Leading Democrat Claims Social Security In Crisis – Calls For Private Sector Investment

With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the baby boom will become a "senior boom." So first and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21st century.


Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will no longer be sufficient to cover monthly payments. And by 2032, the trust fund will be exhausted, and Social Security will be unable to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.


The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts in benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain resources from Social Security in the name of saving it.


Specifically, I propose that we commit 60 percent of the budget surplus for the next 15 years to Social Security, investing a small portion in the private sector just as any private or state government pension would do. This will earn a higher return and keep Social Security sound for 55 years.


Now, these changes will require difficult but fully achievable choices over and above the dedication of the surplus. They must be made on a bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. So let me say to you tonight, I reach out my hand to all of you in both houses and both parties and ask that we join together in saying to the American people: We will save Social Security now.


Who are we quoting - Bill Clinton – State of the Union Speech - January 19, 1999


Did you hear the Democrats and their fellow travelers calling Bill Clinton a liar when he said Social Security needed to be saved? Or that he was just paying off his wealthy Wall Street friends when he suggested a portion of Social Security funds be invested in the private sector?


No of course not. There is a difference of course – Clinton’s idea would have given the government ownership and control of the private sector Social Security investments and any tax surplus. President Bush’s idea would give the taxpayers ownership and control of the money. Loss of government power and control over taxpayer money is something the Democrats can not tolerate.


As the Democrats fight President Bush on Social Security reform, launch campaigns to scare seniors into believing their benefits will be cut and younger workers that the risky scheme will leave them destitute in old age, ask yourself, who are they fighting for? Are they fighting for you or for the government?

Democrats Use Public Employees To Sir Up Fear Over Social Security

Enlighten-New Jersey has a post Stirring Up Fear Over Social Security that has two interesting stories to tell:


The first is about a taped telephone message one of their readers received explaining that their congressman supported the President’s Social Security reform plan that would cost taxpayers $2 Trillion and cut future benefits by 47%. The call recipient was given a toll free number to call their congressman to complain about his support for the plan. The number was not in operation, but was traced back to the American Federation of Teachers.


The second tells about a Social Security claims representative from Seattle that recently testified before an all-Democrat Senate panel. The SS claims representative stated that SSA employees have been told that Social Security is in a crisis that only private accounts can salvage. He said the employees "have been directed to share this message with the public at every opportunity." He said: "I do not believe it is proper for public funds or public employees to be used to stir up fear" and push the White House agenda.


The President has not put forward a Social Security reform plan and has only spoken of allowing younger workers to put a portion of their SS taxes into private accounts. This is not a plan, it is an idea. It’s impossible to cost out or determine benefit reductions without knowing the scope and details of an actual Social Security reform plan. So the scare campaign by the public school teachers union is bogus.


Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart said in a statement, "I have never, nor will I ever, ask or direct Social Security employees to promote or advance any specific proposal for Social Security reform." So you can make what you will of the guy from Seattle’s story.


Amazing isn’t it, the Dems had to spend taxpayer money to bring in someone from Seattle to make their point. If SSA employees had been directed to share the “Social Security is in crisis and only private accounts can save it” message, couldn’t the Senate Democrats have found someone say, in D.C. to testify?


We agree, public employees are being used to stir up fear and push an agenda - the agenda of public employee unions and the Democrats.

Enlightened? We don’t Think So

Ah, Europe is so enlightened compared to the United States. At least that’s what we hear from our “elite” fellow citizens and our European “friends.” This despite our best efforts to turn that problem around.- Enlighten-America blog and all.


Well, we may need to rethink this enlighten bit, if this is what it means. Enlightened, we don’t think so. Just another example of government control taken to the absurd.

We Almost Agree With Ramsey Clark On One Point

When news reporters are dismissive or derogatory about a left-winger, you know they must really be out there. Especially when it deals with the United States and Iraq.

The news, when it found its way back to the United States, caused something of a stir. A few news reports were inquisitive — and some were skeptical — but most were simply dismissive or derogatory. "There goes Ramsey Clark again," they seemed to say. "Isn't it a shame? He used to be attorney general of the United States and now look at what he's doing."

We can’t say we have ever found ourselves in agreement with Ramsey Clark on anything before, but in this one part of his Iraqi Dictator Has Been Demonized column, he nearly nails our opinion.


However, we would have said: Isn’t it disgusting? He used to be attorney general of the United States and now look at what he's doing - defending evil incarnate and comparing the leaders of the United States to the Butcher of Baghdad.


Think we are being a bit hash, see the excepts below or the entire column here.

The United States, and the Bush administration in particular, engineered the demonization of Saddam, and it has a clear political interest in his conviction. Obviously, a fair trial of Saddam will be difficult to ensure — and critically important to the future of democracy in Iraq. This trial will write history, affect the course of violence around the world and have an impact on hopes for reconciliation within Iraq.

Saddam has been held illegally for more than a year without once meeting a family member, friend or lawyer of his choice. Although the world has seen him time and again on television — disheveled, apparently disoriented with someone prying deep into his mouth and later alone before some unseen judge — he has been cut off from all communications with the outside world and surrounded by the same U.S. military that mistreated prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

The United States has destroyed any hope of legitimacy, fairness or even decency by its treatment of the former president and its creation of the Iraqi Special Tribunal to try him.

Finally, any court that considers criminal charges against Saddam Hussein must have the power and the mandate to consider charges against leaders and military personnel of the United States, Britain and the other nations that participated in the aggression against Iraq, if equal justice under law is to have meaning.

Kerry “Over-Hyped” – Not Iraqi Elections

Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.


But Senator John Kerry (D-MA), in an interview on NBC's Meet The Press said "It is hard to say that something is legitimate when whole portions of the country can't vote and doesn't vote. No one in the United States should try to over-hype this election. I believe the world is less safe today than it was two and a half years ago.”


PoliPundit asks “Why is this guy on Meet the Press? He’s the losing presidential candidate.” Why indeed. He has nothing to offer but negativity. Even George Soros who spent $26 Million dollars to help elect Kerry says “Kerry did not, actually, offer a credible and coherent alternative.'' So when his biggest financial backer doesn’t think he is credible or coherent, why should anyone care to hear his pessimism and his failed campaign rhetoric? We think Kerry is “over-hyped” and the majority of the American people thought so too.


Now on to the good news from the Reuters report about the Iraqi election.

Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating. “I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters.

Western Baghdad polling stations were busy, with long queues of voters. In Sadr City, a poor Shi'ite neighborhood of northeast Baghdad, thick lines of voters turned out, women in black abaya robes in one line, men in another.

In the so-called "triangle of death," a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid. In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered.

In the shrine city of Najaf in the Shi'ite heartland, hundreds of people walked calmly to polling stations. "This is a wedding for all Iraqis. I congratulate all Iraqis on their newfound freedom and democracy," said Jaida Hamza, dressed in a black Islamic veil that also hid her face.

In mainly Shi'ite Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centers. "I am not afraid," said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. "This is like a festival for all Iraqis, smiling after he voted.

In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high. One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone. "Thanks be to God," he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted. "I hope everyone will go out and vote."

In Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote. "We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim.

Australian PM Howard Defends U.S.

The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard lashed out at "old Europe", describing criticism of the U.S. as "unfair and irrational", as global tensions grow over the Iraq war and free trade.


During a vigorous panel debate on U.S. global relations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, several European officials attacked President George W. Bush's Iraq policy, but Mr Howard stood up to defend his ally.


Good on ‘em!

Shoulder-Fired Missile Sting In Nicaragua

Nicaraguan police, with U.S. assistance in a sting operation, thwarted black marketeers trying to sell SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles capable of downing commercial aircraft earlier this month, raising fears that some missiles already have been sold to terrorists. U.S. officials think the missiles are being provided by elements of the Nicaraguan military.


The sting has sounded alarm bells through the Bush administration for a number of reasons. The arrested men thought they were selling missiles to terrorists in Colombia and were willing to sell to Islamic terrorists.


Also, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in November had won what he believed was a firm agreement from Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos to destroy about 1,000 remaining SA-7s. Some in the Bush administration now suspect the military is double-crossing Mr. Bolanos.

NYT: Freedom Doesn't The Bills

Our sister blog, Enlighten-New Jersey has a funny spoof on this nutty New York Times column. Here


Is it just us or does Joyce Purnick’s column in today’s Metro section of the New York Times make absolutely no sense? The column begins with these two paragraphs:


In his inaugural address on Thursday, President Bush repeatedly invoked freedom and liberty, telling his fellow citizens that spreading liberty around the world was "the calling of our time."


The more direct needs of people back home got five presidential sentences. Mr. Bush never spoke about, say, the freedom of knowing that the rent will be paid, that the refrigerator will be full, that car payments or a round-trip subway ride won't be a burden. Health insurance got merely a glancing reference.

President Bush - Inaugural Address 2005

Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:


On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.


At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.


We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.


We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.


America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.


So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.


This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.


The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.


My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm.


We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.


We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.


Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.


Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:


All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.


Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.


The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."


The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.


And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat.


Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:


From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.


A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.


All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.


America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.


In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.


In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever.


In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.


From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?


These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them. Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.


We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.


When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something." In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.


May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America.

Paying Respect To A Terrorist

Former President Jimmy Carter and former Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman paid their respects today at the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his former headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Carter and Whitman will act as observers during tomorrow’s Palestinian presidential election.


Arafat is the father of modern terrorism, the United States is engaged in a war against terror and two former U.S. leaders stop to pay respects at this terrorist’s grave. What can we say?

Keyboard Organizer

Grandstanding Senators – The Country Be Damned

In our post yesterday on the Alberto Gonzales hearings we said “wouldn’t it be nice if our Senators cut the grandstanding and just did what was best for the country? It’s hard to imagine they actually believe most of their own arguments. Maybe we will be proved wrong”. Before the hearings we predicted that Senators would spend most of their time listening to themselves talk and very little on listening to answers. Well, our predictions were right on target. Some selected quotes from the Senate hearings below:

"The policies include this nominee's role in developing interpretation of the law to justify harsh treatment of prisoners, harsh treatment that's tantamount to torture. America's troops and citizens are at greater risk because of those actions, the terrible repercussions throughout so much of the world. The searing photographs from Abu Ghraib have made it harder to create and maintain the alliances we need to prevail against the vicious terrorists who threaten us. And those abuses serve as recruiting posters for the terrorists." Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

"Would you not concede that your decision and the decision of the president to call into question the definition of torture, the need to comply with the Geneva Conventions, at least opened up a permissive environment of conduct?" asked Richard Durbin(D-IL)

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), told Gonzales that policies he supported or helped formulate "have been used by the administration, the military and the CIA to justify torture and Geneva Convention violations by military and civilian personnel."

"The previous attorney general ran the most secretive Justice Department in my lifetime," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). "Will you continue the John Ashcroft 'my way or the highway' approach, which often led to embarrassment?"

"You know there are going to be times when the attorney general of the United States has to enforce the law of the United States. He can't be worried about friends or colleagues at the White House. His duty is to all Americans," said Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Joe Biden harangued Gonzales for sidestepping tough questions, "This is not about your intelligence, this hearing is not about your competence, it's not about your integrity - it's about your judgment and your candor," he said. "We're looking for candor, old buddy. I love you, but you're not very candid so far." But Biden used up his allotted time with this unpunctuated sermon leaving Gonzales no time to speak, much less speak with candor.

A lot of talk about torture, Geneva Conventions and candor. What does this have to do with Alberto Gonzales and his fitness to be Attorney General? In reality nothing - it’s about the Democrats trying to draw a straight line from Abu Ghraib prisoner treatment to Gonzales to President Bush. Why would U.S. Senators want to do that? In our opinion it’s because they care more about tarnishing the President than the truth. It’s because they care more about grabbing personal power than protecting the country.


We wonder which one of the grandstanding Senator’s actually disagree with the following conclusion reached by Alberto Gonzales in the infamous January 22, 2002 memo to President Bush.

You have asked for our Office’s views concerning the effect of international treaties and federal laws on the treatment of individuals detained by the U.S. Armed Forces during the conflict in Afghanistan. In particular, you have asked whether certain treaties forming part of the laws of armed conflict apply to the conditions of detention and the procedures for trial of members of al Qaeda and the Taliban militia. We conclude that these Treaties do not protect members of the al Qaeda organization, which as a non-State actor cannot be a party to the international agreements governing war. We further conclude that the President has sufficient grounds to find that these treaties do not protect members of the Taliban militia. This memorandum expresses no view as to whether the President should decide, as a matter of policy, that the U.S. Armed Forces should adhere to the standards of conduct in !hose treaties with respect to the treatment of prisoners.

The memo’s summary seems pretty straight forward to us, al Qaeda and the Taliban militia are not covered under international treaties that governing war.


So why would these Senator’s want to paint a picture of the United States breaking treaties and international law, of torturing prisoners at the behest of the President? We used to believe our leaders would do what they believed was best for the country. These Senators are making it very hard for us to continue that belief. Do these Senators actually believe their own charges? We’ll see how they vote on Gonzales' confirmation.


You can find all of the “controversial” Gonzales memos here for a more in-depth understanding

Kerry’s Iraq Publicity Tour

Yesterday we sent Jim Geraghty over at the National Review’s TKS (The Kerry Spot) our post “Kerry Cheered in Baghdad?”. Today he posted, “Did Kerry Make His ‘Blunders’ Comment at an ‘Informal Lunch?”, using all of the citations and links found in our post, but apparently he formed a different impression. (It would have been nice if he had linked to us or even given us a hat tip – but we’ll forgive him this time)


Anyway, we disagree with Geraghty’s take on Senator Kerry’s junket to the Middle East. It would appear to us that Kerry’s purpose for his foreign tour, including his trip to Iraq, is about publicity for John Kerry. It’s about giving Kerry a platform to criticize President Bush and U.S. foreign policy. It gives him a platform to say “I told you so” in front of reporters all too eager to give Kerry positive press and slam President Bush.


Kerry’s statements from Iraq are the same as those he made during the presidential campaign and are not based upon “seeing the situation himself”. Can anyone spend two days in Iraq, or anywhere for that matter, and really understand the situation. So we will not, as Geraghty suggests, “give [Kerry] a round of applause for heading over to Iraq and seeing the situation for himself.” Kerry’s comments are not constructive and are made to advance John Kerry and not the United States.


Geraghty also says “the message you get from that headline is clear - Kerry was applauded when he decried the Bush team's blunders.” Well, first the headline said Kerry was cheered and not applauded, but either way the headline is not accurate. Nowhere, in any report of the Senator’s tour, was anyone cited as cheering or applauding Kerry in Iraq for anything. The headline gives a completely false impression. It suggests that Kerry’s negative views and comments about Iraq are being praised or lauded by some group, presumably U.S. soldiers or the Iraqi people. In our opinion, reporting of this nature is intentionally misleading and is used to undermine our effort in Iraq and President Bush’s foreign policy in general.


Finally, Geraghty says from this [the Chronicle report], it's not clear whether Kerry said "horrendous judgments" and "unbelievable blunders" in front of the troops, or in front of "a small group of reporters and representatives of nongovernmental organizations." Frankly we don’t think it matters if Kerry’s comments were in made in front of the troops or behind their backs. He made them publicly and they were reported around the world. Our troops will certainly be aware of them as will our enemies. Whose morale has Kerry been more likely to boast with his comments – the Iraqi coalition’s or the terrorists/insurgents’? Is this taxpayer funded publicity tour in the best interest of the United States? We think not. We also think as Kerry's tour progresses his true motives will become quite clear.

Smart ID WiFi Detector

Gizmo Of the Day
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Boxer Rebellion

Democrats turned Congress' quadrennial counting of electoral votes today into a hoo-ha over purported election problems in Ohio, forcing the House and Senate to consider a challenge to the presidential count for only the second time since 1877.


Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was joined with Representative John Conyers (D-MI), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Stephanie Tubb-Jones (D-OH), and 29 other Democratic members of the US House in challenging the Ohio presidential election results. See how House and Senate members voted.


A report prepared by Conyer’s staff, Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio?, was sent to Senator Boxer, along with a letter singed by 24 House Democrats, asking for her support in the Senate for a challenge.


Sen. Boxer wrote a letter to Rep. Tubbs Jones that said in part , "I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election.” Letter here.


Senator Kerry said in a statement, "While I am deeply concerned about the issues being highlighted by my colleagues in Congress and citizens across the country and support their efforts to highlight the need to ensure voting rights, I will not be joining their protest of the Ohio electors."


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) declined to answer reporters' questions directly about whether she supported the move. But she, too, spoke during the House debate, saying of the challengers, "This is their only opportunity to have this debate while the country is listening."


Did you notice that when questions are raised about election irregularities, they always seem to happen in voting districts controlled and run by Democrats? If there were any problems or voting rights issues, who caused them? More grandstanding by our “leaders” – we hope you will let them know your opinion concerning their actions.


Update: Human Events Online says: Two days ago, on January 4, 2005, the Michael Moore published a new letter to Senator Boxer and other Senators reminding them that they didn't object to the electoral vote count four years ago, and requested that they rise and object to the vote count from Ohio today. Today, in fact, Senator Barbara Boxer just objected to the Ohio vote count.

Kerry Cheered In Baghdad?

You often hear about the blurring of opinion and reporting in the media, but how about “reality based“ vs. “just make stuff up” reporting. This is the headline in the San Francisco Chronicle today - Kerry cheered in Baghdad, decries Bush team's 'blunders.'


You can read reports covering the Senator’s trip to Iraq from the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Agence France-Presse and even the San Francisco Chronicle’s own piece and you’ll not see find a single reference to anyone cheering. True enough, you’ll find many references to Kerry “decrying” Bush’s “blunders”, but cheering – who in the heck are we suppose to believe was cheering? U.S. soldiers, throngs of Iraqi people, the terrorist and insurgents or maybe just a small group of reporters?


Anyway, we hope Kerry is booed in Boston when he returns home. His remarks in Iraq show a complete lack of judgment and leadership in time of war. Just one more instance of grandstanding by a U.S. Senator. Excerpts below.

Sen. John Kerry arrived in Baghdad yesterday for a two-day, on-the-ground assessment of the situation in Iraq. He was scheduled to meet with U.S. diplomats, intelligence officials and military commanders; senior members of the interim government; and Sunni and Shiite Muslim political figures.

Kerry also met with about 20 soldiers based in his home state and was approached by several U.S. soldiers to pose for photographs and sign T-shirts while he was eating in a hotel restaurant.Kerry asked the soldiers what he should tell Congress about the war in Iraq and was told that "the good work that they are doing is not getting reported in the United States."

During a meeting with reporters Kerry attacked what he called the "horrendous judgments" and "unbelievable blunders" of the Bush administration. The mistakes, he said, included former U.S. occupation leader Paul Bremer's decisions to disband the Iraqi army and purge the government of former members of Hussein's Baath Party. Both moves are widely believed to have fueled the largely Sunni insurgency.

"What is sad about what's happening here now is that so much of it is a process of catching up from the enormous miscalculations and wrong judgments made in the beginning," he said. "And the job has been made enormously harder."

"No insurgency is defeated by conventional military power alone," he said. "Look at the IRA," the Irish Republican Army, which fought a decades long guerrilla war against the British in Northern Ireland before a Catholic- Protestant power-sharing government was put in place. "It was defeated by a combination of time and political negotiation."

"Mistakes have been made," he said. "Now it's a different time and different set of judgments that need to be made. I need to understand it, so I can make the judgments. That's why I'm here, to see and hear firsthand what the dynamics are."

"But we are at war, and I think you can't really make all the judgments that you need to make without digging in."

A Wave of Criticism

Thomas Sowell in his article, a wave of criticism, makes the excellent point that complaints concerning U.S. aid to the tsunami victims are based upon attitude and not fact. Excerpts below

Two questions: First, what country has done the most to help the victims of this natural disaster? Second, what country has been criticized most for not doing enough? The answer to both questions is the United States of America.

No matter what we do, it is always possible to do more. But "more" is not the standard to which any other country is held. “More" is the demand -- and the criticism -- that can always be made. We are not compared to other people. We are compared to an ideal that human beings have never met. No consistent principle is involved in these criticisms, just attitudes.

Decades ago, Eric Hoffer wrote: "Nowhere at present is there such a measureless loathing of their country by educated people as in America. Reasons may be cited but the flimsiness of many of those reasons betrays the fact that what is really involved are attitudes.”

A recent example is a denunciation of the United States as a "land of penny pinchers" by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. Why? Because, aside from highly publicized tragedies like the tsunami, "we're tightwads who turn away as people die in greater numbers" around the world from things like malaria and AIDS.
Incidentally, in all of Mr. Kristof's waxing indignant about the ravages of malaria, there is not one word about the banning of DDT, which has led immediately to a resurgence of malaria that has taken lives by the millions, as a result of propaganda campaigns against DDT by environmental busybodies.

Apparently it is not the principle of saving lives lost to malaria that is crucial, but the opportunity to score points against the United States. Green extremists get a pass. So do bungling and corrupt foreigners, including the United Nations.

Alberto Gonzales – No Treaty With Al Qaeda

Today begins the confirmation hearings for Alberto Gonzales and it will be interesting to see the usual suspects in full attack mode. Senators “asking tough questions” or should we say, making long-winded speaches with stinging accusations, all delivered in mock horror. Most of the time spent on listening to themselves talk and very little on listening to answers.


Is it just us, or do these hearings have nothing to do with eliciting information to make an informed decision, but everything to do with scoring political points? Wouldn’t it be nice if our Senators cut the grandstanding and just did what was best for the country? It’s hard to imagine they actually believe most of their own arguments. Maybe we will be proved wrong.


In the mean time, read this great article at National Review Online written by Andrew C. McCarthy. Excerpts below, but read the entire article: Should We Make a Treaty with al Qaeda? here.

[Today] the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for [Alberto] Gonzales. Critics are urging committee Democrats to question the nominee aggressively on the benighted administration policy of no Geneva protections for terrorists whose lives are singularly dedicated to annihilating Americans. Fair game, one supposes, but no senator should be allowed to take up the torch without at least answering a simple question: Do you favor a treaty with al Qaeda?

The inarguable, inconvenient fact is we have no such treaty. Al Qaeda is not and, indeed, cannot be among Geneva's high contracting parties. It is not a country. The U.S. has for over two decades expressly rejected a treaty — the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions — that would have vested terrorists with Geneva protections. I hate to spoil the party, but if we're going to have such a treaty with al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, it will have to be a new one.

Under Article III of the Constitution, the consent of two thirds of the Senate's membership is required before a treaty can be approved. Although we haven't yet been able to arrange getting President Bush and Emir Zarqawi together for a signing ceremony, getting the senators on record — especially given the caviling over Gonzales — could really get the ball rolling. So let's ask them. All of them. Plain and simple, so the folks back home know just where you stand: Do you favor a treaty with al Qaeda?

Does anyone think there are 67 yea votes on that one? How about ten? How about one? No. The fact is, outside a lunatic fringe, there's not a politician in America who would support something so absurd.

The next attorney general's position on this matter is not a radical view. It's America's view. So ask away — it'll be good for all of us to know where everyone stands.

Drive Time "Best Mug"

Gizmo Of the Day
Chosen as the best mug by the Wall Street Journal, the Drive Time “Best Mug” eliminates many of the problems of other travel mugs. When the lid is closed the mug is spill proof. When the lid is turned to open, the beverage flows freely. For lefties the Drive Time "Best Mug" easily converts into a left-handed model. The double-wall stainless insulated mug holds 18 ounces of coffee or your favorite beverage. It comes in cool colors too.

Blog Briefs - Jan. 5

Instapundit: Tsunami Update
The French resent the prominent American role.


Little Green Footballs: We stingy Americans
Private U.S. Aid for Tsunami Tops $200M. An email from Naomi Ragen points out that last year, Saudi Arabia raised more than $150 million for the families of suicide bombers. To help their Muslim brothers and their devastated families in Southeast Asia, the oil-rich country is contributing $30 million.



Michelle Malkin: Home Loans for Illegal Aliens, Pt. II

Remember [when Michelle] wrote about illegal alien home loans nearly two years ago? Now, government officials in Wisconsin have made it even easier for immigration outlaws to settle in:

In a pilot program described as the first of its kind, an agency created by the state government is making it easier for illegal immigrants in Wisconsin to obtain mortgage loans. Immigrants who do not have Social Security numbers - a common requirement for loans - can use an alternative government-issued tax number to get financing for new homes, under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) program.


TKS: Will Barbara Boxer Challenge Electoral College Result On The Floor Of The Senate?
Apparently MSNBC reported this earlier, but now there's a story saying Sen. Barbara Boxer is denying that she has reached a decision on whether to object to the results of the Electoral College.


MSNBC reporter Chip Reid reported this afternoon that Boxer was likely to challenge, but the network has not posted a story online. Rush Limbaugh also made a similar comment during his radio program Wednesday.


I am also informed by a Republican source that John Kerry has stated he will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio electors.

More Votes Than Voters

The tighter than tight race for Governor in Washington is a real debacle. The first ballot count showed Republican Dino Rossi winning by 261 votes, a subsequent machine recount had Rossi winning by 42. The last recount conducted by hand, ended with the Democrat, Christine Gregoire winning by 129 votes.


Now we learn the number of ballots counted in King County outnumbered the list of voters who voted by 3,539. Also, an unknown number of provisional voters, some of whom may not even have been registered to vote, improperly put their ballots directly into vote-counting machines at polling places. This according to King County's elections superintendent.


No election is ever perfect, but when there are more ballots cast than voters and the difference is greater than the margin of victory – it’s a fiasco. Washington State law limits the number of recounts to three – so maybe a revote is in order.

Creative Nomad Muvo Slim

Gizmo Of the Day

Looking for an inexpensive, lightweight mp3 or Audible player for use during your commute or workout, then the Creative Nomad Muvo Slim might just be for you. The Slim is about the size of a credit card and weighs just over 1.5 ounces. It is compatible with both MP3 and WMA files, has a built-in FM radio and a voice recorder. The unit has a 256 MB storage capacity and uses super-fast USB 2.0 connectivity for file transfer and battery charging. The battery is rated at 17 hours of continuous play and can be found at many of the usual suspects for less than $100.

Social Security – Keep the Wage Cap

There are many ideas swirling around about how to “fix” Social Security. Eliminating the wage cap is one often talked about. In our opinion this is a horrible idea. It’s just another one of those stick it to the “wealthy” plans. Sticking it to the “wealthy” never seems to us to be a very fair way to treat our fellow citizens, but as in all these “tax the rich” schemes, the truly wealthy are never touched.


The rich derive their wealth and incomes from sources other than wages – property, stock and bond investments – sources of income not taxed under Social Security. People that have high incomes from wages, often for a brief period in their lives, are the ones that pay the penalty under these “tax the rich” programs.


Social Security produces a lousy return on investment for many American workers as it is now. Eliminating the wage cap will not improve the program’s long term sustainability, but will certainly hurt the individual trying to save their own money for retirement, not to mention the potential negative repercussions to the economy.


Read Bruce Bartlett‘s The Stealth Tax. Excerpts below.

Since the Social Security system was created, the payroll tax has applied only to a portion of total wages. Originally, the limit was $3,000, which Congress raised from time to time. Since 1972, the wage base has been indexed and rises automatically each year. This year, it was $87,900. Starting on Jan. 1, the taxable wage base will rise to $90,000.

As it is, there is already an increasingly tenuous relationship between [Social Security] taxes paid and benefits received by workers with incomes equal to or greater than the taxable base. According to the Congressional Research Service, in 1980 a retiree with lifetime earnings at or above the Social Security wage cap got back all of his and his employer's contributions in 3.1 years. By 2000, it took 24.9 years, and by 2010 it will take 35.3 years. Under current projections, a worker retiring in 2030 will need 55 years worth of benefits to get back all his contributions.

If the cap is removed and benefits are limited to current levels, the return for workers taxed at the maximum will become nonexistent. This means that Social Security will no longer be a pension system to which one earns benefits, but will instead be nothing but a welfare program.

Of course, another consequence of raising the cap is that it will constitute a massive marginal tax rate increase. The top rate on wages will, in effect, rise by 12.4 percent, raising the de facto top rate from 38 percent to more than 50 percent (including the 2.9 percent Medicare tax, which has applied to all wages since 1993).

Even if benefits are frozen, the revenue gain from lifting the wage cap isn't that great. According to Matt Moore of the National Center for Policy Analysis, it would only increase the life of the Social Security trust fund by seven years.

Portable Headphones

Gizmo Of the Day

Looking for a better set of headphones for your iPod or other portable? (Those iPod ear buds hurt our ears.) Check out the headphone buying guide and reviews at HeadRoom. We like the
Sennheiser PX100 – they’re lightweight and fold up like a pair of glasses. They deliver great sound quality and comfort without draining battery life.


Update: The Enlightened niece took our advice and ordered the PX 100’s to go with her new iPod. She just called to say they arrived today and that they sound awesome.

Blog Briefs - Jan. 4

The Belmont Club: Livery but sick and green

The tsunami relief effort continues to be a US-Australia effort, with Singapore now in and coordinating closely with the US and Australia.


Though almost none of the food, supplies and logistical systems to provide relief for tsunami victims have come from the United Nations, it appears important to the organization that what has arrived bare the colors and stamp of the UN.


UN representatives have said that while it was a good thing that the Australians and Americans were running the air ops into tsunami-wrecked Aceh, for cultural and political reasons, those Australians and Americans really "should go blue." In other words, they should switch into UN uniforms and give up their national ones.


Just One Minute: Krugman - Save Social Security Last

Paul Krugman continues his defense of the Social security status quo with a ringing call to Save Social Security last.


Little Green Footballs: Iran Reports US Overflights

It comes from Iranian government sources, so skepticism is in order: U.S. spy planes spotted over nuke sites.


Michelle Malkin: Good Morning, Mickey Kaus

Jimmie at The Sundries Shack notes Mickey Kaus's belated discovery of Norm Mineta's treachery. Seems Kaus was unaware of Mineta's role in assisting the ethnic grievance industry shakedowns of airlines whose crew members engaged in threat profiling immediately after 9/11.

Turf Wars

Tuff wars at the federal level, state and city level.


Turf War - Federal
If only we had more Senators like Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois that took a stand against corruption and pork.


Turf War – State
Kansas Supreme Court ruled today that the state must spend more money on public schools.
Kansas currently spends $2.7 billion annually on education from kindergarten through high school, under a formula that gives districts extra dollars for special needs, such as programs for poor and minority children. In addition, Kansas' 301 school districts now raise more than $570 million a year from property taxes. The Kansas high court said the state's school finance formula is based not on what it actually costs to educate students ``but rather on political and other factors not relevant to education.'' [Could one of those "other factors" be what the citizens can afford?]


Turf War - City
Ed Ehlen wanted an environmentally friendly lawn, so he installed artificial turf at his new, $4 million home. But Gulf City, FL officials refuse to grant Ehlen a certificate of occupancy until the plastic grass is removed.

Staple-less Stapler

Gizmo of the Day

You'll never need staples with this little gadget on your desk. The Staple-less Stapler joins your papers by punching a small, neat hole in your documents and folding the remaining flaps together for a secure binding.

Hero Bracelets.Org

Hero Bracelets.org has created a bracelet to memorialize the brave men and women that have lost their lives in Iraq. The organization's goal is to donate a minimum of $2 from the purchase of each bracelet to the Fallen Heroes Fund, a non-profit, non-political fund instituted to provide aid to these families.


Each Hero Bracelet is engraved with the name, rank, hometown and date of death of an American soldier lost in Iraq. It is engraved on black anodized aluminum and can be easily fitted to any wrist.


Sounds like a great idea. We hope they can expand their concept to those killed in Afghanistan, as well as, those wounded in both conflicts. These soldiers and sailors should also be remembered and supported.

Help is On the Way – To the U.N

A secret meeting was held in Richard C. Holbrooke’s Manhattan apartment to save Kofi Annan and rescue the U.N. Charges of corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food program, evidence that U.N. peacekeepers in the Congo had run prostitution rings and raped women and teenage girls, and formal motions of no confidence in the organization's senior management led to Mr. Annan’s self-described "annus horribilis."


Mr. Holbrooke believes “the U.N. cannot succeed if it is in open dispute and constant friction with its founding nation, its host nation and its largest contributor nation.. The U.N., without the U.S. behind it, is a failed institution”

Welcome to Enlighten-America

Happy New Year 2005 and welcome to the Enlighten-America blog.


We hope over the course of this New Year to highlight the issues, politics and opinions the folks of the blogosphere will find of interest and to offer all a forum for discussion.


We believe a democracy functions best when citizens consider a wide range of opinions, including those that challenge their viewpoint. We also believe people can reinforce or disagree with other’s ideas and positions in a manner that promotes greater understanding. We want Enlighten-America to be a site where that happens.


We will also look to bring attention to the lighter side of life with anything that catches our eye as interesting, new or unique. We hope you will visit us often and contribute your ideas and thoughts. Thanks for taking a look.


Best of health and happiness in 2005!