Back to Basics

Quite often in an attempt to make light of bad situations, we offer up jokes about the causes of our discomfort. For example, there is the very old joke, which goes…Question: What is the difference between Congress and the Boy Scouts? Answer: The Boy Scouts have adult leadership. Yet, when you take time to evaluate the core of that gag line, the truth of the statement should bring tears to every eye in America. The void in leadership across that entire legislative body is so immense it staggers the imagination.

We send our senators and members of the House of Representatives to Washington with the understanding they will serve as the voice of the people. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say they will serve as representatives of their political party. Somehow, over the course of time, the purpose of those offices has been high jacked by the multiple special interests that believe the dollars they bestow upon their favorite lackeys buys them the governance of this nation.

Another truism that infects Washington can be found in the salaries and benefits we have allowed our elected officials to accumulate. Remember when you read these numbers that Congress votes all of this for itself.

People tend to judge their worth and position in society by the amount of money in their pockets. The more money you have, the more important you are in a county that must keep a scorecard on its people. With that rule of measurement the “average” family in the USA is a group of four people who have a combined income of about $51,000 a year. We have also determined that any family of four with an income of below $22,000 a year is living in poverty. These are the “poor” of America. Our President has determined that if our salary is $200,000 or more as individuals, we have joined the class of “Millionaires and Billionaires”.

Now let us look at the people we have sent to Congress. The Speaker of the House draws a salary of $223,500, so we can assume he is at least a millionaire. The majority and minority leaders of the both the House and Senate draw salaries of $193,400, so they are close to the mark. All other members have salaries of $174,000.

This does not include a minimum of almost $10,000 a year each member receives to travel inside the United States or the unlimited amounts he or she can consume on foreign travel junkets. Toss in some princely benefits such as free postage for congressional communications, their own private dining rooms, lavish furnishing allowances at the start of terms, their own gym, heavy social life, plus staffs ranging from 18 to 22 aides for representatives and between 26 and 60 aides for senators, depending upon the size of their state, plus office allowances, computer allowances and other undisclosed funds all add up to a very privileged position in life.

The maximum salaries paid each one of these assistants can be as high as $155,000 a year, perhaps higher. And all of this help is for elected officials who normally put in four days a week or less in Washington, can’t pass any meaningful legislation and haven’t even passed a budget in two years.

There are times when I strongly feel most Americans need a brain transplant. If a politician makes a statement or a promise, we buy into it as if the Almighty had carved it into stone. For some reason when some Washington motor mouth babbles in a positive manner on a theme we hold near and dear to our hearts, our eyes glaze over and we grasp onto that particular pledge as if it were a great truth ready to unfold. We instantly forget these pledges of support and excuses for failure have been part of the political mantra since the first stone-age politico crawled up on a rock and grunted his initial campaign speech.

A perfect example of this can be seen in Deep South Texas where for decades veterans have been trying to convince the Department of Veterans Affairs they need a hospital. Since the dawning of VA medicine veterans with wide ranging disabilities were required to travel to San Antonio, more than 250 miles one way, to obtain hospital care. In recent years the establishment of VA clinics in the Rio Grande Valley has reduced the need for veterans to endure more than 500 miles of travel and an overnight hotel stay just to visit with a doctor. However, there is still a need for their own hospital, according to many senior citizen veterans and wounded warriors.

Just yesterday a group of them met with Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), as they have repeatedly over multiple years. His justification for no further action taking place on expanding their outpatient clinic into a full service hospital was “Republicans are only interested in cutting funding.” He failed to mention that the Department of Veterans Affairs has an annual budget of about $70 billion for regular expenditures and another $50 to $60 billion in additional funding. One would think somewhere in all of that cash enough could be found to build a hospital for those who fought to keep this nation free.

In reality, Hinojosa is continuing with his silly reindeer games, insisting the GOP will not allow him to play in their sandbox. A strong reality is the Democrats still control the White House and the Senate. They controlled all three branches of government for the first half of the Obama Administration. They had eight years under Clinton. Added to all of this, since World War II there have been six Democrat presidents, plus multiple decades of Democrat controlled Congress. For almost all of that time, the men and women who served our country and resided south of San Antonio in the Lone Star State begged for a hospital. The Donkey brand was in power but did nothing.

An interesting aside to this hospital denial by repeated Democrat and Republican administrations is South Texas has always been as blue as its sky when it came to casting ballots. The Tip of Texas remains a Democrat stronghold today. Yet, with this reality in place no Democrat administration could ever find enough small change in the federal budget to build that VA hospital. Also, in the gamesmanship department, the GOP too was a no-show for the veterans.

The first thing I saw this morning was a newspaper headline that informed me of the huge response to the upcoming opening of a new Bass Pro Shop in our city. They were holding a three day job fair. In the first two days more than 2500 people had stood for hours in the blistering South Texas sun awaiting the opportunity to place their applications in the mix for around 350 full and part time employment positions. More people are standing in line today for these same jobs…and this is a small city of only about 60,000 people.

Conservative columnist Walter Williams was credited with the second thing I read this morning. He may or may not have truly written the article, but the ideas remain valid. It is his contention that no matter who the GOP candidate is, no matter how bad the economy gets, no matter how much unemployment we face…Obama will win a second term as President of the United States of America.

The first paragraph of this commentary I have written graphically shows what a mess our economy is in today. Jobs are almost impossible for people to find. The second paragraph reports to us that regardless of what we do, America is doomed to face another four years of Obamanomics.

It is my hope that Dr. Williams is just attempting to tweak our “mad button” and get conservative Americans off their backside. However, the point he does make is valid. With the mainstream media bending over backward to get its hands on Obama’s one billion dollar election piggy bank, for the next 14 months we can expect to see and hear All Obama – All The Time. According to Williams, Obama will have the Black vote because they will vote a racial ticket. He will have the Hispanic vote because they want his promised amnesty and political power within the Democrat Party. Many young Americans will vote for him just because he looks and talks nice. Half of America is no longer paying taxes and is already feeding from the government sugar bowl. They will vote Obama just to keep their meal ticket in office.

While our country is crumbling around us, most of America is just looking around for some other political hack to nail with the blame. The GOP isn’t doing anything meaningful to win support and Congress as a governing body has a lower approval rating than the President. So, they don’t really look in that direction with favor.

Added to the mix is the fact that when it comes to either economics or political savvy, Americans are dumber than a brick wall. Harsh statement you say! Well, take a good look at the educational curriculum abound the country. It hasn’t changed much since I gave up teaching many years ago. Most of the nation’s schools require one semester of American Government and one semester of Economics is a 12-year span of elementary and secondary education. Most high schools don’t even offer those courses until the senior year. Since large numbers of our students never make it that far and drop out of school, even that sprinkling of governmental and financial knowledge falls on very few heads.

One of the nice things associated with having more than eight decades on Planet Earth is you have the freedom to speak your mind without too many repercussions. If people agree with you, then you are considered wise and insightful. If they don’t, you should be ignored because you are just another grumpy old man.

There are not many news items about today’s America that I find reflective of a promising and bright future for the country. Almost half of our population looks longingly at Washington and insists our national leadership bow to their every desire. They make up a society of demanding and ungrateful entitlement seekers who feel the remainder of the population and nanny government are obligated to hold their hands and care for them until the end of their days.

Those in positions of governance, by the largest of majorities, pass laws and write regulations that are designed to keep them in power or placate their particular constituencies. Very few stand tall on behalf of fairness or benefit for all.

Our numbers keep expanding at about three million people a year. Unfortunately, the vast percentage of that population group is made up of uneducated, unskilled and unemployed people who continue to draw down the resources of the country without producing quantifiable benefits to either advance themselves or the new land they occupy.

Anyone who can tune in a nightly newscast or read a daily publication knows the country is broke. Because of our inability to elect honest and insightful people to public office we keep pandering to the “me-more” faction of society and do less than nothing to move the nation in the direction of recovery.

Those who make up the productive side of America are becoming weary of the constant battle they must wage just to care for their families, themselves and defend against the unrelenting attacks against their personal resources and welfare.

This segment of American society feels it is almost without representation in the Halls of Justice or our national government. They feel the vast majority of elected officials are buffoons, bootlickers or bandits. Most of all, they feel almost totally deprived of a meaningful voice in the affairs of the nation.

How can we correct the many mistakes that have led us to this untenable position in the life of our country? It could be that the thousands upon thousands of people who make up the Tea Party movement have the answer. We can start by demanding both constitutional and responsible laws be written and passed. We can insist these laws be written to benefit everyone or restrict everyone…equally. For those in need of help, we can offer a hand up instead of a hand out. Those who have an abundance of resources we can ask to share, but not disproportionately because their labors might have allowed them to reap a larger harvest. Above all, we can demand that America live within its means.

We can encourage men and women of faith to assume roles of service in their communities and government. We can ask those who wore the uniforms of our country to fight more battles on behalf of the nation by seeking public office.

Those who have worn the Dress Blue uniform of the United States Marine Corps all know the red stripe running down the trouser legs represents blood shed for this country. They also know the various medals for valor or military merit are never “won”, but are awarded in recognition of specific acts by an individual member of the armed forces.

During the decades of Marine Corps service plus a journalism career I have been very fortunate to have known dozens upon dozens of our nation’s heroes. In that distinguished band of brothers were men who were awarded the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross and multiple awards of the Silver Star and Bronze Star for exceptional valor. Also among that proud assembly should be listed those almost uncountable numbers of men and women who received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds inflected by the enemy. I still feel that I was privileged to stand in the shadows of such worthy members of the warrior clan.

While writing about everything from combat action to individual exploits across the years, I have also periodically encountered those vile pretenders who falsely portrayed themselves as soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines. These frauds generally advanced the story that they had a history of performing heroic acts and being highly decorated by a grateful nation.

Some of these military fakes were quickly unmasked, but there were others who advanced themselves with the stolen valor of real heroes for a number of years.

Finally, through the efforts of some dedicated veterans the 2005 Stolen Valor Act was passed by Congress and signed into law. The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime punishable by up to a year in prison for falsely claiming to have received high military decorations.

Now the liberal leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Stolen Valor Act is an unconstitutional restraint on free speech and a threat to every citizen. Said Chief Judge Alex Kozinski when rendering the decision of the court, “Saints may always tell the truth, but for mortals living means lying.”

Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain writing in dissent claims the majority has misinterpreted 40 years of Supreme Court decisions and that the high court has consistently held that “the right to lie is not a fundamental right under the Constitution.”

Using this court decision as a foundation, I would assume the 9th Circuit would also declare that laws against lying to federal officers, IRS agents, or Congressional Committees are also unconstitutional. That should free many citizens who are now looking at the world from behind the barred windows of prisons. After all the Court said that for mortals living means lying. It should also be pointed out that Chief Judge Kozinski feels the Stolen Valor Act “…is a threat to every citizen who fibs to embellish his or her image.”

Unless this despicable decision is referred on to the Supreme Court and reversed, the country can again expect phony heroes to creep out from under their respective rocks across the United States. After all, why should they be punished for pretending to be valiant? Members of Congress and the Executive branch of government lie to Americans every day…and they always pretend to be heroes.

We all live in a world where disasters can disrupt our lives. It matters not if they are fires, floods, hurricanes or volcanoes erupting, if it impacts our lives we are devastated. The people of Japan are well aware they spend their daily lives facing serious threats from all of these dangers. But, the one natural event they used to treat, as routine was the ongoing certainty of earthquakes.

Jim White is a retired Army friend who was by my side for a year in Vietnam. Since the end of that war he and his wife Sachiko have made their home in Japan, where he has completed a second career as a university professor. When the tsunami hit that island nation I tried to reach Jim to no avail. This morning he responded by email.

“First of all, we are Ok”, he wrote. He reported that nothing was close to where he lives…yet! “There have been perhaps 120 earthquakes of M.4 and above since the big one of 8.9 or so 18 hours ago. They have also moved south to the Izu Peninsula and island (and) to Nagano and Niigata Prefectures. Therefore the future is very unpredictable.”

He goes on to write, “there have been tsunami all over Japan with the highest being 23 feet. In some places the tsunami warning system is damaged so there may have been even higher ones. At one point the entire coastline was covered with tsunami warnings and most of the Pacific side of Japan is still under threat.”

Jim reported that even Tokyo had a rough time. “We were able to call our relatives yesterday evening and everyone was Ok. The trains were completely down and the roads very, very crowded (if passable at all), so many people ended up staying in the train stations and emergency shelters all night. There is some limited train service this morning.”

Some messages did get through to him on his notebook computer, but none on the desktop unit. International telephone lines were jammed and Skye was down. He can’t reach anyone on regular telephone service, sending his message to me via email and admitting he was not even certain that would work.

While living in Japan we regularly experienced earthquakes and really thought nothing about the events. I still remember standing and looking out a floor to ceiling picture window on the second floor of a building when things started to shake and the entire wall in front of me fell away, leaving me standing in front of a gaping hole. I also still remember a train ride when the earth started to move and there were railroad cars that shook off the track. Things such as these are common happenings and part of everyday life in Japan. Now, with the largest earthquake in the nation’s history and this death-inflicting mountain of water called a tsunami, the people of Japan will never again consider an earthquake as just another common natural event.

Those of us who endured that first winter of the Korean War still remember those bone chilling winds and the cold that never ended. We remember the inadequate clothing, boots and weaponry. We remember the water freezing in our canteens. We remember the ice forming on our beards and fingers so cold we could barely pull the triggers of our rifles. We also remember all of those who never lived to see the next spring.

Some of us were still in uniform when our country ordered us into Vietnam. We endured heat so oppressive you could hardly draw a breath. We prayed for those afternoon rains that would drench our bodies, but give us a brief relief from the heavy heat. We would burn the leaches from our bodies with the tips of cigarettes and wear flea collars around our boats and wrists with the hope those insects would find a different home. We never knew when an enemy we called “Charlie” would pop up from a spider hole , greet us with a poisoned pungi stick or even with a covered pit filled with multiples of these poison barbs.

This is just a quick peek into the window of what our military retirees endured over the course of a twenty to thirty year career of defending the United States and its citizens. We have written here about warriors on the ground, but the men and women who wore the uniforms of this country all suffered hardships over the course of their many years on active duty. They faced years of separation from family and friends. They existed on meager wages because they were promised a better life in retirement. Most of all, in their naivety, they believed the multiple promises of the political elite.

The biggest promise our government reneged upon was the pledge to provide every man and woman who served the nation for twenty or more years complete medical care for life. There were hearings and protests. Litigation went all the way through our court system. But it was only to limited avail. Military retires never received that “guaranteed” medical care promised by the politicians in our nation’s capitol. In effect, the court system said it was permissible for the political elite to lie…. and lie they did.

There was health care provided with a list of fees and co-pays attached. Those military retirees over 65 years of age were required to sign up and pay for Medicare and finally a program called Tricare Prime was activated for those retirees under 65 years of age, if they paid the required fees. After even more battles Tricare for Life, which is a supplemental plan attached to Medicare, was passed by Congress for the seniors among the military retired community.

Then entered the Obama Administration and the catastrophic debt of our country. Once again it looks as if military retirees must go into battle, but this time it will by political combat. Again they will be fighting for those promised benefits that were never completely honored.

This past week the American media told me that my share of the national debt was $45,300. I must add in another $45,300 for my wife for a total and $90,600 our elected representatives have charged to my national credit card without my permission. To make it even worse these same political pirates stole another $226,500 by running up that much credit theft in the name of my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

They have done this to an extended family that buys nothing on credit, meets its financial obligations in a timely manner and pays all required taxes, most of which are in government hands well in advance of the required due dates.

None of us can recall giving anyone permission to lift more than $317,000 from our pocketbooks and it is a certainty we never received 317K worth of benefit when the money was spend. Well, they bailed out AIG…we don’t have any of those financial products. They bailed out General Motors. My son and I drive Ford products. They saved Wall Street and some banks. That may have protected the few shares of stock I own and some savings, but all combined are far removed from that 317 K they say we now have an obligation to pay.

Now we have all those forecasts of doom, should Congress fail to raise the national debt ceiling. We will all crash and burn if we don’t have the money to pay our debts. Well, I don’t recall ever being asked if I wanted our elected leadership to run up such an unfunded tally. From this vantage point it appears the primary purpose behind all this spending by the Washington D. C. gang has only been their self-interest and advancement. They spent decades doing one thing… buying their own reelections with other people’s borrowed money.

The debate over raising the debt ceiling is starting to heat up now, but it is a debt our children and grandchildren will be forced to endure. It might be a good time to insist, regardless of party affiliation that your representative and your senators attach something meaningful to any planned bill to increase our national debt. It would be a very good idea to also insist that same legislation required a permanent balanced budget. Along with such legislation, it might be a good idea to write a balanced budget requirement as a Constitutional amendment. That is something that has worked well for the State of Texas, which is admittedly much better off than most of the nation.

There has been a lot of dialog of late about us having a Congress that spent money like a drunken sailor on a Saturday night. I received an email from a friend who was strongly offended by that remark. He said, “I really resent having Congress compared to a drunken sailor. I was a drunken sailor who spent a lot of money on Saturday nights. But there was a big difference between Congress and me. When I ran out of money…. I stopped spending.”