John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  Empty suits, empty heads.  Each has policies that are incompatable either with a free market or with a constitutional democracy, certainly this one. Yet, each has adherents that all but deify their choice for president, and many complain that Obama has indeed been deified into the “Obamessiah.”  

And why not.  We have gone from being a nation that prided itself on its ability to foster rugged individualism and strength of character, not as existed in fiction but in real life, to being a nation that gripes about any little hardship, where a parent hasn’t the guts to say no to a child lest they mess up that child’s psyche and a nation that sees nothing wrong with thier particular congressmen larding out pork merely to get re-elected.  What is in it for me seems to be the catchword.

And the empty suits are promiseing everything from health insurance (under the false rubric of “health care crisis”).  Too, pandering with governmental largesse has increased exponentially since Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty.”  We have thrown trillions at “social” problems and today many/most of those problems are as bad today, if not indeed worse, than they were when we started tossing cash instead of really looking at the problem in terms of why aren’t some doing the very things that could help them.

In many ways, the victimization of America and Americans has brought this about.  Being bullied?  Institute a costly anti-bullying effort.  Loose at tag?  Easy, ban competitive games on the playground less some tyke’s feelings get hurt.  Little Johnny can’t read?  Fine, rather than teach Johnny phonics, start up a multi billion dollar reading certification program and guess what… spend all that money and now Johnny, and Susie and LaVonne, and La Tasha and Juan and Omar and Yin and Yung can’t read. 

Recent reports that the government wastes money to the tune of 300 billion dollars a year.  Now, I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem to be chump change to me.  Thats a lot of bucks.  But will anyone do anything about it?  Nope, what we’ll get is Senators, Congressmen and aspirants to the throne telling us that they’ll cut waste if only we elect them.  And the waste continues, and the beat goes on, and the beat goes on.

If conservatism is to survive, we must change from politicians in their empty suits promising the electorate everything from “a chicken in every pot” to relief from signing a bad mortage contract and the rest of us rescuing those too stupid to buy a house they can really afford. 

Can this be done, you bet, and the answer lies in you, my fellow conservatives.  We have to shame those in congress that spend like there is no tomorrow.  Want an example?  Mitch McConnel added a tax break for race horse owners that will amount to 126 million dollars over 10 years.  Max Baucus got a million dollars for a sheep and goat industry improvement center. 

Empty suit McCain promises to veto legislation with earmarks.  Yet, like Obama’s health care for children and Hillary’s healthcare for everyone the details are not forth coming and the devil is in the details.

Shaming the government is no easy task.  Those barely making it in today’s economy pay little or no income tax, Those making a huge amount of money find ways to avoid income tax.  Fair tax and flat tax and all the other iterations of tax policy not withstanding, it ain’t gonna happen.  How about this idea.  Push for a law that states that everyone must mail in a check or money order each pay period containing their state and federal income taxes, their contribution to Social Security and any other taxes pro-rated to their pay schedule.  Those that take home $1000.00 with federal withholding will like it far less when their check is for $1250.00 and they have to mail in a check or moneyorder every payday for $250.00.  We used to all pay our own way, now we find ways to make it easier and the result is the empty suits promising us everything under the sun just to get elected. And we let them.  In fact, we encourage them.

Obama has promised change. Yet, he doesn’t say how that change will improve things.  McCain promises to save 100 billion in earmarks, then doesn’t have a plan that will do so nor do most folk find 100 billion in earmarks in any given tax year.  Hillary promises leadership from day one.  Yet, from day one she has run an inept campaign and want’s the nomination handed to her.

Empty suits.  And if we buy it, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 Cross posted at GM’s Corner