Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Occupy What-Ever, The GOP

Herman Cain has come under considerable scrutiny lately as all Presidential contenders should. Some of the scrutiny is justified. I think the scrutiny helps the candidates to solidify their positions and clarify the message they want to communicate. But Mr. Cain has come under much ridicule because he hasn’t sought the Presidency the way he is “suppose to” and that is what really sticks in the craw of people like Carl Rove and Bill O’ Reilly ( more so because he is doing well in the polls). I will admit I am a big Herman Cain fan. I like the man and his politics. I for one do not want another Machine Politician occupying the White House or any office for that matter. I think that the fear of someone like Cain is that if he wins the Presidency doing it his way he won’t be beholding to the “Good Ole Boys and Girls”. And that my friends scare the Hell out of The Establishment (to use a 60’s term). In retrospect the one thing I liked about Obama was the hope that he was going to be a better President in terms of openness and honest. That hope was dashed very quickly.  

My second favorite is Newt Gingrich, Newt is the smartest guy in the room period, and I like much of his New Contract with America. Gingrich’s problem is going to be his baggage. My humbled advise to Newt is to talk and write about these issues  now so that when it come up as it surely will it is “Old News”.

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) or Where-Ever has gained a lot of press coverage, much more that the Tea Party did. Maybe OWS is more interesting to cover and appeals to the Left leaning press. I think OWS have some valid points and perfectly understandable criticisms of Wall Street and the Government. They have just seemed somehow to forgotten that it was the Presidents and Congress that gave the Wall Street Socialists the big bail outs. This week I heard an analyst (sorry I forgot his or her name) that said something like “Wall Streets types are Capitalist when it come to profits and Socialists when it come to losses”. That about says it all, except that they need a willing and richly  funded tax-payer Government to make the Socialist part work. I think OWS should be more upset with our Government than the Wall Street Socialist. Lets face it, did we expect the Wall Street Socialist to turn down the offer of a bail-out? Wall Street types only serve one master and that master is Greed.

I do not have an axe to grind concerning Perry or Romney to me they are just the same old thing that has been shoved down our throat year after year. They both like to have the “position of the moment” if you get my drift. Honestly, the way I feel now is that if my choice is Perry or Romney v. Obama I think I’ll go fishing on Election Day. This sounds like a radical position and I admit it is but maybe this country needs to take a real beating before we turn things around and the list of Presidential contenders listed in this paragraph  are on tract to serve up that beating.  

Newt's new contract

This is well worth the time to watch. Thanks to http://thewiredjournal.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/real-solutions-for-america/#respond The Wired Journal


"http://www.youtube.com/embed/_hd23sdf4CE"

9-9-9

Herman Cain’s Tax/job plan is being soundly and loudly attacked by many of the Republican hopefuls. Michele Bauchmann was very critical of the plan. She drew on her experience as a tax lawyer to point out alleged flaws in Mr. Cain’s plan. It sounded like she was defending the current tax code. Her answer seemed to be that all we needed was a minor adjustment to the current code, for instance lowering the tax-rate to make things right. Kinda sounded like she was defending her old job (Tax Attorney)  not seeking a new one, you know, in case the presidential deal doesn’t work out for her.

I don’t know if Cain’s plan is rock solid or not. I do know that I love the idea of starting over and doing away with the mess we now have.

There are a number of people endorsing the 9-9-9 plan including the financial wiz-kid Paul Ryan.

It looks like the Republican’s may self-destruct. The only plan or ideas  they seem to agree worth are their own individual ideas or plans and if it isn’t their own it is worthless no matter how good it is. Newt seems to be the only person big enough to give credit to his opponents.

Abdulmutallab, The Underwear Bomber Convicted

Eric Holder the Attorney General made the following statement In reference to the guilty plea of Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber.

"Contrary to what some have claimed, today's plea removes any doubt that our courts are one of the most effective tools we have to fight terrorism and keep the American people safe. Our priority in this case was to ensure that we arrested a man who tried to do us harm, that we collected actionable intelligence from him and that we prosecuted him in a way that was consistent with the rule of law.”

Mr. Holder, the courts did not keep the American people safe in the above incident. The ineptitude of the terrorist,  the passengers, perhaps Air Marshals  and the flight crew kept America safe. The courts are there to punish people after the crime. And as far as intelligence gathering, you will never know what might have been revealed with more aggressive interrogation.

My major point is that each of us has a right, if not a duty to protect ourselves, something that seems to be fading from the American psyche. 

I have just returned from a weeks vacation and will have a few more posts in the coming days. 

Unions or Not

Among many Conservatives unions are viewed about as favorably as a diagnosis of cancer. Progressives on the other hand seem to believe that unionism is akin to Manna from above. Neither extreme is accurate in my opinion.

To listen to many conservatives one would think that if we just didn’t have unions our economy would flourish and that workers would reap the benefits of increased opportunity along with abundant and lavish benefits. Yea Think?

To listen to Unions one would come to the conclusion that if workers were paid on par with the managers they would do a better job, support the company without question and spread they wealth so that the economy flourished. Yea think?

The Unions have taken a beating in the Right leaning  segment of the media lately, for instance Fox News. Some of that thrashing is well deserved, but there is a place for Unions. Lower income and less skilled workers need union representation more than most.

I’ll use as my example of an Employer running a landscape company that just so happens to hire lots of illegal’s to do the labor. What would be the motivation of this Employer to hire illegal workers? Let’s all take a few guesses. First off being able to pay them substandard wages would be at the top of the list, lets not forget no health insurance, the US Taxpayer will pick up that tab for both the employee and the employer. Then there is the ability to fire a worker for any reason because the worker has no recourse due to fear of exposure of this illegal status, I doubt there would be many Work Compensation claims for the reason stated. So, does this set of workers need representation? I know some will say “No!, they need to get out” and I partial agree with that. But my point is that there are many Employers out there, as in the above example, which will abuse employees for their own greed with no thought to equity or fair dealing. As a side note if our factious landscape Contractor is willing to do that to his employees, wouldn’t it seem reasonable that he would treat his customers with the same ethics if given the chance?

My point is that there is a place for Unions, where and how much power they wield is the real question.