My apologies

I apologize to anyone who was waiting on my Constitution post on Friday. I wish I had a decent reason. I simply shut down and went to bed when I got home. I'm shooting for this Friday.

If only my choice could have this impact . . .

I will be posting my (new) Friday Constitution post later today. Until then, please watch the following courtesy of CNNBC (AKA moveon.org):



If only my not voting would have this result, I would gladly give up that right . . . for this year anyway.

Another John Galt Post

Image by K. Sawyer via FlickrI had an interesting intersection of two idea paths that lead me to believe that we are moving ever closer to the time that the productive people in America just up and leave.

The first was John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics that aired a few days ago. In the segment about farm subsidies John is interviewing a couple of House Representatives - most notably Shelia Jackson Lee. At the tail end of the segment John asks "If we need to subsidize food, then why not housing and food as well?" Shelia Jackson Lee's response says it all "Don't push us."

Compare that with this transcript from the Glenn Beck show where he is discussing "trophy kids." These are the millenials - the kids who grew up being told that everything they did was great. These are the kids who got trophies even when their team came in last.

Guess what? These kids are now coming into the work force - and they are shocked to find out that employers expect them to do a good job - that they don't get validated just for showing up. These kids now want their parents to come in and have a "sit down" with the employers to make sure that the employer knows just how good little jimmy is and how they better treat him right.

Perhaps we should protect jobs as well. They have in France. In large business in France it is so hard to fire an incompetent employee that some companies have entire floors of people who get paid to do nothing. Just show up and get paid.

I am just waiting for the anti dog-eat-dog legislation to be proposed.

It'll probably come from Shelia Jackson Lee.

From our dear friends at PETA

They have a new project: SEAKITTENS!

Check out the project

You even get to create your OWN seakitten. Here's mine:


Create Your Own Sea Kitten at peta.org!

Remember PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals!

Now I remember

Looks like it's gonna be a prolific post day.

Based on this video, I remember why I miss 1994.



I miss the Contract with America and the boldness of a man who could drive that vision. My hope is that we will be in a position for another "revolution" in 2010.

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Now I Remember . . .

Now I remember why yesterday's video was so concerning. It reminded me of the Soviet propaganda that I saw during the late 80's/early 90's, just updated. More recently, it reminded me of Vladimir Putin's propaganda from the last couple of years.



Enjoy the video of the former Communist turned "Kapitalist". I believe it to be a good follow up to the video from the former? Marxist turned . . . well, has he turned?

So very . . . disturbing

So very, very disturbing on so many levels. Like millions of voices crying out . . . .






All I can say is that I'm grateful that it didn't end with the standard "I approved this message" disclaimer

Oh, and if there was any question . . . I am not.

A new tack

Image via WikipediaSo, I've been listening to Glenn Beck lately. He's about the only radio talk show host I can stomach - probably because his slant is not about being conservative or liberal (even though he is obviously conservative). Rather it is that he is concerned about what is right for America. In fact he is my political Dr. Laura, if you will. Except I can listen to his show.

< Dr. Laura Tangent >
Please don't get me wrong. I love Dr. Laura and her perspective. I can't listen to her show because I always want to reach through the phone and strangle her callers. She is waaaaay more patient that I will ever be. Kudos to her. This is just in case someone who knows her well enough to read and tell her about my little blog (laughable) or in case she, herself, reads this blog (even more laughable - does anyone read this blog?) that they will understand my rant and (hopefully) take my comments in the spirit in which they are intended.
< /Dr. Laura Tangent >

Where was I? Oh, yeah, so I was listening to Glenn's (wow - look at me, being all informal here) show today while he was discussing the Constitution and how, in times of trouble, it is those that have not only read the Constitution but studied it along with the founders' writings to understand intent, that will be the leaders when things go to crap. And I agree with him that, eventually, things will go to crap. I just don't think that we are quite to the crap phase yet. (I could regale you with what I believe about the current situation, but then you'd think I was a conspiracy nut)

Back to the point. From now on I will be writing a Constitutional post once a week. I'm considering Friday, but I'll mull it over and get back to all one of you who read this fine, fine piece of work.

Sometimes the Socialists Learn

After reading this article, you can see one reason why I am opposed to socialized health care initiatives.

The rundown for those who don't follow links:

Hawaii has just canceled their Universal Child Care initiative. Why, you may ask?

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,"

Really? People will take advantage of a government program?

These programs only "work" in two places. On paper in Utopian dreams and in a strong socialist/communist system where everyone is required to participate.

The only socialized medical systems I know of that seem to remain functional without financially burdening their citizens are those that have a minimal universal health coverage that take care of major issues. Above and beyond that, people have to either pay for themselves or purchase their own.

I imagine it is possible for us to have some type of UHC in the US if we changed one aspect of our current governmental process. We would have to spend less than we take in. Then we could create an actual budget. Not a budget of "wow, we really need all these programs so we'll come up with the money somehow. That was the consumer failure side of the whole sub-prime mortgage issue.

No, in fact, if I were able to reform the whole system, here is what I would do if I could:

I would return to the original constitutional tax system. The federal government would only be allowed to pay for things that the individual states were unable to do effectively themselves - defense, postal systems, and setting national standards to be implemented and governed by the states. They would then levy taxes to the states to cover those costs. If the individual states felt strongly about specific programs such as UHC, social security, improving education, agriculture, providing breaks/incentives for business, etc. they could do so on their own.

I really am a strong believer in the concept that the farther away decisions are made from the individual people, the less input the people have on those decisions.

This also would allow people to move if they didn't like the way their state handled programs to another state that more closely matched their ideals. Current example: If the citizens of Massachusetts feel that their statewide UHC program has overly increased their tax burden and feel that their voice isn't heard in the states socialist political climate, they are free to move to somewhere on the other extreme . . . say . . . Wyoming. Or they can move to any other state that most closely meets their social, political, moral, etc. values.

If we had national UHC, there is no longer an option for the individual who feels that such socialism robs them of their liberty (like me).

Many of the far reaching federal programs fit this same mold. Education, for example. I have no problem with the federal government deciding that our children need to meet certain standards to be competitive in the world. Great. Set the standards then allow the states to implement and enforce those standards.

But Travis, what happens if the states don't implement or enforce <!--whine>

Simple - the children from those states don't have the advantage that those do who come from states who do implement/enforce.

<Whine>But Travis, that's not fair!

No, no it's not. But then neither is life. For some reason we have come to this bizarre mindset that things should work differently for human beings than for the rest of the world. Really, stop and think about what would happen if we did have a true economic failure. Those who have been sitting around whining about fairness will either figure out that life isn't fair or they will be crushed by those who are going to survive.

Under my model (and the founder's for that matter) life ends up being more fair than otherwise. If you don't like what is going on where you are and you can't effect change - move somewhere that is more in line with what you desire.

Your topic appropriate musical treat for today comes from DEVO. Enjoy

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The answer to Obama's desire

Image via WikipediaWhile speaking with "Joe the Plumber", he said that he didn't want to punish anyone's success but he wanted to make sure that those who helped him reach is success were able to share in the wealth.

Funnily enough, there is a mechanism in capitalism to ensure that this is the case. For a humorous view of this, please take a look at this Veggi-tales clip. You'll need to get past the opening scene until you get to the Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps.

For those of you too stuffy to watch animated vegetables sing, the story is this:

There was a veterinarian in the alps who had gone a little crazy. His approach was to yodel to the animals that were brought to him. After the yodeling, the Vet's nurse would then (surreptitiously) let the clients know what they could do for their ailing pets. The clients would then call to thank the Vet profusely.

As the practice grew and the Vet gained success, the nurse eventually asked for a raise. The Vet said no. The nurse then exercised his power by not offering his advice to the clients . . . to a humorously disastrous result.

In the end, that is the power that all those who "help drive success" have. I don't argue that there are times where a business owner is successful in spite of himself - where his employees are the actual drivers of success. But this is the anomaly. Usually it is the business owner who not only took the risks and worked the hours to create his success but he is the one who used his discretion in hiring the employees to help increase that success.

Employment is a contract - a covenant, if you will - between employer and employee. The employer agrees to pay a specific amount to the employee for a specific job to be done. The employee agrees to do the specific job for the pay the employer offers. If, at some time, the job changes or the employee feels that they offer greater value than the employer is paying for, they have the option to renegotiate the contract or to find new employment. The employee ultimately holds the power. If they feel passionately about that job, they can encourage other employees to join them in negotiating or leaving - creating a crisis where the employer will either meet the demands or hire new employees.

This is the free market capitalist system. The business owner is not guaranteed success. The employee is not guaranteed a job. The system that guarantees such "rights" is called socialism at best and communism at worst.

I have seen first hand the effects of both socialism and communism. I differ from many on the fiscally conservative right in that I don't believe that the two are one and the same. I had the opportunity to live in post-communist Poland and see the lingering effects of that economic system. I saw people line up to buy things just because there was a line. The stories I heard about why people did that boggled my mind. They would buy whatever was being sold because they never knew when or if the item would be sold again. Even if they couldn't use it, they knew they could barter it with someone else who may (or may not) have something they needed. But they were guaranteed a job and they knew that they would have a job to go to.

My experience with socialism came from working with a subsidiary of a German software company. They had employees who, after a couple of years working at the company, decided that their work was too taxing and just stopped doing what they didn't want to do. When I asked the owner why the employee stayed or why he didn't fire the employee get someone else, he explained that the German system A) took 50% of the employee's pay to provide the wonderful social services but that those were only available at the full level as long as the employee remained employed and B) required the company to continue to pay the employee if they fired him, up until they found a new job. . . regardless of how long it took them to find the job. The owner would rather pay full price for half done work than pay twice for one employee to do the work and one non-employee to find, or not find, work.

Wow. I guess that is the basis for the "The World Owes Me"

Not for me. No thank you. I want to know that I am successful because I earned it, not because someone legislated that success and made sure that we all were exactly the same.

Be the same as everyone else if you want. Count me out.

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Witold Pilecki

Image via WikipediaToday I learned about one of the unsung heroes of WWII - Witold Pilecki.

Please take a few moments and learn a bit about a man who served his country and all mankind.

Krwia i blizna

OMFG . . .

Image by NickStarr via FlickrOMFG, which stands for "Oh My Freaking Goodness" in my local parlance - as opposed to it's more popular sibling.

And why this reaction . . ?

"Community banking executives around the country responded with anger yesterday to the Bush administration's strategy of investing $250 billion in financial firms, saying they don't need the money, resent the intrusion and feel it's unfair to rescue companies from their own mistakes.

But regulators said some banks will be pressed to take the taxpayer dollars anyway." (reference)

Really? We are going to force banks to accept the money? I really like this quote from the article: Peter Fitzgerald, chairman of Chain Bridge Bank in McLean, said he was "much chagrined that we will be punished for behaving prudently by now having to face reckless competitors who all of a sudden are subsidized by the federal government."

This really does sound like we are punishing people for being successful. I really feel a John Galt post coming on.

I really recommend that those who haven't read "Atlas Shrugged" take the time. And don't feel bad about skipping John Galt's monumental speech later in the book. Everyone did.

My Concern is why we are forcing government help on people who don't want it. This moves us from a socialist position - where the government offers to "help" whether their help is the best solution or not, to communism - where by god (note the small "g") you WILL take our help, whether you want it or not.

I am disgusted that we have allowed our government to become an entity that robs us of our freedom to fail and learn our lessons from those failures.

And I continue to search for a way to positively impact my society as an individual.

Any ideas would be gladly considered.

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Soapbox Time

Yep, it's soapbox time. I really didn't have a topic for the day but one dropped itself nicely in my lap this evening.

So I've mentioned that I live in northern Utah, where the population is predominantly Mormon.

I remember dating a girl while I was serving in the Army who pointed out that the Mormons she knew were all nice. How accurate that statement is. Mormons are just nice. Much the way southern and Evangelical ladies are nice when they say "well bless your heart." Anyone who knows a southern belle knows how damning that phrase can be. Much like Sarah Palin recently shut down a heckler in a recent speech.

Mormons are a different type of nice. It is a self-effacing screw you type of nice. My case in point: Tonight I went to the local grocery store to pick up a can of whipped cream. As I'm hitting the checkout line a lady rushes to make sure that she was in front. I really didn't mind. I really wasn't in that big of a hurry. My family was waiting for me to return with the whipped cream so we could have it with the pumpkin pie slated for dessert.

As we move forward in the queue and she is the next in line, she sends her son to the far side of the store to grab a Pepsi for his brother. Recognize that I have only one item. The person behind me has two items, the person behind them has only one item. Rather than doing what I (and any considerate person) would have done and let others go ahead until her son returned, she allowed the checker to start ringing up her items. And we waited . . . and waited . . . and waited for her son to return.

The lady was obviously uncomfortable with the delay she was causing everyone. She started avoiding everyone's eyes and saying she was sorry. Indeed, she was very nice. And so was I. I suffer from the same affliction of being nice.

I wish I could be more like my friend John. I don't know if it is because he is Australian, or because he is an "A" type personality. Regardless, I know that his response to the lady's claim to being sorry would have been "no, you are not. If you were truly sorry, you would do something to remedy the situation. You would have thought ahead and allowed others to go ahead until your son returned. So, no, you aren't sorry."

But, golly, she sure was nice.

Oingo Boingo Had it Right

This video details some (probably not all) of my concerns about Barak’s fiscal policies.

He is speaking with a small business owner (the plumber) who asks him a pertinent question “Your plan will raise my taxes, won’t it?” Barak avoids the question by saying “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everyone that is behind you, that they have a chance to share in the wealth.”

His words resonate with the everyman who feels he is lower on the totem pole. Of course that wealth should be spread around, shouldn’t it? The problem is that it doesn’t take into account that it is the small business owner who takes the risk. He is the one who puts up his own money or gets the credit to get his business running. He is the one who has to make sure that resources are available. He is the one who has to make sure that all the bills are paid. He is the one who has to make sure his employees are trained and are doing what it takes to generate the income to cover all the expenses and (gasp) make a profit.

What Barak (and all Utopian liberals) are describing is Marxist theory the redistribution of wealth. The problem with communism, or socialism for that matter, is that it is an impossible utopia that depends on everyone involved be altruistic – to care as much about everyone else as they do themselves. This denies the reality of human nature.

Maslow’s hierarchy describes how humans value, starting with survival and working towards self-actualization. I believe there is a similar hierarchy for the way humans react socially. At the core, at the survival level, they are concerned only about themselves. They then care about those they have accepted as a family unit. I use accepted because some people have a closer familial relationship with individuals who are not biologically related to them. From here, the concern is for the local community, and it spirals out to regional, national, and global levels, as they perceive each previous level is resolved.

I believe that there is a recent mutation of this concept in the liberal community where, for some reason, there is a new self-loathing. We see this in the “hate humans first” crowd – those who think that humans are the cause of all of the ills in the world; in the “hate America first” crowd – those who think that all of the world’s ills are due to the existence of the US’s capitalist foundation. We even have a “hate Christian’s first” crowd and a “everything that is not the status quo is better” crowd.

This doesn’t mean that the current politico-economic system in the US is perfect. In fact, I believe that Adam Smith would be spinning in his grave if he saw how things are working now. Smith’s theory presupposed a connection between private enterprise and the local community. I see why my liberal friends are disgusted when we see politicians selling out just to stay in power and corporations doing whatever they desire, regardless of who it hurts.

That being said, socialism isn’t the answer. When we place a burden on the small businessmen of America, we do exactly what Barak said he didn’t want to do – we punish their success. In my mind, if government wants to socially engineer business so that they “spread the wealth to those that back them”, they should do so by giving them incentives to do so, not by taking away that which they have earned through their risks. Oh, wait, that’s corporate welfare, now isn’t it? Hmmm, I’ll have to ponder that one.

Oh, and click the Boingo album cover for a musical and philosophic treat.

Back in the Saddle

I apologize for anyone who has checked this blog over the last several weeks. Like just about everyone I know, I have the sense that I am overwhelmed with everything required of me.

My life looks like this: I am married; we have five children; I work full time as an Intel contract employee I go to school at the University of Phoenix; I have a calling in my ward (Troop Committee Chairman); I am struggling to control my blood sugar, blood pressure, and my activity level; my wife and I recently finished Financial Peace University and am now writing budgeting software because the course was life changing but I can't stand the budgeting tools I've seen; I should be reading my scriptures and meditating; I should be improving my brain by reading from the best books; and I committed to blogging.

I'm sure I'm leaving something out of the list.

That being said (typed), I also recognized that I was wasting a huge amount of time doing frivolous stuff. Not that I'm opposed to frivolous. But it seemed to be dominating a great deal of my time (damn you, hulu).

So I went back to planning methodologies I have used in the past. I will be working on and adapting my new process over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted with how that goes.

All this to say that I have repented - my I have turned my heart back to where it once was. I will be writing something on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to see where all of this goes. I hope you are too.