Corruption and inefficiency in the spending of your money by all levels of government is nothing new. That corruption and inefficiency is one reason why the government is always seeking new revenue streams; they simply cannot account for the funds they spend.  And the more strings the government (and here I mean any level of government, but it is so blatant at the Federal level) attaches to the monies, the more the opportunity for greater graft and inefficiency. 

In response to the sudden concern about the state of dependence on foreign manufacturing of chips, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act was passed which would help us decrease that dependence.  Yet buried withing the bill were requirements that billions of dollars (all of which are borrowed) be spent on day care centers for the employees, paid-leave allowances and “prevailing wages” during construction which very often actually slows the completion of Once On projects and leads to more inefficiencies.  If the manufacturing of chips is so important to national security, instead of “prevailing wages”, why not include a bonus if” the work is done ahead of schedule or heaven forbid, even on time?

The attached article gives but a taste of how large government which spends huge sums cannot account for much of the work and cannot keep track of the costs.  Any corporation or family unit that operated on the same basis would very quickly be in deep financial quicksand, but when all you need to do is authorize a new fee, or charge, or tax, why bother with accountability? 

Once upon a time in this country, prior to World War I, there were news reporters and writers who were known as “muckrakers”; they investigated and wrote about the corruption and criminality of numerous politicians and their allies.  Those brave individuals are long gone but the next time your government, at any level, has a hearing on some new fee/tax/surcharge/etc. don’t be afraid to ask what steps that agency is going to take to make sure that the precious monies you earn are not squandered. Remember, it is your money; the government does not generate wealth; the only wealth producers are “we the people” through our work, innovations, businesses, etc.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-more-some-states-spend-the-worse-things-seem-to-get

There certainly is no shortage of World War II histories, most of which cover the various campaigns around the world.  There are also some excellent histories which cover the logistics of the war, arguing first one way then the other about when the window of opportunity for Germany closed and the tide turned forever against the Axis powers.

While the military side of the war is covered in this book, the main emphasis is rather on the average German and their shifting outlook during the war.  This includes the treatment of Jews and how much the average German knew about the treatment of the Jews in the East, the camps, etc. If they were willing to listen the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) or SS Security Service which was formed in the early 1930s but organized and given new powers when commanded by Reinhard Heydrich provided accurate information on the state of mind of the German people.  That information advised Nazi leaders such as Goebbels when attack the Jews and when to throttle back those attacks and instead focus on some other aspect of the war.  The SD noted the reaction to Goebbels call for Total War which ignited the crowd where he spoke but which was thought to be staged by many listeners.

Throughout the book, the average Germans views on the treatment of the Jews (and other “lesser” peoples), is viewed through the millions of letters, photographs and camera footage shot by the common German soldier and sent home.  The idea that the home front did not have any idea of the mass executions in the East is difficult to sustain given the volume of the information which was provided by the soldiers and freely provided to their families.  Although some letters attempted to shield the civilian (normally a wife or other loved one) from the brutality of the killing by saying that the writer does not want to shock the reader too much, it is clear that mass killings were witnessed. 

No history of the time would not be complete without information on the bombing of the German cities.  Germany, unlike Italy, had a complex and well organized system to maintain production and provide for those who were bombed out of their homes.  In order to maintain morale during the bombing, over fifty-thousand anti-aircraft guns were deployed and those guns devoured about a third of all artillery production at a time when the troops in the field were heavily outgunned.  For those who lost their houses, furniture, clothing, and other household basics were provided by the loot taken from the German Jews. This did lead to instances where the new German owners complained that the loot was either too big, of poor quality or not maintained correctly. As the bombing campaign continued to build, it was not unusual to hear that it is a Jewish payback for how the German Jews had been treated.

One strong aspect of this volume is the use of correspondence between the soldiers and those at home.  They bring an excellent personal touch to the book and when the correspondence from the front stops (such as one correspondence where the writer is at Stalingrad), it brings the pity of war that much closer.

This is an excellent book for anyone to see both sides (campaign and home front) in a single well-written and researched history.

The twentieth century was not especially wonderful for Italy.  In World War I, although on the victorious side, the cost in manpower was terrible and most of the fighting took place on some of the most inhospitable land on the planet.  That generation was scared and almost immediately fell under the influence of Mussolini, a charismatic, blustering and to be honest, not a very bright individual.  Following his dreams of glory, all of Italy became a vicious battle ground and the nation, ill-prepared for war, was bombed and shelled into submission.  As if those experiences were not enough, Italy suffered bouts of Red terrorism, economic stagnation, and political instability.  The United States on the other hand had a pretty good twentieth-century. Victorious in two World Wars, the victor of the Cold War and huge economic growth, the nation became a super-power.  While the twenty-first century has not been all that great, the nation is still the magnet to hundreds of millions of people around the world who still believe that we are the land of opportunity.

How is it then that we see mobs in the United States, attempting to destroy statues of imperfect men who did great deeds, improved the health of millions of people or who fought for their noble and not so noble ideas but with an honest belief?  We do not see this type of activity in France were Napoleon who was responsible for the deaths of a million of his countrymen and who knows how many of other nations is still honored. Do the French tear down the beautiful palaces created by their despotic kings?  How about the British who first outlawed the slave trade?  Should statues of great explorers be torn down because they dared to believe that their values and system could help people in other lands? 

Why do we suffer they type of self-flagellation?  Who are these self-centered, intolerant racists that create such havoc in their attempt to show us how they have found the Truth?  How can they even dare to make suggestions about how things could be better when they are so woefully ignorant of what truly came before them. 

Which brings us to the article linked below.  Today, one can run across houses, commercial buildings, stadiums, statues and more that were built to glorify the Fascist regime of Mussolini.  They are literally everywhere, and no one defaces them or attempts to tear them down.  Why?  Perhaps it is the realization that those times were three generations ago and that Italy is a different country.  Perhaps it is because people understand that they can learn from history and that to discard it is another step toward totalitarianism.  The line from 1984 that “he who controls the present, controls the past and he who controls the past controls the future”. Perhaps we need to force feed some history to those silly children who believe they have found the “Truth” and that it will be different this time.  If we do not and they continue their ignorant ways, we should not be at all surprised at the result.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/italys-non-cancel-culture

If there is one consistent image that has come out of the Civil War, it has been of Robert E. Lee, the calm, brilliant strategist who fought for the Confederacy out of a sense of loyalty to his state of Virginia; a soft spoken man, opposed to slavery but believing more in State’s Rights and the honor of the South.

Many of these myths are exploded in this book as Nolan quotes from Lee’s pre-war letters regarding the institution of slavery; how the slaves were well looked after, how they were better off in their present condition than when they were in Africa as they had the opportunity, at some undisclosed date, to become better than they were (although they could not be as good as whites).  Yes, Lee admitted that there were abuses, but they were few and sometimes necessary to keep the blacks in check until that golden day in the future where they could move up the human food chain. 

Nolan also criticizes Lee as a general in that he failed to fully understand until too late the overwhelmingly destructive firepower of “modern” rifles and artillery.  A prime example of this could be seen at Gettysburg where Lee ignored the strategy put forth by General Longstreet to hit the U.S. army on its flanks.  Instead, Lee threw the fresh troops of Pickett into an assault on the center of the Union line with no reserves at hand so that even if Pickett’s troops had been successful, they would have been swamped by Meade bringing up reserves from both of his wings.  Lee believed in the power to the spirit and was certainly not the last General to fall prey to the idea; the French army in the beginning of World War I was another force that failed to comprehend the full implications of “modern” technology. 

After the Civil War, Lee held an honored place in the minds of most Southerners, even though he admitted that he realized after Gettysburg that the South could not win the conflict.  He fought on and kept his troop together in a cause that was lost against a foe that was more ruthless than he could be in the conduct of the war.  The hundreds of thousands who died after his realization must be in part, laid at his feet but the myth of Lee will not be laid to rest until sometime in the future.

A good book for the reader who is unfamiliar with revisionist history, but a revisionist history that has much merit.

Just as the pandemic revealed to millions of parents the hidden agenda that was being inflicted on their children, so too the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk was one of the most important actions in the past several years.  With the purchase, the citadel of the Left was pierced, and the many secrets contained within its walls revealed.

To say that the secrets were important is a huge understatement for the terrible alliance between the police powers of our nation and social media stood for all to see. A police agency, the F.B.I, known to have openly interfered with the last two Presidential elections, was exposed along with the Deep State bureaucracy of demanding censorship of political and medical opinions which they believed to be dangerous. Demands for censorship poured into the Twitter headquarter from FBI offices across the country, demanding that opinions by American citizens be silenced.

This was possible because, as the linked article points out, “…the administrative state has metastasized into a destructive deep state that threatens to bring about the collapse of America’s constitutional system within our lifetimes.  The unchecked, to this day, power of that deep state in alliance with national police power has gone from being a post 9/11 war on terror to a war on opinions which are contrary to those in political and bureaucratic power.

Years ago, even before being sworn into office, candidate Obama swore to fundamentally transform the United States.  It sounded like just another campaign slogan, but we are seeing just how much the nation has been changed, not by Congress, but by bureaucratic directives and overreaching of police powers.  The adage that the larger the government, the smaller the citizen is being played out before our very eyes and it appears that no one is acting to reverse the capture of power by individuals and groups with little if any accountability.

The Constitution of India is the world’s longest.  It consists of 145,000 words (the U.S. Constitution has 4,000), has 488 articles, 8 schedules and 22 parts.  It guarantees 1,109 castes and 775 aboriginal tribes’ representation by allotting them twenty-five percent of the seats in the national parliament as well as granting them twenty-five percent of the government jobs. It honors the various religions to the extent that Muslims may have multiple wives, but Hindus may not.  Complex but at the same time, it is “less intrusive than the American one with its litigation-fueled undermining of meritocracy in the private sector”.

While such numbers are interesting, the recent article by Christopher Caldwell in the Claremont Review of Books takes us behind the numbers and examines the political forces which have propelled India since unification and independence.  At independence India was for all practical purposes a one-party state but dynasties rise and fall and the tale of each successive dynasty is laid out in a manner that is easy to understand. Today India is led by Narendra Modi, the son of railroad tea seller.  He is a member of a “backward” caste and like Trump, despised by the nations traditional political elite.  Called a demagogue, populist or reactionary, he does not care for the rights of gays or women and is charged with fanning the emotions of the majority Hindu populations who can be compared to the white, heterosexual males of the U.S..  Yet for someone who has been in power nine years, his positive rating is about 78%.

This article is a must for anyone seeking to understand the nation of India.  Traditionally neutral, India has no problem buying fuel from Putin at a cheap rate.  At the same time, India shares a 2,100 mile border with China and a 2,065 mile border with Pakistan, both nuclear powers who see India as a potential and real enemy. Despite these challenges, India is moving in a way that seeks to maintain the best of its culture while picking and choosing from the West. 

India can become a major power, but it faces challenges on many fronts.  This article will help the reader better understand the forces that are in play in the world’s most populist nation.

https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/indias-uprising/

History has shown us time and time again, that economies which are centrally planned fail and that economies which offer freedom of choice and competition provide not only wealth, but long term stability.  We may expect that this lesson will be repeatedly ignored by Marxists and their ilk, but it is shocking to see it ignored by leaders of what use to be called, “the free world” (a term which we have not heard since the fall of the Soviet Union).  Perhaps it is time for the leaders of the Western world to go back to school and take some lessons on basic economics.

At the current time, one in seven workers in the United States earns their living by being connected to the auto industry.  One in seven, that is about 14%. In Europe, the auto industry provides employment for just over 6% of all workers and about 8.5% of all manufacturing jobs.  Those numbers represent a huge portion of the tax revenues of the U.S. and European economies. Economies which have successfully lifted millions out of poverty around the world by offering competition and choice.  Yet we see today central governments attempting to mandate a product which can only be sustained at this point by huge amounts of corporate welfare and adjustments to wealth distribution. This product offers a developing technology and while it may in the future become viable, those same central governments are not creating the infrastructure to sustain the product they see as the wave of the future.

Consider these facts:

• Ford announced that it will lose $3,000,000,000 (billion) on EVs in 2023
• Ford spends $220,000 to produce each Rivian electric pick up truck which it then sells for $81,000
• Ford plans to make 2 million electric cards every year by 2025, but,
  • Ford only sold 61,575 in 2022
  • In February 2023 it sold 3,624 EVs
• GM loses up to $9,000 for each electric Bolt, it’s “affordable” EV
• GM plans to sell 1 million electric cars by 2025, but is sold less than 40,000 in 2022

How would you like to be the marketing and sales manager facing those sales goals?

Additionally, with high interest rates, a slowing economy and what looks like major job layoffs and a possible recession, the centralized planning from government faces a daunting task.   

If anyone is in doubt as to the impact this war will have on employment, loss of taxes and basic freedom, one need only think back to the last time one in seven workers were involved in another “wave of the future”, that being the implementation of “Obamacare”.  Since then, we have seen hospitals close, many doctors leaving the health care industry, premiums increase and for the first time, a decrease in the life expectancy of certain portions of the citizens it was designed to serve.

If a product is truly good, it does not have to be mandated.

I will say this for Mike Pompeo; he does not give an inch.  His book primarily deals with his time as head of the CIA and then Secretary of State during the Trump administration is probably the most direct political memoir I have read.  He states his positions very clearly and makes note of his successes and failures for all to see.  There is no doubt where he stands and what he stood for while holding those two positions. I can see that if he had been in different administrations, he would not have achieved what he did and certainly would not have lasted as long as he did.

A staunch believer in his country, he is not ashamed to admit that he gathers much of his strength from his family, especially his wife and their strong religious beliefs.  He will quote scripture to show how the Bible has helped him achieve his successes and in more than one situation, his knowledge of scripture won him high marks in the international field.

To a greater extent than normal, his freely gives credit to those who work for him praising their dedication, knowledge and patriotism.  The list is long and is referenced throughout the book; here is a man who has built businesses and has signed paychecks and who knows that a successful manager is one who surrounds himself with the best people possible.  On the other hand, he names names and gives examples of D.C. professionals who are shallow, seek to feather their own nests and are certainly not beholding or supportive of any particular occupant of the White House. Unlike other Trump officials, he always remembered that he signed onto the Trump administration and that while he may have disagreed with the President on certain matters, he was free to voice his opinion and then his job was to soldier on, as long as the job did not cross the line of his own conscience.

In a post dated 8/22/2022 entitled “Trust Deficit”, I wrote that there seems to be an increasing gap between those who govern us and we the people.  Unfortunately, this gap appears to be growing as the belief of those who govern in their ability to fool us only gets stronger.

How often do we find that the government, at any level, introduces a program designed with the (hopefully) best of intentions only to see it flounder on the shores of reality?  The response?  “Let’s form a study group to find out what can be done”, or “we need to fund the program so we can realize it’s full potential”, etc. Often, the correct response would be, “Man, did we screw that one up, how do we stop the program and not waste any more money”.

The attached article by Andy Kessler gives examples of how those in authority never admit (do they realize?) that their actions and programs are the cause of problems.  A famous politician once said “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste”, meaning that each crisis is an opportunity to fool the public into thinking the reacting politician is a hero.  Of course, he/she is a hero on your dime; they may even claim that the solution is “free”, but never fear, there will be enough people out there to give credit where no credit is due.

I am beginning to doubt the statement by Abraham Lincoln that, “you can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.”  Even in the age of digital video and real time reporting, we see and hear our political leaders lie and insult our intelligence with a smile and shock when the proof is presented.  They must realize that at the least fooling all of the people some of the time is the acceptable standard.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-zero-to-hero-biden-inflation-fed-fdic-svb-deposit-insurance-bailout-interest-rates-oil-gas-willow-643b9f2d?page=1

We seem to be living in a time when the only people who are held to account are private individuals who play by the rules.  These are the people who go to work, raise a family, pay their taxes, make sure they get all the licenses and permits they need to drive a car, purchase a gun, upgrade the electrical in their homes, etc.  Heaven forbid if some line on their increasingly incomprehensible tax form should be incorrect, the heavy hand of the IRS shall land upon them.  Drive your car with a yearly license sticker that is out of date?  Get a ticket!  Park too far from the curb? Get a ticket! Use a gas powered lawnmower? You are personally destroying the planet. The list goes on and on how government agencies/bureaus/districts, etc. lay down rules and regulations that the average man or woman on the street must abide by or face the consequences. 

On the other hand, we see:

• Bums (is that term still used?) who boldly steal hundreds of dollars of merchandise from a shop, yet they walk free as it is not worth the time to capture them.  Don’t worry, the cost will be passed onto those who play by the rules. 
• We see government official perjure themselves in front of Congress but they pay no penalty.  Hey, he only did it once that we know of.
• The IRS targets certain groups as you do not like their politics, but when the leaders are caught, they are allowed to retire with their pensions. Trust us, it will not happen again.
• Bank failures?  There are calls to lock up the bankers but what about the multiple government agencies who failed to act on the problem in a timely manner?  Don’t worry, the cost will be passed onto those who play by the rules.

Everywhere we see systemic failure but the buck only seems to stop at one door, the average person who plays by the rules. The two articles attached should make us all sit up and take notice.  What is wrong with our system?  How have we managed to get so far off track that such degrees of stupidity, greed, lack of honesty and incompetence are viewed as just another normal day.

I have often heard that you cannot change the system and that is just how it works.  I have also heard that it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.  I must admit I prefer the latter of the two and that means that each of us, every day, must demand and battle for what we know is right: for honesty, excellence, justice and the value of merit and honor.  We may not make much of a difference in the big picture, but each of us must use each day to hold back the forces which degrade our standards and our possibility for the future. Great societies are built on ideals and doomed societies are destroyed by the acceptance of sloth, lies, deceit, and greed.   

https://www.wsj.com/articles/careless-supervision-sank-svb-fdic-federal-reserve-dodd-frank-act-bank-policy-instittue-bailout-treasury-cro-7340e6ad?mod=opinion_lead_pos7