Too Big To Fail - Too Small To Save

Harlingen, Texas, May 27, 2009: We watched and did little as the Washington political elite drained our national treasury and gave billions upon billions of our tax dollars to Wall Street tycoons, gurus who mismanaged the housing market, insurance giants and the auto industry.  We shrugged as we heard all about these corporations that were “too big to fail” and grimaced a little as the hard earned money we sent to Washington was squandered on conference luxuries, bonuses and other corporate vanities.

Our anger was expressed in more detail with a number of assorted Tea Parties to protest out-of-control spending, ranging from small groups to thousands of people.  But, these were either mocked or ignored by the media and the purse string holders inside our nation’s beltway.  The Washington politicos just sadly shook their heads at those misguided masses that didn’t understand how benevolent our national’s leaders were as they reached out to help all those important people in need.

It is true that the Obama Administration may have saved up to 200,000 union jobs in the auto industry.  But, wasn’t this really done at the expense of another 200,000 jobs to be lost as automobile dealers across the country are put out of business?  It saved the fat cats of AIG, but that didn’t trickle down to the charitable foundations that lost billions in their investments.  The 401 K accounts of our elderly tanked, but the bonus babies prospered.

But, forces beyond any state or local control are still pummeling the country.  Major retailers such as Circuit City, Mervyn’s, Linens ‘n Things, Sharper Image and Steve and Barry’s Sportswear have gone out of business of filed for bankruptcy, leaving vacant spaces in malls and huge numbers of unemployed in the wake of closures. People have shied away from buying new automobiles, leaving show rooms void of customers. With advertising dollars becoming scarce, newspapers already in trouble are being hit hard and some of closing their doors.  Television stations are cutting back on personnel and even the non-profit organizations are being challenged beyond their capacity to provide services.

As all this turmoil surrounds America, the government keeps telling everyone that the massive bailouts and the billions upon billions of dollars in stimulus funds will put us back on track.  To date, all we see is nothing has worked as promised.  The fat cats of Washington and New York may have been helped, but the most needy of the country have not seen a single penny of assistance.

Through this raging financial storm, Texas has managed to keep itself solvent. More jobs were created in the Lone Star State last year than in the remaining 49 states combined.  It is still weathering the economic storm far better than most of the country and its 6.7 unemployment rate is much lower than the 8.9 national averages, but the state still lost almost 40,000 jobs last month.

No region of Texas was hit harder than the Rio Grande Valley.  This four county southern corner of the state has historically been listed among the most economically deprived regions of the country.  It is now facing unemployment figures in the 10% range.  In reality, this number is even higher because its proximity to the border means there are still many undocumented workers seeking employment in this depressed job market.

While large corporations deemed too big to fail are squandering their way through your tax dollars and still facing bankruptcy, what is happening with the working poor, the jobless and the homeless? A look at this small corner of the United States might tell you.  From the political standpoint, they seem to be too small to save.  But, there is no economic group more vulnerable during these harsh times…and no group less likely to be protected by the government.

This is only antidotal evidence, but with one out of ten people in Deep South Texas now unemployed, those organizations that historically aid disadvantaged individuals and families are the only hands of assistance being offered.  However, they too are in need and are being tested to the fullest.

Food pantries run by churches are being called upon to provide more and more assistance.  Though congregations contribute to the food supply on a regular basis, the need still is greater than the supply.

The Salvation Army, serving both Cameron and Willacy Counties was asked to assist 58 families and 298 individuals during the past month.  Aid requests covered a wide variety of services from rent assistance, help with utilities, food, clothing and spiritual needs.

Five months into the year the local Army’s expenditures have already exceeded its contributions by almost $23,000.  Its total contributions, compared to the same date last year are down $143,000.  The only bright spot for those who provide the Army’s services is its Thrift Store operation, which in a down economy has increased to more than $1,000 a day in sales.

A more telling picture of how disadvantaged people are reaching out for help can be seen when viewing the operation of Loaves and Fishes, the Harlingen service center operated by the city’s Ministerial Alliance.

During the past four months 35,850 meals were served.  So many were in line to be fed that periodically some would need to wait outside until table space became available.

In its Training Center 225 people sought computer, money management and GED
Classes.  This was an increase of 17.4% over the same month in 2008. There has been a 35.2% increase in new clients seeking job placement.  A total of 1,710 people have requested work related assistance during 2009, with a total of 58 jobs found.

There have been 3299 bed nights provided in the homeless shelter this year.  The number of men seeking shelter increased by 7.5%.  Women needing shelter increased by 44.4% and children being sheltered saw an increase of 269.8%.

Those needing help with rent grew by 21%, utilities 160.9%, and food bags by 354%.  The disabled veterans program saw a jump from 201 people in all of 2008 to 913 veterans to date in 2009, a 354% increase.

In all services there has been an increase in demand of mammoth proportions when compared to previous years.  Though the figures are large, they still do not tell the entire story, for on a total income budget of just under $907,000, Loaves and Fishes ends each year with only about $35,000 left in its bank account.  This means that when any of the services provided reaches its budgetary limit, nothing else can be provided, even though many people may still be seeking assistance.

One of the most telling areas of an economy in trouble is health care.  When finances tighten, people start cutting back on everything from visiting the doctor to buying their prescription medications.  In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, those in need of medical assistance overwhelm hospital emergency rooms, even though they have no money to pay for services.  Local hospitals have charged off millions of dollars in unpaid services in recent months.

The one place where working poor and indigent people can receive care in the region is the state operated Rio Grande State Center.  This tax funded facility combines the services of a mental health hospital, a long-term care unit for adults with mental retardation and an extensive out patient clinic that provides medical services for those in need.  Charges are based on the individual’s ability to pay, thus large numbers of patients are given pro bono treatment.

This year the patients being treated in the mental health hospital are at 93% of bed capacity, up from 91% capacity in 2008.  The average length of stay has increased this year to 16 days, compared with 14 days of hospitalization just one year ago.  This figure does not give a true picture; however, for there are now many patients who are now requiring stays of 100 days and longer.

One area where community needs can be seen in a true light is in requests for medical treatment.  During the period January through April of 2008 there were 628 people registering for health care in the out patient clinic. During the same months of 2009 the registered patients numbered 961 people.  There were a total of 57,678 visits to the clinic in 2008.  This year’s numbers are on track to far exceed the patients treated only last year.

These examples only provide a tiny window when looking at a huge nationwide concern.  But, one can only ask, if those who are too small to save are being ignored by the federal government in a state that has lived within its means, what is happening in those economic basket cases such as Michigan and California?

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Hey America...Remember?

Harlingen, Texas, May 20, 2009:  Hey America, do you remember when a single political party took over complete control of the government?  It happened because of bitterness about the war and unhappiness among the citizens.

Do you remember when people started believing that the only way to solve what they perceived as problems was to ignore the Constitution?  The lack of citizen concern for the way the country should be governed led to multiple constitutional violations.

Do you remember when massive financial support provided the funding for the election campaign? This was particularly evident when wealthy businessmen offered their backing.

Do you remember when the opposition party, religious groups and other interests were blamed for the country’s ills?  Things were made to sound so bad that only one party and one man were identified as being able to save the nation.

Do you remember when everybody was promised everything?  There were so many changes being promised to so many people that support came from everyone who felt personal need for government assistance.

Do you remember the attacks on people of different political beliefs and on opponents?  Even the media and the courts closed their eyes to the lies and distortions offered up by the campaign.

Do you remember when the media became a tool of the new government?  There was an infiltration of personnel supporting the promises of change into every element of the media and the people seldom heard the complete political message or truth of the times. 

Do you remember he came to power during an economic collapse?  The number of unemployed grew.  There was major crisis in the country and people needed something or someone to blame for their problems.

Do you remember he was a brilliant speaker, his presence had a power over people, he was a good organizer and a smooth politician?  Do you remember he was a driven man, who believed he had the destiny to become the leader of his country?  Do you remember that his strong ego and self-belief persuaded other people to believe in him?

Well, most of you are really not old enough to remember.  It happened 77 years ago in a country called Germany.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Barack's Border Vision

Harlingen, Texas, May 22, 2009:  Following his oath of office, President Barack Obama flew into a whirlwind of executive actions and proposed legislation.  Unfortunately, none of this activity was directed toward one of his primary presidential obligations…the security of the United States of America.

His wrong-headed decision to announce a date-certain to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba did nothing to assure a safe America.  Releasing documents on enhanced interrogation techniques can only serve to aid our enemies. One of the most troubling of his actions has been an ongoing blame-fest, finding fault with everything this country has done or is doing internationally.  This not only served to diminish American morale, but also does nothing to enhance our security.

He decided to ignore all prior actions to secure our borders.  For some unexplained reason, he is more comfortable blaming America for everything that is wrong in this world, instead of protecting it from those who would do harm to our citizens. To understand the new administration’s view on border security one only needs to reflect on two actions.

First, as the head of Homeland Security, the President named Janet Napolitano.  The former governor of Arizona has a long history of fighting proposed illegal immigration legislation and failed her own constituents when it came to doing anything meaningful to stop the flow of illegals into Arizona.  Though never articulated by her, there are many who claim Napolitano is an open borders advocate.

That the President is like-minded became clear when in his first budget request to Congress did not provide a single penny to expand the border wall construction beyond the 670 miles already funded.  That action will only leave a gap in the fence of 1, 277 miles.  It matters not if you are for or against the border wall.  What is important to understand is the Obama Administration does not see the border as a problem.

Washington chatter is already talking up the Democrat plan for another push on amnesty for all illegal aliens in the United States.  This is key to their plans for long-range control of government.  Those who are now in the country illegally, and are “saved” by an amnesty bill will be forever grateful to their benefactors and “always” vote Democrat once they can gain the right to cast a ballot.

The other rationale for lack of border enforcement seems to be that no more protection is required because the economy is so bad, fewer and fewer illegals are coming into the country across our southern border.  This is a strange assertion, since nobody can tell you how many illegal immigrants now reside in the United States.  The numbers two or three years ago were quoted as 8 million.  Then it was 11 million, or 12 million, or as some now claim more than 20 million people.

Well, they don’t live near that border.  Not a day goes by when the evening news fails to report the capturing dozens of illegal aliens in everything from safe houses to moving vans.  There are also arrests of “coyotes” leading or driving their alien traffic deeper into the United States. Most of all, tons of drugs have been discovered at border check-points.  Sadly, even the Border Patrol and immigration officials admit they are only slowing down the flow of both narcotics and people.

What did our President do about this dangerous security breach?  He took a trip to Mexico and again told the world everything was our fault.  He made the undocumented claim that 90% of the illegal guns going into Mexico were coming from the United States.  His solution was to check the automobiles of tourists traveling from the USA into Mexico.  This took even more eyes away from those attempting to gain illegal passage across the southern border.

In his recent press conference the President said, “If the American people don’t feel like you can secure the borders then it’s hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be, ‘Well, you’re just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.”

That statement, along with only requesting a small 8% increase in funding for new agents, should tell everyone that more security is out the window and an amnesty bill is heading toward the halls of Congress.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Judeo-Christian Americans Have Failed Themselves, Their Faith and Their Country

Harlingen, Texas, May 18, 2009:  America has the largest infrastructure in the world designed to promote spirituality.  The land is filled with thousands upon thousands of churches, temples, religious schools, and religious organizations.  However, according to an extensive study conducted by the Barma Group, a research organization specializing in religious studies, the nation is still not able to advance itself spiritually.

David Kupelian, managing editor of WorldNetDaily.com tends to agree with that assessment.  He charges that even though most Americans call themselves Christians, twice they chose as their leader Bill Clinton, “a sexual predator and pathological liar who regarded the religious right as enemies…” He also claims that we came close to electing Al Gore, “another pathological liar and radical environmentalist…”

Kupelian charges that Christians have lost a 30-year battle to protect the unborn.  Christians have also lost the war in their schools. He says they “ have been scrubbed antiseptically clean of Christian principles and traditions.” Those beliefs and practices have been replaced with “every conceivable form of propaganda an perversion.”

Along with these important losses, Christians and Jews alike “have lost their former influence in politics, in the press, in entertainment, in literature – in virtually every major area of life.”

He goes on the charge that even the churches have been infiltrated by “double agents” who are ripping major denominations apart from within while pretending to be among the faithful.

Across the television channels there has been a replaying and rephrasing of the late George Carlin’s rant that “Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man – living in the sky – who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.”

“The God Delusion” was on the New York Times bestseller list for 51 weeks, until September 2007. It is still being carried in most bookstores and sales outlets.  This book charges that the creator “almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal God qualifies as delusion.”

Last month the New York Times published a front-page article proclaiming the rise of atheists in America.  The article claims that in the past twenty years, those claiming to be atheists have doubled in number across the country.  Deep into the feature you discover they still make up only 15% of the population.

But all of this flies in the face of 2008 Pew Poll that has reported 92 % of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit – including one in five who call themselves atheists.  The same poll says 80% of Americans believe in miracles and most believe angels and demons are active in our world.

This was one of the largest polls on the subject of Faith ever conducted, with more than 36,000 individuals being interviewed.  For most, God is a vivid presence and more than a third of those polled claimed to have regularly had their prayers answered.

With such a preponderance of people who profess to be members of the Family of Faith, why have Americans failed themselves, their faith and their country by letting secular humanists and atheists dominate major institutions and the political arena?  It could very well be that America has a spiritual depth problem.  There seems to be no place within the faith community that one can find any unified objectives. All believers see there has been an advancement of evil and a decline of morality, but there is no clarion call to arms against what Christians and Jews alike see as actions detrimental to our country.  Thus, those of faith still turn the other cheek, while forces they cannot truly identify or lack the will to engage in battle attack everything that makes up their belief system.

Our President and the media are proclaiming we are no longer a Christian nation. So, where will it all end? There are many who feel we are rapidly approaching the modern day equivalent of God’s wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Democrats Plan Attack on Military REtiree Health Benefits

Harlingen, Texas, May 16, 2009: While the Obama Administration loudly proclaims that it has a mandate to make health care available to every American, a move is underway by the Democrats, through the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to effectively reduce such care for some of the most vulnerable of military veterans.  Legislation has already been prepared that will drastically change and reduce the Tricare for Life benefit plan that assists military retirees over the age of 65. 

The Tricare for Life plan was established by law after a decades long fight to make the government live up to its promise to provide earned health care to military retirees and their dependents, who had faithfully served their nation for more than 20 years.  Though a battle on this issue traveled all the way to the Supreme Court, it was determined that the Armed Forces of the United States did in fact promise lifetime health care to career service personnel, but did not have the authority to make such promises.  Congress was admonished to take corrective action.

The end result was only half a loaf.  Congress agreed to provide a supplement to Medicare for those military retirees above the age of 65.  That supplement, titled Tricare for Life, would cover any additional costs not paid by Medicare.  However, the retiree would still be required to enroll in Medicare and accept the services that program offered.

Many of these retired military veterans were in desperate need of these medical services when the law was enacted.  Those needs continue today.  The men and women, many of whom suffer the after effects of combat related wounds, illnesses associated with everything from Agent Orange to the Gulf War Syndrome, and multiple ailments inflicted upon them during years of military operations on foreign shores, are among our most vulnerable senior citizens.

This appears to mean little to our new administration and a majority congressional membership that campaigned for election and reelection on the backs of the leftist anti-war, anti-military faction of this country.  Now with an almost unstoppable majority in the legislative branch of government, they are seeking to severely alter a medical service previously awarded to a very deserving body of retired service personnel, because, according the CBO these retirees “overuse” their health care program.  There seems to be no thought given to the fact that these particular senior citizens are more medically impaired than the average American of similar age.

The CBO is now seeking passage of their draft legislation that would require these retired military personnel to pay the first $525 of medical cost and 50% of the next $4,750 per person.  They claim these changes are needed to help pay for the other programs the President has promised his constituents. Such a change will effectively end the Tricare for Life program that has offered comfort to those who spent their lives defending the nation.  Anyone who has worn the uniform of this country should oppose such legislation and speak out strongly and often to all of their elected officials.  This is another of the many changes we can NOT accept.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Politicians and Cows - They All Smell The Same

Harlingen, Texas, May 3, 2009: A Harris Poll that reports 77% of the population does not trust our politicians or political parties.  55% of the people don’t trust government and 62% of the folks don’t trust the reporting of the mainstream media.

Having those numbers as a backdrop we read the government is moving ahead on establishing a carbon tax or as they like to camouflage it “cap and trade”.  Our political double speakers tell us that it will only impact those businesses that emit excessive carbon dioxide.  These companies will be given a limit or a “cap” and if that is exceeded will be taxed accordingly.  The politicos are quick to indicate this is a business tax and isn’t going to have much of an impact on the average citizen.  Now that is a change we can all believe in.

We are heading for another attack on individual piggy banks just as sure as we have already been given an unpayable tax debt. According to the number crunchers at the CBO, when the ultra trillions of tax debt dollars are spread around for you and I to pay off, it will total out an extra $163,000 in taxes levied on each family.  If the interest is added in for the projected ten year deficit and we make annual payments, instead of the lump sum $163K figure, than on top of our regular family income tax, we can just add an additional tax hike of $26,000 a year per tax paying family.  Now this doesn’t even figure in increased taxation that will be brought about by universal health care, repairing Social Security and whatever our share ends up to be on this carbon tax or cap and trade nightmare.  But, the politicos of our nation will keep telling us the mathematicians of the Congressional Budget Office have got it all wrong.  It won’t be nearly that painful, they will insist.  And we already know just how much the American people trust the words of our politicians.

So, right now CO2 or carbon dioxide is the villain being attacked by the Obama Administration.  The claim is that 40% of the United States carbon dioxide emissions are created when we burn fossil fuels.  This totals out to a figure in excess of 6,000 metric tons of CO2 annually.  The other claim is you and I are individually responsible for more than 20 metric tons a year due to the way we live.  Even homeless people with no automobile and living in cardboard boxes create 8.5 metric tons of CO2…and this needs to stop because the worldwide average is only 4 metric tons per person.  So, when even our homeless people have double the worldwide carbon footprint, how much are we going to be taxed to make it smaller?

One thing we forgot to mention is the second leading greenhouse gas.  It is methane.  Methane is created in huge amounts by cow burps and flatulence.  Humans, all animals and even termites also create methane.  It is twenty times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2 and there has been a lot of chewing around the edges by the political elite to find some way of making sure it is well taxed.  They will most likely start with the estimated 6 million cattle we have in America.  I don’t believe they have found a way to tax the termites yet.  How does all that upcoming change sound now?

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Does Anyone Smell "Vietnam" in the New Administration?

Harlingen, Texas, May 2, 2009: I don’t know about you, but I am seeing a hint of “Vietnam” all over again in the actions of the Obama Administration.  With some of the decisions being made there appears to be a strong attempt to snatch defeat right out of the jaws of victory.

There is a pervasive sickness that seems to infect every politico who garners enough votes to land in that swampland we call Washington D.C.  These people who start out as well meaning souls with dreams of improving humanity and the nation rapidly become infected with the Washington Beltway Plague, which has no known cure.  Having this illness makes them susceptible to everything wrong-headed, including inflated ego, the belief they have an all-seeing vision, corruption as a given right, and a power thirst that will remain unquenched forever. It was a like-body of politicians who managed the defeat of Vietnam, and since history loves to repeat itself could still bring about our defeat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

If this sounds crazy to you, a reflection on our war history might be in order.  The war in Vietnam was seeped in political ignorance from the day the first shot was fired.  Much of this is documented in the course materials of “Politics of the Vietnam War”, a study conducted by Dr. John W. Garver at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007.

According to Dr. Garver, one school of interpretation is our political elite took us into an unjust war through a combination of ignorance and arrogance.  It unknowingly allowed America to be tarnished with the stain of colonialism in the eyes of Asian peoples and by actions reminiscent of decades long occupier France, caused a nationalism movement in Vietnam under the guise of Communism.

The second school of interpretation is the United States lost because of a long string of political blunders, followed by an equal string of strategic blunders.  In the first years of the war inept political leaders, along with their military lackeys, according the MIT study “ chose ways of conducting the war that allowed Hanoi to play to its own strengths and to US weaknesses, thereby preventing decisive application of US power to destroy North Vietnam’s ability to continue prosecuting the war.” It has long been argued that the US defeat was brought about by unsound political and strategic thought that was compounded when put into action.

The final school of interpretation in the MIT papers is the claim, which has been echoed time and again by those who are combat veterans of that ill-fated war.  According to this examination of events, the United States actually won the war after the countless blunders of the Lyndon B. Johnson and William Westmoreland years.  Says Dr. Garver, “Under the leadership of Creighton Abrams, William Colby, and Richard Nixon by early 1973 the insurgency was destroyed and the South essentially pacified, while Saigon’s armies had proved their ability to hold against North Vietnamese conventional invasion with US support.”

The academic examination goes on to explain that after the 1972 election U. S. foreign policy was taken over by Congressional Democrats who caused the United States to abandon South Vietnam and leave that country without its long promised military support.  The United States, through political Washington, showed the world we could never be considered trusted allies in any struggle.  When America walked out on its allies the South collapsed before Hanoi’s forces. Though military leaders argued strongly against such a pullout from Vietnam, the Democrat controlled Congress, bowing to its leftist anti-war base, forced the retreat and were responsible for the resulting Hanoi victory.

We now jump to the year 2009.  A new Democrat Administration is in place.  It has held total power for less than four months, but we are already seeing political decisions that can demoralize our troops and inflame our enemies. 

The Guantanamo detention center was ordered closed.  The administration plans to move terrorist detainees to our mainland United States facilities.  An executive order has been issued that bans any form of enhanced interrogation, which it has labeled torture.  Congress will now attempt to hold open show-hearings on CIA techniques.  There is a strong desire on the part of the Democrat Congressional leadership to criminalize Bush Administration war decisions.

The rejection of the term “War on Terror” was announced by the administration.  There has been notification of the Obama Administration’s new terminology, calling our operations against Islamic terrorists either “Overseas Contingency Operations”, or if the action is caused by enemy attacks to call them “Man Made Disasters.” They have released secret CIA documents on interrogation techniques that can give aid to the enemy.

The Administration released of hundreds of prison photos that could anger the Islamic world.  Democrat members of Congress are already saying they don’t want to send too many more troops into combat or authorize too much money, for fear it will extend the war.  This is the war, which they already called lost more than two years ago.

All of this has happened in less than 100 days of the new Democrat Congress and the Obama Administration.  It doesn’t mean defeat yet.  But, I smell odors of Vietnam in almost every war related announcement.  Remember, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck?

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks