SPEECHES, SMEECHES

Much of what I mention here will be familiar to my regular readers. It is prompted by an ongoing comment discussion on a Facebook post by one of my younger friends. Speaking of which, makes me realize that almost all of my friends are younger than I am. Not to mention how grey that hair the barber cut off this morning looked. Ah well, hopefully I've learned a few things along the way.

This post may seem a bit scattered because I'm going to address issues brought up in the discussion.
So, I'll talk about the role of labor unions in our history first. Unions were first formed back in the days of the "Robber Barons". The late 1800's and early 1900's, when a few super rich families controlled the majority of manufacturing and banking. These families had incredible wealth, while the people working in their factories couldn't even put shoes on their kids feet working 12 hours a day. Unions were the best thing that had ever happened for the working man, being a large part of what created our comfortable "middle class". HOWEVER, by the 90's, unions had succumbed to greed to the extent that they were putting the companies they worked for out of business. One by one, plants closed because they could not afford the cost of labor. As plants closed, unions collapsed. Now, basically, we are back to the days of the Robber Barons again. The middle class working family has seen it's true wealth decline steadily for the last 25 years or so, particularly the last 5 to 10. The angst against unions today is mostly about the public sector (that's government employee's) unions, who, through their continuing support of Democratic candidates with huge campaign contributions, have managed to put the average taxpayer on the verge of bankruptcy. As usually is the case, the true solution lies in the middle. The unions need to understand that if the company doesn't make a profit, they don't have a job for very long, and if the teachers, department of transportation, etc. public sector unions bankrupt cities and states, they don't have a job either.

And on to the convention speeches. My advice is don't pay much attention to what politicians of either party say, look at their voting records and the results of their programs. They all say what they think people want to hear in order to get elected, then do whatever they want (usually greasing the palms of their donors) once they're in office. That said, let's look at the most basic difference between todays Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic Party believes the more  control government has over society, the better off the people will be.  The Republicans believe just the opposite, that the less government intrudes on the everyday life of citizens and businesses the better off people are. Forget the gay marriage flap, the abortion issue, the global warming debate. Why? Because if the country goes bankrupt, none of that stuff is going to matter. And please understand, who is in Congress is every bit as important as who is in the White House. There is only so much a president can do.

The fault for our current financial predicament (16 TRILLION dollars in debt) is shared by both parties. HOWEVER, our current president has increased the debt at 3 times the rate of any previous president in our history. Why? To continue to buy votes from those benefiting from receiving government checks in the mail. The Democrats have said for years that we need to be more like Europe. Well, look at Europe today. Hello kids, socialism DOES NOT WORK LONGTERM. Almost every European country has followed the path the we have been on for the last 25 years, and look where it has gotten them. ALL on the verge of bankruptcy. Sure, a lot of you have probably heard about Greece and the international bailouts to keep them from collapsing, but did you also know Spain, Italy, Ireland, and now even Germany, are also on the brink of collapse? Why? Because they have all created two generations of people who think it is the government's job to feed, clothe, house, educate, and provide free medical care for everyone. Folks, IT DOESN'T WORK FOR VERY LONG. The greater the percentage of population taking government handouts instead of working, the fewer workers there are to create the wealth to provide those services. As taxes rise, and inflation rises because the government keeps printing more dollars (with nothing backing them) to pay that debt, the true income of the working family shrinks. When the government keeps borrowing to keep providing those services, eventually no banks or countries will lend them more when it becomes evident they no longer have the means to repay that debt.

Yes, Romney and the rest of the old school Republican bigwigs have their faults, but at least they are (or SAY they are) willing to do what it is going to take to keep our country from going bankrupt.

Oh, and since most of you in the discussion are involved in racing one way or another, think about this : Remember the CPSC ban on sales of bikes and atv's 90cc and under? Keep voting Democrat's in and we'll all be riding electric bikes.

God bless you all,
Dumb Farmer