Daniel in the Lions Den

It was Sunday morning, I had just checked my iPhone for messages, made coffee, and sat down in front of my laptop when my mind began thinking of all the changes (technological, geopolitical, moral, and social) that have taken place in just the last few years.  As I was obsessed with that thought I went to look at my laptop – I was greeted with a page wanting me to share the fact that me and my wife have been “friends” on Facebook for six years that day.  The fact that our oldest child is three times that old tells me that we’ve been “friends” for more than six years and that this social media “friendship” thing is a fairly new advent.

 At this point, to show just how much the world has changed, it would seem useful to shamelessly steal one of those comparisons lists graduation speakers use to illustrate change in the life span of the graduating class.  Through the power of the internet I’ve excerpted a June 2015 Pennsylvania high school commencement speech by Stephen Vehslage, an Ivy League lawyer turned teacher who describes the changes since the students started school: 

“…how your world has changed – since you were a toddler…. Back then the United States was running a budget surplus; our presidents had all been white men and gay marriage was barely even on the radar. People still went to video stores; the twin towers were still gracing the New York skyline, no one had ever heard of Facebook, and there were a billion fewer people on the planet... it took twelve-and-a-half minutes to download a song on a 56k modem. Internet Explorer had a 95 percent market share – it was a different world.”

Vehslage continued by contrasting that to the present, “Now fast-forward 13 years, the number of global internet users has mushroomed from under 600 million to almost three billion. Facebook alone has 1.4 billion users. The total number of websites jumped from less than four million to over a billion, and a new website is created every second of every day. The iPhone was introduced in 2007 and the word ‘app’ quickly became part of the modern lexicon...”

The prophet Daniel foretold of a time coming that seems to fit our present age.  He was told to seal up his writing until a time when it could be understood.  The King James translation of Daniel’s writing (which is nearly  400 years old now) describes it this way, “ But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”   The Living Bible (copyright 1971) translates it this way, “But Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal it up so that it will not be understood until the end times, when travel and education shall be vastly increased!”

So what could we gain by opening Daniel’s book today?  

The first lesson might be the same one that has been imparted to millions of children through the years.  Put simply, when forced with a choice of bowing down to Government or God – choose God.    After making that choice, expect to be punished by that same government. And lastly, expect God’s help, even to the point of shutting the mouths of lions.

The second lesson is similar to the first.  Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced a similar fate for failing to neither serve the Government’s gods nor worship its image of gold.   Although in this case, rather than lions, their future was a blazing furnace.  But like Daniel, they too emerged unscathed, not even so much as smelling of smoke.  In this instance God did not just see these three through – He was with them in the fire.

Finally, we should learn to pray like Daniel, “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame…because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you… We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

 But even if He does delay, or does not deliver us, these appear to be the days to be prepared to face the lions or feel the fire.  

Even so…

Self-Licking Ice Cream Cones

The US military has some very colorful expressions – many, if not most, simply not appropriate for this publication.  One of the idioms that I always found to be deliciously descriptive yet imaginatively intriguing was the phrase, “Self-licking ice cream cone.”

The first use of the phrase is thought to have been in a 1992 paper by Pete Worden, then a US Air Force officer, titled “On Self-Licking Ice Cream Cones” critical of  NASA's bureaucracy.   Worden later worked on Capitol Hill, an experience that led him to say that NASA actually stood for "Never A Straight Answer.”  Ironically, after his retirement as a Brigadier General, Worden became the Director of NASA's Ames Research Centerin California.

 Worden, being a little unconventional, was known to occasionally appear in costume, “usually dressing as either Darth Vader, a wizard, or after arriving at NASA, as a goat herder.”   This behavior resulted in an “inquiry from Senator Chuck Grassley that led to an investigation by the NASA inspector general's office into a private project to photograph a group of Viking re-enactors….Although concluding that no government money had been spent on the Viking re-enactment, the investigation itself was estimated to have cost between $40,000 and $600,000.”  Only our Government can waste like that.

America’s prosperity has enabled a standard of living unmatched in human history.  It also has allowed for excesses and intemperance to the point of impending self-destruction.  Unfortunately, Americans, like our bureaucracies, are prone to obesity.  


The General Accountability Office (GAO) reports, “From 2004 to 2012, the federal non-postal civilian workforce grew by 258,882 employees, from 1.88 million to 2.13 million, an increase of 14 percent.”   According to a June 22, 2015 publication of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 35 percent of men and 37 percent of women were obese, and over 65 percent of the United States population is overweight. Clearly, in many instances, bigger is not always better.

What can prevent this proclivity for counter-productive growth from leading to our self-destruction?  Most likely, reduction will not occur until the pain produced by the problem of unbridled growth becomes so severe that reduction becomes more attractive than an externally imposed dieting plan or an uncomfortable girdle.   Thus the intrinsic problem with the self-licking ice cream cone – it simply doesn’t have the will-power to stop itself. Perhaps nowhere is the self-licking, self-fulfilling nature of government bureaucracy more evident than in the government school system teacher unions.

Richard Berman, reporting on the 2014 elections explains, “Teacher unions have spent hundreds of millions of dollars obstructing reasonable reforms to ‘last in, first out’ hiring policies, seniority-based pay, and teacher tenure that could improve the status quo that protects unions and incompetence in the classroom at the expense of students. In practice, this means quid pro quo agreements with political candidates where campaign contributions are traded for promises of an anti-reform agenda.” 

Consider this cautionary tale of Government’s attempt to reform itself:

The government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Recognizing someone may steal from it, they created a night watchman position (GS-4) and hired a person for the job. Then they said, "How can the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning position and hired two people: one to write the instructions (GS-12) and one to do time studies (GS-11). Then they said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing his job correctly?" So they created two management positions.  Then they said, "How are these people going to get paid?"So they created a timekeeper position (GS-09) and a payroll officer (GS-11). Then they said, "Who will account for all of these people?" So they created an administrative position and hired three people: an Admin Officer (GM-13), an assistant Admin Officer (GS-12) and a Legal Secretary (GS-08). Then they said, "We have had this organization in operation for one year and we are $22,000 over budget, we must reduce overall costs," so they fired the night watchman. 

Ronald Reagan described the self-licking nature of government’s insatiable appetite this way, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!”  

The Era of Big Government is here, and you WILL like it.  And if you don’t, expect a call from the IRS or some other self-licking eternal entity.

Tinfoil Hats and FEMA Camps

“These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” – Thomas Paine, 1776

I vacillate between believing whether the biggest threat Americans face today is the internal threat posed by the politically correct Obama administration and their gargantuan, overreaching, oppressive Federal bureaucracy, coupled with a burgeoning Federal debt OR the external threats posed by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Islamic State, International criminal syndicates and other non-state actors coupled with an ineffectual Southern Border, as we reduce our military.  

Or maybe it is the way the Obama administration ignores the external threats, all while cozying up to Iran and Cuba, as he alienates our allies and reduces the military.  

  

But every cloud has to have a silver lining right?  The only reason I don’t wear my tinfoil hat all the time is because I’m convinced the politically correct Obama administration and their gargantuan, overreaching, oppressive Federal bureaucracy is also completely inept.  It would be funny if it weren’t so darn imprudent and expensive.  

Just this week, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) officials announced the results of the interagency forensics investigation into a recent cyber incident involving federal background investigation data.  The utter magnitude of the ineptitude makes the VA medical system look like the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins.   Here is what DoD informed present and former members:

 “In late May, as a result of ongoing efforts to secure its systems, OPM discovered an incident affecting background investigation records of current, former and prospective federal employees and contractors…  The forensics investigation determined that the types of information in these records include identification details such as Social Security numbers; residency and educational history; employment history; information about immediate family and other personal and business acquaintances; health, criminal and financial history; and other details.” 

Oh great.  Not just personal information, but the family’s too.  “Some records also include findings from interviews conducted by background investigators and fingerprints. Usernames and passwords that background investigation applicants used to fill out their background investigation forms also were stolen.”  But wait, there’s more, “Since learning of the incident affecting background investigation records, OPM and the interagency incident response team concluded that sensitive information, including the Social Security numbers of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from the background investigation databases. This includes 19.7 million people who applied for a background investigation, and 1.8 million non-applicants, predominantly spouses or cohabitants of applicants, officials said.” 

 

OPM’s silver lining, “While background investigation records do contain some information regarding mental health and financial history provided by those that have applied for a security clearance and by individuals contacted during the background investigation, there is no evidence that separate systems that store information regarding the health, financial, payroll and retirement records of federal personnel were impacted by this incident."  

In order to prove their incompetence was not just a onetime fluke, they offered this encouraging tidbit: “This incident is separate, but related to, a previous incident discovered in April… affecting personnel data for 4.2 million individuals.”

And just who got all this information?  According to senior American officials, Chinese hackers broke into the computer networks.   Not to worry though, “For the 21.5 million background investigation applicants, spouses or cohabitants with sensitive information stolen from OPM databases, OPM and the Defense Department will work with a private-sector firm specializing in credit and identity theft monitoring to provide services tailored to address potential risks created by this particular incident for at least three years, at no charge.”  No charge to anyone except the US taxpayer. 

The failure to secure our personal information needs to be seen in light of the abysmal failure to secure our physical borders and sovereignty of our country.  The most recent illegal alien related tragedies have spawned a new term -- “criminal illegal.”    Orwell would be proud.  In what might also be called criminal, these folks have found refuge in our liberal-led “sanctuary cities.”

Between the Obama administration’s ATF, DHS, DOJ, EPA, GSA, INS, ICE, IRS, OPM, NSA, SSA, TSA, VA and the SCOTUS’s incompetence and the external threats, it’s hard to be sure what constitutes the greatest threat to America.  The only silver lining or source of solace for the soul:  if (or when) Obama does declare Martial Law – our inept Federal Government won’t even be able to operate the FEMA camps correctly.

The SCOTUS Goes Rogue

There will be much written about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) most recent King v. Burwell decision regarding the Orwellian named, “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”  Derisively named “Obamacare” by its critics, it was aptly renamed “SCOTUS-care” by Samuel Alito who wrote a stinging dissent to the bizarre and lawless decision by the six partisan lawmakers in black robes masquerading as Supreme Court justices.  

The reason for the exact wording that the 6-3 majority deliberately chose to ignore was plainly disclosed by Jonathan Gruber in many of his arrogant lectures.  The subsidy (“free money”) was to only be available to those who "enrolled…through an Exchange established by the State..."  Some 34 states, primarily led by Republican Governors, chose not to establish State exchanges.  The left intentionally crafted the bill to incentivize states to create exchanges and punish those who didn’t.   

On January 18, 2012, Gruber, an economist who was paid millions of dollars as a consultant on the ACA, said, "What's important to remember politically about this is if you're a state and you don't set up an exchange, that means your citizens don’t get their tax credits."  On January 10, 2012, Gruber said, "... if your governor doesn’t set up an exchange, you're losing hundreds of millions of dollars of tax credits to be delivered to your citizens."  It was by design and codified in the law.

As the number of illegal invaders and ignorant Americans in our country rise faster than the temperature of a swine flu patient, the cost of health care will correspondingly explode.  As Ronald Reagan is often quoted as saying, “If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it.”  Only Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the other lying liberals could come up with a plan that manages to get the worst of both worlds -- subsidies creating inflation of prices and taxes to make less low-cost care available.   Not to mention, the less you earn/work, the greater your subsidy – a completely perverse incentive.

Some of the increased taxes to pay for this disaster include: “higher Medicare taxes, new annual fees on health insurance providers, fees on manufacturers and importers of brand-name pharmaceutical drugs and certain medical devices, limits on tax deductions of medical expenses, a new 40% excise tax on "Cadillac" insurance policies, and of course a 10% federal sales tax on indoor tanning services (or as Obama calls it, “the white privilege-tax”).

While it’s true it costs money to buy snake oil, and smart people usually have money, smart people don’t usually fall for the snake oil salesman’s pitch.  Stupid people, who might otherwise fall for the snake oil salesman‘s pitch, normally don’t have the disposable income for snake oil, or if they do, it’s not a lot of money; hence, the price of snake oil stays low.  But now, thanks to Obama/SCOTUS-care, the price of snake oil is about to explode, and those with money are about to fork out the money to buy it for those without. 

This is markedly different from the Georgia lottery. The lottery serves largely as a tax on the ignorant.  In the case of this government scheme, the state lures the uninformed and ignorant in to spend money they don’t have a lot of in the hopes of winning millions that they almost assuredly won’t.  The profits from this immoral but legal scam are then transferred to the children of the smart in the form of Hope Scholarships so that the cost of college tuition can continue to explode.  Easy-to-get student loans are similarly fueling runaway college costs.  The colleges know all-too-well that the parents are getting this “free” money, so they jack-up their prices accordingly.

If you thought health care or college is expensive now, just wait until it’s free.  Like the “cash for clunkers” program, Obamacare uses other people’s money to co-opt partakers into participating in the destruction of something that was actually working fine for many.  Like the lottery example above, the car dealer knows you got cash for your “clunker”, and you can bet he’ll get “his share” of that money.  The net result of cash for clunkers: a shortage of used cars for consumers that needed them and the complete destruction of those thousands of serviceable vehicles. 

 

The true destructive nature of Obamacare is yet to be fully realized.  Before you know it, the Supreme Court will rule two men can marry each other.  Truly, words have no meaning anymore.

This article was also appears in the 1 JUL 2015 Upson Beacon