The only way to stop this madness is to forcibly strip the federal government of its usurped powers and cram it back into its constitutional box. And the only way to do that is by reestablishing federalism and the 10th Amendment. Politicians in DC will not willingly give up power, even some so-called conservatives. It must be taken from them. Work your butts of to elect 10th Amendment conservatives statewide who will work to shrink the federal government or else be prepared fo things to continue as they have been until the eventual, unavoidable financial collapse.

http://www.redstate.com/derkrieger/

…

Sen. Bob “98%” Casey is Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senator. Sen. Casey is one of the nicest people in Pennsylvania and there is no malice or meanness in him. Personal attacks are disgraceful and counterproductive.

This is a winnable race although the pundits and Establishment do not think so. Pat Toomey won in 2010 by a narrow margin and since then he has done nothing but gain respect of all. Pennsylvania voted for Ronald Reagan in 80 and 84 and faux Reagan in 88. One would think the Establishment would go with what works but it worked to undercut Pat Toomey each step of the way starting with 2004. Pat Toomey is INDEPENDENT OF LEADERSHIP.

On the issues, Sen. Casey is a Blue Collar Union Democrat and Obama Enabler voting with the President Obama 98% of the time. One of the candidates, Steve Welch of southeast Penna financed the production of this very clever video which has caught some national attention .

Here is the link at Blaze http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gop-senate-candidate-releases-spoof-ad-obama-was-separated-at-birth SEPARATED AT BIRTH … a fast 6 min

The issues of debt t that Daniel Horowitz succinctly summarizes is an issue that, in my opinion, resonates in Pennsylvania and I will forward to the various campaigns.

I am supporting TOM SMITH who is, also, INDEPENDENT OF LEADERSHIP and has put $4,000,000 of this own money into his campaign bank account. Tom Smith was a Union Democrat Coal Miner who grew into a Coal Mine Owner, which he sold for 30 or more millions, and now is focused on doing what he can as a Constitutional Limited Government Free Market Pat Toomey Republican.

The other Republican candidates are all good people and the voters are fortunate that Establishment has concluded Bob Casey can’t be beat.

Not to go off thread but I would like to bring your attention to Barry Rubin’s comments on President Obama’s State of the Union speech on foreign policy. Barry Rubin posts at PJMedia and his latest on the President’s foreign policy

Friday, January 27, 2012
As The State of the Union Speech Shows: The Problem with Obama Isn’t Just Political or Ideological, It’s Ignorance, Inexperience, Character, and Incompetence, Too,
By Barry Rubin

http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2012/01/27/as-the-state-of-the-union-speech-shows-the-problem-with-obama-isnt-just-political-or-ideological-its-ignorance-inexperience-character-and-incompetence-too/

If there are Pennsylvanians reading this blog, please contact me at bobguzzardi@bobguzzardi.com and I have a blog The Liberty Blog www.thelibertyblog.org

Thanks Daniel Horowitz for perceptive, factual blogging.

… can even explain what a trillion is. I would wager a majority in congress could not. They have no grasp whatsoever. They think the gov’t can just dole out $$$ with no repercussions, or sadly, in many cases, think that things won’t collapse for decades, so why worry about today?

Does anyone think the “Guam Capsize” guy can appreciate how much debt that is?

$16 trillion is $130,000 per taxpayer….$50K per citizen.Can all of you pay your fair share? I can assure you Bill Gates, Donald Trump, et al cannot make up the difference. Not to mention that medicare, social security, and state and local gov’t guaranteed benefits are probably each greater than the national debt itself.

This is why I, regrettably, probably can not vote for the republican nominee this year. For the first time in my life. Our silly arguements over debates and other trivial matters look foolish in light of the mountain we face.

Conservative in the primary, republican in the general has been and is a recipe for disaster. It’s led us to the place we are now, so it demonstrably does not work. We should be drawing the sharpest contrast between the dems and us, not nominating someone just because they appeal to both sides. Nothing more demonstrates the superiority of our ideals than the results of a conservative president vs. the disgrace we have now. Instead we’ll wind up with a nominee who will merely try to fix Obama’s programs, instead of unwinding them completely.

I can’t state it any better than IBD did today;

While it’s true that the country has been headed in this direction for many years — with the explosion in entitlements since the 1960s and the aging of the population — Obama has, in fact, greatly accelerated the trend. Examples:

Direct payments. The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments to individuals steadily increased over the past four decades, but shot up under Obama, climbing by almost $600 billion — a 32% increase — in his first three years. And Obama’s last budget called for these payments to climb another $500 billion by 2016, at which point they would account for fully two-thirds of all federal spending.

People getting benefits. According to the Census Bureau 49% now live in homes where at least one person gets a federal benefit — Social Security, workers comp, unemployment, subsidized housing, and the like. That’s up from 44% the year before Obama took office, and way up from 1983, when fewer than a third were government beneficiaries.

Food stamps. This year, more than 46 million (15% of all Americans) will get food stamps. That’s 45% higher than when Obama took office, and twice as high as the average for the previous 40 years. This surge was driven in part by the recession, but also because Obama boosted the benefit amount as part of his stimulus plan.

Disability. The number of people on Social Security disability has steadily climbed since the 1970s, thanks mainly to easier eligibility rules. But their numbers jumped 10% in Obama’s first two years in office, according to the Social Security Administration. That sharp rise was due largely to meager job prospects since the recession ended in 2009. When employment opportunities are scarce, experts note, many who could otherwise work sign up for disability benefits instead.

…it would be helpful to think/talk/present the makeup of Congress not in the traditional Republican – Democratic majorities/minorities, but instead as the number of Tea Party members versus non-TPers. At present, who among the Representatives and Senators on the Hill should be considered worth of that designation? However you choose to decide, there can be no doubt that only a minority of the men and women of the 112th United States Congress would qualify — and it will take a majority of such folk to enact major reforms. So let’s see a count of where we are today and what it will take to reach that goal.

Push those snouts in while there’s ample slop and forget the talk about our children’s future, so prominent in past years.
We see two groups, the Haves, for the most part the politically connected, and the rest, viewed as the Horse in Orwell’s Animal Farm. This is politics taken to it’s natural end, a means of addictive theft, it never stops & most never learn. Visit the lefty sites and you will see the ignorant crying for more, not less of this crime.
And as usual, our media, ignoring Europe and bleating on behalf of this degradation.

We heard from Mr Bernanke this week. He is recommending that interest rates be kept artificially low for another 2 years. His song and dance supporting this decision does not make sense. I suggest an alternative motivation.

Consider that the US currently pays $773 million PER DAY ($228 billion per year) to pay the interest on its debt. If interest rates rise 1%, that DAILY payment balloons to $1.2 billion ($438 billion per year). If interest rates rise 2%, that DAILY payment balloons to $1.6 billion ($584 billion per year). A 5% increase takes that payment to over $1 trillion per year.

Mr Bernanke and the FED are simply carrying the water for the inept we call a Congress. The truth is that letting interest rise to a more customary level would expose our most inconvenient truth… the US cannot pay back what it owes.

We the people either do not understand or do not want to hear about it because it is so unpleasant. The trouble is that every dollar borrowed will have to be repaid by taxpayers. Now we argue among ourselves which taxpayers should get the bill.

All politicians, including conservatives, seem to be unwilling to show leadership. Some like Sen Sanders thumb their nose at aausterity, doling out bonuses to staffers reather than return any excess funds to the Treasury. Almost universally the politicians speak in platitudes without specifics. The modest austerity plans proposed (Bowles-Simpson; Ryan Plan) get demagogued.

We must recognize that government services will have to be cut. We must understand that those cuts will hurt lots of folks (young, old, rich and poor). We must give up the notion that monopoly money can continually be printed to make it look like things are better, And yes we must understand that our taxes will go up. Otherwise the hidden tax of inflation will consume all of our money, which by the way seems to be the current plan of our government.

We heard from Mr Bernanke this week. He is recommending that interest rates be kept artificially low for another 2 years. His song and dance supporting this decision does not make sense. I suggest an alternative motivation.

Consider that the US currently pays $773 million PER DAY ($228 billion per year) to pay the interest on its debt. If interest rates rise 1%, that DAILY payment balloons to $1.2 billion ($438 billion per year). If interest rates rise 2%, that DAILY payment balloons to $1.6 billion ($584 billion per year). A 5% increase takes that payment to over $1 trillion per year.

Mr Bernanke and the FED are simply carrying the water for the inept we call a Congress. The truth is that letting interest rise to a more customary level would expose our most inconvenient truth… the US cannot pay back what it owes.

We the people either do not understand or do not want to hear about it because it is so unpleasant. The trouble is that every dollar borrowed will have to be repaid by taxpayers. Now we argue among ourselves which taxpayers should get the bill.

All politicians, including conservatives, seem to be unwilling to show leadership. Some like Sen Sanders thumb their nose at aausterity, doling out bonuses to staffers reather than return any excess funds to the Treasury. Almost universally the politicians speak in platitudes without specifics. The modest austerity plans proposed (Bowles-Simpson; Ryan Plan) get demagogued.

We must recognize that government services will have to be cut. We must understand that those cuts will hurt lots of folks (young, old, rich and poor). We must give up the notion that monopoly money can continually be printed to make it look like things are better, And yes we must understand that our taxes will go up. Otherwise the hidden tax of inflation will consume all of our money, which by the way seems to be the current plan of our government.

Social Security, Medicare. What, $20-30 Trillion more?

Maybe going completely broke to the point where we can not borrow more would be the best thing imaginable. It would be painful at first but the government would have to be drastically cut as a result. Everyone agrees that once an entitlement is put into place there is no getting rid of it. Going broke would force us to get rid of ours. The pain it would cause on people is almost a good thing because it would teach them to trust in themselves and not the crumbs the state can provide. As hard as it would be it would make for a lesson not soon forgotten.