February, 2017, Part 5, Political Class Insanity: More Pelosi Nonsense, More Food Stamp Fraud, And Finally, An Honest Politician

It has been several weeks since Donald Trump has been sworn in which means at some point in the future we may run out of material to talk about. With the demise of the Obama administration, eight years worth of wasteful and excessive spending for nothing in return, foreign affairs blunders, Obama Care disasters, and assorted other administration and government blunders and screwups might end with the onset of a new administration. Trump may usher in a new paradigm of government actions that are limited, effective, cost efficient, and protective of the Constitution. If so, then this blog would run out of material to discuss and would have to be shut down.

But I doubt it. Even if Trump is truly a different type of President, he is still fighting over 500 embedded and entrenched politicians in Congress and thousands and thousands of government bureaucrats who will not go peacefully into the night for the good of the country. I wish him well and hopefully he can fix at least some of the myriad of problems the American political class creates everyday but until then, enjoy the latest political class insanity from Washington and beyond:

1) The Washington political class, especially Obama, have been telling us for years that we need to support the “moderate rebels” in Syria to free the Syrians from the tyranny of the Assad dictatorship. As a result, we have been sending weapons and ammunition to these “moderate rebels” in their fight against the Assad regime. We were given the impression that these valiant, moderate rebels were modern day freedom fighters that deserved our taxpayer wealth and were using these U.S. supplied weapons only in the quest for freedom.

Well, of course that could not be further from the truth, like most everything that ever came out of the Obama administration, if you are to believe a DEMOCRATIC Congresswoman who just paid a secret visit to Syria. DEMOCRATIC Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii recently had an interview on CNN and let the country know what is really going on in Syria:

• Congresswoman Gabbard had just gotten back from a Syrian trip where she bounced around the country talking to various components in the whole Syrian mess: “I wanted to see if there was in some small way, a way that I could express the love and the aloha and the care that the American people have for the people of Syria, and to see firsthand what was happening there, to see that situation there.” 
• She spoke with Assad himself in addition to ordinary Syrian folks on the street.
• And to kill the Obama myth that we are supporting “moderate rebels, she had the following observations: “I’ll tell you what I heard from the Syrian people that I met with, walking down the street in Aleppo, in Damascus, hearing from them. They expressed happiness and joy at seeing an American walking through their streets. But they also asked why the U.S. and its allies are providing support and arms to terrorist groups like al-Nusra, al-Qaida or al-Sham, ISIS who are on the ground there, raping, kidnapping, torturing and killing the Syrian people.”
• Gabbard went on to form the following conclusion: “The reality is – every place that I went, every person that I spoke to, I asked this question to them, and without hesitation, they said, there are no moderate rebels. Who are these moderate rebels that people keep speaking of?”
• And her best point of all: “The fact that our resources are being used to strengthen the very terrorist groups we should be focused on defeating should alarm every American.” 

Did I mention that Gabbard is a DEMOCRAT, the same party as Barack Obama? That should give some credence to her findings, that a Democrat would dare point out and criticize the utter failure of Obama's foreign policy in Syria. Here we are, as a nation, supplying terrorist groups halfway around the world with guns and weapons that are likely being used to kill, maim, and otherwise terrorize how many thousands of innocent citizens of Syria? All for nothing since Syria was not a threat to the U.S. either militarily, economically or any other way. 

Instead of minding our own business, we are fueling the very people that would attack us in our own towns if they had the ability. So insanely stupid and it took a very brave Congresswoman, who obviously risked her life, to tell us these simple truths.

2) Let’s bring the insanity closer to home and took about good old fashioned ripoff of the American taxpayer on our own shores:

• Fourteen people were recently arrested in the Baltimore area for ripping off the Federal food assistance program to the tune of $16 million.
• The 14 people were retail and food store owners and they are accused of taking in $16,482,270 of food stamp/EBT payments without providing and food of any kind.
• Those indicted in the fraud case include Walayat Khan, Shaheen Tasewar Hussain, Mulazam Hussain, Mahmood Hussain Shah, Muhammad Rafiq, Mohammad Shafiq, Alia Shaheen, Mohammad Irfan, 59, Muhammad Sarmad, Kassem Mohammad Hafeed, a/k/a Kassam Mohammad Hafeed.

At the risk of being accused of being a racist, it does not seem to be a lot of Irish and Italian names on the list of those arrested. But there does seem to be a lot of Arab like names which raises a very troubling question: were these simple crooks that just happened to all be Arabs/Muslims or was some of the $16 million in taxpayer fraud money funneled into terrorist cells both within this country and throughout the world? If it is the latter, than we see the terrorists are getting U.S. taxpayer money in more ways than one, thanks to the ineptness of the political class and the Federal government apparatus it is supposed to be operating effectively and efficiently. Insane.

3) What would a month of political class insanity review be without some truly delusional and inane remarks from Nancy Pelosi. According to a Washington Examiner article by Al Weaver on January 13, 2017, Pelosi somehow decided to proclaim that the almost $10 TRILLION that Obama added to the national debt was none other than the fault of George W. Bush. Yes, eight years after Bush left office, leaving both houses of Congress in Democratic hands and Obama in the White House, in Pelosi’s delusional state she is still blaming Bush.

But let’s look at some reality for Pelosi’s sake:

• The highest annual budget deficit of Bush was lower than the lowest budget deficit of Obama.
• Obama created four consecutive annual budget deficits of over a trillion dollars each.
• Obama had MONTHLY budget deficits that were larger than some of Bush’s ANNUAL budget deficits.
• When Republicans tried to get Federal government spending under control a few years ago, Obama fought them every step of the way with no fiscal constraint on his part at all.

Blaming Bush for Obama’s budget deficits by citing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq misses the reality that Obama has been fighting in Afghanistan longer than Bush, Obama has reinserted troops into Iraq (and many other countries in Africa and the Middle East) and Obama has been dropping bombs all over the Middle East for years now, not Bush.

And Obama has been unable and/or more likely, unwillingly, to reduce the long term trend of ever increasing budget deficits with the 2016 budget deficit under his watch starting to rise again and the Congressional Budget Office showing that Obama has the country on track to again attain trillion dollar annual deficits quite soon:

She also blames high payments to drug companies, for some unknown reason, and tax cuts to the rich, which in addition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, still comes nowhere close to the almost $10 TRILLION that Obama added to the national debt, again showing how out of touch she is with reality and basically having no concept how much $10 TRILLION really is.

Look, I was never a big fan of Bush. At the time he was running unacceptable annual budget deficits. But in comparison to Obama, his deficits look like chump change regardless of what world Pelosi lives in. Of course Pelosi provides no real proof of the numbers or back up her ridiculous claims but that is usually par for her course, ramble on with wildly disconnected logic and come off as completely out of touch with reality.

That will do it for this month’s insanity: an incoherent Nancy Pelosi, more food assistance fraud in Baltimore that could have terrorist connections and a brave Democrat actually speaks out to show how pathetic and fatal Obama’s Syrian policy was and still is. More insanity next month.

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

Retro 4, Part 4, The Obama Presidency, The End Of An Error - Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Failures and Disasters

We originally ran this post back in October at around the 100 day mark of the final days of the Obama Presidency. We ended up running about seven blog posts which did a deep dive into the activities, acomplishmentsand failures of this Presidency. We found very little in the way of accomplishments but dozens and dozens of cases of falures and disasters, from the economy to foreign affairs to the basic concept of integrity. We are going to rerun those post over the next week or so as we close in on an end of an error, the Obama Presidency.

Part 4, The Obama Presidency, The End Of An Error - Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Failures and Disasters

As we near the end of the Obama Presidency, I thought it would be a good idea at the 100 day mark to review what he has done to and for this country over the past eight years. Before we do that, though, let me repeat my previous background statements on my past political actions:

• I have never voted for a Republican Presidential candidate in my life and I have been voting since the the Nixon era.
• Until 2010, I have never voted for a Republican for national office in my life.
• I am not affiliated with nor do I associate myself with the Republican Party, conservatives or people like Donald Trump.

Okay, now that we understand where I am coming from, let me just say that in my opinion Barack Obama has been the most inept, most divisive, most narcissist and worst diplomat in my lifetime to reside in the White House. From the economy, to race relations, to the national debt, to foreign relations to government operations, to blatant disregard for existing laws and the Constitution, in just about any measure we are far worse off as a nation than prior to him coming into office.

We will breaking down the failures and disappointments of this administration into some broad categories that will take us a number of days to cover as we analyze “The Obama Presidency - The End Of An Error.” Three days ago we reviewed the dozens of lies and broken promises of this President and two days we talked about the dozens of times that the Obama administration violated laws, the Constitution, and judicial rulings. 

Yesterday, we focused on how Obama and his administration has actively and aggressively divided Americans along sexual, racial, economic, and political lines. Specifically, rather than bringing people together, Obama stood silent and watched his political allies slander, degrade, insult, and divide the country to suit his needs, not the needs of the country and its citizens.

Today, we will focus on the many,many failures of the Obama administration when it comes to international relations. I can think of now world area or even a single country where we are in better relations now than when Obama came into office. Instead, we have been graced with the following foreign relations disasters:

Massive Foreign Affairs Failures:

Remember when Obama failed to slow down the North Korean drive for nuclear weapons when that country conducted its second nuclear bomb test in 2016 which had the blast equivalent to the Hiroshima nuclear bomb.

Remember when North Korea claimed that it now had“a variety of smaller, lighter, and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power … standardized [to be] mounted on strategic ballistic rockets,” and successfully conducted tests of its intercontinental ballistic missile, a road-mobile intermediate-range missile, a submarine-launched ballistic missile, upgraded medium- and short-range missiles, re-entry vehicle technology, a new solid-fuel rocket engine, and an improved liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile engine,” all of which makes the world and our country less safe than it was eight years ago.

Remember when Obama butted into, criticized, and lectured the Philippines and its President on its effort to curb drug addiction and drug cartels in its country, ticking off the country and it’s President, Rodrigo Duterte, so much that he called Obama the “a son of a whore,” and promptly began distancing his country from the U.S. and making overtones to become more closely aligned with China, a U.S. competitor in many, many ways.

Remember when Obama gave Iran just about anything it wanted in its so-called nuclear weapons agreement and Iran turned around and showed its gratitude by threatening to shoot down US spy planes operating in the Persian Gulf and harassed U.S. Navy ships operating in international waters, showing that nothing says no respect for a US President than some piss ant little country harassing the most powerful armed forces in the world and the President and commander in chief of those armed forces doing nothing. 

Remember when the President of Brazil turned down the opportunity to have a state dinner at the White House sponsored by Obama because his administration had spied on the Brazilian President’s phone calls.

Remember when Obama called ISIS a JV terrorist organization and then the world watched as ISIS grew into the most terrifying, gruesome, and richest terror organization of all time?

Remember when Obama threatened the Syrian government and strongman Assad not to cross the “red line” of using chemical weapons on Syrian citizens and then did nothing when Assad ignored Obama’s warning and crossed that red line?

Remember when Putin and Russia invaded the Ukraine and Obama did relatively little to oppose that hostile move, a strategy that was so ineffective that Russia still controls vast swaths of the Ukraine?

Remember when Obama pulled off one of the lamest foreign affairs stunts of all time when he refused to join other world leaders when Paris and France suffered terrible terror attacks by ISIS but a week or so later sent John Kerry and singer James Taylor to France where he sang his four decade old hit song, “You’ve Got A Friend?”

Remember when Obama prematurely withdrew the last US troops from Iraq, against the advice of his diplomatic and military advisors, in order to make a trite political point in his reelection campaign, which directly led to the rise of ISIS, the terrorist implosion of the country, and the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Iraqi citizens from terrorism?

Remember when Obama injected himself into the whole BREXIT discussion in Great Britain and not only was he told by any number of British politicians to butt out of their internal affairs but there is some evidence that his intrusion with his opinion that Britain should reject the BREXIT option resulted in a backlash that actually allowed the BREXIT option to win?

Remember when China decided to build artificial islands all over the Pacific Ocean, likely for military purposes, and faced no effective counter strategy or counter balance from the Obama administration

Remember when Obama tried to open diplomatic relations with Cuba and the Casto brothers, Fidel and Raul, and then had to sit by as the brothers then belittled and insulted the President in various ways and via various media outlets?

Remember when Obama became the first President to have U.S. armed forces actively involved in warfare during the entire length of his Presidency?

Remember when Obama’s lack of a cohesive Afghanistan military strategy resulted in the Taliban regaining much of the territory it had to give up over the past decade or so, endangering any and all progress that had been made by the U.S. and its allies over the same timeframe?

Remember how Obama incurred the highest percentage, by far, of Israeli citizens saying that Obama was the least friendly President ever towards Israel, one of our few allies in the Middle East region?

Remember when Obama illegally and un-Constitutionally entered U.S. armed forces in the Libyan military conflict, resulting in the spending of billions of taxpayer dollars on weapons and munitions and needlessly toppling a foreign government and society, causing it to morph into a terrorist haven and failed country?
This list is a lot of failures to remember. Intrusion to other country’s business, ticking off traditional allies, impotence to stop evil from spreading, failure to consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan, failures on all fronts. A foreign affairs end of an error. More discussion tomorrow and subsequent days on the Obama Presidency.

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:

http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Fighting Islamic Terrorism In the Wake Of Orlando, Part 3 - The Diplomatic, Humanitarian Solution

A few days ago we took some time to discuss the terrorist attack at a nightclub in Orlando a few weekends ago. We listed out a number of steps that needed to be taken in the short term, and extending into the long term, that would help prevent similar attacks in the future. These steps required extensive effort on behalf of the government and the Washington political class, something that neither has had the will or ability to do in the past. 

Instead, we get people like Obama and other liberals inside and outside of government that, as always, go to the knee jerk reaction of limiting Americans access to guns. As we pointed out yesterday, the 9-11 attackers did not storm the Twin Towers with AR 15 rifles, they used airplanes to carry their terror plans. The Boston Marathon bombers did not jump into a crowd in Boston and start shooting up the place, they used homemade bombs. Other terrorists here and around the world have used simple knives to kill in the name of radical Islamic terror.

We also pointed out that if a person wanted to carry out a terror attack, any new gun control laws passed by Washington would be nothing more than an inconvenience, if anyone wants a gun in this country, the drug cartels or other organized, and unorganized, criminal entity would be more than willing to make a few bucks by providing such weapons and guns. That is why the many suggestions we provided yesterday to attack the root causes of terrorism are far more important and more likely to be effective than window dressing gun control restrictions.

However, there has to be an overarching strategy to eliminate the terror threat from ISIS long term. While our suggestions from a few days ago would go a long way to help protecting us, a long term strategy to settle down the violence and hatred in the Middle East is required at the highest levels of diplomacy. That is where Obama needs to be concentrating as his Presidency winds down, putting together a long term plan, strategy, and way of life that brings all of the diplomatic players together in a grand coalition and effort that finally eliminates the root cause of the ISIS terror reign.

However, since he seems more interested in changing national bathroom policies, hosting Super Bowl teams at the White House, and hiking around a national park out west, two days ago we started the discussion on what the grand plan might look like, why it would work and how each interested party would have to give a little to get a lot, i.e. the end of the ISIS threat. To that end, we laid out the situational analysis on the ground in the Middle East, focusing on Syria, and what assumptions would go into formulating this overarching strategy.

In proposing this solution and plan, we realize that we are not trained diplomats. We have never held elected office. But we do realize that to have a final plan in any facet of life, you have to have at least a preliminary plan that is tweaked, negotiated, adjusted over time, etc. And since Obama, John Kerry, et al do not appear to have the will or have the ability to develop a plan, they are more than free to start with ours, as laid out below.

As we see it, and as we laid it out two days ago, there are nine major players involved in the mess in Syria with ISIS:

1. ISIS - the most ruthless, heartless, and well financed Islamic terror group ever, currently dominating large parts of Syria and Iraq, composed mostly of Sunni Muslims.
2. The United States - because we stick our noses into everything and the rise of ISIS was facilitated by the Obama administration.
3. Syria - or what is left of it, headed up by Assad, a Shiite Muslim.
4. Russia - an ally of Assad.
5. Iran - a Shiite dominated country and ally of Assad.
6. Iraq - a Shiite dominated country and an ally of Assad and Iran.
7. Turkey - bordering Syria, anti-Assad, and an ISIS sympathizer.
8. Saudi Arabia - and other Sunni Muslim Gulf states who are at least ISIS sympathizers.
9. Kurds - Anti-ISIS fighters with the majority of Kurds living in northern Iraq and who want their own country.

Each of these nine players have to be an important piece of the final solution, a solution that gives everyone of them something but gives none of them everything.

The overarching strategy and sequence of events goes as follows:

• A multi-national coalition of military forces is created with the sole purpose of defeating and dismantling ISIS, similar to what the first Bush presidency put together to free Kuwait from Iraq 25 years ago.
• Part of this military effort involves creating a safe zone for refugees in northern Iraq and eastern Syria, currently occupied by ISIS.
• This safe zone would expand as ISIS is pushed back from its current borders.
• As the safe zone is expanding, the United Nations steps in, with financing from every other country, to provide shelter and food and to start the reconstruction process. 
• Once ISIS is defeated militarily, a new country is created out of the northern part of Iraq and eastern part of Syria and run by Sunni Muslims.
• Assad is allowed to stay in power in Syria but with a greatly reduced country that is Shiite dominated.
• Russia would still have access to the Syrian ports that they crave.
• Iran, Russia, and Iraq are allowed to build a Shiite pipeline for their oil and natural gas through whatever part of what used to be Syria they want.
• The Saudis and other Sunni Gulf nations are also allowed to build a Sunni pipeline for their oil and natural gas through whatever part of what used to be Syria they want.
• A to-be-determined tariff would be placed on any oil and natural gas that flows through either pipeline and be used to help rebuild the cities and infrastructure in both the new Sunni nation and parts of old Iraq that were destroyed by the ISIS fight.
• As reward for helping to fight ISIS, the Kurds would have their own country carved out of territory in northern Iraq.
• As all of this is going on, the new Sunni nation would be a United Nations protectorate as it regains its ability to be a functioning government and society.
• Free passage back to the area would be provided for all refugees that fled the civil war and the ISIS terrorist group.

Okay, who wins and who loses under a diplomatic coup like this:

- ISIS is a big loser since it no longer exists with most, if not all, of its fighters and leaders killed or put on trial for crimes against humanity.

- The United States reengages militarily in the Middle East, historically not a good thing, costing America more money and lives. But its military mission would be focused solely on the defeat of ISIS and the short term protection of this new Sunni nation until a United Nations military force takes over permanently. In return, the U.S. lessens its refugee problem and associated costs, freeing up these costs to boost our homeland security, and reducing the threat of domestic and foreign terrorism on our shores. In addition, it helps destroy the ISIS terrorist organization that it had helped create.

- Assad gets to stay alive and in power but with a greatly reduced nation, territory, and power but the threat of ISIS on his remaining power and territory eliminated.

- Russia still has an ally, Assad in power even if the size of his country is greatly reduced, and still has access to the Syrian ports, but would have to face the reality that the Saudis and other Gulf Sunni nations do get their own pipeline for their oil and natural gas resources.

- Iran gets to keep their Shiite ally, Assad, in power, they get their Shiite pipeline through Syria but their pipeline has to pay a tariff to help finance the reconstruction of the devastated areas in the new Sunni nation and Iraq and they also have to compete with the Sunni pipeline.

- Iraq gets to keep their Shiite ally, Assad in power, they get rid of ISIS which has been terrorizing the country for years, they get a Shiite pipeline through Syria but their pipeline has to pay a tariff to help finance the reconstruction of the devastated areas in the new Sunni nation and Iraq and they also have to compete with the Sunni pipeline.

- Turkey gets to help create a Sunni friendly nation on its borders vs. having Assad’s Syria on its border but has to contend with a new nation on its other border that was created for the hated Kurds. Obviously, something else on the positive side of the ledger would have to be thrown in to get their support.

- The Saudis and other Sunni Gulf nations get to see the power of their arch enemy Assad greatly reduced and get to build their Sunni pipeline through Syria but but their pipeline has to pay a tariff to help finance the reconstruction of the devastated areas in the new Sunni nation and Iraq and they also have to compete with the Shiite pipeline.

- The Kurds get their own country but lose any oil industry subsidies they were receiving by being a part of Iraq, they would have to accept Kurd immigrants from any other country, and would have stringent conditions imposed on them to discourage any Kurd terrorists attacks within Turkey as what has happened in the past.

As you can see, in our proposed solution, every player gets something they want but also gets things they do not want or things that they cannot have. That is the art of negotiation and diplomacy. You get your own pipeline but your enemy/competitor also gets a pipeline. You get to stay in power but in power over a greatly reduced territory. As you can see above, everyone of the players gets something positive but we have highlighted the BUT in all of their arrangements, meaning they did not get everything. But everyone gets the elimination of ISIS which makes the world a much safer place to be.

This solution also provides a wonderful opportunity for the United Nations to prove that it is a viable and positive organization for humanity. I do not think I can remember anytime in my life when the United Nations was so impotent and so unnecessary in the face of a dangerous world. 

If it could become the force that unites the world and starts the rebuilding of societies in war torn Syria and Iraq, providing humanitarian aid, providing safe zones, helping to rebuild whole cities, stationing military forces to help implement the diplomatic solution, it would regain some of its credibility and show it continues to deserve our tax dollars. If it fails, then I really do not see a use for it going forward since I would dare anyone to show me how it justifies its huge budget year in and year out without providing any tangible results.

That’s our proposed plan. You may not like it but at least it’s a plan, which puts us eons ahead of Obama and John Kerry. Our plan can be adjusted, tweaked, implemented in stages and then adjusted some more, it is tangible. Obama and Kerry have nothing that can be started, adjusted, tweaked, or what is tangible. 

But at least we are having public bathroom discussions as a result of the Obama administration. At least the Super Bowl champs, the Denver Broncos, got to visit Obama at the White House. At least the President got to visit our natural parks out west. 

Obama is all about building his narcissistic legacy. What better legacy opportunity than this, to bring peace and harmony to a major cesspool of terror and destruction? Even Jimmy Carter pulled something off like this decades ago when he got Israel and Egypt to play nice together, that effort still lives on today. Succeeding in this effort, with or without our plan, would dwarf this Carter success. 

That is what the President should be working on, not the trivial stuff that gives him photo opportunities at every turn. Give us a plan, Mr. President, any plan is better than no plan.

George S. Patton - "A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later."

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:


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