"Tip and the Gipper"

Chris Mathews, yes that Chris Mathews of MSNBC and "trickle up the leg" fame wrote a book, "Tip and the Gipper". Mr. Mathews was a prominent member of the Speaker Tip O'Neil's staff, He apparently had full access to most of the manoeuvrings between the Speaker and President Reagan. Mr. Mathews and I bat from opposite sides of plate. I expected another nasty rant with name calling and disparaging remarks of the kind typical of progressives discussing their opposition. His story telling has very little of that. I must say, at the expense of maybe annoying him, it was fair and balanced.

Pre-K Does Not Last

   Every where you look these days someone or some agency wants to implement formal schooling before kindergarten. The idea is the earlier one starts educating children the better educated they will be. Head Start claims this. It is clear that the achievement we expect does not gush forth from our present K-12 structure.

We react to poor achievement by improving the physical infrastructure of our schools, requiring better education and pay for the teachers, devising new curriculum's like Common Core and so on. We have been on this track for decades and refuse to believe the evidence.  None of this works! Achievement does not soar with any of this.

It is perfectly clear that what works is the parent's expectations. (http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=parental-expectations-for-their-childrens-academic-attainment)  If parents instill in their children that they are to behave and learn, achievement soars. The parent must persevere and stay on the case for it to work, but parental influence does work.

The problem is how do politicians and school administrators point their finger at the parent when their beloved child fails and expect to survive the next election. They don't and won't.

We need to change the cultural where it is expected that the parents will guide their children and when the children do not do well, everyone knows and blames, maybe shames, the parent. We must be judgmental and point to the parents when children fail at school. That may cause heart burn in your circle but if you want our kids to excel in their future you can't sit on the side lines.

Pre-K and Head Start sound good but have little or no lasting effect. By the third grade those who did and did not participate in early ed have the same achievement. (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/12/head_start_advantages_mostly_gone_by_third_grade_study_finds.html) We keep looking for a "fix" without pain, without making tough judgements and without blaming those responsible. Like everything else where we refuse to come to grips with the real root causes, the problems persists..

Get Their Attention!

Deposit $5,000 pa in every citizens bank account for health insurance. This will sell.

The GOP has in recent days revealed an alternative to Obamacare and  immigration reform. Do you know that, have you heard or read about it? Probably not for two reasons. The obvious one centers on the establishment media ignoring any proposals from the Republicans. They don't want to hear it and they don't want you to hear it. Those proposals might catch on leaving the progs without their levers for political supremacy.

The Republican proposals, while well founded workable and equitable, carry the aura of wonkiness. Their proposal's acceptance depends on a well informed citizenry which the last election decidedly proves most are not.

The Republican proposals need simplicity and and excitement to gain traction. What could be simpler than depositing $5,000 to every citizen's bank account every year for health insurance. This would vaporize the bureaucracy that slices dices punishes and rewards us and would cost the US treasury less that then cost of Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid. It save money! It would instill independent action and market efficacy on our health system.

Even the most uniformed vote would pulse to the idea of getting $5,000 to  buy their health insurance that meets their needs without having to petition, beg, the government for a plan that meets the governments and prog political needs, i.e. power over you.

For more details on how this would work, read Charles Murray's "In Our Hands". It's short, readable to the point and workable.

She Strives to Kill Us

The South trembles under another cold, icy invasion from the North. This happens with some regularity during winter months, of course. It reminds us that Mother Nature cannot be imagined as a comely women, garland wreath around her head, with birds and butterflys circling round exuding goodwill to all.

This cold invasion more accurately reflects her intent to kill us! If you have stood near a tree as it is struck by lightening or been on the sea when the waves suddenly reach extraordinary heights, you get the message.

We intuitively know this. We spend a huge proportion of our resources on sheltering ourselves from her, clothing to fend off her attacks and securing our nutrition so we do not have to eat only what she would allow -- from hunting and gathering.

We exists on the thinnest possible veneer on this earth with a blind faith that we will be OK and that we command our future and fate. How delusional! Mother Nature with her storms, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes calls the tune. We should bow gratefully that she has not not yet decided to simply erase, rub us out, of our puny existence on this planet.

Pets On a Leash

"The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.'" said Mencken about Puritans.

He could have said it about Proges. (progressives). "The Hill" reports that, Proges are miffed about Julia Louis-Dreyfus puffing an E-cig at the Golden Globe Awards this week. Someone had some fun, harmless fun and that can't be allowed. (http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/195462-democrats-miffed-at-nbc-for-smoking-gag-during-golden-globes)
This reinforces the false narrative on second hand smoking. No one, no scientist has yet to scientifically prove that second hand smoke harms anyone.I offer a hot fudge sundae to anyone who will forward a legitimate study that proves it does.  Lots of studies exist  that it does not and lots of studies that do not but when combined may indicate that it does, if that makes any sense.
One reason for this centers on not controlling for dosage. If the study can't measure dosage then they can't determine at what level it might be unsafe. Any pharmacologist will tell you there is a  safe level of every substance and a toxic one.  This is further complicated by the fact that scientists cannot figure out what element of cigarette smoke is a carcinogen. If they could, they would quickly eliminate it. Correlation between smoking, not causation, strongly suggest direct smoking is harmful. Good enough to discourage anyone from smoking.
Proges. think we are their pets to be kept on a leash -- the looped end they grasp. They satisfy their feelings by controlling others always with the expressed intention of saving us from our dumb selves. Yielding this power makes them feel superior and happy!

The Charleston Post Courier advocated forcing bikers to wear helmets. The following responds to that editorial.

Helmet Law
In a Jan. 5 editorial you advocated South Carolina institute a mandatory motorcycle helmet law. You cited the costs to the public of treating head injuries after accidents involving people without helmets.
You should have taken a position that helmetless bikers should shoulder their own medical bills.

You are quite correct that, if someone pays for another's medical costs, the payer should have the authority to limit his cost exposure by limiting the activities of those so insured.

So The Post and Courier wants to force cyclists to wear helmets.

Following this logic, we should refuse to authorize knee replacements for people who are overweight and cancer treatment for those who have smoked. It has happened in the United Kingdom in Manchester and York with their single-payer system.

Your solution to coerce helmet-wearing treats the symptom not the root cause, which is that someone else pays the medical bills.

The Post and Courier could endorse a law that prohibits the public from paying for those who have accidents without a helmet or mandates that helmetless cyclists have special insurance or a post a medical bond.

Or you could advocate abolishing government health care in any form and let individuals make personal arrangements for their medical bills.

Coercing additional restrictions to compensate for bad policy never ends. Those restrictions will develop problems, demanding more coerced regulations ad infinitum.

Fix the root problem, and let us get on with our lives, taking risks, enjoying the rewards of doing so or accepting the pain of failure if it doesn't work out.

We do not need a nanny.

Christy and the Bridge

By New Jersey standards, restricting traffic to a bridge causing a major traffic jam, does not stand up to other political paybacks in the Garden State. Mr. Hoffa for instance, still unaccounted for, may well be resting under the Flushing Meadow Stadium in payback for...? Well who knows. Closing the lanes to the bridge in Ft. Lee, while juvenile certainly doesn't rise to the level of high crimes. The Dems will attempt to make it a capital offense motivated by their fear of Governor Christie. Pundits mumble interminably about who the GOP candidate will be in 2016. No need. Just observe who the Democrats attack most viciously and you will have identified the one they think has the best chance of beating Hillary.

Lighten the Load

As a society, a people, we ask too much of others. Clearly there are people, through no fault of their own, are unable to care for themselves. The mark of a moral society is how well it cares for them.

Those who need help from society require food, shelter, protection from predators and basic, emergency health care. Society should not be tapped for their recreation, art appreciation and social activities.

Others who do not meet the above criteria have a responsibility to contribute, pay taxes, for the disadvantaged and themselves. Their needs are not the same. They must provide their own food, shelter and be responsible for their own health. Their taxes should be spent on their personal protection, (law enforcement including judges and prisons, fire, emergency medical and national defense) and their property protection through laws that identify and punish theft and fraud.

The government is not responsible nor should friends and neighbors be levied for anyone’s recreation, art enjoyment, sports or recreation. If enough people feel the need for a neighborhood park they should organize to raise the money, build and manage it. Dipping into the pockets of the folks across town is selfish and asking too much of others.

Obviously, this is a low key example but you can apply the analogy to stadiums, golf courses, museums, local recreational centers and, well, you can fill in all the other qualifying activities that people look to others to pay for them.

It is not clear that education should be a required government function. In many cases, parents avoid public education because they feel they can do better – home, parochial and private schooling. It should be obvious that education should be paid for and managed by the lowest conceivable public agency perhaps even further down the chain that the local school board. It must be so to be responsive to the parent’s wishes.

That is not all that will be explored here but it provides a glimpse about the tone and direction of the opinion I will express.

From time to times I will post a piece on some issue, (full and short ones),usually on public policy. In between there will be thoughts and comments, probably not fully formed, inserted as the news inspires me to do so. Mostly though, this blog will attempt to identify and explore ways to “Lighten the Load.”