My Usual Charming Self | Bernie Reeves

Liberty Reawakens

By Bernie Reeves

I have listened carefully to the analysis of the issues that swayed liberal Massachusetts voters to swing 31 points away from their vote for Obama in 2008 to vote for Republican Scott Brown to take the seat held since 1953 by Jack, and later Teddy Kennedy.

The economy was on the top of the list. Lingering unemployment and the plight of small businesses show that the Obama ‘stimulus’ plan is not working. The scheme was flawed from the outset. Obama’s central government oriented economic advisors presented theory over reality by assuming that banks would run out and lend money from the Troubled Assets Recovery Plan to households and small businesses.

Banks have been shifting from lending money to investments since the breakdown of regulations the Glass-Steagall Act in the late 80s and early 90s that separated banking from investment banking. But it’s not all the fault of the banks. While the White House and Congress plead for more lending to save the economy, federal banking regulators have made it virtually impossible by increasing the requirement for assets in reserve from 10% to 12%. Regulators obviously see more problems ahead.

Exit polling demonstrated that “security moms” overwhelmingly voted for Brown, expressing the national uneasiness with the Democrats to combat terrorism. The Christmas Day Bomber incident added to the anxiety, exacerbated by the decision to try him as a criminal defendant rather than an enemy combatant. The accused was extended Miranda rights and, now that he is “lawyered up”, is no longer giving information to investigators that could lead to uncovering the cell that sent him on his deadly mission.

My choice for the most dramatic reason for the huge swing in political sentiment in the Massachusetts vote was the disclosure of the naked aggression by Democrats in Congress to force through Obama’s health care bill. The most famous example was the deal to gain the vote of Nebraska US Senator Ben Nelson by reducing the state’s medical outlays by $300 million.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the press the bribe was “business as usual”. The American people understand that negotiation and compromise are necessary to pass legislation, but bribery and extortion are another matter. As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger put it: “Nebraska got the corn and California got the husk”.

The most important message from the Scott Brown victory is the affirmation that the American people have not given up and accepted the Obama coup d’état. The fear that apathy had overtaken the electorate is gone. America is back.

Notes From La-La Land
As columnist Mark Steyn put it, “people will surrender liberty piecemeal with remarkable ease”. He was writing about the “web of micro-tyrannies, which, in their overbearing pettiness, ensnare you at every turn.” Steyn would like to know about the City of Raleigh, where downtown parking regulations and enforcement compete for honors with the East German Stasi. Hour after hour petty apparatchiks issue citations for parking too far from the curb. While citizens complain, the practice continues in an area of the City seeking conventioneers and visitors from outlying areas in the Triangle. Downtown is where civic tax money is heavily invested to attract visitors. Then why are the parking police running people away?

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The absurdities continue in Raleigh. While homeowners groan under the burden of high property taxes, the City Manager, rather than showing concern, has called for an increase in the tax to construct a $205 million public safety skyscraper. Other cities and towns across the nation are reducing citizen property tax burdens in view of the 30 to 40% reduction in value of most homes during the recession. But Raleigh’s leaders are oblivious.

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The data show that 60% of North Carolina’s high school graduates require remedial training on the college level, demonstrating the scandal in education rages on unabated. The issue is under constant observation, with books and conferences and reports pointing out the reasons why and what to do about the problem. I’d throw aside all the theory and begin with a simple plan: public schools should open uniformly across each system at 8:30 AM. Kids remain at school until 4 PM. After the regular school day courses, students participate in club activities, sports and, most importantly, tutoring and homework sessions. At the end of the day their main work is done and homework is reduced significantly, allowing families time to participate in sports, musical, dance and related activities. There could even be time for dinner together.

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The war in Afghanistan is where the White House wants it, on the back burner while the heat on domestic issues is turned up significantly. You remember that George Bush detractors called the successful “surge” in Iraq a non-event, claiming that Iraq was not our war. Our war is Afghanistan they trumpeted, so now they are committed to a politically intractable and topographically treacherous region for what appear to be political purposes. Alexander the Great couldn’t pacify ancient Afghanistan and no great power since has been successful. The British ultimately failed in the “Great Game” there in the 19th century, and the Soviets kicked off their eventual implosion as a state in the mid-80s trying to conquer the bloody-minded tribes that make peace there impossible. The war in Iraq was our line in the sand in response to 9-11. We overthrew a brutal dictator and engaged al-Qeada on the ground. The Taliban in Afghanistan is a local problem that we should help deter - but they are not our specific enemy, requiring massive US response. Meanwhile, al-Qeada pops up like whack-a-moles in places like Yemen while Obama is committed to an unwinnable war that will, in the end, provide arms to tribal leaders who will use them against each other as soon as we pull out.