Joey's Take: Putting limits on Congress

Campaigning has been fun these past few days – what with all the snow and ice. Watching the folks slipping and falling has made me appreciate being four-footed. I’ve had no problem getting around. And watching Congress slipping and falling all over the place to try to get “meaningful” legislation passed has made me realize even more how much we need a sure-footed dog on Capitol Hill.

When I’m elected, one of the things I’ll push for is a limit on how long Congress can meet each year. It seems to me they are wasting all too much time and money passing bills we didn’t even know we needed. If we’ve managed to survive 220 years as a nation without a law on how loud commercials can be, we probably don’t need the law. (Yes, loud commercials are annoying. But even I know that’s what the mute button on the remote is for.) Instead of being distracted by the noise on TV, Congress needs to focus on setting a budget that doesn’t break the bank.

Then there’s the healthcare joke that’s making its way around Capitol Hill. I’ve got to admit, I’m still waiting for the punch line. Perhaps that's the joke.

What gets me is how oblivious these “leaders” are to the obvious. One reason so many people don’t have insurance these days is that they don’t have jobs. Arff! Get the economy rolling (I don’t mean adding more government jobs) and a lot of these healthcare issues will take care of themselves.

You know, had Congress taken a commonsense approach to healthcare, the legislation would have passed ages ago, the president would be relaxing in Hawaii, all the senators could be home with their families or mistresses and we would have the peace of mind that comes with knowing we – and our hard-earned money – are safe from congressional shenanigans for at least a few weeks.

Next year I know what I'm putting on my Christmas wish list -- relief from too much government.

Merry Christmas!

Joey’s Take: Unprecedented Action

Although my congressional campaign is truly unprecedented, I promise not to overuse that word when I'm stumping -- given how much our current president has abused and misused it. Unfortunately, he has devalued that word as much as he has the dollar. (See Politico article.)

But enough jabs. Another unprecedented part of my campaign is that I’m not going to ask for your money. What I want are your prayers. Not for me, but for our country. Instead of throwing tea bags around in frustrated anger, we should be joining together in earnest, humble prayer -- all across this nation -- for our leaders.

Our prayers should not be about how right we are. And they should not be pleas that God show our leaders the error of their ways. Instead, we should ask God’s forgiveness for our lack of love toward those who disagree with us. We need to ask Him to raise up candidates on the local and national level who will stand for what’s right rather than bow to what is politically convenient. We need to continually remind our congressional delegates and local officials that we are praying for them; there is accountability in prayer. And while we’re on our knees, we also need to pray for the media.

Just picture it: God’s people, in every state, joining together and humbling themselves in prayer for the future of our country. Now that would be unprecedented.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

Giving Thanks

As we celebrated Thanksgiving in years past, our thoughts generally turned to family, to tables laden with food, to the daily bounty we too often took for granted.

This year as we prepare to give thanks with family and friends, many of us are thinking about loved ones who can’t be with us, tables less bountiful, a future where nothing (but taxes) can be taken for granted.

When the pilgrims gathered with their neighbors for that first Thanksgiving in a rough clearing in the wilderness, their thoughts focused not on bounty but on adversity overcome.

As they shared the fruit of their first harvest with the Native Americans who had made it possible, their thankfulness was intensified by the hard times they had endured.

Never again would they ignore a child’s laugh. Too many of their children lay silent in the alien soil.

Never again would they waste precious resources. They knew too well what it was to go without.

Never again would they take friendship lightly. They understood that they owed their survival and their future to the kindness of strangers.

Perhaps the true meaning of Thanksgiving is found in recognizing our blessings in the face of hardship.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joey’s Take: Time for Transparency

A lot of the barking in the Beltway dog park these days is about transparency. While the White House does a lot of tail wagging about it, Congress basically acts as the playground police to make sure everyone else follows the rules. But Congress itself is, by law, immune from those transparency rules that apply to the executive branch, federal agencies, the military, law enforcement, and state and local governments. (Keep in mind who makes the laws.)

That’s why former Congressman-turned-inmate William Jefferson was able to keep the FBI out of his congressional office – even though he had been caught with $90,000 in cold, hard cash (kickbacks) stashed between pie crusts in his home freezer. It’s also how several congressmen were able to keep it quiet – until a brief, unintentional leak – that their principal place of residence was no longer the district they represented but Maryland. (It saved them a few thousand dollars in property taxes.)

In exempting themselves from the Freedom of Information Act, Congress expects us to believe that it is inherently trustworthy, that we don’t need to know what deals went into crafting the laws the rest of us have to live by, and that its political shenanigans are none of our business. Besides, transparency is unnecessary, many congress(wo)men insist. What’s important is that they can still look themselves in the mirror. Arf!

As a member of Congress, my plan is to become the congressional watchdog. I will insist that Congress be subject to every law it imposes on others and that it conducts its business in the glare of the public spotlight. And I won’t waste time admiring my reflection in the mirror.

I’m Joey. I’m running for Congress. And I approved this message.

Joey's Take: Tail Wagging

One of the campaign tasks I find most challenging is figuring out which of the zillions of issues out there to bark about. I blame this on technology. The 24-7 news frenzy has to have something to barf up; that means a lot of comments and events get exaggerated, twisted and sensationalized. Talk about the tail wagging the dog!

It’s not all the media’s fault. The anonymity and ubiquity of the internet also are to blame. (Yes, I know some of these are big words for a dog, but because of my species, I have to work twice as hard to get people to take my campaign seriously.)

Have you read the hatred spewing out on some of these online comment boards? I can tell you, the worst of it is not from conservatives. The most offensive name-calling, vitriolic rhetoric is coming from so-called “tolerant” liberals. When I read this stuff, I wonder if we can ever be one nation under God.

Of course, it’s one thing for people to verbally bite each other on an anonymous forum in the name of public discourse. But, as a candidate for Congress, I draw the line at our representatives and senators standing up on the floor of their chamber and reading lies and gutter talk into the Congressional Record. Are the words of Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) really the legacy we want to leave as the archives of our time?

Arf! Here’s where the media come back in. Grayson has learned that as a freshman rep without rock-star status, he gets no attention when he’s just doing his job. Nope, the only time he gets his 15 minutes of fame is to engage in Hugo Chavez-inspired speeches. If the media would stop rewarding him with mic time, he’d focus on his job instead of his sound bites (pun intended).

I can assure you that if I’m elected to Congress, I won’t have to pull a Grayson to get my 15 minutes.

I’m Joey. I’m a rock-star dog. And I approved this blog – even though it doesn't carry the White House seal of approval.

Joey's Take: A Snuggie Government

Have you seen the new Snuggie for dogs? Arf! That is one fashion statement I will not be making on the campaign trail -- even if it were available in red.

It's bad enough that our Snuggie government is trying to sell us its imported, one-size-fits-all, 100 percent totally adulterated synthetic approach to education, health care and environmental policy.

The price? Don't worry about it. The government has an easy-to-pay installment plan that you can pass on to your children and your children's children. And if you act now, you'll also get a deflated dollar and higher taxes. Of course, they won't be called taxes. That would be breaking a promise.

The fine print? Congress isn't reading it, so why should you?

So, no worries. Just sit back and let your Snuggie government trap you -- er, wrap you -- in its voluminous fleece.

I'm Joey. I'm running for Congress. And I approved this sarcasm.

Joey’s Take: Sticking Up for the Middle Class

UPDATE: Fisker, the company that got more than half a billion dollars to build luxury hybrid cars thanks to Al Gore's backing, has decided to make the cars at a shuttered GM plant in Delaware, Vice President Biden's state. (This company must have a thing for vice presidents.) The plan now is to produce 75,000-100,000 cars a year, beginning in 2012, that will sell for about $40,000 after federal tax credits. More than half the cars are expected to be sold in Europe. The company is letting the union tell it who it can hire at the plant, according to an AP story.

Bo Obama left his mark on Air Force One last week. I hear he created quite a stink.

If I’m elected to Congress, I pledge to leave my mark in the Capitol on behalf of the middle class. And I’m ready to clean up the stink that’s piling up in Congress.

It’s time somebody stood up for the middle class, which seems to be the bankroll our government is counting on to fund everything from healthcare to the escalating interest on our ballooning national debt. It is the middle class that gets hit by every new tax – gas taxes, income taxes, property taxes, service taxes, FICA, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes. You name it – if it’s a tax, it’s going to slap the middle class. Why? Because the wealthiest (I’m talking million- and billionaires) have the loopholes, and the poor are always on the receiving end.

What our elected officials don’t understand is that the middle class is comprised of the movers and shakers of our communities. We are the security experts, the policemen, the firefighters, the accountants, the teachers, the small business owners, the workers who keep our country functioning.

We are the ones who will invest in green technology, who will pay to make our houses energy efficient, who will buy gas-sipping cars, who will invest in education, who will seek out American-made products, who will invent better widgets, who will support dog rescue programs and other charities. In other words, we are the backbone of the nation’s economy. That is, if the government allows us to keep the money we earn. (Yes, I may be a dog, but I am every inch a middle-class dog.)

Unfortunately, our “leaders” think they know best when it comes to spending our money. Like “loaning” more than half a billion middle-class tax dollars to a tiny car company Al Gore has invested in. According to the Wall Street Journal, this company will use the money to manufacture hydrogen-fueled cars in FINLAND that will sell for about $90,000 each.

And while our leaders were being generous with our money, they “loaned” nearly $470 million to another small automaker to make electric cars in the UK that will sell for $109,000 each.

So what will the middle class get for our money? Jobs for workers in other countries. And cars that we can’t afford. Since only a relatively few cars will be sold at those prices, we will see no impact on climate change, and the companies will probably never be profitable enough to pay us back.

If you ask me, these deals stink far worse than the little pile Bo left on Air Force One.

I’m Joey. I want to clean up Congress. And I approved this message.

Joey’s Take: Turn the Water On

For centuries, my ancestors earned their livelihood on the fishing boats of Portugal. So I know the value and economic importance of fishing. I also know the value of water. So when I take my seat in Congress, I will introduce legislation to ensure that the government never again engages in the desertification of once-productive U.S. farmland.

Although we scream about practices that have led to desertification in Africa, our government is intentionally promoting the desertification of the fields and orchards of much of California by locking up the water for the survival of the tiny Delta smelt. The only value of the Delta smelt is as food for bigger fish. But the value of the land we’re turning into a desert can be measured in jobs, families, communities – and enough food to feed nations.

The culprit of this environmental catastrophe is the Endangered Species Act. Like many other well-intentioned government interventions, this act provides a one-size-fits-all solution to environmental issues that ignores all other concerns. I’m all for keeping the doghouse clean, but we can’t live – or govern – in a vacuum. Life is about balance.

It’s time to bring balance back to our government policies. And it’s time to turn the water back on in California.

Yes, I’m a water dog, and I approved this message. Vote Joey for Congress.

Joey’s Take: The Dog Park

We’ve got a lot of problems facing our country right now. One of the biggest is the insane partisanship that’s ripping us apart. My years of experience as playground police at the dog park make me uniquely qualified to handle this situation. If the bullies in Congress – regardless of their party affiliation – get out of hand, I’ll be right there nipping at their heels until they get back to business in a civil manner. If that doesn’t work, I’m great at body slamming the pit bulls and rolling the little yelpers.

Speaking of the dog park. … I’ve noticed that what works in the neighborhood dog park doesn’t play so well on the Capitol Mall. Can you imagine 100 dogs, of every size and breed imaginable, running unleashed and out of control on the Mall? (OK, we’ve got that pretty much in the Senate!) Seriously, that many dogs chasing sticks, Frisbees, tennis balls and each other outside the confines of a dog park would create traffic jams, lead to some dog-bites-man non-news for the 24-7 news frenzy and result in a few dead Snoopys and Rovers. What works on a small scale usually doesn’t work on a national scale – whether you’re talking unleashed animals, health care or education.

The reason is accountability. In most neighborhood dog parks, the dogs get to know each other, and they’re accompanied by people who get to know each other. The end result is the people and the dogs begin to look out for each other. That doesn’t happen on a national scale populated by faceless masses and manipulated statistics.

Hillary (Clinton, that is) got it half right when she said it takes a village to raise a child. But when she “introduced” that African concept to the U.S., she mistranslated the word village. In most African countries, a village is simply a cluster of people united by kinship – and, thus, accountability and responsibility. In other words, it takes a FAMILY to raise a child, or care for their elderly, or tend to the sick within their midst, or look after the destitute among them. But in Hillary’s mind, village is translated as government, removing the need for personal accountability and responsibility.

As your representative in Congress, I’ll demand civility and do everything I can to remove the government from the village.

I’m Joey. I’m running for Congress. And I approved this message.

Joey’s Take: Keeping It Real

I have to apologize for going silent for the past two weeks. My campaign computer was attacked big time by viruses. If I were paranoid, I would blame it on a vast left-wing conspiracy aimed at shutting me up. But I’m a reasonable dog, so I’ll try not to buy into all the conspiracy theories. Instead, I’ll focus on real issues that matter to real people in the real world.

On the eve of the president’s speech to schoolchildren, a few media outlets trotted out Oprah’s list, prepared for the inauguration, of how children can serve their president. Funny, I thought it was his job to serve us. But I’m just a dog. What do I know?

It did get me thinking about how the role of a public servant has changed. The time was when we had citizens serving in a part-time Congress and then going home to take care of business. Now, we have professional politicians who position themselves as leaders, not servants. Yet, ironically, we have a woeful dearth of leadership in federal government.

So here’s a revolutionary thought: My campaign will be based on service – not leadership. If I’m elected, I pledge to:

• Be a servant, not a leader.
• Keep my paw out of your pocket and keep special interest paws out of my pockets.
• Make congressional pay merit pay. Senators and congressmen and -women who don’t show up for work, read the bills they vote for or live by the laws they pass shouldn’t get paid.
• Tie congressional salaries to the economy. If there’s no COLA for Social Security or government workers, there should be no pay raise for the servants in Congress. Period.

I’m Joey. I’m running to be your servant in Congress. And I approved this message.

Joey's Take: Legacy of a Portie Lover

My condolences go out to Splash, Sunny and Cappy on the death of their companion, Sen. Edward Kennedy. Not only was the senator family, he opened some pretty important doors – including the one to the Oval Office – to the three Porties. Because of his sponsorship, they were firsthand witnesses to many moments of history.

The trio were trusted advisers and an integral part of the senator’s staff. He relied on them to break the ice, size up political nominees facing Senate confirmation, lower the stress levels in committee meetings, rearrange the landscaping and, most importantly, build bridges with the opposition. Kennedy was so impressed with the intelligence, abilities and loyalty of the Porties that he arranged for Splash to write a book and another Portie to become the first dog.

The Kennedy Porties, once as common a presence on Capitol Hill as the senator himself, have been absent for many months as they devoted their time to comforting him in the last short chapter of his life. Judging from media accounts, they have been sorely missed. They had a knack for letting staff know when a meeting had gone on too long and for keeping the inflated egos of Congress in check. Kennedy recognized their influence and encouraged it.

In opening doors for his dogs, Kennedy created opportunities for all Porties. So even though I disagreed with him on many issues, I’m the first to admit that the senator – and Splash, Sunny and Cappy – are the inspiration behind my congressional campaign.

Rest in peace, Senator, and may Splash, Sunny and Cappy be comforted as they mourn the death of a true friend and beloved family member.

Joey's Take: No Catch & Release Here

Sorry 'bout the late post. This running for Congress can sure eat into a dog's time. While I've been hard at it, "Bobama" is chillin' in Martha's Vineyard where they've welcomed him with T-shirts proclaiming him the "new dog in town." Excuse me while I roll my eyes.

I don't want to sound like I've been eating sour grapes, but I don't want all my would-be constituents to taint me with Bo's pampered lifestyle. Remember, I'm a red-blooded working dog. You won't catch me vacationing in Martha's Vineyard a) because I can't afford it and b) I wouldn't be welcome amongst all those bluebloods.

Enough vacation talk. There are some real issues facing our nation. No, I'm not talking Cash for Clunkers, the economy or even healthcare. One of the biggest issues confronting our country remains security. Arf! Remember 911? Now, don't let the liberals tell you I'm just trying to scare you into voting for me. That's just their PC way of saying that anyone who doesn't vote for them is a) stupid, b) easily swayed, c) ignorant of the "real" issues, and d) part of that angry, out-of-control, town hall mob.

But even the president and his minions are sweating the security scene a bit now that Scotland -- an ally?! -- has implemented a catch-and-release policy when it comes to terrorists. In a letter to Scotland's government this weekend, FBI Director Robert Mueller said its release of the Lockerbie bomber would give comfort to terrorists all over the world. "Your action," he wrote, "makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988." (Source: Daily News)

Despite our public show of outrage and the wagging of fingers at the hero's welcome Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi received when he arrived in Libya last week, Eric Holder -- with the president's blessing -- is instituting his own be-nice-to-terrorist fishing policy. Today, he announced that he's opening an investigation into the interrogation techniques the CIA used on the men behind the 911 and USS Cole attacks. From now on, the FBI -- not the CIA -- will do terrorist interrogations, and they promise to be really, really, REALLY nice while asking questions. (Source: CNN)

Holder's announcement not only will give comfort to the terrorists of the world -- it will have them dancing in the streets. And, to paraphrase the FBI's Mueller, it makes a mockery of the families who lost loved ones on the USS Cole in 2000 and in the attack on the U.S. Sept. 11, 2001.

If this kind of wrong-headedness continues to win the day, security will be issue No. 1 by time the elections come around next year.

I wish I were just trying to scare you into voting for me.

Joey's Take: Yes, I Am Qualified

You know, running for Congress is tough enough without people questioning the most basic qualifications. So, before any "Birther" movement begins to pick up steam against my candidacy, I figured I'd better lay out my qualifications.

First, the requirements.

According to the Constitution, representatives must be at least 25, have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and be a resident of the state they are elected to represent. In case you're wondering how Hillary pulled off New York, representatives or senators just have to meet these requirements before they're sworn into office. So Hillary was able to move to New York after she was elected but before she took office.

My qualifications.

I was born in southern Missouri, which makes me a natural born U.S. citizen. In fact, despite my Portuguese heritage, my ancestors have been in the U.S. for several generations, and I have lived here my entire life.

Yes, there is documentation. And, no, it isn't forged. However, I don't have it because I'm adopted. Yes, I have my adoption papers, and they're not forged either. But let me point out that since the Constitution does not require representatives or senators to be natural-born citizens, I'm under no obligation to produce a birth certificate.

I am 35 years old, in dog years. Hey, it qualifies. Yes, there was an article last week that said dogs were pretty much comparable to 2-year-olds. I guess that means I'll fit in just fine in Congress.

While I have residency in Virginia, I don't want to run from this state. I think our local rep is doing a good job. That means I'm still hunting for a state. Arf, the election isn't until November 2010, so I've got plenty of time to shop for a district to represent.

As for other qualifications, I am home-schooled, celibate and scandal-free. I don't fly around in private jets, let other people buy me expensive gifts or meals, or own stock in any corporations.
I have had years of experience in home security, which should translate well into homeland security. And for the past two years, I have been working at a company that deals with healthcare regulatory issues. I've also had some experience with wildlife management issues.

This experience, coupled with my take-charge attitude and my rock-star personality, make me the total congressional package.

Joey's Take: On the Campaign Trail

The most common reaction I get when people find out I'm running for Congress is: "But you're a dog."

My response: "And your point is?"

"You can't read. How could you intelligently vote on legislation you haven't read?" they ask.

I inform my critics that, first of all, "intelligence" and "Congress" have nothing to do with each other and, secondly, far too many representatives and senators vote for legislation they haven't read. For that matter, the president doesn't read most of the bills he signs.

I also play to my biggest strength in reminding the naysayers that America voted for change in 2008 -- and it's still looking for it. The election of a dog to Congress would really shake up Washington. Think about it. Lobbyists would be at a loss of how to deal with me. They couldn't wine and dine me or treat me to fancy vacations at exotic golf courses. (You wouldn't want to see me loose on a green.)

I definitely wouldn't be one of the Beltway Boys. If my colleagues -- or the president, for that matter -- tried any paw-twisting with me, I'd probably bite them. I can see the headlines now: "Congressional Dog Bites Pelosi!"

Another benefit to electing me to Congress is that there wouldn't even be a scent of scandal. I don't drink, smoke, gamble, shoplift, own stock, or chase men or women -- at least not in a sexual way. I'm also already House-broken.

Yes, I'm Joey. I'm a dog. And I'm running for Congress. Vote for me if you want real change in Washington.

Joey’s Take: My Qualifications

In my quest for Congress, I’ve been advised by a few people to run for dogcatcher first so I can get some experience dealing with wayward animals. I thoughtfully considered that advice – for a full 60 seconds – and then shook my head. My country needs me now.

When you really think about it, experience is way overrated. It’s only an issue when a long-eared incumbent wags it in front of a menacing young whelp coming on a bit too strong in the campaign. All first-time candidates have to run on something other than experience. Arf!

In the past, it’s often been family ties – they have a parent, sibling or spouse who is/was a politician. It gives them great name recognition. That’s one thing I don’t have going for me – unless I point out the Portie connection with Bo Obama. But except for a few covers on books at pet stores, he’s keeping a low profile, so his tail isn’t going to help me much.

Fortunately for me, today what seems to matter most is personal narrative – combined with a charismatic personality and a rock-star ego. I’ve got an abundance of all three. Oh, and even though I’m a private sort of guy, I will show my birth certificate to Lou Dobbs and any conspiracy theorists out there to prove that I’m a native son despite my Portuguese pedigree.

As far as a campaign platform, my experience is that promises and platitudes go a lot further in polls than detailed planks and plans. Taking a firm, unambiguous stance on the issues only seems to matter to the extreme left or right. Since I’m still learning my left from my right, I’m very much a middle-of-the-road kind of dog. While that can be dangerous in heavy traffic, it tends to be a safe place in politics.

Joey’s Take: Campaign Slogan

The Democrats are going to the dogs – the Blue Dogs, that is. And that’s bad news for both the liberal foxes trying to lead the Dems and the rabid dogs of the far right nipping at the heels of Republicans.

Don’t get me wrong. I think foxes are interesting to watch. We’ve got a few in our backyard that sit under the deck or in the azalea bushes waiting for a chance to ambush the squirrels fattening themselves at the bird feeder in preparation for winter. That’s what foxes do. They survive by preying on small, unsuspecting animals. They’re also known for stealing all the eggs from the henhouse, destroying the hope of future generations.

Rabid dogs can be equally dangerous. Driven by unreason, they act irrationally, spreading their deadly disease as they lash out in crazed hate.

Yes, it is good to see the Blue Dogs baring their teeth as they stand up to guard the henhouse from the foxes in their own party. Now, we need some “Red Dogs” to serve as the bark of reason and fend off the rabid dogs on the Republican side.

Hey, that could be my campaign slogan: Elect Joey, the bark of reason.

Your Tax Dollars Hardly Working

(Editor's Note: Since I am hard at work on what I hope will be the masterpiece of a lifetime, I am neglecting the blog. Instead of being a daily commentary, it's going to be more of a weekly event. Joey will continue to do his Saturday blog -- just to keep you posted on his congressional campaign, if nothing else. And we're hoping that Mom, who started this thing, will eventually get freed up enough to contrribute on a weekly basis too.)

On to the blog.

CNN is running a series about how the billions of stimulus dollars are being spent. It's been a bit of an eye-opener. This morning, for instance, it tracked down three projects being funded by our future tax dollars:

-- About $18 million went to set up and maintain the website that tracks the stimulus money. (I wonder how much the CEO of that company is making? And who does s/he know to get that gig?)
-- Nearly $200,000 went to renovate four bathrooms at a federal facility in Wisconsin. (I know plumbers aren't cheap, but this seems a bit ridiculous.)
-- More than $9,000 went to buy 20 mesh chairs for a federal office. (Hello? Did anyone in government ever hear of Office Depot?)

These projects, which are just the tip of the iceberg, raise some questions. Were they bid out in keeping with federal purchasing rules? Or is the stimulus money going to Friends (read "supporters") of Congress? Were the chairs made in the U.S.? Is that even a requirement for stimulus money since we're borrowing a lot of it from China? Exactly how many jobs were created, or even "saved," by these projects?

And, finally, were these projects necessary? Ah, that's the biggie. I don't know about you, but when things are financially tight at my house, the last thing we do is spend extravagantly on remodeling or go out and buy expensive furniture. No, we stick to the bread-and-butter things -- like groceries, gas for the car and utilities.

But then we have to get by on what we earn -- not on what we can take out of someone else's pocket.

Joey for Congress!

I can’t count real well. OK, I can’t count at all. (I am learning my left from my right. Beat that, Bo Obama!) But I do know that those numbers the president and Congress are simultaneously throwing around and ignoring would keep all of the world’s dogs and cats fed for an eternity.

What gets me is that if Mom and Dad were having financial problems, we couldn’t go to the bank – or China, for that matter – for an unsecured loan. And we definitely couldn’t get the Waltons, Gateses and Kennedys of this world to dig into their pockets to give us, say, 5 percent of their taxable earnings.

Nope, we’d have to start cutting costs. Things like cable TV and the home phone (that would be good riddance – I hate the sound of that thing!) would be gone. We’d have to move someplace cheaper, and I’d probably get fewer, if any, treats. Unlike the government, we definitely wouldn’t be looking for ways to spend more money. Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t mind a posh new crate, more treats and a new Toyota Cruiser to ride around in.

I could argue that spending that money would help the economy by helping the companies that make those things, which would mean a few more people would have jobs so they could spend money at a few more businesses that could then hire a few more people until eventually that money trickled back around to us. I can just see Mom and Dad telling the student loan people, the landlord and all the utility companies that they can’t pay their bills because they have to spend their money on things that will help grow the economy. Oh, and they’ll pay their bills when it all trickles back down. Yeah, right.

Even I know you can’t spend your way out of debt. Hey, maybe I should run for Congress!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Here's my take on the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to national news this week.

The Good: President Obama announced yesterday that he will nominate geneticist Francis Collins to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. Collins led the government's Human Genome Project while serving as director of the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute and is well-respected for his work -- in most circles.

But as I wrote in a previous blog, there are some scientists who take issue with Collins because he is an evangelical Christian. These people don't think anyone who believes in God is fit to run a government agency that deals with science.

The Bad: Our economy is still spiraling downward. Despite the billions of dollars we have borrowed and spent on "stimulus" projects, the national unemployment rate is now expected to hit 10 percent. The latest employment figures show 467,000 jobs were lost in June, and the jobless rate hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, according to the Associated Press.

To sell the stimulus package, the administration and Congress talked a lot about all the new jobs it would create across the country. Those promises have changed. Now all the talk is about the jobs the stimulus is "saving."

The Ugly: When it comes to efforts to change the nation's healthcare, things are getting pretty ugly. At first, it was just the Democrats fighting the Republicans. But now the Dems are fighting each other, according to an AP report. A group of Blue Dog Democrats are threatening the due date the president and congressional leaders had set for a "reform" package, making the case that more time is needed to craft legislation that tackles the real problems.

One of the concerns is paying for the massive changes many Dems have proposed. A solution bandied about this week is a "surtax on the wealthy." The suggestion is to levy a new tax on individuals who make $200,000 or more and couples who make $250,000 or more. But that would create a $150,000 "marriage penalty" that could throw the whole thing to the courts. (That reminds me of a "sale" I once saw in a clothing store. The item cost $2.50, but the sale let you buy three for $10.)

The Non-Elected Policymakers

We can get so caught up in campaign politics that we forget much of our national policy is shaped by people who are never elected. On average, every president gets to appoint a few thousand political employees -- and most of those are not confirmed by the Senate. For instance, none of the White House advisers closest to the president requires confirmation.

President Obama promised unprecedented transparency and an end to politics as usual when he named his advisers. How did he do?

Consider Nancy-Ann DeParle. After leaving her government job running Medicare for the Clinton administration, DeParle earned more than $6.6 million in the private sector since early 2001, according to a tally by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. She accepted director positions at half a dozen companies suspected of violating the very laws and regulations she had enforced for Medicare. Those companies got into further trouble on her watch as a director. Several were investigated for alleged kickbacks or engaging in other illegal billing schemes, while others were accused of serious violations of federal quality standards, including one company that failed to warn patients of deadly problems with an implanted heart defibrillator.

Her current assignment? She's Obama's director of the White House Office of Health Reform. (Sourc: MSNBC)

Or how about Rahm Emmanuel, the White House chief of staff? Another revolving door, Emanuel was named to the board of Freddie Mac by President Clinton in 2000. During his brief tenure on the board -- he resigned in 2001 to run for Congress -- Freddie Mac misreported profits by billions of dollars in order to deceive investors, according to an SEC complaint. The entire board was accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention," an ABC News report says.

Then there's Steve Rattner, a top Democratic fundraiser Obama tapped as his car czar. According to the Washington Examiner, Rattner's hedge fund, the Quadrangle Group, did business with New York City’s pension fund — an arrangement at the heart of recent federal convictions for illegal kickbacks. A short time after Rattner met with a consultant for the pension fund, the city invested in Quadrangle, and Quadrangle cut a check to the consultant, who has since pleaded guilty to taking illegal kickbacks.

The Examiner says Rattner and Obama's plan to selvage Chrysler was to give the United Auto Workers union 55 percent of the automaker while attacking secured creditors — who, in a regular bankruptcy, would be repaid in full — for resisting the deal. “The government exerted extreme pressure to coerce all of [Chrysler’s] constituencies into accepting a deal which is being done largely for the benefit of unsecured creditors at the expense of senior creditors,” these targets alleged in a federal complaint.

Keep in mind that the UAW’s political action committee spent $13.1 million in the last election cycle. Of the PAC’s $2.3 million in direct contributions to candidates and candidate PACs, more than 99 percent went to Democrats. The union’s PAC also reported $4.5 million in independent expenditures supporting Obama, plus an additional $423,000 opposing John McCain.

This kind of change we could do without.

Joey's Take -- Clean Out the Dog House

I may be a dog, but even I know that these political animals running loose in the Beltway and state capitals need to exercise some control when it comes to their private affairs.

Yes, I know some of our founding fathers had their "indiscretions." But that was back before a vicious 24/7 news cycle demanded to be fed. Before media hounds sniffed out any scent of scandal. Back when sex and sensationalism were not the Kibbles 'n Bits of the press. When people understood what it meant to be a PUBLIC official and recognized that this couldn't be a lifetime career choice for that very reason.

Public service should never be a Gravy Train of self-indulgence. Rather, it should be a path of self-sacrifice. Commitment. Accountability. Yes, even in this era of Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Mark Sanford and John Ensign, integrity still matters.

But to get the leaders we need, we can't just run with the pack and vote for who looks good on camera or howls the loudest. We must look beyond the buzz words and the focus group-tested speeches to find the leaders whose actions speak louder than their bark.

It's time to clean out the dog house!

Reflections on the Fourth

Tomorrow we celebrate our independence from one of Europe's biggest colonial powers. Yet today, our leaders want us to become just like Europe. Whenever someone pushes for change -- in healthcare policy, environmental debates, education, social issues -- they point across the Atlantic and say, "We need to copy them. They have all the answers."

Ironic, isn't it?

What these European wanna-bes don't understand is that Europeans don't want us to become "just like them." Job's brother is here this week from Europe, and he has been impressing upon us what America means to the rest of the world. We are the brash, adventure-loving, devil-may-care cowboys who dared break with tradition -- who stood up to a king and his imperial army -- to shrug off the status quo, to fight for our rights, to find our own way and to fashion a new civilization in the wilderness.

It's been 233 years since our ancestors shook their fists in the face of a king. It was a gesture that not only gave birth to a nation but revived the ideal of democracy.

Since that time, the world has come to recognize the U.S. as a champion of freedom. The world needs us to be a global leader -- not a follower of Europe.

Happy Fourth of July!

Democrats by the Numbers

With Al Franken the undisputed senator from Minnesota, the Democrats now have a filibuster-proof Senate. The last time that happened -- in the wake of Watergate -- they passed a bunch of procedural measures, like lowering the filibuster-breaker from 67 to 60. They also put us on the metric system and then slowed us down to 55 mph.

We all know how those last two went. We're still buying gas by the gallon and cruising the interstates at 65 mph and then some -- unless you're on I-66 during traffic times or a presidential motorcade.

Before the Dems let their numbers go to their head, here are a few numbers they need to seriously consider. A new Gallup poll shows "a statistically significant increase since last year in the percentage of Americans who describe the Democratic Party's views as being 'too liberal,' from 39 percent to 46 percent. This is the largest percentage saying so since November 1994, after the party's losses in that year's midterm elections," according to a CNN editorial.

Another Gallup poll shows that 40 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, 35 percent moderate and only 21 percent liberal. "This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004," according to Gallup.

The numbers also are telling when it comes to President Obama's hurried push to change healthcare. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning, 51 percent of people surveyed say they favor the president's healthcare plan, with 45 percent opposed. But when questioned more closely, most of the people surveyed are concerned that their healthcare costs would go up if the president's proposals are passed. And only 20 percent think their families would be better off under the Obama plan.

So before the Dems spend trillions more that we don't have on public insurance programs or a Hawaiian bank partially owned by a Democratic senator, they may want to chew on some of these numbers for a while. But in the meantime, don't put it past them to pull a few more procedural shenanigans to give themselves even more power.

Hardly @ Work

My husband is taking some graduate management courses online. A discussion question the other day focused on ways to reward employees for doing their job. Silly me. I thought that's what paychecks were for.

Obviously, one of the problems we're facing as a nation is that the entitlement mentality has taken over the workplace.

Consider the New Haven, Conn., firefighter case. Yes, the one in which the Supreme Court overturned Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who pushed for entitlements in denying promotions to firefighters who had studied hard to pass a qualifying exam for a shot at 15 openings for lieutenant and captain. More than 100 firefighters took the test, and many of them failed, including 27 African Americans. Fearing a discrimination lawsuit, the city threw out the test results. Denied promotions, 20 who had followed the city's promotion rules and passed the exam -- 19 whites and one Hispanic -- filed a reverse discrimination suit. Echoing Sotomayor's reasoning in her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the firefighters who had passed the exam "had no vested right to promotion" (Hartford Courant).

Since entitlements aren't for people who work, I guess next time they won't study so hard.

Hilda Solis, the new Labor secretary, also is promoting entitlements in the workplace by pushing for labor unions on demand and an even higher minimum wage. Although the federal minimum wage is jumping to $7.25/hour in July, Solis is concerned that the federal wage is lower than that of several states. The inconvenient truth is that the cost of living varies greatly across this country. Believe me, $7.25/hour will go a whole lot further in Little Rock than it does in northern Virginia.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Solis trots out the tired argument that you can't raise a family on minimum wage. Inconvenient Truth No. 2: Minimum wage is a starting point. If someone who's been working full-time for more than a year is still making minimum wage, there's a problem. And much of that problem can be solved by a little personal initiative -- to ask for a promotion, find a different job or improve the job skills.

The irony is that President Obama, Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Solis didn't get where they are by entitlements. They worked hard to achieve their success. But now, they're basically telling the next generation there's no need to get an education, to work hard, to achieve. The government will take care of you.

And silly me. I work for a living.

Spinning the Healthcare Change

The spin is on big time when it comes to changing healthcare. (Note that I am not using the term reform, which suggests improvement. President Obama ran on a platform of change -- not reform. I'm convinced our healthcare system will change but not necessarily for the better.)

One of the president's healthcare buzz terms was comparative-effectiveness research (CER) -- also known as cost-effectiveness research in some circles. Because of legitimate concerns that CER could lead to a one-size-fits-all healthcare system, the government has come up with a new name for it. Now it's "patient-centered research," according to a news release put out today by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The purpose of this research is to "help give patients and doctors more information so they can make the best decisions," the news release says.

No matter how you spin it, the gist is the same. We are spending $1.1 billion in "stimulus" money on CER to find out how to limit Medicare/Medicaid coverage without cutting entitlements. Of course, most of our money will never be spent on research. Much of it has to pay for the council that was set up to steer the research, the reports that various agencies are doing to discuss the need for the research, all the "listening sessions" in which said council will listen to public health officials describe the problems to be solved by the research, preparation for congressional hearings on the research, education (read "propaganda") programs to sell us on the results of the research, etc. Very little will be left to actually spend on the research.

The council today made a number of recommendations on how the HHS secretary should spend her $400 million of the $1.1 billion CER stimulus money. Topping the list? "It is critically important to be able to share the results of comparative effectiveness research with doctors and patients and make better investments in how information is disseminated," the news release says. In other words: spin, baby, spin. That's our tax dollars at work.

Joey's Take -- Trailblazer or Roadkill?

When it comes to dogs, there are basically five kinds of leaders:

-- The Lone Wolf. He starts out as leader of the pack but ends up on his own because no one wants to go in his direction.

-- The Pup. Rash and inexperienced, he's in a hurry to get anywhere else. He doesn't take the time to learn from the past and sniff out the dangers of the trail. Since he doesn't have a clear idea of where he wants to go, he tends to wander. In his haste, he loses his way -- or gets run over by the rest of the pack.

-- Old Faithful. This dog never wanders off the beaten path. He's always got his nose to the ground so he can lead the pack down the same trail everyone else has taken.

-- The Yapper. His nose is constantly in someone else's business. He's so busy barking and whining about what others have done, he leads the pack in circles.

-- The Trailblazer. This dog generally has had experience and has great instincts. But he still takes the time to smell the scents, test the water and plot out a reasonable course. While he doesn't needlessly lead the pack headlong into danger, he stands his ground when necessary. He understands that leadership isn't about being popular -- or having power. It's about vision, responsibility, integrity and accountability.

With the mess our country is in, we need to start seriously thinking about our future leaders -- at the local, state and national levels.

Me? I'm looking for trailblazers.

Acute Myopia

Chances are that if you need a cardiac stress test, bone scan, SPECT scan or any number of nuclear diagnostic imaging tests, you're going to be waiting for a long, long time. While you're waiting, you can thank all the enviros who ranted about the dangers of nuclear power. You also can thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Presidents Clinton and Obama.

The problem is an acute shortage of technetium-99m -- or Tc-99m. This radioactive isotope is used in 85 percent of all nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging tests and is generated from molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is produced at only a handful of aging nuclear reactors worldwide -- none of which is located in the U.S. Because of the short half life of Tc-99m, it cannot be stockpiled.

We, along with much of the world, get most of our Mo-99 from Canada's Chalk River reactor that is scheduled to be decommissioned in two years. The current global shortage is due to a leak discovered last month at this reactor, forcing it to shut down for repairs that could take up to eight months. This shortage is just a sample of what awaits us in a few years.

Back in the '80s and early '90s, there was a concerted push to develop nuclear facilities in the U.S. for medical purposes. But when Clinton was elected president, one of the few campaign promises he kept was to eliminate plans for any new reactors. The concern at the time was how to safely handle the spent fuel rods and other waste generated at such facilities. That concern gave rise to national myopia when it comes to all things nuclear.

The myopia has increased under the current administration. Although modern reactors produce much less radioactive waste than their predecessors, we have yet to develop a permanent repository for that waste. Yes, we have spent more than $14 billion to develop the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada, but we'll never see anything for that money. Reid and Obama have declared Yucca Mountain a dead issue and have cut the funding for the project.

Without a repository for the waste, there's little hope of getting any new reactors built, which means we will continue to be dependent on other nations for much of our nuclear medicine. And when there is limited supply, the price soars.

The myopia of the past has become more acute because of the current administration's focus on healthcare reform. The two conditions have created a new fix -- reduce the demand for the medical isotope by restricting coverage for nuclear diagnostic imaging tests. This would have the added benefit of lowering medical costs, the healthcare reformers reason. Afterall, if you don't diagnose a disease, you don't have to treat it. And if you don't treat it, you will have fewer people who need healthcare. Or Medicare. Or Social Security.

In other words, we have traded nuclear engineering for social engineering.

Problem? Or Solution?

Mention the word "feedlot" to most people, and they'll immediately think of a smelly nusiance. Animal rights groups will tell you a feedlot is cattle torture. And enviros would have you believe that feedlots are a major culprit in global warming.

But there are a few think-outside-the-box creative types who understand that feedlots can be part of the answer to our energy problems. In fact, a forward-thinking Vermont farmer teamed up with an engineer to create a manure digester that turns cattle waste into energy. From 1,000 head of cattle, he can produce enough energy to totally power 350 homes. This technology is now being used in several large dairy states.

This man, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a state Senate seat, shows that what most people view as a problem may actually be a solution. It's just a matter of perspective. And that never-say die attitude that made the U.S. a great nation.

When it comes to the environment, we should not give in to knee-jerk reactions or a follow-the-crowd mentality that could threaten our food supply and do more harm than good in the long run. Instead, we should follow the example of this farmer and turn our problems into practical solutions.

Joey's Take -- Roadkill

Every morning when I'm riding in the redmobile to get Mom to work, I bark at all the bloated deer corpses along the highway. They literally litter the roadside along the Beltway.

Sure, there are barriers to keep them out. But, considering themselves "smarter than the average bear," the deer ignore the fences and cement walls -- even the scent of corpses rotting in the wind -- to get to the easy grazing alongside the road. Those barriers are for other animals -- not them.

Once on the road, they are blinded by the bright lights and confused by the chaos and rush of traffic. But they don't turn tail and head for the woods. Nope. They edge closer and closer to the speeding cars, lured by all that horsepower cruising by them.

Forgetting their natural instincts and all the animals depending on them back home, they sacrifice everything they are, becoming the latest roadkill -- and fodder for all the vultures feeding on the Beltway.

Hmm. Reminds me of some of the political animals lured by the bright lights of D.C.

Playing Politics

Remember that incident Democrats, including Sen. Obama, tried to blow up into “Attorney-gate” under President Bush? They didn’t like the fact that he replaced nine U.S. attorneys midstream, claiming it smacked of politics. Never mind that these attorneys served at the pleasure of the president and at least one of them had spent a number of years threatening to quit.

Now just five months into his term, President Obama seems to be playing politics with a government watchdog who blew the whistle on two of the president’s supporters who misspent AmeriCorp funds. For his trouble, Gerald Walpin, inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service and a Bush hold-over, was abruptly fired last week by Obama.

When the president’s action was questioned by senators, including a few in his own party, the character assassination began. Walpin’s, that is. The White House released a letter from a senior counsel to the president that justified the firing based, in part, on what it called Walpin’s “confused, disoriented” behavior at a board meeting a few weeks ago when he allegedly was unable to respond to questions, according to the New York Times.

(If that’s grounds for dismissal, the president has a lot of people to fire. Have you seen the video of the congressional hearing in which Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., questions Elizabeth Coleman, the Federal Reserve inspector general? She comes across as somewhat confused and unable to respond to the questions she’s asked.)

A president has the right to appoint whom he wants to various positions -- and get rid of whom he wants. But unlike Obama, Bush didn't stoop to character assassination, even though it meant he put his own reputation out there to be hung.

Where's the Savings?

When Candidate Obama hit the campaign trail, he promised to reform the nation's healthcare system. One of his promises was to cut through the costs.

President Obama is trying to deliver on those campaign promises -- sort of. He is trying to bring change to our healthcare system. But if you've been following all the reports on his efforts, you know his proposals are adding to the bill -- not reducing it.

For starters, the president and the Democrat-controlled Congress devoted $1.1 billion for comparative-effectiveness research -- basically comparing one treatment against another to see which works best for the least amount of money for the most people. However, several Democratic leaders, including Sen. Max Baucus, are stipulating that this research cannot be used to cut healthcare costs. Hunh?

Meanwhile, the president is touting a $2 trillion savings in healthcare costs over 10 years -- based on a conversation he had with industry. He uses that savings to balance the $1 trillion he's planning on spending on healthcare coverage and other "reforms." Since that meeting, the healthcare industry has outlined some vague steps that might save some money but nowhere near $2 trillion.

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a document acknowledging that many of the industry proposals will not affect government healthcare spending and the ones that do will fall far short of the president's promise. Responding to the CBO report, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says in a statement, “As predicted, the $2 trillion savings pledge didn’t materialize from CBO’s perspective. The headlines generated by the White House event a month ago don’t get us much closer to affording health care reform today.”

Victims of the 24/7 News Cycle

The death of the city newspaper often is blamed on the economy. But what really killed it is the 24/7 news cycle created by CNN and the Internet. By time a newspaper is printed, its news is already history.

Another victim of the 24/7 news cycle is good, solid reporting. Since this cycle is driven by a constant supply of new information, the emphasis is on producing words -- not on investigating truth. As a result, sound bites have become the golden currency of the media. And words really do speak louder than action.

Think about it. A government official eloquently reads a speech written by a professional speech writer. But before a reporter has a chance to match the official's action with his words, the news cycle has moved on to the next sound bite. Most people, yielding to short attention spans and the desire for novelty, don't care that the official's speech doesn't align with his life. And if those few people who do care try to point out the contradictions, they're ignored, ridiculed or considered irrelevant dinosaurs.

Thus, someone like Al Gore, for instance, can become the guru of the green movement even though his carbon footprint is bigger than that of Paul Bunyan.

A Return to Honor

I was born and raised, for the most part, in central Illinois in a family still closely tied to its Southern roots. Drummed into us from birth was the Southern code of honor, which was bound to God, family and community -- in that order. An integral part of that honor was manners.

By manners, I don't mean merely knowing which fork to use first at a formal dinner or refraining from burping in public. For my parents and grandparents, manners were a daily extension of the Golden Rule: You respect others if you want them to respect you. Manners were the rules of society that helped us disagree without being disagreeable, as my father, the "country parson," is fond of saying. By exercising manners, we learned accountability -- to ourselves and to others.

Somewhere along the line, we have forgotten our manners. Young people refuse to offer their seats to the elderly. Children tear through stores, knocking into people with no apology -- and no parent scolding them. Students swear at their teachers. Service workers have no clue what "service" means.

What is even sadder is the demise of public discourse. Gone are the great orators who honored their word. Today's public forum is filled, instead, with noisy political hackers who joke about the statutory rape of Gov. Palin's daughter. Or who think it's OK to call Michelle Obama's ancestors gorillas -- so long as it's done in jest. Such lack of self-restraint demeans the person who says such things as well as the community that encourages it.

Today when there are so many serious problems facing our nation, we need people who can intelligently address the issues -- courteously, respectfully and maturely. And, given that Republicans are the minority party, we're going to have to work twice as hard to demonstrate that we have the ideas, and the temperament, necessary to lead our country away from the edge of the abyss.

Joey's Take -- Get a Life

I am proud that one of me is living in the White House. It's quite a rise for a breed that didn't make it to the U.S. until the 1970s and that was only recently recognized by the American Kennel Club.

But the other day, I was struck by the liability of having a Portuguese water dog as First Dog. Since most people don't know a lot about my breed, they may judge me based on what they hear about Bo. So when Bo offered the White House press corps a photo op a week or so ago, I was all eyes.

The photo op went like this: Bo's two handlers -- these were paid dog staff and not Michelle, the president or the girls -- had Bo out on the White House lawn. He was immediately surrounded by a gaggle of media (or is it a herd?), all squatting on the ground pointing cameras at him. Intrigued by the mic attached to a TV camera that was coming in close on him, Bo started playing tug-of-war -- a favorite Portie game -- with the mic sock. Trouble is, Bo lost. Yes, he's just a puppie, but give me a break. How hard is it to strip a mic sock from an inanimate camera?

After getting over the embarrassment reflected on my breed, I started thinking about this photo op thing. When Barney was First Dog, he always appeared with the president or Laura -- not hired handlers. Then I remembered -- this president promised to create thousands of jobs in D.C. Expanding the White House staff is one way to keep that promise.

My next thought was about all these "news" crews willing to step in dog poo to get a few shots of -- a dog. Yes, Bo is cute. All Porties are. But come on, he's a dog. On a lawn. Get a life!

I don't need to know what kind of dog food he eats. Who makes his collars. What his favorite treat is. If he has a favorite toy. How many times a day he relieves himself. Knowing that about Bo wouldn't make me any cooler than I already am. And it sure isn't going to change the way I live.

The Beginning of Hope

If you don't live in Virginia or New Jersey, you may not have caught the ray of hope that is beginning to dawn on the conservative horizon. Both states have off-year gubernatorial elections. And voters in both states so far are throwing their support to conservatives.

In Virginia, the glimmer paved the way for state Sen. Creigh Deeds, a conservative Democrat, to leave two liberal opponents stumbling in the dark as he raced past them in the primary this week -- despite being outspent, outgunned, out-endorsed and outnamed. Deeds captured 50 percent of the vote while Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Democratic Party operative, got 26 percent and the early favorite Brian Moran pulled in nearly 24 percent.

You may be familiar with McAuliffe. He's the one who engineered the Clinton coffees at the White House and the "renting out" of the Lincoln bedroom. McAuliffe, who had chaired Hillary's presidential campaign, came to the Virginia race late. In fact, he reportedly wanted to run for governor in Florida until he found out he had to live there seven years first. Despite his late entrance, he raised millions more than his opponents -- much of it from Hollywood -- and had several in-person endorsements from President Clinton.

Moran, who ran to the left of McAuliffe, comes from a prominent political family and has served in the state assembly. He also got the endorsement of the Kennedy clan. He was seen as the golden candidate until McAuliffe's candidacy bumped him off course.

But in the end, Virginia Democrats set their hopes on the conservative -- the one candidate who would not agree with President Obama on many of his policies. They told the Clintons, the Kennedys and even Hollywood, "No thanks." They proved Virginia is not as purple as the liberals would like you to believe.

Meanwhile in New Jersey, Republican challenger Chris Christie is coming on strong against incumbent Jon Corzine with taxes, particularly property taxes, and the economy playing as the biggest issues. Some pundits see President Obama as Corzine's only hope to retain his seat. But will the president risk his cache by campaigning for an incumbent who could lose?

Hope is dawning. And we're not even through the first six months of the Democratic reign.

Professor-in-Chief

Whether he's dealing with healthcare reform, nominating a Supreme Court justice, trying to forge peace in the Middle East or attempting to dig out of the economic mess he helped create as a U.S. senator, President Obama sticks to his professor's manual in how he handles the crisis at hand.

Five months into his presidency, Obama has exhibited a signature way of approaching every issue. First, the Speech -- more commonly known as a lecture in classroom parlance. In the Speech, he lays out some general guidelines or objectives and then pulls at the heartstrings with poignant anecdotes.

Next, the Assignment. Usually this is directed at Congress. But Obama has been known to make assignments to industry, agencies, associations and even Israel. On the heels of assigning homework, the president sets an arbitrary due date. And then like any good professor, he leaves the students to complete the project on their own.

While this method may work in the classroom, it is disastrous in government. Remember the "stimulus" package? Rushing to meet the president's due date, Democrats pushed through a thousand pages of spending proposals that no one -- including Professor President -- had a chance to review or evaluate. The Democrats are doing the same thing with Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. For them, it is more important to meet Obama's deadline than it is to do a full-blown, meaningful review.

Meanwhile, the president gave them another assignment today: Come up with legislation to set a cap on executive pay at all publically traded companies. It will be interesting to see if any of the congressional Democrats question the teacher on this one.

Or perhaps by now the brighter students have figured out that this type of tutorial government leads to one result: The president/professor takes all the credit and the students in Congress get all the failing grades.

Other Cost-Savings Measures

I'm sure all of you can think of at least a handful of ways to lower our national healthcare bill. By themselves, each measure might not amount to much, but added together and multiplied across the country, they could total trillions of dollars in savings.

Here are a few of my ideas for healthcare providers, including hospitals:

--Require all healthcare providers to wear surgical gloves and masks when treating patients -- even in the doctor's office. Obviously, these would need to be changed often. Yes, there are costs associated with gloves and masks, but we could save by cutting the spread of contagious diseases and pathogens;
--Design waiting rooms and waiting times to reduce or eliminate the spread of illnesses;
--Require providers to regularly disinfect all areas and to routinely clean their air filtering systems;
--Require imaging techs to disinfect MRIs, mammography equipment, etc., after each use. To maximize the use of this expensive equipment, many facilities do not take the time to disinfect it, creating one of the major sources of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs);
--Prohibit providers from billing for "never" events -- infections or injuries caused by their negligence. Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurers are refusing to pay for these; individuals should not have to pay for such mistakes either. If they have to pay for their own mistakes, maybe providers won't make so many;
--Allow hospital patients to use their regular medications from home rather than forcing them to pay the inflated-hospital price. For that matter, limit hospital drug prices to what area pharmacies charge;
--Allow hospital patients to use their own gowns, toothbrushes, disposable cups, etc., rather than having to pay inflated prices for the ones the hospital provides;
--Require providers to give patients the total cost of a procedure upfront along with the cost of alternatives. Then require them to honor that price quote;
--Require providers to submit itemized bills in a timely manner. Currently, some hospitals wait months and even years to bill so patients cannot challenge the items on the bill;
--Reform patent laws so pharmaceutical and medical device companies have an incentive to create innovative treatments without having to spend millions in court to protect their patents;
--Encourage competition once patents expire, but discourage generic companies from filing on new patents. Under the current system, generic companies often file years before a patent expires, hoping to get a healthy settlement from the brand company in exchange for delaying the launch of their copycat product. The resulting litigation, which often goes through several appeals, increases the costs of both the brand and the generic drugs; and
--Eliminate frivolous malpractice and injury suits; limit legitimate awards to a reasonable amount.

Feel free to add your ideas.

At the Doctor's Office -- Take 2

When the president and Congress are talking trillions of dollars for universal insurance coverage and comparative-effectiveness research -- all the big-dollar items of healthcare reform -- they tend to ignore the small practical steps that really could add up to make a huge dent in our national healthcare dollar.

Take the doctor's office, for instance. If doctors and other healthcare providers followed the lead of veterinarians in offering evening and weekend hours and took other steps to prevent lengthy office waits, we could see some real savings. For example, let's say Sally, an expectant mother, makes $15/hour (the median average wage for women in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). Over the course of her pregnancy, she will make at least 10 prenatal visits to the doctor. While her HMO will cover most of the cost, she will have to miss an average of three hours of work for each doctor's visit (including the commute), so she will miss a total of 30 hours of work because the doctor's office won't work around her schedule. If she doesn't get sick leave, she will lose $450 in pay. And even if she is covered, her office will lose 30 hours' worth of productivity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4,265,555 babies were born in the U.S. last year. For the sake of our example, let's just say that 3 million of the women giving birth to those babies worked and made an average of $15/hr. That would mean that in one year, the nation would lose $1.350 billion in productivity for this prenatal care. Over 10 years, that would total $13.5 billion. If you add to this the cost of time off work for all employees to go to the doctor or take their families to the doctor, the amount would be staggering.

Now, no one is suggesting that people shouldn't go to the doctor. But when people can't afford to take off from work for routine doctor visits, they end up going to the emergency room or waiting until their condition gets critical, both of which addseven more to the national healthcare bill. All of these problems could be addressed if we simply change the hours doctors, physical therapists, etc., practice -- or at least cut the amount of time people waste while waiting in the doctor's office.

But since this is a solution that could save billions of dollars while costing us nothing, it probably won't find its way into any national agenda for healthcare reform any time soon.

Joey's Take -- At the Doctor's

Call me crazy, but I like going to the vet's. I enjoy being the center of all that attention.

Even though I'm not covered by their health insurance, Mom and Dad make sure I get all my preventive care. It's always been affordable. The veterinarians are upfront about how much each shot or treatment will cost. And they've never prescribed unnecessary tests.

What amazes me is that we've never had to wait months to get an appointment for me. And Mom and Dad have never had to take off from work to get me to the vet's. All the vets we've gone to offer evening and weekend hours to accommodate working parents.

Except for the one time that I had an emergency visit on a Sunday, I've never had to wait more than a few minutes to get in to see the vet. And on the emergency visit, Mom walked me around outside while we waited so I wouldn't give the other dogs my cooties and I wouldn't get theirs.

Another thing I've noticed is that the results of my lab work generally are back within minutes. The longest they've ever taken is a day or two. And then the vet's office always called Mom and Dad to let them know that everything was OK.

If people doctors operated the way animal doctors do, healthcare costs could be cut drastically. For instance, just consider what their waiting rooms cost in terms of lost productivity and wasted time. Those rooms also are germ incubators. If you're not sick before you go to the doctor, give it a few days. Think about it. How often have you seen anyone truly disinfect the waiting room?

And when's the last time a doctor discussed treatment costs with you -- that is, before you complained about the bill? The last time Mom went to a doctor, he wanted to send her to a different specialist for every ache and pain she mentioned. He figured she had insurance, so it would be no dollar out of her wallet. Had she followed his advice, she would have been out of work for weeks just making the rounds and her insurance company would have shelled out thousands of dollars so all these specialists could tell her, "Hey, you're not so young anymore. Your body is going to ache occasionally."

When it comes to healthcare, people are a lot like Pavlov's dog. They've become too conditioned to the way things are. Healthcare reform shouldn't be about coverage; it should be about the way medicine is practiced in this country. It should be about patients becoming impatient with the status quo.

People doctors could learn a lot from the vet's office.

Healthcare Reform -- In the Workplace

In what is becoming his trademark style, President Obama sent a letter Wednesday to two Democrat congressmen, informing them that he expects them to have healthcare reform legislation passed by October. And in keeping with how he handled the stimulus, he's leaving the details up to Congress. He does signal that his idea of healthcare reform is basically public insurance.

Worrying about universal health insurance before seriously addressing healthcare itself is like treating a patient before diagnosing the problem. If we rethink how we handle healthcare and cut costs instead of merely slowing the growth (see yesterday's post below), insurance reform will naturally follow.

To truly cut healthcare costs, we must put everything on the table -- sick leave, doctor's office hours, hospital practices, treatment costs, malpractice lawsuits, drug patents, even the training of healthcare providers.

Let's start with the workplace, which is generally overlooked in healthcare discussions. Through sick leave policies -- or lack thereof -- the workplace can be a breeding ground for contagious illnesses and a huge obstacle to preventive care. Think about the problems with common sick leave policies:

--No or limited sick leave. Employees come to work sick, making others sick and reducing productivity. They also may not take the time for preventive appointments and may forgo necessary treatment that is only available during the workday. When they do seek help, their condition is pretty bad -- and costs a lot more to treat.

--Sick leave restricted to the employee only. Workers may not take children, spouses or elderly parents to necessary medical appointments -- until an emergency crops up. Again, the costs skyrocket.

--Family leave restricted to extended periods of time and only after all other leave is used. If workers could take family leave for a week or so without jeopardizing vacation time or their own sick leave, they would be free to care for family members while they're in the hospital or recuperating at home. This could cut down on in-home care and speed recovery time for their loved ones.

Changes in sick leave could be written into labor laws. And employers should be encouraged to promote telecommuting when their workers may be contagious but not too sick to work.

Sanitation is another obvious issue in the workplace. How many employers change their air filters regularly or clean the HVAC system? How many warn sensitive workers of pending pesticide spraying? How many workers do not properly wash their hands? These are simple things, but they all add up.

Feel free to contribute your ideas for changes that can be made in the workplace that would help with our healthcare crisis.

Next, we'll tackle the doctor's office.

Healthcare at a Crossroads – The Problem

The growing cost of healthcare was a national problem back in 1992 when Hillary Clinton failed to come up with a workable solution. It’s an even bigger problem today, costing us 18 percent of the national GDP – a figure that’s expected to nearly double over the next 30 years, according to a report released this week by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. That means more and more of our paycheck – and a greater share of our tax dollar – will go for healthcare.

President Obama made healthcare reform a centerpiece of his campaign. And he’s told Congress it has to get it done this year or else. Although the president is spotlighting any vague promise of future savings as proof that his campaign speeches were more than rhetoric, a lot of Beltway insiders are admitting that the likelihood we’ll see any true reform is getting slimmer and slimmer.

The president can’t blame this one on the Republicans not playing nicely with the Democrats. The truth is that the Democrats aren’t playing nicely with each other. Some congressional Democrats are holding out for all or nothing – meaning they will settle for nothing but a universal, socialized coverage plan. Others insist on a more moderate approach.

Meanwhile, the president and his economic advisers are touting as real progress a broad promise extracted at a closed “summit” last month from a coalition of healthcare providers and pharmaceutical and medical device industry groups. After the afternoon summit, the president proudly announced, without giving any details, that the coalition had promised to slow the growth of healthcare costs by 1.5 percentage points a year over the next decade for a total savings of $2 trillion.

If that savings were to occur, the typical family of four would have $2,600 more in its pocket in 2020, according to the council’s report.

But since that summit, the members of the coalition have had a chance to crunch some numbers. They released a joint letter this week listing some general steps they could take to slow the growth of healthcare costs. (Note that we aren’t talking about actually cutting costs.) And in that letter, they say they might be able to save as little as half of the $2 trillion Obama is counting on.

Yes, we need healthcare reform. But if we want true reform, we’re going to have to come up with the solution ourselves – and then sell it to Congress and the various stakeholders.

I’ll start the ball rolling tomorrow night with some ideas that could realistically – and almost painlessly – change healthcare as we know it.

Lessons From History

I had a graduate history professor who insisted on teaching an undergraduate American history class every semester. "I want them to understand that the world didn't begin when they woke up this morning," he said of the freshmen and sophomores who enrolled in his class.

That's as true of all of us as it is of college freshmen. And the more we know and understand of our nation's history, the more we should expect from our leaders.

The cast of characters who have taken the stage on both the state and national levels throughout our history ranges from the rogue to the truly inspirational. Unfortunately, we hear more about the rogues than the heroes today.

Perhaps we need to consider what made our effective leaders legends in their own time:

--They were not born leaders. Rather, they were ordinary men and women who were willing to step up when no one else would.

--They didn't need polls to tell them what course to take, but they valued the counsel of knowledgeable, experienced advisers. And they knew the power -- and solace -- of prayer.

--They stood on principle, but they were able to admit when they were wrong.

--They didn't make promises they knew they couldn't keep. Their word meant something, and they were not going to cheapen it just to be PC or gain a few votes.

--They understood it was not about them -- it was about getting the job done.

--They didn't waste time comparing themselves to historic leaders. They had work to do.

--They realized leadership was more than making eloquent speeches or trading political barbs. For them, action did speak louder than words.

--They knew they had to set the example and inspire others to follow them. It was not a matter of "do as I say and not as I do."

--At the end of the day, they took all the blame but shared the credit.

--They recognized when it was time to move aside and let someone else take the reins. They understood that they were not the one and only.

--And, finally, they didn't worry about their place in history. That was for future generations to decide. It was enough that they had served.

Stick to the Real Issues

Even though Democrats have controlled Congress for nearly three years and the mortgage crisis can be traced back to policies started under the Clinton administration, 62 percent of Americans blame the current economic mess on Republicans, according to Rasmussen Reports.

The reason? We have allowed the Democrats to define the issues, shape the message and control the dialogue. If we want to reclaim any congressional seats next year, or even take a stab at the presidency in 2012, we must do a better job of telling our side of the story.

We are not going to do it by complaining about the president taking his wife to a Broadway play in New York. Every president is entitled to time off -- and away -- from the Beltway. And, yes, wherever they go, whatever they do, we have to pay for the security detail. It goes with the office.

On the other hand, we should be taking aim at a radio-phone-email campaign the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched against six House Republicans for their votes against President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package. This campaign, which started today, targets Rep. Brian Bilbray of California's 50th congressional district; Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district; Rep. Peter King, New York's 3rd congressional district; Rep. Thad McCotter, Michigan's 11th congressional district; Rep. Tom Rooney, Florida's 16th congressional district, and Alaska's Rep. Don Young. (Hey, haven't the Dems done enough damage to Alaska?)

The campaign is based on half-truths. For instance, the phone script being used in Michigan says, "Congressman McCotter even voted against the economic recovery plan, which is at work now to create or save over 109,000 Michigan jobs."

Yes, it is true that McCotter voted against the stimulus bill, which was passed in early February. But it is not true that the stimulus is doing anything for Michigan -- even though it was supposed to create jobs immediately. According to Michigan labor statistics, the state lost 38,000 jobs in April alone. If I lived in Michigan, I'd be asking the Democrats for my money back!

These are the facts we need to get out there -- along with real-world solutions. Only then will we be able to get our nation back on track.

Effecting Change

All across this country, local governments are hiding behind their misguided interpretation of "separation of church and state" to deny people their constitutional rights to peacefully assemble and to follow the religion of their choice. Yet when illegal ordinances banning home Bible studies, house churches or any other religious gathering in a home are exposed, too often people of faith refuse to stand together to force their local officials to do what is right.

One of our blog readers sent me a link to a news story that broke last week on a San Diego newscast. A pastor and his wife were "interrogated" by a San Diego County employee for holding a small Bible study -- about 15 people -- in their home on a weekly basis, which the employee said violates county ordinances.

The couple's attorney, Dean Broyles of the Western Center for Law & Policy, said a few days after the interrogation, the pastor and his wife received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and that told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," a process that could cost them thousands of dollars.

"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" Broyles asked the TV reporter.

The couple is fighting this. But they should not have to fight this on their own. Every person living in that county who values his or her constitutional rights should be demanding that the county government recognize the Bill of Rights -- for everyone.

Years ago, we encountered a similar situation in Siloam Springs, Ark. Although city officials looked the other way when large churches in the community held small group Bible studies at members' homes, they told us we couldn't have a few people at a Sunday morning service at our house. The ordinance they cited prohibited any regular gathering in which more than two or three cars would be parked at a house. When we asked the ministers of the churches in town to sign a letter asking the city council to overturn the ordinance, none of them was willing to "rock the boat."

We face a related situation in Fairfax County, Va., in which the county refuses to give churches a permanent zoning permit. All they can get is a special use permit, which means they have to get the county's permission to do anything. But rather than banding together to fight this subtle discrimination, the churches live with the status quo.

During this past election, we heard a lot about the politics of change. Change must begin where we live. If we cannot effect change on the local level, how can we expect to change our world?

Joey's Take -- Obedience School

You know, I haven't seen Bo since the first week he moved into the White House. I'm figuring the president told him he had to get his book written this year or else ...

Or maybe the president sent Bo to obedience school. We can't have anyone running around out of control in the Beltway!

Speaking of which, I bet the president wishes he could get a muzzle for Joe Biden. Also on his wish list would be a shock collar -- wait, would that be considered torture? -- or at least obedience classes for some of the political animals in Congress. They just aren't doing what he wants them to do when he wants them to do it. They really need to be White House-broken.

It's bad enough that the Republicans aren't playing nice, but the Democrats should know better. According to pack behavior, they're supposed to follow the top dog.

Ah, but there's the rub. Just who IS the top dog?

While a number drink the president's water, I'm sure some of those congressional Democrats would wag their tails and point to Pelosi. Others might lick up to Reid or the show dogs from kennels backed by rich special interests. And in the Republican pack, a few are still sniffing around McCain while others are going in circles around Limbaugh, Romney, Gingrich or anyone else who tries to smell like a leader.

What all the political animals in D.C. need to remember -- President Obama included -- is that they are on a leash controlled by the American people. And that leash can be yanked, or shortened, at any time.

If you want to join my fan club, you can e-mail me at JoeyPortie@gmail.com or become a Facebook friend -- just look for Joey Serebrov.

Under Attack

If you feel like you're under attack lately, I've got news for you. If your faith is an important part of your life, you definitely are being attacked -- on all fronts.

A report sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (yes, your tax dollars at work) has determined that "people who use religious coping actually ended up receiving significantly more intensive life-prolonging burdensome care than those who did not" (emphasis is mine). That quote comes from the study's author, Holly Prigerson, who examined the intersection of religion and medical care in patients with terminal cancer. Her conclusion, stripped of its euphemisms, is that people of faith shouldn't get expensive, life-prolonging medical care because it's not going to prevent death in the long run or end their suffering. (Check out http://www.hhs.gov/news/healthbeat/2009/05/20090528a.html)

I'm seeing some proposals for healthcare reform coming out of this study.

Another example also involves the NIH. Francis Collins, a respected scientist who is an evangelical Christian, is being considered to head up the NIH. You should see the response from scientists -- the ones who think they alone hold all the answers to the world's problems. Here's a sampling from scientists commenting on a blog featured in The Scientist:

-- "We're finally getting a funding bump and respect and it may all be for naught if a religious apologist ends up at the helm."

-- "I have very strong reservations about such a posting for such a clearly religious person. ... The posting would be for the head of the NIH and I can envision several serious conflicts that would compromise Collins' ability to lead effectively and may very well result in bad policy choices. For example, how would he deal with issues relating to contraception, teenage sex, AIDs, Embryonic Stem Cell research and so on?

"I have to conclude that anyone choosing to have a strong religious belief has chosen to disqualify themselves from holding such a post. We need people that can be absolutely objective, and by definition this is not possible for an evangelical christian."

-- "I did not invent the religion (that was done by profoundly ignorant men thousands of years ago) but I can observe what it does to the faithful and I cannot feel comfortable with those of strong faith being in such positions where their faith can potentially introduce a dangerous bias with far-reaching implications for our society."

-- "I am deeply uncomfortable with the use of religious belief to make moral decisions that affect national interest."

-- "In a secular society, people who want to hold a highly visible public office should keep their faith to themselves, and not let their faith influence their decisions at a scientific level."

So much for freedom of speech, freedom of religion or even freedom of thought.

Looking for a Contender

Despite all the doomsday predictions foretelling the death of the Republican Party, the GOP actually has a good shot at reclaiming several important congressional seats next year. That is if it recruits credible contenders rather than embracing whomever shows up or letting weak Democrats go unchallenged.

Take the Nevada U.S. Senate seat, for instance. Harry Reid, Senate majority leader and, thus, titular head of all Senate Democrats, is asking to be taken out as he is no longer seen as the champion of Nevada. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports his favorable rating in the state is at 32 percent and his unfavorable rating at 51 percent. According to the newspaper's poll, Reid has fewer fans in Nevada than President Bush and even Rush Limbaugh!

But despite this news, no Republican has stepped forward yet to challenge Reid's Senate seat. Why? The most likely candidates have their eyes on the governor's mansion. And no one is eager to battle Reid who is infamous for his no-holds-barred campaign tactics.

Even though Reid is in no shape for a well-fought campaign, the most prominent Nevadan Republicans have jaws of glass. A few of them have actually contributed to Reid. Some of the problems they face? Criminal charges of recruiting and hiring undocumented workers. Accusations of pocketing money intended for nonprofit projects. Conflicts of interest, including a state senator whose day job is as a paid lobbyist to the Legislature.

But Nevada is not without its contenders. Tim Cushman, the third generation of a family that helped punch Nevada out of the dessert, is pro-business, understands the challenges facing Nevada and has kept his nose out of politics. He could be formidable in the ring if he could be persuaded to don the Repulican mantle.

Or there's state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, a small business owner who entered the political arena on the school board level when she became concerned about the education her sons weren't getting. Her family is grown now, and Barbara, from all reports, has proved she can go toe-to-toe with the meanest without becoming a closet bone collector.

If the Republicans are to regain seats in Nevada or elsewhere, the local and national committees have to do some scouting, start recruiting the brightest and best, and then dig into their pockets to give these candidates a fighting chance. Only then will they hush the naysayers and start building the excitement they will need to retake the White House in 2012.

A Sacrifice We Don't Deserve

In today’s consumer-oriented society, we are so fixated on instant gratification and what’s-in-it-for-me ideals that we too often take for granted our freedoms, our liberty – even our privileges. After all, we’re Americans. We deserve to live in a democracy, to have a bloodless change of regime, to enjoy a higher quality of life than much of the world.

Then the calendar rolls around to Memorial Day, reminding us, for at least this one day, that our country was born and has survived – not because we deserve it – but because men and women for more than 200 years have believed in the United States, and what it stands for, so much that they were willing to put their lives on the line.

We don’t deserve their sacrifice.

And although we can never repay the debt we owe our veterans, we must recognize that, without them, there would be no democracy, no liberty – no freedom.

So this Memorial Day while you’re enjoying the unofficial start of summer, please give a thought to all the men and women who were willing to sacrifice everything so we wouldn’t have to.