Destroy your economy, or else: Global Warming Edition

November 8, 2007 at 12:31 pm (Environmental, Political, Taxes) (, , , , , )

The Conservative citizen knows that the past contains valuable lessons for the future, and that rapid, sweeping reforms should be avoided at all costs. When radical thinkers try to stir the pot with fear and reckless claims, it is our job to remind the masses to be calm, and approach any problem, perceived or otherwise, with caution and reason.

Radicalism has famously struck again with the Global Warming craze. Based on a dwindling research community (vying for federal grants), willing accomplices in the activist media (vying for ratings and pushing an openly radical agenda), and one rich man who claims moral authority (and now a Nobel Prize) over the issue, the world has been swallowed up in a panic to save ourselves before it is too late.

Before we even examine the reality of the issue, what would it take to fix if it were just accepted as true? We are going to foolishly guess personal responsibility, self-control, ingenuity, and low-cost initiatives.

How childish of us. How about international bodies, tons of new taxes, sweeping government programs, and laws upon laws meant to protect us from ourselves, cloaked in naivety and ignorance. The government will save us, thank God. Each new program will require money, which means new taxes and fees. Tax is a synonym for body blow to our economy, as we all know.

So, the radicals have come up with a whole new plan to increase federal government, check our sovereignty at the door of international bodies, and injure capitalism. Conservatives need to heed this war cry and respond in kind. Given free reign, radicals will certainly destroy the majesty and personal freedoms of this country with a grand vision of being cared for by our elected leaders. At some point, we expect an appeal of “its for the children” in there as well. That old saw always gets the media going.

Anywho, lets now focus briefly on Global Warming itself, namely its existence and nature. S&S has expertise in the fields of Conservatism and Biomedical Research, but not natural science. In that light, we will pass the baton over to the founder of the Weather Channel in link format.

http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/comments_about_global_warming/

This pretty much sums it up: ” It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM,” but please read more if you want to understand a little more about his rationale. There are a growing number of papers like this, and we’ll spare you any laundry list of them.

Next up is a Harvard Opinion article by Peter Tilton. This article is written by a student at the daily newspaper on campus, and he is clearly quite green in his viewpoint, but he nicely illustrates the audacity of Al Gore and those who would legislate us into servitude to a greater good clearly have no intention of suffering under the yoke of their reforms. Essentially, the prime minister of Global Warming doesn’t believe enough in the cause to really make any effort to follow its tenets. That’s only for the normal Americans. Its almost as if he’s doing this for publicity and fame… Who said that?

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=520555

Both of these articles disagree about the nature of GW, but they do illustrate one important point. There is little to be gained in this situation. Even if you believe in it, and our influence on it, why follow the clarion call of the media and hollywood elite into tax hell? What makes them trustworthy on this or any other issue? Where are the rational people in this argument?

S&S believes that its unimportant whether you believe in global warming (we personally believe in warming, but not the real influence of mankind on temperature). The Conservative doctrine only disagrees with the knee-jerk radicals who claim that the world is ending unless we surrender our money and freedoms. Why don’t we instead make small revisions to policies that will not crush our economy? More fuel-efficiency is a good thing, but why legislate it? Rising gasoline prices will do that on its own, driving consumers to more reasonable automobiles. The market has always driven itself, and the system has driven us to never before seen riches as a country.

The answer, of course, is that even those politicians who believe in GW are also hungry to increase the power of the government over its populace, and to raise taxes. This is the war on freedom, and our government is winning. Small policy changes to benefit the environment are just that, too small to satisfy the liberal radicals. Remember which party this movement affiliates itself with.

Finally, we’d ask you to remember back to grade school, when you had a fire drill. What did they tell you to do? They said leave the building quickly and calmly. Its important for everyone’s safety that you not stampede and cause injury. Right now there might be a fire in the environment, so leave the classroom without hurting anyone or anything. The adults who run this country and those who follow Al Gore would be well advised to take that advice.

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Who wants free health care?

November 5, 2007 at 6:06 pm (PPR, Political)

We here at S&S know that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but we sure wish there was one.  Also, we have been taught well by our parents to share, and that teamwork is a valuable skill that can benefit everyone.  With teamwork, we can accomplish more together than we could ever do alone, right?  Put these two truths together, and you can make a strong argument for socialized medicine.  We can all pitch in and eliminate the red tape and the evil insurance companies at once, while providing care to every American citizen.  We’d pay a reasonable fraction of our wages to support the system, and really help everyone out.  Since everyone is equal and/or deserving, our country can really get a positive momentum going with this plan.   What could go wrong?

Well…

#1 Why do we need socialized healthcare?  The answer is that not all Americans have/can afford insurance, and some are non-insurable.

But why?  Bad life choices (smoking, drinking, obesity, etc) cause all kinds of problems and some people don’t have enough money to buy health insurance.

Why don’t they have money?  They either don’t possess enough education, refuse to work hard enough, or they’ve made enough bad choices earlier in their lives that they really never will have enough money (teenage pregnancy, STDs, breaking the law).

To recap, the people who don’t have health insurance boil down to:

Those who never controlled their own health,

Those who can’t hold a job for whatever reason,

Those who made bad choices that prevent them from having money,

and criminals who are unemployable.  (Not a full list, but you get the idea)

#2 The government wil NOT eliminate red tape OR the elements of insurance that we hate.  First, has the government ever made things easy for you in your life, or have they hit you with forms, fees, taxes, and wacked-out policies at every turn (IRS, parking tickets, change of address forms).  We thought so.  There is no evidence to suggest (and much to suggest the contrary) that socialized healthcare can be done with any less paperwork and BS than the corporate world uses.

Secondly, we all hate those men who decide that certain elements of our insurance plans are too costly.  They remove our benefits “to better serve us”, of course.  Sadly, these elements are present in every socialized medicine system in the world, and they are present in every proposal on the table right now from the Democrat Presidential hopefuls.  They aren’t going anywhere, folks.  The only difference is that you can change insurance companies.  These adjustments to our policies will be made by appointed bureaucrats.  They are never held accountable, nor are they escapable.

#3 The care is far, far worse.  The average time to get a hip replacement in Britain is 6 months.  Unbelievable.  People in Canada walk around with torn ACL and MCL tendons for weeks or months, waiting for their fair role in healthcare.  No thank you, we say.  The UK strikes again when we read that patients are being instructed to pull their own teeth to save on costs.  Wait, didn’t we start a healthcare system to avoid just that horror.  Personally, I have no problem paying a fee to have a professional perform a procedure on me.  That is the whole idea, but not with socialized medicine.

We will be stuck in lines behind every hypochondriac and illegal alien who feels that they may be coming down with the sniffles, unless we happen to be actively dying.  The only way to get expedient care is to use a private practice and your own extraneous money.  Sounds familiar?  It should.  Its the current system, widely regarded as the best in the world.

Let’s Boil this all down:

You will pay roughly the same money as now, unless you are wealthy, in which case you owe it to society. That’s communism, something we fought to defeat for decades.  Now its used against heartless conservatives in a manner that wins votes?  We used to prosecute Reds, and now we elect them?

You will pay so that every drug addict, criminal, overly obese diabetic, and teenage parent can have insurance as well.  What’s the saying?  Life’s not fair, but the liberals will save you?  Is that right?

You will pay the same money (or more) for much slower healthcare run by shadow pencil pushers and the same insurance guys, but you won’t have a choice in the matter.  Feel that sense of dread?  That is the government saving you.  We feel safer already.

The Politics of Personal Responsibilty (PPR) do not allow the staunch conservative thinker to fall into the trap of socialized medicine.  We see it for what it is.  Rich people footing the bill for the poor in a way that ensures economic and even personal destruction.  This is a natural attempt by the government to gain control over us, just as a corporation seeks to gain more market share during growth (but corporations are evil, right?).  They would own us unless we stand up for our rights.  It is not our job to care for those who cannot care for themselves, despite being able bodied (handicapped not included).  It is not our job to care for the underclass of society, rife with self-destruction and bad judgment.  S&S feels sorry for their plights, but not sorry enough to sacrifice our own to throw them into the governmental black hole.

The Left has been consumed by socialism, and we must fend its attacks until our national hangover passes.

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What does it take to be a Conservative?

November 2, 2007 at 1:50 pm (Political, Social Issues, Taxes, War) (, , , )

There are many in this country that claim the mantle of Conservative, from Rudy Giuliani to John McCain to Ron Paul to even Christopher Hitchens. As you probably noticed, there are very distinct beliefs claimed by each of those names, yet they all claim to be Conservatives. Certainly that suggests that at least one, if not three, of them are lying to you. Doesn’t it?

Conservatism is a doctrine, a state of mind, even a kind of religion if you really buy into its tenets. The question is: What are they? What in the world makes one Conservative? Maybe we should start with what is NOT a Conservative outlook.

1) One easy answer is taxes. Conservatism does not include high taxes, fees, or levies. This stems from a belief (just short of Libertarianism) that the federal government should not have very much power, and that the citizens should be making the needle move on a daily basis, rather than arcane appointments in an office building on the beltway. So, no high taxes, but we still WANT to pay taxes, although we’ll gripe like everyone else.

We pay taxes gladly to support our military, which through manpower, technology, ingenuity, and a load of cash, has become extremely powerful and efficient. We will also pay for law enforcement on our own soil, which protects us from the shadier elements of our own citizenship, and those that may invade us illegaly (ahem, Mexico, ahem). This leads very nicely into another tenet of Conservatism: Sovereignty.

2) Conservatism is “all-in” on the topic of protecting our status as an independent state. This pillar has two halves. First, we protect ourselves by fighting in conflicts to preserve our existence, interests, and allies. We may fight to protect South Korea, a people under genocide, or even our security against a perceived threat. Second, we believe in enforcement of our own borders. Any unlawful invasion by any people is unacceptable, as we are an independent, recognized nation under a civil (at times) government.

We rail against the unlawful invasion from Mexico, in which Mexican Nationals enter our territory, against our laws, and return money to Mexico, or stay and live under the rock of society, often never learning English, and destroying our healthcare system, as well as filling up a great deal of our prisons. In short, we believe our borders should be enforced strongly, and our national interests should be protected in kind.

3) Conservatives also have an outlook on life that is particular to our cause, although others can feel similarly. The politics of personal responsibility are another central facet of this movement. You, as a legal US citizen, owe your family, yourself, and your progeny (future or otherwise) a right to earn as much money and success as you can reasonably acquire. This is not to say you should crush everyone around you and sacrifice all for money or achievement, but you certainly should make enough to make a good life for your family and children (occasionally parents, as well). You have a duty to do that.

As such, the government is not responsible for making sure that happens, assuming that you are able of body and mind. The welfare state is a creation of our best intentions, and a liberal voting war machine. The cycle of poverty created by liberalism allows the poor to appreciate democrats who hand them a free lunch in return for unwavering support at the polls. It is too bad that the poor do not realize that those big, bad republicans that they despise for all their possessions and money are their saviors if they would only break the cycle. Liberalism has created an underclass of our society that does not work, but votes for them, and introduces children into their world, propagating their votes over years and years.

To review, the Conservative is a person who believes they can use their money better than our government. They also believe their government should protect them from foreign attack and internal crime. Finally, they are responsible for their own families’ wealth and success. That is it.

Notice there is no mention of gay marriage, any religion, or abortion. Conservatism does not cover these issues, no matter how many times you hear the phrase, the Christian Right. According to the Constitution of the United States, a favorite of S&S, church and state are separate, and the government is not to infringe on any first amendment rights. Do what you will, as long as it does not harm others. You are a Republican if you tie your political beliefs to your religion. Conservatism is void of those concerns.

In that light, consider yourself. Are you a Conservative, or not?

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