"The most significant threat to our national security is our debt," Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, August 27, 2010


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Wealth Creation v. Wealth Destruction

Wealth creation is pretty simple and it is the foundation, the Golden Goose, or the source of the largess that the US free enterprise system makes available to all. The source is wealth creation.

How is wealth created? Three primary sources. Wealth is created by growing something from the ground for food and lumber and thousands of other valuable natural items. Around the globe wealth creators grow corn and beans and olives and oranges and raise cattle and fish. The more you tax and the more you regulate these activities the more you limit this wealth creation process.

Wealth is also created by extracting something from the ground. Things like gold, iron ore, petroleum, gas, and other minerals and metals. Tax it and regulate it and others who buy these products will be glad to go where there are lower taxes and regulations.

The third key source of wealth creation is to make something that people want to buy with the harvested items and the extracted items. We, in the US of A, used to be quite good at making things. We not only made things we made the tools, the machines, the technology that made making things easy. We still make the things that make things. And we tax and regulate the dickens out of it so that non wealth creators can engage in their wealth destruction activities.

All wealth creation requires labor. Each and every one of us has a skill or a labor component that is needed to support extraction, growing/harvesting and manufacturing. Labor is needed for wealth creation. Grow/harvest, extract, manufacture/produce/ labor. Wealth is created.

Now, what destroys wealth? In no particular order but real wealth destroyers are:

1. Anyone who does not engage in growing, harvesting, extracting, manufacturing and offering their labors to support these activities is a burden on the wealth creation process.

2. A growing service economy model is flawed; big time. Government does not create wealth. That’s why government must be limited. Also, lawyers, bankers, bureaucrats at the licensing bureau, teachers, doctors, stock brokers, lottery tickets; it goes on endlessly – none of them create wealth. They need wealth creation to survive. Try to eat a legal contract or fly in a plane built by an accountant! Try keeping your food chilled in a refrigerator running on electricity produced by the Energy department or live in a house built by federal or state bureaucrats.

What to do?

IF YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM, KNOW THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM.

IF YOU JUST WANT TO ACT LIKE YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM, FULL SPEED AHEAD.

THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, NO UNION SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, NO POLITICAL LEADERSHIP/SAY THE RIGHT THING SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM. TO FIX THE PROBLEM WE MUST GROW/HARVEST/EXTRACT/MANUFACTURE = WEALTH CREATION.

THE ALTERNATIVE PATH WE ARE ON IS: SPENDING = DEFICITS = DEBT = WEALTH DESTRUCTION.

The previous administration and congress did not have a clue about the above. The new Obama policies are not encouraging wealth creation. Spending, deficits and debt destroy wealth. Our economy is sick because we are infected with wealth destroying viral agents known to us all as underworked/overpaid unions in both the private and public sector and government supported inefficient entities in health care, education and public services. The US of A can grow/harvest/manufacture all that it needs and buy any resources it is lacking.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING MUST BE CUT DRASTICALLY. TAX POLICY MUST SUPPORT WEALTH CREATION AND DISCOURAGE WEALTH DESTRUCTION.

The reason TheFundamentals goes to basic cause and effect issues is that the solutions lay therein and there is no evidence of any political will, except in a few states, to address the basic issues. Virtually all of our existing government policies and spending programs do the exact opposite of supporting wealth creation and discouraging wealth destruction. Our competitors see this situation and are taking great advantage of it.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hydrogen Barackside


Barackside

This cartoon is the work of Toby Dials.  His work is available at http://www.tobytoons.com/ and he is good.  He is also quite generous is letting us pass along this piece of his work.  A picture is worth 1000 words!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Fiscal Responsibility Update

The deficit debate is quite confused. No progress has been attained to date. Deficits continue at record levels and debt rises. A primary purpose at TheFundamentals is to keep a constant watch on the situation, report every possible angle we can detect about the situation and stay the course until the situation is corrected which we define as living within our means and paying down the debt so that future generations are not burdened with our fiscal promiscuity.

Today we start with these highlights from John Boehner’s speech Monday, May 9, 2011, to the Economic Club of New York:

• “Our economy does best when government respects our people enough to give them the freedom to do what they do best

• I believe our mission as legislators is to liberate our economy from the things that impede growth

• …we will not succeed in balancing the federal budget and overcoming the challenges of our debt until we commit ourselves to government policies that will let our economy achieve long-term growth

• The recent stimulus spending binge hurt our economy and hampered private sector job creation in America

• The lesson of the stimulus era is that short-term government intervention is no substitute for long-term economic investment, private initiative, and freedom

• …the president has asked Congress to increase the debt limit, and to do so without preconditions

• To increase the debt limit without simultaneously addressing the drivers of our debt -- in defiance of the will of our people -- would be monumentally arrogant and massively irresponsible

• So let me be as clear as I can be. Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given.”

You can read the entire speech at:
http://www.speaker.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=240370

We encourage you to do so. Boehner is going to be tarred and feathered by the party in power. The attacks on Boehner will take several forms: they will say his approach will dismantle all the forms of the safety net that make America great. It will balance the budget on the backs of the poor and weak (please see footnote) and benefit the well to do. Then, the Democrats will say support us and things will go on and be okay.

We believe that the burdens on America’s economy need to be dismantled. If you believe that America was made great by government bureaucracy; uncontrolled litigation and well catered to special interest groups you will not accept the fundamental that America is not a land of safety nets. You don’t believe it is a land of opportunity. The safety nets have now been expanded to almost every American as part of a process by both political parties to outdo each other in vote buying. One party claims they now see the dismal future brought about by their participation in this fiscal promiscuity (well, time will tell if they really see the error of their ways.) The other party sees no future for themselves unless they continue to buy votes in order to stay in power. The latter gives lip service to fiscal responsibility. They act as if we need it but they do not move to make any real cuts. Today they propose imaginary cuts. The real cuts will come tomorrow.  Sure.

Perhaps the lines are being drawn. We just don’t know. Even Boehner’s words cause us concern because without a time period the words are meaningless. So, let’s see how the Republican’s implement Boehner’s line in the sand – “Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given.”

In the meantime, for those of you who buy into the deficits and debt and their promise of a better tomorrow with no discipline today, we leave you with the words from your adopted anthem, complements of Little Orphan Annie's Broadway musical:

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!

Footnote: we would encourage you to click on this link http://www.slate.com/id/2293526/  and read this article written by Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer as you may recall was an ambitious politician who got caught in sexual shenanigans and was forced to resign early in his first term as NY governor. This fellow is now the spokesman for the Democratic Party and its promiscuous ways. Well, as they say, “It takes one to know one.” The Democrats do know how to pick their spokesmen.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

State v. Church

This essay is based on this recent article in the Chicago tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-joliet-diocese-foster-parents-20110603,0,1507362.story

The article describes the withdrawal of Catholic charities agencies in Joliet and Peoria Illinois from licensing families for either foster or adoptive care under state licensing guidelines. Previously Catholic charities in Rockford and Chicago Illinois had taken similar action. What is behind this withdrawal? Illinois passed legislation creating civil unions for gay people. Legal civil unions would be eligible for foster and adoptive parenting and Catholic charities does not permit foster or adoptive parenting for cohabiting but unmarried couples regardless of sex. Catholic charities follow their own belief system which requires a traditional marriage home for foster parenting and adoption. In the past these four (Chicago, Joliet, Peoria and Rockford) agencies would have licensed several thousands of homes that provided a loving, healthy family environment for children without homes.

So, why can’t the agencies just go on with their practice even with the new civil union legalization you may ask? Well, the agencies anticipate that it is only a short matter of time before they are accused, threatened and most likely indicted for discriminating against the civil union legislation based “families.” State v. Church. Guess who wins?

By the way, in case you are wondering, it is not just Catholic charities that follow a married family policy for foster care and adoptive parenting. Lutherans do it. Evangelicals do it. Many Jews and Muslims do it.

Who doesn’t care? Mostly, those who belong to the church of Obama. Those folk wave in the winds of change; usually accepting the ministration decrees of whatever the progressive leadership folk deem necessary to keep pulling the vote from the fringe groups. The church of Obama says the he** with the kids. We need the gay vote. We’ll call it progress. No one can oppose progress. Soon gays will be able to marry and then we’ll show up the Catholics for their anti gay discriminatory ways. Well, that last sentence is our take obviously; heaven forbid that the real intentions of the church of Obama would ever be so clearly described.

So all the families that the Catholic charity folks and the Lutherans and others have identified and carefully screened and followed now leave or go get qualified with the church of Obama if they wish to remain as either foster or adoptive parents. And this is progress? Who will suffer? We’ll see. It can’t be good news for the kids who need a family. But so what? Progress does have its victims.

Why do we at TheFundamentals write about this stuff? There is no apparent connection to financial matters or fiscal responsibility. This “civil unions” monkey business just appears to be one more step on the path to a drastically changed society in which a so-called progressive agenda replaces a traditional agenda. The legislative process has been on this course for decades. The courts support and sometimes lead this progressive agenda. Marriage used to be a matter for private decision making and now it is mostly a matter of the state. No different from education; from health care; from welfare; from any involvement with authority or licensing or state operated TV and radio. The state is involved in all. They oversee your paycheck; your purchases; your bank account; your education and health decisions; your involvement in helping out needy kids; what drugs you can buy and when; what medical procedures they will authorize; how your kids must be seated when you drive to grandma’s house (see this article http://www.statesman.com/news/local/10-year-old-boy-gets-ticket-for-not-1515754.html  ); how your car operates and how your lawn mower operates. When you can fish; if you can fish; what you can keep; what you must release. Right to bear arms? C’mon. They let you have pea shooters compared to what they arm their agents with. Freedom of speech? Sure. As long as you don’t exercise it with their agents. Limited government? C’mon. The only limits on government are what the government agents self impose. They don’t work you. You work for them.

Freedom of religion? Meaningless today because the government is now a religion; all encompassing; just like Islam dominates every aspect of the life of a Muslim; the church of Obama (or, if you prefer the church of the state) dominates every aspect of your life. You worship at its altar every moment of the waking day and the better part of the night. You genuflect upon command. They tithe you and you pay. You are a member in good standing of the church of Obama. You have been saved!

Thank God for the few who say no. The ones who tell the state to keep your agendas and your progressive nonsense. We applaud the Catholic agencies in four big Illinois towns that just told the state to shove it. Next time you see your local PBS station attacking the Catholic Church, remember this essay. PBS and NPR don’t like groups that listen to their own conscience; that follow their traditions; their beliefs; their fundamentals. They want us all to attend services at Obama’s church.

The constitution tells government to leave religion alone and prohibits a state religion or church.  The government bypasses the constitution by supplanting the activities of churches and religions with their own dogma, liturgy, charitable activities, tithing and rules.  And the courts go along to get along.

Who wins in State v. Church?  It's not even a contest!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Who are you listening to?

Bill Gross manages more debt securities for private investors (Pimco) than most. Much more than most. Here are his recent comments:

“Taken together (US public debt, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Bailouts, Mortgage Commitments and all sorts of other liabilities), Gross puts the total at "nearly $100 trillion," that while perhaps a bit on the high side, places the country in a highly unenviable fiscal position that he said won't find a solution overnight.”

"That's much more than Greece, that's much more than almost any other developed country. We've got a problem and we have to get after it quickly."

"We've always wondered who will buy Treasurys" after the Federal Reserve purchases the last of its $600 billion to end the second leg of its quantitative easing program later this month, Gross said. "It's certainly not Pimco and it's probably not the bond funds of the world."

"Why wouldn't an investor buy Canada with a better balance sheet or Australia with a better balance sheet with interest rates at 1 or 2 or 3 percent higher?" he said. "It simply doesn't make any sense."

He did an interview on CNBC and it is summarized at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43378973

If you would like to read Gross’ strategy for dealing with governments that borrow too much at the expense of savers, just go to: http://www.pimco.com/EN/Insights/Pages/BuyCheapBondswithSafeSpread.aspx

Gross said the US is in worse shape than Greece and other countries drowning in debt.

TheFundamentals has been saying, Deficits = Debt = Destruction.

But who are you listening to?

Fitch rating services says Greece stinks (our word.)  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-greece-economy-fitch-idUSTRE74J41F20110521

Moodys rating services says No OPA to Greece debt: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/01/us-greece-ratings-moodys-idUSTRE7506Q320110601

S and P says watch out you Greek debt holders:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/us-greece-ratings-sandp-idUSN1312685920110613

And Gross say the US is worse than Greece. Eeeeks.

So, who are you listening to?

You can listen to those who manage money and who understand markets and arbitrage between different investment opportunities.

Or do you listen to: Krugman? Geithner? Bernanke? Summers? Obama? Anthony Weiner? John Edwards? Ahnold? Harry and Nancy? They have adopted the Alfred E. Neuman approach to deficits and debt.



Handsome as he is wise. This new “Voice of America.”

Who are you listening to?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Arrogance

Arrogance is defined as “an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions.”   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

Highfalutin words. Let’s bring it down to earth. Arrogance is a derivative of pride which ranks pretty high on the list of seven deadly sins. Arrogance is an unwarranted claim on an undeserved position. It is the absolute antithesis of humility. Arrogance is also the symptom of narcissism and the narcissistic disorder is now the principal qualifier for all forms of government work in the United States. Local, state, national. The one certain characteristic that defines the candidate for elective office; the head of any bureaucracy; be it the police department or the state department; the Federal Reserve or the governor of an insolvent state. We know them all and the one consistent characteristic is they have the answers; they claim to know what is best for everyone. They also speak with spectacular forked tongues. They tell the people what to do; how to live; proper conduct and behavior and then slither in the shadows with their own camouflaged weaknesses.

So, we now know that arrogance is also a cover-up. The advice; the plans; the schemes of the arrogant are substitutes for fundamental behavior. They are easy answers to the self made problems of the undisciplined. They are not solutions. They are avoidances. What the arrogant preach is always going to be the opposite of the difficult but correct path to follow. And that is simply because arrogant behavior is a sure sign of lack of discipline. It is not impossible to be disciplined and still be arrogant but it is impossible to be arrogant and disciplined.

Here are some faces of arrogance:










The next time you have the opportunity to choose a leader you may wish to consider a deliberate change in your selection process. You may wish to experiment. You may wish to select the humble one and take a pass on the arrogant one. How will you identify the humble one? She/he will be the reluctant participant. They will most likely not really want the job; the cameras; the attention; the media spotlight. They also might say some bizarre things. Something like, “I will not run for reelection.” “More than likely you will not want to vote again for me because my solutions are not going to be easy.” “We will share the burden.” “And the well to do will be called upon to share a bigger portion of the burden.” “Oh, by the way, don’t expect government to solve your problems; put food on your table; clothes in your closet and provide you a place to live.” “We’re not in the food, clothing and housing business.” “That’s your job!”






Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Great Deception (2008 - ????)

Why hasn’t the combination of stimulus spending which is really just massive deficit federal government spending; two and a half wars that have no end in sight; very large state and local deficit spending and borrowing programs; huge entitlement programs at both the federal and state level and very low interest rates coupled with quantitative easing programs, not produced a big uptick in economic activity and jobs creation?

The Washington DC leadership – political, bureaucratic, academic and, most of all, economic said that these activities would be the answer to the bursting of the housing bubble and the consequential decline in housing prices; the weakness in the financial system which is a nice way of saying that the large financial houses (banks and investment firms) were holding trillions of dollars of crappy real estate assets on their books at values way in excess of current market and the decline in employment.

These voices today say we need to do more. We saved the day by what we did but now we need to do more. They ignore that they previously said that doing what is described above would provide an answer to the downturn. It would be the correct offset to the unwelcome correction underway. They say more, more, more until the upturn feeds upon itself. Avoid the pain of correction; just spend until it passes.

Are they right today? Were they right before?

TheFundamentals thinks the answer lies in the facts that are available to us. These facts are:

1. The housing bubble collapsed because high housing prices were no longer sustainable. People; buyers; the market could not afford the prices. This housing market can be toyed with by the government. It can actually support a bubble. For a while. How can it do so? Because it can support the elevating prices with low interest rates and easy terms to permit financing of the bubble. Why would it do that? Well, it darn well shouldn’t but with the combination of horrible oversight by Greenspan and Bernanke coupled with politicians gone wild and bureaucrats gone greedy at FNMA, GNMA and FHLMC, it did. It was not sustainable because at some point the market intervenes. Too much supply. Demand waning because prices are too high. It collapses. Quickly, usually, but this time both quickly and ongoing. It is not stabilizing. It continues to decline today. That’s a fact.

2. There are three other huge bubbles in the American economy. They are:

A. Government spending at all levels. Federal, state and local.

B. Health care costs.  (See:  http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/spend.php )

C. Education costs.  (See:  http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76 )  and  (See:  http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/12/46643496.pdf )

3. The common thread in these three bubbles is government. There is no market place that ultimately brings balance back to supply, demand and price or cost. Government replaces the market. It sustains the bubble. Even though no one can any longer afford the bubble. The dollar cost of these three areas now exceeds the value received by a substantial margin. Perhaps as much as three to one. Which is a nice way of saying that the spending in each area should be cut by as much as 2/3rds or 67% in order to bring the cost in line with value received.

4. America cannot afford the bubbles in government spending at all three levels. America cannot afford the bubble in health care costs. America cannot afford the bubble in education costs. We pay way too much for what we get; for the value of the goods and services received.

5. The bubbles are now the foundation of the American economy. Today if you count the people who work for government at all levels including education and you include the people who work in health care and the people who are either out of work or underemployed, and you couple those folk with those who are not in the workforce because they are either too young or too old, you end up with about one privately employed person supporting him/herself and two other non employed or government bubble employed people.

6. Those are facts. America’s economy is not working because Americans are not working in private commerce jobs.

7. The global demand for goods and services; the gross world product; the output of all the nations of the world has never been higher. Never. The world is working and producing and consuming and growing. At record high levels.  (See:  http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD )

8. And yet America is not working. Underemployed. Or just unemployed. Or government bubble employed.

9. And the government supports this condition by supporting its bubbles. It thinks the Promised Land is just around the corner. Another six months or twelve months and the pump will be primed and all will be well again. Keep spending; just raise taxes and all will be well. The great deception.

10. Not a chance until the three bubbles deflate. That will not happen until government stops spending, borrowing and printing dollars to support the bubbles. When will that happen? Apparently never unless we go broke. That is the great deception. We call it bubble economics.

Closing. We happened upon the blog of a young woman who posted a series of photographs of her life at http://thefundamentals.tumblr.com/  One of her photos was the blurred image of a bicyclist on which was imposed the following words, “the summer was full of mistakes we wouldn’t learn from”.   Pretty good philosophy for a young woman experiencing her life? Perhaps. But we reread our words above and conclude that the last 3+ years of American economic leadership are full of mistakes we haven’t learned from. We are living the great deception. We are not learning from our mistakes.  Perhaps acceptable for young folk; most certainly not for a nations leadership.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Can The Tea Party Survive?

“Abusive, derogatory and even racist behavior directed at House Democrats by Tea Party protesters on Saturday left several lawmakers in shock.

Preceding the president's speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president's speech, shrugged off the incident.”
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/tea-party-protests-nier-f_n_507116.html

“Karl Rove raised some eyebrows last week when he called the Tea Party "not sophisticated," even though it was not the first time he described the movement in such terms.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/24/karl-rove-rush-limbaugh_n_772984.html

“On Thursday's "Countdown," MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and his guest Janeane Garofalo defamed fellow citizens who attended the prior day's Tea Parties with the same vitriolic contempt.

Garofalo actually called Party-goers "a bunch of teabagging rednecks," adding "this is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up."
Source: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/04/16/garofalo-tea-partiers-are-all-racists-who-hate-black-president

MEMPHIS, TN – Congressman Steve Cohen’s comments about the Tea Party on a liberal radio show called The Young Turks are attracting a lot of attention and controversy.

According to the show’s official web site, Cohen said members of the Tea Party movement are opposed to diversity and are “without robes and hoods.”

“They have really shown a very hardcore angry side of America,” Cohen said. “And I’m afraid they’ve taken over the Republican Party.”
Source: http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Cohens-Tea-Party-Comments-Stir-Controversy/e3rzUxT-9Uys33bChFO5MQ.cspx

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is in hot water again with tea party activists for his comments that their movement cannot endure “because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country.” It’s an opinion Graham has expressed before, but it drew national attention recently in a profile published in The New York Times as he was leaving for the Middle East during the Senate’s Fourth of July recess.
Source: http://www.carolinapatriots.org/cpblog/2010/07/tea-party-comments-make-activists-boil-graham-says-movement-lacks-vision/

And more from the genius boy Lindsey - "In the past year, many Republican lawmakers have sought the support of the conservative Tea Party movement. But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, bucking his party once again, is predicting the movement will "die out."
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20009482-503544.html

And here’s the dope, Bill chiming in: “Former President Bill Clinton warned Friday that the anger some members of the Tea Party movement express about higher taxes and the size of government could feed the same right-wing extremism that led to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.”
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/16/clinton-warns-tea-party-anger-incite-right-wing-extremism/

"Barack Obama has largely left the partisan shots at his conservative opponents to his aides and the DNC, except when directly asked for a response.

But during his town hall appearance on Wednesday in Arnold, Missouri, the president took an unprompted swipe at the cable news networks (presumably, Fox News) and Tea Party protesters ("folks waving tea bags around") whose complaints about government spending, he said, were the equivalent of political gamesmanship."
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/obama-takes-swipe-at-fox_n_192915.html

Some comments from TheFundamentals:

Lindsey Graham is a real cutie pie isn’t he? This fellow and John McCain make quite the pair. No real work experience. Just a couple of windbags feeding forever at the public trough. We would like to ask Lindsey this one question. Lindsey, please share with us "your coherent vision for governing the country.” And Lindsey, make sure that you address the growth (TRIPLED) of the national debt, while you have been in congress (ever since 1995), in your response.

As to the whining and yelping democrats – Keith and Janine and Barney and the Clyburn/Lewis duo; seems pretty much business as usual.

But we wonder if you caught the full meaning of Bill’s comments about the Oklahoma bombing of 1995. Happened, as you may recall, on his watch. Sorry Bill, not much you can do to change the timing the date. But you sure can try to deflect responsibility can’t you? As we recall, Bill, the main reason given by the bomber McVeigh was payback for the attack at the Waco residences killing 74 including 12 young children. Did that government action happen under your guidance Bill? Remember the brilliant Janet Reno, Bill? Did she work for you? This Bill guy is too clever for his own good. Unfortunately for him his motives are as transparent as his intentions were with the white house intern pool.

Bottom line. None of ‘em could see that the tea party was a force to be reckoned with. That it brought cohesiveness and a sense of “yes, we can do something about the promiscuous politicians; the waste; the double standard; the deficits; the debt.” Not wacko racists running around in robes. Sorry boys, no bombers. Nope. Just working, taxpaying Americans who live by a set of fundamentals. And Karl, in case you still don’t get it, they’re not going away. And you know what Karl, every once in a while they may split the vote (not sophisticated ??) and let a spending addicted democrat hang on to a seat for a few more years. But so what? They have accomplished more in two years than all the damage you and Bush II did in eight. Don’t look for too many consulting contracts from tea party candidates Karl. Your politics of rhetoric and waste are much too similar to the dwindling party opposite. (see:  Democrats Decline  -  http://www.gallup.com/poll/146234/Number-Solidly-Democratic-States-Cut-Half.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=plaintextlink&utm_term=Politics )

One last comment. The young president suggests that complaints about government spending are “political gamesmanship.” Well, perhaps so. We are not as smart as he with all his Illinois training. But his remark does raise this question, “If complaints are gamesmanship, how would you describe the actual event of spending money you don’t have?” Following Obama’s logic, the answer must be “good politics.”

Give us a working, taxpaying tea party followers any day. Long live working, taxpaying Americans. And any gathering they choose to support.   By the way, Obama's "good politics" will not play well in any reelection campaign where actual results and performance are under scrutiny.