9.3%

That's our current unemployment rate in the state of Michigan.  Nationally, the rate stands steady at 6.5%.  But here in the great state of Michigan we've reached 9.3% of residents who are currently out of work.  And that figure does not include the thousands of ex-Michiganders who have long since fled our state for greener economic pastures.

Now, I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking that given this, Washington should cut GM, Ford, and Chrysler a big fat taxpayer-funded check so layoffs can be avoided at Michigan auto plants.

The auto industry is working overtime screaming that the sky is falling and predicting Armageddon if you don't bail them out right now. 

Sound at all familiar?  Americans do have short term memories but surely you recall witnessing the same hysterics only 6 weeks ago when the financial "crisis" hit.  If we didn't give totalitarian control of more than $700 Billion taxpayer dollars to the Treasury Secretary, we would all soon perish.

The politicians and news media have been tearing sackcloth and pouring ashes over their heads in utter hysteria for weeks.  We go from one artificially generated crisis to another.  If I didn't know better, I'd think there might be a conspiracy afoot to seriously harm our economy in an effort to bring sweeping new "socialist solutions" to our "free market failures."  Alas, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.  But all this out-of-proportion hysteria does seem very well orchestrated.

Throwing away billions of your hard-earned tax dollars on the Big 3 will only prolong the inevitable.  Some time in the near future, the Big 3 will likely need to shrink to become the Big 2.  They will have to restructure their entire organizations, cut loose their "legacy costs," force union workers to show up for jobs that pay less than $75 per hour, and start building affordable automobiles the marketplace actually wants to buy.  Either that or just close up shop all together.

Speaking of memories…does anyone recall Michigan's historic all-time low unemployment rate?  It was 3.2%?  When was that?  March 2000.

Care to guess who was governor of our once great Great Lakes state at the time?  Republican John Engler.

Any recollection who had been firmly ensconced running our state's legislature?  Republicans.

Such reminders might take one's breath away upon the realization that our state once had a robust, roaring economy.  I even recall news reports of employers on the west side of the state complaining how much more they had to pay just to hire adequate employees.  We were much closer to a 2.0% unemployment rate in West Michigan at the time.  Those were the days.

Amazing what Democrat glamor-puss Jenny Granholm and her Democrat thugs in the state legislature have managed to destroy in such a short period of time. 

Jenny's angling for a position in B.H. Obama's new administration.  On the one hand, it would be great to be rid of her.  On the other hand, allowing her anywhere near the controls of the national economy should keep us all up at night.

Jenny G promised we'd all be "blown away" by her next 4-year term if re-elected.  Well, 9.3% of us can attest to that campaign promise being fulfilled.

DCuz

        

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.




Think about it.

        

Perhaps you've noticed we've been rather quiet here at RightCuz since election day.  It's true.  KCuz and I have been privately chatting back and forth but haven't felt the need to spout off concerning the election results since last Tuesday's returns came in.

In fact, this approach might be the best one to take for the talking heads of the GOP for the time-being as well.  As some pundits have pointed out, it's ridiculous for the GOP to decide what we'll do to bring about a victorious come back in 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 years.  It is the actions the new Obama Administration and his Party in the House and Senate that will open the doors of opportunity for the Conservative movement in America.

However, there are some current issues on which we can bloviate.  Most notably, the economic tailspin.

After bailing out Wall Street, Washington opened the safe for billions (if not trillions) of American taxpayer dollars to be squandered on failing businesses.  The most recent news is that American Express is seeking some $3.5 Billion dollars from you and me to cover their losses.  Seems a lot of credit card users are defaulting on their debt payments.  So the company that recklessly handed out lines of personal credit to consumers who couldn't afford or control themselves is now expecting you and me to pick up the tab.  And why shouldn't they make this request?  George Bush and the Dems controlling Congress already threw nearly a trillion dollars at Wall Street.  AmEx's request seems almost reasonable given the current climate.  Now expect Discover Card, MasterCard, Visa, et al to come forward expecting you to bail them out too.

And then there's Detroit and the automotive industry.  GM, Ford, and Chrysler all made pacts with the unions they simply could not maintain over the long haul.  The "legacy costs" of gold-plated pension/healthcare retirement plans plus exceptionally generous pay and benefits packages for those working the assembly plants have left the Big 3 in dire financial trouble.  Add to this mess the fact that Detroit isn't producing the cars Americans want to buy plus an economic downturn and you have the domestic auto industry on life support.

So what does the Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime plan to do?  Throw more of your money away on Band-Aids that will do nothing but prolong the inevitable.

Enough is enough.  Do not bailout GM, Ford, and/or Chrysler.

In capitalism, we've grown accustomed to the "reward."  What we've forgotten is that there is also "risk."  Risk of loss.  Risk of failure.  Instead, our pampered society now seems to expect Big Government to save us from all our actions.  This flawed thinking must stop.

I live in Michigan.  I have my entire life.  I'm fully aware that allowing GM/Ford/Chrysler to go bankrupt will be exceptionally painful for our nation's economy.  It will be even worse for an already economically terminal state of Michigan.  But it's the medicine that will eventually allow us (and the auto industry) to recover and become healthy once again.

The unions will scream and the Dems will do everything in their power to postpone the inevitable.  But if we do not let the domestic automotive industry fail, restructure, and rebuild, there will be no union jobs left to fight for.  The Big 3 might consolidate to just the Big 1 - or worse, there may be no US manufacturer of autos at all after a while.  There will still be auto manufacturing in the US.  But it will only be by foreign-owned Toyota, Honda, BMW, et al non-union factories in the South.

The question is, just how mature, forward-thinking, and courageous is our President-Elect?  Does he have what it takes to truly do the right thing?  Or will he simply pander and throw billions more of your hard-earned money nationalizing a domestic auto industry too sick to exist on its own?

When it comes to real courage, Mr. Obama doesn't hold a candle to his predecessor.  I suspect we'll all find that to be true soon enough.  But I'd love to be proven wrong.

DCuz

        

Here's a great article by Cal Thomas.  This reinforces some of his points from his book "Blinded by Might".

I would argue that this not only applies to the "Religious Right" (of which I am a part of), but also the "Religious Left".

The essential argument is that those who put their faith or hope or trust in government are destined to be disappointed.

Religious Right, R.I.P.

By Cal Thomas

 

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements — from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) — had mixed results.

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren't anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts. The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early '70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

 

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results? Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans," not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating G-d's love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more "transformational" than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.

G-d teaches in His Word that His power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow's mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one's self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior "kingdom"?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow. By following His example, they will decrease, but He will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results. If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify G-d, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.

        

My brain is very tired right now.  Like many of you I was up late last night.  I wanted to put together some thoughts, so forgive me if they are not coherent or spelled right or odd.

• I've had several people ask "how are you feeling?".  My answer..... angry and inspired.  Angry that conservatives cannot find a candidate to articulate the message of conservatism and our party.  Inspired to help them change that fact.

 

• This just wasn't the Republicans year.  It really didn't matter who Republicans would've nominated.  I think it's the nature of national politics.  With the exception of Reagan/Bush we really haven't had a party in the White House for more than 8 years at a time since Roosevelt/Truman.  We just get tired of one party and move to another.  The best example is Gore in 2000.  He should've won in a landslide.  Economy was doing well, Clinton was still pretty popular, but he lost (albeit close).

 

• McCain didn't do anything to pick up voting blocks.  His base was iffy with him until he picked Palin, but even then there were times when the base didn't see him as "their pick".  We've said it here before, he essentially backed into the nomination with Romney and Huckabee fighting it out to be the "real conservative".  This isn't to trash McCain, he just never resonated with a group of voters.  When he tried for the maverick slant his base got upset and when he went conservative independents went to my first point above.

 

• This election is not a referendum on conservatism.  As I noted, John McCain is not a conservative.  GW Bush is not a conservative.  I would argue his numbers (GW's numbers) are low because he's abandoned conservatism and limited government.  Deficits, entitlement programs, expansion of government and government bailouts do not sit well with conservatives and are not tenets of conservatism in general.

That's it for now.  As my cousin stated last night, we will be rolling out "The conservative re-revolution" in the coming weeks and months.  Conservatives have done a lousy job of articulating their vision for America and the principles that define our movement.  That all ends today.

KCuz

I would agree with my Cuz on everything above and only add a couple gratuitous points. By now it's an over-used cliché to say the Republicans faced The Perfect Storm this election season. To reiterate KCuz's point, it's very doubtful any Republican candidate for president could've won this year. Considering the political environment we're in along with Obama spending three quarters of a billion dollars to win his race, I'm not sure Ronald Reagan could've won this year.

Looking ahead, there is no individual on the immediate horizon that looks capable of returning conservatism to the White House in 2012. If we're brutally honest about it, right now there is no inspiring figure who will electrify the Republican base. We have to hope that Obama and the Dems, who now thoroughly dominate Congress, will over-reach and pass legislation that will remind the country why liberalism is still a bad word.

The political pendulum has swung to the left in our country. The only question now is if this is a generational shift to the left or if we're still a center-right nation. My instincts tell me we're are by nature center-right. But every now and again, we need to be reminded in a very real way why that is. Obama and the Democratic Congress will remind us soon enough.

DCuz

        

At this writing, it's becoming increasingly clear that tonight will indeed be a very bad night for the Republicans.

With Ohio and Pennsylvania lost, it's over.

As my Cuz told me earlier tonight, the conservative revolution begins tomorrow.

DCuz

        

Exit polling data should start leaking mid to late afternoon tomorrow.  The early exit polling results should be released to the networks around 5 pm.  I fully expect the anchors and pundits to be gleefully hinting at an Obama landslide shortly thereafter. 

But they and especially you should beware the exit polling which has proven to be woefully incorrect in recent elections.

The exit polling told us 4 years ago that John Kerry would win handily suggesting he would get 5.5 net points more in total votes than he actually won.  A study conducted after the '04 election found that Dems are far more eager to share their thoughts with those conducting the exit polling whereas Republicans shy away from such disclosures or participation.  In addition, over half the volunteers used to approach voters as they left the polls were under age 35 and politically skewed left influencing their results.

There's no reason to think this year's round of exit polling will be any different.

Another factor to consider is that during the Dem primary season, pre-primary polling padded Obama's lead by 7 points on average when compared to what he got in actual votes cast.  In other words, Obama doesn't perform nearly as well with real voters as pre-election polling would suggest.

So does all this mean Obama will lose tomorrow night.  Yes.  Maybe.  I think so.  Quite possibly.

I've modified my best guess at what I believe the electoral map will look like once all the real votes are counted.  The upshot of this is that the surprise state that McCain will win tomorrow night may not be Pennsylvania.  Instead, it might just be Minnesota.  I think McCain will win most of the states Bush won in 2004 with the exception of New Mexico and Nevada.  But he'll still win with a total of 279 electoral votes to Obama's 259.

It's also likely, however, that Obama may win the popular vote by 2 or 3 million votes.  He'll rack up big margins in big states like California and New York and some other historically blue states.  But as we all know, it's the electoral college that decides our presidential elections - not the popular vote.

If you've not voted already, we trust you'll do so tomorrow.  This actually is one of the most important elections in our history.  That's not hyperbole.  It's a fact.  Does are nation take a hard swing to the left with the election of Barack Obama with unstoppable ultra-liberal majorities in the House and Senate?  Of do we remain a center-right nation with the election of John McCain?  That choice is up to you.

DCuz

        

Take a listen to Obama's stated plan to bankrupt the coal industry.

Think you're paying high energy bills today?  Just wait...

        

With one full day of campaigning left before the 2008 presidential election on Tuesday, the IBD/TIPP poll - the polling firm closest to the actual election results of the 2004 race) indicates that there is a 2.1 percentage point difference between the candidates.  Barack Obama stands at 46.7% and John McCain is said to be at 44.6%.  The poll indicates that a full 9% of the electorate has yet to decide which candidate they prefer.

According to the poll, Obama and McCain are tied in the Midwest.  McCain holds a solid lead in the South.  Obama has a firm hold on the Northeast and a slight edge in the West.

The margin of error is +/- 3.4%.

Most other polling indicates Obama has a greater lead than this sample suggests.  But if IBD/TIPP proves to be as accurate as last time around, we could be in for a long evening on Tuesday.  My cousin has stated previously that whatever the results are, it is not likely to be a massive blowout for either candidate.  I suspect he's right.  However, if McCain does produce a victory, we hope it's by a significant enough margin that the determination of the winner isn't drawn out over many days, weeks, or even months.

Below is how I think the electoral map may turn out Tuesday night (many thanks to RealClearPolitics.com for making this fun little tool available to its readers).  There may be some wishful thinking in these state by state predictions.  Or maybe not.  So as always, take it for what it's worth.  I am not one of those who thinks McCain will take Pennsylvania.  It may be quite a bit closer than many now think but I don't believe McCain will win it.  New Hampshire might be a different story, however.  I also do not think McCain will lose in Virginia, North Carolina, or Georgia and he will also hold on to Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, and Indiana.

But again, this could all look rather foolish once the results are in.



Get out and vote!!

DCuz

        

You give to your church, synagogue, or mosque.  You donate to worthy non-profit causes.  You volunteer your time to help those in need or to improve your community in other ways.

But if you do not want Barack Obama to confiscate more of your hard earned money through the federal tax code to give to those who don't work, well, you're just selfish.

This is Obama's latest campaign tactic to earn your votes.  Interesting approach.

Typical of socialist thinking, Obama believes he's better suited to spend your money than you are.  This revelation follows his running mate's recent comment that paying high taxes is patriotic and Obama's own commitment to "spread [your] wealth around."

Meanwhile within the past week, Obama's promise to raise taxes on only "the rich" has had a difficult time being defined.  Obama first told us those tax hikes would only apply to those making more than $250,000.  Then it dropped to $200,000, then $150,000 and late this week it dropped even further to $120,000.

Any thinking American realizes that we'll all be subject to a massive tax hike under Obama's regime.  After all, he's already voted to spike the taxes of those making $41,600 or more.  Plus, once he lets the evil Bush tax cuts expire - automatically raising them in 2010 - many low income Americans who were removed from the tax rolls will find themselves right back on it.  Under Obama, your paycheck will be fleeced.  Plan on it.

All these revelations within the past week might explain why John McCain is making serious gains in the polls.  Today, Zogby polling puts John McCain 1 percentage point ahead of Barack Obama.  This is the first time McCain has taken the lead since the economic bailout.

Is it possible McCain is riding a wave to victory Tuesday night?  It still seems like a long-shot but one can't help but sense that a Truman-style comeback might just be in the works.  There's hope for this Republic yet.

DCuz