BACK AT IT!

OK .. so today is a holiday for most, but since I've taken the past week off I'll seek some forgiveness by working the full week.  So, the Neal Boortz Show will up up and running this morning.  Before we move on to the comments-sure-to-offend and a few doses of insensitivity the entire Boortz crew wants to wish all of you the best of years in 2006

HOW TO CHARACTERIZE 2005

Americans have this penchant for finding ways to categorize a year s it comes to a close.  Fine ... I can play that game as well as anyone, and my thoughts will be no more valuable nor profound than anyone else's ... except, perhaps, for any thoughts that Cynthia McKinney might manger to dredge up.

The continuing story of 2005 was, of course, the war in Iraq.  More on that in a minute.  The most spectacular story was Hurricane Katrina.  But 2005 also had a theme ... the continuing decline in self-sufficiency and individual responsibility.  The decline in American self-reliance can be seen in two big stories from 2005; Social Security reform and the flooding of New Orleans. 

Social Security reform first.  There is no doubt whatsoever that the entire Social Security system is in grave trouble.  With each and every day that passes there are more people receiving benefits and fewer people working to pay those benefits.  While it's true that what's done is done, we should never miss an opportunity to explain to people that there is no Social Security Trust Fund.  It's doesn't exist.  For decades -- for generations -- the Democrat-controlled congress, and then the Republican-controlled congress would take every single penny in Social Security taxes and, after writing the checks for those receiving benefits, would spend every single penny that was left on various vote-buying programs.  That phony trust fund is nothing but a bunch of congressional IOUs sitting in a grey file cabinet in West Virginia.  In not-too-many years there won't be enough Social Security taxes coming in to cover the benefits going out. Then it will be time to present the IOUs to congress for payment.  Where do you think that money is going to come from?  You don't actually think that congress will cut spending somewhere to pay those IOUs off, do you?  No, of course you don't So what does that leave?  Tax increases.  So, if you make over $100,000 a year, get ready to lube up, bend over and grab your ankles. 

So, along comes a president with the actual guts to promote a reform plan for Social Security.  The idea was to allow people to take a portion of their Social Security taxes and place then in a privately owned retirement account.  Now naturally the Democrats went nuts.  That was to be expected.  Democrats are, after all, the party of dependence.  Democrats can be absolutely counted on to fight any government reform program that will empower the individual at the expense of government.  The surprise was that the people of this country reacted very negatively to the idea.  They didn't want to control their own retirement programs.   The reform program was going to give them more freedom!  Freedom to make a choice as to where to invest that 4%?  My goodness, what if they made a bad investment?  No thank you.  No freedom for me.   Just let the government do it.

Second ... Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans.  Prior to Katrina New Orleans led the nation in the percentage of residents on welfare and living in welfare housing.  Along with that, of course, came one of the nation's highest crime rates.  Then comes the flood, and these people continued the same behavior that they adopted as their lifestyle before the hurricane, a lifestyle of government dependency.  Sit around, enjoy yourself, and wait for government to provide you with the essentials of life.

OK .. I know we're speaking in generalities here.  Sure there are exceptions, but by and large those who were exceptions are no longer languishing in the 81,000 welfare hotel suites in 47 different states that have been and are now being paid for by achievement oriented Americans who are actually paying taxes.  Over the past few months we have seen deadline after deadline from FEMA.  The free hotel ride ends in November; no, make that December.  OK, you can stay 'till January.  February's fine.  Oh, what the hell.  Why don't we just give you a deed to your hotel room!  Room service, anyone?  What should we expect?  These people did next-to-nothing to become self-sufficient when they were living off the public teat in New Orleans, why would a flood and a change in scenery change that?  Two months ago I called the managers of several Atlanta area hotels and motels housing Katrina evacuees.  I had one question:  Have any of the evacuees in your hotel approached you about a job?  Not one manager answered in the affirmative.  Not one.

During the first part of 2006 there will be deadline extension after deadline extension, and the bulk of these evacuees will stay put in their hotel room until the taxpayers find - and pay for - another place for them to live.  The lifestyle of dependency will continue.

This is going to be the story of America in the 21st Century.  People will continue to seek government-provided security, and politicians, eager to enhance their power, will continue to find ways to give the people what they want.  The war on individualism and individual accountability will continue. 

This was the story of 2005.  Those who strived for achievement and self-sufficiency were likely to be derided derided and mocked while their pockets are being picked.  They were the evil, greedy rich.  Those who chose the path of government dependency continued to be embraced and protected.  For those who believe that we get more of the behavior we reward, and less of the behavior we punish, 2005 wasn't that great a year.

MEANINGLESS PERSONALITIES OF THE YEAR

Well, we need a list here.  These are all people who have demanded and received extensive news coverage over the course of the year, but who had absolutely no impact on our lives in any manner whatsoever.  These are the idols of the ever-growing American celebrity culture, our daily reminder with this obsession so many of our neighbors have with knowing every detail of the lives of entertainers and athletes.  This list is by no means comprehensive.  There's no time to list them all, so I'll just stop when I get bored and move on to something else.  Let's see, we have Jessica Simpson and her sister whatshername, Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Christine Aguisomethingorother, George (he of the room temperature IQ) Clooney, Sean Penn, Justin Timberlake, Brandon Kutchner, anyone who has ever appeared in an episode of Survivor,

You will note that I didn't name one insipid rapper in that list.  That's because rappers and their fellow purveyors of the so-called "Hip Hop Culture" can't be classified as "meaningless" personalities.  Their culture of violence, predatory sex and hostility has most certainly had an impact on our lives.  Just this past weekend we had another rapper shot.  Unfortunately, there are still far too many of them around to grant them endangered species status. 

You also didn't see the names of any professional athletes.  Same reason.  While you might think that these athletes, and the culture of jock-sniffing that comes with them, are somewhat benign, they've actually had quite an impact ... quite a negative impact.  From out adult perspective you and I know that these athletes, even those in the thug culture of the NBA, were born with and have developed superior and amazing skills.  They are truly unique specimens that come along once out of every several thousand individuals.  You and I know this, but so many of our children don't.  Youngsters are impressed by these jocks and the money they make.  They see the fancy cars, the beautiful women, all the "bling" and the luxurious lifestyle and that's where they want to be!  Then they see their fathers, uncles and older brothers walking around in NBA jerseys because they look so cool!  It's all about sports, isn't it!  Bread and circuses!  What type of affect to these athletes have on our society?  Walk into any urban middle school and start talking to some male sixth-graders.  Ask them what they want to be when they grow up.  The majority of them -- and we're not exaggerating here -- the majority of them will tell you that they are going to play professional football or basketball.  If they happen to recognize early that they don't have any athletic skills, they'll tell you they're going to be a rapper.  Statistically, their chances of realizing that goal are almost non-existent.  Not one out of 10,000 12-year-old basketball players ever make it to the NBA.  Don't tell them though.  They just know they're going to make it, and if they don't they can always just go the rap route.  So, who needs to study? Who needs to learn to read?  Who needs to develop math skills?  Why prepare to become a valued employee?   All they need to know is where they're going to be playing professional basketball or football, and where the closest tattoo or branding parlor is. 

By the way ... and I know I'm repeating an old theme here ... but politicians love this culture of celebrity and jock worship.  The more time we spend obsessing over the latest news about our favorite celebrity the less attention we pay to the boring machinations of government.  That's good for politicians.  Plus, this determination our children have to be pro athletes or entertainers causes them to forego all other aspects of their development.  When they reach adulthood and there's no way to earn a living in a basketball uniform, they set out in search for their minimum-wage jobs.  They do not become what you would describe as strong individuals.   The weaker the individual, the stronger the government.  Watch your friendly local politician.  Which do you think they're working for?  Stronger individuals, or stronger governments?

ELEVEN MONTHS FROM NOW

Here's some predictions for things that we'll be talking about on The Neal Boortz Show as 2006 comes to an end.

Katrina evacuees.  They'll still be out there demanding that the government provide for their every need.  By the end of the year American cities who have absorbed what is left of these evacuees will be tallying the cost in terms of cash and crime. 

Prescription benefit costs.  George Bush's massive new entitlement program, the Medicare prescription benefit will prove itself to be a bottomless pit where taxpayers money is squandered on prescription drugs for members of the Gimme Generation who, for the most part, could damn well afford to buy them on their own.  When this monstrosity was passed the average senior citizen in this country was spending about $600 a year on their prescription drugs.  That's less than they were paying for their cell phone bills.  Now with this quasi-welfare program the drug companies will step up their advertising and the wizened citizens will be demanding this, that and the other thing.  The original cost estimate was $300 billion over ten years.  By the end of 2006 that estimate will be at one TRILLION dollars.

Iran.  There were reports over the weekend that the United States has plans for an invasion of Iraq.  Well, I certainly hope to hell that we do.  When you have a country developing nuclear weapons and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the face of the map," it would be dereliction of duty to the extreme not to draw up the plans that would be used to eliminate that threat.  The peace-at-an-price crowd is sure to be enraged that we actually have plans for the invasion of Iran.  To these people there is nothing worth fighting for.  They would rather live under the oppression of Islamic law than to shed blood in the defense of liberty.  I wish that there was a way we could give these moonbats what they want without jeopardizing freedom and liberty for the rest of us. 

France is doomed.  You did hear, didn't you, that there were more riots in France over the weekend.  Some news reports call these riots a "typical New Years Eve."  Businesses were burned.  Over 400 cars were torched.  I have a friend who owns, or used to own, two restaurants; one in this country, the other in Paris.  Two weeks ago he told me that he closed his restaurant in France.  He loves the country, but he feels it is doomed.  The Muslim riots of this fall were only a precursor.  France has several things working against it.  At the top of the list is the great French social welfare state.  Guaranteed vacations, mandated this, limited work weeks, all of the goodies that politicians put in place to curry favor with the voters.  The trouble is that France doesn't have the money it needs to continue funding its social welfare programs.  The solution?  Open the doors to third-world workers so that they could come into the country and work to keep the economy going.  Well, many of these third world workers were Muslim.  Not good.  Now the Muslim population of France is out-producing (baby wise) native Frenchmen.  More Muslims, less native-born French = eventual disaster.  Let's all sit back and watch the continued decline of the leader of the Axis of Weasels this year.

SOME NEW LAWS ON THE BOOKS

We're starting to get some stories about new laws on the books across the country.  Some good, some bad.  I particularly like the new Florida law that requires drivers hogging the left lane on expressways to move over and let faster traffic pass.  Since buying a motorcycle last month I've been doing a great deal of reading on motorcycle and traffic safety.   I've had something that I learned before reinforced.  The most dangerous drivers on the road (barring drunks) are those who are going slower than the flow of traffic.  By contract, drivers who are exceeding the speed limit are generally safer and cause less accidents.  Look at it this way.  A driver, motorcycle or automobile, who exceeds the speed of traffic flow by 15mph isn't causing anyone to change lanes make evasive moves.  The speeding driver finds his empty lane and moves on.  The slow driver causes those behind him to change lanes to get around.  Unfortunately we can't seem to get police to target the slower drivers .. .may be the new Florida law will help.

Nevada, home to Harry Reid, has now taken a step to make health insurance more expensive for everyone.  Now insurance companies doing business in Nevada will be required to cover cancer patients who are participating in the earliest phases of clinical trials.  In Wisconsin the taxpayers will now have to cover the cost of prenatal care and deliveries for pregnant illegal aliens.  Lovely.  Virginia, by contrast, passed a law that makes illegal aliens ineligible for state or local benefits like health care.  Good for Virginia.

SOME NEW LAWS WE NEED ON THE BOOKS

Make me emperor.  Here's a law I would love to see on the books.  When a graffiti artist is caught, prosecuted and convicted, his punishment would be to have the very symbol he painted on a public or private building tattooed on his forehead.  Second offense, he gets his hand cut off. 

Other possibilities: 

Station snipers on all Colorado ski slopes.  They get to practice picking off aggressive snow boarders.  The words aren't there to explain how I hate these vermin.  I'm going skiing in about 10 days and I just know that I'm going to have about a dozen close calls with these cretins. 

Minivans now allowed in the left lane of expressways.

A mandatory $1000 fine for throwing a cigarette butt out of a car window.  Cigarette smokers are slobs.

Penalize airlines who allow children to ride in the first class section.

Make presidential term limits apply to both the office holder and his or her spouse.  We have to find a way to save this country from Hillary Clinton and the female voters who will put her in the White House.

Deny federal funds to any local law enforcement agency that does not enforce noise ordinances against motorcycles with loud pipes and urban assault vehicles with enhanced sound systems.

SURE, THIS INSENSITIVE .. BUT SOMEBODY'S GOTTA SAY IT.

The first baby of 2006 in Atlanta was born to a single mother.  Anyone surprised?  I wonder how many of the "first babies" out of the last ten years in Atlanta were actually born to a married couple?  My guess would be that it would be way less than half.  I also checked the newspaper for my second home town of Naples, Florida.  The first baby of Naples was born to a married couple, Anna Mary and George Buonocore. 

Speaking of Atlanta, I know that this is purely local, but I'll include it in the Nuze because I'm the editor of this blog and I want to, and, besides, it illustrates the general incompetence of government and it might serve to embarrass a few local public officials who need to be spanked.  We had three major football games in Atlanta over the weekend.  The Peach Bowl was played on Friday night.  It was followed by a nice brawl among football players after the game.  The Falcons got their butts handed to them by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and tonight we have the Sugar Bowl being played in The Georgia Dome because the Super Bowl isn't in what you would call great shape right now.  These three games mean that Atlanta was chock full of tourists over the New Year's weekend.  What with the Katrina evacuees and football fans there wasn't a hotel room to be had for miles around.  So ... yesterday afternoon I head out for my brisk exercise walk.  (Do you notice that runners never smile?  I'll stick with race walking.)  I walked from my home down Peachtree Rd. to Lenox Square and back.  On the way I passed by the Buckhead Marta (rapid rail) station.  It was a pig sty.  Peachtree was littered with garbage.  The stairway into the Marta station smelled of urine and had graffiti on the walls.  The map of the rail routes posted at the station looked like it had been smeared with human waste.  The Lenox Square area is perhaps the most upscale commercial district in Atlanta, and it looked like a dump. The rack where information on train and bus routes stood empty.  Any visitor to the city couldn't help to be unimpressed. 

IF THE BLESSED EVENT HAD HAPPENED IN 2005.

BY THE WAY ...

Before I post these notes and head for the studio, I want to say how tired I am of George Bush making excuses for his domestic surveillance program.  Do we need to find out why an Al Qaeda member might be phoning an American citizen?  Sure we do.  But do it within in the law.  I'm jumping to no conclusions here.  I don't know whether what Bush has done is legal or illegal.  if it is legal, though, it needs to be made illegal as soon as congress is back in session.  We have courts.  Use them.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Do some of you still wonder why I referred to John Kerry as "The Poodle?"  Read on.

Kwanzaa? No thanks.  Phony holiday created by a thug. If you think Kwanzaa is some sort of warm and fuzzy celebration of traditional African culture you might not want to read this Ann Coulter column. 

With New Orleans still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco thought it would be a good time to remodel her office.  Cost: over half a million dollars.  Swedish granite countertops anyone?  Your tax dollars at work.

Now this is progress....a German newspaper reports that NATO is doing some planning for a strike against Iran.  Not a bad idea, considering the Islamic terrorist state is close to producing a nuclear weapon and has called for our destruction.  Oh, and Iran has just turned down Russia's plan to produce their nuclear fuel for them.

The New York Times' own public editor is criticizing the paper for sitting on the domestic wiretapping story...for a year.  Looks like the Bush-bashing lefties finally got their hand caught in the cookie jar.  It's about time!

One high-profile Democrat from the Clinton administration is complaining that President Bush is using the word 'victory' too much.  Not exactly the thing a terrorist appeaser like Madeleine Albright likes to hear when it comes to the war in Iraq, where her party is betting on defeat.

So who is going to be the problem child in the world in 2006?  Steve Forbes predicts it won't be Iraq....but rather Iran.  Read on to find out why.

Iraq made tremendous progress in 2005....but don't expect the media to report it or the Democrats to acknowledge it.  Ralph Peters says there are many promising signs things have turned around.

Mexico is upset that the United States is planning to build a wall along a part of its southern border.  Victor Davis Hanson says what's pathetic is that so many people who live in Mexico want to leave.  Don't miss this one.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger defied the Euro-weenies in his own hometown by sending Tookie Williams to his pine box...even if it meant having his name taken off a stadium.  Mark Steyn says the Governator showed 'em how it's done.

Iran is close to becoming a nuclear power, yet nobody seems to care.  Thomas Sowell says people need to pay attention...before the Islamic terrorist state wipes out an American city.

Professor Mike Adams recently declined an invitation to speak out against affirmative action...because he says he doesn't have enough material to support his position.  How many ways can you say you don't support racial discrimination?

Columnist George Will says the government talks a good game when it comes to wanting people to stop smoking....but really, they don't want anyone to stop smoking.  The reason?  The billions in tax revenue from the sale of cigarettes.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?

These are links to each individual story on the Nuze, p-links for the geeks out there. Plus, they work today and they'll work tomorrow. Now you can easily discuss/debate/rip apart the Nuze without worrying about the links going bad. Enjoy!

BOORTZ BLAST NEWSLETTER
Everyone is talking about the Boortz Blast newsletter. Do you want yours? Sign up here and we'll deliver it directly to your inbox every 2 weeks. If you signed up but aren't receiving it, either your company or your spam filter could be keeping it from you. Try using a personal email address and check your spam filter's junk folder for wayward newsletters.

NEAL'S FANS GET TOGETHER
If you like Neal and are looking for like minded people to hang out with online or off, check out these places:

• Talkmaster Yahoo Group
• alt.fan.neal.boortz newsgroup (note, you're going to have to figure out newsgroups all on your own)

Belinda Skelton, Ken Rogers, Laura Nunemaker and Brian Ganey assist in the daily preparation of Nealz Nuze!