http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress Idaho Common Sense® Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:45 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Welcome to - The truth as I see it™. Dr. Bosley writes sociopolitical columns with a conservative view that is well articulated and defended, provoking thought and discussion without telling people what to think. He poses questions, while offering his personal views and reasoning for them, allowing readers to better understand his opinions as they develop their own. His advice to himself - "Writing the truth as I see it; trying not to offend those who will disagree." Craig L. Bosley, MD no Craig L. Bosley, MD webmaster@craigbosley.com webmaster@craigbosley.com (Craig L. Bosley, MD) 2010 Craig Bosley The truth as I see it™ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/category/economy/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/1759/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/1759/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:20:48 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=1759 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/1759/feed/ 3 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/03/im-entitled/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/03/im-entitled/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:48:07 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=1688 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/03/im-entitled/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/02/other-peoples-money/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/02/other-peoples-money/#comments Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:08:53 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=1681 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/02/other-peoples-money/feed/ 1 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/02/government-economics-and-free-markets/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/02/government-economics-and-free-markets/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:18:32 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=967 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/02/government-economics-and-free-markets/feed/ 0 congress,Evan Bayh,Joe Biden,Nancy Pelosi,Senate,Thomas Jefferson,United States,Winston Churchill Can our free market economy survive the federal government? The president and Congress may get to learn what C.S. Lewis meant when he defined experience as "that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." Hopefully, you do learn, Can our free market economy survive the federal government? The president and Congress may get to learn what C.S. Lewis meant when he defined experience as "that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." Hopefully, you do learn, bu... Craig L. Bosley, MD no 1:30 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/free-market-economy/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/free-market-economy/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:28:58 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=123 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/free-market-economy/feed/ 0 congress,Executive compensation,Free market,Government debt,Minority leader of the United States House of Representatives,Money,New York City,President of the United States,Troubled Asset Relief Program,Unemployment Discussing the economy, the President said the private sector is “still nervous about whether they want to go ahead and take the risks that are inherent in a free market system.”  But, the private sector is not afraid of free markets, Discussing the economy, the President said the private sector is “still nervous about whether they want to go ahead and take the risks that are inherent in a free market system.”  But, the private sector is not afraid of free markets, it is afraid of continued government interference and fears how much more it will interfere.  The government’s job is to regulate the “playing field” of the markets, not to control and manipulate them. The government loans money to some banks, allowing others to fail.  It bails out some sectors of the economy and not others.  It pays people to buy new cars and new homes.  It bails out people who cannot pay their mortgages.  It even has a czar dictating executive compensation who has not been approved by Congress and who answers only to the President.  Free market economy or socialist economy?  If the President wants the free market to work, all he has to do is stop interfering. Before taking office, the President told us he would spend nearly a trillion dollars to prevent 3 to 4 million job losses and prevent the jobless rate from exceeding 8%.  He spent $787 billion, we have lost over 4 million jobs so far in 2009 and the unemployment rate is over 10%. That might be understandable, even explainable, if not for the administration’s logic.  If the economy improves, the stimulus obviously worked; and if the economy worsens, the stimulus obviously prevented it from worsening even more. This is called elephant logic, learned from a man who was wandering around New York City with a loaded double-barreled shotgun.  The police were called and asked him what he was doing.  He said, “This keeps the wild elephants away.”  When they informed him there were no wild elephants for thousands of miles he responded, “See, it works.”  Elephant logic. The President offered more economic insight saying, “I am convinced that the banks can be doing more than they’re doing.  We’re going to be pushing them pretty hard in the months to come.”  Further, he chastised the banks that refused government money or paid it back quickly saying, “That gives us less leverage over these banks than we might otherwise like.”  What aspect of the free market system proposes the government pressuring and leveraging the banks? The President is equally displeased that employers have adapted to smaller workforces.  Why wouldn’t they?  They have no idea what the government will do next to “fix” the free market, nor do they know when it will ever stop spending money.  The President is the reason they are tightening their belts and holding back.  If he wants them to expand, just give them back their free market and stop spending. The President also believes the $3 billion he spent on Cash for Clunkers was so successful, he now wants to pay people to weatherize their homes.  But, the new cars purchased with the Cash for Clunkers, although leading to more fuel efficient vehicles, resulted in a savings of only $375 million.  This is how to spend money in a recession? A final insult.  Excess monies from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are, by law, to be used to pay down the deficit.  Section 106, Part D states that excesses and monies paid back must be “paid into the general fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.” But the President and Congress have other plans for the excess and returned monies.  According to the House Minority Leader, they see this money as a “slush fund,” and they will get around the law, making it “technically” legal to use the money as they choose.  Did they ever plan on any of this money being used to pay down the debt or did they always plan on using it for other pet projects? Mr. President, could the problem be that you have never built or run a business, never developed a budget of any significance and never had to meet a payroll or make a business profitable?  Mr. President, the key word in free market is “free.” Print Page Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:09 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/11/the-damnpolitician-and-the-farmer/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/11/the-damnpolitician-and-the-farmer/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:39:10 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=121 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/11/the-damnpolitician-and-the-farmer/feed/ 0 Hunting,Kansas,Politician,Politics,President of the United States,United States,United States Constitution,Washington,Washington DC Last week, I proponed the Founding Fathers had only two requirements to be president of the United States because they wanted to protect the people's power to choose the president.   They did not want those writing the Constitution and those later "int... Last week, I proponed the Founding Fathers had only two requirements to be president of the United States because they wanted to protect the people's power to choose the president.   They did not want those writing the Constitution and those later "interpreting" it to be able to limit our choices.  They assumed people like you and me would give time to our country and return home to live as everyone else, rather than staying in Washington becoming a member of the political aristocracy, becoming a career politician.  Perhaps one of the greatest failures of the Founding Fathers was not anticipating the career politician. When hunting pheasants in Kansas, one of my brothers was staying with a farmer he knew.  One day the farmer told him he was in his 40s before he learned that "damnpolitician" was actually two words -- and he is still suspect that it is not true. But, what if we could pick who runs for president.  What if we could pick someone more like us and less like "them?"   What if we could pick someone who is not a damnpolitician?  Who might we select? I was thinking back to where I was raised in rural Nebraska.  Fall Saturdays were reserved for pheasant hunting which meant talking with the many farmers dad knew so we could get permission to hunt on their land.  Without knowing it, I learned a lot about values, character and common sense while listening to dad and the farmers. The Founding Fathers could have demanded a certain education, certain schools, certain careers of those who would lead our country.  But they did not.  Was it because they were more interested in the very same values, character and common sense I experienced listening to dad and his friends? And what about the farm work ethic?  I cared for a retired farmer some time ago.  Explaining to him he needed to let me admit him to the hospital, he informed me he was retired and could do just as well at home.  So I asked him what he did the last few days.  He helped one neighbor unload some cattle and another put up some hay, his wife adding, "Twelve hours each day."  That is what he considered to be retired; 70 years old, ill with pneumonia, and still able to outwork me and most other men. And how do farmers treat their source of income, their land?  They rotate crops, rest the soil and take good care of the land, maintaining its productivity.  They do not just take and take and take until the land is destroyed with nothing left to give. Sadly, the government is not as smart as the farmer; it takes and takes and takes with no concern about destroying its source of income -- the taxpayer.  Imagine if we could teach a politician to treat the taxpayer with the same reverence and respect the farmer treats the land. So, what could a rural family farmer really bring to the most powerful office in the world?  Probably not an Ivy League education.  Probably not a law degree.  Probably not the proper status in society.  But a farmer would bring the character and values we sorely need in Washington, the rural common sense and seasoning in such short supply. Consider the benefits of a family farmer as president.  They do not spend money they do not have.  They save for what they need.  They run one of the most difficult businesses there is and love it. They can pull a calf, drive a tractor, set a budget, meet a payroll and balance the books while deciding what to do as they watch a hailstorm destroy their crop. And when the day's work is finally done, they sit back and say, "What a great life.  Thank God I'm an American." Maybe anyone wanting to run for the presidency should be required to spend a year on a family farm -- working, learning, seasoning.  It couldn't hurt. Print Page (http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091130-The-damnpolitician-and-the-farmer.pdf)  Craig L. Bosley, MD no 3:41 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/spending-the-peoples-money/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/spending-the-peoples-money/#comments Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:52:06 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=115 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/spending-the-peoples-money/feed/ 0 Barack Obama,Citizens Against Government Waste,congress,George Washington,Line-item veto,Pork barrel,Ronald Reagan,Supreme Court,Supreme Court of the United States,United States,United States Congress,United States Constitution "Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal -  with a big appetite at one end and no sense of -  responsibility at the other."                                  − Ronald Reagan  Is it an appropriate use of taxpayer money to fund a "tattoo remova... "Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal  with a big appetite at one end and no sense of  responsibility at the other."                                  − Ronald Reagan  Is it an appropriate use of taxpayer money to fund a "tattoo removal violence prevention program," a Sparta Teapot museum, a program to communicate with extra-terrestrials, the Pleasure Beach water taxi service, a Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative and a swine odor and manure management program?  Moreover, where in the Constitution is the power for Congress to spend our money this way? Is this the work of Congress?  Is this the work of the Constitution?  Is this the people's work?  There is so much pork barrel spending that an organization, Citizens Against Government Waste, devotes a book to it, the "Congressional Pig Book."  That's not a good sign. Even worse, we have become so accustomed to and accepting of this waste that when President Obama promised to cut earmarks to $7.8 billion a year, we applauded.  Think about it.  We accept wasting nearly $8 billion a year as good news. In 2009, Congress passed bills with 10,160 earmarks--10,160 ways they intentionally wasted our money by hiding it in other bills. Fittingly, Vice President Biden summed up the government's ignorance of money management when he said we have to spend money to keep from going bankrupt.  A bit different from what I was taught; it never occurring to me the way to solve debt and loss of income was to keep spending money rather than scrimping, saving and paying off debt.  It should bother us that our leaders make such ridiculous statements.  But it should really terrify us that they actually believe what they are saying. The 1996 Congress did try to do the people's work, passing a line-item veto bill, allowing the president to veto specific parts of a bill line by line.  Maintaining our system of checks and balances, the bill allowed Congress 30 days to overturn the president's veto with a simple majority vote. Congress not only preserved the balance of power, it improved it. Too good to be true?  Absolutely.  It ended up before the Supreme Court and was declared unconstitutional because it interfered with the constitutional powers of Congress.  Have members of Congress and the Supreme Court become obstacles "we the people" have to overcome to return to the constitutionally limited government our founding fathers gave us? The results of the Supreme Court supported quid pro quos and unending pork barrel spending?  In 2008 Congress wasted $17.2 billion, in 2009 $19.6 billion and in 2010 it looks like it will waste $21.7 billion.  In the five-year span from 1998 to 2003 earmarks rose 346 percent. Does Congress even have time to do the people's work?  It cannot.  It has a full-time job dealing with the 10,160 earmarks each year, 40 earmarks voted into law every day, spending over $75 million a day on them. Check your savings account.  Do you have $75 million a day to share with the government because the government has no earned income; its only source of money is us.  That is our $75 million a day we allow them to take. Harold Coffin of the San Francisco Examiner accurately summed up the values of government saying, "When George Washington threw the dollar across the Rappahannock River, he didn't realize he was establishing a precedent for government spending." Whose blame?  Whose fault?  Ours.  The voters.  We vote them into office and then refuse to vote them out.  Or, we are too busy or too unconcerned to vote at all, believing our vote cannot make a difference. We can change it.  We have the power each time we go into the voting booth or each time we decide not to vote.  Our vote does make a difference, a huge difference.  Our power.  Our choice.  Our vote.  Our fault. Print Page (http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091019-Spending-the-peoples-money1.pdf)  Craig L. Bosley, MD no http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/the-entitled-generation/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/the-entitled-generation/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:07:40 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=114 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/the-entitled-generation/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/more-jobs-larger-tax-base-fewer-entitlements/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/more-jobs-larger-tax-base-fewer-entitlements/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:08:37 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=113 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/10/more-jobs-larger-tax-base-fewer-entitlements/feed/ 1 Alien,Anti-Immigration,Federation for American Immigration Reform,Heritage Foundation,Illegal immigration to the United States,immigration,Organizations,United States,Vanderbilt University The government continues wasting our money, leading us further into socialism and worse.  Our leaders refuse to understand that the free market economy works, but only if the government stops trying to help.  Nonetheless, The government continues wasting our money, leading us further into socialism and worse.  Our leaders refuse to understand that the free market economy works, but only if the government stops trying to help.  Nonetheless, government continues handing out "free" money, people little noticing that they are becoming dependent on those monies and losing the incentive to be self-sufficient. To promote the president's socialist admonition to "share the wealth," the government spends money on cash for clunkers, new home purchases, mortgage, bank and auto bailouts.  Instead of redistributing the wealth, why not spend it competently on new jobs, a larger tax base and cuts in entitlement programs? What would it take to do this?  First, honoring our laws rather than ignoring them.  Second, working to cut the size of government spending rather than spending us into oblivion.  Last, considering what is best for the people rather than what is best for the government. I saw this possibility when reading a report by Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain, who evaluated job losses at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants.  In 2006, 1,300 illegal aliens were arrested at six Swift plants--10 percent of the company's workforce.  According to illegal alien proponents, they were just doing jobs that Americans refuse to do, proving their value to our economy. So, what happened?  Did losing 10 percent of their employees force the company out of business because no Americans were willing to do these jobs?  Isn't that what we are routinely told?  Guess what?  The company was not crippled; rather, it was back to normal operations within a few months with a full workforce. The replacement workers?  Americans were more than willing to do the jobs but they demanded and received fair wages.  And the benefits to society?  Those 1,300 illegal aliens were deported, 1,300 American workers found jobs, the costs of entitlements decreased, and because the American workers were paid more than the illegal aliens, tax revenues rose. Professor Swain saw this same pattern repeat at other companies. But, what would it cost to do this on a large scale nationwide?  Maybe it would cost more to arrest and deport illegal aliens than to just leave them alone, despite taking American jobs.  Maybe it would be cheaper to just give them all citizenship, theoretically ending the illegal alien problem. That was tried in 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act that allowed a path to citizenship for 2.7 million illegal aliens.  That amnesty obviously failed to solve the problem because there are now an estimated 12 to 15 million illegal aliens in the United States. Moreover, the Heritage Foundation estimates it will cost U.S. taxpayers $2.6 trillion to legalize the current number of illegal aliens. Well, what if we did arrest and deport illegal aliens?  The Center for American Progress estimates deporting all illegal aliens would cost about $200 billion spread out over five years.  But this estimate might be high because it predicts a maximum of only 20 percent of the illegal aliens would self-deport, a number much lower than the over 50 percent seen when the Eisenhower administration mass deported illegal aliens in the 1950s. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (F.A.I.R.) estimates illegal aliens in our country cost the taxpayers $50 billion a year.  The Heritage Foundation published another study, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer," which included many of the illegal alien families.  It estimated the yearly cost  to the taxpayers at $22,000 per household, similar to F.A.I.R.'s estimates. These organizations do have a political slant, so take the numbers with a grain of salt.  That said, these numbers suggest a net taxpayer savings of $10 billion a year for five years, followed by an ongoing savings of $50 billion a year. The bottom line?  No matter how you massage these numbers, Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:14 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/07/is-the-government-the-new-company-store/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/07/is-the-government-the-new-company-store/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:58:46 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=105 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/07/is-the-government-the-new-company-store/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/roosevelt-or-reagan/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/roosevelt-or-reagan/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:32:52 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=13 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/roosevelt-or-reagan/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/californias-latest-budget-crisis/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/californias-latest-budget-crisis/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:12:48 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=15 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/californias-latest-budget-crisis/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/youre-beulahs-son-arent-you/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/youre-beulahs-son-arent-you/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:18:03 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=16 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/01/youre-beulahs-son-arent-you/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/12/is-fdrs-new-deal-the-answer/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/12/is-fdrs-new-deal-the-answer/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:11:22 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=19 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/12/is-fdrs-new-deal-the-answer/feed/ 0