A Hardship Post

            Where is the largest U.S. embassy? If you think it's in London, Paris, Moscow or Beijing, you're not even close. Every one of those embassies is not even a tenth the size of the biggest one. Where is it? Baghdad.

            If you've never been there, try to imagine a compound on 104 acres with 21 buildings, not counting 619 blast-resistant apartments. It has a commissary, of course, and a movie house. And it has tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a rec center with a gym to keep personnel from getting bored. And then there are department stores for the ladies, three hospitals in case everybody gets sick at the same time, and its own airline for frequent fliers. Lastly, there's a food court to rival the ones in stateside malls, with free food for everyone. Why not?

            We need all this to support 16,000 people, including 2,000 diplomats. To put that in perspective, the 2010 census counted 13,453 souls in all of Perquimans County, North Carolina, where I live. The Baghdad embassy is not just an embassy: it's a city within a city.

            Why so big? Well, the pencil pushers in Foggy Bottom figured they needed that many people to help the Iraqis become a stable democracy. Now, how do you think the Iraqis feel about Americans in Shangri-La taking time out from their pool-side lounge chairs to tell them how to run their country? You guessed it. Actually, our trained diplomats don't do much of that anymore, because they don't venture out of the compound. Ever since our troops left town, there has been a tremendous rise in sectarian violence in the streets of Baghdad. It's just not safe for Americans, you see.

            So why do we still have an embassy of that size in Baghdad, which, by the way, costs the United States $6 billion a year to maintain?  Eureka! The rumor is that the geniuses in the White House think it might be a good idea to cut back a little. Wow! How brilliant is that?

            It's enough to make a guy want to vote for Ron Paul.

Green Busts

            President Obama's green dreams continue to turn into nightmares. In 2010 he gave 53.6% of stimulus money for energy to green energy projects. And for what? Wind and solar  produced a whopping 3.6% of the country's energy. Worse, our enlightened leader spent over a billion dollars to subsidize Solyndra, Evergreen Energy, Ener1, and Amonix, and all of them are now either bankrupt or right on the edge.

            Maybe electric cars are a better bet. But Chevrolet dealers all over the country are reportedly refusing to stock Chevy Volts in spite of a taxpayer subsidy of $7,500 for each car, thanks again to Obama. Hmm. Maybe not such a good bet, after all.

            Lastly, let us not forget the Keystone XL pipeline. Nobody but environmentalist wackos were against building a pipeline to bring oil from Canada's oil sands in Alberta. Yet, our president killed the deal, which would have produced 20,000 immediate job and over 100,000 in all. So much for pious speech about the unemployed.

            President Obama is absolutely shameless in bragging that oil production has increased under his administration. It has, but in spite, not because of him. His administration continues to drag its feet on drilling permits in the gulf, off shore, and in Alaska. In fact, the increase is due almost entirely to the Bakken oil shale in North Dakota, a source that the EPA, with Obama's blessing, is trying everything to shut down.

            Our President hates fossil fuels, whether oil, gas, or coal. The United States has more than enough reserves of fossil fuels for us to be energy independent. Yet, Obama prefers to pay more than $100 a barrel to import oil from Venezuela and the Middle East, even if it means that we pay $3-$4 a gallon at the pump.

            I am so looking forward to President Obama's visit to Perquimans County for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of our very own wind farm.

           

Union Wars

            It appears that the fight is on all over the country between union supporters and opponents. President Obama has packed the National Labor Relations Board with union sympathizers, but opponents are fighting back.

            Unions have won their latest skirmish in Ohio, but Indiana has just passed legislation to make Indiana the 23rd Right-to-Work state. Most significantly, Indiana is in the middle of the Rust Belt, a region that has been the most solidly pro-union in the country. Indiana could be the first of many to come. Take notice, Ohio.

            In Wisconsin, the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker, Union Enemy Number 1, appears to be failing. Interestingly, there have been two important developments during the campaign. One is that national unions have gone all out to oust the governor; the millions they have spent in Wisconsin will not be available to support the election of Democrats elsewhere.

            Second, teachers who have been freed to investigate health insurance options have discovered that they were being royally ripped off by union-controlled insurance, with obscene profits funneled off to the unions for political activities that have nothing to do with education.

            Elsewhere, the AFT and the NEA,  the nation's big teachers unions, are being challenged for their dedication to keeping ineffective teachers on the job.

            In New York, the AFT is resisting teacher evaluation systems that would hold bad teachers accountable.

            In Massachusetts, the NEA is fighting a ballot initiative to make teachers' performance, rather than years of service, the primary factor in deciding who should be laid off.

            Missouri is proposing a constitutional amendment prohibiting tenure and requiring local performance standards in employment decisions.

            Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is promoting an expansion of school vouchers and a change in how tenure is applied and in how teachers get pay increases. Compare this to the head of the NEA who recently told an interviewer that efforts to pay better teachers more money is "naive and shortsighted."

            And in New Jersey we all know how Governor Chris Christie is battling teachers unions  who stand up for bad teachers by making sure they don't have to undergo any scrutiny whatsoever.

            Meanwhile, the Department of Education spends $200 million a year on research intended to improve educational practice. According to the American Enterprise Institute, no evidence exists that these expenditures have done any significant good. On the contrary, nobody talks about No Child Left Behind anymore, because the program has been an abject failure.

            The money would be better spent assisting states who have seen the light.

The Great War

            If Lincoln were alive today, what would he say about this year's presidential races? "A house divided against itself cannot stand" comes to mind.

            Have we ever seen a more divided nation as ours? We don't seem to be able to agree on anything these days. It's Democrat vs. Republican, House vs. Senate, Washington vs. the states. But those are only the battle fields. The war is being fought over ideas, and it is for keeps.        The battles that will determine the eventual winner are many. Here are my top ten on the domestic front (the other front: national defense and foreign affairs) :

            1. Socialism vs. Capitalism

            2. Fundamental change vs. faith in democracy

            3. Class warfare vs. a classless society

            4. Chronic dependency vs. individual responsibility

            5. Equality of outcomes vs. equal opportunity

            6. Top-down government vs. free enterprise

            7. Radical environmentalism vs. energy self-sufficiency

            8. Judicial activism vs. fidelity to our Constitution

            9. Uncontrolled spending vs. fiscal responsibility

            10. Secularism vs. religious beliefs

            This is indeed the most important election year of our lifetimes. It will determine the future of our nation. When it is decided, this administration will either continue on its radical course toward a European-style socialism or cede the reigns to others who have a fundamentally different view of America.

            I make no bones about which side of this war I'm on. I also realize that this country is evenly divided, and that the other side may prevail. Whatever the outcome, I hope we can heed the words of Lincoln's second inaugural address.

            "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in....to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Government Truths

            When Congress voted to exempt itself from laws prohibiting insider trading, it confirmed once again the truth of Mark Twain's  famous characterization of Washington legislators, when he said, "There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress."

            Is it any wonder that popularity ratings of Congress cannot get out of the low teens? It gives itself free medical, free travel, and all sorts of perks, while the rest of us pay taxes to fund their extravagance. It even awards full pensions to members who have been forced out of office because of sex scandals and ethics violations. Aesop, the Greek fabulist who lived in the 6th century BCE, had it right even back then when he observed, "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."

            Is it any wonder that President Obama treats Congress with contempt, as he did when making recess appointments to avoid congressional review required by the Constitution? And that includes the appointment of one individual previously rejected by Congress.

            Is it any wonder we cannot reduce our $15 trillion debt, when Congress passes an omnibus bill larded with pork after sanctimoniously vowing to end earmarks? Taxpayers have been looking to Congress to reduce spending, yet our government will spend more in 2012 than it did in 2011, a year in which we added more than a trillion dollars to our national debt. As Ronald Reagan said, "The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."

            Here are more truths that apply to our government: 

            "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." __P.J. O'Rourke

            "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." __ John Adams

            "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself." __ Mark Twain

            "A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have." __ Thomas Jefferson

            ""What this country needs are more unemployed politicians." __ Edward Langley

            Amen.

           

Entitlement Fraud

            Aren't we all getting sick of seeing President Obama give campaign speeches all over the country at taxpayers' expense? The speech never changes in tone or content; it's class warfare against wealthy Americans that he accuses of not paying their fair share.

            The top 1% of wage earners that Obama excoriates already pay 36.7% of income taxes, and the top 10 pay 71%. But that's not enough for the President. But has he ever mentioned that 47% of Americans don't pay any income taxes at all ? Has he ever asked these people to pay their fair share?

            The President asked the Simpson/Bowles committee to come up with recommendations for reducing the debt. It did. But Obama ignored them, including sound recommendations for reforming entitlements. Has the President ever proposed a solution other than raising taxes on the rich?

            The country is drowning in debt, yet we are on target to spend even more in 2012. In 2011 the House of Representatives submitted the Ryan Plan, a sound budget that addressed the problem of entitlements. But the Senate, led by Harry Reid, dismissed it out of hand. This is the same Senate that hasn't submitted a budget of its own in over two years.

            We have to borrow 40 cents on every dollar to pay for entitlements, yet the Administration and Congress can't agree on any solutions. So nothing is being done as the country sinks deeper in debt every day.

            If we can't agree on any reforms, couldn't we at least begin by eliminating the fraud? It is estimated that 20% of Medicare payments are fraudulent; up to a third of people on Medicaid shouldn't qualify; and thousands of people on disability aren't disabled at all.

            The recent investigation of Long Island Railroad employees on disability revealed that fraudulent applications abetted by complicit doctors and lawyers could cost taxpayers up to a billion dollars a year. And that's just for Long Island Railroad workers.

            The Department of Justice is now looking at law firms that specialize in helping people qualify for disability payments. One of them, Binder & Binder, has spent $20 million in advertising (you've seen the guy in the cowboy hat) and reaped a tidy profit of $88 million. How many thousands of successful applications do you think it took for the Binders to make that kind of money? And how many of them were fraudulent?

            Americans are a generous and compassionate people. Nobody wants to deny a helping hand to the less fortunate. But if we don't stop fraud and abuse by cheats and unscrupulous doctors and lawyers, we'll never get out of the hole we have been digging for ourselves.

             

A December to Remember

            December 2011 was a memorable month. It was the month we saw a captured American drone displayed on Iranian TV, and an apologetic President Obama plead for its return after rejecting advice to destroy it for fear of offending our avowed enemy.

            December is also the month in which two world leaders died. Kim Jung Il, despot of a belligerent nation with nuclear weapons and starving millions, left behind a world of diplomats completely baffled at the prospect of a 20-something Kim Jung Un taking over.

            By contrast we lost Vaclav Havel, a revered freedom fighter who led the struggle against Soviet oppression in Czechoslovakia, not with violence but with the truth. To the end, he warned that indifference to the freedom of others would lead ultimately to indifference to our own freedom. He supported our intervention in Iraq because it removed the tyrant Saddam Hussein, and I suspect he was disappointed by our policy of appeasement in Iran. His voice will be missed.

            At the same time we learned of the death of Christopher Hitchens, a brilliant  intellectual, a gifted writer, a fierce debater, and a militant atheist. He combined a great command of the English language with a sardonic wit that disarmed his opponents. Among his favorite targets were religious fanatics, the Church, and God. This is a man who called Mother Teresa a fraud and the pope a protector of those who violate the innocent, calling this a clear sign of where the Church truly stands on moral and ethical questions. He also derided President Obama's Nobel prize. He said it was "like giving someone an Oscar in the hope that it would encourage them to make a decent motion picture." Hitchens may have been outrageous, but he wasn't always wrong.

            Then we have sports, our nation's greatest obsession. In December we saw Albert Pujols demonstrate his loyalty to his adoring fans by turning down $210 million to stay in St. Louis and signing with the Angels of Anaheim for a mere $254 million plus another $10 million in bonuses.

 There were no reports of protesters occupying his front lawn.

            Meanwhile, Barry Bonds, who set home run records with the help of an assortment of performance-enhancing substances, was convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced to 30 days of confinement in his 16,000 square-foot home. He is appealing this awful miscarriage of justice.         

            On Christmas Day NBA players returned to the court after a protracted lockout. The players, whose average annual pay is $5.84 million, had refused to play unless owners gave them more than half the profits. To demonstrate that money isn't everything, Laker forward Ron Artest changed his name to Meta World Peace.

            I guess it's all a matter of perspective.