IT'S US, NOT THEM 

Did a bit on Fox News last Friday with Megyn Kelly. They told me that they wanted to discuss whether or not our politicians in Washington had the courage to do what needed to be done about our government spending and deficit problem.

Now there's a startling difference between Fox News and CNN. When the Fox producers tell me that we're going to discuss a certain subject ... I can pretty well rest assured that this is exactly what we will do. Not so with CNN. CNN will tell you whatever they need to tell you to lure you into the studio ... then it's spring the trap time.

Whatever ......

So I had several hours to ponder the question of whether or not our elected officials were actually ready to step up and do what needs to be done. The answer is "no." Here's why:

While I know there are exceptions, the number one job of almost every member of the House and the Senate is to remain a member of the House and the Senate. They may give all the lip service in the world to grand and glorious ideas such as reducing the deficit and government spending, tax reform, shrinking government, restoring American business competitiveness and other wondrous things ... but the one thing they're focused on every single day is their reelection. Every utterance, every vote, every public statement is a carefully choreographed part of the reelection dance. Keeping those coveted 3P positions (power, privilege and prestige) means votes --- and votes mean pleasing the voters --- and there's the problem.

The truth is, the voters aren't ready to see the problem solved. Oh, to be sure, some are ... but most aren't. One of the problems, of course, is that we have too many people walking around with voter registration cards who shouldn't have them. What did you think was going to happen when the Democrats passed a law requiring welfare case workers to ask someone applying for welfare if they would also like to register to vote? This wasn't the law of unintended consequences at work here, these consequences were entirely intended. Democrats knew full well that every welfare recipient registered to vote would be an undying and loyal Democrat vote, some even after they were dead. Oh, you didn't know they passed a law requiring voter registration during the welfare application process? Maybe that's because you know the law as the "Motor Voter Bill". Actually, that was a pretty clever PR victory for the Democrats. They passed a law providing for the registration of welfare recipients, they added people applying for driver's licenses to the law, and the media immediately starts calling it the "Motor Voter Law." Can you imagine the outrage we would've had if the people had known that Congress had passed the "Welfare Voter Law?" At any rate, the goal was to get people who were dependent on the government to the voting booths on election day knowing that they would vote for the politician who those checks coming, and promised even more.

It's not just the welfare recipients, of course. There are many millions of people who earn a perfectly good living and the private sector out there who are, in one way or another, dependent on some government program or handout. We have corn farmers in Iowa who suck money from the public treasury and destroy our internal combustion engines with this ethanol scam. We have thousands of American corporations who depend on taxpayer money to promote their products and services both at home and abroad. I could go on for an hour here and the list would become very long, but you get the big picture. Millions of Americans and American businesses are getting their little sliver of pie from the taxpayers through the government. Another example would be the green energy movement. This is something that is being driven almost wholly by the government, not by consumer demand. In a private sector economy. I doubt very seriously you would have somebody out there manufacturing solar shingles. The whole ethanol scam, of course, would be dead as would much of this wind power business boom were supposed to be experiencing. So when somebody comes along and starts talking about cutting government spending you have corn farmers, windmill makers, shingle manufacturers, and various recipients of corporate welfare programs who, along with the moocher class, are going to show a decided lack of enthusiasm.

Then you have the Social Security and Medicare crowd. They just don't want to hear that they are part of the problem. They have paid their taxes, and work to make America great, and it is a complete outrage that somebody would come along right now and tell them that changes have to be made in Social Security and Medicare. Now you can tell your average Social Security recipient that absolutely nothing is going to happen to their Social Security benefits, and they are still going to fight any change in Social Security. The Republicans proposed a change in the age of eligibility for Social Security. The change would not have taken effect for almost 70 years. Even though it was highly unlikely that those now collecting their Social Security benefits were going to still be around when the change in the retirement age actually occurred, they acted like somebody was trying to rob them and leave them for dead in an alley somewhere.

The politicians see all this. They're watching. They're listening. They know that corn farmers vote. They know that the elderly on Social Security are some of the most consistent voters out there. And they know that the moocher class will vote, and that that those votes will be based on nothing other than which candidate is going to take the most money from the taxpayers who have it, and give it to them.

So in the face of all of this, do you think the politicians are really going to be dedicated to the idea of smaller government, less spending, and lowering our deficits? Sure, don't get all the lip service they can spare. But they know where the votes are, and they need those folks. Without those votes suddenly they are just ordinary civilians like the rest of us.

Bottom line? The corn farmers are going to have to rely on finding a willing customer for their products on the open market place. The elderly are going to have to accept changes in Social Security that will not affect their current benefits. People who rely on the government for medical care are going to have to embrace private sector solutions. In other words, the old American example of self reliance must return. Our independence from Great Britain, our very freedoms, were not earned and will not be preserved by people who constantly look to the government for solutions to every problem they face on a day-to-day basis.

So for right now, let's face it. Let's recognize that these politicians are going to keep doing that what it is that makes them politicians. They're going to keep doing whatever it is that gets them elected. We are the ones that have to change, not them. And sadly I don't see that happening anytime soon.