Drain California's toxic liberal swamp, and Washington's too
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
April 26, 2009

Letter to Daily Press editorial page editor, Steve Williams.

I appreciate Steve Williams' latest touch of watchdog editorial wisdom regarding the "Arrogant and out of touch" California Legislature and Democratic Assembly Speaker's attempt to raise their staffers' pay in these dire economic times, while trying to add $16 billion to the $12.9 billion in taxes already levied against beleaguered taxpayers, by means of forthcoming ballot measures on May 19, 2009. Indeed, it will be a sad day if and when we lose the support of newspaper editorial pages. All the more reason to support print media looking out for our interests.

Re: The Los Angeles Times investigation
Homes for the needy profit others
Front page - April 12, 2009

President Obama's "Perfect Storm"
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC

The Times investigation into the costly lack of accountability with the HUD $1 housing plan to help the poor in San Bernardino is indeed a cautionary tale, which is deeply rooted in government's repeated failures of good intentions and the unintended consequences thereof.

President Obama's days of reckoning

President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel talked about the reckoning on CBS'S Face the Nation, Sunday, March 1, 2009, which means a settlement of accounts, a day of reckoning to establish the president's vision for America. Thus far, the reckoning appears to be a national train wreck in slow motion.

In recent months there was a $700 billion bank bailout, a $787 billion recovery and reinvestment bill, a $410 billion pork-filled appropriations bill, and now the president's $3.6 trillion budget proposal laden with social, healthcare, education and alternative energy spending, plus business tax increases and a $1.75 trillion deficit. Then there is Congress, bursting at the seams with more social engineering programs and buckets of earmarks to add.

And then there's the looming energy crisis. If government places all its cards on the expensive alternative energy table, with Cap and Trade carbon taxes on utilities and industry, eliminating $32 billion in oil industry tax breaks, cancelling oil shale development, puts the ban back on offshore drilling, continues to reject ANWR oil resources, stalls refineries and nuclear energy, and inhibits more coal energy, our gas and electric rates will escalate and deeper economic and energy disasters will surely follow.

It's all coming too big and too fast, The enormous spending bills are mindboggling with unintelligible legal language, seldom read or understood by our elected representatives. When President Obama's reckoning turns $billions to $trillions in deficit spending to support his socialist-utopian vision, it will certainly be governing by crisis, at the expense of job creators and the middle class, which will likely cause a swelling underclass and a social/economic catastrophe, not a recovery.

America the disenfranchised
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
February 21, 2009

Now that we have a young monarchial president who just signed a $trillion government growth bill -- loosely disguised as an economic recovery measure -- and an ideologically-driven Congress with a backlog of even larger dependent spending programs, it is almost certain that honest, self-reliant people will be disenfranchised and our constitutional democratic republic will become disabled and irrelevant.

How much longer are traditional conservatives going to take being socially, politically and economically intimidated and marginalized by liberal socialists, the thuggery of big government, the fraud and indoctrination of public education and media, the fear mongering of environmentalists, the loss of freedom by the litigious culture, the loss of free speech to the force and limitations of the politically correct, the bulling of radical zealots, the injustice of the civil justice system, the creeping nationalization of the banking system, and the demise of the free market?

If the people wait until the incarnations of all of the above play themselves out through the aggressive ideology of those in power, it will surely be too late. Lest we forget, the only thing necessary for evil to exist and persist, is for good people to do nothing and remain silent.

$410 billion Omnibus Bill
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
February 25, 2009

President Obama gave an inspiring speech to a joint session of Congress and the American people about the economic crisis, in which he said that we would all have to make sacrifices. Apparently, that does not include congressional earmarked pork spending.

While debating the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Senator Chuck Schumer said, "And let me say this to all the chattering classes that so much focus on those little, tiny, yes porky amendments. The American people really don't care." Senator Schumer must be correct, because the House just passed the $410 billion Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which contains 8750 "disclosed earmarks" costing $7.7 billion.

Of course we, the American people, know that congressional pork spending is political business as usual in Washington, and that senators and representatives make deals to get money earmarked for their states and districts. But, to say that we, the American people, or at least most of us don't care, particularly under these extraordinary economic circumstances, is unconscionable. Most of us care deeply about the federal piggy bank. It contains our money and our debt, and we don't want it busted.

Contrary to popular belief, President Obama is not omniscient. His big government could cause irreversible damage to the economy and our lives.

Letter to USA TODAY
Re: $75B 'chance to rebuild'
Thursday - Feb 19.

Building another housing crisis - a cover-up
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
February 19, 2009

Rescuing millions of homeowners from questionable or no fault mortgage pits and sink holes is one thing. But when foreclosures grow from 3 million over the past three years, to 5 million more through 2011, the crisis and the recession will certainly deepen. Indeed, throwing $75 billion on the mortgage table, and pumping $200 billion more into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to back financing and re-financing mortgages is risky business at best.

President Obama's magnanimous mortgage rescue amounts to little more than playing shell games with taxpayer debt, and exacerbating the crisis, while covering the dirty tracks of Carter, Clinton, Frank, Dodd, Raines and their cohorts who are responsible for the housing debacle that undermined the economy. He's rescuing the culprits at our expense, exonerating them, and none will be held to answer as long as Democrats control government.

American coronation
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 20, 2009

Now that the historic inauguration of the 44th president, Barack Obama is over, some would say that his political organization, his most fervent supporters and the obsessed media turned the election transition into a new level of power in the presidency tantamount to the coronation of a king of America.

History tells us that such a kingdom was offered to George Washington when he, our founding fathers and the first Americans defeated King George and England in the Revolutionary War. Of course, Washington wisely turned it down in favor of the first of its kind constitutional republic. A representative democracy with all political power inherent in the people.

Contagious excitement and great expectations aside, this historical turning point places even more responsibility upon President Obama, simply because no matter how much faith people have in him, he must either perform as expected in these perilous times compounded by turbulent economics, or endure great disappointments. Hopefully, for all our sake, he will succeed.

Farewell to the Chief
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 20, 2009

For eight long years, President Bush was subjected to disparaging hate from the far Left, partisan attacks, and unrelenting criticism from the biased news media. Yet, in the face of daily adversity, he endured it all without blame or complaint, and performed his duties and responsibilities with faith and determination.

During the time leading up to and including the historical presidential transfer of power to our 44th president, Barack Obama, President Bush was unwavering in his simple dignity, consideration, compassion, honor and integrity.

Indeed, the two-term 43rd president of the United States proved that the content of his character was truly dedicated to serving his country and the American people. He protected us and he has surely earned the appreciation of a grateful nation.

Wall Street and Congress are irresponsible
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 31, 2009

Media critics bashing Wall Street for handing out $18.4 billion in employee bonuses fail to make sense, other than supporting President Obama's call for restraint, discipline and responsibility. Top executives' bonuses and expenditures were clearly excessive, however, most of Wall Street's rank and file depend on bonuses for most of their income.

The irony is not lost when the President calls the bonuses shameful and the height of irresponsibility, while Congress does the same by adding $billions in unrelated pork to questionable trillion dollar taxpayer-funded bailouts and stimulus packages. Both shameful and irresponsible excesses come from the same beleaguered pockets. Ours.

Lest we forget, the Barney Franks, Christopher Dodds and Franklin Raines bred and grew the shameful and irresponsible housing mess and economic meltdown. Wall Street exacerbated it, and Washington's blind leading the blind are making it worse.

Punishing tax discrimination against smokers
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
February 5, 2009

President Obama signed the SCHIP bill, which is supposed to insure 4.1 million children at a cost of $32.8 billion, paid for by a large increase in cigarette taxes. The problem is, it is a punishing tax on 50 million beleaguered smokers, most of whom are low income people, who will be paying for the health insurance of children of middle income families, immigrant children and pregnant mothers.

It's blatant discrimination against a class of people, and it will take a 50 percent increase, or about 25 million new smokers to pay for it. That, of course, will take another increase in the tax. Certainly, this legislation could have been diverted to replace pork in the $900 billion stimulus bill rather than targeting only smokers to pay for it. Obviously, smokers' side of the issue is being ignored and simply doesn't matter.

A Slobbering Love Affair:
The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media
Author: Bernard Goldberg
Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc., An Eagle Publishing Company
January 2009

Saving America - Symbolism or substance?
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 19, 2009

The saving America symbolism of Barack Obama's campaign, election and inauguration have been hyped by the president-elect and his supporters -- including the unflinching support of the media -- to such an extent that it leaves serious questions as to how much substance will follow.

Stimulated by outgoing President Bush's $700 billion bailout package, Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress are itching outspend themselves with at least another $825 billion to stimulate the ailing economy by creating millions of jobs, boosting costly green power, increasing healthcare and education costs, and improving various infrastructures.

The problem is, $trillions in symbolic government spending does little more than make millions more people dependent on government. Considering the usual waste in government largess and raising the cost of living, where is the substance in that? President Obama's problem will be how to bridge the gap between symbolism and substance. Hopefully, he will figure that out before it's too late.

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY: HERE COMES SOCIALISM
By DICK MORRIS
Published on TheHill.com on January 20, 2009

2009-2010 will rank with 1913-14, 1933-36, 1964-65 and 1981-82 as years that will permanently change our government, politics and lives. Just as the stars were aligned for Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan, they are aligned for Obama. Simply put, we enter his administration as free-enterprise, market-dominated, laissez-faire America. We will shortly become like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or Sweden - a socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy, determines private-sector priorities and offers a vastly expanded range of services to many more people at much higher taxes.

For the remainder of the text go to: http://thehill.com/dick-morris/

USA TODAY
January 9, 2009

American Coronation - Farewell to the chief
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 21, 2009

American coronation

Now that the historic inauguration of the 44th president, Barack Obama is over, some would say that his political organization, his most fervent supporters and the obsessed media turned the election transition into a new level of power in the presidency tantamount to the coronation of a king of America.

Obama jobs plan and the energy crisis
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
January 11, 2009

Most of the millions of jobs president-elect Obama is promising are green jobs to promote costly green energy and vehicles. There is a major problem with that. The need for alternative and renewable energy notwithstanding, we still have an immediate fuel and energy crisis that has been ignored by Congress. Have we learned nothing from dependence on foreign oil and high gas prices?

CIA Director's importance

A breakdown of intelligence was said to be at fault in the failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and in the misguided invasion of Iraq.

So the thought of Leon Panetta as a CIA director doing on the job training is a scary one.

Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.

Obama's green energy and environmental inflation
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
December 17, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama's choices for energy and environmental affairs, coupled with his known stance against coal energy (which produces more than half of our electricity), is making it painfully clear that he intends to blindly push for green energy and more environmental regulations, regardless of the busted economy or how much it will cost business and consumers.

If environmental indoctrination and global warming insanity continues unabated, the inflated cost of living and electricity will certainly grind the economy and the security of the population into the ground -- not to mention an increased threat of terrorist attacks.

Jerking around the majority

How much longer will the majority of people endure the tyrannies of minority activist groups? From tyrannies of environmental extremists who mislead the public with incredible fear and indoctrinate the education system, use obstructionist litigation and activist judges to get what they want, and raise the cost of living with unreasonable laws and regulations.

To the tyrannies of anti-religion activists, animal rights activists, racial activists, and gay/lesbian activists who use mob violence, intimidation, intolerance and the courts to force tolerance and submission to their unreasonable demands.

Indeed, how much longer will the voting public tolerate being jerked around by the tyrannies of government, the failed education establishment, teacher unions, the ACLU and all the selfish interest tyrannies of the few at the expense of the many -- including the social, political, moral and economic fabric of our society?

Lest we forget, the results of the 2008 elections may very well be the final test....

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008
Obama and Education
By Amanda Ripley / Washington

Michelle Rhee is a Democrat, but she came very close to voting for John McCain in November. She chose Barack Obama because one of her closest friends had begged her to give him a chance. "It was a very hard decision," she says. "I'm somewhat terrified of what the Democrats are going to do on education."

Don't forget the public education bailout
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
November 26, 2008

Trillions of taxpayer dollars are being spent and scheduled to bailout mismanaged financial institutions and the auto industry, but the greatest drain on our economy is being overlooked. The poor producing, grossly mismanaged, budget-busting public education systems throughout the country. President-elect Barack Obama ought to make education a top priority.

However, instead of throwing more money into a bad deal, now is the time to break up the government monopoly on failed education and privatize it. Excellence in education through competition would be the result, and at half the cost. Indeed, the bonus would a steady economic stimulus of jobs for skilled and qualified workers and a boon to business, rather than exporting jobs and importing qualified workers.

Public education is a national disgrace
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
November 26, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle chose to place their children in a private Washington D.C. school, which is understandable considering security issues and the failed D.C. public schools. The important question is, what will the new president do to reform the public education system, which has been a national disgrace for a very long time?

Mandatory, public-funded education of our children became a gross failure of good intentions. Particularly, when the academic social and political Left (progressives, reformers, socialists, or whatever you want to call them) infected the education establishment and unionized, with tenure.

What was once a well-educated society in America, has been dumbed-down by public education factories of ignorance, many of which have become warehouses of violence. Emphasis on core academics, such as math, reading and science, were replaced by irresponsible experimentation, outcome-based education, social promotion and grade inflation. Educators simply robbed students of their education, replaced essential education with social and political indoctrination, and graduated high school students who were functionally illiterate.

Though President Bush made an attempt at education reform with the "No child left behind" program," there is no indication that it has made a significant difference. Certainly not in California, the nation's money pit of miseduction. Sadly, even if he wanted to, the new president will find it difficult, if not impossible, to reform education because the failure is deeply-rooted by generations of poorly educated students, many of whom became poorly educated or unqualified teachers, and some of whom became unqualified college instructors, university professors, education administrators and school board members. It's simply a matter of the poorly educated attempting to teach the uneducated. That's why we are having such difficulty in the job market and competing in the marketplace, and that's why we are either exporting jobs or importing qualified workers.

Real education should not be limited to the intellectual, privileged few. And it will not be restored to America until the government monopoly on education is broken, along with the selfish interests of powerful teacher unions, who have thrown up the barriers to vouchers and choice. Education must be privatized to gain excellence in education by competition, at half the price. Maybe this could become the upside of a down economy and budget deficits.

The voters have decided the Presidential election in what appears to be no uncertain terms. Democrat Barack Obama has been elected President, and the Congress is controlled by more Democrats. The next two and four years will tell us if the choices were correct, particularly under the stress and uncertainty of a rapidly failing economy and deep national security concerns. Meanwhile, we should expand our democracy over the Internet with increased voter information, communication and networks. We must rely on ourselves for decisions that effect our future. The inept bureaucracy of the United States Government, will not.

McClintock, Yes - Franken, No
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
November 16, 2008

Barack Obama's moment is certainly an historic one, however, if we could stray from that obsession for a moment, there are two important elections still undecided. They represent the best and worst in politics.

Republican State Senator Tom McClintock holds a narrow lead in the vote count for California's 4th Congressional District. Democrat Al Franken is closing in on questionable tight vote count against the Republican incumbent for the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat. The differences between McClintock and Franken are politically stark and revealing.

Senator McClintock has proven record of being a purveyor of common sense, who should have been governor instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has tenaciously represented the best interests of Californians against overwhelming political odds, and who would be a highly qualified Republican leader in the House of Representatives.

Al Franken, on the other hand, is a former comedian and rancorous left-wing extremist, who has been in a perpetual audition to play the part of a ruthless politician seeking personal power, and who, if elected, could tip absolute control of the Senate to the Democrats.

If voters are ever able to sort out the worst politically-motivated social and economic tragedy of our times, and do something about it, we might avoid the collapse of our nation. Hopefully, a McClintock, Yes, and a Franken, No, will give us a start.

A New Political Party Is Needed
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
November 18, 2008
Author: Delusional Democracy

Set aside any Obama euphoria you feel. The other important news is that third-party presidential candidates had a miserable showing this year, totaling just over one percent of the grand total with 1.5 million votes nationwide, compared to some 123 million votes for Barack Obama and John McCain.

It couldn't be clearer that Americans are not willing to voice their political discontent by voting for third-party presidential candidates. The two-party duopoly and plutocracy is completely dominant. The US lacks the political competition that exists in other western democracies. Without real political competition there is insufficient political choice.

Obama's appointments with our times
By Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC
November 9, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff, and David Axelrod as his chief advisor sends the wrong signal in turning the page to positive change in politics as usual in Washington. The Chicago hardball style of Axelrod's deceptive campaigning, coupled with Emanuel's strong-arm reputation simply doesn't bode well when the perception will likely be that of a godfather underboss and a presidential enforcer.

Charles Krauthammer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401690.html
Dick Morris
http://www.dickmorris.com

November 07, 2008

A Political Postmortem
John McCain was a victim of financial panic.

By Charles Krauthammer

In my previous life, I witnessed far more difficult postmortems. This one is easy. The patient was fatally stricken on September 15 - caught in the rubble when the roof fell in (at Lehman Brothers, according to the police report) - although he did linger until his final, rather quiet demise on November 4.

OBAMA: CONSERVATOR IN CHIEF

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published in the New York Post on November 5, 2008

While the Democrats and Barack Obama won big yesterday, even coming close to a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Obama will find their options substantially constrained by reality.

Their handicap is the financial condition of the nation they'll inherit. Think of a trustee or conservator of a bankrupt company.

Those who fear a radical Obama miss the point of the lack of maneuverability of the next president. Behind the mortgage crisis looms the credit-card crisis, the student-loan crisis and the car-loan crisis. Sweating this mess out of the system will take two years of zero growth or contraction.

We won't have a Great Depression, for the government will irrigate our economy with money. But we'll have stagnation, followed by inflation.

So Obama will take office with unlimited political power but highly circumscribed practical power. He can pass whatever legislation he wants, but will be unable to indulge his ideology.

The irony will be bitter for the Democrats. Finally able to rise above the political limits they've faced, they'll encounter new limitations in the fundamental problems of the economy.

The Republican Party's role is to rebuild in the shadow of the frustrations of the Obama presidency. Just as MoveOn.org built the massive grass-roots base that yesterday impelled the Democrats to victory, so Republicans must go down to their grass roots, get in touch with their base and rebuild an opportunity to win national elections.

Power has been bad for the GOP, sapping the party's soul and eroding its purity. But opposition, especially when a socialist like Obama wrestles with the practical problems of capitalism, will be a heady experience for the Republicans. The conservative movement can be reborn in opposition in a way they never could have been as the governing party.

For political historians, it's worth noting that Obama hasn't scored the knockout that many predicted. As I write, it seems clear that John McCain will lose by a few points in the popular vote, not by the double digits so confidently predicted in the media polls. The fact is that most of the undecided voters went to the Republicans.

In the face of a mandate limited by reality and undermined by his inability to sweep the nation as had been predicted, Obama will face a difficult situation. As the economy falters, he'll find himself unable to raise taxes as he wants and stymied in his plans for government takeover.

A very tough future, for a man who won such a heady victory.