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


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Contracts, Commerce Clauses, Citizenship and Competition

The lawyers are dancing around several very important issues.  Let’s recap:

1.    Is the mandatory purchase of insurance by the federal government just another tax?  Well, on this one, Obama and his gang actually are being hoisted on their own petard.  If they called it a tax it could not be challenged but if they call it a tax then they are actually taxing lower and middle class wage earners.  So they didn’t call it a tax and now they are dancing around what it is.

2.    Can the government make you buy health insurance?  Well they can make you buy darn near anything else so we doubt those arguments will prevail.  After all they take your earnings before you even see them for Medicare insurance and for social security insurance and they spend your money in hundreds of ways by designing products and services and demanding reporting and bureaucratic involvement in most everything we do.

3.    But if they force you to do it then it is not an open, voluntary act and therefore the contract is void. Good luck.  This is one of those principles in law and history that governments will skirt around whenever it suits them.  If you are not getting the point by now of this essay it is simply this – either you limit government completely or it completely limits you and your freedom and your choices.  Our founding fathers did their best, at the time, to set up a limited government.  200+ years is more than enough time for politicians, judges and bureaucrats (government) to dance around the limitations and then ignore the limitations and then do whatever they want.

4.    So could we have levels of health care?  Just like we have levels of almost any other product and service?  Basic care.  Upgraded care.  Premium care.  Much like we have compact cars. Mid size cars.  Full size cars.  Low octane gas.  Mid octane gas.  Premium gas.  Wal mart.  Costco. Neiman Marcus.  There is something developing in health care called “concierge care” and it is already becoming an attractive alternative for the well to do.  It will expand as government becomes the dominant decider in health care.

5.    But here is the real problem with Obamacare and any other state version of Obamacare.  The problem will first show up in the government’s health insurance program – Medicare and Medicaid and then it will expand into the private providers.  The problem is the arbitrary determination of “what you get” and “when you get it.”  And the gradual decline in the “what you get” and the gradual lengthening of the “when you get it.”  And, even with the decline in quality, the price will still rise.  Unless you are free to do something different, competition is the only process by which any product or service provider will work hardest to provide the highest quality at the lowest price and government involvement in anything destroys competition.  All you need do is look at any service or product supplied by government and you will see a track record of declining quality and rising price.

So, while the lawyers debate commerce clauses and contracts and citizenship you need to think COMPETITION.  Or, to state the obvious, the Supreme Court judges need to think COMPETITION.  Is Obamacare the vehicle by which private competition is maximized in the health care business?  If it is, it should stand on its own.  If it isn’t it should fall on its own.  But mandatory acquisition of it guarantees that it is removed from the process of competition.  Think of it this way.  The commerce clause was not included in the constitution to stifle competition.  It was put there to prevent restrictions on competition – one state favoring its products and services over another state.  Obamacare needs to be eliminated because it violates the purpose of the commerce clause.  Only government distortion of the purpose of the commerce clause would produce the discombobulated reasoning that it could be used as the justification for such meddling in commerce.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Detroit is Bankrupt. Shhh. Don't Tell Anyone.

A week or so ago, we “Googled” the following two words:  “Detroit bankruptcy”

Our purpose was to document the manner in which the Hollywood media picked up on this important story.  Our plan was to write an essay about the lessons we can learn from Detroit.  What do you think we found from this Google search?

Here is a recap of the “Google” search results from that day:

1.    The Economist, http://www.economist.com/node/21541432.  Now get this.  This top search article was written in December 2011.  It was not even current to the pending bankruptcy.

2.    CNN.  This is the only Hollywood media outfit that covered this story and, once again, it was not the current pending bankruptcy taking place now in March 2012 but it was the concern and outlook from November 2011.  http://articles.cnn.com/2011-11-17/us/us_michigan-detroit-budget-problems_1_mayor-dave-bing-city-job-cuts-budget-problems?_s=PM:US

3.    A Columbus, Ohio article touting Joe Biden’s March 15, 2012 attack on republicans for opposing the automobile manufacturer bailout.  HUH?  Makes us wonder a bit about Google's role in the Hollywood media fiasco.



5.    From this point on the Google search results are attorneys advertising for bankrupt individuals in the Detroit area who could become their clients (i.e. nothing to do with the city of Detroit bankruptcy.)

The Hollywood media has completely ignored the story of the bankruptcy of the city of Detroit which is a disaster completely attributable to three elements:

1.    Democrat politicians and bureaucrats building debt

2.    Unions everywhere – city employees, police, firemen, teachers, administrators, and industry, particularly the automobile industry.  Each placing their demands ahead of building a strong and competitive economic base

3.    Failed local and federal policies dealing with everything that destroys the social and cultural fabric of a community.  In this case an overwhelming minority community

Why will you not hear ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox, NBC and all the power of Comcast and Time Warner and Disney and the rest of the Hollywood media cover this story? Why will you not see an analysis of the problems?  We are not talking about the Hollywood media’s infatuation with the bailouts of GM and Chrysler as 60 Minutes did last night.  Or some other story they can tell and promote their progressive agenda and Mr. Obama’s reelection hopes.   We are not talking about a show piece of crap produced by politicians and bureaucrats but a down to earth look at how America’s former third largest city is now a financial, economic and societal shambles. 

Because the answer lies in this formula:

Deficits = Debt = Destruction = Detroit

And the fools who lie and distort and deceive to stay in power cannot afford even one shaft of daylight to expose their shameful ways and the consequences of their shameful ways.  They do not cover the story because there is no explanation for what is going on in Detroit other than the complete failure of their plans, schemes and programs.  The very plans, schemes and programs that they continue to cover and support and promote daily in their programming, their news coverage and their political support payments to the party in power.

America does not have a free press or an open forum for factual and honest discussion of problems and issues.  That is why its problems and issues keep growing.  Without an informed public there is no knowledge and without knowledge there is no change.  Instead there is propaganda and more of the same.  The more of the same part is what the Hollywood media thrive on because it is their lifeblood.  They need to pretend that an expecting society with high levels of entitlement is a happy, thriving society.

It is not and the city of Detroit is living evidence of a failed, futureless mess created by people who place their self interest ahead of the public interest and the common good. 

America’s founding fathers set up a limited government because they knew from history and firsthand experience that only limited government, based on a self reliant citizenry, could sustain freedom and hope for the future.  Freedom is based on economic self sufficiency.  Never accept any view point that suggests a centrally controlled economy can outperform a free economy for more than a passing moment. 

The media controls two ways – the way they tell the stories they choose to tell and the way they don’t tell the stories they don’t choose to tell.  Detroit is without economic freedom and, consequently, without hope for the future.  That is a story worth telling to every citizen of America, over and over again.  Instead it is the story that is not being told at all. It is simply ignored.  Detroit will suckle at any government teat offered it.  Shhh.  Don’t tell anyone.  Don’t let the voters know the truth.  Don’t let the kids know the truth.  Shhh.  If we don’t tell the story we can reelect Obama and the deficit spending borrowing and debt building will continue.  That’s all that matters.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Time for them to go...

TheFundamentals presents its current candidates for the Paterno Award - staying a tad too long in the public eye.  These folks need to choose immediate retirement.  One already has -----

Monday, March 19, 2012

National Defense Resources Preparedness

Obama signed an executive order last Friday that provides for complete government control of America – all aspects of its economic production, transportation, employment and any related activities.  You can read it by going to:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness

TheFundamentals suggests you do so immediately.  While it is still available.

It reads like documentation for a state of complete martial law.  Federal government control of everything as opposed to the current level of federal control of only 88.7% of everything.  Normally one would expect such a singular authority concentration in a country preparing for a massive war effort or the expectation of an unparalleled natural disaster (earth colliding with a comet) or the complete disintegration of all economic, cultural and societal authority because of eleven years of fiscal irresponsibility and financial promiscuity under the decrees of Bush II, Obama, Greenspan, Bernanke and congress.  The executive order fails to specify why or what the cause(s) for this dictatorial decree might be.  This leads TheFundamentals to pose a few questions while we still can ---

Questions:

1.    Why issue this order on a Friday afternoon (second best time to bury a news worthy story) with no explanation or justification?  It seems to be a big deal so we know that your full disclosure, accountability and change for the better philosophies would demand that you offer some explanations, huh?

2.    It refers to “peacetime” and “times of national emergency.”  The country has been at war for at least 10 years.  So why now?  Is that comet out there and closing in?  Could it be related to the unexpected rise of so many low seeds in the NCAA tournament?  It can’t have anything to do with the upcoming November election, could it?

3.    Provides power to “allocate materials, services and facilities…including food, health resources, energy, water and transportation….”  What do you have in mind?

4.    Provides power to “guarantee loans by private institutions … and determine terms and conditions of loans…”  What do you have in mind?

5.    Provides power to “make subsidy payments.”  What do you have in mind? 

6.    Much of the power goes to the head of the department of homeland security.  That is currently Janet Napolitano, an attorney and former politician.  Are those the appropriate credentials to support a person with dictatorial powers over all aspects of the American economy?  Have you thought through what you are doing?

7.    Provides power to institute an armed services induction policy.  Are you planning to create a military draft in the near future?  Will Janet be inducted?

8.  Does this decree have anything to do with the subject matter of Admiral Mullen's national security observation (see top of page) ?

9.    Financial asset question.  For the last several years, the government has not let the banks pay any interest on savings accounts, money market accounts or CD’s.  Will this decree mean that Americans with those accounts will just lose them entirely now; all at once; rather than slowly as is the current policy?

10.  Last question is directed toward America’s Hollywood media (NBC, ABC, PBS, Fox and CBS.)  If you get a chance in the next week or two could you assign maybe one analyst and, maybe, one or two of those well toned, well coifed news readers to look into the decree?  Probably not a big deal or anything but a few resources if available, huh?   

Folks, you gotta love the idiots we send to Washington DC, don’t you?  Just imagine what things would be like if we didn’t have a constitution.  If we weren’t a country of laws; not people.  If we were not the land of the free.  Free press; free speech, government of the people, etc.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Financial Stability Agreement - City of Detroit

Here is what Obama does not talk about and the Hollywood media never mentions –

Deficits = Debt = Destruction and today we add the fourth D to the formula:

Deficits = Debt = Destruction = Detroit

The city of Detroit is bankrupt.  It has so much more debt and obligations beyond its ability to pay that it is insolvent – unable to meet its obligations.

Whenever someone - a person, a company; any entity is insolvent and unable to meet their obligations, things happen.  For most of us, the thing is called bankruptcy.  But, when the politicians and bureaucrats get involved they prefer to call it something a bit different.  Fancy it up - call it a “restructuring” or a “bailout” or“reorganization.”  In the case of Detroit it is now being called a “financial stability agreement."  It’s still the same old rock and roll, folks – it’s a bankruptcy.

If you wish to read the entire agreement, please go to - http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4186488313.PDF 

We are only going to focus on one part of this “stability agreement.”  Here is the wording of that portion of the agreement –

“Review and approve… any proposed amendment or modification to any material contracts to which the City (Detroit) is party (including, but not limited to, collective bargaining agreements, pension agreements and any other contracts requiring the payment of retiree benefits)….”

The above wording comes from page 9 of the so-called “financial stability agreement.”

Those few simple words need to be on the mind of any thinking, caring, and taxpaying American voter later this year.  There is no town, no village, no state, no school district and, most certainly, no city in this country that can endlessly pay unionized public employees of any sort the ridiculous salaries and benefits and pensions that are currently being paid.  Detroit is bankrupt because of its union employee agreements and whether the SEIU or the AFSCME or the NEA or the AFT or the AFL-CIO likes it or not, the day of reckoning comes and it comes in the form of this wording –

“Review and approve… any proposed amendment or modification to any material contracts to which the City is party (including, but not limited to, collective bargaining agreements, pension agreements and any other contracts requiring the payment of retiree benefits)….”

So to the fat cats in all those unions in places like California and Illinois and Ohio and Wisconsin – reread those few words.  In case you can't immediately grasp their meaning, let us help.  Those few words mean the party is over; the pensions are gone; the free benefits are kaput; the big salaries and all the days off are history.  And if you don't like it, tough.  There ain't no money in the till folks; so the contracts get amended or modified or just ripped up.  You outsmarted yourself.

We call those words - music to our ears. 
Today, Motown gets to face the music; tomorrow – fill in the blanks __________, IL; ______________, CA; ____________, NJ; ______________WI or _____________,__.






Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Hollywood Media Expose - Part I

What do we mean by Hollywood media?  We mean everything and everyone who has anything to do with any aspect of making money off the production or distribution of information and entertainment across state lines.  So, Hollywood media includes:

·         Movies
·         Records
·         Books and publishing
·         Television
·         News programming
·         Radio
·         Music
·         Internet access
·         Internet content
·         Movie theatres, and
·         Performers of all sorts including writers and support personnel

Recently, you may recall, the Hollywood media was pushing for federal legislation to protect their content (they call it their intellectual property) from being distributed outside of their control on the Internet around the world.  They have so much money and they control the messages that money buys so tightly that they are able to buy protective legislation from congress and the president while also buying the hands off no-limits freedom that they desire to permit them to operate with little or no regulation.  Best of both worlds isn’t it?   Control your product tightly as well as how others can use it but keep the production and distribution of your product completely under your own control.  Even when that product is government information or involves government, meaning taxpayer paid content.  Think of that – we pay taxes to fund government activities and the Hollywood media produce something around that activity that they then charge us for, directly or indirectly through advertising, and they demand that they own it and they control it. 

Our expose is intended as a learning tool for our readers.  Quite simply, we would like to expose the vast wealth; the interconnecting ownership between media, news, publishing, entertainment, government  and money that now serves to completely ignore and bypass the original intent of America’s founders in granting unrestricted freedom to the press (which was the media of the time.)  This freedom has now been so abused by a limited number of extremely wealthy companies and their key players that their distorted freedom definition is a blatant combination of using their money; their influence and their very widespread electronic media distribution outlets to control what is seen and heard; how it is presented; who is chosen as a winner and who is designated as a loser and how important matters of governance, finances, politics, economics and personal behavior may never even receive a passing moment of exposure.  And it is all legal; all protected; and all quite anti-democratic.  And they demand ownership of it and they demand that we pay for it over and over again.

Next week, TheFundamentals will name names and give you a brief background of these large conglomerates that dominate Hollywood media/information in our country and actually lay claim to a large segment of our paycheck(s).  Remember, please, why we are doing this – these companies want to control information, regardless of source; their content, wherever it shows up and they want to require the federal government to enforce such control and they want to hold anyone using the internet accountable for such control.  They are not in the business of objective reporting or analysis or fact distribution to the American public as was the intent of America’s founders when they documented total freedom to the press in the first amendment to the US constitution.  They wish to make money, gobs of money and they will use a portion of their plenty to form opinion; or distort opinion or just avoid any reference to something that might get in the way of their sole motivation which is control for the purpose of self enriching money making.

The people cannot control their government if they do not own and control information.  Whoever controls information is in charge.  TheFundamentals is suggesting that it is time for the people of this country to own their government and everything that it says, does and lays claim to – not the other way around.  No Hollywood media company has the right to take anything involving any American government entity and claim it to be their property.  And by so doing become the information control arm of government.   This Hollywood media cabal has lots of money; our money and they are using it to expand their power and control.  We say, “Enough.” 

Here is a preview of Part II. 

Comcast.  Comcast is one of America’s largest “Hollywood media” companies.  It dominates the distribution of information, news, programming and other forms of entertainment to millions of American homes.  It has the money and the power and influence to set prices; set agendas; hire lobbyists and control the very content and factual data in its programming.   It can influence legislation to keep it that way.  From Wikipedia:  Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 40 states and the District of Columbia.   Comcast also has significant holding in several cable networks (including E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network), distribution (ThePlatform), and related businesses. Comcast acquired a majority stake in media conglomerate NBCUniversal in January 2011.”  

More to come next week.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Land of the Free

Takes on a new meaning under the current regime doesn’t it?

The land of the free.

Here is what is now free unless you happen to belong to that rapidly dwindling group of unfortunates who still pay taxes:

1.    Birth control of most any sort.  Makes sense when you think of it.  Obama and his fellow travelers have substituted “sex minus conception”  to take your mind off the fact that you can’t afford to send your kids to college; the kids can’t get much of a job anyway with or without a college degree which means they need “sex without conception”  to avoid depressing thoughts about their future and, anybody who still pays taxes, now has a government levied debt burden on them that is so unpayable that they will need to get lost in the temporal joy of “conception free sex”  to make it through the night, or day, depending on their libido preferences.

2.    Free food.  Don’t even need to go through the embarrassment of peeling off the USDA coupons in the checkout lane and incurring the wrath of the few working people behind you who are thinking uncharitable thoughts about your character and your food selections.  Instead, in one of the few federal government examples of streamlining a bureaucracy, the USDA now lets you get a taxpayer funded credit card that you can swipe through the machine just like working people do and get your free victuals and get out of the store with your self esteem intact.  Can't control the borders but a record number of those free food cards are now in circulaiton.

3.    Free democracy for everyone not living in the US of A.  America is delivering free democracy to almost anyone who wants it as long as they are not Saudi potentates -- they don’t want it; Koreans militants -- they don’t want it; Egyptian fundamentalists -- they don’t want it; or weird looking Syrian dictators -- he doesn’t want it.  By the way, do you think this guy Assad maybe had a round or two in the ring with an opponent wielding the “ugly stick?”   America will send its troops and its open checkbook drawn on Chinese banks to anybody else who the soon-to-retire Hillary Clinton deems worthy of a free dose of American democracy.  The kind that is run on money; special interests; corruption and hope.  America’s leaders think buying friends while calling it “democracy” is a good thing.

4.    Free health care if you don’t want to pay for it or can make the case that you can’t pay for it because you cannot get a job or don’t have the discipline needed to show up on time and actually do something that someone else tells you to do.  Health care for freedom loving citizens even with self imposed ailments. Overweight?  Sign up for the package plan -- free food so you can develop diabetes and then free insulin so you can be around to take advantage of the free food deal. 

5.    What else is free?  Well we think pretty soon you will be able to get a free car.  Obama and his UAW run General Motors have developed this thing called the Volt.  It's Obama’s motoring wet dream for your future – not for him mind you; he won’t be tooling around the neighborhood in this POS; but the Volt, even with Obama’s very high gas prices is not selling too well.  It also has a big free coupon attached to it -- $7,500.00 free at the cash register but TheFundamentals thinks they may need to increase the coupon amount.  We predict the coupon will soon cover most of the cost of this Obama dream vehicle.  The announcement should come in late October of this year.

6.    There is a lot of stuff free in the land of the free.  Free housing if you need it; free clothing; free computers; free internet and perhaps the most important gift of all from your government – free time; lots of free time to just hang around and watch TV or look at the girls/boys walking by on the street corner.  That’s what nice about this new land of the free.  You’ve got the time to enjoy it.



What’s also really nice about this free everything idea -- you don’t have to deal with the man.  You don’t have to put up with the man’s demands.  His/her instructions.  Rules.  The heck with them.  All you need do is vote every two or four years for the Free Party candidates (formerly known as Democrats) and, occasionally, spend some time waiting in lines and chatting with an overweight, depressing government employee.  Small price to pay for living in the land of the free, isn’t it?  No wonder so many foreigners are lined up to be new citizens.