Failure to Communicate

"What we have here is...failure to communicate." - Strother Martin, Cool Hand Luke. One of the greatest lines in the history of film. Spoken by the captain of a prison or which Luke, played by Paul Newman, was a resident. As the story goes, Luke tries unsuccessfully several times to escape the prison only to be returned a captured fugitive destined for time in the box. Luke didn't "get it."


Cash for Clunkers. Sounded good. A rebate program where customers get $3,500-$4,500 for trading in their less-efficient vehicles on the purchase of a new one. So let me see how this works: 1) customer goes to car dealership; 2) customer picks out a car/truck that gets better gas mileage than his/her current vehicle (not too complicated so far); 3) dealership gets reimbursed by government for that qualifying trade-in. Simple!


One would think. However, there's this illogical place in the brains and innerworkings of the government that DOES NOT ALLOW anything to be simple. The government cannot do it! No matter how hard it tries, it has to screw it up; it has to complicate it with forms, restrictions, fine print, double-speak, partial-truths, smoke screens, bait and switch. (You will notice that I quickly left the list of less serious process variation causes for the more intentional ones because that's how this phase of the Gov' rolls - deceptively).


So here we are a couple of days away from the expiration of said CFC program (there's a joke in there somewhere), and yet why isn't everyone excited about this program? Why isn't everyone ecstatic that such a program has plunged (word used intentionally for effect) billions of dollars into the economy? I'll tell you why. Because car dealers are worried about not being reimbursed by the government. That's right. Apparently the government hasn't reimbursed car dealers ANY MONEY (as of August 22, 2009) for this program. But this program's been going on for weeks (if not months). Some car dealers are stopping the program a few days early for fear that they WON'T get reimbursed.


Why is this difficult? The dealer fills out the correct form with the qualifying information (it can't be submitted without the exact information filled in); the dealer sends it to the Gov' (possibly electronically - I know, don't jinx it); and then the Gov' sends the dealer a check. Why is this hard? The dealer can't send in an incorrect form because the Gov' is the one that issued the form with strict restrictions on what qualifies for this program and what boxes to "fill in." The Gov' surely has a department for processing such forms (hopefully with no more than one person running it if you even need a person running it). IT'S TOO FRICKIN' SIMPLE TO SCREW UP!


However, this is what you get when the Gov' rolls out a program: a slick-sounding, can't miss, Poka-yoke, with no downside. Hmmm, this sounds a lot like a slick car salesman (yet another place for a joke).


What the hell, we should let the Gov' run health care. Now there's a good idea.

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining!

OK, time to wake up! There is nothing short of a communistic takeover of our government going on. Let's look at some facts:


1. We have passed a stimulus package that essentially redistributes wealth throughout society. How are we going to pay for this? Higher taxes! SOMEONE HAS TO PAY FOR THIS PEOPLE.

2. We have passed a cap and trade bill to redistribute energy. This one appears more complicated, but has at its core the same redistribution principle at work. Unless you live accoring to long-standing priniciples, you can do nothing but delay the inevitable.

3. And lastly, most of the people appointed by Obama are or have been associated in some way with communism, the muslim nation, and/or other ANTI-AMERICAN protests at some point in their careers. Please check into this.

Now, as reported on Foxnews.com there's a fishing exedition being put on by the White House? Are you kidding me? This is such horseshit. WAKE UP AMERICA - THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO CONTROL EVERYTHING YOU DO! My main man Glenn Beck has actively been reporting a very scary link between the president and this group called "Apollo." You need to check into it.

Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

Alright, alright. Haven't we all had just about enough of this beer-gate horseshit. What a load of crap. I continue to find reasons to be scared out of my mind for Obama being my president. A relatively minor incident (we find out it's minor after we get the facts) occurs in Cambridge, MA between a police officer and a local professor, AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS HEAVILY WEIGHING IN ON IT! Does this not scare the shit out of you? Are you not scratching your head saying WTF? You should be. You should be gravely concerned that at least 2 full weeks of our country's time and effort were taken reviewing the ins and outs, pros and cons, etc. for this minor incident. What's unemployment up to? How's the credit crisis doing? What's the latest on the changes in healthcare reform for the elderly? YOU DON'T KNOW BECAUSE WE'RE DEBATING WHETHER THIS HOPS-GATE INCIDENT IS A TEACHABLE MOMENT!



At some point long ago I began figuratively stepping back and asking the question, "Why?" I began applying this litmus-type inquisition to various scenarios throughout my life and society: "Why would people remain in NOLA when federal orders were to leave? Why would Bill Clinton intentionally bomb an aspirin factory instead of a potential terrorist site? Why won't Obama allow the press (as if) to use his middle name? Why would CNN begin holding presidential debates 18 months prior to an election (a seemingly huge time prior to one)? And now, why would Obama get involved in what appears to be either a simply civilian issue or a simple misunderstanding or a miscommunication? Was the offended person related to the President? No. Did the offended person (who happened to be a black man) invoke the President's name at the time? No. Was the offended person indirectly related (through family) to the President? No. Was a possible terrorist involved? No. Did this occur on Federal property? No. Did this occur at a secret or military facility? No. Did the incident involve a high-ranking governmental official? No. Did the incident involve a low-ranking government official? No. Did the incident in ANY way involve a threat of ANY kind to our nation on behalf of another nation? No. Hmmmmmm. That's strange...why would the President of the United States of America get involved in this incident? YOU CAN'T ANSWER IT BECAUSE YOU'RE THINKING LOGICALLY OR YOU'RE TRYING TO USE REASON! There is NO logical reason for him to get involved. It was a simply civilian incident - the type that occurs many times a day EVERY DAY in our country. So now it's time FOR YOU to start thinking of other reasons.



1. Did Obama get involved because he wanted the nation's attention directed elsewhere? Yes. His UN-stimulus package has backfired and unemployment has gone up.



2. Did Obama need to improve his poll numbers by creating a diversion that was small yet controllable? Yes. His numbers in recent weeks are finally showing what most, thinking Americans have known all along - you can dress that bum (healthcare, not Obama) up in clothes and lipstick (no pun intended), but he's still a bum. No matter how you cut it, when you don't approach problems from a strong principled standpoint, it's eventually going to fail. You can't add 45 million people to healthcare who are not currently covered and get a) better healthcare, or b) lower costs (future blog coming on the cost, quality, and time triangle).



3. Was anything else happening or going to happen over the past 2 weeks that would need more attention than beer-gate? Yes. Pick any number of events from Obama's attempt to pass healthcare reform legislation in the middle of the night to dealing with North Korea's continued threat to bomb Hawaii (while we graciously continue to say, "If you cross this line, we will respond. Now, if you cross this line, we will respond...") to multiple states in our nation GOING BANKRUPT. Stimulus? When, where, and how?

Why, why, why? You should be terrified of the reason (or lack thereof).

Should you plan to fail, if you fail to plan? Maybe not...

I can't remember where I heard it first, but as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, if you fail to plan, you should plan to fail. However, as we continue to see through Obama's stimulus package, that may not be the case all the time.

In a recent WSJ print article (Friday, July 31, 2009) entitled Bank Bonus Tab: $33 Billion, the authors discuss several companies including banks that "...received government aid money paid out bonuses of nearly $33 billion last year...despite huge losses that plunged the U.S. into economic turmoil." The article goes on to point out with respect to employees that companies such as banks and other investment companies "...pay for performance." OF COURSE THEY DO. Companies hire "rain makers" if you will because of their talent for bringing in revenue. Many employees have contracts with their employers that outline such compensation packages, and companies are required to pay such bonuses if the employee meets certain criteria. The article goes on to point out that on Wall Street "...top employees typically make 90% or more of their compensation in year-end bonuses."

The real question is "What would happen to these companies if the gov' didn't provide such larges bailouts in the first place?" What would happen to these employees' bonuses if there was no money to be passed around (for instance, if the company had to declare bankruptcy)? As far as I can tell, those employees would be S.O.L.! So, what we have here is a great case of what happens when the gov' goes trying to do too much. But wait...we're not done yet...

In addition to pointing out something most Americans don't really want to hear (but may still agree with), the SAME article goes on to say:

The Obama administration, meanwhile, is preparing to vet [BTW I love this word] pay at firms receiving "exceptional assistance" from the government. Institutions have until August 13 to submit proposed compensation details for the 100 highest-paid employees at each. The proposals will be reviewed by the Treasury Department's pay czar {another word I love], Kenneth Feinberg.

And yet once again, the gov's response is to try to provide "more guidance" in an area in which it doesn't belong! STICK TO WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO AS OUTLINED BY THE CONSTITUTION! With all due respect Mr. Obama, you've got a long way to go simply with your use of the word "stupidly." Hmmmmm....is there a lesson to be learned here?

Stop the Madness 2

As often as possible I pick up the Wall Street Journal because it is by far one of the most in-depth newspapers in existence (not to be confused with the USA Today). During a recent perusal, I happened to come across a piece about Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke getting taken behind the woodshed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Friday, June 26, 2009 "Bernanke Blasted in House"). By the way, for all those keeping score at home, this committee is going to be busy for A LONG TIME reviewing several of our congressmen).

Apparently, the HCOGR didn't like Mr. Bernanke's methods of "...pushing Bank of America to complete its acquisition of Merrill Lynch..." They didn't like his tactics, but who was giving him his marching orders? The gov'. Who was leaning on him to get this deal done? The gov'. From the article in the WSJ:

It was the harshest public grilling for a central bank chief since the late 1990s, the result of unease over the Fed's role in fighting the financial panic and a backlash against government bailouts, which the Fed has helped to lead.

So as to get a good picture of what happened, let's take a closer look at this sentence. "...the harshest public grilling..." for:
1. "...unease over the Fed's role..." Really? I can't imagine that. Someone is disturbed by the gov's role in pouring money into a nebulous, global credit and financial system? Why on earth would someone be uneasy about that? Could it be that the gov' was never designed to do this?
2. "...fighting the financial panic..." And just why is the gov' trying to fight this? We have supply and demand on our side. The gov' is once again NOT THE ANSWER!
3. ...backlash against government bailouts..." Stop the presses! I for one will throw the first stone at the yahoo who is upset at this. Government bailouts are a) as American as apple pie and baseball, b) have been around for hundreds of years, and c) are proven successful means for saving the economy (cross reference any number of countries who have tried socialism and/or communism).

STOP THE MADNESS! You can't grill Mr. Bernanke for being successful at the task for which you sent him to complete. You can't use him as a punching bag when YOU sent him to do this.

"...The biggest point of contention was over whether Mr. Bernanke threatened to oust Bank of America CEO..." You told the man to go do something with I'm sure all the pressure of the world's economy in the balance, and you're now worried over whether he threatened to fire the CEO. Are you kidding me? The CEO might have been convicted that what he was being pressured to do wasn't right. Did you ever think of that?

"...Bank of America approached top U.S. officials...about abandoning its deal to buy Merrill Lynch..." Thank heavens. Someone comes to his senses and tries to reason with the gov'. Not so fast Batman.

"...In the end, the government arranged a $20 billion rescue package for the bank to cover growing losses at the investment bank..." And no matter what a person tries to do to steer the ship in the right direction, the task is just too great...the gov' won't be denied.

Ben, won't you come up to the front of the class and share with us what you did this past summer...

More Catch Up From SpinDaddy

Since I last had time to blog in earnest a lot has happened in politix. The GOP lost control of the US Congress and more recently the Executive branch as well.

As Miles Davis would say. So What?

Frankly; they deserved to lose, as they were governing in a sort of stupor of merely being hopeful that they could keep the brakes on the precipitous slide to the left this country is in. They almost completely abandoned their base; which politically speaking is tantamount to committing suicide.

I'm paraphrasing here; but, George Will summed up American politics probably the most accurately when during the early Nineties he described the difference between the GOP (Republican is probably too strong a term to describe the party anymore as most of them have no clue what a republic is or how it differs from a democracy) and the Democrats. Remember I am paraphrasing from memory here; but, Will said that Should the Democrats pass a measure to burn down the Library of Congress, the Republicans could surely be counted on to stamp their feet and demand that it be burned down in stages! I believe Will was using the Library of Congress as a metaphor for any American institution. Free enterprise, state sovereignty, moral institutions, capitalism, freedom of speech, etc.

Governing with the goal of merely hoping to slow the slide toward socialism is insufficient to the needs of the Republic. Newt Gingrich's 1994 Contract With America gimmick is a fantastic illustration of this.

Actual progress towards undoing some of more abusive manifestations of creeping socialism is what is necessary, not attempts or lame excuses. The Contract With America was a promise by congressional republicans to bring ten (conservative) measures up for debate and a vote in the US House of Representatives if they were able to attain majority status. This was appealing because the democrats who were running the place before wouldn't even allow these items to come to the floor for debate; let alone a vote.

Newt and the GOP got their majority and fulfilled the letter of the promise but most were promptly killed by weak Nancy-boys in the Senate who could not be bothered with such foolishness as what the majority of the nation was clamoring for. That the majority of the nation wanted this is evidenced by the overwhelming political upset that brought the GOP to the majority in the Senate in 1994 in the first place!

The GOP did manage roll back some federal nonsense and meddling such as the National Mandatory Highway Speed Limit. The dreaded 55mph speed limit (later raised to 65mph). Guess what? The highway safety and consumer-advocate-RalphNader-type ninny's are crowing about bringing it back. This was and is good, but the point is that the GOP failed to rollback any significant measures that are creeping into our lives more and more everyday. Don't believe me? Just take a look at the latest Obama powergrab under the guise of fixing our "failed" economic system. Now his team of nanny-state-cliphaired-meanies are going to set compensation levels, mitigate risk, more and more command control marxist horse dookey.

I was also disappointed by Ronald Reagan's failure to actually rollback any significant federal government foolishness. Such as the federal departments of education and energy created under Jimmuh Carter and which Reagan campaigned on dissolving. My understanding is that the executive is responsible to me for running these departments. Reagan could very simply have appointed secretaries to each department and call them in his office and inform them that they had thirty days to dissolve the department and put the keys on his desk.

This would have been completely consistent with his style of governing. But today we still have a federal department of education meddling in; or worse, the purely local function of educating our children. The department of energy has yet to form a cogent NATIONAL energy policy. They meddle plenty, they couldn't produce and erg of energy if they tried.

I remember before the midterm election that cost the GOP control; sitting around the dinner table with my lovely wife as she had asked me what I thought was going to happen. I explained that it was very likely that the GOP would lose control, and that would begin a significant leftward lurch in policy direction that would eventually turn us into Europe-lite. The Leftward lurch has since become a violent snap roll to the left which I am hopeful will awaken what Nixon called the silent majority, as they are getting a belly full of this leftist socialist-wannabe nonsense.

The overwhelming majority citizens that make up this country are not socialist, their is a deeply ingrained American instinct to take care of ourselves by ourselves, just stay out of our way. When someone abuses our economic system punish them not me. -SpinDaddy

SpinDaddy Update

Whew, it has been a crazy last few years for the SpinDaddy I will have to update the about us post soon. I have been in Memphis the last few years and got so crazy busy with a return to school, and new career two jobs that I just had absolutely NO time to do this and I have missed it. My work schedule was 14-16 hour days six to seven days a week, I barely had time for family, or sleep let alone ranting about politix but I have a fantastic career opportunity and have moved from Memphis TN to Denver CO and now have a much better schedule. My family has stayed behind in Memphis to get that house sold so I will be commuting back and forth for a while until everyone gets out here. Back to the Mountains where I started BumperStickerPolitix in 2004, although the Rockies are wayy more mountains than the Appalachains I was living in while in Boone, NC.

After I get settled in with new job here I will get back to posting about Politix and posting pictures of my surrounds. There is soo much to catch up on. If you r familiar with my previous posts at this blog you might imagine that I am somewhat skeptical of our new Congress and President.

I also have a new writing parnter the RedAnt who will be posting here as well. He is largely responsible for me making the time to get back to my blog. Thxs . There will be much to enjoy here so stop by often. -SpinDaddy