All Government Money Comes from You

We need to talk. As a nation we have spent on Covid relief as if money was perpetually flowing from an endless fountain. 

Employers cannot find workers because for some it is more profitable to draw government benefits. 

Don’t get angry at the person taking the benefits. The individual drawing the payments did the research and determined that it was worth the effort to apply for it and receive it if qualified. Continue reading

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Senators Dodge Accountability

Through some miracle, I am able to write this commentary in the midst of a government shutdown.

In all of the drama watching the clock tick down till midnight, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee made brief comments about the voting process.

He explained that Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona and others had reached an agreement that the next vote by the Senate would be on a bill that was agreed to by the President and Republican and Democrat leaders in the House and Senate.

He went on to say that this pushes ahead a negotiation that will yield results. At first take that sounds reasonable. But remember, this is a politician talking.

What he is really saying is that there will be a closed door meeting with a handful of people. There will not be an open floor debate and discussion.

The news keeps saying that it takes 60 votes to pass. That is not true.

It takes 60 votes to end the debate. Then there is a vote on the resolution itself. That vote only requires a simple majority.

There should be a vote to end debate with each Senator on record to proceed to a vote on the House bill. That bill funds the government temporarily, provides border security, and provides emergency disaster relief which includes Georgia farmers hit by Hurricane Michael.

If there were not enough votes to end debate, then someone could offer an amendment and the Senate could deliberate and vote on the amendment. In other words, be accountable for the vote.

The US Senate is supposed to be the great deliberative body. They should go on record so that everyone can hear and see.

Historians should be able to look back and see how our “distinguished” Senators set priorities and addressed border security. But this is not about the great deliberative body debating and hammering out these issues.

It is about allowing individual Senators to dodge accountability. Theoretically some Democrats might be persuaded to vote to end the debate and proceed forward.

I believe that some Republicans do not want to end debate because they do not want real border security. They just do not want their constituents to know that.

They want to dodge accountability. Once again, this puts on open display the hypocrisy of politicians in Washington.

They say that they can’t do away with the filibuster for appropriation bills because the Senate is the great deliberative body. Yet their actions show that they do not want the Senators to deliberate at all.

The Senators are dodging accountability. They should be held accountable.

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Trump’s Line in the Sand

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer met with President Trump to talk about the budget. They got a couple of surprises in the meeting.

The President had press in the room with the cameras rolling. He made introductory remarks about positive legislation such as Criminal Justice Reform that had support of Republicans and Democrats alike.

He also gave a status on several areas where portions of the border wall were complete. Illegal traffic into the United States was down where the wall was in place.

San Diego dropped 92%. El Paso dropped 75% and then when the wall was up, dropped 95%. Tucsan dropped 92%. Yuma dropped 96%. President Trump pointed out that the only reason it was not 100% was because illegal entrants would go to the unfinished areas and go around.

Normally after a few introductory remarks, the President would excuse the press and continue with a private meeting. This time he did not do that. The cameras kept rolling.

Like a pit bull with a bone, President Trump hunkered down on his position. He made it clear to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer that border security was non-negotiable.

Nancy Pelosi realized what was going on. She complained that it was unfortunate that the cameras were rolling. Pelosi said, “We came in here in good faith and we are entering into this discussion in the public view.”

President Trump simply replied, “It’s called transparency.”

Both Pelosi and Schumer insisted that they did not want to have a government shutdown. Schumer said that President Trump had called 20 times to shut down the government.

In the past, Republicans have recoiled in fear and retreated when Democrats threaten a government shutdown. Pelosi and Schumer got an unexpected response.

President Trump did not recoil and retreat. On the contrary, he picked up the gauntlet and ferociously charged ahead. When Schumer said that President Trump would be responsible if there was a shut down, President Trump boldly took ownership and leadership.

I’ll take it. You know what I will say? Yes. If we don’t get what we want one way or the other, whether it’s through you, through a military, through anything you want to call, I will shut down the government. And I am proud.

I’ll tell you what, I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck. Because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country.

So, I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down it didn’t work. I will take the mantle for shutting it down and I will shut it down for border security.

President Trump drew a line in the sand. Republicans in the House and Senate need to stand up with him. The American people are standing with him.

The only ones who are not standing with him are the mainstream media and some Democrats in Congress. This time they will be the ones who make the compromise.

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

President Trump Played the Hand He Was Dealt

I have seen many posts and commentaries critical of the President for signing the Omnibus spending bill into law. I do not think that there was anything more that he could gain by vetoing the bill.

His top priority was to rebuild our nation’s military after nearly a decade of neglect. This bill took a big step in that direction.

Other initiatives such as building the wall, defunding Planned Parenthood, and reforms in the Veteran’s Administration were passed over by Congress. It is neither reasonable nor realistic to believe that Congress would have improved any of these other initiatives.

Republicans control both the House and Senate. It does not appear that they put up much of a fight in the bill that they gave the President. If they did not have his back at the beginning, he certainly could not expect them to have his back to support a veto.

It took a fork lift to deliver the 2200 page bill to the President. When it arrived at the Whitehouse, he looked down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol. All he could see were taxi cabs and Uber cars with members of Congress scrambling to get to the airport.

Congress is supposed to pass a budget and the President sign it before October 1 of each year. When they do not have their act together in time, they merely pass a short term extension.

For this year they extended through December 8, then December 22, then January 19, then February 8, then March 23. I count five times they kicked the can down the road. There is no evidence that anything substantive took place during those temporary extensions.

Here is the real ugly truth. The 2200 pages were churned out by lobbyists and congressional staffers who then packaged it up for a handful of elected members of Congress.

Those few members, from both parties, then push it out to the rest of the members giving little or no time for debate, much less time to read it. This is all under a cloud of imminent disaster if it is not passed by the deadline – which by then is literally hours away.

Georgia Senator David Perdue is on a lonely crusade to change the budget process. Along the way he has built support for his ideas. Congress even established a joint study committee to consider changes in the budget process.

We are now 6 months away from the next budget being due. Maybe I should more correctly say that we are six months away from the next season of kick the can.

Republicans in Congress need to stand up for the agenda on which they have been running and getting elected. Fund the wall, defund Planned Parenthood, and reduce the size of government.

Signature-Donald E. Cole

I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts. Please forward these to your friends and share on Facebook.

Sign up to below to get my commentaries sent directly to your in-box.

I promise, you won’t get a bunch of junk and I will not share your e-mail address with anyone. When you get an e-mail from me, you can be assured that it will be easy to read, informative, and usually short. Thank you again for reading.

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required







FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

President Trump’s Twitter Etiquette – I Don’t Care

The mainstream media has been in an uproar today because of President Trump’s tweet about an MSNBC show host.

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came…..to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!

Righteous indignation abounds.  All day long the mainstream media has condemned the “unpresidential” tone of the tweets.  Several Republicans in congress were quick to join in the condemnation. Continue reading FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Finish Your Chores Before You Play

The mini drama plays out every day in thousands of households around the world.  “Mom, can I go to the mall, play, see my friends, watch a movie?  You fill in the blank.  Mother responds, “Sure, but first clean up your room.”

Five or ten minutes later, “Mom, can I go now, my friends are waiting?”  This time the Mother’s response is in the form of a question. “Have you cleaned up your room?”  The answer comes back, “I’m almost done.”  The mother patiently replies, “Finish cleaning up your room.” Continue reading FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

A Fraud Perpetuated on the American People

“A fraud perpetuated on the American people.”  What an irony that Senator David Perdue pointedly addressed his fellow Senators with these words on June 6, the same day that we remembered D-Day 73 years ago.

On June 6, 1944, the United States launched the most massive military undertaking in world history.  It required an unshakable resolve, monumental planning, impeccable execution, and passionate prayer.  It was a time of crisis for our nation and, with God’s care, we rose to meet the crisis.

73 years later our nation is in the midst of another crisis that is even more ominous. It is a crisis that is more sinister and threatening than even the threat of terrorism. Like a cancer on our nation, it is steadily and tenaciously destroying us from the inside.

For 14 minutes, Senator Perdue presented common sense truth to the Senate.  This was not an address filled with partisan flamboyancy. It was not an address in the late night hours to an empty room simply to have footage for campaign commercial.

It was a call for the Senate to simply do its job.  It was a call to seriously address a national debt that has grown to nearly 20 trillion dollars.  It was a call to have an honest budget process. You can watch his message in less time than it takes for a coffee break.

If you feel that you do not have time to watch it, then I’ll give you the reader’s digest version below.  But you need to watch this speech.

This is not a politician pontificating.  It is a plain spoken American exhorting his colleagues to stop serving themselves and serve the American people. Continue reading FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather