Saturday December 5th 2009

Saturday, December 5th, 2009 is a date that will live in my memory for as long as my mind continues to function.  On that date, we traveled up to Hot Springs, Arkansas to attend the Arkansas Republican Committee Straw Poll.  The straw poll was an opportunity for the seven candidates that are vying for the GOP nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Blanche Lincoln.  Each of the seven candidates spoke for seven and one half minutes before the vote was taken.  It was my first opportunity to see and hear several of the candidates.  What I heard was very heartening.  It seems that, for the most part, the Republican Party is trying to move back toward our conservative roots.  It is my opinion that this is what, not only the Republican Party needs, but it’s what our country needs.  One of the men that I was privileged to hear on Saturday will be running against Lincoln in the 2010 election.  We really do believe that we have enough people in various groups across the state to vote Senator Lincoln out of office.  So, some time during the day, Saturday I heard the next U.S. Senator from the Great State of Arkansas.  And there is a pretty good chance that I spoke with him.  I did manage to get some face-to-face time with a couple of the front runners.  I never dreamed that I’d do that.

As most of you know, up until this year I was never politically active.  I have always been concerned about politics but I just never felt motivated enough to get out and do something.  The current administration changed that.  We are rushing headlong into the complete destruction of all that I have believed in and fought for all of my life.  While there are some things that need work in this country, changing the fundamentals of who we are is not the answer.  I have begun reading a book by Leon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap the 28 Great Ideas that Changed the World.  It is also called “Principles of Freedom 101.”  The book is about the writing of the U.S. Constitution and what the founding fathers were faced with.  The book tells how the founding fathers knew that there must be two parties of government to keep the country balanced at the center where there is freedom, not too far to the left where there is tyranny nor too far to the right where lies anarchy.  Our country has moved too far to the left and if we do not act now to stop this trend the eventual end will be total loss of freedom and tyranny.

I think that by standing up and being counted on Saturday, December 5th 2009 I helped to bring my country back from that precipice.  I hope that you too are doing something to help us.  God Bless America.

John A. Wilson

President

Conservative Action Project

$500 Million Cut in Medicare

There is no longer any plausible deniability.  The new healthcare bill is going to cut $500 Billion from Medicare.  John McCain proposed an amendment to the healthcare bill that would remove the portion of the bill that does so.  Today the Senate voted on that amendment and defeated it along party lines.  So no one can now say that the healthcare bill isn’t going to hurt senior citizens.  The money will be mostly taken from Medicare Advantage.  The percent of the doctor and hospital bills that Medicare Advantage pays for will be reduced.  This means that senior citizens with Medicare Advantage will have to pay more out of their pockets for lifesaving medical care.  The better heeled seniors won’t have a problem with this, but those who depend on Medicare and Social Security will be devastated.  Why? Very simple actually. Doctors will get less for seeing Medicare patients.  To maintain their incomes, doctors will either have to stop seeing Medicare patients or spend less time diagnosing and treating their illnesses.  Therefore, senior citizens will see the quality and quantity of their medical care begin to wane.  Many doctors will stop seeing Medicare patients entirely.  Seniors will find it difficult to even see a physician.  The inevitable result will be that senior citizens will die sooner.  It’s as simple as that.

The most disturbing thing about this is that the largest senior citizen advocate group in the country is supporting this bill.  A bill that will adversely affect their own members is being supported by AARP.  What?  Is it just possible that AARP have gotten a lot like the labor unions.  I have seen a great deal of evidence in my life that labor unions don’t really care about their members as they swear they do.  No, labor unions care about the labor unions.  Now the same thing can be said about AARP, they care about AARP, not the members.  Why would AARP abandon their membership to back this bill?  Again, it’s quite simple.

Since Medicare won’t pay as much of the healthcare bills as it did before, the seniors will end up owing more and more to the doctor or hospital.  There is, however a way around it if the senior citizen can afford it.  Seniors can buy a Medicare Supplement insurance policy.  Consider it gap insurance because it covers the gap between the doctor bills and what is covered by Medicare.  Getting a good gap insurance policy is not difficult, it is even fully endorsed by AARP……..hmmmm……..I’m sure that AARP’s endorsement does not come free.  And the more gap insurance that the elderly must buy, the more AARP gets.  So, AARP turns its back on its own members and endorses a bill that will severely affect senior citizens.  Well, not really turn their back, it’s more like they sold their members out.  It makes you wonder just how much the membership was worth?

A Distinct Lack of Respect.

Those who have never served in our Armed Forces may find what I have to say today rather trivial.  That’s because you have never laid down your life for your buddies and something bigger than all of you.  When a Soldier, Sailor, Marine, of Airman makes the ultimate sacrifice those who have served understand that a debt of honor is owed to that person that can never be repaid.  All we can do is render all of the respect and honor that we possibly can at every opportunity we can find.  There is a movie that I’d like to recommend to everyone.  The name of the flick is “Taking Chance.”  It is about a young Marine killed in Iraq and is being escorted home by a Marine officer.  The young Marine’s name is Chance and the screen play was taken directly from the diary of the Marine officer. If you watch the movie and have any questions about anything in it, feel free to ask me.  It would be an honor and pleasure to help you.

Having said all of that, I can now get to the point of today’s post.  I’m sure that no one is unaware of the fact that a short time ago 13 U.S. Army Soldiers were gunned down aboard their own base at a time when they had no means to defend themselves.  Forty two soldiers were also wounded in the attack.  Whether the shooter had any ties to any known terrorist group, it was an attack by a terrorist in our ongoing war against terror. A few days after the attack there was a memorial service for those killed.  The president attended the memorial service.  I know that this president knows how to render a hand salute, I’ve seen him return the salute of his Marine honor guards.  When The National Anthem was played to honor these brave soldiers full honors should have been shown.  It was by everyone on that podium except for the alleged Commander-in-chief.  He could have simply placed his hand over his heart or rendered a hand salute, but apparently this president does not have enough respect for our National Anthem or for fallen soldiers to render any kind of salute.  I am disgusted by this photo.  I think you will be too.  Remember, this picture was taken as the National Anthem was being played at the memorial service for the soldiers killed at Fort Hood.

The Protracted War

The great master, Sun Tzu, lived in the fifth century Before Christ.  (That’s right, I said Before Christ, not “before common era.”  If my use of the word Christ offends you, then go read someone else’s blog.)  He was, and still is, considered the greatest expert on warfare.  His book, The Art of War, was revered for many centuries.  It was then ignored for several centuries, it has now experienced a great resurgence of study and reverence.  I too have read his book.  As a combat veteran, I see the wisdom in Sun Tzu’s work.  What Master Sun knew 7000 years ago is still true today.  I have seen several documentary films that show where twentieth century generals have followed Sun Tzu’s teaching and succeeded and others that went against Sun Tzu’s writing and lost.  Even though the tools and methods of war have changed a great deal since Master Sun’s time, the philosophy and psychology of war has not.

In one of the many scrolls that make up the chapters of his book, Sun Tzu says, “There is no instance where a country benefits from a protracted war.”  We can look back on wars fought in the twentieth century and see where this one statement is true. World War I became a war of stalemate.  Trench warfare was stalled for a long time and over one million troops were killed.  Both the French and German governments were almost bankrupted when the American Army entered the fray and, by changing the tactics, brought the war to a fairly quick end.

The most successful type of warfare of the twentieth century was the German “Blitzkrieg,” or “Lightening War.”  The German shock troops moved it quickly, struck brutally and won quickly.  Even against the huge French Army caved in very quickly to Hitler’s troops.  Then when General Patton arrived on the scene, he moved just as quickly to put an end to Hitler and his madness.

Then came the longest and most costly war this nation has ever endured, The Cold War.  Yes, the Cold War never became a shooting war, but the United States government and Soviet Russia spend untold billions of dollars in the arms race.  The Cold War’s arms race kept both countries at bay because we knew that winning a shooting war would be almost impossible for either side.  Without a shot being fired, this Cold War almost bankrupted the Soviet Union.  Almost, but not quite.  The fall of the Soviet Union was caused mainly by Soviet aggression in Afghanistan. There, they fought a long, drawn-out fight that gained nothing for Russia except a debt that it could not sustain and finally, the Communist government collapsed.

A few years earlier the United States was in a very similar quandary.  A protracted struggle in Southeast Asia  gained nothing for America.  Luckily we got out of there before the war broke us completely.  Unfortunately we learned nothing either.  The war on terror has caused us to have troops in harms way for over eight years now.  Again, we have gained nothing for the high price we have paid and continue to pay, both in precious American lives and the financial crisis that it has caused.

So, once again, I call for the president to either step up, take the advice of his generals and win this thing once and for all or pull out now.  Yes, I know what will happen if we abandon the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, there will be a bloodbath.  Millions of innocent people, including children, will suffer and die.  That is why I would prefer for the president to choose a swift victory.  There will be a great loss of life, but it will be over soon and we can all settle down to a peaceful life.

Our economy is in great peril, we don’t need the expense of a long war adding to it.  God bless our troops and let us all be thankful to the enormous debt that we owe to them.  But, Mr. President, either let them fight to win, or bring them home.

John A. Wilson

President

Conservative Action Project.

Are We Stupid?

Just how stupid do politicians think the American People are?  Do you think that they honestly believe that they will get away with the political shenanigans that have been going on?  I think they are about to get a rude awakening.  There have been all kinds of shady deals made, lots of pressure applied and a few outright threats made.  Harry Reid needed all 60 Senate Democrats votes to move the Healthcare Bill to debate on the Senate floor.  The vote to move the bill forward is, in effect, a guarantee that the bill will pass the Senate.  Oh, I know, a couple of sellout Senators are claiming that their votes do not mean the bill will pass.  They say that they just want to bill to be debated.  But there is something else that they are not telling us.  While Prince Harry had to have all 60 Democrat votes to move the bill forward, he will not need all 60 of them to pass the bill.  That’s right, the 60-vote supermajority needed for cloture is not necessary for the bill to pass.  That takes only a simple majority, 51 votes.  So Harry Reid can give up to 9 Senators a free pass to vote against the bill and still get it passed.  Why, you may ask, is this important?

Elementary my dear reader, Blanche Lincoln can vote against the bill on the Senate floor and it will still pass.  You can bet that Senator Lincoln will be trumpeting the fact that she voted against this bill next year in her bid for re-election.  She can make all sorts of claims about how she listened to her constituents and did what she did for the people of Arkansas.  And like Democrats all over the country, she’ll be lying through her teeth.  Senator Lincoln is Chairman of U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.  There were rumors that her chairmanship of that committee was in danger if she didn’t vote for cloture.  Some more liberal Democrats here in Arkansas have also threatened to run a well-financed campaign to elect a liberal Democrat in the May primary election.  Senator Lincoln describes herself as a centrist Democrat.

Recent polls indicate that over 60% of Arkansans are against this health care bill.  Senator Lincoln has said that she is against some of the provisions in the bill.  One would think that those two facts would be enough to dissuade the Senator from voting for this bill to go forward.  Senator Lincoln had in her hand the power to stop this awful bill once and for all.  But Senator Lincoln chose her political career over the people of Arkansas.  Even if she does vote against the healthcare bill, it will now pass by a narrow margin.  She can shout from the rooftops that she was opposed to this bill and voted against it all she wants to, we are going to remember what she did to us the voters of Arkansas and the whole country.  Count on it, I’m not going to forget and I’ll keep reminding all of you.  The campaign starts now.  Do not re-elect Lincoln.

The Constitution vs The Healthcare Bill

The Constitution of the United States of America was hand-written on four pages.  The document that has endured a Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression and the Carter administration can be printed out in Word on six pages.  A six-page document has been sufficient to run this country for over two hundred years.  The document that is supposed to “fix” health care in America is over two thousand pages.  What is wrong with this picture?  The Senate Bill still has yet to be released, but it is even longer than the House Bill so I can only assume that it will be even more complicated, confusing and ambiguous than H.R. 3200.  I’ve gone over the U.S. Constitution again and again, and I simply cannot find anything in it that says the Federal Government has the authority to take control over our health care.  Bear in mind, anything that is not specifically given to the government by the constitution is prohibited to it by the Tenth Amendment.  I am not an expert on the U.S. Constitution, but it is not a very difficult document to understand.  The Constitution is not written in convoluted lawyerese that not even the lawyers that wrote it know all that is covered by it.  The case can be made that the length and complicated wording are designed to make it impossible for the lay people to understand.  Prince Harry and Princess Pelosi think that we, the people, are too stupid to figure that out.  Some folks are in for a rude awakening a year of so from now.

First in a Series

I am going to write a series of blogs about the Constitution as I understand it.  I have a couple of copies in booklet form and have read the entire Constitution several times.  I do not claim to be some kind of expert on the Constitution.  I’m not even sure if the way I understand the document is the way the founding fathers meant it to mean.  This series of articles is merely my take on what the Constitution says and what it means to this country that I love.

On May 25, 1787, 39 delegates from 12 states signed the document that created the government that led to this land becoming the greatest nation in the world.  I did not say that the United States is perfect, but if you really compare this country to any other place in the world, this country is clearly the best.  The foundation of this great country is the Constitution.  It is the rock upon which this country was built.  The Constitution is the guardian of our freedom.  This wonderful document not only described what the government of this country is expected to do, but also states in no uncertain terms the things that the government is not allowed to do.   The Constitution has been under attack for several years now.  I think we have gotten to the point where most Americans are beginning to think that it is time we moved back to what the Constitution says, not what power-hungry politicians claim it says.

I have heard The Anointed One, Our Beloved Leader, Barrak Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) say that The Bill of Rights is a list of “negative rights.”  The Bill of Rights lays out what the government can not do to us.  A lot of those on the left find this unacceptable.   The Anointed One, Our Beloved Leader, Barrak Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) has said that the Bill of Rights should also include the things that the government is required to do for each of the citizens in this great country.  There are two things wrong with that attitude.  One of them I will address right now, the other I will do my best to cover over the next week.

The very concept of The Constitution of the United States of America listing what the government must do flies in the face of what the Founding Fathers intended to do.  This country was founded on the principle that “the government that governs least governs best.”  The purpose of The Bill of Rights is to limit the size and scope of government.  What the framers of our Constitution were working to achieve was an energetic, but limited government.  The colonists had seen what a big, all-powerful government can do.  They had suffered long enough under the tyranny of absolute government.  Think about it for a minute, how bad do things have to be before you make the decision to take up arms against your government.  Once that decision is made, it can not be taken back.  As the great Benjamin Franklin said after the Declaration of Independence was signed, “We must hang together or we shall all hang separately.”  Those who took up arms and threw off the tyranny of the strongest monarch in the world at that time must have had a great many reasons to limit the size and power of the central government when it came time to set down on paper the type of government that we will be happiest under.

So yes, the Bill of Rights does not include the things that the government is responsible for in our everyday lives, because that is exactly what our Founding Fathers intended.  The government has no responsibility to take care of the citizens in a Republican form of government.  And I don’t care what the lefty loons say our country was founded as a Republic, not a “representative democracy.”  That term did not exist back then and was coined by the Democrat Party because they hate anything that has that word in it.  The definition of several types of governance will be covered in later blogs.

I hope that explains one of the reasons that The Anointed One, Our Beloved Leader, Barrak Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) was wrong about the responsibilities of government.  My next blog will attempt to prove that He is wrong about the Constitution not laying out what the government must do.  There is a section of the Constitution called the Enumerated Powers.  More on them soon.