The Last Man Standing

What do American Idol, Survivor, and the Duel in the Sun have in common? The winner is always the last man standing. Logic would dictate as well as personal experience that this model would have a correlation in all successful endeavors. But then there is government. All rules of logic seem to disappear when one enters this realm(Al Franken is a US Senator? In what sick, twisted world?). It is almost as if we have entered an alternate universe where right is wrong, black is white, and debt is stimulus.

No economic model throughout history (yes, that even includes the imperial presidency of one FDR) has successfully moved an economy forward by strapping trillions of dollars of debt on the backs of its citizens. In fact, the great unwashed will tolerate just about anything until the products and services they need become too costly. Remember last summer? $4 gas--no way bro--Drill here, drill now and drill, baby, drill rose above the din. Even Pelosi and friends had to back down until the noise died down.

History does record the bloody impact of revolutions instigated by debt as a driver to force currency to diminish in value. The French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the American Revolution were not so much a dissatisfaction with monarchy as it was starvation and onerous tax burdens. The Wiemar Republic's inflationary practices paved the way for "change that you can believe in" in the form of the Nazi Party's serious stimulus program. Shovel ready projects such as roads, stadiums, and monuments provided little economic recovery for most workers but did feed the need until the Nazi's launched what would become the solution to the global Great Depression, WWII.

So today everyone knows that with the US fractional monetary policy you can only tease out the value of a sawbuck so far. Right now the Federal Reserve is running its printing presses non stop and the amount of gold to paper is in the one one hundredths. Rumors are flying through the international money markets about the concerns of our major lenders as to the soundness of our currency and the serious consideration of dethroning the dollar as the standard bearer for the world marketplace. And yet, with this serious threat to our ability to function economically, the leaders inside the Executive Branch insist on recommending more spending and more printing. You would think that they want this to happen.

Step it down to Arizona. Same thing: an out of control budget and an unwillingness to make serious cuts, sacrificial cuts, belt-tightening cuts on the part of state legislators. If they could, many would print funny money so they could keep spending.

My question for those who claim to be our representatives: Who among you is willing to stand in the gap for the average guy and demand a balanced budget regardless of the political consequences? Is there anyone who is willing to risk it all to pick up the gauntlet of Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin? Who will be that last man standing?

Harry's Memory Lapse: I voted against it before I voted for it.

Come on, Harry. I know that most people don't have a political memory of more than two weeks. But, thankfully, we have records of what people say in their campaign and what they actually do once elected. Anyone who watched your campaign two years ago thought that you were running to the right of JD Hayworth on the issues of fiscal responsibility and illegal immigration.

Let's look at your back-and-forth on illegal immigration. You would strap on your side arm (Oh wait, I forgot, Democrats don't support the second amendment)...you would man your megaphone (O wait, I forgot, you don't speak for yourself)... you would have Sam Coopersmith go down to that border, and tell them to stop it. Campaign 2008, now you are talking tough again. Claiming to be a strong advocate of the military (a demographic calculation since as you state there are 65,000 votes, I mean, veterans in your district), you voted to send the National Guard to the border to....? Oh yeah, you said "to keep them on the border." What you forgot to include in your comments is that they were unable to enforce laws, use force or do anything that would actually stop illegal entry into our country. In fact, under your backed policy, the National Guard was forced to take on clerical duties, not enforcement duties. Your solution to border security: "offering legal status to millions of illegal aliens." Did you forget that Arizonans by 80% oppose this? (Better get Sam to spin this comment; it will probably be missing from the web in a matter of minutes.)

How about guarding the public's purse? Well, for cover, Harry "co-sponsored" bills with the Republican minority to extend Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. This was safe because he knew that this would look good to Arizonans but didn't have a chance in hell to pass a Democratically controlled congress. When you really look at the record, Harry never met a tax increase he didn't like. If you peel back the veneer on the bills Harry supports, you will find a barrel of taxpayer cash he's waiting to use as payback to his supporters. You will notice that Harry never has the courage to say the "T" word. Here's the new label Dems are hoping you'll buy into: tax increases are no longer called taxes, they are called "economic stimulus packages." So now Harry says he votes to increase taxes and spending because the money he robs from you "will be spent in U.S. schools." Said like a true educator that has never relied on anything other than the public trough to provide his paycheck, he really believes that the government is the job generator in the US economy.

Well, Tax and Spend Harry, I hope Arizonans in the 5th district send you back to private life. But wait you'll still be on the public dole. At 68 not only do you collect social security but your pensions from government. You better hope your vote to increase congressional benefits doesn't get vetoed!