Political thoughts and observations

This is a post that is not going to be well-received, I fear.  But truth is truth.  It is also a slippery thing.  Hard to find it and keep it in your hands, or it will slip away from you.

These are derived from one-liners, not much time to flesh it out.


Debt growing faster than gdp since 1980.  This is true, because Nixon closed the gold window in 1971.  Already America couldn't pay for its stuff.    Inflation followed.   But the trade deficit never did get handled, and the government continued to run deficits, which only have gotten worse.

Reagan cut taxes, but increased spending and debt.  This is true, because it is part of the same mentality.  Everyone seems to believe that there really is such a thing as a free lunch.  Therefore, the last 30 years has been an illusion of prosperity built upon debt.   Hate to say it , but Reagan was a liar.  An actor is good at lies, that's their job.

National debt came up as a political issue in 1992.  An attempt to deal with this was enacted, but even then, it was inadequate.  This mild attempt at fiscal responsibility was subsequently discarded by Bush in 2000.  Debt has exploded, but the growth experienced in the 80's was harder to come by.  Clinton's tax increases did address debt somewhat, but it didn't address the trade deficit.  The trade deficit ballooned under Clinton, and has continue to worsen.  Somebody has to pay for the imports, but nobody is willing to.  Somebody has to pay for government, but nobody is willing to.  It's all about the free lunches.

It surprised me that Bush turned to inflation.  I expected Clinton to do that.  Truth is slippery.  Especially if you are immersed in preconceived notions.  My own biases were blinding me to this truth. Republicans seem to talk a sound fiscal and monetary game, but don't play it.

Democrats lie too, but had to learn how in order to compete with Republicans. Bottom line is that we get nothing but lies anymore.  People prefer the lies.  Nobody wants the truth.  The truth is hard.  The truth is unpleasant.  When faced with the truth, everyone finds it much easier to turn away.  But turning away doesn't make it go away.

Democrat charges against Republicans are true if the Republicans are serious about Medicare.  But they aren't. Social Security and Medicare are already paid for.  Both parties raid from it.  The Democrats are doing it in order to expand their power base.  The Republicans do it in order to avoid paying taxes for the big defense budget.  Washington politicians are more interested in themselves than in leading the nation.

Neither party is willing to lead.  That's because in politics,  the biggest liar wins.    We need leaders not just managers.  It is not enough to be a manager.  You need a Churchill to tell people what is ahead, but we have nothing but Chamberlains, who tell people what they think the people want to hear.

Here's a video that is far more explicit and hard-core. Even I had a hard time listening to it.

You may say something like this-- that Barnhardt gal has really gotten to you buddy.

Some of the thoughts above have been rattling around in my head for years. Long before I heard of Barnhardt. The stuff below is far worse than what I have above.

See if you can stay with this video. You probably won't. The truth is too hard.