Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
YOUR GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN WILL BE PAYING FOR THIS! CONGRESS DOES NOT CARE - THEY ARE BEING WELL PAID AND HAVE FREE PERKS!
Everyone in Washington knows the record Federal deficits and debt are out of control and can't continue. President Obama knows it. The ultraliberal Democrat Congressional leadership knows it. Rank and file Congressional Republicans and Democrats know it. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has been openly saying so.
Obama's economic policies, adopted by the Democrat-controlled Congress, call for total Federal borrowing of $3.5 trillion this year alone! The Federal debt is projected to soar over the next 10 years to a peacetime record of 84% of GDP, and to keep on growing past the all-time record of 113% of GDP during World War II. Rep. Paul Ryan, ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, projects it will climb to 200% of GDP, twice the size of our entire economy. That would be 5 times the level of national debt that prevailed for decades before Obama.
This is the result of adding Obama's extreme, liberal left, Keynesian economic plan, with its trillion dollar stimulus package of wasteful spending that will do nothing to stimulate the economy, on top of the exploding costs of our current entitlement programs.
Obama's New Amerika
But not to worry, because the Congressional Democrat leadership and President Obama have a plan. First they are going to pass national health care, adding the biggest entitlement of all to the fiscal catastrophe we already have, giving new definition to the term fiscal insanity. Then, after that, they are going to come back to us and say, gee, we have no choice now but to raise your taxes, really, really, really raise your taxes, to record-shattering levels, to levels so high that it will change the fundamental nature of our economy and our nation.
After that, America will no longer be a land of prosperity and booming economic growth, as it has been for hundreds of years, since early colonial days. It will no longer enjoy the highest standard of living in the world. It will instead be America the Welfare State, with a government so big and overwhelming that everyone will be scrambling to get their personal gravy in government handouts, rather than producing for the marketplace and consumers.
Example Number 1 of this will be the new Obama health care system, where the doctors and hospitals will all be working for the government, who will be paying their bills, not you the patient, who will just be along for the ride. When the government tells them not to provide medicine for macular degeneration, or cancer treatment for senior citizens because it is not "cost effective," or referrals to specialists until it is too late, the doctors and hospitals will all hop to and salute, because they will be desperate for their slice of federal funding.
In this new system, everyone -- patients, doctors, hospitals, etc. -- will all be sacrificed for the "greater good," as defined by the liberal left. Doctors and surgeons now refusing Medicaid and Medicare patients because the government won't pay them enough will find the same government is refusing them adequate payment for everyone. Cost pressures will lead the government to clamp down more and more over time on payments to doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and other health providers. They will be vilified in the media just like the bank executives are now in regard to their traditional bonuses. As a result, investment will collapse in new hospital capacity and medical facilities, and development and adoption of new, cutting edge, health technologies and advanced, high tech, miracle drugs, sacrificing the interests of sick patients. This is how Canada got to the point where a hospital room could not be found in British Columbia for a mother experiencing accelerating birth contractions, and she had to be flown over the Rockies to the next state, Alberta, while giving birth, to find maternity care. Human capital will flee the health system as well, as older doctors retire early and new ones choose other professions instead, further constricting care for sick patients.
The Current Entitlement Catastrophe
Adding this new, massive, health care entitlement on top of the enormous entitlement mess we already have could not be more ridiculous and wildly irresponsible. The latest Trustees' Reports show that the current unfunded liability for Medicare alone is $89 trillion. Social Security adds another $15.1 in unfunded liabilities, for a total of $104 trillion. And that doesn't even count Medicaid. The entire American economy right now only produces about $14 trillion a year.
Since World War II, going back 60 years, federal spending as a percent of GDP has been stable, hovering around 20%. But the cost of the three big entitlement programs alone, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is now projected to balloon eventually to 20.5% of GDP. Counting burgeoning interest on the national debt, on our current course federal spending will rocket towards 40% of GDP. Counting state and local spending, total government in America will consume over 50% of GDP. GDP will collapse in the face of all that spending and the resulting taxation and debt, increasing the percentage of government spending further. America will no longer be a free country, at least in terms of the freedom of people to enjoy the fruits of their own labor and decide how to use what they earn for the pursuit of happiness.
This doubling of federal spending as a percent of GDP implies a doubling of federal tax rates. The Heritage Foundation reports that trying to pay all of the promised benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by raising income taxes would require raising the top 35% tax bracket to 77% and the 25% tax bracket paid by middle income earners to 55%. All income tax brackets, in fact, would have to be doubled.
By 2018, less than 10 years from now, Medicare Part A will be running a deficit of close to $100 billion. General revenue contributions for Medicare Parts B and D that year are now projected to be $364 billion. Consequently, the deficit for Medicare alone that year will be close to $500 billion (and that assumes a scheduled reduction in doctor and hospital reimbursements of over 20% starting in 2010). Yet, Obama and the Left are preparing to fight for an "option" for everyone to join Medicare or its equivalent as the answer to our health care problems. This is their "public option," which they say will keep insurance companies honest. But who is going to keep the government honest? These people just cannot be numerically literate.
How the Plot Will Work: A Tax Increase for 95% of Americans
After Obama's socialized medicine plan is passed, the hue and cry will start coming out of Washington, and will be echoed throughout the Democrat Party controlled media, that something has to be done about this fiscal catastrophe. The answer will be to appoint a new federal spending and tax reform commission, which will report back just after next year's election. America will then be permanently mangled by the enactment of extremist, bone-crushing taxes early in 2011.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) is a leader of this plot. So is House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as well as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. So are all the blue dog Democrats, led by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN). Unfortunately, so are some strategically inept Republicans and conservative institutions who are thinking now we need to get control of the long-term budget disaster, but are not thinking ahead concerning what such a Commission will mean in the current Washington thoroughly controlled by the liberal/left.
In fact, legislation for just such a Commission has already been introduced in both the House and the Senate, by Reps. Jim Cooper and Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Sens. Kent Conrad, Judd Gregg (R-NH), and George Voinovich (R-OH). The great majority of Commission members will be appointed by President Obama and the current ultraliberal Congressional leadership. It would be modeled on the base closing commission, with only one up or down vote allowed on the Commission's sweeping recommendations.
One leading conservative institution that favors this bill argues that it expects the Commission to deal with the long-term budget and entitlement crisis entirely by cutting government spending, which is what it favors. But who are they kidding? The liberal/left now in complete control of Washington, not to mention the so-called Mainstream Media, is not going to support cutting the welfare state in half. It is going to use the Commission to figure out how to finance doubling the welfare state, which is what Obama and the Democrat Congress are adopting now. Any such commission is just to provide political cover for massive, runaway tax increases.
Barack Obama won the White House with a campaign pledge to cut taxes for 95% of Americans. But now this plot is under way to increase taxes on 95% of Americans, to record, bone-crunching levels.
The Right Strategy: Congress Do Your Job
America is not Iran, or Russia or China. We are supposed to be governed by the Constitution and democracy, not by a Commission of supposed "experts." Conservatives should not be involved in this plot to subvert our capitalist economy, our Constitution and our democracy. They should be advocating the legislative reforms and policies that conservatives favor, and demanding that Congress do its job and enact these changes.
This means that Congress must first reject any new health care entitlement. They should focus instead on alternatives that ensure we have a real health care safety net in place so that no one will suffer without essential medical care. That is all that needs to be done, we don't need a government takeover of health care as the Left wants. Such legislation has already been introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), involving no net increase in spending or taxes. Another bill has just been introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint with even less government involved, which is more strongly supported by conservatives.
Secondly, Congress should repeal the badly confused stimulus, and end all further bailouts. Only a small fraction of the trillion-dollar stimulus has been spent so far, and it has not and will not work to stimulate the economy. You don't restore economic growth by borrowing a trillion dollars out of the economy for the government to spend a trillion dollars. That adds nothing to the economy on net, and does nothing for the fundamental incentives that truly drive economic recovery and growth.
Thirdly, contrary to what most half -baked commentators say, packages of tax increases and benefit cuts are not the only way to reform entitlements. Rather, we should advance fundamental reforms that restructure and modernize our entitlements from the bottom up. Such reforms can serve the goals of our current entitlements even better than our current old-fashioned programs, while costing far less.
For example, in 1996 we reformed the old Depression era Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program by sending it back to the states with the Federal share of funding for the program in finite block grants. The old program provided matching federal funds for each dollar the state spent, so the states kept increasing their welfare rolls in good times and bad, bringing more federal funds to their state as a result. The new system provided that the amount of federal funding was fixed, and if the state spent more that extra money would all come out of its own pocket. But if the state spent less due to reform, it could keep the savings.
With these new incentives and the freedom to remake the program, the states focused on work requirements to reduce the program's rolls by close to 60% nationwide. Such reform should now be extended to the other 85 federal means-tested welfare programs, including Medicaid. Send them all back to the states under the same rules.
But Obama has done just the opposite, undermining this reform with new rules and welfare benefits adopted in his stimulus bill, which has already caused a reversal sharply increasing the welfare rolls.
Another opportunity is personal savings, insurance and investment accounts for Social Security and even part of Medicare. Workers should each have the freedom to choose to shift first some and then eventually all of their payroll taxes to such accounts, replacing all the benefits currently financed by those payroll taxes through the accounts. This would dramatically reduce federal spending over the long run, and phase out the deficits of Social Security and Medicare. But since over the long run, real market investments provide much better returns than Social Security even promises, let alone what it can pay, retirees would enjoy even higher benefits under such reform.
While our economy has suffered from a severe recession over the last year, such personal account investments are held for the very long term, for the entire adult lifetime of each worker. When we restore free market policies, the economy and investments across the board will boom again. Meanwhile, to ensure the social safety net of current entitlements continues, such reform can and should include a government guarantee that all retirees will get through the accounts at least as much as promised by Social Security. This would be far less than what such accounts would pay at standard, long term, market investment returns. The South American nation of Chile follows this same policy for its thorough personal account system adopted in 1981.
Such reforms are already included in the Ryan Roadmap, already introduced in legislation by Rep. Paul Ryan. That legislation has been officially scored by CBO as completely eliminating all long-term entitlement deficits, without any increase in taxes. Instead, the federal budget is balanced over the long term at 18.5% of GDP, smaller than the current Federal budget. Indeed, the Roadmap includes tax reform as well, with a new system applying a 10% tax rate on families with incomes up to $100,000 per year and singles up to $50,000, and a 25% rate on all incomes above that. Generous personal exemptions provide that a family of four earning up to $48,000 would pay no income tax.
Another round of tea parties is scheduled for July 4. The Washington plot to explode our taxes, and these alternative reforms, would be a good focus for tea party activists.
Peter Ferrara is director of budget and entitlement policy at the Institute for Policy Innovation. He formerly served in President Reagan's White House Office of Policy Development, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under the first President Bush. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Everyone in Washington knows the record Federal deficits and debt are out of control and can't continue. President Obama knows it. The ultraliberal Democrat Congressional leadership knows it. Rank and file Congressional Republicans and Democrats know it. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has been openly saying so.
Obama's economic policies, adopted by the Democrat-controlled Congress, call for total Federal borrowing of $3.5 trillion this year alone! The Federal debt is projected to soar over the next 10 years to a peacetime record of 84% of GDP, and to keep on growing past the all-time record of 113% of GDP during World War II. Rep. Paul Ryan, ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, projects it will climb to 200% of GDP, twice the size of our entire economy. That would be 5 times the level of national debt that prevailed for decades before Obama.
This is the result of adding Obama's extreme, liberal left, Keynesian economic plan, with its trillion dollar stimulus package of wasteful spending that will do nothing to stimulate the economy, on top of the exploding costs of our current entitlement programs.
Obama's New Amerika
But not to worry, because the Congressional Democrat leadership and President Obama have a plan. First they are going to pass national health care, adding the biggest entitlement of all to the fiscal catastrophe we already have, giving new definition to the term fiscal insanity. Then, after that, they are going to come back to us and say, gee, we have no choice now but to raise your taxes, really, really, really raise your taxes, to record-shattering levels, to levels so high that it will change the fundamental nature of our economy and our nation.
After that, America will no longer be a land of prosperity and booming economic growth, as it has been for hundreds of years, since early colonial days. It will no longer enjoy the highest standard of living in the world. It will instead be America the Welfare State, with a government so big and overwhelming that everyone will be scrambling to get their personal gravy in government handouts, rather than producing for the marketplace and consumers.
Example Number 1 of this will be the new Obama health care system, where the doctors and hospitals will all be working for the government, who will be paying their bills, not you the patient, who will just be along for the ride. When the government tells them not to provide medicine for macular degeneration, or cancer treatment for senior citizens because it is not "cost effective," or referrals to specialists until it is too late, the doctors and hospitals will all hop to and salute, because they will be desperate for their slice of federal funding.
In this new system, everyone -- patients, doctors, hospitals, etc. -- will all be sacrificed for the "greater good," as defined by the liberal left. Doctors and surgeons now refusing Medicaid and Medicare patients because the government won't pay them enough will find the same government is refusing them adequate payment for everyone. Cost pressures will lead the government to clamp down more and more over time on payments to doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and other health providers. They will be vilified in the media just like the bank executives are now in regard to their traditional bonuses. As a result, investment will collapse in new hospital capacity and medical facilities, and development and adoption of new, cutting edge, health technologies and advanced, high tech, miracle drugs, sacrificing the interests of sick patients. This is how Canada got to the point where a hospital room could not be found in British Columbia for a mother experiencing accelerating birth contractions, and she had to be flown over the Rockies to the next state, Alberta, while giving birth, to find maternity care. Human capital will flee the health system as well, as older doctors retire early and new ones choose other professions instead, further constricting care for sick patients.
The Current Entitlement Catastrophe
Adding this new, massive, health care entitlement on top of the enormous entitlement mess we already have could not be more ridiculous and wildly irresponsible. The latest Trustees' Reports show that the current unfunded liability for Medicare alone is $89 trillion. Social Security adds another $15.1 in unfunded liabilities, for a total of $104 trillion. And that doesn't even count Medicaid. The entire American economy right now only produces about $14 trillion a year.
Since World War II, going back 60 years, federal spending as a percent of GDP has been stable, hovering around 20%. But the cost of the three big entitlement programs alone, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is now projected to balloon eventually to 20.5% of GDP. Counting burgeoning interest on the national debt, on our current course federal spending will rocket towards 40% of GDP. Counting state and local spending, total government in America will consume over 50% of GDP. GDP will collapse in the face of all that spending and the resulting taxation and debt, increasing the percentage of government spending further. America will no longer be a free country, at least in terms of the freedom of people to enjoy the fruits of their own labor and decide how to use what they earn for the pursuit of happiness.
This doubling of federal spending as a percent of GDP implies a doubling of federal tax rates. The Heritage Foundation reports that trying to pay all of the promised benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by raising income taxes would require raising the top 35% tax bracket to 77% and the 25% tax bracket paid by middle income earners to 55%. All income tax brackets, in fact, would have to be doubled.
By 2018, less than 10 years from now, Medicare Part A will be running a deficit of close to $100 billion. General revenue contributions for Medicare Parts B and D that year are now projected to be $364 billion. Consequently, the deficit for Medicare alone that year will be close to $500 billion (and that assumes a scheduled reduction in doctor and hospital reimbursements of over 20% starting in 2010). Yet, Obama and the Left are preparing to fight for an "option" for everyone to join Medicare or its equivalent as the answer to our health care problems. This is their "public option," which they say will keep insurance companies honest. But who is going to keep the government honest? These people just cannot be numerically literate.
How the Plot Will Work: A Tax Increase for 95% of Americans
After Obama's socialized medicine plan is passed, the hue and cry will start coming out of Washington, and will be echoed throughout the Democrat Party controlled media, that something has to be done about this fiscal catastrophe. The answer will be to appoint a new federal spending and tax reform commission, which will report back just after next year's election. America will then be permanently mangled by the enactment of extremist, bone-crushing taxes early in 2011.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) is a leader of this plot. So is House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as well as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. So are all the blue dog Democrats, led by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN). Unfortunately, so are some strategically inept Republicans and conservative institutions who are thinking now we need to get control of the long-term budget disaster, but are not thinking ahead concerning what such a Commission will mean in the current Washington thoroughly controlled by the liberal/left.
In fact, legislation for just such a Commission has already been introduced in both the House and the Senate, by Reps. Jim Cooper and Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Sens. Kent Conrad, Judd Gregg (R-NH), and George Voinovich (R-OH). The great majority of Commission members will be appointed by President Obama and the current ultraliberal Congressional leadership. It would be modeled on the base closing commission, with only one up or down vote allowed on the Commission's sweeping recommendations.
One leading conservative institution that favors this bill argues that it expects the Commission to deal with the long-term budget and entitlement crisis entirely by cutting government spending, which is what it favors. But who are they kidding? The liberal/left now in complete control of Washington, not to mention the so-called Mainstream Media, is not going to support cutting the welfare state in half. It is going to use the Commission to figure out how to finance doubling the welfare state, which is what Obama and the Democrat Congress are adopting now. Any such commission is just to provide political cover for massive, runaway tax increases.
Barack Obama won the White House with a campaign pledge to cut taxes for 95% of Americans. But now this plot is under way to increase taxes on 95% of Americans, to record, bone-crunching levels.
The Right Strategy: Congress Do Your Job
America is not Iran, or Russia or China. We are supposed to be governed by the Constitution and democracy, not by a Commission of supposed "experts." Conservatives should not be involved in this plot to subvert our capitalist economy, our Constitution and our democracy. They should be advocating the legislative reforms and policies that conservatives favor, and demanding that Congress do its job and enact these changes.
This means that Congress must first reject any new health care entitlement. They should focus instead on alternatives that ensure we have a real health care safety net in place so that no one will suffer without essential medical care. That is all that needs to be done, we don't need a government takeover of health care as the Left wants. Such legislation has already been introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), involving no net increase in spending or taxes. Another bill has just been introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint with even less government involved, which is more strongly supported by conservatives.
Secondly, Congress should repeal the badly confused stimulus, and end all further bailouts. Only a small fraction of the trillion-dollar stimulus has been spent so far, and it has not and will not work to stimulate the economy. You don't restore economic growth by borrowing a trillion dollars out of the economy for the government to spend a trillion dollars. That adds nothing to the economy on net, and does nothing for the fundamental incentives that truly drive economic recovery and growth.
Thirdly, contrary to what most half -baked commentators say, packages of tax increases and benefit cuts are not the only way to reform entitlements. Rather, we should advance fundamental reforms that restructure and modernize our entitlements from the bottom up. Such reforms can serve the goals of our current entitlements even better than our current old-fashioned programs, while costing far less.
For example, in 1996 we reformed the old Depression era Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program by sending it back to the states with the Federal share of funding for the program in finite block grants. The old program provided matching federal funds for each dollar the state spent, so the states kept increasing their welfare rolls in good times and bad, bringing more federal funds to their state as a result. The new system provided that the amount of federal funding was fixed, and if the state spent more that extra money would all come out of its own pocket. But if the state spent less due to reform, it could keep the savings.
With these new incentives and the freedom to remake the program, the states focused on work requirements to reduce the program's rolls by close to 60% nationwide. Such reform should now be extended to the other 85 federal means-tested welfare programs, including Medicaid. Send them all back to the states under the same rules.
But Obama has done just the opposite, undermining this reform with new rules and welfare benefits adopted in his stimulus bill, which has already caused a reversal sharply increasing the welfare rolls.
Another opportunity is personal savings, insurance and investment accounts for Social Security and even part of Medicare. Workers should each have the freedom to choose to shift first some and then eventually all of their payroll taxes to such accounts, replacing all the benefits currently financed by those payroll taxes through the accounts. This would dramatically reduce federal spending over the long run, and phase out the deficits of Social Security and Medicare. But since over the long run, real market investments provide much better returns than Social Security even promises, let alone what it can pay, retirees would enjoy even higher benefits under such reform.
While our economy has suffered from a severe recession over the last year, such personal account investments are held for the very long term, for the entire adult lifetime of each worker. When we restore free market policies, the economy and investments across the board will boom again. Meanwhile, to ensure the social safety net of current entitlements continues, such reform can and should include a government guarantee that all retirees will get through the accounts at least as much as promised by Social Security. This would be far less than what such accounts would pay at standard, long term, market investment returns. The South American nation of Chile follows this same policy for its thorough personal account system adopted in 1981.
Such reforms are already included in the Ryan Roadmap, already introduced in legislation by Rep. Paul Ryan. That legislation has been officially scored by CBO as completely eliminating all long-term entitlement deficits, without any increase in taxes. Instead, the federal budget is balanced over the long term at 18.5% of GDP, smaller than the current Federal budget. Indeed, the Roadmap includes tax reform as well, with a new system applying a 10% tax rate on families with incomes up to $100,000 per year and singles up to $50,000, and a 25% rate on all incomes above that. Generous personal exemptions provide that a family of four earning up to $48,000 would pay no income tax.
Another round of tea parties is scheduled for July 4. The Washington plot to explode our taxes, and these alternative reforms, would be a good focus for tea party activists.
Peter Ferrara is director of budget and entitlement policy at the Institute for Policy Innovation. He formerly served in President Reagan's White House Office of Policy Development, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under the first President Bush. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Friday, June 26, 2009
An elderly man suffered a massive heart attack. The family drove wildly
to get him to the emergency room.
After what seemed like a very long wait, the ER Doctor appeared, wearing
his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said, "I'm afraid he is
brain-dead, but his heart is still beating."
"Oh, Dear Lord," cried his wife, her hands clasped against her cheeks
with shock! "We've never had a Democrat in the family before."
to get him to the emergency room.
After what seemed like a very long wait, the ER Doctor appeared, wearing
his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said, "I'm afraid he is
brain-dead, but his heart is still beating."
"Oh, Dear Lord," cried his wife, her hands clasped against her cheeks
with shock! "We've never had a Democrat in the family before."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Our Government Debt grows at $3.8 Billion per day, Mr. Obama plans to accelerate
this rate by creating new entitlement programs through his Soviet style 5-year
plan overseen by Zsars answering only to him! How about a Tsar to regulate Stupidity!
If your happy with the Govts management of the Post office and DMVs then you'll
simply love Mt Obamas control of your Doctors. Mr. Bush was inept and inarticulate
but Obama is simply Dangerous. His total management experience is equivelant to my
Son's lemonade stand and surrounding himself with union thugs and political commisars
won't help. Were doomed to become a second rate nation hobbled by dept and regulation' Freedom as we've known it is dead.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 24 Jun 2009 at 11:28:24 PM GMT is:
The estimated population of the United States is 306,428,672
so each citizen's share of this debt is $37,241.92.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.79 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!
National Debt -- In the News
20 Mar 09 - US Federal Deficit soars past previous estimates (Washington Post)
20 Mar 09 - Congressional Budget Office: US Deficit ballooning to record $1.7 trillion (Christian Science Monitor)
17 Mar 09 - National Debt hits record $11 Trillion (CBS News)
27 Feb 09 - Americans mixed on Obama Budget and fret over Deficit (Reuters UK)
26 Feb 09 - Proposed 2010 Budget available for review (Whitehouse.gov)
26 Feb 09 - Budget chief explains Obama's $2 trillion for Deficit reduction (Wall Street Journal)
26 Feb 09 - Obama plans huge shifts in spending -- and a $1.75 trillion Deficit (New York Times)
24 Feb 09 - Editorial: Massive debt is Obama's long-term challenge (San Jose Mercury News)
23 Feb 09 - Deficit concern jumps ... among the GOP (Washington Post)
22 Feb 09 - Obama plans to slash U.S. Budget Deficit by 2013 (Bloomberg)
9 Oct 08 - Maxing out the National Debt Clock (US News & World Report)
9 Oct 08 - Sign of the times -- The clock has run out on the National Debt (Wall Street Journal/AP)
this rate by creating new entitlement programs through his Soviet style 5-year
plan overseen by Zsars answering only to him! How about a Tsar to regulate Stupidity!
If your happy with the Govts management of the Post office and DMVs then you'll
simply love Mt Obamas control of your Doctors. Mr. Bush was inept and inarticulate
but Obama is simply Dangerous. His total management experience is equivelant to my
Son's lemonade stand and surrounding himself with union thugs and political commisars
won't help. Were doomed to become a second rate nation hobbled by dept and regulation' Freedom as we've known it is dead.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 24 Jun 2009 at 11:28:24 PM GMT is:
The estimated population of the United States is 306,428,672
so each citizen's share of this debt is $37,241.92.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.79 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!
National Debt -- In the News
20 Mar 09 - US Federal Deficit soars past previous estimates (Washington Post)
20 Mar 09 - Congressional Budget Office: US Deficit ballooning to record $1.7 trillion (Christian Science Monitor)
17 Mar 09 - National Debt hits record $11 Trillion (CBS News)
27 Feb 09 - Americans mixed on Obama Budget and fret over Deficit (Reuters UK)
26 Feb 09 - Proposed 2010 Budget available for review (Whitehouse.gov)
26 Feb 09 - Budget chief explains Obama's $2 trillion for Deficit reduction (Wall Street Journal)
26 Feb 09 - Obama plans huge shifts in spending -- and a $1.75 trillion Deficit (New York Times)
24 Feb 09 - Editorial: Massive debt is Obama's long-term challenge (San Jose Mercury News)
23 Feb 09 - Deficit concern jumps ... among the GOP (Washington Post)
22 Feb 09 - Obama plans to slash U.S. Budget Deficit by 2013 (Bloomberg)
9 Oct 08 - Maxing out the National Debt Clock (US News & World Report)
9 Oct 08 - Sign of the times -- The clock has run out on the National Debt (Wall Street Journal/AP)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
THE AGE OF INSANITY:
And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as The One. He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.”
And the people rejoiced. For even though they knew not what The One would do, He had promised that it was good; and they believed.
And The One said “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Change is good!”
Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,”----
And the people said “Sock it to them!”
“---- and redistribute their wealth.”
And the people said, “Show us the money!”
And then He said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”
And Joe the plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??”
And The One ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.
One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?”
And she was banished from the kingdom!
Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?”
And The One said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”
Then The One said, “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.”
And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.”
So The One said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Show us the money!”
Then The One said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!”
And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.
And He said, "I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics.”
And the people said, “Gim’me some of that!”
Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”
And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”
Then The One said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”
And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.”
So The One said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!”
Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing...”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!!” And they made him King!
And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.
Then The One said, “I am the The One – The Messiah - and I’m here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!”
But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, “Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more...”
And the people said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!”
And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”
And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?"
But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change The One had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.
And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, “Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!”
But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.
##########################################################
You may think this is a fairy tale, but it’s not. It’s happening RIGHT NOW!
Did you know the president’s name is really an acronym…
One Big Assed Mistake, America
And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as The One. He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.”
And the people rejoiced. For even though they knew not what The One would do, He had promised that it was good; and they believed.
And The One said “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Change is good!”
Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,”----
And the people said “Sock it to them!”
“---- and redistribute their wealth.”
And the people said, “Show us the money!”
And then He said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”
And Joe the plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??”
And The One ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.
One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?”
And she was banished from the kingdom!
Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?”
And The One said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”
Then The One said, “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.”
And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.”
So The One said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Show us the money!”
Then The One said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!”
And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.
And He said, "I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics.”
And the people said, “Gim’me some of that!”
Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”
And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”
Then The One said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”
And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.”
So The One said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!”
Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing...”
And the people said, “Hallelujah!!” And they made him King!
And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.
Then The One said, “I am the The One – The Messiah - and I’m here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!”
But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, “Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more...”
And the people said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!”
And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”
And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?"
But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change The One had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.
And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, “Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!”
But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.
##########################################################
You may think this is a fairy tale, but it’s not. It’s happening RIGHT NOW!
Did you know the president’s name is really an acronym…
One Big Assed Mistake, America
Friday, June 19, 2009
Subject: Economy Easy Fix
This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on:
"How Would You Fix the Economy ?"
I think this guy nailed it!
Dear Mr. President :
Please, find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy.
Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the
money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan:
You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan
There are about 40-million pe ople over 50 in the work force. Pay them
$1 million apiece severance for early retirement, with the following stipulations :
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings, Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty-million cars ordered , Auto
Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage, Housing
Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that and you would have money left over from
The idiotic give-aways like TARP now in force!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and your cabinet
pay their taxes ....
This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on:
"How Would You Fix the Economy ?"
I think this guy nailed it!
Dear Mr. President :
Please, find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy.
Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the
money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan:
You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan
There are about 40-million pe ople over 50 in the work force. Pay them
$1 million apiece severance for early retirement, with the following stipulations :
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings, Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty-million cars ordered , Auto
Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage, Housing
Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that and you would have money left over from
The idiotic give-aways like TARP now in force!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and your cabinet
pay their taxes ....
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Why I Voted Democratic:
I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.
I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.
I Voted Democrat because I believe the Government can better design the cars I want.
I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
I voted Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they are doing because they now think we are good people.
I voted Democrat because I thing Barney Frank and Pelosi are smart
I voted Democrat because I think the same Government that cannot balance a budget will certainly be able to deliver quality health car.
I voted Democrat because I think more illegal, uneducated aliens are good for the US.
I voted Democrat because I hate the military.
I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.
I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.
I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
I voted Democrat to see my income redistributed to the least productive citizens.
I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.
I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves.. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.
I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite The Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.
I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.
I Voted Democrat because I believe the Government can better design the cars I want.
I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
I voted Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they are doing because they now think we are good people.
I voted Democrat because I thing Barney Frank and Pelosi are smart
I voted Democrat because I think the same Government that cannot balance a budget will certainly be able to deliver quality health car.
I voted Democrat because I think more illegal, uneducated aliens are good for the US.
I voted Democrat because I hate the military.
I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.
I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.
I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
I voted Democrat to see my income redistributed to the least productive citizens.
I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.
I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves.. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.
I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite The Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
HERES WHERE WERE HEADED
From the L. A. Times
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card...
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal , whose births were paid for by taxpayers
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages..
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8.. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County . )
(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare. Over 70% of the United States ' annual population growth (and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York ) results from immigration. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue but it will soon be a tale of the
entire USA, Thank Nancy Pelosi and Obama; they need the voters.
From the L. A. Times
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card...
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal , whose births were paid for by taxpayers
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages..
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8.. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County . )
(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare. Over 70% of the United States ' annual population growth (and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York ) results from immigration. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue but it will soon be a tale of the
entire USA, Thank Nancy Pelosi and Obama; they need the voters.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com
See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article now OPINION: WONDER LAND MAY 28, 2009 Obama vs. The Beach Boys
Daddy's taking the muscle-car culture away.
By DANIEL HENNINGER
How long before the midnight drag races return on dark and dusty roads?
When Barack Obama announced that the government will use its fist to wave onto the highways of America cars that get 39 miles to a gallon of liquefied switch grass or something, he said, "Everybody wins."
Corbis
The Beach Boys.
Everybody? What country has he been living in? This marks the end of the internal combustion engine as we knew it, and it is the way Americans have defined, designed and literally driven much of the nation's culture for as long as anyone can remember. Car culture is America's culture.
Mr. Obama is fond of giving people iPods as gifts. I've got a playlist for Mr. Obama's iPod.
Track 1: "Shut Down" by the Beach Boys. Clip: "Superstock Dodge is windin' out in low/But my fuel-injected Stingray's really startin' to go. To get the traction I'm ridin' the clutch/My pressure plate's burnin', this machine's too much."
Fuel-efficiency regulations could mean the death of American car culture. Wonder Land columnist Daniel Henninger explains. (May 28)
Track 2: "Little Deuce Coupe" by the Beach Boys. Clip: "She's got a competition clutch with a four on the floor, and she purrs like a kitten til the lake pipes roar."
It's 2016. Imagine a Brian Wilson ever thinking to write: "And she'll have fun, fun, fun til her daddy takes her Prius away."
At Mr. Obama's "Everybody wins" announcement ceremony in the Rose Garden, no one knew better how much has been lost than the cowed auto chiefs arrayed behind him. CAFE, the fuel-mileage standards Congress mandated 34 years ago, gradually squeezed the size and life out of America's cars. But something's getting phased out here other than gas-fueled cars.
Some of the most famous celebrity converts to the politics behind this new, shrinking world of plug-ins once wrote and sang paeans to muscle cars and a more muscular culture.
Track 3: "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. Clip: "Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard."
Time was Bruce Springsteen knew that "Jersey boys" mainly meant steel, chrome, rubber and auto tech. Check out the lyrics to "Pink Cadillac" ("but my love is bigger than a Honda") or the car-crazy "Racing in the Street," invoking Chevys with 396 Fuelie heads, Hurst speed-shifters and Camaros running "from the fire roads to the interstate."
Podcast
Listen to Daniel Henninger's Wonder Land column, now available in audio format.
Track 4: "GTO" by Ronnie and the Daytonas. Clip: "Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out -- GTOoooo."
We are being offered a different world now. One designed, defined and driven by a new set of un-fun obsessions -- carbon footprints, greenhouse gas and alternative energy. This large transition passes before us, barely seen, as the gray water of public policy. Hardly anyone notices how much is being changed.
To put a stop to the new sin of spending too much time out on Highway 9, we are getting the mark-up hearings this week in Washington for the Waxman-Markey climate bill. It's 900 pages long, dripping with thousands of Mickey-Mouse rules to reorder how we live. A Senate Finance Committee document last week on the Obama health-care plan proposes "lifestyle related revenue raisers." Lifestyles like drinking beer. This is the "taxing bad behavior" movement. They get to define what's bad.
Track 5: "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody. Clip: "We had flames comin' from out of the side/Feel the tension, man, what a ride!"
This tension over how we live arrived before the world began standing on its head over global warming. The guys in the hemi-powered drones used to mock the granola and Birkenstock crowd. Look who's on top now.
"Everybody wins?" Not quite. What's winning is a worldview that goes deeper than the data beneath global warming. The gasoline cars they want to turn into scrap were about a lot more than the thrill of roaring on.
The cars and their culture were a manifestation of what made the U.S. really different. The cars, like the country, were big, fast and unfettered. Their drivers were delirious with the possibility of finding something new in life. "It's a town full of losers, and I'm pullin' out of here to win!"
When Americans grew up, that's just what a lot of them did -- win. Now, it looks like we're being asked to throttle down to government-approved survival. They're even running the car companies, telling them what to build, and then they'll pay people to buy the product. Save the planet and lose the nation's heart.
The likelihood of resistance to this timid ethos from anyone in politics is remote. It was tough to watch former A-4 Skyhawk pilot John McCain try to outbid Barack Obama for the green lifestyle vote in the debates. We'll see what happens when people walk into auto showrooms (if they exist) and every car has a wheelbase of about 100 inches.
Maybe they'll bolt. Maybe the car culture will revert to where it began, when the whiskey runners in the South ran from the revenuers. This time the cars themselves will be bootlegged -- fat, fast and gas-powered -- racing through the night on off-map roads while the National Green Corps -- enacted by Congress in the second Obama term -- looks for them from ethanolic choppers overhead. Reborn to run.
Write to henninger@wsj.com
Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com
See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article now OPINION: WONDER LAND MAY 28, 2009 Obama vs. The Beach Boys
Daddy's taking the muscle-car culture away.
By DANIEL HENNINGER
How long before the midnight drag races return on dark and dusty roads?
When Barack Obama announced that the government will use its fist to wave onto the highways of America cars that get 39 miles to a gallon of liquefied switch grass or something, he said, "Everybody wins."
Corbis
The Beach Boys.
Everybody? What country has he been living in? This marks the end of the internal combustion engine as we knew it, and it is the way Americans have defined, designed and literally driven much of the nation's culture for as long as anyone can remember. Car culture is America's culture.
Mr. Obama is fond of giving people iPods as gifts. I've got a playlist for Mr. Obama's iPod.
Track 1: "Shut Down" by the Beach Boys. Clip: "Superstock Dodge is windin' out in low/But my fuel-injected Stingray's really startin' to go. To get the traction I'm ridin' the clutch/My pressure plate's burnin', this machine's too much."
Fuel-efficiency regulations could mean the death of American car culture. Wonder Land columnist Daniel Henninger explains. (May 28)
Track 2: "Little Deuce Coupe" by the Beach Boys. Clip: "She's got a competition clutch with a four on the floor, and she purrs like a kitten til the lake pipes roar."
It's 2016. Imagine a Brian Wilson ever thinking to write: "And she'll have fun, fun, fun til her daddy takes her Prius away."
At Mr. Obama's "Everybody wins" announcement ceremony in the Rose Garden, no one knew better how much has been lost than the cowed auto chiefs arrayed behind him. CAFE, the fuel-mileage standards Congress mandated 34 years ago, gradually squeezed the size and life out of America's cars. But something's getting phased out here other than gas-fueled cars.
Some of the most famous celebrity converts to the politics behind this new, shrinking world of plug-ins once wrote and sang paeans to muscle cars and a more muscular culture.
Track 3: "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. Clip: "Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard."
Time was Bruce Springsteen knew that "Jersey boys" mainly meant steel, chrome, rubber and auto tech. Check out the lyrics to "Pink Cadillac" ("but my love is bigger than a Honda") or the car-crazy "Racing in the Street," invoking Chevys with 396 Fuelie heads, Hurst speed-shifters and Camaros running "from the fire roads to the interstate."
Podcast
Listen to Daniel Henninger's Wonder Land column, now available in audio format.
Track 4: "GTO" by Ronnie and the Daytonas. Clip: "Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out -- GTOoooo."
We are being offered a different world now. One designed, defined and driven by a new set of un-fun obsessions -- carbon footprints, greenhouse gas and alternative energy. This large transition passes before us, barely seen, as the gray water of public policy. Hardly anyone notices how much is being changed.
To put a stop to the new sin of spending too much time out on Highway 9, we are getting the mark-up hearings this week in Washington for the Waxman-Markey climate bill. It's 900 pages long, dripping with thousands of Mickey-Mouse rules to reorder how we live. A Senate Finance Committee document last week on the Obama health-care plan proposes "lifestyle related revenue raisers." Lifestyles like drinking beer. This is the "taxing bad behavior" movement. They get to define what's bad.
Track 5: "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody. Clip: "We had flames comin' from out of the side/Feel the tension, man, what a ride!"
This tension over how we live arrived before the world began standing on its head over global warming. The guys in the hemi-powered drones used to mock the granola and Birkenstock crowd. Look who's on top now.
"Everybody wins?" Not quite. What's winning is a worldview that goes deeper than the data beneath global warming. The gasoline cars they want to turn into scrap were about a lot more than the thrill of roaring on.
The cars and their culture were a manifestation of what made the U.S. really different. The cars, like the country, were big, fast and unfettered. Their drivers were delirious with the possibility of finding something new in life. "It's a town full of losers, and I'm pullin' out of here to win!"
When Americans grew up, that's just what a lot of them did -- win. Now, it looks like we're being asked to throttle down to government-approved survival. They're even running the car companies, telling them what to build, and then they'll pay people to buy the product. Save the planet and lose the nation's heart.
The likelihood of resistance to this timid ethos from anyone in politics is remote. It was tough to watch former A-4 Skyhawk pilot John McCain try to outbid Barack Obama for the green lifestyle vote in the debates. We'll see what happens when people walk into auto showrooms (if they exist) and every car has a wheelbase of about 100 inches.
Maybe they'll bolt. Maybe the car culture will revert to where it began, when the whiskey runners in the South ran from the revenuers. This time the cars themselves will be bootlegged -- fat, fast and gas-powered -- racing through the night on off-map roads while the National Green Corps -- enacted by Congress in the second Obama term -- looks for them from ethanolic choppers overhead. Reborn to run.
Write to henninger@wsj.com
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