut tells me Dean probably did about the same %’s. I believe if Dean had not run, Franken would have won outright. Had there been a Georgia style run off here, I believe Franken would have won by recapturing enough votes from Dean that he would have won.

That being said, I figure those missing 7 MM votes from the 2004 Presidential election figured into Coleman’s totals. If Coleman had been able to capture just 5,000 more votes (just over 1 vote per precinct here in MN), he’d be on the Senate floor this morning rather than meeting with his legal team for coffee. “

Just my thoughts…

There is so much that stupefies me in this clip: California, near Berkley, while shopping at Whole Foods, driving a VW van. Granted, the firearm wasn’t hers (there are fairly strict gun control laws in California. So, the victim didn’t have a firearm but the criminal did- which I’m sure that he obtained legally. I’m still just a bit confused on how gun control laws protect citizens). So, she had to borrow the criminal’s firearm.

Notice that the police don’t recommend fighting back. That advice is absolutely situational. If you are being taken by the carjackers, you definitely need to fight back. Never, ever be taken in a car. EVER! It appears that she was in the back of the van and the carjacker was in control in the driver’s seat. It is not apparent if the side doors were open or closed, if the van was already in motion and therefore she was fighting to get free or to get out or to force the carjacker out. So, I would take the reporter’s comments about the police saying don’t fight as conditional.
That being said, good on her.

Seems Sgt. Holmes was in Paris in June 1945. A Colonel he knew asked him “Sergeant, do you have a jeep?” “Yes, sir, I do.” “I want to visit my family that I haven’t seen since I fled Italy and the fascists. So, I need to have you drive me to the Swiss border.” “Yes, sir.” And off they went on their 600 mile round trip odyssey. Mark dropped off the Colonel at his direction and was told to be back at that spot next day at 1500 hours. “Yes, sir.” Mark called his C.O. (a two star if I remember correctly) and was asked where he was going and what he was doing. Mark said he’d report back to him when he returned. Next day, 1500 hours, Mark picked the Colonel up after visiting his family and returned to Paris. Mark immediately reported to his C.O. and was asked where he had gone. “Well, sir, I took Colonel Fermi to Switzerland to reunite with his family that he hasn’t seen since he fled the fascists and came to the United States.” Colonel Fermi was Colonel Enrico Fermi, Noble Prize winning top nuclear physicist in the world Enrico Fermi, the man who launched the first fission reaction Enrico Fermi and was deeply involved in the top secret Manhattan Project Enrico Fermi. That’s the Colonel Fermi who Mark was spiriting all around France, Switzerland and Italy. With no escort or security detail. The General replied: “I didn’t hear a single word you just said Sergeant! Dismissed.” “Yes, sir.”
My friend Mark:

It wasn’t until yesterday when I was taking a picture of Mark’s medals that I saw he had his jump wings, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star .
Heroic deeds as commonplace.

Please click on the below image and look over the map, drawing your attention to the area dated 1851. Look at the incredible area outlined. Just eyeballing it, it appears to be about 1/2 of the entire current area of the state of Minnesota.
When I was in sixth grade, we studied Minnesota state history, including the Treaty of Travers de Sioux which was signed just north of what is now St. Peter. Five years ago I was coming back from a gun show in St. Peter and decided to stop by the Treaty Center. As I walked in, I saw a similar map on the wall next to a copy of the treaty signed in 1851. The price for the ceded area was $1,650,000. Works out to be about 7¢ an acre. The government then went ahead and sold it at $1.25 an acre to the white settlers. This infuriated the signers of the treaty and ruined their reputations in the tribes (more on that in a bit). Oh, and the Sioux never received the full amount (further reputation destruction if not outright hostility to whites. By destroying the reputation of these men, the government had eroded if not destroyed its ability to reason with and within the various tribes). I remember thinking, as I read that last statement “Yup. They did it to you and they doing it to us also.The only thing that’s changed is time and they’ve gotten better at their craft.”
One of the provisions in the treaty was that the Sioux on their reservations be able to have access to their traditional hunting grounds. The Senate, however, changed the treaty more than once (on all treaties here). The Senate eliminated the reservations set aside. It then insisted that the tribes accept the new provisions or there would be no more monies paid. The tribes were desperate for food, goods and the money promised by the treaty having abandoned the land. Millard Fillmore agreed that the tribes could occupy what had been the original reservation land until ” it was needed for white settlement.” In 1858 the Sioux who lived along the Minnesota River were pressured to cede their land also. They did and were granted reservations called the Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies. Without access to their traditional hunting grounds, they were forced to depend on the government for their very sustenance (anyone see a warning flare here?). The Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies contained incredibly rich farm land and one the agents said that the land was being settled with “great rapidity”. Surprisingly enough, the landowners and Indians were very fond of each other for the most part. It was the agents who ran the warehouses that were the problem. Payments to the Sioux were usually late. Goods and services were denied or were sold by the agents to those outside the agencies. However, after a failed crop in 1861, by 1862, the Sioux were incredibly desperate. They were starving. One agent, who when the Sioux came to him pleading their case, was quoted as saying “Let them eat grass and dung!” The Sioux had reached a breaking point and rebelled in what is called “The Great Sioux Uprising“. The aforementioned agent was found dead. His mouth had been stuffed with grass.
The white settlers ran for towns, starting with New Ulm. Many made it. Many did not. Years ago I was in a very small town in SW Minnesota called Currie. In preparation for a pig roast, my friends from Curry and I went out of town to pick sweet corn (I was admonished, as a city boy, that I had wandered into and was picking the field corn). Paul asked me if I knew where I was. “Outside Currie, trying desperately to distinguish between sweet and field corn?” He said,”This area is called Slaughter Slough. This where a number of white settlers who were trying to get to New Ulm were caught and killed in the Great Sioux Uprising”. I was standing on blood soaked ground. Fifteen settlers had been killed where I stood.
After cessation of hostilities, there was a trial for over 300 of the tribal members. Well, not really a trial. It was a military tribunal, many times having no witnesses, no legal representation or explanation of the charges. Many were summarily convicted and sentenced to death within five minutes. President Lincoln reviewed the sentences and commuted all but 38 of the convicted. They were executed enmass on this day in Mankato in what is still the largest mass execution in the United States. I remember travelling down highway 169 as a child with my Mom and Dad on the way to visit my grandparents in SW Minnesota. One time we went through downtown Mankato, across the river to the east side near the railroad underpass. As we stopped, I looked out the window. There was a plaque that read on this spot 38 Indians were hanged as a result of the Great Sioux Uprising. That plaque has been removed.
Those hangings took place on this day, 26 December 1862, 146 years ago.
And so I reflect on this day about men who were starving, desperate, watching their children suffer, who had been lied to, cheated on, deceived by that very same government they depended on, when men who were left with no alternatives took action.

One thing more: when the Senate changed the treaty it reminded me of two Supreme Court decisions: There does not, repeat , does not exist a contract between the government and citizens concerning Social Security. Two Supreme Court decisions.
So, when you hear politicians say how “we need to honor the contract we have with the American public” remember: no, they don’t. No, they haven’t.
And , if needed, they can and are perfectly willing do to you as they did to the Sioux and Dakota fifteen decades ago.
So, hang in there…so to speak.

I’ve written about Coleman’s recount team before. That being, I came across what again proves to me that lefties always have two sets of rules and laws: one for them and one for the unwashed servants (us) that should serve them.
John Lott (from a link from Mitch Berg) has done a comparison of ballots for Coleman and ballots for Franken.
I did some screen shots, edited and used my stitching software so cobble together a side by side comparison of the ballots (I apologize for the less than professional level of the image. You can provide contributions to send me to graphics school if the image quality stresses you that much). All the ballots on the left, save the last one, were not counted for Coleman. All the ballots on the right were counted for Franken. In this side by side, if this sampling were to carry through all ballots, I’d believe the +46 for Franken would disappear faster than ACORN volunteers in front of an FBI sweep.
Seems to me there is supposed to be a consistency in the law. Coleman may have a case with Bush v Gore as the case precedent.

I’ve written before about my friends in the 8th Air Force Historical Society. These are the guys who flew and maintained the B-17, B-24’s, B-25’s, C-47, Corsairs and so many more planes in WWII (both Europe and the Pacific). We also have ground troops and aviators from other wars and we also have hanger ons like me.
The WWII vets are all in their 80’s. Some have walkers, others have oxygen tanks, many have hearing aids. I watch as I see my future in these men. They go from being old to being frail to being infirm. They go from attending the lunches to missing some lunches to getting to some lunches to not being able to go to lunches anymore. And then it’s the call or the notice…So it is with another one my friends, Mark Holmes.
I met Mark about a year after I joined the 8thAFHS in 2001. I ran into Mark at an Arby’s in Edina, but didn’t remember his name. Well, that changed over the next few months. From his name tag at the lunches, I knew Mark was in Air Force Intelligence, but not much more than that. Again, that was to change.
My friend Larry Bachman (B-24 pilot, 35 completed combat missions) celebrated his and his wife’s 60th wedding anniversary with an open house at his church. Mark was there and we talked for a bit. He was telling me that he no longer drove and wasn’t sure about making the lunches. I said I could come and pick him up from time to time. “Well, if it’s not out of your way.” Serving WWII vets is never out of my way. So, one bright early spring morning I went to Hopkins to pick Mark up. As we were going to lunch, I asked Mark what he did in Air Force Intelligence. “I was a courier.” What did he do as courier? “Oh, I picked up documents and brought them back to headquarters.” Ah, I see. Well, trying to keep the conversation going I asked where in England did he pick those documents up? “Oh, I picked them up in France, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Germany.” Behind enemy lines? “Oh, sure.” Oh, sure? Well,how many times? “21 I think.” TWENTY ONE! Parachuted? “Only once. Airplane all the other times.” Ever caught? “No. Real, real close lots of times though!” Oh….real, real close… lots of time. Here I was, giving a ride to one of the most self effacing men I had ever met. Just a matter of fact tale of going behind enemy lines on numerous occasions and coming close to certain execution if caught-a number of times.
This morning, about an hour ago, my friend Glenn called. My friend Mark has passed from living history to history past.
As I said before they go from being old to being frail. The notice was relayed to us a couple of months ago from Mark’s son that his Dad was probably not going to be able to make it to the lunches anymore. I knew time was being counted for Mark.
And of course I reflect on the time being counted for all the rest of my WWII friends. There will come that time when the last WWII veteran I know will transcend living history. There will be that moment when all experience will become memory.
I’ve written before that I told my brother that the deeper we get into the 8thAFHS and the more we know these guys, the more acute and deeper the pain will be when they pass away. My brother then made a comment that echoes what Mark did in WWII:”We knew the mission was dangerous when we accepted it.”
And I intend to enjoy whatever time left the Lord allows me to hang out with these guys.
Rest and fare well Mark.

I’ve posted on the organizational problems at Team Recount Coleman. It has not gotten better.
I’m a member of the Republican Party of Minnesota State Central Committee. Members are elected from their Senate District conventions in odd numbered years. Our terms are for two years. The officers of the Republican Party are elected by the State Central Committee and they serve for two years.We meet as called. And we were called to meet on 6 December at the Sheraton in Bloomington. After the business of the day, there was a meeting to update us on the senate race recount. Very interesting stuff that you’ll never hear in the MSM. One point: those 133 “missing ballots”? Not necessarily…Seems that the precinct with the “missing ballots” is at the University if Minnesota. Also seemsm that this is the second ‘serious” problem at that precinct. But, here’s what happened with the “missing 133”: There were 133 ballots short on the reconciliation tape from the optical scanners versus how many people signed the voter register. So, there was discrepnacy. Now, the lines at this precinct were up to 2 hours long. These are University students who have classes and jobs to get to. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that they got of line to go to class, their job, they got impatient. Sue Jeffers over at KTLK has a daughter who was in a line to vote where she goes to college. She lefrt the line and came back later. But, our intrepid George Soros backed Sec of State said “AH HA! These ballots are missing!!!” Of course they were. Nothing suspicious about his proclamation about missing ballots in a heavily Franken leaning enclave. Anyhow, back to Team Recount Coleman.

So, at this meeting is guy taking names to help with the recount. I approached him and told him of my previous failure to be contacted by Team Coleman. I told him of my background: a former election judge, a former SD Executive Chair, State Central Committee member, I’m 6’2′, 250# and have played rugby and can be intimidating, and so on and so forth. He had his laptop open. He took and entered my name and cell number. He told me I’d be contacted “today”. He gave me his card. I told him I’d email him as soon as I got home. I emailed him directly at 5:54 p.m., Saturday, 6 December, with, as promised, my name and county in the subject line.

As of this writing, I’ve yet to hear from Team Coleman or this gentleman.

And now, look, look I say, look upon our new Senator brought to you by inept Republicans: