Why “Government Efficiency” Is An Oxymoron
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Why “Government Efficiency” Is An Oxymoron
Good morning, everyone! Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee team! Today, if you have a moment, leave me a comment about something you read. Comments help me fine tune what I am writing, and they show that we have an active community of readers.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
Daily Bible Verse
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
Psalm 85:11-12 NKJV
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The Miracle of Bidenomics!
One day after the Labor Department reported that the consumer price index rose by an unexpectedly high 3.7% in August, the news arrived that the producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, rose by 1.6% annually in August. The PPI tends to predict future consumer prices, so inflation is not under control, as President Biden keeps telling us.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/oil-tops-90-as-inflation-kicks-up/ar-AA1gJOwP
Also on Thursday, the price of oil topped $90 a barrel, the highest in ten months, as supplies dropped and Saudi Arabia and Russia cut production.
If only America had enough fossil fuels to be energy independent! Oh, wait…
This sets up an interesting conflict:
In a big win for parents’ rights, a judge in California ruled that the Escondido Union School Board cannot force teachers to lie to parents about their own children’s “gender identity and personal pronouns.”
The judge ruled that gender dysphoria falls under the type of serious medical conditions “to which parents have a legal and federal constitutional right to be informed of and to direct decisions on medical treatment. A parent’s right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, control, and medical care of their children is one of the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests that Americans enjoy.”
Meanwhile, California’s wacky leftist legislature just passed a bill instructing courts to take into account whether a parent “affirms” a child’s gender identity in awarding custody. ABC ran this article that tries to downplay the impact and claims that it doesn’t force judges to side with the “gender-affirming” parent, but I think we all know how this will play out in California courts.
If all parents have a fundamental, federal constitutional right to make what they believe are the best medical decisions for their children, then how can a state law infringe on that right by letting courts judge their decisions in dealing with what has been ruled to be a serious medical issue covered by that right?
I look forward to watching the legal battle that this clash will no doubt spark. However, if I were the parent of young children, I’d be watching it from some state other than California.
Related: Here’s another “gender transition” lawsuit, and I expect and hope we’ll be seeing a lot more of this type of suit in the future as the damage inflicted on children by this unconscionable quackery becomes more apparent.
Why “Government Efficiency” Is An Oxymoron:
Washington’s Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee launched the Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative in 2022 to clear homeless camps away from state property near roads and provide housing to those people. In its first year, the state spent over $143 million sweeping the camps and relocating the residents.
As of July 31st, about 1300 people had been removed from the camps with 870 accepting permanent or temporary housing. That works out to $163,000 per homeless person.
Take a wild guess at Gov. Inslee’s reaction. That’s correct: he said the program needs more funding. He said, "You can't do this with zero dollars." Apparently, you can't do it with 143 million dollars either.
FYI: Just as an example, we checked out one-bedroom apartment rent in Yakima (we liked the name.) They ran from about $1,000 a month down to $775. At $1,000 a month, $163,000 would house a homeless person for 13.5 years.
A Rebuild
The Good News: President Biden has appointed someone to help rebuild the economy.
The Bad News: It’s Ukraine’s economy.
“Broadway for Biden”
A number of liberal Broadway musical stars have lined up to perform at a $7500-a-ticket fundraiser called “Broadway for Biden.” It’s described by organizers as both a “celebration” of Biden’s political career and “a call to action, emphasizing the importance of his reelection in 2024.” Apparently, it will be a variety show and not an all-star production of “American Idiot.”
It will reportedly take place in an indoor theater rather than outdoors in Times Square, I assume because Times Square is completely filled with illegal aliens, thanks to Joe Biden.
“Progressivism” In A Nutshell, Emphasis On “Nut”:
The White House warned House Republicans that President Biden would veto a proposed bill that gives military members a pay raise because it includes “partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
And how could our military possibly win a war without making all of that their top priorities?
Use Your Delusion:
President Biden claimed that he can see the threat to “our democracy” posed by his political opponents because of the expertise he developed while teaching political theory at the University of Pennsylvania for four years. Reality: he held the title of “honorary professor” for two years and never taught a single class.
I’ve done a lot of things in my professional life, but I doubt that I will ever have as varied and impressive a resume as President Biden’s imaginary one.
Related: At a fundraiser in Virginia, Biden claimed that he has no idea why Republicans launched an impeachment investigation against him, other than that “they want to shut down the government” and they “just knew they wanted to impeach me.”
Believe it or not, this is one of the few things I’ve heard him say recently that I could possibly believe. Whenever he’s accused of pretending to be clueless, the correct response is, “Pretending?”
How the staggering national debt affects you
The $32 trillion-plus-and-growing national debt is so large that it’s incomprehensible to most people. That makes it easier for people to ignore, when it’s such a huge number that you can’t even imagine it. But maybe this op-ed will help make it easier to see how that staggering debt directly affects you (and yes, I do blame both political parties for it: one increases it with remorse while the other increases it with glee, but they’re both responsible for it.)
Here’s one of the most sobering findings, and it's a number most people can grasp: if you are an average American taxpayer, then your share of the interest on the debt next year is $8,866. That’s not your share of the debt; just your share of the interest payments for next year alone. Think you might be able to come up with something better to spend nearly $9,000 a year on than the interest on the federal government’s credit card bill? Like maybe using it to buy groceries so you don’t have to put those on your own credit card?
Fun Read:
Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr pens a much-relieved farewell to Sen. Mitt Romney, who announced that he won’t run for reelection.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/09/14/howie-carr-mitt-romney-heads-into-rino-retirement/
Really Fun Read:
One of my favorite “Huckabee” guests, the hilarious columnist Ron Hart, penned a tribute to his late drunk uncle, Druncle Mac. Warning: Don’t read what Druncle Mac said about AOC, social distancing or Nancy Pelosi when you have a mouthful of coffee.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/13/hart-american-badass-departed-druncle-mac/
The following piece is from a friend of mine who saw things in Vietnam that look eerily like things we are seeing in America right now. I urge you to read it in its entirety!
Lessons from a Vietnam Veteran on How an Enemy Attacks
By Mike Grayson
In recent years, we’ve seen a strategy shift among those who hate America.
Open the borders, legalize low-level drugs, back off drug enforcement – and watch our cities fall into decay within one generation. I saw it happen on the battlefield in Vietnam.
An article on 9/11 written by Governor Mike Huckabee caused me to reflect on how the destruction we see in America today has an eerie similarity to what happened in Vietnam.
In the fall of 1970, our battalion had its first drug fatality from heroin overdose. Our battalion commander took it hard and was ready to assign whatever resources were necessary to engage and destroy the problem.
A few days later, I had the opportunity to serve in a special operation involving ARVN Special Forces, also known as "Luc Luong Dac Biet," and the South Vietnamese National Police known as the “Canh Sat Quoc Gia” (CSQG). Both played a crucial role in attempting to curb the flow of drugs during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s amidst the chaos of the Vietnam War, and both were known for their specialized training in counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare. They had been fighting drug trafficking since the late ‘60s.
In 1970, the government of South Vietnam, working with the CIA, enlisted the aid of Sir Robert Thompson to develop a counterinsurgency program. Sir Robert had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his work in Southeast Asia during and after WWII. He developed a strategy[1] for a joint operation, declassified by the CIA on 12/28/2007. An intelligence network of men and women living in local villages reported enemy activity through the CSQG. Our team of two Americans, two senior ARVN Special Forces operators recruited by CSQG, and a squad of seasoned ARVN soldiers were responsible for responding to the reports.
The problem wasn’t isolated to American soldiers; drugs were also a problem for the South Vietnamese Army.
After TET of 1968, many Viet Cong who lived in the villages of South Vietnam were either captured or killed, which dealt a significant blow to the communists. Shortly thereafter, North Vietnam changed its strategy and began running hard drugs into the South. The idea was part of a deliberate strategy to weaken the morale and combat effectiveness of American and South Vietnamese forces.
And it worked. Why shoot a soldier when you can disable him with addiction?
The addiction level among U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, according to a 1971 New York Times report, was as much as 25%. Many were draftees who didn’t want to be there. They were scared and turned to heroin as a form of escape.
The North made it cheap and readily available. A report in the Special Action Office Monograph, US Gov Print Office 1974 claimed that “approximately 42% of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam in 1971 had used opioids at least once, and half of these individuals were reported to be physically dependent at some time.” [2]
The problem was exacerbated by U.S. soldiers re-entering the civilian world. Drug usage by military personnel had a significant impact on our society and was portrayed in movies like The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now and Platoon. It was the enemy hiding in plain sight.
The anti-American strategies I witnessed on the battlefield fifty-three years ago have morphed into what I am seeing in our society today. Instead of crumbling Twin Towers, we are seeing the crumbling of human beings. Today, men and women are under stress and fear due to debt, pandemic fears, and the never-ending woke assault. This makes them vulnerable to experimentation with drugs.
In 1970, the impact drug use had on military operations was obvious. But many commanders didn’t know how to deal with addicted soldiers within their ranks. The New York Times reported that as many as 37,000 who had served in Vietnam had experimented with drugs. A later DoD report said the problem was even worse than the NYT had reported.
I saw, firsthand, the impact of soldiers risking their lives and freedom just to get the next fix. It destroys a person mentally and physically. Look no further than the streets of Philadelphia, San Francisco and Austin to see the devastating effects. Addiction was, and is, a serious threat.
North Vietnam obtained drugs from the "Golden Triangle," a region encompassing parts of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, known for its opium production. The drugs were primarily packaged in small plastic containers of an ounce or less. I saw thousands of these containers when our team raided the various distribution centers scattered in the jungles and along rivers. They were hidden in small villages and strategically located from the Ho Chi Minh Trail by Cambodia to areas near large military populations.
The North Vietnamese communists found it easier to enlist their soldiers in the drug war because the recruits didn’t have to sacrifice themselves for a political dogma, and they were financially rewarded for selling drugs to unwitting American soldiers. They didn’t even have to carry weapons to defeat their enemies. Americans were willing to hand over their money and their lives for the next fix.
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union and China. Today, we see the same players involved in the drug epidemic sweeping America. An epidemic that has destroyed once-vibrant cities in less than a generation.
Communist China has been a major source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances that have contributed to the opioid crisis in the United States. The drugs are shipped in small quantities, making them difficult to detect, not unlike what was done during the Vietnam War.
However, opioid addiction is not a widespread problem in China, despite China being a source of the drug epidemic in America. Why? Because the Chinese government is vigilant in their efforts to prevent opioid abuse in their own country. But they see opioid exportation as an opportunity to weaken their greatest opponent.
And it’s working.
The tragedy of 9/11 resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people; however, a quick walk through the homeless camps of Philadelphia, San Francisco and other cities will reveal another tragedy, perhaps one of much greater magnitude.
We are losing the war, and it’s time to wake up.
Mike Grayson is a Bronze Star combat veteran and tech entrepreneur with decades of experience in military and commercial technologies. His pioneering work in expert-based systems and data analytics has earned him national recognition by Networld Interop, Communications Week, and others. He has also provided trailblazing solutions in cybersecurity, financial, and education systems. After serving in the Vietnam War, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal by the U.S. Army and the Civic Action Medal by the Republic of Vietnam for his contributions to counterinsurgency operations in 1970. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topics covered in this article further, feel free to reach out to Mike at mikegrayson1970@gmail.com
[1] CIA. Report on the National Police Republic of Vietnam. March 1971. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80R01720R001300060003-5.pdf
[2] DoD. Drug Policy History. Military Drug Program Historical Timeline. https://prhome.defense.gov/Portals/52/Documents/RFM/Readiness/DDRP/docs/72208/DoD%20Drug%20Policy%20History.pdf
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Why “Government Efficiency” Is An Oxymoron
Mike Grayson’s well articulated parallels of the Vietnam War strategies and those being used today are a common sense wake up call for our nation! Need we be reminded that under Trump’s leadership we were implementing a counterinsurgency program and had : low unemployment, building a wall to keep drugs, human trafficking, foreign agents/terrorist and cartels from crossing the borders! We had energy independence, great foreign relations with our enemies in check! No pun intended! Our economy was great and then the CCP generated COVID hit… We must not turn a blind eye to the biochemical weaponry, stolen unfair elections in addition to the drugs etc aforementioned! In addition, the corrupt current administration’s efforts to align with Russia and China as they desolate the American nuclear family and weaponized our governmental institutions. The toxic hypnotism of the internet and mind control from the cradle to the grave is a whirlwind! At the core is our national sovereignty to be defended and the Lis generations earned freedom ! Many seeing the current and plain dangers of a “woke” agenda in the hands of an evil axis of our enemies! Say no to all drugs, open borders and any initiatives that defies common sense and take back our nation before it is a empty, futile and foolish example of Democrat run cities! We do not want to fall to communism in this nation! We call for Patriots from both parties to pull up stakes and return to reason , common sense and to halt playing politics! Together we stand and divided we will fall hard! The nation knows this! We cannot afford to let a few corrupt among us to control the masses! We do not need nor want a puppet in the White House! We want and need a dedicated, proven leader who can get the job down! In my humble opinion, that will be Pres. Trump! Pray for our nation and let’s us love each other as God has taught us to do and not compromise to error! 1776 Spirit arise! Holy Spirit bring us victory in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Governor Huckabee, you are the only one I go to when I need an unbiased source regarding the crazy world of current politics. You also have a cool head which helps keep me calm during this uncertain time. Keep doing what you are doing Governor. I appreciate you greatly.
From the very blue city of Bloomington, Indiana.