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Man, do I feel better.  I was all prepared for the world to end because, you know, this H1N1 flu thing was going to kill us all.  I mean, the government and the health care industry told me that if I didn’t vaccinate myself and my family with this new additional vaccine that we’d all die.  I’m just glad that now we can breathe a sigh of relief without fear of inhaling viral death.  It just feels good knowing that you can count on the government and those who lobby it the most to take care of us…

http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Swine_Flu_Stirred_Profits_but_Fewer_Deaths_than_Predicted_100131

So Massachusetts elected a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, thus providing the Republicans with enough seats to filibuster.  Oh, and Kool-Aid drinkers across the country are just giddy.  Typically liberal Mass has put a Republican in the Senate!  The tide is turning on Obama!

Hang on a second.  I would advise all my Republican friends (and remember here that I am a Conservative) not to get too excited about all this.  As of late, Republican control of power hasn’t been a lot better than Democrat control.  I’d say it’s been “less bad”.  Remember the under Republican leadership we had:

1. The Patriot Act.  The single biggest erosion of personal liberty ever enacted into legislation.
2. Tax cuts yes, spending cuts no.
3. Deregulation of the securities market with deference to huge banks that transformed investing into essentially gambling.
4. Monetary policy that promoted inflation and economic bubbles. Can you say Greenspan?
5. Policies of intervention in the affairs of other countries that have cost lives and untold billions of dollars.
6. Little to no progress on freeing us from foreign oil dependence.  “Drill baby drill” isn’t a long term answer.

The list goes on and on.  So, I would advise my Republican friends to dispense with the excitement and stay focused.  Republicans are doing no better guiding this country than the Democrats are.  We need Conservative leadership that will

• Actually cut spending significantly rather than just cutting taxes and growing deficits
• Restore a focus on limiting government that includes personal freedom.
• Revise monetary policy so as not to allow government inflation of the currency.
• Focus our military efforts on defending the US, not nation-building overseas.  We don’t have the money for all these wars.
• Return power to the states where it belongs.

My frustration is that this will probably never happen.  If it ever did though, I’d be as giddy as the talk radio pundits are right now.

Santa spreads some Christmas cheer!

Healthcare reform.  Cap and trade.  Afghanistan.  Iraq.  The economy.  Etc, etc, etc.

Are you following these issues closely?  If so, you’re like so many others who are, at least in my opinion, ignoring the one singular issue that ties it all together - The Federal Reserve and monetary policy.

Yes it’s a boring topic but my belief is that the only policy decision that really matters these days is monetary policy and, by extension, the Federal Reserve.  Why is that?  Because all of these other issues stem from our monetary system and it’s enabling effects on the government.  You see, when you have a fiat currency model like we have here in the US, the government is able to produce money out of thin air to fund all the things it wants to do but is unwilling to tax the populace to achieve.

Government run healthcare?  Wars overseas?  Building a new energy infrastructure?  These are all things that the government can not afford to do.  In fact, it can’t afford to do anything.  Our debt right now is essentially unserviceable.  Our government is living off of money printed out of thin air and then borrowed from the Fed or from other countries.  Everything it’s doing these days, it’s charging on a huge credit card.

And the most sinister part of it is that, while we all argue about whether or not there should be a public option in the upcoming healthcare bill, the banking elites that are lending us all this money just get richer and richer.  And that’s the point that we’re missing.  All these issues are fundamentally dependent on our government’s ability to spend almost limitlessly and pile debt on our children and grandchildren because of our monetary policy.

So what do we do?  If you want this insane, never-ending expansion of government to stop, focus on getting rid of the Fed.  Focus on reforming our monetary policy.  Contact your congressman and senators and insist that they support HR 1207 and S 604 respectively.  Those bills would require an audit of the Federal Reserve, a meaningful first step in dismantling that organization.

America is in trouble here.  Our very currency is held hostage by a private banking cartel called the Federal Reserve.  Our government is borrowing and borrowing and borrowing, getting itself so in debt that its only option will be to devalue our currency, destroying your and my savings in the process, so that the value of our massive debt is reduced.  And while all this happens, we’re all sitting around arguing about public options and the Taliban.  Let’s focus our energies on repealing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and implementing a new monetary policy that constrains out of control government spending and forces fiscal discipline.  Until we do that, our government will continue to expand and expand along with our debt and our dollar will continue to decline in value, leaving all US citizens except for a tiny percentage at the top of the socioeconomic scale poorer and less empowered.

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted a short commentary that was posted on Salon.com which cleverly and satirically calls out conservatives on their positions against government run healthcare.  You can read the article here.  This posting is very clever and the sense of irony it creates is certainly an effective approach to making the author’s underlying point: that a socialized healthcare system is a good thing.

The problem is that this short commentary misses a couple of key points and I want to respectfully disagree with the underlying premise that this now viral commentary makes: that we are surrounded by government effectiveness and that it works great and that we should therefore have no fear of government run healthcare.

First, let’s be clear that there is a difference between “government regulated” and “government run”.  The article points to the FCC, the FDA, the DOT and other regulatory agencies as a means for supporting the idea that a government-run healthcare system would be great.  Anyone who knows what those departments of government actually do would have to concede that the FCC does not broadcast anything, the FDA does not produce food or medicine, and the DOT does not actually pave roads.  Those agencies regulate broadcast media, regulate food and medicine, and regulate and award funding for road projects respectively.

And this is where I want to make my first point.  As it relates to healthcare, I don’t believe conservative opposition to President Obama’s ideas is rooted in the desire for a laissez faire healthcare market free of any and all regulation.  Rather, it is rooted in the fear of turning over management and maybe even delivery of our healthcare to the government, making it much more than a regulator and much more than any of those agencies currently is.

Next I want to hit on a huge error in this article, even though it isn’t necessarily healthcare related.  The writer sites the “federal reserve bank” as being part of the government and another example of the government providing an effective service. I hate to tell you this but it isn’t.  The Federal Reserve System, as it is correctly referred to, is a group of private banks that create our currency.  They create it out of nothing and loan it to us, at interest, to use.  The Federal Reserve System is a banking cartel that siphons wealth away from you and me (assuming you’re a US citizen) by charging us interest on the very money we must use by law.  I’ve written about this extensively on this blog.  If you’d like to hear more on this topic, read my posts about “How to Fix the Economy in Three Steps” or “Some Things You Should Know About Our Monetary System”.  The bottom line is that in this case, the government has actually privatized the one thing it never should: monetary policy.  So here, the author is just plain wrong.

But getting back to the actual posting…at the end of the entry, the writer mocks the conservative belief that “the government can’t do anything right”.  Can it?  Well, in some cases yes.  I would argue that in regulation the government, while often overreaching, is usually more right than wrong.  Our foods and medicines are relatively safe.  Our building codes are pretty good.  Our workplaces are not overtly hazardous…just as the article says.  Those things are true.

But again, did the government produce the food, medicine, houses, or businesses in which we work? No.  And that’s where the problem is for conservatives like me.  While the government has a place in regulation, I believe it has no place in delivery.

Why is that?  Because it simply has no incentive to do anything efficiently or effectively.  It has no competition.  And on top of that, if it runs over-budget, it just prints more money to pay for itself.  The end result is that, absent a competitor, any service or product delivered by the government will be of inferior quality to one produced by the free market.  And beyond that, if the product or service is produced over budget, the government just piles more debt on you and me to pay for whatever it is that it’s doing.  That’s the problem.  Need proof?  Consider these programs: the post office, medicare, social security, Amtrak.  Any of those operating efficiently?  Any of those running on a balanced budget?  The post office lost billions last year.  Medicare will be bankrupt in a few years.  The social security trust fund is full of IOU’s.  Amtrak has never made a penny.  I could go on.

So the issue here is not that conservatives can’t accept government doing what it is supposed to.  It’s that we can’t accept it doing things it shouldn’t.  And to a large degree, managing delivery of goods and services is not something the government should do because it has no incentive to do it well.

Now, healthcare is indeed broken.  Reform is clearly needed.  I want to be loud an clear on that.  The current system we have is a complete mess.  We pay TONS more than other countries for our care and don’t get care that is significantly better.  “Well that makes the case that the government should run healthcare,” you may say as you reason that many of the countries we compare ourselves to have socialized healthcare.  I would argue that, while there is some truth in that, our system could be even better than anything out there.  I believe that a truly market based system with minimal government intervention would work better than anything currently in existence.  If we removed government from the equation and allowed a truly free market for healthcare to thrive, with appropriate regulation of course, I am convinced that costs would come down and choice would increase.  This has been proven time and time again and is a basic tenet of capitalism.

“But”,  you may say, “what about people with health problems that wouldn’t be attractive to insurance companies or hospitals because there is no way to make money off of them?”  Well that is a real issue.  My thought on that one is this…maybe there is a role for government here, but not in creating something.  Rather, the government could incentivize the private creation of philanthropic medical outlets that would care for those that “fell through the cracks” and couldn’t get health insurance or afford care.  Think that couldn’t work?  Then explain St. Jude.  Explain the Shriners Hospitals.  Explain the Ronald McDonald House.  I have personal experience with each of these and know that they provide outstanding care and services while operating on charitable contributions.

But there is a bigger issue here, one that extends beyond any single issue and that is the role of government in our lives.  I contend that the more power that we give the government, the more it will take away from us.  This country was created to be free, to be a place where individuals thrive on their own ingenuity and hard work.    Thomas Jefferson wrote:

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

I agree with him.  So why would we willingly hand over our healthcare and a huge slice of our economy to those in power?

So there you have it…my take on the “I am an American Conservative”.  If you’ve read this far, thanks for taking the time.  Again, I want to stress that I will never use this blog to berate or belittle those who do not agree with me and I would encourage my fellow conservatives out there to take that position as well.  I hope to persuade, not alienate.  So if you are persuaded, leave a comment and let me know.  If not, tell me why.  I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks.

Chipper

If you know me, you might know that I’m a nerd.  I love Linux and use it for all my servers at home.  Debian is my flavor of choice.  For a long time now I’ve wanted to convert my laptop to Linux but have never felt like it was a realistic option as, even though I’m pretty good with the OS, I’ve always found little ways that Linux just didn’t work for me as a desktop/laptop OS.

Well, I finally got crazy enough and installed Ununtu 9.04 on my laptop, not with a dual boot - 100%.  And to cut right to the chase, I love it.  The install was a piece of cake.  EVERYTHING works.  The wireless network works.  The volume up and down buttons work.  Oh…the fingerprint reader doesn’t work.  But, I never used that before so no big deal.

And on top of that, the desktop is beautiful and the open source applications I’m using, like OpenOffice.org and Firefox, are every bit as good as anything from Microsoft.  And for those Windows applications I have to have, I setup a Virtualbox install of Windows.  And that works great too.

So in general I am really pleased.  I get all the reliability and free-ness of Linux in a beautiful, first rate package that works great.  If you’re a nerd, I’d recommend you give Ubuntu a try.  You can get it at www.ubuntu.com.  If you try it and need some help, shoot me an email.  I’d be glad to lend a hand.

It’s my first Titans post of the year. What do I have to say?  We suck.  That’s it.

In a world of uncertainty, there is at least one thing that you can count on…there is a segment of the US population that is convinced that limiting the rights of law abiding citizens to keep and carry guns somehow will better society.  These folks are out there spreading misinformation on this topic again, right now, in numerous stories and articles in the media that are decrying the Mexican drug wars and their violent fallout as somehow being significantly attributable to American gun shops and the general availability of guns here.  Somehow, these media outlets, as well as numerous politicians, are drawing a connection between the actions of criminals in another country and legitimate business here in the US.

Now, if there are gun stores here in the US selling weapons to Mexicans without going through the proper steps, then they are in violation of the law and should be dealt with accordingly.  However, my understanding is that many of the weapons being used by the Mexican drug lords and their “soldiers” are weapons that are not legal for sale here in the first place: fully automatic machine guns, grenade launchers, missile launchers.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a grenade launcher in the local gun shop.

Whatever the details of this situation are, it never ceases to amaze me how many people in America are convinced that the solution to limiting the abilities of criminals is by limiting the rights of law abiding citizens.  It’s just absurd.  Let’s look at a real-world example.  I’m a father, husband, and all around normal guy.  I also love guns.  I love to shoot skeet, target shoot, and dove hunt.  I also like knowing that - God forbid - if I ever need to defend my home or family from a violent attacker, I can do it.  Now understand this…I hope and pray that I NEVER have to use a gun to defend myself or my family.  I also thank God that, up until now, I’ve never even come close to a situation where that would be necessary.  But if it ever does happen, I am thankful I live in a place where I can legally own and use a gun to defend myself or my family.

So, with all that being said I’d love to hear how taking away my rights by limiting my ability to own or carry a firearm helps anyone.  Is the country safer?  Am I?  It seems to me the only people that are safer by doing that are criminals who might want to harm me or my family.  Or you.  I wonder if those who would take away our gun rights would be so eager to do so if they were in a terrible situation and were defended by a good Samaritan with a gun.

So please, if you’re reading this and can explain to me how taking away my rights betters the country or makes people more safe, I’d love to hear it.  I’ll publish your comments right here so you can make your point to the countless three or four people who read this blog.  Seriously though, if you think I shouldn’t be allowed to own or carry a gun, please explain to me why.

This will be a quick post.  I just thought the one or two people who read this blog might like to know that…

As of Tuesday (August 25) the United States’ national debt stood at 11.7 trillion dollars.  Let me write that number for you…

$11,700,000,000,000.

Also, you probably don’t know this but a few years ago the Federal Reserve quit reporting how much total currency is in circulation in the US, something called the M3 money supply.  Estimates run around 13 trillion or so but we really don’t know anymore.  Without getting too technical here, the bottom line is that the US debt nearly equals to total estimated number of dollars in circulation. At the pace we’re going, we’ll surpass that soon.

Just thought you’d want to know.

Okay, so I’m one of the countless people that are infatuated with the Bacon Explosion. I’m not really sure why but for some reason I’m just fascinated by it. Unfortunately though, I’ve found that for many people, it’s just too dang heavy. At 5000 calories and 500 grams of fat per explosion, that’s a fair statement. But I’m infatuated, see. I can’t just let a ludicrous amount of calories and fat stand in the way of making such a succulent dish. So, I’ve altered the original recipe to make a lighter explosion that is still delicious but not so heavy. Here’s the ingredients:

1 pound thick cut bacon
2 pounds ground turkey
1/2 a red onion, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 can diced tomotoes
your favorite bbq seasoning rub
your favorite bbq sauce
optional: 2 diced jalapeno peppers

First, weave the uncooked bacon together into a mat of bacon-y goodness. Then sprinkle your bbq rub on the mat. I sprinkle a lot of it on there but do it to your personal taste. Then, take the ground turkey and mix it in a bowl with the onion, garlic, tomatoes, and jalapeno if you want to add some heat. Now spread the turkey over the bacon mat. Sprinkle the rub again. I didn’t do this but next time I think I’ll drizzle some bbq sauce on the turkey at this point too. Now, roll up the turkey but not he bacon mat. This is where this recipe is tougher than the original as the turkey is more paste-like so it takes a very steady hand to roll it up. Once the turkey is rolled up, roll up the bacon wrap around it. The reason you want to first roll the turkey and then the wrap is so that none of the bacon mat gets rolled inside…it needs to stay outside. Once everything is rolled up, you’re ready to cook.

I cooked mine on a water smoker and it was completely done in 3 hours. It probably was ready by 2.5 hours. That’s way shorter than the original explosion due to the turkey. Plus it was really hot outside the day I cooked it so the smoker cooked a little hotter. When the thing is done, pour your bbq sauce all over it. I do this while still on the smoker and then close it up for 10 minutes or so. That just sort of solidifies the sauce a bit. If you like though, you can add the sauce outside the smoker…not so messy. Either way, a generous coating of bbq sauce is key. After that, let ‘er sit for a few minutes, slice, and serve.

So there it is, the Bacon Explosion Part Deux. We thought ours was pretty good. Comments for ideas to improve are welcome.

Cheers!

Chipper