Musings

Return to Common Sense

January 28, 2012

Capitalism – “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill.

Politics – The only people publicly defending Obama seem to have Attention Deficit Disorder since either they haven’t paid attention or they just don’t think it’s his fault, but voters know.

Politics – Compare the record between Occupy Wall Street and the TEA Party Movement - arrests: OWS 4,149, TPM 0; murder: OWS 1, TPM 0; rapes: OWS 12, TPM 0; suicide: OWS 1, TPM 0; anti-Semitic: OWS 12, TPM 0; lice: OWS 1, TPM 0; scabies: OWS 1, TPM 0.

Politics – Newt Gingrich has demonstrated that there are two opponents in the 2012 election: Democrats and the Mainstream Media, and he recognizes he must defeat both.

Politics – Mitt Romney believed his own inevitability message and tried to run out the clock, but Newt Gingrich has tapped conservatism and the TEA Party to resurrect his chances.

Politics – My choice for Republican Presidential candidate is Newt Gingrich followed by Rick Santorum, but anointing Mitt Romney will still require me to hold my nose to vote for him.

Politics – Voter Question: “How did that vote for Obama work out for you? Are you better off today than when Barack Obama was elected? Is he making the economy better or worse?

	November 2008	December 2011	Change
Federal Spending	$2.75T	$3.62T	+$.87T
National Debt	$9.33T	$15.14T	+$5.81T
Food Stamp Participation (000)	31,800	47,500	+15,700
Employed (000)	144,078	140,790	-3,288
Unemployed (000)	10,544	13,097	+2,553
Unemployment Rate (U3)	6.8%	8.5%	+1.7%
Underemployment Rate (U6)	12.7%	15.2%	+2.5%
Average Weeks Unemployed	18.9	40.8	+21.9
Average Price/Gallon Gas	$2.21	$3.47	+$1.26
Inflation Rate	.09%	2.96%	+2.87%
Misery Index	6.9	11.5	+4.6
Economic Freedom Ranking	5	9	-4

Politics – Voter Caution: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Once a mistake; Twice a fool!

Media – “Conventional wisdom” is a manufactured fiction sold as the only possible conclusion supporting the liberal agenda, subverting objective analysis and the truth.

Media – Polls released as close as two days prior to the South Carolina primary predicted Romney beating Gingrich 35-21%, but the actual results show Gingrich winning 40-28%.

Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.

Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.

Politics – If the Republican Party nominates Mitt Romney as their Presidential candidate, I expect that the TEA Party members bail out of the Party in droves to become Independents.

Taxes - “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Winston Churchill.

Social Security – Social Security already spends more on benefits than it collects each year, but Obama ignores unsustainability by trying to make temporary payroll tax cuts permanent.

Taxes – The IRS estimates that the annual “tax gap,” money that people legally owe in taxes but evade paying, stands at $450 billion while the IRS budget is cutting 5% including auditors.

Taxes – Moody’s awarded Illinois the nation’s lowest credit rating, due to “lack of steps to implement lasting solutions to its pension underfunding or its chronic bill payment delays.”

Environment – How ironic that the EPA is trying to protect our country’s children from the danger of mercury, at the same time as mandating the use of mercury light bulbs in homes?

Healthcare – A majority of the states are sitting back and waiting to see what happens with ObamaCare, before doing anything to begin implementing anything that may be repealed.

Abortion – It is ironic how liberals have encouraged abortion as an after-the-fact birth control technique, with blacks contributing 36% of abortions fulfilling Margaret Sanger’s dream.

Civil Rights – Racial demographics have become geographic (African/Asian/Hispanic-American), but my ancestors all born here, so I check Other (American is not a choice).

Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.

Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.

Government - “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Winston Churchill.

Defense – Secretary Panetta’s slashed Defense budget defangs and downsizes the once powerful military, emasculates defense capabilities, and increases national risks worldwide.

GWOT – The Obama administration has gutted U.S. defense and withdrawn U.S. troops from overseas theatres and has declared the end of War… too bad the terrorists aren’t listening.

Religion – The UN is trying to make it an international crime to criticize Islam in any way, even if it is an honest assessment, since Muslims react to any criticism with homicidal rage.

Israel – The Big Lie is hard to kill, even though the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” proof of Jewish world domination has been proven to be a fraud written by czarist police years ago.

Brazil – Obama rewarded Brazil with energy development loans expecting to be the best customer, so Brazil has snubbed the U.S. by rewarding China with energy sales contracts.

Europe – I expect a wave of European sovereign debt defaults will occur within the next six to twelve months (Greece and Portugal?), reflecting the weakness in the socialist economies.

Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.

Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.

Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin

Hawthorne, NY