Author: Chip Wood

*Why didn’t we think of this? There’s a resourceful entrepreneur in Kiev, Ukraine, who’s come up with a great idea. The English translation for Vladimir Boyko’s new company is Easy Work. Here’s what it does. For a small sum, he’ll get as many demonstrators as you want, cheering or jeering whatever you wish, wherever and whenever you want. “Ideology doesn’t matter to us,” he explains. “It matters even less to most students. They will rally only for money.” Strange to see a former communist country become so mercenary, isn’t it?

*More nasty discrimination from Wal-Mart. Here’s the latest cause célèbre that will soon have Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and their ilk parading in front of the TV cameras. ABC News found a Wal-Mart store that is selling black Barbie dolls for half the price of white ones. After consulting sociologists, psychologists, child development specialists and other experts, ABC News offered several explanations for this nefarious discrimination. One they apparently missed, however, is that the store had too many black Barbies in inventory and wanted to sell them.

*A friend of mine avoids these airports. Mark Skousen, the producer of FreedomFest, the Las Vegas conference I’ve written about before, says from now on, he won’t go through security at any airport that uses the new full-body search machines. He calls them an outrageous invasion of privacy. I’ll add that the hugely expensive machines are also totally unnecessary. There are newer X-ray machines that are far more effective at spotting metals and other objects, without revealing private body parts. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the airports with the scanners in place are Alburquerque International Sunport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, Boston Logan International, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Ft. Worth International, Detroit Metro, Denver International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Indianapolis International, Jacksonville International, Kansas City International, Los Angeles International, McCarran International, Miami International, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Raleigh-Durham International, Richmond International, Ronald Reagan Washington National, Salt Lake City International, San Francisco International, Tampa International and Tulsa International.

*Great quotation. Pat Buchanan says that global warming hysteria is the hoax of the 21st century. He says it reminds him of H.L. Mencken’s classic warning, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed—and hence clamorous to be led to safety—by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

—Chip Wood

The “help wanted” ad in the newspaper didn’t mince words:

“Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”

Through this and similar advertisements, several hundred riders were recruited for a remarkable venture that began 150 years ago this week. On April 3, 1860, the Pony Express began delivering mail and other vital documents from St. Joseph, Mo., to San Francisco. The service charged $5 to carry a half-ounce letter across the continent, a price that was later reduced to $1.

The logistics were impressive. Relay stations—190 in all—were established an average of 10 miles apart across the West. Ten miles is the most a horse can gallop without pause. Riders, who could not weigh more than 125 pounds, were permitted 20 pounds of personal gear (most of it water, plus a rifle and pistol) and carried 20 pounds of mail.

The riders raced all-out to the next station, changed mounts on the run, and continued on for nine more stations, or another 90 miles. It took nearly 100 horses and a dozen riders to cover the 1,966 miles from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. But with the advent of the Pony Express, mail delivery that previously took 25 days by stagecoach (and prior to that, nearly six months by ship) took just 10 days.

A mere 19 months after the Pony Express began, it ceased to exist. It was forced out of business when telegraph wires linked California with the East. As a result, messages could be transmitted for pennies instead of dollars and arrive in minutes instead of days. The Pony Express name and facilities were sold to Wells Fargo, a bank that used the symbol for most of the next century.

In the 19 months that it existed, the Pony Express suffered the loss of only one rider and one mail pouch. But the achievements of those incredibly brave riders became a legendary part of the settlement of the West.

—Chip Wood

Well, they finally did it. By a vote of 219 to 212, the House of Representatives approved Obamacare Sunday night. By the time you read this, President Obama will have signed this monstrosity into law.

The only thing “bipartisan” about the measure was the opposition to it. Thirty-four Democrats joined every Republican in the House in voting against it. But even this doesn’t capture the nationwide opposition to the bill. Every single survey taken in the past two months showed massive public opposition to the measure.

“So what?” was the Democrats rejoinder. “Once this sucker becomes law, people will learn to like it.”

The Left thinks they have won the most important victory yet in the political wars. But they’re about to discover that, like John Paul Jones before us, we have just begun to fight.

Let’s hope that this November plenty of voters will remember what our leaders just did to us.

I’ll spare you a litany of all the “dirty deals, open threats, broken promises and disregard for democracy” that were used to shove this 2,400-page monstrosity down our throats. Even with all the last-minute vote-buying and arm-twisting, I hoped the measure would come up short. And it almost did.

In the week before the vote, Barack Obama held private meetings or telephone conversations with 64 different congressmen. At least one of them, Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), bragged publicly that he used his face time with the president to demand some “special consideration” for his Central Valley district. On March 16, the Interior Department came through, announcing that the water allocation there would be increased from 5 percent to 25 percent. On Saturday, Costa—a former no vote—said he had flipped to yes. But deal-doing had nothing to do with it, of course.

The president also hopped aboard Air Force One and flew to rallies in states where wavering House Democrats resided. He showed up in Pennsylvania (home to five uncommitted votes), Missouri (three wavering Democrats), Ohio (eight undeclared congressmen) and Virginia (four).

The president’s advance men made sure Obama would be talking to friendly crowds. And of course the local media was out in droves. So the Left could be assured of plenty of favorable coverage.

One person who would be missing from the show was the local congressman. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasn’t about to allow members of the House to go home until a vote was taken. No Spring Break for those guys and gals! The speaker knew she didn’t dare risk letting representatives go home then. Otherwise, too many would see first-hand just how opposed most of their constituents were to the measure.

While the president used the honey of his rhetoric and the promise of government largesse to win votes, political heavies such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Moveon.org used threats. Their message was short and simple: Vote no on Obamacare and we’ll find someone else to take your place in Congress.

But all of the bullying, bluffs and bluster wasn’t enough. Kimberley Strassel, who writes the Potomac Watch column for the Wall Street Journal, had been following this story for months. The day after that fateful vote, she reported, “By the weekend, all the pressure and threats and bribes had left the speaker three to five votes short.”

As it happened, there were half-a-dozen votes just waiting to be plucked. All the House leadership had to do to get them was agree to include a line in the legislation saying that no Federal funds would be used to provide abortions. The danger was that if they agreed they’d lose more than six votes among the pro-abortion crowd in the House.

I don’t know who came up with the compromise, but it was a dandy. The language of the legislation wouldn’t be changed—but the president promised to issue an executive order afterwards, stating that no Federal funds provided by the bill could be used for abortions.

That was all it took for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) to fold like an accordion. On Sunday afternoon he announced that he and five other colleagues would now support the legislation.

Pro-abortion supporters chortled that such an executive order wouldn’t change a thing. Bart and his buddies had been duped. One pro-life congressman was so upset that he shouted out “baby killer!” during the debate on the House floor.

But, no matter. The dirty deed was done. And within hours, the most radical healthcare legislation in history had been approved by the House of Representatives.

Because the powers-that-be decided to use a sneaky parliamentary procedure called “reconciliation” to pass the measure, that was all it took. There would be no chance for opponents to stop it in the Senate, despite the victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. (Click here to see my tirade two weeks ago, called Hey Washington—Reconcile This)

During and after the debate I collected a basketful of quotes by people on both sides of the issue. I’ll spare you all of the gleeful smugness of the victors and most of the dire warnings from the losers. But let me share with you my favorite, which comes from Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas):

“It was truly a sad weekend on the House floor as we witnessed the further dismantling of the Constitution, disregard of the will of the people, explosive expansion of the reach of government, unprecedented corporate favoritism, and the impending end of quality healthcare as we know it….

“Of course, the most troubling aspect of this bill is that it is so blatantly unconstitutional and contrary to the ideals of liberty. Nowhere in the Constitution is there anything approaching authority for the Federal government to do any of this.”

In the aftermath of the bill’s passage, attorneys general in 13 states joined together and filed suit in Florida Tuesday to have the bill declared unconstitutional. Virginia sued separately. Officials in at least 15 other states said they are preparing legal and constitutional challenges to the legislation. We’ll see how far they get. I’m not optimistic, since most Federal judges pay absolutely no attention to constitutional limitations on the reach and power of the Federal government.

No, the only way we’re going to win back our lost freedoms is at the ballot box.
I believe that those of us who work for a living still outnumber those who vote for a living. It’s just that the other side has spent far more time and money getting their side elected.

Are we willing to do what it will take to change things? As I said at the beginning of this column, we’ll find out this November.

Until next Friday, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

*What makes Clint’s day. There’s a new coffee-table book out on Clint Eastwood’s film career, from the 1959 western Rawhide to his most recent directorial duties on Invictus. The book includes 325 photographs and movie stills and some wonderful quotes, such as this one from the time he had the romantic lead in The Bridges of Madison County. Said Clint, “This romantic stuff is really tough. I can’t wait to get back to shooting and killing.”

*Stock tips from a bankrupt ball player? Former Phillies baseball great Lenny Dykstra has hit a tough patch, financially speaking. He declared bankruptcy last year, lost his multi-million-dollar home to foreclosure and even auctioned off his World Series ring. So what’s he doing to stage a comeback? Selling investment advice. For $999, you get three weekly forecasts, a monthly conference call and a signed baseball. No thanks. I can think of lots of better ways to spend my money.

*An intellectually dishonest economist. New York Times columnist and former Enron advisor Paul Krugman penned yet another article last week in which he lambasted Republican opposition to government giveaways. He quotes Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) as saying that unemployment relief “doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.” Krugman scoffs that “To me, that’s a bizarre point of view—but then, I don’t live in Mr. Kyl’s universe.” Ah, but he used to. In a textbook he wrote called Macroeconomics, Krugman said, “In other countries, particularly in Europe, [unemployment] benefits are more generous and last longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker’s incentive to quickly find a new job.” Seems Krugman isn’t an economist anymore; he’s an apologist for Big Government.

—Chip Wood

On March 26, 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk made a momentous announcement: He had invented a vaccine that would prevent a child from catching one of the most feared contagions at the time, poliomyelitis.

Today, with polio virtually unknown in the West (the last case in the U.S. occurred in 1979) it is difficult to imagine the panic that took place half a century ago when a child was diagnosed with the disease. Playmates were forbidden to visit. A swimming pool he used would be empty in the middle of the summer. Parents would worry for weeks that one of their children might become crippled for life.

I witnessed the awful consequences of the disease because a family friend was infected in childhood. For the rest of her life, Eleanor was forced to don a metal harness every morning. There was a metal girdle around her waist, with steel braces running down each leg, ending in a pair of heavy black shoes.

Wearing this device and using crutches, Ellie could make her way slowly from room to room. Without it, she was totally immobile. But Ellie was determined to have as normal a life as possible. She and her husband Ken adopted two children and did everything families did back then—go on picnics, play in the pool, participate in the PTA. In the 50-some years I knew Ellie Hawthorne, I never heard her complain about her infirmity.

Thinking back on what she endured it seems almost miraculous that, thanks to the pioneering work of Salk, Dr. Albert Sabin and their colleagues, most children today will never see a case of polio, much less be afflicted by it.

Salk refused to patent his discovery or receive any money for it. He insisted that, “like the sun,” the vaccine should be free to everyone.

—Chip Wood

Thirty-three years ago I was in the forefront of a cultural revolution that would change the face of politics in America. And I didn’t even know it.

Here’s what happened. I was living in California at the time, when a friend of mine in Atlanta told me he knew of a job that would be perfect for me. He was the manager of the local CBS radio station and they were experimenting with a new format—talk radio.

“We’re looking for a conservative with a sense of humor,” he said. “Why don’t you come to Atlanta and give it a try?” As it happened, I had an excellent reason to visit Atlanta. At the time, a small book-publishing company I had founded had released a book called We Hold These Truths. It was a study of the United States Constitution by Congressman Larry McDonald.

The book was a big hit for our small company and I wanted to talk with Larry about doing a second one. Instead of staying in town a day for that meeting, I changed my schedule to be there a week. One of the on-air hosts was going to be on vacation that week and the plan was for me to sit in for him. If I did a good enough job… well, we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.

Early Monday morning I got a crash course in the mechanics of talk radio: How to put a caller on the air and how to turn down his volume if I wanted to get rid of him; how to go into commercial breaks; what to say at the top of the hour, when we went live to CBS News. And most important of all, how to use the five-second delay in case a caller said something inappropriate. An hour later, the “on air” light went on and Chip Wood became a talk host.

The star at WRNG Radio was an outspoken libertarian you may have heard about: Neal Boortz is now a nationally syndicated talk host who reaches millions of people every week. A young Englishman who went to work on a competitor station around that time has become even better known: Sean Hannity has his own TV show, a syndicated radio show and several best-selling books to his credit.

For the past decade or two talk radio has been credited (or accused; it depends where you are on the political spectrum) with becoming one of the most influential forces on the political scene in the United States. Thank you Rush Limbaugh, Neal and Sean and the many other pioneers. And thank you to the tens of millions of listeners and callers who made talk radio so successful.

But I’ve got to admit, back in the late 1970s none of us involved in talk radio had any idea this would happen. Our ratings at WRNG Radio weren’t exactly in the basement but we weren’t anywhere near the top, either. In 1981, the station’s owners decided to turn off the mics and switch to a more popular format. I went back to my first love, publishing. Sean went to New York to seek his fame and fortune. And Neal stayed in Atlanta and started yakking for WSB Radio, the most powerful and most popular station in the South.

I believe that talk radio succeeded because, for the very first time, conservatives and libertarians knew they weren’t alone. There was an entire country full of people who felt the same way they did about the issues and personalities of the day. And we could finally say so!

For the previous 30 years the liberal media in this country had a virtual monopoly. Their views were all that you were allowed to hear on radio and TV or read in the most popular newspapers and magazines. Conservatives were made to feel isolated and alone. We were told our opinions didn’t matter and that our efforts were ineffectual. “Why bother opposing us?” was the unspoken message; “It’s hopeless.”

But thanks to talk radio, we could prove them wrong. And boy did we.

Today, talk radio still reaches and influences millions of people every day. But there’s another phenomena that has passed it in reach, influence and importance. That is the Internet, which has enabled millions of people to read what they want, write want they want and campaign for what they want.

The column you’re reading now is a perfect example of what I mean. More than 500,000 people have signed up to receive Personal Liberty Alerts where this column, Straight Talk, appears every Friday morning. PLA is just one of hundreds, no, thousands, of outlets on the Internet where conservatives and libertarians can communicate with each other—and often, have at it with liberals.

Ain’t it fun to be heard?

Thanks to us, Fox Television has become the most-watched TV network in the country. (And don’t you know this fact drives the brass at all of the “original” networks absolutely crazy?)

A small conservative book publisher in Washington, D.C., called Regnery, has more best-selling books to its credit than any of the major New York houses: Which proves that we conservatives not only can read, we want to read!

Thanks to us there are Tea Parties being held in communities big and small across the country. More than 10,000 conservative activists gathered in Washington, D.C., last month, where they enjoyed baiting liberals and boasting that the right would take back Congress this November. (We’ll see.)

Talk about heating things up: Later this summer, some 2,000 conservative and libertarian activists will gather in Las Vegas for “a really big shew” called FreedomFest. C-Span will be there to record several hours of the proceedings. The subsequent rebroadcasts will reach hundreds of thousands more people.

I’ll be the Master of Ceremonies at FreedomFest and will have the honor of introducing people like Steve Forbes, Charles Gasparino, Rick Santelli, John Mackey, Doug Casey, Mark Skousen and dozens of others to an enthusiastic crowd. If you’d like to be part of the fun, go to www.freedomfest.com and sign up. (Note that the early-bird special expires April 15.)

But enough of a shameless plug. The larger point I wanted to make is that the people who share our values and our views make up the majority of people in this country. But we could never prove it before this. Now, thanks to talk radio, the Internet and all the alternative forms of communication that we’ve created, there can be no doubt.

To paraphrase a wonderful line from one of my favorite movies, we’re mad as hell. And we don’t have to take it anymore.

Until next Friday, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

*The author of reconciliation cries “foul.” Here’s what Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has to say about using “reconciliation” to ram Obamacare through the Senate. You might share this quote with some friends: “I was one of the authors of the legislation that created the budget ‘reconciliation’ process in 1974, and I am certain putting healthcare reform and climate change legislation on a freight train through Congress is an outrage that must be resisted…. The misuse of the arcane process of reconciliation—a process intended for deficit reduction—to enact substantive policy changes is an undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate’s institutional role…. Essentially it says ‘take it or leave it’ to the citizens who sent us here to solve problems, and it prevents members from representing their constituents interests.” [emphasis added]

*Hey, whites can step-dance, too. There was a huge kerfuffle at the Sprite Step Off competition in Atlanta this year. Seems all the ladies on one team—from Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at the University of Arkansas—are… prepare yourself… white. And they were good. So good in fact, the judges awarded them first place. The mostly black crowd erupted with shouts and boos. Five days later Coca-Cola officials said they had found a “scoring discrepancy” and declared that a black team from Indiana University had tied for first place. The show’s host, rap music artist Ludacris, who is also a person of color, said the reversal was “odd,” because he could personally guarantee that the scoring had been “checked and double-checked.”

—Chip Wood

The first U.S. $20 gold piece was authorized by Congress 159 years ago this week. Exactly one year later, on March 12, 1850, the first of the famous “double eagles” was struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. It contained .9676 ounce of gold, which was then valued at $20.67 an ounce.

March 15 is the infamous “Ides of March.” As you’ll remember from reading “Julius Caesar” in high school, Caesar ignored the soothsayer’s warnings to stay in bed that day. He was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate by a gang of 60 conspirators, led by Marcus Brutus (“Et tu, Brute?”) and Caius Cassius.

This is also the week when everyone becomes Irish, at least for a day. That day, of course, is St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Interestingly enough, the first St. Patrick Day’s parade was held, not in Ireland, as you might suppose, but in New York City 23 years before we became a country. Yep, the first parade took place in 1753. I didn’t even know that New York City had policemen that far back. Erin go bragh.

And finally, my favorite history story of this week took place in 1930, when the New York Yankees signed the legendary batsman Babe Ruth to what was then the largest contract in baseball history—$80,000 for two years. That sum will barely cover an inning of work by one of today’s all-star pitchers. Reporters asked Ruth how he could possibly think he was worth more than the President of the United States, whose two-year salary back then came to $75,000. “I had a better year,” the Babe replied. (1929 was definitely not a good year for President Herbert Hoover… or the country.)

—Chip Wood

I had planned to write this week about the irritating idiocy most of us will encounter this weekend: The biannual changing of the clocks, necessitated by Daylight Savings Time.

Who the heck first proposed that we “spring forward” anyway? I think it’s a terrible idea. Among many other things wrong with it, we end up sending our children off to school when it’s pitch black outside. That can’t be as safe as waiting until the sun is out, can it?

But that rant will have to wait. Because something happened last week that got me so mad that—as my mother used to say—I could chew nails and spit bullets.

I’m talking about the utterly unfair and vicious attacks the Democrats in Congress, supported by their allies in the liberal media, launched against former baseball great Jim Bunning. In case you missed it, here’s what happened.

As you know, whenever some sensitive soul discovers someone suffering in America, someone in Congress will promise to solve the problem. And an amazing number of times (something like 999 times out of 1,000), the solution requires throwing taxpayer money at it.

That’s what happened two weeks ago, when a bunch of Democrats learned that many of their constituents had run out of unemployment benefits. In most states, such payouts last a maximum of 18 months. When the legislation was originally approved, the thinking was that a year and half would be plenty of time for someone to find a job. Assuming, that is, that he or she looked hard enough and wasn’t too fussy about the perks and pay he or she would receive.

But as you know, this isn’t just any recession we’re in. At the very least, it’s the Great Recession. Many commentators are even more pessimistic; I know several who say we’ve entered what they call the Greater Depression.

However you describe it, the sad fact is that millions of jobs have disappeared in this country. And a whole lot of them aren’t coming back any time soon. Doesn’t matter if you built cars in Detroit for decades, and your father did before you and your grandfather before that. Color that baby gone, my friend.

So jobs are hard to find, unemployment benefits are running out and some voters are getting worried. Why, this sounds like a job for Congressman! And before you could say “roll call,” the Democrats had drafted legislation to extend unemployment benefits by six more months, at a cost of $10 billion.

There was just one teensy little problem. According to legislation the Democrats themselves had passed one month earlier, the legislation was illegal. Remember when the House and Senate, with the glowing approval of the White House, passed something called “pay as you go” (pay-go)? The measure said simply that Congress could not approve any new Federal spending unless it found the money to fund it from somewhere else in the budget.

Since this year’s budget comes to more than $3.5 trillion, and will add at least another $1.4 trillion to the federal deficit, that requirement didn’t seem terribly unreasonable. In no time at all, pay-go became the law of the land.

Ah, but then up came the subject of all those poor unemployed voters. Surely they deserve a little extra consideration, don’t they? We can make an exception for them, can’t we?

So Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, asked for “unanimous consent” to approve a bill giving them another $10 billion in benefits. Most of the time, when asked for unanimous consent, everyone in the Senate meekly says “sure thing, Harry.”

In this case, the dirty deed would be done without the necessity of a potentially embarrassing recorded vote. Say what you will, our legislators aren’t stupid; they know they’ll face reelection some day. Why give a potential opponent the opportunity to ask, “Why did you, Mr. Incumbent, vote to violate the very pay-go law you passed a month earlier?”

Our august leaders clearly expected the measure to be quickly and quietly approved. After all, the skids had been properly greased. The leadership of the so-called opposition had promised to vote “aye.” What could go wrong?

But the problem with unanimous consent is that it has to be unanimous. And this time, one guy said “I object.” Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) refused to go along to get along. And that was all it took to throw a monkey wrench in the works.

“Obstructionism,” screamed Reid. “An outrage,” cried Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va). “Unfair,” said Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “Political games,” said the White House. Even his fellow Republicans joined the pile-on. “[His] views do not represent a majority of the Republican caucus,” said Susan Collins—a RINO from Maine who votes way to the left of Bunning.

The TV networks were on the story like crows on road kill. The three major networks all decided (independently, of course) to broadcast the Senate proceedings live as Bunning blocked the bill for a second time. ABC News even tried one of their famous “ambush” interviews as the senator was getting into a private elevator in the Capitol.

But here’s what no one in the mainstream media bothered to tell their gullible audience. Reid could have gotten the money any time he wanted, just by calling for a recorded vote. Bingo, the measure could have been passed in a minute.

But Reid was having more fun—and scoring more points, he thought—by exposing Republican obstructionism.

Rather than bow to the pressure, Bunning suggested a compromise: Let’s fund this thing by taking $10 billion from all of that unspent “stimulus” money. Reid wouldn’t even allow a vote to be taken on Bunning’s amendment.

USA Today offered Bunning the opportunity to tell his side. In “Why I took a stand,” which ran on March 4, the Senator said: “For too long, both Republicans and Democrats have treated the taxpayers’ money as a slush fund that does not ever end. At some point, the madness has to stop….We are on the verge of a tipping point where America’s debt will bring down our economy.”

And then he said, “If the Senate cannot find $10 billion to pay for a measure we all support, we will never pay for anything.”

Long before he entered politics, Bunning had an all-star career as a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher—a career that includes a perfect game in 1964. When he retired after 17 seasons he had the second-highest total of career strikeouts in MLB history. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1996.

After his retirement he became a state senator in his beloved Kentucky. He was elected to House in 1986 and the U.S. Senate in 1998. He announced last year that, after 24 years in Washington, he was retiring from politics. At 79 years old, he’s earned the right to sit on his front porch for a while.

Bunning may not have been the fiercest fighter we had on the Hill. But he sure did the right thing this time. We can’t let the left pillory him for it.

If you agree, why not tell him so? Call his office at (202)-224-4343 or click here to send him an email.

Thanks, Jim. I hope your profile in courage will inspire some of your colleagues to step up to the plate, too. No matter how many bean-balls the left throws at them.

Until next Friday, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

*Solving the problems with the Post Office. I see that once again, someone has suggested that the Post Office solve its chronic budget deficits by closing shop on Saturdays. I’ve got a much better idea. It’s one I first offered on my radio show about 30 years ago: Let’s just give the whole dang operation to Federal Express. Would delivery improve? You betcha. And instead of subsidizing thousands of buildings, tens of thousands of employees, and a zillion or so vehicles, governments at every level would start making money from property and vehicle taxes. I think it’s a win-win-win for everyone.

*Why Toyota is such a juicy target. If you’ve been wondering why Toyota has suddenly been getting a million tons of negative publicity, I’ve got an idea you may wish to consider. It’s not because misplaced floor mats or electronic problems have killed a slew of people. It’s because Toyota is sitting with 40 billion bucks in the bank. The company is the richest target trial lawyers have found in years. No wonder the legal wolves are salivating.

*Why Haiti suffered so much more than Chile. Did you know that the earthquake that hit Chile two weeks ago was several hundred times stronger than the one that devastated Haiti? Why then did Haiti suffer a hundred times more damage and deaths? I suggest it’s because most Haitians lived in ramshackle shacks, with virtually no services or protections, under one of the most dysfunctional governments in the world. Chile, on the other hand, once it was freed of its Marxist rulers, built modern buildings and developed superb services and infrastructure. To ask it another way, why was one country so rich and the other so poor? Because one respected private property, encouraged free enterprise and rewarded thrift and industry. Guess which one.

—Chip Wood

On March 10, 1748, during a church service in Warwickshire, England, the captain of the slave ship Greyhound converted to Christianity. John Newton, who was just 22 years old at the time, vowed to spend the rest of his life making amends for what he had done.

A quarter of a century later then ordained Rev. Newton delivered a New Year’s Day sermon on the subject of faith. Although the text of that sermon has been lost, a hymn he wrote based on his notes went on to become one of the most popular gospel songs of all time. “Amazing Grace” has been recorded more than 1,800 times by such disparate musicians as Aretha Franklin, Rod Steward, the Dropkick Murphys and the Blind Boys of Alabama. In the early 1970s, a version by Judy Collins spent 67 weeks on the single chart in the United Kingdom. In 1972 an instrumental version by the Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was No. 1 in England for five weeks.

In the past 237 years, Newton’s grateful, graceful lyrics have given comfort and inspiration to many millions of people. And they no doubt will continue to do so for many centuries to come. We’re all familiar with the first stanza of that lovely, memorable hymn. But here is the complete text:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

“Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

“The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

“Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

“The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.”

May you be richly blessed, too.

—Chip Wood

Thank goodness for a conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., last week. I had day-long duties as the master of ceremonies—which meant I was not able to watch Barack Obama’s seven-hour healthcare summit on TV.

If you did, please tell me what you thought of it. (If you’ve never joined our comment club before, it’s easy to do. Just go to the end of this Straight Talk column, type in your raves, rants or whatever, and click “Submit Comment.” Assuming your remarks aren’t obscene, you’ll see them posted a few moments later.)

The analysts I trust—and even a few I don’t like—say the whole affair was bor-ing. Apparently our president came across as smug, arrogant and condescending. Do you agree? This doesn’t surprise me; I think that’s pretty much what he’s actually like.

Peggy Noonan, a conservative commentator who is frequently much kinder to our opponents than am I, said of Obama’s manner, “The president has entered a boorish phase.”

But boors don’t win in politics. I’m beginning to wonder if some of the president’s most avid supporters don’t see the handwriting on the wall. (The word they’re seeing is “failure.”)

In the television coverage of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, Obama’s water carriers in the Senate and House, both looked as though they had been sucking on lemons all morning. No jovial, back-slapping, “glad to have you here” gushing for them. It was more like “Line up the victims, boys, and let’s get this execution underway.”

In fact, the New York Times said as much in its coverage the next day. One of its lead stories started this way:

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is confident she will be able to get the votes needed to pass sweeping healthcare legislation in the House, even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party.”

I put that last part in bold italics because I wanted to be sure you saw it—and recognized the significance of it. How would you like to be a moderate Democrat facing a tough reelection battle this November and read those words? Think it might send a chill up your spine?

Nasty Nancy has already lost at least one vote. Representative Marion Berry (D-Ark.) announced last month that he won’t be running for reelection this year. In his remarks, he lambasted the White House for pushing Blue Dog Democrats “into the abyss.” His words, not mine.

One astute analyst of the Washington scene commented thusly:

“The thing to know about President Obama’s health talk-fest is that it had zero to do with Republicans or their ideas. The GOP came, it spiritedly debated, it left. The president never budged. He never intended to.”

Precisely!

If the president had actually meant for the summit to lead to compromise and accommodation he would have said so up front. He knew that every Republican in Washington—not to mention an overwhelming majority of Americans—wants to toss out those two disasters that the House and Senate approved under extreme pressure.

But instead of agreeing to kill those bills and, as the Republicans have insisted, “start with a clean sheet of paper,” the president has made it clear it’s “my way or the highway.”

It was apparent to me long before the summit started that the Democratic leadership had absolutely no intention of achieving a “compromise” with the Republicans. The White House had been dropping hints for days that the president was going to set aside the velvet glove and instead take out his heaviest hammer. In this case, that means endorsing an odd legislative practice called “reconciliation” to get his health-care bill passed by both branches of Congress.

I’ve written about reconciliation before. Basically, it means rigging the rules so that legislation already approved in the Senate by 60 votes can be ratified—when it comes back from a House-Senate conference committee—by a simple majority.

Normally, neither side would attempt this parliamentary slight-of-hand when major changes have been made in a bill. But apparently the powers-that-be in the Democratic camp have decided that this is the only way they’re going to get Obamacare passed this year. So the heck with precedent, the public, or the outraged cries of the opposition. It’s “damn the torpedoes, guys, full speed ahead.”

In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, former Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist wrote that using “reconciliation” to get Obamacare approved would be “an unprecedented, dangerous and historic mistake.”

Actually, Bill, I kind of hope they’ll go for it. I can’t imagine anything the Obamacrats could do that would stir up the opposition more than to cram this odious piece of legislation down our throats. You think the Tea Parties, town hall meetings and other gatherings have shown some spirited opposition? You ain’t seen nothin’ compared to what will happen if this happens. It’s going to take a lot more than a few hundred million in Cornhusker kickbacks to bully this bill through Congress. It’s going to take a few dozen acts of political suicide.

We’ve already seen the first sign that the deal is breaking down. Both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are insisting that the other one be the first to bring the bill up for a vote. Watching them toss this hot potato back and forth would be amusing, if the situation weren’t so serious. (Actually, it’s pretty amusing even so.)

I’m sure many of you are getting all sorts of anxious emails from all of sorts of conservative groups, organizations and coalitions urging you to “write your Senators” and “call your Congressman.” Far be it from me to dissuade you—even though you can be certain they already know their constituents don’t like this sleazy effort to socialize medical care in this country.

Instead of telling them to “just say no,” how about we try a little legislative ju-jitsu here? Ask your elected representatives to support an amendment by Representative John Fleming (R-La.) that would require all members of Congress and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan.

I can’t think of anything that would get these pompous planners to switch sides faster. They already know—as most of their constituents do not—that they have exempted themselves from most of the legislative shackles they’ve been so eager to foist on us. Enough of this “some pigs are more equal than others.” Let’s level the playing field and see how they like it.

As soon as we get Fleming’s amendment passed, let’s take away their fancy pensions and force them to join Social Security and Medicare. That will teach them to fuss with our freedoms!

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

*That was an unfortunate choice. You’ve got to feel sorry for Anna Bernasek, a writer who labored for months over a new book on the importance of trust in building a business. The company she used as her prime example in The Economics of Integrity? Toyota. Bet that one won’t make the best-seller list.

*Big Brusher is watching. The Department of Early Education & Care in Massachusetts is taking a bold stand in favor of proper oral hygiene. As of the first of the year, any child who spends more than four hours in day care, and/or is given a meal there is required to brush his teeth on site. Wonder how long before some busy-body adds flossing to the list?

*Bet you wish you’d saved yours. Did you see the news that two different comic books just sold for $1 million each? Twelve days ago a private buyer paid $1 million for a pristine copy of Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 comic that introduced the world to Superman. Five days later, another anonymous buyer snatched up Detective Comics No. 27 for $1,075,000. That’s the one in 1939 where Batman made his first appearance.

*Tiger’s troubles continue. His much ballyhooed public apology hasn’t been enough to stem the defections for Tiger Woods. Gatorade has dropped him as a sponsor. And even General Motors has said it will no longer provide free automobiles to the superstar golfer. At least Nike hasn’t stripped him of his swoosh … yet.

—Chip Wood

It was 19 years ago that something extraordinary in recent U.S. history took place: The United States won a war.

On Feb. 27, 1991, then-President George Bush (George W’s father) went on national television to proclaim, “Kuwait is liberated. Iraq’s army is defeated.”

He continued, “I am pleased to announce that at midnight tonight, exactly 100 hours since ground operations began and six weeks since the start of Operation Desert Storm, all U.S. and coalition forces will suspend offensive combat operations.”

Yes, you read that right. The entire war effort lasted less than a month and a half. Actual ground operations took four days and four hours, with relatively few U.S. casualties. I can still remember watching with amazement on live TV as our “smart bombs” hit such specific targets that we could watch our missiles go through windows and down elevator shafts.

Unfortunately, the aggressor—Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein—was allowed to withdraw his troops from Kuwait. He was neither punished nor pursued. Had he been, events since then in that war-torn region might be substantially different.

By the way, the next day the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 percent, capping a 20 percent surge during the six-week Gulf War.

—Chip Wood

*A really scary thought. Washington Post columnist Jeffrey Rosen has come up with the most frightening solution I’ve seen to Barack Obama’s increasing unpopularity. He suggests that our Teleprompter-in-Chief use the first opening on the Supreme Court to appoint (I guarantee you aren’t ready for this) himself to fill the vacancy. Think of it: In one awful move, we’d be faced with Joe Biden as president and Barack Obama making law for the rest of his life.

*What’s UUP with this? Want to see a frightening financial chart? Look up the one that tracks futures contracts on the U.S. dollar. It’s called UUP and, except for the last couple of weeks, it pretty much looks like the “down” part of the scariest roller-coaster ride you’ve ever been on. It sometimes seems as though the only thing helping the U.S. dollar is that most other currencies are worse.

*And speaking of other currencies. A friend of mine had a great comment about my column last week on the havoc that’s occurring in Europe, thanks to the financial problems facing the PIGS. “The Euro isn’t a currency,” he explained. “It’s an experiment.”

*The CFR sounds an alarm. Here’s yet another warning about our own out-of-control spending. “We’ve reached a point now where there’s an intimate link between our solvency and our national security. What’s so discouraging is that our domestic politics don’t seem to be up to the challenge.” Who’s the Cassandra who issued this dire summary? None other than Richard Haass, president of the insiders’ ultimate power club, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). When the CFR speaks, you know official Washington had better listen.

—Chip Wood

Well, once again Barack Obama’s schedule conflicts with mine. The President has announced that he will host a “bipartisan summit” on healthcare this coming Thursday in Washington.

I say “this coming Thursday,” but by the time you read this, it will have been “yesterday.” That’s because I submit this column five days before you read it. So my comments about the healthcare summit—like the one last month, on POTUS’ SOTUS—will have to wait for a week-plus after the event. (In case you’re not up on your Washington acronyms, POTUS’ SOTUS stands for the President of the United States’ State of the Union Speech.)

Every week I write three columns for Personal Liberty Alerts, the wonderful free ezine you just clicked on. Straight Talk (the one you’re reading now) is the lead column every Friday morning. Also on Friday, I write a mini-column called Chip Shots that is the last item on the page. Chip Shots, as the name implies, is a collection of interesting little tidbits from the news. (For example, in today’s effort the first item is the scariest proposal to come out of Washington in a long, long time.)

Then on Wednesday I write another mini-column called This Week in History. This one gives me an opportunity to look back over the past 200 years and select one meaningful event to share with you. For example, two days ago I wrote about “The worst-ever addition” to the U.S. Constitution. Hint: It happened 94 years ago and costs you a ton of money every year. To read it, or any of the past columns, click on the archives tab to the right of this column.

The reason I mention all of this now is that today’s column is about another event in history—the signing one year ago this week of Barack Obama’s $787 “stimulus” bill.

Yes, the White House wants to go all-out to rewrite history about the biggest spending bill in history. It has announced that Vice President Joe Biden and various Federal officials will fan out across the country to speak at numerous rallies that are being staged to “celebrate” this wonderful program.

But what the heck are they celebrating? Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said recently that any businessman in this country who has hired one new worker has done more for jobs creation than all of Obama’s hundreds of billions.

When he signed the bill into law 12 months ago, President Obama promised that unemployment would never get above 8 percent. A few months later it passed 10 percent. And even that figure is dishonestly low. It does not include anyone who has gotten so discouraged he has stopped looking for work. Nor does it include anyone who lost a full-time job and was forced to accept a part-time job at much lower pay.

The real unemployment figure in this country is at least double the reported number. And it’s probably much higher than that. But don’t count on Obama and his buddies to tell you the truth.

And don’t expect them to tell you the truth about any jobs that were created, either. A year ago, President Obama fully promised that 90 percent of the new jobs would be created in the private sector. An analysis by The New York Times found “the data suggests that well over half of the jobs claimed so far have been in the public sector.” Isn’t that great? Your tax dollars are being used to make our gargantuan government even bigger.

And how about this? We now know that hundreds of millions of stimulus money was spent to create jobs overseas! Thousands of jobs that the White House claimed to have created are in places that don’t even exist! Plus, USA Today reported recently that billions of stimulus dollars are being spent on programs that are so inefficient or redundant that the Administration now wants to cut or eliminate them.

Please tell us, Joe: What the heck will you be “celebrating” this week?

One more rant and I’ll get off this soapbox. When he signed this odious piece of legislation a year ago, our president declared that the money would be spent on “shovel-ready” programs. Every penny would go to work promptly, we were assured, to patch roads, repair bridges, improve sanitation and otherwise fix our shaky infrastructure.

Today, one year later, only one-third of the stimulus funds have actually been spent. Did you know that? Were you aware that of all the money Congress appropriated for this pork-packed monstrosity, a little more than $500 billion remains unspent?

Barack Obama wants to send Joe Biden around the country, bragging about what a spectacular success the stimulus package has been. And the VP—who has absolutely no problem claiming that black is white, hot is cold and wet is dry, if that’s what his boss wants—cheerfully goes along with the fraud.

But the American people haven’t been fooled. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll reported that only 6 percent of the public thinks the stimulus bill has created any jobs.

Let me repeat that number: Just six Americans out of 100 believe Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill did what it was supposed to do. No wonder the White House has told its many minions not to use the word “stimulus” any more. Now it’s a “jobs creation” program. Or maybe a “jobs savings” program. At least that’s what Biden and Obama hope it will turn out to be… for them.

Before I get off my soapbox for another week, let me mention one more deceit that President Obama loves to utter. Time after time, he defends his massive deficits and budget-busting spending programs by claiming that he inherited “a trillion-dollar deficit” from President Bush.

No, he didn’t. While I’m no fan of the debt George W. piled on the backs of us poor taxpayers, his last deficit was less than half the total our Dissembler in Chief likes to claim. Here are the facts: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reports that George Bush’s deficit for fiscal 2008 was $454.8 billion. While that’s a lot of red ink, it’s less than half of the number Obama likes to use.

To get the higher number, the White House engages in some sneaky slight-of-hand. It adds $700 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to the CBO number, thus coming up with a deficit of over $1 trillion.

The problem with that particular bit of chicanery is that the Treasury only spent $400 billion of the TARP funds while Dubya was still in office. The other $300 billion was handed over to President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner in early 2009.

And here’s one more little factoid these grand deceivers like to ignore: Most of the funds the Bush Administration paid out have been returned to the U.S. Treasury… with interest.

So if smilin’ Joe Biden comes to your town and hosts a public rally bragging about all the wonderful things the Obama Administration has done to create jobs with your tax dollars, use the information in this report to set the record straight.

After all, that’s why it’s called Straight Talk.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

Ninety-four years ago this week the United States Constitution suffered its worst-ever addition when the 16th Amendment, which permits a progressive income tax, was ratified by Congress. In just one sentence, a mere 31 words long, our relationship with those who would rule over us was changed dramatically.

A graduated federal income tax became legal for the first time in our country’s history on Feb. 25, 1913, thanks to 16th Amendment. Prior to its ratification the courts had repeatedly ruled that a progressive income tax—that is, the more you earn the greater percentage the government would take—was unconstitutional.

Thanks to a virtual conspiracy among the rich and powerful and their lackeys in Congress, Americans were persuaded that a graduated income tax (a key plank in the Communist Manifesto, by the way) would “soak the rich” and shower benefits on the poor. Instead, as many warned at the time, the tax and those who enforce it have done incalculable harm to the spirit of freedom and independence that once typified this country.

—Chip Wood

*“Snowmaggedon” didn’t last long enough. With my apologies to many friends in the Washington, D.C., area who work at productive jobs in the private sector, let me say, I wish your city had been paralyzed longer. The only time I feel safe from government is when it’s shut down.

*“Miss Me Yet?” That’s the provocative question that’s appearing on many billboards in the Midwest—above a larger-than-life-sized picture of a smiling and waving George W. Bush. While I was no fan of Mr. Bush’s budget-busting social policies—or for that matter, his propensity to risk American lives in every two-bit banana republic around the world—I do have to admit, yes, our country was safer and our dollar was stronger when he was in office.

*Another Kennedy bids adieu. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, has announced that he will not seek reelection in Massachusetts this fall. Unless he changes his mind (or another Kennedy steps forward), this will be the first time in more than half a century that no Kennedy is serving in Congress. While his dad combined a powerful legislative record with a dissolute personal life, the son has only managed to copy his father on the second.

*Big-buck investors bet Obamacare is dead. Maybe the liberals in Washington still hope to pass some version of a socialized healthcare bill, but the big money is betting it won’t happen. How do I know? HCA Inc., the largest hospital operator in the nation, just agreed to pay out a special dividend to its owners of $1.75 billion. No way would these canny investors do that if they didn’t think their business is going to be very, very profitable. They don’t plan to live on what Medicare pays.

—Chip Wood

Will all those PIGS in Europe get what they deserve? And if they do, should we care?
Sadly, the answers are, probably not. And yes, we should, because what happens there will have a significant impact on those of us here in the good ol’ USA.

First, who are these PIGS (sometimes written as PIIGS and occasionally even as PIIGSTY)? Basically, they are some of the socialist countries in Europe that have gotten their budgets caught in a wringer. They’re facing all sorts of financial problems at home. And unfortunately, their habit of spending money they don’t have is having bad consequences for them… and for us. If that sounds familiar, it should.

The acronym PIGS stands for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. You can add Ireland to the longer version; and Turkey and Yugoslavia to the longest one. Right now, all of the attention is on Greece, so let’s begin there.

And let’s start with a dirty little secret no one wants to admit: When Greece was admitted to the European Union (EU) a while back, everyone involved knew that Greek authorities lied about the fiscal situation in their country.

Let me repeat that, to make sure you understand: Greece didn’t come anywhere close to meeting the incredibly lax fiscal requirements to become a member of the EU. The powers-that-be in that socialist consortium wanted Greece in; the socialists in Athens who ran the country wanted Greece in; and all of the kept media in Europe wanted Greece in. So everyone agreed to keep silent about the actual facts. With a wink-wink and a nod-nod, Greece was accepted.

If there was anyone bold enough to say that this emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes, his remarks were drowned out by the litany of “hoorahs!” from all the people who were oh-so-eager to get Greece on board. You can’t build the socialist super-state of Europe, otherwise known as the European Union, without them, you know.

So what happened? Remember the old axiom, if you want more of a particular behavior, reward it. If you want less of something, punish it. (Pardon an aside here, while I note that it has been the official policy of the United States government for most of my lifetime to reward laziness and incompetence, and to punish hard work and success. Guess which one we’ve been getting more of. Any wonder we’re in the mess we are?)

But back to our favorite baklava makers. Greece’s admission to the EU meant that her citizens and her government could go on the greatest spending binge they’d ever seen. Grab it while you can, guys! The money is free, free, free! We’ll worry about paying the piper when the time comes. If we’re lucky, maybe we can do what our cousins in the U.S. have done and foist all the bills off on our grandchildren.

Sorry, guys. We can do it, but you can’t. The boss of our central bank, otherwise known as Helicopter Ben Bernanke, can print or borrow all the money he wants. Heck, last year alone he created more than $2 trillion out of thin air. And you know what? The world still stands in line to loan Uncle Sam all the money he needs.

But Greece isn’t the U.S. and the drachma isn’t the dollar. Your day of reckoning can’t be put off forever. In fact, it’s here now. Nobody wants to loan you money anymore.

As a member of the EU, Greece was required by law to keep any deficits to an absolute maximum of 3 percent of GDP. This year they’re running four times that amount, with a deficit totaling 12.7 percent of GDP. No wonder cautious lenders are charging them more than double what Germany must pay to borrow money. That’s what happens when your creditworthiness stinks—as our leaders in Washington may soon find out.

For the past week, the biggest question in the international financial community has been who will bail out Greece? I’m betting it will be Germany. The reason I say so is that German officials have officially denied that they will do it at least three times. When government officials are this adamant about not doing something, I know it’s almost a sure thing. (Who was it who said, “Never believe a government policy change until it’s been denied at least twice”?)

If Greece gets bailed out, you can count on seeing a lot more PIGS line up at the public trough. Remember, what this is really all about is building a socialist New World Order. That was the modus operandi behind the creation of the EU in the first place. It is why every participant country was required to abandon their own currency in favor of something called the Euro. And it is why the standard for admission to the EU keeps slipping lower and lower.

By the way, that is also why you can expect to see Barack Obama start arm-twisting the State Department and Congress to “come to the aid of our Greek friends.” We’ve got it; they don’t; and in BO’s curious worldview, that’s all the justification he needs for taking your money and giving it to others. “From each according to his ability” (that’s you and your hard-earned assets, my friend), “to each according to his needs.” Anybody recognize the quote?

Yes, Barack Obama honestly believes that someone else’s need—even someone you’ve never met, living half a world away, and guilty of the most profligate misuse of what little assets he had—is a legitimate claim on what you have. It’s called socialism, my friend. Get enough important people to support it and you can call it something that sounds a lot better—like international assistance, or maybe the New World Order.

I could go on for pages, but I think you get the point. Just in case you don’t, let me end this diatribe with a very interesting quotation that reveals exactly what our financial masters have in mind for us.

This one comes, believe it or not, from the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago. The editors gave Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and one of Washington’s ultimate Insiders, nearly 200 inches of prime editorial space to tell us dummies what is really going on. Here’s what the stalwart Keynesian had to say:

“Look at President Obama’s budget proposal, spending freeze, jobs bill, stimulus, tax hikes on upper-income individuals, and proposed deficit commission. Also take a look at the fees he wants to impose on the biggest banks and his proposed regulation of Wall Street. Look at his stalled trade agenda. Now, explain the big picture.

“If you’re about to write, ‘more taxes and more spending,’ you’re either not thinking hard enough or you’re a Republican running for office this November.’”

Or, Bob (do you mind if I call you Bob?), you could be a Straight Talk reader who sees through all of your eloquent BS. You may be smart as a whip. But you’re not so clever that we can’t spot the baited hook that comes next:

“To see the big picture, you need to keep your eye on three big things. The first is the extent of government spending needed to offset the continued reluctance of consumers and businesses to spend.”

To read the rest of this folderol, see the complete article in the Feb. 5 issue of the Journal. Somebody in the editorial section must have a pretty good sense of humor, because the piece right next to Reich’s ramblings had the headline, “Washington vs. ‘Common Sense.’”

I’m sure I’ll have more to say about all of this in subsequent columns because the news won’t be good, my friends. The people who make monetary policy in the EU, like the ones who control the purse strings here, believe they have been endowed by their creator with the unalienable right to take your money to spend on projects they want, but know you abhor.

Welcome to the Brave New World of the socialist utopians. All it will take to make it work is your freedom and your wealth. Forgive me for pointing out that Barack Obama and his progressive friends think that’s a very reasonable price to pay.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

This is a very black week in the history of a country that prides itself on protecting the rights of its citizens. On Feb. 19, 1942, more than 120,000 Americans lost theirs, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

The order directed the United States military to remove every person of Japanese ancestry from within 100 miles of the west coast of the U.S. The military then moved them to 10 “internment camps” and kept them there for the duration of World War II.

Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, who directed the operation, testified before Congress, “I don’t want any of them here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty…. We must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map.” They even rounded up orphaned infants; Gen. DeWitt said his target was anyone “with one drop of Japanese blood.”

One of the country’s fiercest conservatives, J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), testified against the measure. But a famous liberal, California Governor (and later Supreme Court Chief Justice) Earl Warren defended the mass incarcerations. Hoover said the Japanese Americans posed no significant threat to the country’s security. Supporting his position is the fact that the government never charged a single detainee with spying for Japan, or doing anything else to support our wartime enemy.

In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion, removal and detention of tens of thousands of Japanese, without permitting them any legal appeals or procedures. The court stated (in a ruling that has never been overturned) that it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is “a pressing public concern.”

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation apologizing to detainees on behalf of the U.S. Government. And in 1990, some reparations were paid to some survivors of the camps. Can you say “too little, too late”?

—Chip Wood