Day: April 10, 2013

What Does ‘Small Government” Really Mean?

From the VOMITORIUM

This is a combination of two drafts that I was saving for a rainy day….it is a question that needs to be answered…….ever noticed that thew bobble heads all get worked up when someone mentions the term “smaller government”…….you get the meaningful nod and the right on fist pump….these are pin heads!  They have no idea what they are agreeing with in the first place….they are only acknowledging a slogan repeated enough times will become “their” truth……….

Let’s us start with the beginning…….

We all want our children to be educated, we want safe neighborhoods and good passable streets…..but the problem is that many think that this stuff will just materialize out of thin air…..that it will not take revenue and work to provide these things to the population, but rather a well placed prayer will do just fine…..

We hear daily the talking points of how we need to spend less and a need for smaller government…..but what does that mean?  Or better question, how does the country live up to its contract with the people?  And why does smaller government mean the people have to pay the price for such a dream?  Maybe we should nullify the social contract that Federalism promised?

Most of the pencil necks that believe in small government also are champions of state’s rights……a recent article in the HufPo……..

In every U.S. state, Americans are struggling to get by in large part because their state governments aren’t doing enough to ensure they have a livable wage or the benefits necessary to make life affordable, according to the Economic Security Scorecard, a report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Wider Opportunities for Women.

The scorecard, which ranks states on effectiveness in promoting policies that provide economic security — including a livable minimum wage, quality jobs that offer benefits like paid sick leave and government programs offering child care assistance and housing help — gave no state an “A.” Four states received the report card’s lowest grade of “D+.”

The report’s findings indicate states are focusing on individual policies like raising the minimum wage or guaranteeing housing preservation, which can be easily “undermined” when they aren’t combined with other initiatives aimed at boosting economic security overall, Shawn McMahon, Wider Opportunities for Women’s acting chief executive, told The Huffington Post. The result is a piecemeal system that leaves many states unaffordable for struggling residents, putting the nation’s economy at risk.

“Individuals and families need more than one element of economic security to actually be secure,” McMahon said. “When a state ignores certain areas of policy, both the individual citizens and the state as whole will likely at some point in the future pay the price.”

What it looks like to me is that smaller government means a total disregard for federal law and the undermining of everything coming out of Washington……the GOP plan is to win as much in state elections as possible which will cripple the national government until they can find a hook that will help them win nationally……..with all their flowery talk of patriotism and national pride….the reality is………….the country means nothing to them!

The New South…..Really?

I live in what th3e media and most pundits want to call “The New South”…..meaning somehow it has changed from the days of segregation and poll taxes………maybe on the surface we could make a case that the South is changing, but at its core it is not much different than 1959……..yes, more blacks are attending traditionally white schools and there are more lawmakers that are black….but what about at the heart of the society?

This will give you an idea of what the “heart” of Dixie is thinking…..

Newser) – We’re now well into 2013—but don’t tell that to the citizens of Rochelle, Ga., who prefer to party like it’s 1949 at racially segregated proms and homecoming dances. Four students at Wilcox County High School are now attempting to fight back against their town’s “embarrassing” tradition by organizing their own integrated prom, reports CBS Atlanta. But not all of their classmates are so open-minded. “I actually put up posters for the integrated prom and we’ve had people ripping them down at the school,” says one of the students.

The high school itself does not organize the dances, so it’s technically legal for students and parents to organize separate black- and white-only proms. The school finally abolished racially segregated courts for the first time at this year’s homecoming, but there were still two dances. A black student, one of the integrated prom organizers, was elected queen, but attended a different dance than her king, and separate photos were taken for the yearbook. “I felt like there had to be a change,” she said. “Because for me to be a black person and the king to be a white person, I felt like, you know why can’t we come together?”

I always tell people that sk me about visiting the South the one thing they need to keep paramount in the their mind…….when crossing intpo the “New South” remember to set your watches back 150 years and all will be alright…….