No statute defines - or ever has defined - the "one dollar" Federal Reserve Note “FRN” as the "dollar,” or even as a species of "dollar.” Moreover, the United States Code provides that FRNs "shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States…or at any Federal Reserve bank.” Thus, FRNs are not themselves "lawful money" - otherwise, they would not be "redeemable in lawful money.” And if FRNs are not even "lawful money,” it is inconceivable that they are somehow "dollars,” the very units in which all "United States money is expressed.”

People are confused on this point because of the insidious manner in which FRNs "evolved" - actually, degenerated is a more appropriate verb - from the late 1920s until today. FRNs of Series 1928 through Series 1950E carried the obligation "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand [some number of] dollars.” Prior to 1934, the notes carried the inscription "Redeemable in gold on demand at the United States Treasury, or in gold or lawful money at any Federal Reserve Bank.” After 1934, the notes carried the inscription "this note…is redeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury, or at any Federal Reserve Bank" (post-1934). Starting with Series 1963, the words "will pay to the bearer on demand" no longer appear; and each FRN simply states a particular denomination in "dollars.”

People have written to both their representatives and the Treasury Department asking for a definition of just what a “dollar” is. The replies reveal just how confused this situation is. Being a man who considers his word his bond, I would have to say that the FRN is and remains a contract; whether or not the government chooses to admit this…they printed the things. At the top of the contract they proudly proclaim it to be a Federal Reserve Note. At the bottom they declare the value, as in the dollar bill as One Dollar. The value of goods or services the note may purchase has changed, albeit not for the better. However, if you hold a 1900 $20 gold piece, you can still purchase what that coin could buy when it was minted. For example, back in 1920, a $20 gold coin would pay for a good suit. You can still do that today…if you have a $20 gold coin. A 1920 silver dime would pay for a decent breakfast…you can see my point.

The situation with coinage is more complex, but equally (if not more) confusing. The United States Code provides for three different types of coinage denominated in "dollars": namely, base- metallic coinage, gold coinage, and silver coinage.

The base-metallic coinage consists of "a dollar coin,” weighing "8.1 grams,” "a half dollar coin,” weighing "11.34 grams"; "a quarter coin,” weighing "5.67 grams": and "a dime coin,” weighing "2.268 grams.” All of these coins are composed of copper and nickel. The weights of the dime, the quarter, and the half dollar are in the correct arithmetical proportions, the one to each of the others. But the "dollar" is disproportionately light (or the other coins disproportionately heavy). In this series of base metallic coins, then, the questions naturally arise: Is the "dollar" a cupro-nickel coin weighing "8.1 grams"? Or is it two cupro- nickel coins (or four or ten coins) collectively weighing 22.68 grams? Or is it both? Or is it neither, but something else altogether, to which the weights of these coins are irrelevant?

In regards to the silver dollar...back when we actually minted silver coins for everyday use, the dollar coin weighed .999 troy ounces of silver. I would say that particular coin is the closest to anything as far as actually being a dollar. The value was there, the trust was there and the value of that coin has not varied through the years. If you currently have a silver dollar of nominal numismatic value (not one of the rarities) you can still purchase roughly the same value of goods or services you could back when the coin was minted, as stated in the examples above. Now we do still mint “Liberty Dollars”, but they are minted as collectibles more so than money.

Similarly, the gold coinage consists of "a fifty dollar gold coin" that "weighs 33.931 grams, and contains one troy ounce of fine gold"; "a twenty-five dollar gold coin" that "contains one-half ounce of fine gold"; "a ten dollar gold coin" that "contains one fourth ounce of fine gold"; and "a five dollar gold coin" that "contains one tenth ounce of fine gold.” The "fifty dollar,” "twenty-five dollar,” and "five dollar" coins are in the correct arithmetical proportions each to the others. But the "ten dollar" coin is not. Therefore, is a "dollar" one-fiftieth or one-fortieth of an ounce of gold? It appears to be undecided.

The US Government has not upheld its part on a contract begun back when it first began printing monetary notes. We still trade the notes for goods and services, but the trust is no longer there, in fact, based on the current crisis, the lack of trust is completely justified. If we had an administration with the courage to place the U.S. back onto the gold standard, we would see the value of the dollar skyrocket, whether or not enough gold exists to do so is beside the point. Experts disagree on both sides of that issue. What would be important would be the willingness to actually declare a foundation and to keep a promise...something our government hasn’t been willing to do for nearly three quarters of a century.

This brings me to a loosely connected point. Hollywood has expressed in film the idea that Uncle Sam trusts its citizenry about as much as they trust him. The background stories in the movie The Rock and Men in Black are an example. There is no love lost in either direction, but the greatest violator is the government. The current and ongoing mess was caused primarily by the government fouling up yet again…and apparently those in power are satisfied with the status quo. The reaction of the GOP leadership over the possibility of Sarah Palin is a very telling bit of evidence. If we are to ever regain our prosperity with some stability we need to begin being an honest, ethical nation. Being honest in our money would be a good start.

About two years ago I stood in front of the school board and asked them to consider naming one of our schools in honor of our veterans. Some of the members said we already did. The school they referenced, Cimarron High School, used to have such a name, a decade ago before the board changed it. The claim was that the district had decided to give all the high schools western-style names, but insiders tell me that certain elements in the administration and on the board did not like “glorifying war”.

This is how cynical such an attitude on the part of bureaucracy is: the Clark County School District has a number of schools named after individuals of incredibly dubious character. One school is named after a past Assemblyman who narrowly escaped jail time for corruption. Several of his friends are currently inmates. That school’s name hasn’t been changed. It seems glorifying a corrupt public official isn’t as bad in the eyes of the school board as “glorifying war”. Oscar Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, has been lobbying Congress, fervently trying to find financing for a Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. He somehow considers that a far more important project than spending a tiny fraction of the money to dedicate a defunct city park for the veterans.

Every airport in America of any significant size has an Armed Services club for the benefit of those men and women in uniform who come through. McCarran International Airport is the only airport of its size without such a facility. Over a quarter of a million military men and women pass through that airport each year. Many of them have layovers of several hours and nowhere to rest, check emails, etc...I spoke with Randy Walker, the manager of the airport about this problem and he agreed that something had to be done. He even went so far as to guarantee matching funds and an existing lounge as long as the county came through with its part. Clark County’s commissioners could not be less interested. In contacting the USO, the service organization that at one time had clubs for our soldiers popping up like mushrooms, was actually hostile to the idea. Apparently the idea of having one of their clubs in Las Vegas is pretty distasteful.

One of the few jobs that pay even less than teaching is military service. A very large number of enlisted personnel have to sign on for food stamps to feed their family. The conditions they work under can be horrendous and, in many cases, fatal. Once their term of service is over, the least we can do is honor that service.

Have you ever wondered what would happen to our lives if all of a sudden people decided to stop being dishonest? The cynic would claim that such an event could be the beginning of mass violence, murder, suicide and economic collapse. They would claim that our society, nay, the entire world is deeply rooted in a culture of deception. People have been conditioned to not only accept the little lies we consistently tell each other, but have come to expect them to the point that, when confronted with actual truth, they cannot process it.

When Bill Clinton faced the news camera and shook his finger at America while lying about his affair with Monica Lewinski, it was apparent, even to his most fervent followers that he was not being honest. Later, it was revealed that very few of his published honors and accomplishments were based in actual fact. That revelation has done little, if any to harm his ongoing career after the White House.

George Bush the elder also lied to America in much the same way. The only difference was that his lie was economic rather than lurid, but being a Republican in a country controlled by liberal media and thought police, his punishment was swift and politically devastating…for about four years and then the previous-mentioned liar came in.

Al Gore has to be the champ when it comes to spinning falsehoods, though John Kerry and his imagined heroism comes in a close second. Global Warming is simply the greatest hoax pushed upon the world stage…period. Nothing else even comes close. The most recent guffaw is how Gore and his fellow Warmingites explain that the current cooling trend is nothing more than a prime example as how “warming” is affecting the earth. Yes and, Glen Beck said it best, “Exxon’s massive profits are simply an example of how little money they are making.” Try telling the people in Fargo they are in danger of dying from global warming. The last temp there was several degrees below zero.

I remember the Spotted Owl brouhaha. One of the last jobs I did as a sign shop owner involved a Circle K store with an occupied owl nest in its sign. Seems Spotted Owls can only survive in old growth Circle K forests.

Here in Nevada, I tried proposing an immigration reform bill. It wasn’t the Democrats who opposed it, it was the Republicans. They claimed I was trying to bankrupt the state. These legislators are also people who claim to love the constitution. They claim to be moral and to love the law. They lie. They are not concerned about business being able to make ends meet as much as they are concerned about the next campaign contribution and their ability to spend it in nonpolitical goodies.

The truth is expensive and it can be inconvenient, but it will never disappoint and it will never cheat. So we kick out all the liars. Will that ruin our country? What do you think would be the economic picture if every politician upheld the truth and went after those who cheated, lied and stole? So we wouldn’t have Bush, Cheney, Reid and Pelosi. So what? Is any one so naive to believe they are the best we can get?

2009 has a number of unique promises to fulfill. Whether or not it will is yet to be seen. We could either be witnessing the dawn of one of our most prosperous decades beginning with 2010, or the inexorable advance of Armageddon; the potential swing of the pendulum is that wide.

President-elect Obama has already shown himself to be less of a puppet of the liberal left than a lot of pundits feared. His willingness to work with people his typical constituency view as blood enemies shows an inner core of character I was unable to see during the campaign. It will be interesting to see how his middle-income tax cut fares and what, if implemented; it will do for the economy. American big business has become quite reactionary when asked to share their plunder. I personally know of instances where a business owner has actually taken steps that harmed his credit rather than reduce his own personal income to save the business his father began.

As is typical to the Middle East, the millennium-old conflict between the sons of Abraham rages on, but for the past several hundred years the fault lies on Ishmael’s side, not on Isaac’s. I have yet to get a real handle on the problem with the Palestinians. Their heritage is Jordanian, not Israeli. They hail from southwestern Jordon, not from the western side of the Jordon River. Not one accomplishment toward bettering humanity or society, or even themselves can be attributed to any of their disparate groups, and yet the world seems intent on blaming Israel, the real victim, for the Palestinians’ troubles. It seems to me that when someone gives you thousands of acres of arable land, you develop it; you don’t spend all your time developing weapons. The followers of the Babylonian moon god allah don’t care about logic, obviously.

Because of the vast Democrat sweep of nearly every significant office, the Reid/Pelosi cabal has been clamoring to move even further toward socialization. They envision American healthcare as being a mirror of what is offered in Canada. There are so many errors in that form of judgment that space is simply not sufficient to even cover a tiny percentage, but let’s just look at a couple right now. Both Pelosi and Reid happen to be independently wealthy. Over the years I have noticed that those who proclaim the socialist agenda to be the best are often the least generous with their own wealth when they have it. Both Pelosi and Reid share the trait of being dictatorial. They do not work well as the member of a decision-making team; they have a drive to be the one and only decision maker. Every socialistic leader in our world’s history has shared the same trait.

In Canada, it is true, you can see a doctor without paying a co pay. Of course, you have already paid 60% in taxes and had to wait for upwards of half a year while your condition grew worse, but that $20 didn’t leave your wallet. As in the UK, Canada’s health system has morphed into a two-tier system. Those who can afford to pay for extra privilege, get it and the government, used to privilege, does nothing to halt the trend. Do you really think that if it came to it that Reid or Pelosi would be waiting in line with you to see a doctor?

About a year ago my humble house was worth about $250,000. Now it is worth about $150,000. I have actually worked to improve the property, but the price went down. Fortunately the taxes also went with the price. Some economists are warning of hyper-inflation while others are screaming about the coming depression. I think a different scenario is possible, if Uncle Sam will get out of the way. My house was never actually worth a quarter of a million. It simply is too small and in too normal of a location for that price. As with all the other homes around my neighborhood, it was caught up in a short term economic frenzy and far too many scam artists got into a feeding frenzy. The balloon has burst and now things are beginning to stabilize...as long as greed is kept out of it. Gas prices are just about where they really belong along with a great many other commodities. If those businesses who failed were actually allowed to fail, better run companies would take their place. It has happened before and it will happen again. Simply because the owner of a business has a friend in Washington, it does not mean that my taxes can be used to cover up his failure. At least it shouldn’t mean that.

So, welcome to 2009. It should be an interesting year.

While recovering in the hospital last week, I was visited by Ellen and Bill Spiegel. She is the new State Assemblywoman for my district, taking my place. She and her husband also happen to be Democrats, he more than she. I am still registered Republican, but I have often wondered aloud in conversation with Bill as to whether or not I should change my registration. The party has changed and not at all for the better.

Bill told me in no uncertain terms that I should not register Democrat. He is a consistent reader of this blog and in his opinion I am a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. It is his feeling that I would feel even more out of place in the Democrat ranks than in the GOP. Why is that? What is a Republican?

It used to be that to be a member of the party; one had to share certain common beliefs with the other members. Some of those beliefs were in the reality and rock solid foundation of our constitution. The constitution and not the casual interpretation of it by activist judges was the law of the land. To be a Republican you had to stand for freedom and civil rights, and for those rights to be available for all…equally. One group could not have additional rights or freedoms above another, period and regardless of politics.

You had to be in favor of allowing the market to do its job without governmental encumbrance. A business failed or succeeded on its merits, not because it was a better thief than the others. Understanding that the free exercise of religion was a paramount item in the formation of this country was also very important. How that religion was practiced was not so important, just the freedom to do so…and it did not matter where you did so, regardless of who became upset over your praying.

For myself, I believe that being a Republican means being honest, forthright, compassionate and pragmatic. Simply because someone has more than someone else does not mean they are a better person or have more rights and privileges within our society than anyone else. We are supposed to be a nation of law, not of lawyers. As for the free market, it is meant to be survival of the fittest, not survival of the fattest.  The government has no place in commerce outside of general regulation to keep everyone honest. Anything beyond that is a direct violation of our constitution.

Tammy Bruce opined the other day that a lot of people in Washington deserve to be behind bars. I tend to agree with her. She only mentioned Democrats, but I say that the crimes are bipartisan and we have more than enough villains in both parties to go around. Money has become the chief arbiter of power and legislation these days and today’s Republican Party cannot abide an honest man. I may not fit in the Democrat niche, but it is certainly no picnic here in the GOP closet either.

This Christmas is the first where I am the oldest living member of my family. It is a strange and rather lonely feeling being the “older generation”. Let’s face it, people of my age were the generation that brought along tie dye, long hair, patchouli oil masquerading as hippie perfume, and the free-form twitching we called dancing. We are the generation that vowed to never grow old and to never trust anyone over thirty. Now, I have socks older than thirty and underwear that qualifies for AARP. But I have never lost my love of Christmas.

Some folks consider only the gifts where Christmas is concerned; the larger, the more elaborate and expensive the gift, the better the Christmas. All right, let’s consider that criteria: The first Christmas present wasn’t gold, frankincense, or myrrh, it was far more valuable. The creator of the universe, the one who stands outside of time and space and envisioned the utter incomprehensible complexity of the web of life, stepped out of heaven and entered base humanity as a helpless baby, and not just a baby, but one born to a family on the poor side of the tracks. The reason for that gift comes along every Easter.

This Christmas is especially poignant for me, and not just because of the reason I mentioned earlier. For the past few months I’ve been dealing with a progressive numbness that began with my toes and now extends upwards to my hips. Because of a family history, I was worried about the possibility of MS or even cancer, but that turned out to be a needless fear. It seems my body doesn’t metabolize all those B12 vitamins I’ve been taking all these years. The result is the formation of an inflammation within the cervical spinal cord similar to that caused by Transverse myelitis. The difference being that this form doesn’t come along with the agonizing pain of the other. Treatment is a course of steroids over a period of three days and several B12 shots.

So, I get to spend the three days after Christmas in the hospital. If any one wants to visit, I’ll be in the St. Rose facility off 125 and Eastern just outside of Anthem. Just be forewarned, I’ll be a highlands Celt on steroids.

In the past a few courageous representatives had the cahonies to offer up bills that would have mandated honesty in political speech. The reaction of their peers was, to say the least, telling. In strident tones akin to how Obama’s pastor delivers a sermon, these men and women were dressed down as fools at best and traitors to the American way of life at worst. Illinois is not the only bastion of corruption in the country. WashingtonDC has been offering graduate courses in the discipline for nearly two centuries. Here in my home state of Nevada we have a sign dedicating a government building. On the sign are the names of the CountyCommissioners that were sitting in office at that time. Of the seven on that list, four are now serving prison terms.

When I served in the Nevada Legislature, I worked up the number of legislators I felt could be counted on to keep their word, regards of the financial or political cost. The list was considerably longer at the beginning of my term than at the end.

Expediency now rules that day. I have been told more often than not buy sitting politicians that unless I am willing to compromise my integrity, I have no hope of ever gaining another political office. The big campaign donors will not support someone who has standards. Sadly, I have come to believe them.

The First Amendment to the Constitution reads thusly: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You will notice that speech is the third clause in this contract with the American People. The Founding Fathers felt that dealing with religion was more important. (That revelation alone would cause a riot in some universities.) You will also notice that “false speech” is not mentioned. Simply because lying is not listed does not mean it is included in the freedom of speech. Some lawyers are paid per day what most if us consider a nice quarterly wage to research contextual intentions in our country’s founding documents. A  very brief read-through will show that lying was condemned by every member of the constitutional convention. In fact, “dealing falsely” was one of the reasons for the seceding of the Americas from the British Empire. So why do our governments, State and Federal, bend over so far to protect liars? Why do they react so violently when honesty is suggested as a mandated item in political performance?

The reason is that dishonesty has become an ingrained part of the American way of life. We begin with the “little white lie” to protect someone’s feelings, and when enough of those have numbed our conscience, we move on to larger and larger lies, including the ones we tell our spouses and the IRS. Perhaps this is why Sarah Palin was so viciously attacked by women’s groups and continues to be so, including in the funny pages.

Some say a politician who is “too honest” is a danger because of the diplomatic repercussions. People are forgetting the legacy of Ronald Reagan. He refrained from telling even the little white lies, managing rather to place the uncomfortable truth into true diplomatic terms, adding a touch of humor and thus adding to his respect.

Today our broadcast media is filed with lies…most of them commercials for items that we not only don’t need but could be potentially fatal if used. The purveyors of these products hide behind their perverted view of the First Amendment as protection and those whose duty it is to police the airwaves sit back and let the crooks get away with their crimes. It was once said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will come to believe it. That day has indeed come and I don’t see it getting any better until the American Voter wakes up.

This lesson is no more apparent than in the ramblings of the right wing fringe that piloted the ship of the GOP onto this last election’s iceberg. The general topic of conversation from these ideologues has been about how the so-called moderate republicans were the ones who caused the current situation. For the life of me, I cannot see how those who thought the Bush agenda of talking conservative while spending and acting like Harry Reid’s evil twin was the wrong way to go, could be the source of the GOP’s current lack of power.

It must be pointed out that these same ideologues were the one’s who saw no dichotomy in proclaiming John McCain their perfect candidate, even though the good senator’s voting record and bills suggest he is far from what any intelligent observer of history would call conservative. These same pundits saw no hypocrisy in supporting McCain while in the background they worked overtime to trash the reputation of his running mate, Sarah Palin. In my opinion, it was the Alaskan Governor’s unfailing and effective opposition to corruption, even when it arose within her own party, which set these so-called bastions of conservatism against her.

In my own state of Nevada, I experienced a similar reaction. As a freshman State Assemblyman, I was attacked by my own party leadership because I wrote a bill that would have forced a business leader to obey an existing law protecting employees from theft by those employing them. For those reporters reading this, I will restate it in simpler language. My bill would have stopped the boss stealing from his workers. Because of this bill, every leading member of the Republican Party in Nevada began working to remove me from my Assembly seat. I was even warned by a sitting State Senator, a State Senator who attends nearly ever bible study held during session, to remove my opposition to this businessman’s theft. My Canadian readers will notice the obvious hypocrisy.

An ideologue will follow the party line regardless where it leads. Corrupt, illegal, even immoral actions are of no consequence. Only party loyalty matters. Those who step out of line, especially those who effectively clean up corruption within the party, are considered traitors to the cause. An idealist is an anathema. An idealist cannot be corrupted and is therefore untrustworthy to the corrupt. Even worse, an idealist cannot be bought. The phrase, “He’s too honest, we can’t trust him,” was spoken by the Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman concerning my own political future after I proved I wasn’t for sale at any price. This was the same chairwoman who violated both state and federal law by ordering the state convention closed before the final vote could be counted. This order came after Ron Paul won the majority of delegates. His wasn’t the prevailing ideology the leadership could afford to support.

To be fair, both major parties are rife with corruption. In fact, corruption has become the common state of affairs; the recent Senate Seat for Sale affair in Illinois is an example of Democrat corruption. Ted Stevens’ 30 year reign of selling his vote in Alaska is a prime example of GOP corruption. Between these two towering infernos of graft stands the thinning herd of idealists. To the idealist, the constitution should be the final arbiter of any concern within and without this country. The Founding Fathers set up hard and fast rules as to how this country should treat its citizens and how the citizens should act out their citizenship. Party ideologues find the constitution an inconvenience at best, and an enemy to be thwarted at worst. They will place the welfare of governments openly hostile to America before that of Americans if there is money to be had in the deal. The ongoing negotiation with Mexico in regard to the US/Mexico super highway is an example. The arrest and conviction of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean because they had the audacity to stop a Mexican drug runner from completing his mission, is another. The Bush Administration’s firing of every federal prosecutor who appeared to be competently honest, is a glaring third. For an ideologue, honesty is not a virtue.

We need Idealists in this country, not Ideologues…whether they be right wing or left wing makes not difference. The past eight years has shown us the result of ideologue leadership. Ronald Reagan asked a very pertinent question of America when he was debating Jimmy Carter, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” I can ask the same now, but let’s change the number from four to eight. Carter’s ideology evaporated the last vestiges of a robust economy like the summer sun on a snowflake. Bush’s ideology has produced an even more devastating result simply because he was granted twice the amount of time.

An idealist functions within the framework of what should be, not what is. The Founding Fathers gave us a template of what should be. Within that framework is the principle of fairness regardless of you circumstances. Everyone, regardless of sex, race, age, or position should be given the same consideration and the same opportunity. Position, power, wealth…none of these should matter in the eyes of the law. That is the world of the idealist and it is adamantly opposed to that of the ideologue.

At least, that’s how it should be.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. During the 2007 session of the legislature, the Mayors of Reno, Sparks and Carson City wanted to have the Legislature ok the formation of a Northern Nevada Water Authority, even though they had full authority to do so on their own. They didn’t want to do so because it was more expedient for the voters to be mad at us than them. It is interesting to note that honesty in politics, real honesty, is as rare as hen’s teeth. The media, the pundits, the politicians and yes, even the voters, will attack honesty whenever it rears its offensive head.

Yesterday an article was printed in the Las Vegas Review Journal entitled “We Need More Right Wing Ideologues”. The author of that article is know for strident criticism of anyone he considers to be less than his idea of pure Republican, even though he is not a member of the party. During the last election, the GOP received a total shellacking and lost any semblance of power they may have had during the last session. RWI’s (right wing ideologues) like as this writer (I will not name him because he has done nothing to deserve such acknowledgement) have done more to hurt the Republican Party than corrupt governors have hurt the Illinois Democrats.

Cheap shot though it is, the statement is true. If the radicals are allowed to take over any organization, logic and civil discourse leave. I have tried to speak intelligently to the writer. Doing so is impossible. An ideologue cannot carry on a conversation, much less a debate without emotion taking over. Compromise and consensus are concepts totally alien to them, and if forced to participate, only result in frustration for all involved.

During the last eight years the Republican Party experienced a nearly fatal combination of Ideologue fanaticism and Democrat-style spending. The mix of the two have given us Democrat supermajorities in both Washington and several states. One would think that an intelligent person would see history in action and learn from it. Apparently that is too much to expect from the writer. A basic definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result each time. What does it say about a person when they insist on not only repeating the disastrous action, but doing more of it?

Common Sense died this year in a tragic mishap. Common’s best friends, Responsibility, Morality, Ethics and Virtue seemed to have also been victim’s of the tragedy. Civil Rights, a close associate of Common Sense is currently in the ICU; the prognosis is not good.

An obituary such as this may seem cynically comical, but in actuality, it is not. Consider the current climate in Washington. Many think the election of Barrack Obama to the Presidency signifies a new era in American government. They see the elimination of poverty, sickness and corporate greed. Somehow, simply putting a black man into the seat of power solves all our problems. The Arabs will no longer hate the Jews. Slavery and oppression will cease to exist and every child will have what they desire waiting for them under the tree on Christmas morning. To many, Obama is not merely the President-elect, he is the Messiah.

The Democrat landslide that swept through this year’s electoral cycle removed even the pretense of bipartisanship that existed last year. Current stories in the press about Nancy Pelosi’s recent moves as Speaker give a good indication of what will be coming our way after the 2009 inauguration.

As a junior Senator, Barrack Obama had the most consistently liberal voting record in American history. Even Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi could not bring themselves to support some of the radical causes championed by their soon to be new boss. Partial birth abortion, friendship with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, and the elimination of the Second Amendment, all have a place at Obama’s table. His proposed tax policies will not create the universal wealth he claims, but drive the current recession we are now experiencing into a full blown depression.

There was a time in recent history where the state of New Jersey was one of the least taxed states in the nation. At that same time it was one of the few states where the Governor had the unique pleasure of dealing with an ongoing budget surplus. The New Jersey legislature, in an attempt to assuage certain special interests, decided to raise taxes on business. Surprisingly, to some, revenues went down, not up. The legislature was unable to learn from history, no surprise there, and raised taxes. Revenues fell a bit more and now New Jersey, rather than being one of the most prosperous states, is one of the least. They function in a state of continuous deficit.

There are some who think all our problems would be solved if the situation were reversed and the GOP held the reins of power. The problem with that sort of thinking is that we have already experienced that scenario and the end result was, after a brief economic expansion, a long steady slide into laissez-faire greed and corruption that culminated in the great depression of the early 1900’s. Now it appears that we are repeating history.

Common Sense would dictate that if doing things one way results in failure, then it would be wise to try something else…possibly in the opposite direction. Two problems with that sort of thinking are, one; it means admitting you were wrong, and two; being able to work outside of your own self interest.

Over here, in the United States, we have gone the other way. Some might used the term “degraded”, and in some way they could be correct. There was once a time when immigrants to this country had to learn to use the common tongue in order to achieve citizenship. Now there are those in power who want to see an unencumbered flow of immigrants, regardless of situation or intent, pour across the border. One problem with this is that a significant percentage of these “immigrants” is not only unable to understand the English language; they do not even know how to read or write in their own.

Several decades ago, when this country had an actual immigration policy, those who were allowed access to this country brought something with them the United States could use; marketable skills, talent, and education. They may have colored the English language with their own unique accent, but they knew how to use it, in both speech and writing, to communicate ideas and to share wisdom. Now they bring cheap labor, drugs and disease. In addition, another cost few people consider is added to the bill; printing.

Here in Nevada, it cost $10,000 each time a bill or an amendment to a bill is printed. That is because of the number of copies mandated. Now multiply that $10,000 by every single form, pamphlet, booklet, etc the government has to print and then double it because they all have to be printed in both Spanish and English. Now we are talking serious money.

The United States is one of the very few countries who spend a good sized portion of their budget accommodating foreign speakers. Mexico does not. France has not and just added a law requiring fluency in their official tongue for consideration of residency. In Turkey you can be jailed for being “Turkish”. While we do not want to emulate Turkey in any way, it is foolish to allow our country to dissolve under a wave of influence and illiteracy.

Of course many will call such a statement as being bigoted, shortsighted and unfair. No, being practical has no relation to bigotry. There is a way to have our cake and eat it to; it is called thinking outside of the box. Even though the government is not the best organization to do anything, sometimes we need bigger, not better. The southern border wall is one example. We should finish that wall sooner, not later, and make it deep enough so that it cannot be tunneled under and tall enough so that it cannot be climbed; then, about every fifty miles or so, construct and staff an Ellis Island style complex to filter those wanting entrance into the country. Those with communicable diseases can be stopped and treated. Those with drugs, weapons, etc. can be jailed, and so on. People who make it through the filtering process can be treated for noncommunicable problem and also taught a rudimentary knowledge of the English Language. Those who do not want to become citizens, but only find a job can be issued a traceable temporary work visa. Work visas and a way of tracking and taxing temporary workers is a far better method than what we have now.

Of course, a plan such as this will be opposed, and not surprisingly by the GOP leadership. They have created a vested interest in the corruption that currently abounds. How many companies friendly to the Bush Administration currently have illegal immigrants doing jobs citizens won’t do (at that price)? The CEO attitude we saw at the recent Congressional inquiry about the Detroit bailout is far more common than people want to believe. To them, this plan is a nightmare that would force them to pay a legal wage. Too bad.

We have a budget crisis that has become a certified recession. Some think it will grow into depression. We need to begin saving costs now, not when it no longer inconveniences politically sensitive groups. Printing costs is one way. Bringing a massive underground economy into the light and taxing it is another way. Causing pain to those whose greed helped bring this recession upon us...just icing on the cake.