WHY DON’T WE REALLY TRY CAPITALISM?

At lunch today, Sharon and I were discussing our usual mixture of personal, business and political “stuff.” Ever since the disastrous 2008 Presidential Election, we’ve been talking politics more and more. This morning, when I fired up the computers, FOX News and AP were both proclaiming that the guy living in The White House and his minions were planning to levy some additional taxes on the institutions which received an infusion of bailout funds. It seems like the current administration and its Congressional cronies can’t do anything without including a new tax or tax hike. And, we were talking about a friend who’s not very well off and had just undergone major surgery, in its aftermath experiencing some startling revelations about the extent to which his caregivers would be compensated — not very well, considering the heroic measures undertaken to save our friend’s life. He and I got in to discussing – and not resolving, by any means – what moral obligation there might or might not be for a governmental entity to pay for someone’s health care – sort of a microcosm of the macrocosm, as it were, with the Leftists in Washington trying to kidnap the nation’s health care industry.

To help people who cannot afford health care and the extent to which this is done is a complex moral question, to be sure. But, neither Sharon nor I see any moral or philosophical questions relevant to the proposed health care bills in Congress. What is proposed is theft, pure and simple. Stealing businesses, money and choice from the American people is not one of the powers granted to Congress in The United States Constitution. A lot of folks in both Houses of Congress seem to have missed that concept.

But, yet, certain things have to be paid for by governments. Not all the silly crap and pork barrel spending, but worthwhile expenditures such as national defense, the interstate highway system, the space program, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Weather Service and its related organizations, etc.

How do you do this without stealing greater and greater sums of money from businesses and individuals? Margaret Thatcher once said, “The trouble with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.” What if you took other peoples’ money out of the equation? Gradually, of course. The United States Government tossed fortunes into a number of companies lately, most notably, perhaps, General Motors and Chrysler Corporation. Why not use this as the basis for a new start?

The problem in The United States as relates to government spending is we – individuals, small businesses, large corporations, banks, etc. – all function as Capitalists and that’s the way it should be, because Capitalism is the finest economic system ever created. The “rub,” however, is that the government runs not like anything having to do with Capitalism, but Socialism, instead.

During the American Civil War, an income tax was imposed in the North for a brief period. This was in 1862 and ended in 1872. In the 1890s, there was another experiment in income tax. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was passed, saying, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” By fiscal year 1918, the government had scored its first cool billion in income tax revenues. Who’d give up on swag like that? Withholding taxes were first begun in 1943, thus cutting out the middle man — you.

Why not gradually use the government’s investments of our money in private businesses as the start of various government owned – meaning, citizen owned – businesses. Let’s say the government has a mighty share in GM and Chrysler. As those companies hopefully become profitable again, just like any shareholders, the American citizenry gets dividends and those dividends get put into the Federal Budget. We get our people in Congress – and, if they won’t co-operate, we use recalls and regular elections to dump them and get trustworthy replacements – to mandate through legislation that citizen oversight boards make certain that partially government owned GM and Chrysler aren’t competing unfairly with non-government owned Ford and the import based brands. Free market economy!

Take this idea many steps further. You can choose to shop at Kroger or Jewel Tea or wherever else or at “U.S. Government Grocers,” and the government has to actually compete for your business and pay profits into the general revenue fund. Want to buy a new handgun? Maybe you’d pick up on a Glock or SIG or Smith & Wesson. Or, maybe, you check out the models available from “U.S. Government Firearms Manufacturing.” All the profits made, after expenses, go toward meeting the nation’s expenses, then eradicating the huge debt we owe to China and others, while parts of the profits from “U.S. Government Dairies” and “U.S. Government Airways” and “Uncle Sam’s U.S. Government Hamburgers, Under The Golden Sign Of The Dollar,” go into replacing the almost countless self-destructing bridges and roads that are part of our nation’s gradually crumbling infrastructure.

In the far distant future, when all government debt is paid and more money is coming in through these investments made on behalf of American citizens, the government can do like the state government of Alaska has done with oil revenue profits – send every citizen a check each year.

Let’s try Capitalism, because it’s a cinch that what the government is doing now certainly isn’t working! Let me know what you think, if you care to.

I SPILLED CATSUP ON MY HOMEWORK!

I SPILLED CATSUP ON MY HOMEWORK – HONEST!!!

Well, that’s not really true.  I apologize for being away from the website for so long, but Sharon and I were up against the wall with two large projects that had serious deadlines and a number of installments of our monthly columns in DILLON BLUE PRESS and GUN WORLD, the column on swords in the bi-monthly KNIVES ILLUSTRATED and a new column which will appear once each month in GUN DIGEST THE MAGAZINE.  The January 4^th issue of GUN DIGEST THE MAGAZINE is just out, with that first installment, as this is written.

Also, by way of explaining my absence here, I must admit that I take a while to warm to technology – things like working within a website.  But, I’m trying!

One of the projects which we just completed is something fans of John Rourke, “THE SURVIVALIST,” should appreciate, a book liberals who believe the government can protect them from all harm will thoroughly dislike.  We wrote this for Krause/Gun Digest Books, but it’s not a gun book.    The title isSURVIVE! THE DISASTER, CRISIS AND EMERGENCY HANDBOOK and it will be in your bookstores and available in all the usual on-line places in March of 2010.  As the expression goes, the book is “profusely illustrated” with Sharon’s original photography and a goodly number of public domain photos, as well.  There is one segment on firearms, but even your non-gun-owning friends or readers where firearms ownership is essentially prohibited can still benefit from the rest of SURVIVE! since the book addresses preparing as best as possible for both natural and man-made disasters with some – we hope — good, common sense advice that will help to get you through to the other side of whatever disaster may befall.  Spencer likes it that I call myself “professionally paranoid.”  Well, read this book!       

I’m going to try to gang together some responses to e-mails we’ve gotten and will endeavor to do more personalized responses with things a little less backed-up.  We’ve had a question from Sean about THE TAKERSnovels and several other people have asked about books in “THE SURVIVALIST” series.  The questions have related to availability.  We have been absent from the E-Books market for a time since the firm handling our novels as E-Books sold and we will be selling the books through one new master source which supplies various other sources.  It’s not as confusing as it sounds.  Simply put, in another few months – once we thrash out some confusion with ISBN Numbers (the bar codes) – sixty some of our books will be available as down-loadables once again.  That said, I don’t know if we’ll get into Kindle or not.  Time will tell on that.  Someone write that last sentence down; it sounds very quotable!

The nice folks at Graphic Audio are still releasing more and more of their full-tilt audio dramatizations of “THE SURVIVALIST,” and these must be selling pretty well since they keep sending us checks!

As to actual book- books, Sharon and I are well aware of the fact that some books in “THE SURVIVALIST” series sell for extraordinarily high prices.  As mentioned, we’re going to have a “yard sale” on the internet to hopefully make some titles available.  Yard sales are best held in the Spring, so look for more information about this then.

Speaking of books, Sharon and I just completed our most recent novel, the current title WRITTEN IN TIME, a science fiction/time travel/semi-autobiographical/sort-of western/techno-thriller. We’re doing a final edit on it and the book should be out sometime in late 2010 or early 2011.  We’ll keep you posted.

A number of people have contacted us concerning holsters.  As many of you know, we had a holster business for several years and we have been away from that business for seven years or so.  There is a company which may be producing some of the designs, but is so swamped with its own designs that when I wanted a Pocket Natural for my Crimson Trace LaserGripped Guardian .380, it took about ninety days and I had to wet-mold the holster myself.  This firm might also produce the flap holster some of you have asked about.  At the moment, there’s not much more I can tell you.  If they get the production going, you’ll learn about it here.

Greg Neal, whose name you’ve seen here in our debate concerning “The Prisoner,” has asked me who I think of as a good spokesperson for Constitutional conservatism from among the Republicans.  That’s a loaded question.  The best answer I could think of right now would be Sarah Palin, whose conservatism seems to truly come from the heart and the head.  But, for my money, I’d be very happy seeing Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney or Newt Gingrich in the top spot on a ticket and Sarah as a V.P. candidate who would be allowed to speak her mind.  I really don’t care if telling the truth about the Democrats offends someone – so long as it’s the truth.  For what it’s worth, as soon as Sharon and I figure out who we think has the best chance to unseat the guy living in the White House and his buddy, trust me – we’ll be shouting that name to the housetops and from the housetops.  We have to remember that the reason #44 is who he is has a lot to do with how early on the Democrats started vulturing their way toward the 2008 election.  If we want to take America back from the leftists – and, by God, we need to, we have to – then we need to learn from what the Forces of Darkness did in terms of timing, and get ourselves a candidate we can all get behind and support as quickly as possible. 

Speaking of President #44, Sharon and I have had printed a bumper sticker and a business card explaining it.  The bumper sticker – available soon from us – reads “86-44-12.”  The back of the matching business card reads, “86 is a term dating back at least to the 1930s and means to discard or dump something… 44 refers to the current person serving as President of The United States… and ’12 is short for 2012, the year of the next Presidential Election, when we will have the opportunity to 86 Number 44.”   And, that’s what we’ve got to do at the ballot box, 86 that guy and, in 2010, 86 as many leftists in Congress as possible.  I’ve never met #44 and wouldn’t want to.  From all accounts, he seems to be a good husband and father.  He’s a terrible President because he wants to change America to conform to his Secular Progressive Leftist vision.   He and his pals may want that; the rest of us don’t.   I’ll be happy to see him enjoy a long and happy time on pension after being a one-termer in The White House.  Let’s get our brains and consciences in gear and help #44 to get going on that pension!

GOD BLESS AMERICA and MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HANUKKAH and there’s no such thing as a “holiday tree” or “winter vacation” or any of the rest of that leftist revisionist politically correct stupidity!  If you believe in the God of Jews and Christians, don’t be afraid to say it and say it loudly!  Respect other religious beliefs; but, respect your own, as well.

JERRY'S MUSINGS

THE LAST HAMMOND HAS ROLLED OFF THE LINE AND CLEAR THE TRACKS FOR TINKY’S GRAPEFRUIT!

The late Ayn Rand’s magnificent novel and philosophical treatise, Atlas Shrugged, is also turning out to be prophecy, rather than speculation.  Move over Nostradamus!  If you’ve not read Atlas, you can get the main ideas by watching, listening to and reading the news – if you watch FOX or take the time to find other unbiased sources.  In Atlas, groups of grasping, idiot bureaucrats control the governments of the world, including the United States, and they punish those who excel by taxing and regulating them in every way possible.  Sounding familiar?  Life imitates art – at least since the November 2008 election.

Take the health care bill being pushed by Democrats in Congress.  It has now been proposed to pay for universal healthcare with higher taxes on the rich.  I am not rich, have never been rich and likely never will be rich.  All that said, nothing gives me license to steal from the rich.  Ayn Rand never liked the story of Robin Hood.  I think this was because she bought into the clichéd idea that Robin and his Merry Men robbed from the rich to give to the poor.  It didn’t happen that way.  Robin and the guys in tights stole the unjust taxes back from the evil minions of a wannabe usurper.  Hey, now there’s a coincidence in the making, maybe.  Robin never ripped off the rich; he ripped off the thieves who made themselves rich by stealing from everyone they could and he gave the money back to those from whom it had been stolen. 

In Atlas Shrugged, productivity is punished by the government.  Making  wealthy Americans – and Democrats have a strange idea of what constitutes wealth – pay more because they happen to make more money is theft wrapped in Socialism.  A principle tenet of Communism/Socialism is the redistribution of wealth.  I guess the leftists in the Democratic party are showing their true colors – shades of pink and red. What gives these leftist Democrats the right to punish someone for being productive, for being successful?  Nothing.  In Ayn Rand’s novel , a man named “John Galt” starts a movement to “stop the motor of the world.”   Slowly, steadily, he gets the more productive people to stop being productive and just kick back, so everything will start to slip away.   And, it does.  Without the entrepreneurs, those who dare financially, those who risk all for an idea rather than just being comfortable, those who run small businesses about to be taxed out of existence, the motor of the world truly would stop.  Without Capitalism, as the Russians and the Chinese found out, society crumbles.  Even though China still calls itself Communist, financially, it’s one of the most capitalistic countries on the planet.  If you doubt that, check out where your clothing, your cookware, your pocket knife, your electronics and much of everything else you have comes from.

But, the leftist Democrats in Congress who want to tax the wealthier among us in order to have universal healthcare which will be inferior to the current system and plunge the nation into irredeemable levels of debt don’t understand Capitalism, or choose to ignore it in their relentless passion for power and control.

FDR had “The New Deal.”  LBJ had “The Great Society.”  Under America’s current leadership, we’ve got “The Bum Steer.”  Let’s just pray that a real “John  Galt” is working to make things right again.  The leftists will stop the motor of the world sooner than later, but not as an object lesson.  We’ll just all run out of everything we need to make that motor run. 

Now, albeit that it may already be too late -- but we must try -- let’s start working to elect Conservative Republicans and non-leftist, Conservative Democrats in 2010.  Let’s give the man who wants to change America, apologizes for what he labels our arrogance and wants to redistribute wealth a Congress that will tell him exactly what he can do with his radical leftist vision for our nation.  Then, let’s get behind a candidate who can take on the leftist Democratic candidate in 2012 and deny him re-election. 

The time is now to save America.  Let’s prove why a government predicated on the principles of Capitalism and Democracy, and not Socialism and Communism, is the best form of government on the planet.  In 2008, a portion of the American electorate made an error of epic scale.  Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work to save our country.   Let’s rectify this horrific mistake and pray to God that we can make things right again and undo the damage already done and the damage still to come.

JERRY'S MUSINGS

Jerry in one of his more mellow moods

After a long time, we've finally got the website up and running -- although there'll be a lot more "running" coming along in the next few weeks.  I'm going to use this space for a variety of things, among which will be grousing about the current state of affairs politically.  As many of you may have suspected, I did not vote for the guy hanging out in the Oval Office.  And, I'm not wildly crazy about things like the energy bill -- read energy tax-- and some other things that are moving along in Congress.  Actually, the whole idea of thousands and thousands of words in a Bill and rushing the Bill through Congress before almost anyone could read it makes you kind of wonder.  Either the administration and it's lefty allies in Congress are hiding things they don't want read, or they figure the American people will be so ticked off by the time the 2010 off-year elections come around, Obama will be looking at a Republican Congress that's going to stonewall his wierd vision for America.  God willing!  At any event, with any legislation, how can a member of Congress vote on a Bill -- good or bad -- without knowing what's in that Bill?  That's madness!  And, it's dereliction of duty.  Let's get going now to field and support people for the 2010 elections who will realize that change for the sake of change is stupidity.  America's the finest country on the face of the Earth.  We have nothing to apologize for to the rest of the world and our Constitution is the finest political document ever written.  When I was a kid, if you said someone was a "Leftist" that was another way of saying he was a "Communist."  Neither term is or ever has been or ever will be a compliment.