Dear America,

One of the main points of  Paul Ryan's GOP rebuttal [of the president's SOTU address] -- and what continues to be the mantra of the entire conservative nation  -- is, what do we do NOW in order to RETURN to an environment that "CREATES the conditions to upward mobility."

What do we have to do now -- not in the future --

not drafted over the course of ten years...amounting to merely 400 B's and only attending to discretionary funds (less than 15% of total budget),

not by manipulating ghost budgets and foreshadowing future economic conditions (which, let's face it, if those kinds of super natural predictions existed, we could all buy an island and retire, right?),

and certainly not by "freezing" where we are at now -- how stupid is that idea? especially considering we are currently facing another year of trillion dollar deficits (1.5 T to be exact, see CBO 1-26-11)


but above all, not by ignoring the true culprits of the unfathomable crime in the first place -- the slush fund entitlements.

We are at 14 TRILLION right now, by the end of the year, at 15.5 TRILLION...we can't continue on this trajectory, we simply can't do it, which is why they say it is UNSUSTAINABLE!

Paul Ryan gave us sweet and to the point ten minutes outlining some of the incredible ideas our founders held dear and why; and more important, he didn't sugar coat and pansy his way around the unsustainable debt, the yearly deficits, that every futuristic timetable known to man has come to recognize, shuddering in undeniable regret and disbelief; America's fall from grace and sound principles has created the very conditions to a fierce, traumatic,  downward spiral -- a kind of spiral that, in the right now, is showing enough velocity to take but only a matter of years into the not-so-distant future to come to a horrible, and oh so final, demise.

This isn't fear mongering; this is the truth.

This nation was built upon the rock of ages; learned men, who became known as our founders, came to the table crafting and creating and defining what it is, we as a people, should elevate to our highest value, and likewise, painstakingly made known, in no uncertain terms, what would happen if we don't.

As long as we stayed true to our core beliefs, and held tight to our common values, and came together in a principled, respectable, honorable manner in all of our daily affairs -- as long as we could remain true to our good, and not to the downright ugly -- we could create the conditions of upward mobility, in direct and equal proportion for our efforts -- and all would be well.

America would grow, expand, blossom and bear fruit --and now returning to the very idea of a blog just a few days ago -- UNapologetically -- our blessings would multiply.

"[budget debates] are also about

the purpose of government...

the principles that guide us...

and to show you...

in the spirit of our Declaration of Independence, 

and in the words of our Constitution, 

they have to do with the importance of limited government

and the blessing of self-government." 

Paul Ryan

..."the blessing of self-government." wow.

of course, G's easy -- he had me at hello -- but I'm not sure if I have heard anything more beautiful while making so much sense.

Can we just sit for a moment and get a grip around this?

THIS phrase defines who we are supposed to be as individuals, blessed to be living in this nation, at this time, in this moment AND our inherent responsibility and duty to her, this nation, America.

And now, it becomes painfully clear, we have neither aligned ourselves personally, or collectively, to either of these principles for quite some time.

ouch.

If we stayed true, we wouldn't be in this position today.

Imagine what our world would be like if we simply followed our personal dreams living within our means under a selfless, limited government who only saw fit to manage us with the bare minimum in mind, remaining true to the limited government mandate handed down by our forefathers.  Can you imagine that?

And now, get a grip around the fact that we did this to ourselves, whether it was unabashedly -- or unwittingly!

This is just one example of our government in action today :
(besides the one the president recited in his SOTU address...the one about the salmon departments...his timing was spot on and very funny) -- 

but just yesterday the government made this big announcement of how it was discontinuing a knee-jerk reaction of the Bush Administration which produced the colorized terror alert chart.  The Bush Administration thought, in the short term, a simple system illustrating the height of perceived terror attacks would bring a level of control to the people -- quantifying it, packaging it, making it look like something manageable, or something.  When in fact, all in all, it didn't seem to do much of anything really.

But what does this government report, something to this affect: 'we've been looking at it for more than a year...we will begin phasing it out over the next 90 days...and we will replace it with something better."

If only they were talking about the health care law.

...repeal and replace...repeal and replace...oops but I digress.
 
digress alert, digress alert...
stop...it isn't safe...go back..

So it would be funny stuff if it weren't so true -- but in reality, it has taken somebody, within this administration, probably someone making oooh, I don't know, let's go with the latest upper echelon averages, say, $173,596/year, an entire year to figure out that the purpose of the current Terror Alert System can no longer be found -- but we're gonna replace it  anyway, with one of our systems instead.

Now, given we already have the tools in place under "the emergency broadcast system" of the FCC -- why are we even spending our energy -- over the course of a year! -- to even discuss it????

and this phasing out thing... over 90 days -- what does that mean? -- first the red goes, then the orange...then...?

I like where Stossel is coming from these days -- and Rand Paul -- just start; start cutting, and by all means cease and desist clinging to any relevance in 'freezing' -- as that dog just ain't gonna hunt no more, no more.

I remember when I was a wee little girl skipping to the tulips in the seventies, we had lessons on recycling, being good to mother earth, conserving our resources, being kind to our neighbor, only paying for what we could afford, listening to our parents (with genuine love and respect, too), not letting the water run when we brushed our teeth, wearing the same tennis shoes everyday until we grew out of them, having to at least try my spinach until the day I began to really like it, spending pocket change for a 45  (Elton John's Good Bye Yellow Brick Road) and thinking it was gold...point is, we knew then many of the things we know now... we were all talking about saving energy, making more fuel efficient cars, getting off our addiction to oil (especially exported) even then!  forty years ago. we've been on this road a long, long time.

The thing is, today, my epiphany came with the idea, that all this talk about green this, green that, is so yesterday's energy.   THIS talk is nothing new at all -- and there are ample parts of this world, full on countries, make that continents, who don't give a hoot if they pollute -- still!  And have no plans to change.

Now conservation is commendable and essential all the live long day.  No doubt about it.  It is cool.  It is smart.  It is responsible.  It is what all of us should do right now.

Conservation, based on sound principles and universal truths, is never on the wrong side of the argument...
but especially right now.  TODAY.

And just what has grown twenty five percent in the last four years?  Where is the gluttony?  Oh the irony given the recent focus on obesity, no?

What we have left
of this beautiful America
we must conserve, and rapidly.

The future is now, not divined over the course of ten year averages while hoping the creeks don't rise.
It is now.

Right now, today, we must return to a limited federal government and immediately alleviate wasteful spending from every ridiculous department saved or created in the last ten years. And not stop there.

Chop entire bodies of bureaucrats, right now, today -- slash the department of education, slash the department of energy, and remove most czars along with all of their people, overhead, and paper clips right out from underneath the high speed-rail dreams that carried them in.

Stop all government special favors and subsidies and earmarks.

Privatize, re-organize and/or limit Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid -- for like the president said, "the rules have changed."

Close down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for fraud, and pose incredible fines upon the bums that abused their power, recklessly mis-managing a condominium of bureaucracy for years, while punishing the American taxpayer all along the way.

Close down military bases around the globe (without a second thought, at least half, to start), and bring our troops home to work along our borders -- to protect America, for America's best interests, as clearly defined by our Constitution.

All travel should be curtailed until further notice -- any of you guys ever heard of a thing called Skype or GOtoMeeting.com?

All catered lunches should be paid for out of pocket.

All un-used office buildings should be sold.

And to the issue to raise, or not to raise, the Debt Ceiling: This is no longer a question --  NO.

No new taxes.  No new spending (i.e. investing).
You -- the federal government -- are cut off (and make no mistake, you are cut off at the knees, the Chicago way, if you get my drift). For we, the people, are creating the very conditions for upward mobility of the common man, right here, right now.


Cease all discussions about "yesterday's health care law"  -- and begin to lay the groundwork to commence true TORT reform; regain the competitive spirit of the health care industry by extending the insurance company territory to the entire United States,  and thus correcting the mass market failure of limiting the industry to the border line, slashing the monopoly affect right off it's feet, so that we may more fully create the conditions for fair market value and practice of a commodity long overdue...while the health care bill is just the beginning...

A country who's sole purpose is to create the conditions of upward mobility -- who wouldn't want to live in a country like that?

A limited government is perfect in every way -- add to that the 'blessing of self-government' -- oh my, true blue liberty runs amuck. crazy I tell you, just crazy.  make no mistake, it's crazy good.

"A people who values it's privileges

above it's principles 

soon loses both." 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is no time for sissy speak; we must act, confidently, and go in the direction of full stop and reverse...

...not over ten years, not tomorrow, not in five minutes, not even in a minute...but right now.

Make it a Good Day, G

love love love Doris Day...and she's playing on G-TV, just a click away on Dear America today, not tomorrow, right now, today, and only for today, don't miss her ...Day,   Doris Day.