Sitting here on a rainy day feeling grey. I have always thought that this song and video embraces and gives voice to the American spirit. Hope the poli-wogs don’t mind a slight detour, but this song always makes me feel better about myself and others, hope it does for you as well.
Delaware Inspector General?
There has been some talk of creating a new government agency. Largely due to the fiasco within the Delaware State Treasury Office, and the alleged misuse of the state issued credit cards by not only a deputy treasurer, but also by the Treasurer Chip Flowers as well, some people are suggesting that we create an office of an inspector general to investigate and prosecute such abuses and corruption.
Many of the people calling for such expansion tout their conservatism. One has to question how conservative it is, to expand government on such a large scale.
Some of these people are claiming that they will run for elected office, others are members of quasi-political parties who are desperate to gain any attention possible.
I put forth these questions to any and all, first, are you in favor of expanding the size, scope, and cost of Delaware’s government? Second, if you are, please define the authority of such an office, the cost of such an office, and all that it would require to support such an office with the authority you envision. And since many of the people proposing this expansion of government in an effort to reduce and prosecute the corruption they claim, please define the mechanisms you would put into place to ensure that this newly created office would be above such corruption, seeing as if it were an elected office, it would fall prey to the seduction other elected officials fall prey to, and if appointed, would fall prey to the partisan political gerrymandering that appointees often fall prey to.
To get the ball rolling I will offer this. Take the cost of running the State Auditors Office as a base line for this new office, then ask yourself, do we want three offices, one in each county so that citizens can access it more easily? Now consider the amount of support staff, offices, computers, investigators, legal staff, and just watch the cost sky-rocket. Also take into consideration that party politics would surely come into play when considering what did, or did not get investigated. Also remember that government grows, what is seen today as a way to stop corruption, will be tomorrows corruption. What then? Create another watcher, to watch the watcher who is watching the watcher? The people as informed voters are the only inspector general needed.
I await the enlightened and informative discussion I am sure the supporters of this expansion will bring, considering the same people argued in favor of expanding county government as well.
Ernie Lopez Announces
It has been announced that Senator Ernie Lopez, Republican for the 6th senatorial district in the state of Delaware, will be filing the paperwork to allow him to campaign for another term as the state senator for the 6th District.
In his freshman term as the state senator in the 6th district, Sen. Lopez has demonstrated his commitment to being available, and responsive, to the needs and views of all the constituents of his district . A commitment that served him well in his first election.
Sen. Lopez has shown during his first campaign, and his first term as senator, that he possesses the energy and drive to meet any challenge head on. Sen. Lopez has maintained an active career in his private life, while holding public meet and greets on a regular basis to stay in touch with the voters and citizens of his district. He has been highly visible at events in the community with his lovely family, wife Janis, and daughters, Anna and Claire.
Sen. Lopez has been, and remains, an active member of his church, and his commitment to protecting our youth is well-known and documented.
As a freshman senator, Sen. Lopez faced some difficult votes in Dover. The last legislative session was filled with divisive bills that held very little grey area. Most people were either on one side or the other, and there was little or no room for compromise on such bills as the bathroom bill, and the numerous gun bills.
While some legislators hold seats within districts that are fairly clear-cut on such issues, and can cast votes with little consideration of what the consensus would be within their district, Sen. Lopez faces a more challenging task when deliberating on how to best represent the views and principles of his district. The demographics of the 6th district are fairly diverse. This means that to fairly represent the entire district, Sen. Lopez had to call on not only his own life’s experiences, but had to engage with as many of his constituents as possible.
While no vote on such divisive issues, such as gun ownership, and homosexual marriage, and the death penalty, could ever equally represent all view points, Sen. Lopez met these challenges with integrity and consistency, holding true to not only his own values, but more importantly, holding true to statements and promises made during his first campaign.
I am sure that the voters of the 6th district can expect the same commitment to integrity and consistency from Sen. Lopez in this campaign and his second term, as they received from him in his freshman term.
If anyone would like to know more about Sen. Ernie Lopez here is a link to his site.
Wall Street Journal Article, by Scott Walker
SCOTT WALKER
Nov. 21, 2013 6:52 p.m. ET
In the wake of the 2012 elections, Republicans are being warned once again that they need to compromise their principles to win at the ballot box. That the only way to win the center is to move to the center.
If this were true, Barack Obama would not be president today—and I would not be governor of Wisconsin.
When I was first elected as Milwaukee County Executive in 2002, pundits said it was a fluke—a Republican elected in a heavily Democratic district in a special election in the wake of a political scandal. To stay in the job, they said, I would have to move to the middle. Instead, I governed as a conservative reformer and won three consecutive elections as county executive, each one by bigger margins. The last one, in 2008, was especially noteworthy. Mr. Obama won Milwaukee County with 67.5% of the vote; I won with nearly 60%.
As governor of the state, my administration reformed collective bargaining in the public sector against enormous odds, turned a $3.6 billion deficit into a $760 million surplus, and cut taxes. In response to the union reform, opponents mounted a recall election in 2012. It was contentious—yet after enduring a hundred thousand or more protesters and tens of millions of dollars in negative ads, we won the recall by a bigger margin than in the gubernatorial election in 2010.
And here is where the results get intriguing: Exit polls showed that roughly one in six voters who cast their ballots for me in the June 2012 recall also planned to vote for Mr. Obama a few months later. These Obama-Walker voters constituted about 9% of the electorate.
Polls show that about 11% of the people in Wisconsin today support both me and the president. There are probably no two people in public life who are more philosophically opposite—yet more than one in 10 approve of us both.
To make a conservative comeback, Republicans need to win these Obama-Walker voters and their equivalents across the country. In the Wisconsin recall election, we mobilized conservative voters by standing up for conservative principles against enormous pressure. But we also persuaded at least some of President Obama’s supporters to support us, too.
There are independent, reform-minded voters in every state. In times of crisis, they want leadership—from either party. What I have learned is that if you step forward and offer a reform agenda that is hopeful and optimistic, they may give you a shot. More important, if you deliver, they will stick with you.
The way Republicans can win those in the middle is not by abandoning their principles. To the contrary, the courage to stand on principle is what these voters respect. The way to win the center is to lead.
That’s why those arguing that conservatives have to “moderate” their views if they want to appeal to the country are so wrong. If our principles were the problem, then why are so many Republican governors winning elections by campaigning on them? Since Barack Obama took office in 2009, the GOP has gone from controlling both the legislature and governor’s mansion in nine states to 23 states today. Not one sitting Republican governor has lost a general election since 2007.
Republicans did not win those races by running from principles. They won by applying principles in ways that are relevant to the lives of citizens.
In Washington the fight is over “fiscal cliffs,” “debt limits,” “sequesters” and “shutdowns.” In the states, Republicans focus on improving education, caring for the poor, reforming government, lowering taxes, fixing entitlements, reducing dependency, improving health care, and creating jobs and opportunity for the unemployed.
Republicans need to do more than simply say no to Mr. Obama and his party’s big-government agenda. They can offer Americans positive solutions for the nation’s challenges—to reduce dependency, and create hope, opportunity, and upward mobility for all citizens. They need to make not just the economic case for conservative reforms but the moral case as well—showing how conservative policies and ideas will make America not only a more prosperous society but a more just and fair one as well.
When I faced the need to reform collective bargaining in the government, I wanted to win, but I wasn’t afraid to lose and didn’t worry about getting re-elected. That was profoundly liberating.
Too many people in politics today spend their time trying not to lose instead of trying to do the right thing. They would better serve the country by worrying more about the next generation than the next election. The irony is that politicians who spend more time worrying about the next generation than about the next election often tend to win the next election—because voters are starved for leadership.
Americans reward leaders who offer positive solutions, keep their promises and get results. If Republicans do that, Americans will stand with them. I know because they stood with me.
Mr. Walker, a Republican, is the governor of Wisconsin and the author of “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge” (Sentinel, 2013).
Beware The Government Marijuana (Redux)
As the number of states who have, or in which there is currently a push to legalize the use of marijuana, grows, we will see the states governments, and most likely eventually the federal government, become more and more involved in the selling, taxing as well as the growing and regulation of marijuana.
As the government becomes more involved in the growing of the drug, it will allow for the manipulation of the drugs content, and the effect on the users. No doubt the potency of the drug will likely increase. But will that be the only changes made to the popular drug?
Is it such a stretch to believe, that the reason we are seeing so many law makers willing to actually vote for legalizing marijuana, be it for medical use, or recreational use, goes beyond their wanting to help those suffering from cancer, it goes beyond the appeal of the revenue potential of taxing it, it may actually be leading to a future of controlling behavior through the use of pharmaceuticals.
Could we be headed for the future predicted in such classic books as, “Brave New World”, written in 1931, or more recently in the film, “THX1138” produce by George Lucas in which a future is predicted where the government controls the population through the mandated use of drugs.
So are we on that road? Could the government begin by legalizing marijuana? Then adding to it chemicals that would domesticate the population? Or maybe use marijuana as the gateway drug it has been alleged to be all along? Could other more powerful drugs be legalized in the future, could we see a time when the majority of the population was using some form of pharmaceuticals? Is it even possible that some time in the future, the use would be mandated through a government mandated health care system? OH! CRAP!
This is to all those libertarians and others out there who hope to be toking up in the local bars someday, be very careful what you wish for. In pushing for the government to legalize the use of marijuana, you have invited the government into your body through the use of their product. Once they have you hooked on their pot, how hard is it to convince you it is your right to do heroin in the local bars?
Soon the government you don’t trust with education, will be in charge of the pot you love so bad. You will have become the lap dog of the very thing you have railed against for so long, sitting obediently waiting for your next fix.
BEWARE THE GOVERNMENT MARIJUANA!
And They Say I Am Uneducated
Can anyone identify what is wrong with Wolfgang’s T-shirt?
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