How lifers make a living in Congress—Bernie Sanders

Some of my regular readers are old enough to remember the Jimmy Carter years; he was ousted by Ronald Reagan because people were so upset by the economy. It was a terrible recession, and I didn't have a job in my regular field, library science, but found one being alert to gossip in my aerobic class.

Through my aerobics instructor, Corey, I got a temporary government contract job through JTPA (formerly CETA)  This is where the federal government takes your tax money, filters it through all the DC bureaucrats, then sends it to the states which employ a lot of people to fill out the forms to get it, where it is filtered through the state (Ohio) bureaucracy, then smaller programs are developed, where it is further spread out among local agencies and non-profits.

I worked for STEPS, Senior Training and Employment Program. Senior workers (over 50) had been hit particularly hard by that recession, so our little group of 5 or 6 went around the state putting on workshops and developing publications. It was a dream job for me, and I was employed. I even was able to write speeches for the head of the Bureau of Employment.

That's what most of these employment programs do--they employ the people who work in them. I don't know if a single person over 50 ever found a job due to our efforts, but probably thousands of government workers, either civil service, or grant temporary like me, or Area Agency on Aging employees, or the many training centers set up for teaching and skill development (private), the landlords who rented the space, or the small caterers who provided the lunches we served at the workshops managed to get through that recession. Plus, I met great people (state employees are fantastic) and had a good time--learned so much about how government works and why so many people sat alone in offices with nothing to do while we temporary workers were very busy.

This is a tiny picture of what Bernie and others in Congress have been doing for a living for their entire lives. They live well, but not much changes for the people who really need help.

Unintended consequences of helping

Together our two parties have created a cushion for the unemployed, disabled, the poor, single mothers and low income--the earned income tax credit (EITC), child tax credits, Supplemental Security Income for the elderly poor, Medicaid, S-CHIP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance, food stamps (SNAP), subsidized school meals, summer lunch programs, low-income housing assistance, energy assistance, block grants to create education programs that have almost no long term results (like Head Start), Social Services Block Grants (Ohio got $63 million+)  and more. GW Bush expanded the food stamp coverage in 2002 and 2008, and Obama added the people to the nearly 50 million today, so if there is a food stamp president, they should both have the “honor.”

For many receiving state and federal benefits, they can't afford to work, or take a raise/better job because they would lose benefits. I heard a man on a Christian talk show last week say that after he and his wife lived together (blended family) for 3 years, they decided to marry because they thought it was a poor example for the kids, but she lost a lot of benefits by getting married.  I doubt that this was the intention of these programs, many begun in the 1960s, but it is the unintended consequences of making people more helpless and less independent. 

The only difference between the parties is the Republicans say this isn't good but vote to add to the deficit anyway, and the Democrats love it because it buys them votes. And it takes 74% of our federal budget when you toss in Social Security and Medicare for the older not poor (who paid into those programs their entire working lives).

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Sustainable Development is wealth redistribution

Your wealth into a giant green rat hole. I must get 3-4 items a week in my e-mail on sustainable development, buildings, products, and life style, both for my husband (architecture) and me (librarianship and news releases from OSU). As Christians, we are huge supporters of conservation and stewardship of God’s creation, but “sustainable” has become a code word for something much more sinister.

Both prophets and pundits, right and left, whether Glenn Beck, Tom DeWeese, Bill Maher or Van Jones , know "sustainability" calls for changing the infrastructure of the nation, away from private ownership and control of property to central planning first by our government, then by a world governing body--whatever entity the United Nations will evolve to. When you see the word “sustainable,“ you can safely substitute “wealth redistribution.”

We fought a few wars to defeat the centrally planned economic disasters based on the theories of Marx and Engels. You’re too young to remember millions of starving Ukrainians declared wealthy because they owned a cow or a wheat field, but the same thing has been going on for years in Communist North Korea. Those plans evolved and then failed in the USSR, its Eastern European satellites and Maoist China (which now under a cloak of capitalism owns us and is cautioning our president to cut back on his insatiable appetite for debt).

When our home grown Communist sympathizers found out that “revolution” wouldn’t work because the workers and labor unions of the USA already had too much freedom, material goods and wealth and were loyal to American ideals, they just drilled from within, driving our businesses off shore, and in 2008 we elected them (with a very long lead in from socialists and progressives in the government)! But for those who weren’t swayed at the polls or by campaign promises, there is always the great green hope and hype.

However, that hyped hope (cap and trade based on phony CO2 scare tactics) is death for the poor of developing countries. Did you see our food prices rise almost over night in 2007 when the bio-fuels fever really took over and land was being taken out of production for food and turned into bio-fuel for automobiles? We saw our price of bread, meat and milk go up a few pennies to a dollar, but in poorer nations, they were having food riots and killing each other as a shortage of wheat turned into a shortage of rice and cooking oil.

Tom DeWeese cautions us to pay attention to the language--we’ve been hearing some version of this since the 1930s--pausing only briefly as we finally dropped the cloak of protectionism after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941

"We now have a new language invading our government at all levels. Old words with new meanings fill government policy papers. The typical city council meeting discusses "community development," "historic preservation," and "partnerships" between the city and private business.

Civic leaders organize community meetings run by "facilitators," as they outline a "vision" for the town, enforced by "consensus." No need for debate when you have consensus! People of great importance testify before congressional committees of the dire need for "social justice."

Free trade, social justice, consensus, global truth, partnerships, preservation, stakeholders, land use, environmental protection, development, diversity, visioning, open space, heritage, comprehensive planning, critical thinking, and community service are all part of our new language." Tom DeWeese

I wrote on this topic about a year ago, Prize for the most green words. Really made an architect unhappy; he thought he needed to attack me, instead of the topic at hand.

Someone didn't connect the dots in federal-state partnership

Tip lines and 250 agencies can't take the place of old fashioned common sense.

"Innovative Anti-terror Information Sharing: Maryland’s Federal, State, and Local Partnership Model," Chapter 11 in Safeguarding Homeland Security; Governors and Mayors Speak Out was just released Sept. 18. 2009. Former Maryland Governor Robert Erlich wrote about how Maryland was connecting the dots through an innovative federal-state partnership, but they seemed to have slipped up on Maj. Hasan who lived, worked and worshipped in Maryland.

Chapter summary: Maryland created the first fusion center which collects and analyzes disparate data or information to try to “connect the dots” to prevent acts of terrorism. The public is encouraged to provide information through a “tip line.” The Center has federal, state, local, and private sector participation representing 250 agencies or organizations. The Maryland Center is led by members of all three levels of government. A principal objective of such a fusion center is to develop a pattern of cooperation and information sharing.

Maj. Nadil Hasan had communicated 10 to 20 times with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam released from a Yemeni jail last year who has used his personal Web site to encourage Muslims across the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. No formal investigation was opened into Hasan. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said it was his understanding Hasan and the imam exchanged e-mails that counterterrorism officials picked up. Hoekstra requested that the CIA, FBI, NSA and DNI preserve all documents relating to the Fort Hood attack and related matters for potential investigation by Congress, so this isn't swept under the rug as just some demented soldier going crazy.

Dr. Val Finnell a former classmate of Hasan in Public Health (in Maryland) says Hasan was always focused on another subject. "He would frequently say that he was Muslim first and an American second. That came out in just about everything he did in the university," said Finnell. Hasan would become visibly upset when people challenged him about his beliefs, but no one ever thought he would resort to such violence.

"Instead of being investigated and punished for his treasonous behavior, political correctness assured that Hasan was fast-tracked through the Army ranks and allowed to continue as a psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from the front.

Political correctness is a lie employed by liberal elites to preserve myths about favored groups. It is sold as a way to ensure that society treats people fairly. But it is actually a derangement whereby normally lucid people disregard inconvenient truths and willfully reject facts to avoid confronting uncomfortable realities.

On Meet The Press last Sunday, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey now infamously said about Hasan’s rampage, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” Gary Bauer