Scientifically Proven - An Elitist Political Class Does Exist In America

I have always suspected that an elitist, royalty-like political class has been evolving in America for a long time. In fact, it was the basis for my book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class."

There had been some fragmentary, indirect evidence pointing to the existence of this class of royalty:

• People in this class seem to always vote themselves better pay levels, better retirement plans, better health care coverage, and far more personal and financial perks than what was available to every other American.
• These people tended to enjoy these perks even though they always seemed to be "on recess," i.e. they spend a lot of time on vacation.
• And finally, these people never to seem to be accountable for their failings or even take responsibility for their failures. Major issues confronting regular Americans never seem to be resolved, or even seriously addressed, by people in this royalty-like political class. The lost war on drugs, failing public schools, leaky borders, etc. have been with us forever without ever coming close to being taken care of.

However, we finally have quantitative proof that we have evolved into two groups of people in this country, those that are affiliated with the American political class and the rest of us. Every day, the Gallup polling organization surveys Americans of all income levels on whether they think economic conditions are good or bad and whether things are getting better or worse.

They take their results and convert the survey answers into an Economic Confidence Index for each state and the District of Columbia. A negative value of the index indicates that people are generally pessimistic about the economy. A positive index value indicates most people are generally optimistic about the economy.

The latest results are quite unbelievable. Americans in EVERY one of the fifty states have negative index values. In other words, wherever you live in the country, your neighbors and other state residents are in a negative mood about the economic conditions in their lives. North, south, east, or west, high population states, low population states, red states, blue states, America is generally in a sour mood when it comes to the economy.

Which is not surprising for most Americans. Unemployment is persistently high at around 9%, or the equivalent of 14 million Americans. Another 9 million Americans are underemployed or have stopped looking for employment. Economic life is not good around the country.

Except...if you are a member of the political class living in the District Of Columbia area. DC was the only area in the country that had a positive index value. Fifty states are negative and the location where the American political class is located has a positive view of economic conditions. Which is probably not too surprising since according to an article in the September 5, 2011 issue of St. Petersburg Times, the government's Bureau Of Economic Analysis estimates that the average per capita income in DC is $71,011 while the national average is $40,584.

And this disconnect is even worse than described above. While the national unemployment rate is around 9%, the unemployment rate in the DC area is 10.8%. So why the economic optimism in DC in light of this significantly higher unemployment rate?

Simple: the survey only included people who are currently employed. Thus, those that have jobs are much happier and optimistic in DC than those with jobs around the country, in every state. The negativity of unemplopyment does not come into play in this index. Even those with jobs around the country think things are economically bad except those with jobs in DC, the political class and those that directly benefit from the political class.

Talk about being disconnected from the reality of today's world. The whole country thinks the economy stinks except by those in charge of managing, and hopefully, optimizing economic conditions:

1. If those in charge do not see, feel, and understand the hard economic times, how are they expected to put any sense of urgency on the matter?
2. How likely are they do to the hard, serious work of deeply understanding the root causes of our economic plight when they do not feel the pain?
3. How likely are they to do the heavy thinking to develop the right solutions to these root causes, solutions that might require serious leadership traits and sacrifice when they do not feel the pain?

Given our politicians' less then sterling management of economic concerns so far, it is unlikely that the self-satisfied politicians in Washington will execute the difficult, in-depth work to fix the country's economic distress.

Does this seem like a classic "let them eat cake" moment? Has our political class become so enriched and isolated that the analogy to Marie Antoinette and the pompous French royal class from several centuries ago are so obvious? When you are perceived to be closer to Marie Antoinette than Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill or other great leaders from history, you are truly evolving, or devolving, into a pampered, isolated form of useless political royalty.

These findings alone prove that Step 39 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" must be implemented. Step 39 would impose term limits on all Federally elected politicians. We need people in Washington that understand the true economic situation throughout the country. People that are refreshed on a regular basis so that the disconnect between reality and Washington, as measured by this Gallup index, never happens again.




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 http://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.loathemygovernment.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.com/

Why Mr. Spock Would Only Give Obama One Term

I am not a big Star Trek fan but my family is so I have had to sit through all of the Star Trek movies and television shows in one form or another. However, a scene from the Star Trek movie, "Wrath Of Khan," has actually stuck with me since I first saw it.

In the climatic scene, the villian Khan and his bad guys are trying to shoot down the Enterprise when both ships enter some kind of dense, gigantic electrically charged cloud. This cloud reduces visual and instrumental tracking, making it difficult for the bad guys' ship to finish off the Enterprise.

After some tense maneuvering and dodging within the cloud, first officer Mr. Spock presents the following observation relative to Khan's actions: "He's intelligent but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking." In other words, Khan is searching for the Enterprise going left and right, ignoring the up and down dimension of space. Thus, Captain Kirk stops dodging left and right and drops the Enterprise down 10,000 units. Khan, the two dimensional thinker, goes directly over the Enterprise, Kirk lifts the Enterprise up 10,000 units and can now attack Khan's ship from behind. Victory!

Now consider some quotes from Barack Obama:

1. August 10, 2009 in the New York Times: "I've got a lot on my plate and it's very important for us to sequence these big initiatives in a way they don't just all crash at the same time." Which raises the obvious question: Is it better to have them crash sequentially?
2. Over the past few weeks, the President, his press secretary, and White House press releases have explained that the President will now "pivot" to the jobs issue. Which raises the obvious question: has he been ignoring the jobs issue to date?

In fact, the President appears to be only a one dimensional thinker, according to his own words. The President is a straight ahead, sequential thinker, focusing on only one issue at a time. In 2009, he was focused only health care legislation, postponing or "sequencing" other major issues after the one, single issue he was working at the time was done.

Unemployment has been stuck at around 14 million Americans and 9.0% for what seems forever, and this does not include the underemployment issue which probably includes another 9 million Americans who have given up looking for a job or are underemployed. It is only now that the President will "pivot" from wherever his attention has been to working on jobs?  At least Khan was a two dimensional thinking, looking left and right. Obama only looks straight ahead, only one problem at a time.

Yes, the President might be intelligent. However, his first three years in office and his pre-Presidential years show that he has had minimal experience in solving problems, he has minimal experience in multitasking, he has minimal experience in strategic thinking. The country faces some very serious issues. It cannot afford to wait until a one dimensional thinker and leader gets around to putting something else on his plate.

Consider what has happened since 2009 when the President declared he needed to sequence our national problems and issues:

• Unemployment and underemployment have gotten worse.
• Our national debt is on target to rise four TRILLION dollars during the President's term, incurring about $35,000 of debt for each household in the country.
• North Korea and Iran are two years closer to being nuclear weapons powers.
• We still have no national energy strategy and program.
• Most of our public schools are still under educating our kids.
• Health care costs are still rising more than twice the rate of inflation despite Obama Care.
• Our borders still leak and we still do not have a comprehensive and compassionate illegal alien plan.
• Our war on drugs is still being lost and resulting in a violent and lawless narco state evolving just south of our borders.
• We appear to still not have a coherent and effective strategy in dealing with the war in Afghanistan.

How long will it take the President to "pivot" to these problems? We cannot afford to wait for a one dimensional thinker to get around to these issues, these problems are affecting all of America everyday.

When Kirk took Spock's advice and dropped the Enterprise down below Khan's ship, he was strategically solving a problem by understanding the root causes of his dilemma, i.e. Khan is the problem but he was only a two dimensional thinker. Consider how this President does not think strategically like Kirk:

• His health care solution did not address the root causes of high health care costs in this country, e.g. Americans eat too much of the wrong kind of food, Americans do not exercise enough, Americans smoke too much, America's average age is increasing, etc. A strategic thinker would address these root causes. Obama did not, all he did was create a giant government bureaucracy that increases our taxes and does not eliminate the root causes of high health care costs because he could not think outside of the single dimenson of government bureaucracy.
• His energy policies are not much different: simpleton tactics with no overarching strategy. He wants cars to get better mileage, he wants trucks to get better mileage, he wants the EPA to shut down existing power plants that are polluting, etc. But there is no overall plan, just straightforward, one dimensional, short term thinking with no overall strategy.
• His drug policies are no better than any of his predecessors in the White House. By not thinking strategically, we are worse off than when he came into office if you look at the drug cartel violence wrecking Mexico.
• Failing public schools - I do not know what he is dong differently than any other politician who came before him and their approaches were no better than Khan's two dimensional thinking.

You get the idea. This President has two major problem solving flaws: all of his policies have been disconnected, short term, tactical actions that will not change or address the underlying root causes of our problems. Second, by his own admission, he cannot multi-task, he has to address each problem sequentially and when he does, the first flaw comes into play, non-strategic thinking.

Now it could be that the President spends so much time hosting every conceivable sports championship team at White House photo ops that he does not have enough time to multi-task. It could be that the President spends so much time political campaigning that he does not have enough time to multi-task. It could be that the President spends so much time traveling internationally that he does not have enough time to multi-task.

Or it could just be the simple fact that this President has never had to multi-task or think strategically. His background and White House tenure so far shows he can do neither. Thus, Mr. Spock would probably not support him for a second term since while the President might be intelligent, he's not experienced in the skills we need from a leader and a problem solver. If he cannot think beyond one dimension today, if he can only handle one issue at a time on his plate, we cannot wait until he might develop any multi-dimensional skills. 

The problems listed above are moving too fast and in negative directions to have someone like Khan at the helm. We need a multi-dimensional thinker that can multi-task. Too bad Spock and Kirk are no longer around.



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 http://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.loathemygovernment.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.com/

Two Amercians To Respect and Listen To - Pat Summit and Howard Schultz

As a follower of America's political class and their antics and insanity, it is not often I write about an American who I think should be respected and listened to. Today's post covers two such people, neither of whom are politicians.

Let's start with Pat Summit who is the head basketball coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Tennessee. She is really more than just a coach, she is a legend in college sports. According to the September 5, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated (in an article written by Kelli Anderson), Coach Summit's teams have won eight NCAA women's basketball national titles and her teams have won 1,071 basketball games, more than any coach in major college basketball history, both men and women.

Unfortunately, Coach Summit was recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 59. The Sports Illustrated article lists out some facts about Alzheimer's:

• This is an irreversible disease that progressively destroys memory and cognitive function.
• There is no cure, just a handful of drugs that provide modest improvement, if that.
• An estimated 5.4 million Americans have the disease of which 96% of those afflicted are over the age of 65.
• That number could grow to 10 million Americans within the next 20 years, given the aging of the baby boomer generation.
• Despite these numbers and the financial and emotional stress this disease currently places on the country, and the increased stress it will place on the country going forward, the Federal government spends only $450 million a year on Alzheimer's research, or about $83 for each American afflicted.
• Given that the Center For Disease Control estimates that 11.74 million  Americans currently have some form of cancer and the Federal government spends $5.8 billion a year on cancer research, the Federal government spends six times as much per person who has cancer than one who has Alzheimer's.
• The Federal government spends more than three times as much on heart disease research and more than six times as much on  HIV/AIDS research than on Alzheimer's.

I am in no way saying the Federal government should stop spending at the levels that it is currently spending on heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. What really ticks me off about the political class is that over five million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and that number is growing every day but:

• The Navy recently acknowledged that it wasted $310 million on building two Navy ships that will NEVER be used. This waste could have increased one year's worth of Alzheimer's research funding by over 64% and obviously would have been much more valuable.
• We still have about 46,000 troops stationed in Iraq for no strategic purpose, costing the country upwards of $10 billion a year, twenty times more than we spend on Alzheimer's research. What would be a better use of taxpayer wealth, deploying U.S. troops in Iraq (or South Korea, or Japan or Europe or Afghanistan) or addressing the health needs of over 5 million Americans?
• It is estimated that we lose about $60 billion a year to fraud in the Medicare program, about 120 times more than we spend on Alzheimer's research.
• The General Accountability Office found that more than 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations received $24 billion from the President's economic stimulus program even though they owed over $750 million in taxes. $24 billion is 48 times more than what the government spends on Alzheimer's research, a better use of funds than subsidizing tax evaders.
• Speaking of the economic stimulus program, an Associated Press investigative report found that over a thousand bridges that used stimulus funds for repair did not have anything wrong with them. Would it not have been a better use of taxpayer funds to increase Alzheimer's, and other deadly disease research, than to give it to politicians to fix unbroken bridges in their districts and states?

You get the idea, our political class priorities are all screwed up and wasteful. Certainly not something we should respect them for, their general handling of taxpayer wealth has been selfish, disrespectful, and a disgrace.

Which gets us back to Coach Summit. Having been intimately involved with a relative who suffered through Alzheimer's, I can attest to what a horrible disease this is. However, rather than melt away from public view, which Coach Summit has every right to do, she has decided to publicly battle the disease and continue coaching basketball to young women at the University of Tennessee.

According to Sports Illustrated: "It is hard to imagine, given her friends and fans around the country, that there won't soon be an Alzheimer's fund raising foundation in her name. One way or another, she'll be following the footsteps of other sports icons whose own public battles with disease have increased awareness and understanding and raised money to fight them."

This obviously will be a stronger factor if Coach Summit continues to be in the public eye. Or as Sports Illustrated closes their article: "It (the disease) will no longer be just a disease of the elderly that is suffered behind closed doors. It will be an opponent all of us should be focused on." All because this courageous American has decided to battle on in the public eye, something and someone to respect, listen to, and support.

Step 4 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" is in alignment with this situation. I tend to come down heavy on the political class for spending and wasting too much of our wealth through an onerous tax burden and that Federal government spending has to be drastically reduced. However, while spending needs to be cut dramatically, we still need to focus resources on needs and diseases that affect vast numbers of Americans. No more allowing fraud to steal taxpayer funds, no more deployment of troops in unnecessary foreign locations to support the military/industrial complex, no more building ships and other armaments that we never use. We need more people like Coach Summit who will be brave enough to do the right thing for the country and the diseases that affect everyone's family.

The second American who has gotten my attention in a favorable way is Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz. I had read about his brave initiative in the news and our family recently received an email from him which I have copied below. Mr. Schultz is basically calling out the American political class for their cowardness and selfishness that has been on full display these past few years.

He has received commitments from over a hundred business leaders and the promise that they will not donate to any politician's election funds until they the politicians start acting like adults. No re-election support until the politicians seriously and unselfishly put together a coherent economic plan that addresses our crippling national debt and that eliminates the overwhelming economic uncertainty in the country.

What makes this movement so worthy of our respect is that the American political class has shown that it can be a very vindictive animal through history. Nixon and Clinton had different versions of their "enemies list." President Obama gave a speech last fall, citing the need to "defeat our enemies," which included any American who dared to have an honest difference of opinion with Obama's policies. Ask the Gibson Guitar company, who just got raided by two dozen Federal agents. I suggest that you follow where that story is going and see what government and political class vindictiveness looks like.

So I applaud and respect Mr. Schultz and the hundred other business leaders for taking this courageous stand. They want America to be great again, they want leaders that make the hard choices, they want leaders who care more about America and Americans and not their own careers. I hope they are successful in finally getting our politicians to do the right thing.

In summary, thank you both Pat Summit and Howard Schultz. I applaud your courage and wish you both the best of luck in your battles

*********************************************************
2011


Dear Starbucks Friend and Fellow Citizen:


I love our country. And I am a beneficiary of the promise of America. But today, I am very concerned that at times I do not recognize the America that I love.


Like so many of you, I am deeply disappointed by the pervasive failure of leadership in Washington. And also like you, I am frustrated by our political leaders' steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty. Americans can't find jobs. Small businesses can't get credit. And the fracturing of consumer confidence continues.


We are better than this.


Three weeks ago, I asked fellow business leaders to join me in urging the President and the Congress to put an end to partisan gridlock and, in its place, to set in motion an upward spiral of confidence. More than 100 business leaders representing American companies - large and small - joined me in signing a two-part pledge:


First, to withhold political campaign contributions until a transparent, comprehensive, bipartisan debt-and-deficit package is reached that honestly, and fairly, sets America on a path to long-term financial health and security. Second, to do all we can to break the cycle of economic uncertainty that grips our country by committing to accelerate investment in jobs and hiring.



In the weeks since then, I have been overwhelmed by the heartfelt stories of Americans from across the country, sharing their anguish over losing hope in the strongest and most galvanizing force of all - the American Dream. Some feel they have no voice. Others feel they no longer matter. And many feel they have been left behind.


We cannot let this stand.


Please join other concerned Americans and me on a national call-in conversation on Tuesday September 6th hosted by "No Labels," a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fostering cooperative and more effective government. To learn more about the forum and the pledges, visit www.upwardspiral2011.org


America is at a fragile and critical moment in its history. We must restore hope in the American Dream. We must celebrate all that America stands for around the world. And while our Founding Fathers recognized the constructive value of political debate, we must send the message to today's elected officials in a civil, respectful voice they hear and understand, that the time to put citizenship ahead of partisanship is now.

Yours is the voice that can help ignite the contagious upward spiral of confidence that our country desperately needs.



With great respect,



chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company
 
 
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 http://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.loathemygovernment.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.com/

Political Class Insanity - September Edition

Another month and another great issue of Reason magazine. Reason is a liberty based magazine that constantly points out the incompetence of the political class and their continual destruction of freedom and liberty in America. The magazine usually provides many real and documented examples of government waste and insanity which we usually expand with political class insanity from other sources.

Let's start this month's political class insanity with three examples from Reason magazine:

- A recent study from two university professors found that Democrats serving in Congress averaged investment returns on their personal portfolios that was 9% above the market average. Republicans in Congress averaged investment returns on their personal portfolios that was 2% above the market average. These results are consistent with the conclusions one of the professors found when he did a similar study in 2004 where he found that U.S. Senator's portfolios averaged 10% higher than the market average.

Two possible reasons for this higher than average investment returns. A first possibility is that politicians are much smarter than the experts in the investment industry. Given their performance in all other areas that they touch, this is a highly unlikely reason. The second, more likely reason, is that these politicians are using their positions of knowledge on pending legislation to adjust their own investment positions before the rest of the world knows what is going to happen.

Given how intrusive the political class and Federal government have become intertwined in our lives and the market, actions by these politicians can determine which companies and industries win or lose in the marketplace, a very powerful position to be in. In the real world, this is known as insider trading and most Americans get thrown in jail for this type of insider trading. However, the real world does not exist in Washington and higher than average Congressional investment returns are just a normal part of their life.

- In 2006, animal activists convinced Congress to defund a government agency that was responsible for overseeing horse slaughterhouses. Without government oversight, American companies could no longer slaughter horses and were forced to go out of business and fire all of their employees.

However, the activists did not get the humane horse results they wanted. Shortly after the U.S. slaughterhouses shut down, the prices for horse meat internationally dropped substantially. Thus, it was no longer worthwhile to ship the horses to Mexico for slaughter. As a result, cases of horse abandonment, abuse, and neglect increased significantly.

This is hardly the humane treatment most animal activists had envisioned and is just another example of politicians who pass legislation and take action when they do not understand the root causes and interrelationships of a problem. Political action to help horses results in higher levels of abuse of same horses. Insanity.

- All levels of California government are under extreme economic stress. Shortfalls of tax recipients and an ever expanding debt and expense burden has resulted in government entities  cutting back on school budgets, social support programs, and other worthwhile government programs.

Given the dire financial situation, one would think and hope that California politicians were focused only on the most important issues facing California residents. However, according to Reason, the San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission has proposed that the city forbid the sale of all pets within city limits, including gold fish.

Certainly a bad set of priorities. Why worry about reduced school budgets when we have to take care of the dreadful goldfish problem plaguing the city? Insanity.

Consider some recent insanity that was documented in the September 2, 2011 issue of The Week magazine:

- A part of the economic stimulus program was to provide Federal government support to first time home buyers. Unfortunately, the government bureaucrats mistakenly sent $9 million of taxpayer wealth to 1,300 prisoners, some of whom were serving life sentences.Obviously, these lifers were not in need of financial support to buy a house.

- Another economic stimulus program, that was funded with $5.8 billion of taxpayer funds, was supposed to encourage homeowners to weatherproof their homes. This program sent fraudulent checks to infants, prisoners, and others who did not own homes.

More insanity:

- It appears that Onyango Obama was recently arrested in Massachusetts for a recent DUI incident. He was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and failure to yield the right of way. According to the incident report, the incident involved the defendant rolling through a stop sign while under the influence and nearly hitting a police cruiser.

Oh, by the way, Onyango Obama is the uncle of President Obama. When asked whether he wanted to make a phone call, Mr. Obama, the accused, said he wanted to call the White House. How embarrassing is this for the President. A relative is arrested and his first reaction is to look for help from the President Of The United States. Feels like the second coming of the Billy Carter era.

However, it is worse than this. Onyango Obama is actually an illegal immigrant and is now being held on an immigration detainer. He has been in this country illegally for almost 20 years. Given the sensitivity of the larger illegal immigration issue and our leaky borders, the President's credibility has taken a huge hit:

• Did he know his uncle was here illegally?
• If so, did he withhold information that would have let to his uncle's apprehension and deportation?
• If an ordinary American had an uncle that was here illegally and abetted his freedom, would they be arrested for breaking the law?
• How can the President assert any kind of authority in this issue when his own family are criminals in the eyes of the law?

In the spirit of Billy Carter and this DUI arrest, can "Onyango Beer" be far behind?

- According to ABC News, and other major news outlets, an American solar company in California, Solyndra, recently announced it is going out of business, terminating over a 1,000 jobs in the process. The interesting, and most depressing part of this story, is that it is likely taking over half  a billion taxpayer dollars with it.

It appears that the Obama administration gave the company over $500 million in Federal government loan guarantees to expand its operations just a year or so ago and to hire up to 4,000 workers. In just a short time, not did only the 4,000 jobs fail to materialize but the existing jobs and the government/taxpayer money was history.

This brings to mind a very insightful observation I recently read: "a new technology that serves a market need does not need government support and intervention. No amount of government support will make a non-viable technology viable." Too bad the President and his Department of Energy does not abide by this insight, we may have saved half a billion dollars worth of taxpayer wealth and avoided more Presidential embarrassment.

- Try to figure this one out. A major trucking company, Old Dominion Trucking, has recently been sued by the Federal government because the trucking company would not let a recovering alcoholic on its staff to get back driving any of the company's 18 wheelers.

Apparently, several years ago, the driver told the company that he was an alcoholic. The company paid for his treatment process and gave him a non-driving job. However, the government said that this recovering alcoholic, not a recovered alcoholic, under the Americans With Disabilities Act should be allowed to drive again. Think of the possible bad consequences of this action:

• Who is responsible if this recovering alcoholic has a drink or two and ends up killing someone while driving? Certainly not the Federal government.
• Even if the driver did not have any drinks prior to an accident, you know the opposing attorneys will bring up the alcoholic's past in any lawsuit, increasing the risk and liability of the trucking company.
• How high do you think this company's insurance rates will go once the insurance company finds out that a recovering alcoholic is driving again?
• How many jobs will be lost since the company will have to divert expense money to higher insurance premiums rather than expanding their business?
• What happens if the company ends up having recovering meth heads, cocaine abusers, or ex-marijuana users drive their trucks? Do you want to be on the same highway when that recovering meth head decides to take a hit to stay awake?

I think the company went beyond the call of duty by paying for the treatment process and keeping the recovering alcoholic on the payroll. It is the government that has endangered many lives so that they can mindlessly execute a regulation without thinking.

So let's review the latest insanity. Millions and millions of dollars lost to fraud, millions of dollars lost to stupid government solar investments, bad political class priorities, embarrassing relatives that could impact national policy making, and endangering lives for no reason. Combine that with the goatherder regulations we disucssed two days ago and you can see that political class insanity lives another 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 http://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.loathemygovernment.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.com/