What's 30 Trillion Between Thieves? A Madison Conservative Rant

 

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

 

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

 

 

President Ronald Reagan used to make the point that the most feared words for Americans to hear were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help”.

 

We find that joke sadly wise beyond  its years.

 

Given how Joe Biden, the Democrats and the political left with an incomprehensible assist from gutless Republicans, have devastated the American economy in less than two years, we would add the following warning sign to the American electorate.

To wit:

Beware any and all politicians who promise, if elected, to “put money back into voters pockets.”

 

This warning is based upon the undeniable fact that the government has absolutely no money of its own. It creates no wealth.

It’s only source of cash is the electorate, and Congress feels they have immunity to confiscate as much as they wish, to do with as they see fit. All income you make is yours only after the government first takes what it wants. Our founders and framers knew the peril of greed in government.

If only the political left would read Thomas Jefferson, instead of conspiring to tear down his statue. To quote Jefferson:

 

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circlue of our felicities.”

 

 

If we followed this guidance, what wonders we could accomplish.

 

Sadly, for the moment, a shallow opportunist is in charge.

 

The current national debt is more than THIRTY TRILLION dollars.

Look at that number for a moment.

30,000,000,000,000.

The reality is that nobody believes the number will ever decrease.

Politicians from all parts of the political spectrum are culpable for creating and feeding this monstrosity.

In 1960, the national debt was 286 billion dollars.

286,000,000,000.

A formidable sum to be sure, but it had the illusion of being manageable.

In early  1982 we cracked the trillion dollar mark. We were told with wise planning and strategic budget cuts, it was to be difficult, but in time we would make a dent in it.

In all fairness, we have, in the past, paid off the national debt.

The last time it happened was in 1835, during Andy Jackson’s presidency. It is a much nicer number to look at when discussing debt.

 

0.

So there is a precedent.

Also to be fair, Joe Biden is not solely responsible for the current 30 trillion, but he is where the buck stops.

His inept leadership and cowardice has allowed the political left to spend beyond their wildest dreams, although they want even more.

The current 40-year high inflation rate of more than 8%, year over year, can, however be traced like a laser directly to the Biden financial policies. When he entered office, the inflation rate was about 1.4%. Simply by lying, cheating and stealing, he has the nation on the brink of deep recession. What is most concerning is that the president keeps lying about reality. He claims he has lowered the budget deficit by enacting his agenda.

The debt is the sum of all budget deficits. He has done nothing. Short term funding deemed necessary during Covid is ending. THAT is why the numbers are less than the previous year. Biden has done nothing but add to the crisis, signing legislation which has added to the problem, some 6 trillion of money we do not have, and spending we did not need.

Congress has conspired to add to our problems by avoiding doing their job. All funding bills must, under the United States Constitution, begin in the House of Representatives. What they do is nothing, and then wait for the debt limit to be reached. They claim the credit of the United States is at risk if they do not pass an omnibus continuing resolution, so that social security recipients don’t starve, the military doesn’t run out of bullets, etc. Because they know it will pass, they load it up with the most useless nonsense. The process is supposed to be that individual funding bills are debated and then sent to the president. Somewhere along the line they realized they could be held accountable by the electorate if their name was attached to a bill that cut a budget line somewhere.

Why do your job when you can keep your job simply by claiming your actions were necessary to save grandma.

It is an elaborate scam, to which both political parties participate, often willingly and with gusto.

One of the many reasons President Trump was so vilified by Washington was that he said he would not sign a bloated continuing resolution, and “let’s see what happens”. We wish he would have run the bluff a bit longer.

So with a 30 trillion dollar debt growing bigger just with interest alone, how does a beleaguered taxpayer fight back?

 Simple.

Demand that elected officials do the following.

1 - Start with a zero-based budget. In other words, what does it cost just to turn the government lights on in the morning.

Cut that number by 5% to start. An easy way would be to eliminate all alcohol purchases by the government. Why are we picking up our employee’s bar tab?

 

2- Tie all executive and legislative branch salaries to the national median income. We should not be paying our employees, whose work ethic would get them fired in the private sector during the onboarding, more than the average.

 

3- Force Congress to pass a law making omnibus budgets unlawful. They are paid to do a job. Demand they do it.

 

4 – Put into law that 5% of every budget be allocated to a true bringing down the national debt. If Congress behaves themselves, a child born today will graduate college with a zero national debt. They could party like it was 1835 all over again.

 

We believe that the only way to even begin to address the crippling debt is for the electorate to be engaged in the process.

If you find merit in these ideas, at least as a starting point, seek out a candidate who shares your views and beliefs, make sure you walk proudly into the voting booth and let your vote speak for your demand for fiscal responsibility.

As an aside, 30 trillion divided by roughly a population of 350 million equates to about $85, 714 of debt for every man woman and child.

At least today.

 

 

 

 

 

The Madison Conservative Tirade -(part 1 of 4 posts today)

 

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

 

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

 

 

The Madison Conservative was founded on the belief that the precepts of our governing document, the United States Constitution, had been ignored by the political class and mass media when debating public policy. It often seemed that those in authority had never even read the rules by which our democracy functions. We have attempted to steer clear of  commenting on policies that are more social complaints than constitutional  matters.

This election cycle, however, we have been guided by two bits of wisdom given to us by two of the greatest political minds the world has ever known.

 

To wit:

 

 “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

― John Adams.

 

And with that starting point…

 

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

- Thomas Jefferson.

 

We are choosing to comment on current events from a citizen view, not necessarily a dispassionate Constitutional perspective. The four posts dated today will be more colloquial in nature, because we believe given the political climate, it is time to rant.

In no particular order:

 

Joe Biden is a congenital liar, with a pathological hatred of President Trump in particular, and more than 75 million Americans in general. In just the last week, he claimed that gas was over $5.00 a gallon when he took office. It was, in fact, about $2.39 a gallon. He chooses to be immune from responsibility for his policies that have derailed the American economy. Instead, he brags he has made the economy ‘strong as hell.’   He asserts ‘the other guy’ broke the immigration system. In less than two years, more than 3 million illegal aliens have crossed the border. Returning them to their own countries, Biden states, ‘makes no sense.’

We have stated our firm belief that Biden is a coward for both running from the enemy and abandoning American citizens behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. Nobody seems to ask him the numbers of still unaccounted for Americans missing because of his cowardice.

He has assaulted the American oil industry, then lies about the price of gas. He chooses to attempt deals with horrific regimes to replace what he has broken. Every American understands a few calls to Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska could solve the fuel crisis and solve the inflation behemoth he created.

The problem with the political left and the ‘woke’ ideology is that it cannot withstand the light of reason.  Americans will not soon forget the testimony of a Supreme Court Justice nominee declaring she could not define what was a ‘woman’. The question was designed to be a ‘gotcha’ kind of thing, but it demonstrated the fear many have of speaking the truth, using cold hard facts. It may upset many, but in the full of human history, no human being has exited the birth canal as anything other than a male or a female. It’s easy to identify between the two choices. There has never been an option number three. What people choose to do with their lives after reaching adulthood is there business, and by all means, follow whatever you want in pursuit of your image of happiness.

 

For those who believe in allowing children to be given gender reassignment medical intervention before the age of 18, you are NOT teachers, doctors or anything else. You are child molesters, and need to be prosecuted as such. There is no issue of degree on this point. If you mutilate a child, you must be kept away from society. Remember, however, that even in prison, there is a strict hierarchy. Murderers, thieves, even rapists are part of the tier system. Those who abuse and molest children are at the bottom, and are never safe from retaliation. I wonder if the woke mob will allow bail-less treatment for those who take retribution against child molesters.

 

Our planet has survived ice ages, meteor strikes that wiped out the dinosaurs, and a whole host of other calamities. For 4 billion years, more or less, Earth has endured. I do not understand how now a Chevy can kill the planet. According to hard data, the climate is ALWAYS changing. I would drop my cynicism on the nonsensical ‘we only have 9 years left’ drivel if only I could get simple answers to three basic questions.

1-   What is the ultimate goal of climate change hucksters? Do they want everywhere on the planet to be palm Beach?

2-   How does bankrupting America get us to your as yet unspecified goal?

3-   If you believe you can affect the climate with your chosen actions, why has nothing changed?

 

There are a number of other issues we could give voice to, but your time is too valuable to spend listening to me vent.

 

I would ask if you believe your concerns are not being addressed, find a candidate that echoes your beliefs and then go support them with your vote.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

Securing The Franchise - An Opinion Piece

 

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

 

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

 

 

The Madison Conservative has made the following point before, so forgive us the repetition. We simply believe that it runs through the heart and soul of why America is the greatest nation the world has ever known.

 

To wit:

At this very moment, somebody on the planet is making the conscious decision to willingly lay down their life. There hope in doing so is that  their ultimate sacrifice will lead to the opportunity for their descendants to have the right to cast a vote.  A vote that would help in the decision-making process for their nation. A vote that would enshrine the fact that they were a free people, part of a society that believed in the promise of democracy.

 

Consider this for a moment.

 

The profound act of knowing they might forfeit their life by merely speaking out is a concept dismissed by most of the political left, and a sufficient number of cowards on the political right.

 

In their pursuit of gaining and holding on to political power, politicians as noted above have bastardized the concept of a vote. They have desecrated the blood spilled to keep this nation free.

 

That is the sad reality of politics today.  Democrats spew their insipid vitriol on how they alone can preserve democracy.  We believe that such a bold statement merits a quick evaluation.

 

- The political left has diminished the power of the vote by claiming it is racist/homophobic/xenophobic/not inclusive, etc. to require a government issued I.D. to vote. They never explain why they believe so, and the stenographic sycophantic media never wants to question them. Joe Biden whined that Covid was a pandemic of the unvaccinated. He said the vaccine was free, and anyone who opted out was un-American and wanted to kill grandma.  He failed to note that to get your free vaccine, you had to produce a government issued I.D.

So you’re racist to ask for an ID to vote, but pure as the driven snow to require one to get a shot?

We apologize, because we surely cannot be correct on that, as such a policy would indicate pure idiocy.

- Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, and untold celebrities and companies claimed that new voting laws, enacted after the 2020 election debacle, were so racist that it was Jim Crow 2.0 The Jim Crow laws were an abomination, mostly perpetrated by Democrats. The recent reports from Georgia indicate a record number of early voting in the 2022 election. So much for voter suppression.

- The media, across all platforms and ideologies, attempt to quantify the election process to fit a pre-determined narrative. What exactly is an ‘off-year’ election? It sounds as though the media can’t get ratings on the simple and profound act of exercising the right to vote. They ALL blather on about ‘toss-up’ elections, as if they were plot points in the story. Should not EVERY race be a ‘toss-up’? Why do the media choose what to call a ‘safe’ seat? They are Americans, but they still only have one vote. They bring on ‘insiders’, celebrities, and any other ignorant fool willing to announce for whom they will cast their vote. There have been centuries of American patriots who have paid the ultimate price so that the sanctity of the secret vote would be preserved.

 

By making it a talking point has been the true threat to democracy.

 

- The political left, led by the tandem embarrassments that are Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, have supported measures to allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections.

 

And before the Democrats go apoplectic, ‘illegal alien’ is a status, not an ad hominum attack.  

 

The obvious question is who then CANNOT vote in an American election. Do we need to await mail-in votes from Transylvania so that we are inclusive of vampires?

 

The dilution of the vote is an assault upon the United States Constitution. There are several measures we believe can restore the significance and power of the vote.

 

1-   Early voting is beyond stupid. What we propose is to extend voting to the Saturday before Election Day. That is more than sufficient time for every legal voter to engage in the franchise.

2-    Prohibit ALL financing from ANY source outside the district. In other words, only donations for a congressional seat would be legal if sourced from within THAT district.. A senat seat could only accept funding from within that state. A presidential election could only be funded by American monies.

3-   Any candidate running for office must first resign from any current elected position they hold. No company would tolerate an employee cashing paychecks while they were out interviewing with another company.

There are numerous other proposals we could offer, but they would all be for naught unless every single eligible citizen votes. The Madison Conservative does not endorse any single candidate, but rather supports the goal of 100 percent voter participation. We implore you to restore the power of the vote by actually voting. Find a candidate that best matches your beliefs and then proudly stride into the voting booth and cast your vote.

 

American democracy does NOT belong to the political class, or even the media.

 

America is a nation of, for, and by, WE the people.

 

So please vote and reclaim the franchise, your birthright.    

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, It IS Our Country - A Commentary

 

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

 

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

 

 

There is a debate raging across the nation relative to illegal immigration and the disaster that is the Biden administration border policy.

The debate is a simple one. Everybody in America knows that a record number of illegal aliens have streamed across the border in the almost two years of Biden policies. The only people who disagree with those facts are everybody IN the administration. To a person, the statement is that there is no problem at the southern border, because the border is secure. In his pathological hatred of President Trump, Biden has reversed every single Trump immigration policy that was, in fact, WORKING. The current crop of Biden officials have the blood of men, women, and children on their hands.

Partisan, political, hyperbole?

No.

By announcing their open to all border policy, they have allowed human beings to be slaughtered in their attempts to reach America. Young girls have been enslaved in human trafficking. By his ignorance and sadly convoluted logic, a wave of drugs has come flooding across the border.

The administration has failed to act, even in a minimal way, and the media has covered for them by using the euphemism ‘drug overdose’ to define the issue.

The vast majority of those killed by the drugs have NOT overdosed. The term conjures up images of street living addicts, holed up in shooting galleries.

The fact is that of those who have died by these drugs, an overwhelming number were POISENED. Their murderers started making the death in China, and trafficked it across the border by Mexican cartels. They only needed an accomplice in America to complete the slaughter of innocents. That willing assist has come directly from the head of the American government.  Joe Biden has done NOTHING to address the multiple issues relative to his border accountability abstinence. Vice-President Harris, in a demonstration of incompetence the founding fathers would recoil in horror over, has NEVER been to the border, despite being ‘border czar’. She has remained defiant in her comments that the border is secure.

The only exposure the issue has gained in the mass media has been when illegal aliens were shuttled up to Marthas Vineyard.

The response was predictable and swift.

The migrants were escorted off the island to a military base within 48 hours of their arrival, declarations were made about an ‘emergency’, and Florida governor deSantis was labelled a racist and a purveyor of a political ‘stunt’.

Maybe so, but the point had been made. Politicians who spouted how they were ‘sanctuaries’ for illegal aliens had to, as they saying goes, put up or shut up.

The deafening silence was a clear response.

Sadly, no one on the political left asked the Biden administration to address the basic issue, that being to secure the border.

The first responsibility of government is provide safety to its citizens.

The illegal aliens coming across the border are the recipients of the Biden largess, funded by the electorate who are being put into harms way.

Politicians who have attempted to bring voice to this issue have been shouted down as bigots, racists, and all the other names hurled by cowards on the left and by some on the right.

The singular greatest abomination is when politicians claim there is nothing they can do, because illegal aliens have ‘rights by law’.

Actually, no they don’t.

The only rights issued by the Constitution are those secured to Americans by the preamble of that august document.

“WE THE PEOPLE, of the United States…”

The Constitution does not extend to people of any other nation.

It is that simple.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her imbecilic partner in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, continually advocate for the death of human beings on a regular basis.

Whenever they are asked about the issue, all they say is that there must be a ‘comprehensive’ solution to the ‘broken immigration system’.

 

Why?

 

It would be simple enough to address each aspect of the problem with a specific, singular law. President Trump offered a legislative deal to address the problem, which the two liars dismissed.

For those who feel our comments are overly harsh, remember the meeting, in front of the press, where Trump decided to negotiate in public. Chuck and Nancy then went to the microphones and said Trump could not be reasoned with, so there would be no deal.

What happened to Pelosi’s passion for the DACA kids, those gifts of love from God.

She seems to have dismissed them when they could not be used as a political cudgel against Trump.

 

The disgrace that is the political left and the accomplices on the right must be held to account for their part in the murder of innocents.

 

America is for Americans, and the government must protect  her citizens from harm.

That is not cold and heartless.

 

It is reality.

 

When the stupid try to claim such sentiments are racist, xenophobic, blah, blah, blah because America was built by immigrants.

 

True enough, but those immigrants followed the rules, and they understood the cherished prize that was American citizenship. They did not expect to jump in line, to break the law to obtain that status of American citizen.

 

We would ask you, if you believe in the sanctity of America, to vote for your beliefs.