For Whom the Brexit Tolls, It Tolls for Thee

On Thursday the British people voted to discard their representatives’ cries of doom and throw out the central planning bureaucrats in Brussels to retake their country and sovereignty.  Britain was nearly equally split, with 52% voting to leave and 48% to stay in the European Union (EU).  Those of the political elite and on the left dub the vote an expression of a xenophobic, racist, and bigoted people.  Voters who fear and hate immigrants.

While immigration was a driving force, it was more about Brussels controlling the U.K. borders, and the laws within its borders, which drove people to vote to get out of the EU while they still had a country.  It was a people who rejected their politicians and media elites.  Who do not trust or believe that either hold their interests or the interests of the nation first.

America is in a similar situation with the upcoming election and gives insight into the seemingly impossible candidacy of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.  How could a billionaire businessman with no political experience secure his candidacy over a dozen seasoned and well financed career politicians?  How did a communist, in America, give the “crowned” candidate, Hillary, a competitive race?

All this originates from an electorate that no longer believes a large central government can or does provide a path to prosperity or, for that matter, can keep the nation safe.  An anemic recovery, real (U-6) unemployment of 9.6%, health insurance rising at double digits, stagnant wages, and terrorism at home give people pause of the effectiveness and capabilities of federal politicians and bureaucrats.

Brexit and the U.S. presidential candidates are a manifestation of unrest with politicians, media, and governments.  Those that feel that they are being ruled instead of served.  In the words of Patrick Henry, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!”

#Be Vigilant. Be Free.

Happy (Founding) Father's Day

Today we celebrate all Fathers and give thanks for their care, nurturing, knowledge they have bestowed, values that have guided, and love that has surrounded us.  So as we make our special morning breakfast, go to the baseball game, or just do whatever Dad wants, let us also remember the fathers of our nation and their sacrifices, bravery, knowledge, and wisdom.

These fathers of America and framers of her Constitution gave us the opportunity of liberty, happiness, and prosperity.  Great men who did great deeds saw the promise of the land and her people.

So as we thank our Fathers let us also be reminded of our most notable founding father, George

Washington, and his call that “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

Happy Father’s Day

#Be Vigilant. Be Free.

Don't Be Fooled:We Pay for Their Mistakes

In the real world, colossal failures are met with massive investor losses and law suits for the gross negligence and fraud foisted on the investors.  But a failed government program is met by feeding it more money.  An example: the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Let us first distinguish the difference between an accomplishment vs. a failure.  Obamacare is a political accomplishment, but a failure based on its own promises.  As purported by the President, Speaker of the House, Majority Leader of the Senate, and every Democrat in Congress, Obamacare promised to lower healthcare premiums by $2,500, if you liked your health insurance plan you could keep it, if you liked your doctor you could keep him, not to add a dime to the budget deficit, to increase competition through government funded cooperatives, and to encourage more entrepreneurs to start businesses, among many other claims.  All of these claims proved false.

The ACA started as a calamity with the building of an e-commerce website costing billions and failing after years of preparation.  Yet, Obamacare not only moves forward but gets more money paid for by – you guessed it – the taxpayer.  The bureaucrats and politicians who created the program still get their pay and retirement benefits.  And for all the knowingly fraudulent claims made, and the gross negligence that no politician who voted for the legislation read it – well – no one was prosecuted.  Consequences like that are reserved for the real world.

So before you ask the government for another program or to “fix” the economy remember, no matter what the result, we pay for their mistakes!   

Don't Be Fooled: Government Doesn't Solve Problems

We have to remember that government – even in a better form – all too often does not solve problems, but institutionalizes them.  For example, Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, etc. have not solved poverty.  Quite the opposite. After $15 trillion in cost, poverty is at about the same rate it was in 1965 when the war on poverty was launched.  Thus, we should not be talking about problems government should solve, rather how to solve the problems government has created.

In their quest for votes, politicians pronounce what they will do to create jobs and security.  But the reason for the lowest workforce participation and the highest real unemployment rate (U-6 indicator over 9.5%) are the result of government policies.  It is unreasonable to think that adding to the land-fill of government programs will produce more jobs.

Instead, we should set our sights on discussions of reducing government involvement, enabling individualism, and freeing markets.  Adhering to the founding principles of free men and free markets is what produced the American Dream and prosperity.

Rather than the parade of identity politics giveaways that the media thrives on, let us instead give heed to President John Kennedy’s words to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Be Vigilant. Be Free.