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That phrase cannot be attributed to any one particular person, but the gist of that saying gives poignancy to today’s liberal (a/k/a Progressive) thinking of the many government policies and programs that have not turned out the way they were originally intended. Do any government policies ever turn out the way they were intended?
Many of the social programs of the 20th Century were enacted with the intention of doing “good” for society, but after trial and error, the results, of these social experiments, have been less than was envisioned by the “benevolent” people (mainly liberal politicians) making those proposals. Feel good legislation, like trying to help the needy and downtrodden, trying to make amends for the “sins” of the past, and trying to even the “playing field” to make situations more “fair”, have, in many cases, turned out badly, much to the chagrin of the proponents of these misguided programs, but still they push on. The old saying, “Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up” seems to be the “modus operandi” of today's liberal (a/k/a Progressive/Socialist). A perfect example of the effects of this phrase is the consequences that resulted from the enactment of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1965. The intentions of making life more livable for the old and the poor were honorable and compassionate, but the results have been less than fulfilling and, in many cases, downright disastrous. This was the epitome of trying to institute the “Nanny State” mentality into the fabric of our society, and which the Obama Administration tried to do in the 8 years of its presidency in trying to complete the job started by Lyndon Johnson. Not only has it not eradicated poverty, but it has had some very harmful effects upon some of our most vulnerable citizens. Medicare and Medicaid were setup to make life better for both our senior citizens and the poor. No doubt Medicare has helped seniors who have or had health problems, but like most all benevolent government programs, waste, fraud, and inefficiency were prevalent in the administration of this program. Both these programs are going broke in a few short years, and in order to sustain them; massive infusions of government (our tax dollars) money will be needed to keep these programs afloat. Along with Social Security, these programs are nothing more than a government “Ponzi” scheme that will come crashing down in the near future, especially since the “baby boomers” are retiring at a really fast clip. It'll make Bernie Madoff look like a piker. The “War on Poverty” also exacerbated a problem in the inner cities by encouraging couples not to marry, thereby causing the out-of-wedlock births in the black community to approach 73%, thereby relegating many of these poor people to remain on the government dole with little hope that many of them will be able to free themselves of being dependent on the government for a handout. Another area where good intentions have gone awry has been in the area of so-called “climate change” (a/k/a global warming). Most all of us, if not all, want clean air, clean water and less pollution in our lives, but some people have perverted this cause by trying to cash in financially by purposely scaring the people into believing that more rules and regulations are needed or we will be confronted with dire environmental consequences. In other words, they think they can change Mother Nature, an almost impossible task. Of the bills that the Democrats have pushed in the past, one was called “Cap and Trade” (the word tax should be used in place of the word trade), this was a perfect example of government sticking its nose into places that it has no business to be in. If it had passed (no chance today since Republicans control the presidency and the Senate), it would have raised all our taxes dramatically (it would be especially harmful in this time of economic progress) and it would've put a dagger through the heart of our job generating private businesses. It was an anti-business, anti-free enterprise piece of legislation that would've prolonged our slow recovery well into the future. Even if it was passed, it would have had little or no effect upon our environment, as man, as stated before, cannot control Mother Nature, even if “faux” recipients of the Nobel Prize, Barack Hussein Obama and Al Gore, have told us otherwise. Yes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, but we can bring back some rational reality in our country and in our lives by electing politicians with a strong conservative background, like we did on Nov. 8, 2016, and a philosophy of helping people to help themselves with a minimal amount of government interference. A helping hand instead of a handout is the role of a compassionate government. This philosophy is one of the reasons why President Trump was elected. Let's hope he can get it passed into law. Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann
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The behavior of some congressional legislators is alarming. Especially four female radical left freshmen House members, who appear to resemble sleeper agents for a nefarious system of governance, abusing First Amendment rights, to subvert the principals and laws of our United States.
The apocalypse four are Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. The latter two are Muslim with strong anti Semitic rhetoric. After listening to them constantly expressing how America sucks, they formed a press conference to tell everyone how they love and how great the country is and how their contribution adds to it, while like a cow relieving its udder, using the press conference to empty the venom from their fangs on President Trump. Taking only two questions, one of them directed to Ilhan Oma, wasn't liked and she shook it off with saying, she didn't want to dignify that question with an answer. A dishonest dodge to avoid implication. Through millennia, claimants' of being "Champions of the People," many have turned into tyrants. I don't care if these four were born in this country or are citizens, or what color they may be; but you can be sure it's not red, white and blue the way they have been disparaging the country. They are a danger to our country and never be taken lightly. Conservative Commentary by George Giftos The complete quote by Sir Walter Scott (an Eighteenth Century Scottish author) is, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”.
Doesn't that quote sort of describe the present-day politicians who are now running our country? No matter what party you are affiliated with or support, you'll have to admit that deception (and obfuscation) are endemic as to how they operate in the pursuit of their political goals. It seems that all politicians are not in favor of excess government spending, but how come we have excess government spending? It seems that all politicians are against poverty and for the poor people, so why do we have more poverty and poor people today than in the past? It seems that all politicians are against excess taxation, but why do they continue to raise our taxes (at least the Democrats want to do that), especially against the the job-producing entrepreneur class, the “doer's not the takers”? Many politicians (mainly all Democrats) say they are in favor of border security, but why are they against the wall that would cut down on illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling? Most all the politicians seem to be against all the excesses of government, but we seem to have more excesses than ever before. Is that the “tangled web” Sir Walter Scott was referring to? In this, one of the best stock market and economy in years, we have a group of politicians ( mostly liberal Democrats) who are continually bad-mouthing the economy and its present architect, President Donald Trump. What could be up is down (food stamps usage, unemployment rates (especially black and Hispanic), and poverty is the lowest in years. And, what could be down is up (wages, the stock market, consumer confidence etc.), yet all you hear from the Democrats and the “fake news” media is nothing but “doom and gloom”. It's like they are living in a fantasy world all their own. Compare these results with the mediocre economic results of the Obama years, where we never averaged more than a 2% GDP in any of his 8 years. Today our GDP is averaging around 3% and 3.5%. Doesn't that demand some praise, especially for President Donald Trump? Look at the most recent election where the Democrats wrested control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans. Most all their candidates, with a few “socialist” oriented candidate exceptions, ran a campaign that was basically moderate in tone (many distancing themselves from Nancy Pelosi and the extreme leftward tilt of the established Democrat Party). So now after the election, these “moderates” fell into line and backed Pelosi for Speaker of the House and many have reverted back to bashing President Trump, 24/7. They are claiming that they will have one investigation after another in order to possibly tarnish the president enough so that he will not run for re-election or that he will lose in 2020, if he runs, as a result of the constant negativity being heaped upon him by the Democrats and their cohorts in the main stream media. I wonder if this is what the voters who voted to turn the Congress over to the Democrats, really wanted? Many of these successful “moderates” won in districts in 2018 that was won by Trump in 2016, but in 2020 Trump will be heading the ticket so many of them might just get the boot for their anti-Trump rhetoric and actions. Do we really need anymore verification as to what Sir Walter Scott opined in the Eighteenth Century when he said, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”? I think that many of today's elected politicians will find out that the electorate has finally figured out that they have been deceived by the people they elected to represent them, and come the next election they will meet the same fate as the candidates they beat in the last election due to this “tangled web of deception”. Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann Should the Descendants of Black Slaves be Part of the Proposed Reparations Solution Today?7/14/2019 Upon reading that headline you might say, of course, it was the "evil" wicked "whites" that owned the slaves and became rich on the backs of the black workers they owned. But, not so fast, all the slave owners during our history were not all white, there were over 3,775 free black people who owned 12,740 black slaves. Should the ancestors of those black slave owners be part of the proposed reparations reimbursement?
Here are some facts the "reparations" promoters never tell you. The first legal slave owner in American history was a black tobacco farmer named Anthony Johnson. He was descended from West Africa where most of the slaves originally came from. The "white" slave traders didn't go to West Africa and capture black people, they bought the slaves from other blacks who owned their own black slaves from other tribes. Should those relatives of black slave sellers be also a part of the reparations reimbursement? In North Carolina, the largest slave holder in 1860 (right before the Civil War) was a black plantation owner named William Ellison. Another unknown fact is that American Indians owned thousands of black slaves. How ironic is that? In fact, during those pre-Civil War days, many black slaves were allowed to hold jobs, own businesses, and own real estate. These facts somehow never reached our history textbooks in our schools. Even today, slavery exists in Africa and in some Muslim countries. As stated above, black on black slavery was common in Africa for thousands of years. And most slaves brought to America were purchased from black slave owners. With those facts in mind and how this "reparations" discussion is being conducted, you think that the only "evil" people involved in slavery were white people, mainly in the South. It is estimated that only 1 in 5 people in the South owned slaves (20% of the population). So, that charge that only white people participated in the business of slavery is absurd. No one in their right mind would condone slavery, regardless who is being enslaved, whether black, yellow, red, or white. By the way, the word "slave" comes from the Slavic people from Europe who were enslaved by the Muslim hordes, who overran their countries in years past. The Muslims have a long history of capturing and using slaves in their culture, and still do today. Today, the reparations movement is being mainly pushed by militant black groups and by certain members of the Congressional Black Caucus (including some Democrat candidates for president). It seems that their major interest in reparations is political and not really financial, as they know that most people are not in favor of it and that the whole discussion is ridiculous as slavery was abolished over 156 years ago. Their major goal is to shame the white Americans into thinking that slavery was all their ancestors fault and that reparations would be justification for giving money for descendants of slaves. Over the years we have given the black community a form or reparations, it was called "affirmative action". So in answer to our headline, the answer is "NO", reparations is not required to assuage the "white guilt" the promoters of reparations are falsely using to promote this unrealistic idea. The one positive thing of the wrongful practice of slavery is that the descendants of slavery now live in the greatest free country in the world where black people can become anything they want to be, including president of the United States, and not be in one of those oppressive countries from which their ancestors were sold into slavery. God bless America! Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann P.S.- Check on the facts presented here by Googling up "Blacks Who Owned Slaves Prior to the Civil War" I'm not a fan of President Trump's style, but it shows he is not a put up job. His energy is devoted to make the promises he made to be elected happen, against stiff opposition from his detractors looking for high compensation for their mediocre service, while he is contributing all of his salary to charity.
I'd rather trust an obnoxious doctor, highly skilled, with my health than a doctor with a smooth bedside manner who doesn't have a clue. People are appearing with more frequency, who are openly dishonoring America, using their misdirected hate for President Trump as an excuse for deplorable actions against our flag. Loving your country is not based on who is president at the time, but what it stands for. Giving the knee or showing bad manners by snubbing an invitation to be honored at the White House for exceptional achievement is self-serving ignorance. It was reflected in criticizing the President's invitation to the Clemson Tigers when they won the college championship in 2017 during the government shut-down, when resident staff was furloughed and a formal dinner could not be served, due to the President's detractors who tried to box him in for trying to get funding to alleviate the crisis at the southern border. Not tax payer money, but at his own expense, fast food was served from leading food exchanges. They were football players and not connoisseurs of lobster thermidor, pheasant under glass and beluga caviar. They would have been content with a slap on the belly with a hot plate being honored at the White House. I hope the USA Soccer Team maintains its honor and dignity if invited to the White House to commemorate an astounding feat. Conservative Commentary by George Giftos The push is on by the Democrat Party to have the government mandate a $15 per hour minimum wage. If there ever was a job killer proposed by our feckless politicians, this would be right at the top.
Everyone wants to make as much money as possible working at a job, but it should be determined by the free market not by a government mandate. Remember, a worker really does not get paid by the hour, he/she gets paid for the value they bring to the hour. If an employer wants to pay $10, $15, $20 or more per hour to their employees, fine, but it should not be dictated by the government it should be determined by the employer as to what he can afford and what he/she needs to attract new employees. The free market shall determine what an employer needs to pay. This proposed increase in the minimum wage really hurts the people the promoters of the mandated minimum wage are trying to help. The minimum wage is not supposed to be a wage that will sustain a family. It is a wage used as a stepping stone for unskilled, inexperienced workers starting out in their working career. It also is geared for the senior citizens who are looking to supplement their retirement income. Most workers, who today work for the minimum wage, are teenagers starting out their working careers. Most find employment in fast food restaurants, service companies and clerks in retail stores. If the employer is forced to pay someone more than what the job is worth to the employer, then the employer most likely will not hire a worker, he may lay off workers, he may cut the hours worked by the employees, he may have to raise his prices to meet the added cost of doing business, or he may just have to go out of business, thereby creating more unemployment, especially among the young people needing to get experience by working at a job. It seems that most all the Democrats missed that class in Economics 101 in school because of the damaging consequences of pushing to pass a $15 government mandated minimum wage. Is that showing empathy to the low skilled, inexperienced worker who will be unable to get a job and who will join the rolls of the unemployed? Many of the teenagers who cannot find a job are prone to get involved anti-social behavior or possibly turn to crime as a result. One of the consequences of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour for a beginner worker, is that the worker now earning $15 per hour per hour will now want a raise to $20 per hour, and the worker making $20 per hour will now want $25 per hour, on up the line. It's like a case of tipping over standing dominoes in a row. Besides the pressure to increase the employers payroll, it will mean that he will have to pay more in Social Security taxes which is an additional cost of doing business. So it is not just the worker getting paid the new minimum wage, it affects all the employees now earning above the minimum wage, and of course, the employer who will be saddled with the extra cost of doing business. In New York City with the minimum wage raised to $15 per hour, we have 4,000 restaurant workers laid off and a few restaurants who have since went out of business, and ironically, the bar/restaurant that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worked, before she became a Congresswoman, has closed its doors as a result. The same thing has happened in Seattle, Washington after they raised their minimum wage. You could say that the old adage of “Those that don't remember the past are bound to repeat it” certainly applies in the case of a government mandated minimum wage. So again I ask the question, “is it better to be employed at $8.00 per hour or unemployed at $15.00 per hour”? Only an ignorant politician would not agree with that obvious answer. Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann |
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