No Rest for the Depressed

Ok, so I'm not really depressed, but it has been difficult lately to find the motivation to put my thoughts into words. The vomit-inducing cries of hope and change, coupled with the sudden swell of patriotism from the same folks who professed outright hatred for their country until yesterday, has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Thankfully, I'm beginning to come out of the fog.

I suppose I can find some satisfaction in the idea that millions of naive Obamanuts are waking up this morning only to find that Santa didn't come last night, and they still have to pay their mortgages and work for a living. It's also kinda nice to be able to sit and watch the other side screw things up for a while. I can't help but realize, however, that all these screw-ups are going to have big ramifications for me and my family. So, as a tribute to all those normally center-right leaners who thought we just needed change for the sake of change, let's look at what we can expect from Democrat leadership over the next few years:

1. If you are currently succesful enough to have to pay taxes every year, and that's only about half of the nation, you can pretty much count on the fact that you have now enjoyed the lowest tax payments you will ever pay.
2. Any business owners out there? Like the idea of your employees being able to unionize at the drop of a hat, forcing you to pay them 3 or 4 times what the market justifies? How about the idea that union thugs can target the one or two employees who don't want to unionize, because they've lost their right to a secret vote? Obama's got to repay Big Labor for putting him in office.
3. This is for all of you so-called pro-life voters who decided Obama was moderate enough to win your vote: On his first day in office, President Obama has decided to repeal a law which prevents your tax dollars from being used to fund international abortion groups. That's right, taxpayer funded abortions, and that's just his first day...
4. Go ask a Brit about government-run healthcare. Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. Have we lost our minds? Please to name one thing the government has ever run that has been run with anything resembling competence. Public schools? Social Security? Welfare?

I could go on, but it would be too depressing. Basically, if you think the government is the answer to all your problems, you'll love this guy. At least until the government taxes the people who provide your job to the point that they can't be competitive, and they move their operation overseas.

It's not a popular thing to say right now, but I refuse to generically "hope our new president succeeds." Succeeds at what? Making us into a more government-reliant, socialist nation? No thanks. I'll support him if I believe that his policies are what's best for America, but judging by his campaign, he doesn't have a clue. His ideas are not new. They certainly don't represent change. They're the same old liberal ideas that have failed in the past, and if he goes through with them, they will fail this time as well.

I hope I'm wrong about this guy. And I refuse to stop loving my country, like so many on the left, just because "the other side" is in charge. We have to take this nation back from the ground up, and republicans don't need to go along with any of the policies that we don't believe will work. I echo Erick's cry concerning the de-Stimulus Plan. None of our GOP representatives should support it, or any other policy that undermines conservatism, just so we can say we got something done.

Sarah! and Saxby

I had heard from someone on Saxby's staff last week that the campaign was working on getting Governor Sarah Palin down to Georgia to help get voters fired up over the run-off. Well, according to the Telegraph, Sarah! has agreed to come to the rescue. The closest she'll get to Macon is Perry - chosen, I suppose, so that the Ag Center can be used as a venue to host the sizeable crowd she will no doubt draw. She's a popular gal in these parts - and for good reason. She'll also be coming to Augusta, Savannah, and Atlanta.

Governor Palin did what I thought would be impossible during the recent campaign: she got the justifiably suspicious conservative base of the GOP fired up in spite of the squish at the head of the ticket. Her enduring popularity proves the idiocy of those Republican elites who suggest that she is responsible for dragging McCain down, and puts the sword to any argument that the GOP needs to abandon its traditional conservative principles.

Her presence here, along with the likes of Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani, and other Republican big guns who have stopped in to stump for Saxby over the last few weeks, also shows the importance of this run-off election. A 60 seat majority for the Democrats would be catastrophic, not just for the GOP, but for the future of this nation. The Democrat leadership has already made it clear that they intend to take full advantage of the current crisis situation, and the general feeling of panic beginning to spread throughout the population.

As Rahm Emanuel has said, this crisis represents an opportunity for government to take more radical steps than would normally be tolerated by a still center-right electorate. We are already watching our great nation teetering on the brink of socialism, and 60 votes in the Senate all but guarantees that even more drastic and permanent steps will be taken in the wrong direction. If you call yourself a conservative, then you have no excuse for sitting this one out, or for voting against Saxby Chambliss. You may not agree with everything he has done - I don't - but you cannot make a credible argument for doing anything other than voting for the GOP in this case.

This election has been painful. We lost. Big time. And I can understand a certain satisfaction in watching the politicians who have failed to advance conservatism in office crash and burn. It's almost as if we need a little pruning to be stronger in the long run. But too much pruning can be a very bad thing. We need to leave enough branches in place to keep the tree alive. We must leave our party in a position to mount a serious opposition to the people now in charge. We need to get over ourselves and lay the groundwork for a conservative comeback. The first, and most important way to do so is by helping get Saxby Chambliss re-elected.

Kids Love Their Nanny (State)

Erick has an interesting post up today about a post election study concerning people’s views on the role of government. One of the more interesting results of this study comes from the respondents’ answers to how large and active the government should be in the lives of its citizens. It’s not exactly surprising that a majority of people who label themselves Democrats or liberal are in favor of a larger government with more social programs, but overall, 53% of people are in favor of “smaller government with fewer services”, while 28% are in favor of the opposite.

One interesting result, however, is seen in the fact that a majority of 18 – 25 year olds favor a larger government. I’m not really surprised by this either, as most young folks tend to be more liberal. But why is it that this is the case? Why are so many of those in their early 20’s susceptible to a view of government that is completely at odds with what the founders of this nation envisioned? There are many reasons, the first of which is likely a severe lack of quality in education throughout our nation. Political correctness has taken its toll on the quality and contents of most history textbooks, and teachers unions, like pretty much every union, continue to have an adverse effect on the end product.

And let’s not kid ourselves with respect to higher institutions of learning. Colleges and universities have become havens for liberalism – likely because that’s the only place ideas don’t actually have to be put into practice – and your average professor isn’t exactly a champion of small government conservatism. Anything is possible in the dream-world of academia, and with a captive audience whose real-world experience is even more limited than that of their esteemed professors, brainwashing becomes an incredibly fruitful and rewarding enterprise, I’m sure.

So, between the ages of 18 and 25, most people have been ill informed as to the historical nature and purpose of their government, received at least 4 years of indoctrination from people whose ideas wouldn’t cut it in the real world, haven’t had to pay taxes, and have had very little time to actually watch their government in action. There’s a reason people become more conservative and anti-government later in life. I would challenge anyone to list one single social enterprise our federal government has ever taken on that has resulted in anything even remotely resembling efficiency or success. Social Security? Medicaire?, Public Education?

And now we are about to embark on an experiment in government run healthcare! Because it’s been sooooo successful everywhere else in the world, I suppose. Excellent.