Monday, March 30, 2009

Government Cheese

I’ve had three different careers in my life. I’ve worked for government and private companies, big and small. I’ve been comfortable and I’ve been dirt poor. But, I’ve always refused to take a government handout.

When I was dirt poor, I ran a small business and did quite well at one time, but suffered an economic downturn in the early 1990s. I ended up making less than I needed to keep the business, my apartment, and buy food. Not a good feeling. In fact, I was eligible for food stamps, government business loans, and other help.

I never took anything, because I always feared the strings that came with that aid. I managed to close the business and sell the small assets I had. I kept body and soul together and soon found work elsewhere. If I’d truly faced starvation, I probably would’ve have taken food stamps and I can’t blame any one for taking them or unemployment insurance. That said, government largess is dangerous.

Taking government cheese becomes a way of life and government seems all too glad to help a person maintain that way of life. A person’s job, in effect, becomes going down to the local food stamp, TANF, Section 8 housing, or Social Security office to fill out paperwork and meet caseworkers.

I’ve seen web comments and posts that wondered if maybe Obama et. al. wants us all to take government cheese. If we do, we can be made tractable. We can be made to surrender gun rights to live in government housing. We can give up privacy for government health care. We can continue to vote in those who grant us such largess. Something to say for this conspiracy theory.

The current administration has been going on a corporate welfare binge to beat all binges. We’ve bailed out banks, auto companies, insurers, and more. Now, the gloves have come off and this administration is showing it wants control. They ordered GM to fire its Chief Executive Officer.

Where in the name of George Washington does the Constitution say that a president can fire a private citizen? What in anything Thomas Jefferson ever wrote or even read gives Obama the power to tell Chrysler that is has to merge with FIAT (same link)?

Let’s face it; this economic collapse was a way for this administration to seize unprecedented power by first giving out billions of our dollars and now pulling the strings. They built on the power that Bush added to the Executive Office and we are now facing a leviathan that could remake the country into its own image.

Beware of government cheese.

Friday, March 27, 2009

NRA Convention and Vacation

I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ve been too angry to do much more than useless rants. I’m angry that the new administration has suggested a renewed AWB, but glad that Pelosi (of all people) slapped it down. I’m angry that the economy is faltering, that Obama insults Special Olympians, and so much more.

Anger makes good rants, but ranting gets tiring after a while. I’ve ranted many times to Yosemite Sam and vice versa. I’m tired of politics, tired of fighting for gun rights—something which shouldn’t have to be fought for at all. So, I’m going to talk about an upcoming trip.

Yosemite Sam and I are going to the NRA Convention in Phoenix. It will be the fifth straight convention we’ve blogged about. We plan to make a road trip out of it. We’ll go to Amarillo, Texas and visit the Big Texan Steakhouse. I won’t attempt the 72-ounce steak. I love steak, especially Porterhouse, but I know my limits.

We’ll visit Tombstone, Arizona and NRA's Whittington Center and do some shooting. Then we will attend the NRA Conference and meet the rest of the bloggers. The way home will also be interesting.

We’re planning a long trip and it will be unbelievably good to leave everything behind us. I only hope that we’ll have no new politics or gun rights infringements to rant about with each other on this much anticipated vacation.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Green Ammunition

A few days back, CNN wrote a report about “green ammunition.” It was in their scary-titled “Planet in Peril” section.

I’m rather tired of all the scare nonsense, shouts of “we’re all going to die slowly and horribly because of….” Take your pick: global warming, global cooling, giant hurricanes, my washing machine. Lead in ammunition is just one more scary thing to add to a “Planet in Peril” list.

I’m not going to debate any of the so-called science in the article. I’m not qualified. I know that anti-gunnies use fear of lead to ban lead ammunition, making alternatives so expensive that no one would want to buy guns. Thus, I take any of the scientists’ quotes with a Red Sea worth of salt.

Unfortunately, anti-gunnies have seized on a germ of truth that makes this dangerous to gunowners--lead is toxic. They can harp on this and anything we say sounds defensive. Sigh.

There was one really interesting statistic though; Americans spent about $1.08 billion dollars on ammunition in 2008. This is truly big business and a vital sector of the economy. Way to go people. Let's strive for $1.2 billion in 2009.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Stop the Train and Let me Off

This has been a strange few weeks. As someone once said, "It's a dark ride." I sit sometimes and stare at the news, at my savings accounts, at where our country is going. It all makes me want to hug myself and rock back and forth. The best reason I don't is fear I would never stop.

We have a president whose staff says he's overwhelmed and not getting enough rest. As if we couldn't see that one coming. Obama's executive experience could fill a thimble with room left in it for my finger.

Our nation's economy is tanking, taking away our life savings. I had a discussion with a few co-workers the other day. I wanted sympathy when I realized that I've lost about $10,000 in my 401(k). They had no sympathy for me. One co-worker is down $30,000 and another is down about $20,000. Somehow I felt better that I lost so little.

There are a few bright spots. Attorney General Eric Holder floated a Assault Weapons ban trial balloon and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi shot it down. Tickle me pink. I know it's not off the table, but it won't be on the agenda for awhile. My small amounts of silver and gold are worth much more than I paid for them (of course, I'm still buying more).

Here's the thing. I really am wishing the worse for this new, inexperienced, "progressive" president with whom American voters saddled us. He's proved who he is. He wants to radically remake America. He wants government to run/ruin health care, he supports bans on at least some guns, he wants to turn us into what he believes is a caring, sharing, better America.

I don't share his vision. I am a free woman and I stand or fall on my own labor and decisions. I don't want his health care. I don't want his "better America." So, let him and his vision for us fail. In fact, I want an epic fail.

So, what can I do? I can economically go "John Galt." That is, I can withhold the fruits of my labors. I can stop going to restaurants except when traveling. This will hurt the restaurateur, but it also denies the state government sales and meals taxes. I can reduce my spending to essentials like food, guns, ammo, and gold. By doing so, I will reduce the economy by a small amount. I will infinitesimally slow the velocity of money. If enough people do so, we may see a return to governmental sanity.

I never thought I'd want to see a president fail. I never thought I'd say, "I miss W." The administration is about six weeks old, what will I feel in six months or (tremble) six years?