The Arrogance of Our Elected Officials - It Must Be Contagious!

In all probability the epidemic of arrogance begins in the White House and trickles down from there, infecting Congressional and the Senatorial "representatives" of the Democratic Party. Our most recent exposure to this virus was recently presented by Senator Charles E. "UpChuck" Schumer, D-NY, who made an ass of himself on a recent airline flight. Little Chucky decided he didn't need to follow the rules against using cell phones on aircraft prior to reaching altitude, and argued with the flight attendant who asked him to end his conversation and turn his cell phone off. After being told the flight would not leave the ground until he complied, he did so, telling his seat-mate (another Senator from NY) that the flight attendant was a "bitch". YOU'RE A REAL CLASS ACT, UPCHUCK!

Then we have yesterday's incident where twenty senators are demanding an investigation into reports the Obama administration threatened to close Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if that state's Democratic senator, Ben Nelson, didn't join other Democrats in voting for health-care reform. How's THAT for political leverage? For those of you who may not understand the importance of Offutt AFB to our national security, Offutt is the home of the Strategic Air Command (now just the "Strategic Command"), the headquarters for ALL our heavy bombers! Well, as of this afternoon, it appears that Sen. Nelson still has a pair.
According to Newsmax.com, "Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson — the moderate Democrat whose opposition is holding up the Senate's health care bill — says new language on abortion doesn't satisfy his concerns.

Nelson told KLIN radio in Lincoln, Nebraska, Thursday that an attempt at compromise doesn't get to the fundamental issue of barring federal funding for abortions.

Nelson says without further changes the compromise isn't sufficient.

Catholic and anti-abortion groups have also weighed in against the new language, which attempts to separate public from private funding of abortion.

Democrats are wooing Nelson in order to get the 60 votes needed to pass a sweeping health care bill by Christmas.

But Nelson said abortion wasn't his only concern and he didn't see how the Christmas deadline could be met."

GOOD ON YA, BEN!! It's nice to know that somebody on the left side of the aisle isn't a knee-jerk reactionary in support of just any crap that his President and party throw at the people of this country. Obama must really be getting desperate to threaten our National security - not to mention the immediate unemployment of 10,000 Nebraskans if Offutt were to be closed.

Next there's the U.N. "Small Arms Control Treaty". In fact, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just announced in mid-November the Obama Administration would be working hand in glove with the UN to pass a new “Small Arms Treaty.”

Disguised as legislation to help in the fight against “terrorism,” “insurgency” and “international crime syndicates,” the UN Small Arms Treaty is nothing more than a massive, GLOBAL gun control scheme. Of course, we all know that "terrorists, insurgents, and international crime syndicates" are law-abiding folks who legally buy and register their weapons... don't we?
Ultimately, the UN’s Small Arms Treaty is designed to register, ban and CONFISCATE firearms owned by private citizens like YOU. And by so doing, the left hopes to circumvent our 2nd Amendment rights under the guise of an "international treaty". Does al Qaeda pay attention to UN mandates? Does Iran? Does North Korea? Does ANYBODY? NO!

So far, the gun-grabbers have successfully kept the exact wording of their new scheme under wraps.

As for Obama's "transparent administration", it's about as transparent as Mount McKinley. Closed door meetings - some totally closed door, others just closed to Republicans - with bans on the press and other media show us exactly how "transparent" the current administration isn't.

Now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are petitioning the government purse string holders (Congress) for a budget boost of $400,000,000,000 each by year end. That's a total of $800 BILLION that we're supposed to get from WHERE? Well, we'll just borrow it from our good buddies in Communist China. We are bleeding GREEN folks! What little money "Joe Average" may have in the bank won't be worth a tinker's dam by the time the current administration is done mortgaging our country to the rest of the world!The reason for the year-end panic is that Fannie and Freddie don't want to take the chance that the upcoming election year will change the makeup of the Congress to the point that fiscal conservatives may - once again - take control of our nation's checking account.

Oh, and while we're on the subject... the FDIC is also asking for billions of dollars. They apparently expect that there will be many more bank failures during the coming election year, but nobody is telling us that! More "transparency"...

So far the only "jobs" (to speak of) that have been created by Obama's minions are government jobs and government training for government jobs. Obama's "jobs" plan is one of increasing the size of the government Behemoth, thereby increasing citizen dependence upon the government for their livelihood and all things related thereto! There's less resistance to his socialist agenda that way.

Cap and Trade - We have all heard the term, but we may not all understand the practical aspects of it. If "cap and trade" is passed, the end result - admitted to by Obama - is skyrocketing energy costs! Now that's something we really need, when many of us who are retired can barely afford heating costs in the winter already. Doubling our energy costs would certainly be one way to reduce the population - the elderly would be freezing to death during the winters. Why do we need "cap and trade" anyway... when we can reduce our energy costs by tapping into existing resources on U.S. soil? The "Bakken Formation" in North Dakota is estimated to contain BILLIONS of barrels of sweet crude oil! The following is an excerpt from a paper entitled "Bakken Formation Reserve Estimates", by Julie LeFever and Lynn Helms (emphases added):

"A landmark paper by Dow and a companion paper by Williams (1974) recognized the Bakken as
a tremendous source for the oil produced in the Williston Basin. These papers suggested that the Bakken was capable of generating 10 billion barrels of oil (BBbls). Webster (1982, 1984) as part of a Master’s Thesis at the University of North Dakota further sampled and analyzed the Bakken and calculated hydrocarbon generation capacities to be about 92 BBbls. This data was updated by Schmoker and Hester (1983) who estimated that the Bakken was capable of generating 132 BBbls of oil in North Dakota and Montana. Price (unpublished) used a more complete database and estimated that the Bakken was capable of generating between 271 and 503 BBbls of oil with an average of 413 BBbls."

Why have we not heard about this from the "lamestream media"? Another claim is that we have more untapped oil resources in the northwestern United States than exists in ALL of the OPEC nations combined! WHY ARE WE NOT DRILLING?? Apparently somebody wants us to be dependent upon high-priced foreign oil imports... I wonder who that could be?

It's our government, that's who it is!

And why were no Republicans, or even moderate Democrats, invited to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference? Nazi Pelosi took herself and 20 other hardcore, party-line quoting Dems on that so-called "working/job creating" trip.

So much for the "transparent Obama administration". You can't see into it for all the smoke and mirrors!

Long-term Effects Of High Unemployment, Recession and Devalued Currency

Does the average person not think it odd that when the country goes into a recession, unemployment spirals upward like a two-bit skyrocket, and the value of the U.S. dollar plummets to lifetime lows - that the cost of everything, including things produced in the USA, goes UP? That's how it strikes me, anyway... but I'm not an economist.

I am an observer of human behavior, though, and here's what I think we can expect to see as our current government-sponsored economic disaster continues:
1. As experienced older workers who - for the most part - draw higher wages, lose their jobs due to personnel cutbacks and impending retirements (retirements which corrupt employers love to avoid paying), they will find themselves taking entry-level positions just to earn a living so they can support themselves and their families. That's the way the older generation is wired - most of them still have what is called a "work ethic". (They have worked all their lives, and will continue to do so, if/when work of any kind is available. These people have character flaw called "personal pride". This pride will dissuade many of them from applying for unemployment compensation, even though they have paid into it all their working life, and that same pride will not allow them to stand on a street corner holding a sign asking people who are working to give away that which they have earned... at least, not until they are totally discouraged, and their family is going without.) This creates another problem...
2. Older, experienced workers are now competing with youngsters just entering the workforce. An employer (in any business other than one which is "youth-oriented") can now pick up proven workers for the same cost as a totally inexperienced worker. Because the cost in wages is the same, the experienced worker will probably get the lion's share of whatever work is available. The experienced worker is also less apt to have lost time (illness, work-related injury, pregnancy leave, etc.), so the employer will snatch him up and call it a bargain at that price.
3. There will still be high unemployment among the older segment of our population, but the youthful worker will see an excessively high unemployment rate - probably double that of the experienced worker. The younger generation will be quickly frustrated because they are used to getting what they want and getting it now. They will foment civil unrest - protests, vandalism, rioting, burning, looting, etc. - to the country. Metropolitan areas will feel the effects first, followed some time later by the suburbs. Rural America may feel it somewhat, but with nowhere near the passion - or the impact - of the disturbances in the cities. Existing street gangs will mobilize to take full advantage of the chaos, and new street gangs will be formed. "Turf" will gain even more importance than it has among gang members today, because it will literally become a matter of survival for them. Many gangs are fairly well organized, and in some instances they outnumber the police... and they are better armed.
4. Citizens who have otherwise been law abiding their entire life, will commit acts of theft, burglary, strong-arm robbery, and armed robbery when those things necessary for the survival of their family become generally unavailable.
(At this point we may reach the worst case scenario, which goes like this)5. Martial law is declared, and curfews established - by the same people responsible for the financial crisis. U.S. military forces are called out to quell the disturbances, and are told to use all necessary force -an intentionally vague, and politically satisfying term, which gives those issuing and those executing the "orders" a reasonable level of deniability. For the issuers it would be "That's not what we meant.", and for those carrying out the orders the retort becomes "But that's what you said!", when both parties are pointing at the other while trying to explain away the high body count.
6. The government is now seen by the populace as out of control and running amok, and the citizens take up arms to defend themselves against a tyrannical government. Half the military defects and joins the revolution.
7. Enemies of the United States now see their opportunity to pick a side, support them, and then eliminate them once the conflagration is ended... or, perhaps they will not pick a side. Rather, taking full advantage of the chaos, they will wait until our numbers have been decimated, and then just invade and kill or enslave the remaining population.

As I see it, the bottom line is this -
1. People are naturally inclined do whatever they feel they must to protect themselves and their loved ones.
2. People will engage in uncharacteristic, immoral and/or illegal behaviors, when threatened with extermination. What do they have to lose at that point?
3. Loyalties will be restricted to family, close friends, and a fairly small group of like-minded individuals. All others will be looked upon with suspicion and considered a potential threat - until they prove themselves to be otherwise.
4. A government that does not represent the expressed, free will of the people is a government well worth replacing! Such a government would be a "domestic enemy" of the people, and under the United States Constitution should be replaced.

And those are my thoughts about the social probabilities of an extended financial crisis. Just thoughts... not a plan, not a call to arms... more of a "HEY! Look at these unsatisfactory possibilities that could come to pass." Could our country become nothing more than a series of armed camps with private checkpoints every 10 blocks or so? I believe it could... but I pray that it won't.