Commentary

Why am I not posting more articles? Blame my mother–lol

Yes.  I know.  I’ve been absent from posting unique content on this otherwise popular website for a few weeks.

I’m blaming it on Mom.

Besides my daily duties on The KSFO Morning Show, I’ve been consumed with organizing my mother’s Memorial and Celebration of Life events which are going to take place this weekend in Minnesota.  As you may recall, Mom died in June after silently suffering from cancer for many months.

Our gathering will take us to the small farming community where Mom was born, and where she’ll be laid to rest, between her mother and father.

We’ll then head to Grand Rapids, for a beautiful experience with lots of love, fellowship, and memories.  The video look-back on her life I’ve produced is quite moving (i.e., there won’t be a dry eye in the house when its over).

When I return next week, and get back to normal, I’ll address this website.  Meantime, thanks for your support.

Hidden Headlines: The Non-Green Underbelly of Elon Musk’s Tesla Electric Cars

The environmentally conscious person tell you that electric cars are smart, efficient modes of personal transportation that will greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

But is that true?

I’m a car guy–I love cool automobiles of all sorts–and I have to admit, the Tesla vehicles are attractive, comfortable, and FAST.

However, are the environmentally friendly and as green as Elon Musk’s Tesla team tells us?

In this Hidden Headlines Podcast I will arm you with the truth about Tesla’s non-green batteries.

You may listen to the podcast on this website, or at Soundcloud, iTunes, GooglePlay, and Spotify.

The Financial Costs Per Homeless, in the Silicon Valley

This story is NOT Fake News.

For the first time the cost of caring for the homeless in California has been calculated, and the amount is staggering.

These numbers were run in Santa Clara County, the epicenter of the Silicon Valley.

The cost?  $520 million annually.

And it gets worse.

The new study entitled,“Home Not Found: The Cost of Homelessness in Silicon Valley,”  described as the most comprehensive look ever at the expense of homelessness on a community, has determined that more than $3 billion was spent over a six-year period in the county on services such as trips to the emergency rooms, jail stays and mental health care.

The study was compiled by the Los Angeles-based Economic Roundtable,

All told, the study determined Santa Clara county has 7,567 homeless — the nation’s seventh-highest total.  That breaks down to a public cost of $68,719 per homeless individual.

But the study did not reveal the greater questions regarding why so many are homeless?  Yes, housing is terribly expensive  in the Silicon Valley; but many just getting their footing in the area will find ways to temporarily get by, including renting a room, or living in an RV.  Also, there’s no one holding a gun to anyone’s head to make them live in this region.

In my mind, the greater question is what percentage of the homeless are drug addicted or mentally handicapped?

My daughter, who is a licensed marriage and family counselor and is in charge of a state-subsidized sober-living facility, is convinced the vast majority of the homeless are drug addicted.  That begs an even larger question: why?

Personally, I believe the homeless crisis is a situation born of the nationwide breakdown of the the traditional family, a concurrent turn away from Biblical morality, and a rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

 

Hidden Headlines – Citizenship on the Census & the Electoral College

These are two items the liberals want to abolish.  They claim it’s discriminatory to ask if someone is a citizen of the United States of America, and they want to wipe out the electoral college, one of the brilliant checks and balances that keeps the U.S. from becoming ruled by a dictatorial mob.

This podcast is an eye-opener and will help you win arguments with your liberal detractors, because you will have the facts, not the fake talking points.
One great article I used in preparation for this is entitled, The Genius of the Electoral College, by the King’s Meadow Study Center. You can read it by clicking here.

National Debt Rises: Blame Swamp Economics (baseline budgeting explained)

Yes, our national budget deficit continues to rise.  But to listen to the democrats and their mouthpieces in the media, the debt is Donald Trump’s fault.  Take for example this article from The Hill:

Two and a half years into his term, President Trump has little to show for breaking with erstwhile Republican Party orthodoxy on trade and budget policy.

Indeed, far from delivering on his promise to cut America’s trade deficit, Trump has presided over a ballooning deficit that’s on pace to be some 25 percent higher than when he took office. This is happening at a time when the budget deficit is widening and the country’s public debt is well on its way to exceeding 90 percent of GDP.

Sadly, the Trump administration seems unfazed by the country’s deteriorating long-run financial position. It shows no indication of correcting policy course to put the economy on a sounder long-run economic footing. 

Too bad Mr. Trump is not able to run the government’s budget the way he ran his various companies as a businessman.  You see, in the swamp (aka, Washington D.C.) budgeting is conducted with a slimy little trick known as “baseline.”

Baseline budgeting is one of the most sinister ways that politicians claim to cut spending when they are actually increasing spending.

The baseline includes automatic adjustments for inflation and anticipated increases in “program participation.” Program participation is swamp for how many people are supposedly served by whatever a federal department provides. Baseline budgeting builds automatic, future spending increases into Congress’s budgetary forecasts.  In other words, every department in the federal government gets an automatic raise every year.  It also tricks the public in favor of big-spending politicians.

For example, if an department’s budget is projected to grow by $100 million, but only grows by $75 million, according to baseline budgeting, that agency sustained a $25 million cut. That is kind of like a person who goes on vacation and expects to gain ten pounds, but only gain seven pounds, and then tells everyone they lost three pounds on vacation.

Government is the only place this absurd logic is employed.

Oh, and one more thing: when a federal agency is coming up with a financial surplus toward the end of the year, what do they do?  They spend every dime in the name of “use it or lose it.”

Politicians often like to have it both ways. Baseline budgeting gives politicians an opportunity to deceive taxpayers by allowing them to claim that they are holding the line on spending while providing more government services.

Eliminating the inflated budget baseline will force Congress to justify and account for increased spending instead of hiding behind automatic increases. It would also greatly aid in reducing our massive federal debt.