12 February 2013 –
Odds ‘n Ends
1. I think President Obama’s State of the Principality—oops—I mean
his State of the Union Address today will forecast his radical, progressive
path: increased government intrusion in every aspect of individual,
family, and local community life; class distinction and antagonistic rivalry;
income redistribution in the name of “social justice”; attacks on traditional
Christian values and virtues such as marriage and the sanctity of life in the
name of “equality” and “respect”; and, a complete disregard for the prudent,
fiscal principles of restrained spending and balanced budgets. He
has another three and one-half years to create a principality completely
subservient to his whims. He will tell us today how he plans to do
so. Only 1,438 days left in his reign.
2. The Pope is resigning from his office on 28 February. He
cites his ill health and his inability to function in his office. Benedict
the XVI, eighty-five years old, was not in robust health when he was elected
Pope upon the death of John Paul II in 2005. There seems to be
nothing other than ill-health that prompted this historic decision. After
all, Popes rarely resign. Benedict XVI is the first Pope to resign
since Gregory XII stepped down in 1415, 598 years ago. Importantly,
Gregory XII resigned as part of a political deal struck to resolve the dynastic
struggles within the ruling families of Europe and whom they would follow, the
Popes who had ruled for nearly a hundred years under French domination from
Avignon and their newly elected successors—now branded as anti-Popes by the
church in Rome—or the Pope elected in Rome. Such gritty drama does
not exist today. But, since the media must have to have something to
roil about, today’s questions are the obvious: Will Benedict XVI's
successor be Italian, South American, or African? Each possible
choice has its own support, depending on what internal Catholic Church issue is
mentioned. I am leaning toward a Latin Pope: José XXIV. The
internal discussions have begun among the Cardinals and their staffs. This
time, however, they have less time to prepare. The traditional spectacle
to elect a new Pope, august and marvelous to watch, does not have to wait for a
funeral and a proper period of mourning. It could begin immediately after
28 February. Finally, perhaps the new Pope’s agenda will continue to
be outshone by the legacy of the resigned Pope. In 1294, Celestine
V, a monk and hermit who was finally elected Pope in 1294, after nearly two
years of deliberations, resigned five months later and became a hermit again
until he died in 1296. His reputation was such that in 1313, a mere
seventeen years after his death, he was canonized a saint. Perhaps,
Benedict XVI will be soon looked upon as a man who did what was ultimately the
best thing for the Catholic church and will be considered immediately for
canonization. Until then, the spectacle will continue.
3. I read a great synopsis of events in the House of Representatives
yesterday, as written by Jake Sherman, writer for POLITICO,
“In fact, the House hasn't passed a
single measure this Congress that either raises or cuts revenue (my
underlining). But the no-new-tax-bills strategy also has another effect: It
will stop the Senate from raising revenue as part of any plan to replace the
sequester. Since all revenue bills need to originate in the House, the strategy
will effectively halt Senate Democrats from raising revenue in a deal to blunt
the sequester. If the Senate passes a bill to increase taxes on millionaires as
part of a sequester replacement plan, for example, the House cannot take up the
legislation."
Good for the House! I can
only hope that the House will continue to show such courage as the sequester
date approaches. The Obama administration and Democrats in the Senate will
increase their obfuscatory rhetoric, with the mainstream media’s support, to
force a deal to raise taxes and to retain bloated spending. Midst
all the hoopla, we must continue to focus on one fact that every financial
advisor in the world knows by heart: Fiscal crises that result from
constantly spending more than you got, and the mountains of debt that you incur
from such profligacy, have little to do with revenues—aka taxes—and everything
to do with spending—aka runaway entitlements, overly-generous benefits, insider
giveaways to political cronies, and a defense department that is more concerned
with the politically-correct, social reengineering of its members than it is
with creating a strategy to meet modern and future threats and then building a
concomitant force to accomplish that strategy. Raising taxes will
only give more money to spendthrift ideologues and sacred cow-herders in government
to waste on bloated, vote-buying programs and do little to protect or improve
the lives of either the 47% or the 53% of America. If it takes
forced sequestration to force the Senate to pass legitimate budgets and to be
held accountable for them, then so be it. Hold the line, Speaker
Boehner. Hold the line.
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