January, 2015, Part 5, Political Class Insanity: A Meager Congress, Americans Loss of Hope, Wasting $1.6 TRILLION and Our Nero Presidency

It is the beginning of both another year and another month which means it is time to review the latest political class insanity from the American political class. For regular readers of this blog, you know that as 2014 progressed, the insanity, stupid quotes, ineffective governing and legislating, and general incompetence of our politicians seemed to accelerate as the year grinded on. No major issues got addressed, never mind resolved. Obama Care’s implications across the entire country and entire economy continued to unfold in disaster after disaster. Our foreign policy, or what was passed off as a foreign policy, was in tatters. Terrorism was on the march across the world. Veterans were dying because the Federal government could not fulfill the medical and health care promises those brave veterans were promised. The national debt has hit a mind boggling $18 TRILLION.

And our President continued to play golf and go on political campaign swings like no other President ever did. Congress narrowly missed becoming the least productive Congress of all time. Billions were spent and wasted on the November elections to elect people that did not deserve the time of day never mind billions of dollars. Racial division spread across the country, a division that was fomented and spread by those in office with something to gain.

And guess what? During this week and next you will see nothing has changed except the calendar. The political class is still out of control, the government entities that they rule over are bloated and ineffective, and the quality of life and freedom in this country continues to deteriorate. Hang on, it is going to be a bumpy next seven days or so.

1) According to a recent Businessweek blurb, based on analysis by the Congressional Research Service, we have spent about $1.6 TRILLION in Iraq and Afghanistan since the 9-11 attacks. This comes out to about $14,000 for every America household.

And what have we gotten for our $14,000 for each of our families? Iraq is an unsettled mess and now the home to the worst terrorist organization the world has probably ever seen. The Taliban are still alive and well and will probably retake Afghanistan in the next year or so as the U.S. and its allies withdraw their armed forces. Certainly not a good investment for the American taxpayer or the thousands of Americans who were killed and wounded for what looks like another mismanaged effort by the Washington political class.

We could have ended up in the same rotten foreign policy situation by doing nothing and saved $1.6 TRILLION of American taxpayer wealth.

2) We recently reported on how that almost one in five young adult Americans are living in poverty, the highest level ever recorded. This is just another example of how this administration and this set of Washington politicians have no idea how to implement sound and effective economic policies.

This and other anemic economic conditions might explain why fewer and fewer Americans believe that "it is possible to start out poor in this country, work hard, and become rich," as measured in a recent opinion poll. In the most recent measurement of this sentiment, just over 60% of Americans believe this statement. This is the lowest level since at least 1996 and continues a downward trend since 2011 where the belief was at just over 70%. Thus, this measure has deteriorated by about 15% in just three years despite our so-called economic recovery.

Conversely, the number of people thinking that this sentiment is not possible has risen for three years in a row and is at its highest level since at least 1996. Unfortunately, the economic ignorance and performance of the Washington political class is killing the hope and aspirations of the country, not a good sign for a nation that always believed in the future.

3) A recent tally by Businessweek showed that the current set of politicians in the White House and Congress barely avoided being the least productive set Washington politicians since at least 1973. This current session of Congress enacted only 296 pieces of legislation, only twelve more than the 284 pieces of legislation passed by the previous session of Congress. And that level was accomplished by enacted over pieces of legislation in a single day late in the Congressional session.

Now, I do not want politicians passing legislation that is bad or being passed just for the sake of being passed. If they passed legislation that would fix our failing public schools or dumped the failed war on drugs or cleaned up waste and fraud in government programs or did anything to resolve the major issues facing Americans, I could not care less how many pieces of legislation they passed. 

But Washington politicians never any major issues. According to Businessweek, these are the types of legislation that this Congress and President enacted during the past two years:

• 40 of the 296 pieces of legislation they passed did nothing more than name or rename a Post Office building, nine of which were in the state of New York state.
• 11 of the 296 pieces of legislation simply transferred land ownership.
• 8 of the 296 pieces of legislation awarded Congressional gold medals.
• 4 of the 296 pieces of legislation named members to the board of the Smithsonian.
• 2 of the 296 pieces of legislation pertained to duck hunting licenses.
• 1 of the 296 pieces of legislation set the date for the start of the next Congressional session.

Thus, these 66 pieces of legislation accounted for 22% of this Congress' "accomplishments."  Pathetic performance. These 66 pieces of legislation should have been taken care of in one day and these Washington politicians could then take the rest of the year doing real work. But given the condition of the country, that did not happen.

Thus not only was their work meager in quantity it was also meager in quality.

4) About 45 million Americans need Federal food assistance every month. About 15 million Americans are unemployed or under employed. Health care costs continue to rise despite Obama Care. As we saw above, hope in the future continues to decline.

But do not worry, life is still very good for the First Family, who has been enjoying a luxury Hawaiian vacation for the past two weeks and who are still eating quite well. According to reporting from The Hill and Newsmax, the First Lady and the President had a nice cozy New Years dinner under the following trying conditions:

• They dined at a Honolulu restaurant called the Vintage Cave, a restaurant that requires a $500,000 membership fee.
• The restaurant claims that its artwork and furnishings are worth $1 billion.
• Meals for non-members of the restaurant start at $295 a person.
• According to Honolulu Magazine, the restaurant was funded by a Japanese billionaire is "not accessible to 99% of the population."
• The entrance hallway is decorated with so-called Galle lamps that cost an obscene $850,000 a piece.
• The walls are made up of 150,000 antique bricks and the floors are granite that were taken from the mountains of India.

Some how the the phrase "Rome burned while Nero fiddled" keeps popping into my head. Americans are going hungry and this President easily spent over $600 on a single meal. Americans were being beheaded in the Middle East and this President kept playing golf. Americans were fighting for their lives in Benghazi and this President went to bed early to be fresh for his Las Vegas fund raiser the next morning. Two NYPD cops were assassinated and this President continued playing his round of golf when notified. Two citizens are forced to change their wedding plans with only 24 hours notice since it interfered with a Presidential round of golf.

Are we seeing a pattern here? This President is not a leader, setting good examples to inspire and lead the country forward. Much like most Washington politicians, he is just another selfish, narcissistic individual who is in public service for himself and his own needs, the rest of the homeless, hungry, and unemployed be damned.

That will do it for today's insanity. Failed foreign policy, failed legislative efforts, failing hope for the future, and failed leadership and humanity. Until tomorrow, buck this failure trend and consider joining the fight for term limits, an effort to replace the failures that infest Washington, with a new set of people who might actually care about America the country and its citizens more than themselves:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Because really, how much worse could it get if we started over with new people with new ideas and a sense of morals?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w