The First Political Dog and Pony Show

September 27, 2016 at 2:45 pm

Last night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took the stage for their first head-to-head “debate”.  Absent was Gary Johnson – evidently because the Commission on Presidential Debates believed an adult in the room was unnecessary. As expected, there was a lot of interrupting, speaking over one another and generally ignoring the existence of the moderator as he ineffectually attempted to keep the topics on track.  Clinton sounded well rehearsed and as such came off more polished.  What little policy she did articulate though was almost complete incorrect.  I found it to be no surprise that her most glaringly erroneous statements involved economic matters.  From her support for higher taxes on companies and the “rich” to an increased minimum wage, “debt-free” college, and paid family leave, she demonstrated either complete ignorance of economic forces or an unbelievable level of hubris that she could overcome such natural law by sheer government fiat. Trump started off the debate strongly, all things considered.  He stuck to his message that politicians were the problem… for the first 30 minutes or so.  Beyond that, he started taking every bit of bait Clinton put out for him.  At times, he ran off into the weeds, losing sight […]

Candidate Rundown: Rick Perry

September 2, 2011 at 5:39 pm

Lately Rick Perry has been all over the headlines.  He is the new media darling in the race for the Republican Party nomination.  Talk of Perry entering the race has been going on for months, but was recently confirmed by his formal announcement, made the day of the Ames, IA straw poll.  Ever since he has been touted as the candidate to beat in the Republican race; taking the lead spot from Mitt Romney in nearly every poll.  As the new leader, he is drawing flack from all over the political spectrum.  He is a target of Democrats and competing Republicans. So who is Rick Perry?  Is he just another man running in an already broad field, or is he truly the candidate to beat?  Is he really the kind of person we want in the White House?  Does he have a consistent and Constitutional stance on the issues?  These are a few of the questions that will be addressed as we delve into Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry. ♦♦♦ Personal Life James Richard “Rick” Perry was born on March 4, 1950 in Paint Creek, TX.  His father was a Democrat, which is the party Rick Perry held to until […]

Take Action: Congress and the Debt Ceiling

July 12, 2011 at 5:41 pm

By now everyone has heard that the United States is going to hit our current borrowing limit on August 2nd according to a US Treasury estimate.  The President has stated repeatedly that the limit must be raised or the US will default on its debt and trigger an unprecedented financial crisis that will have widespread and far-felt ramifications.  Congress is currently wrestling over how to address this most serious issue, though how much of it is genuine dissent and how much is put on to create a good show for the public is debatable. The President would like us to all think that the problem here is that the debt ceiling is not high enough.  That is not the problem.  The problem is that the debt ceiling is even an issue.  The problem is that the federal government is borrowing at such a rate that the federal debt is increasing by $40,000 per second!  That comes out to $3.456 BILLION a day.  And the President wants more. The choice here is a simple one.  We either continue down the path of reckless spending that will ultimately lead to the utter destruction of the dollar and the complete financial collapse of […]

President Obama Announces Troop Withdrawal: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

June 25, 2011 at 5:33 pm

Wednesday evening President Barack Obama appeared before the American people from the East Room of the White House to announce his plan to begin withdrawing United States armed forces from Afghanistan.  His remarks began shortly after 8pm EST and were approximately 15 minutes in length. The President began by invoking the memory of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and offering a brief recapitulation of the war in Afghanistan and the move into Iraq.  He continued by stating that the al Qaeda leaders had moved into Pakistan and that the terrorist forces had regrouped and began to move on the offensive. When Barack Obama was running for President, one of the primary stances of his campaign was that if he took office, he would seek to withdrawal our forces from the Middle East.  President Bush faced fierce criticism for refusing to reduce the number of US troops involved in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  So Barack Obama committed to voters to bring the troops home.  Instead, early on in his tenure as President he sent a surge of 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan.  He did not pull these troops from Iraq, and refocus them on the effort in Afghanistan.  […]