What tremendous sadness today as I learned of the shootings on Ft. Hood.  I was stationed at Darnall Army Hospital on Ft. Hood for 2 years after returning from South Korea.

This is a fine training hospital on the largest Army post and the only one with 2 active divisions-cavalry and armoured.  The surrounding area of Killeen has grown dramatically over the past 20 years.

The gunman was a physician psychiatrist who is an American citizen, but also of Muslin faith.  He was scheduled to deploy into the theatre of operations and had possibly undergone some harassment due to his religious faith.

Reports are that 12 died, and 31 are wounded.  How very tragic.  Many people are surprised that he could have gotten off so many shots without intervention and this in indicative of the misunderstanding of the military.

For those who oppose a standing military, we are accused of being war-mongers and I experienced this distasteful discrimination when I left active duty for medical school in 1982.

However, one is not permitted to carry a weapon on post, and all weapons and ammo are locked and must be signed out and issued even for practice weapons training which is required annually.

Therefore, civilian and military police would have to be called upon to provide support and intervention.  This would likely cause some delay especially given that it was a surprise attack and he may have been in uniform.

My thoughts and prayers to the soldiers and their families, and to my military family.  It is profoundly sad and demoralizing that this has taken place at all.

As veterans we continue to retain bonds to our brethren.  While we may not always agree with a particular conflict, we always support our fellow men and women in uniform.

Even now it is difficult to type this.  Please extend your prayers to these soldiers and their families and even the family of the attacking soldier.  Having lived, he will undergo court martial and imprisonment.

I do not excuse the major’s actions and wonder if the new hate crime legislation passed in the latest defense appropriations bill will stifle people from reporting suspicious comments and conduct that could be interpreted as discriminatory.

The highest constitutional function of the federal government is to provide for the common defense.  If we forego securing our nation in exchange for political correctness, then Americans of all races, religions, cultures, ethnicity or sex put their liberty at risk.

Most of the election results are in, and as a whole the Republicans have done very well.  We tend to follow the “big” races, but there were numerous local and statewide races that were big wins for the Republicans.

This aligns quite well with the last blog in which I reviewed generic ballot testing favoring Republicans and also that on electoral issues, Republicans were now more favored than democrats on all 10 measures.

Given that 1 of the measures is ethics, this is remarkable considering the scandals that plagued us only 3 years ago.  From Foley to Difossi with sex scandals to Delay and Abramoff for corruption, it seemed unending.

For those of us whose idea of an elected official is Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,”  the disgust and disappointments were profound.  Why would any honest, intelligent, person want to serve others as a politician?

I hope these newly elected officials will abide by their constitutional oaths and decrease the size of their state governments, reduce spending and give tax cuts that will boost small businesses and create good paying jobs.

I hope they will stay humble and know they are there to serve, not themselves, but those who consented to being governed by them.  That they will help people not by creating dependency, but by freeing them to become self sufficient.

These are the republican values that are timeless and traditional. The ones that created a nation that in a short period of time became the last remaining super power without colonizing countries with dictators ,  but with ideas.

These are the gifts that keep on giving!

After several losses of Republican candidates earlier this year, there are interesting dynamics playing out on the national scene.

Widely reported was that the majority of Americans identify themselves as conservatives.  This does not necessarily translate into Republican affiliation, but they are aligned more ideologically than with Democrats.

The gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia highlight these distinctions and present opportunities and challenges.  As does the open congressional seat in New York (HD 23) which has become a lightening rod of controversy.

On generic ballots tests, Republicans continue to best Democrats for the 18th week in a row.  This week the spread was 4 points. However, those who identify themselves as Republican fell nationally by a half point.

On the 10 key electoral issues that Rasmussen routinely polls, likely voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 issues and by wide margins on Iraq and national security.

For the first time in years they poll more trustworthy on government ethics and education.  This is also the first time in 10 years that Republicans have polled better on all 10 issues.

It will be up to Republicans to earn and keep that trust throughout the next 2 years.  It is easier to tout reduction in the spending and size of the federal government when you are in the minority.

Identifying yourself as conservative is not the same thing as registering oneself as Republican.  It is all about conservation.

Conserve the preeminence of the United States economy, ingenuity and betterment of ourselves and society.  Not with arrogance or force, but with ideas and actionable solutions.

Conservation of values, families, jobs and freedom.  Remember that when people are afraid of their government is is tyranny, but when the government is afraid of the people, it is liberty.

Conservation of Liberty.  Mmm, Mmm, good!

“Health Care Reform” should be dedicated to controlling costs and increasing affordability and accessibility.  However, we are presented with trillion dollar reform that does none of the above.

It will take our exceptional, innovative system and dismantle it, while dramatically increasing the federal deficit and national debt.  The majority party is going from exceptional to exceptions!

How so you ask?  In order to score under a trillion dollars over 10 years, more of the cost burden for Medicaid is shifted to already strapped states.  Guess which 4 states are excluded? Would it surprise you to learn that Nevada is one?

Exception No. 2:  the 40% tax on “cadillac”  health care plans will exempt union employees. This comprises 16 million in the workforce.

Exception No. 3:  proposed yesterday, it would exclude government employees from the tax levied on “cadillac” plans.  This is another 2 million workers.

With so many exceptions to paying for reform that does not control costs or cover everyone, who will pay and at what cost now?  Should not the Baucus bill, which is not yet a bill, be remarked by the CBO before debate?

This means taxes on young adults, working families and seniors will all increase.  Seniors will also see cuts in Medicare and less availability of care, and others will not have discretionary income to afford health services.

Despite the profound increase in taxes on the “rich” and businesses, ultimately the average working class American will pay for all this health care.  The majority party and administration knows it will be in the trillions!

They are continuing to give payoffs and bailouts to special groups. There is neither transparency nor fairness!

Prepare yourself for exceptional taxation for unexceptional health care!

Gold reached $1072 an ounce and then fell, and oil broke through $75 a barrel. Certainly, this is related to the dollar weakness just as when a barrel of oil escalated to the $140’s last year.

With a rise in the price of commodities and a falling dollar, there is the signal of impending inflation.  It also bolsters China and other countries who should be acknowledged for their economic growth.

There are serious implications to the demise of the dollar.  In the short term, it has helped the stock market because multinational companies sell more goods overseas because of lower prices.

In the long term, it weakens the U.S. economic growth and will cost all of us more for goods and services as our dollar will buy less.  Gasoline prices will rise and transportation costs will be greater.

Long term we look at inflation unless the Federal Reserve acts quickly and aggressively.  But the Fed is looking at unemployment and will be hesitant to act.

Our deficits and debt have also created weakness in the dollar and less desire for dollar assets.  This too has repercussions that are unintended.  It emboldens emerging countries with dictatorial governments but market based economies.

They have found that adopting market or capital economies can be attractive while continuing their political regimes.  We continue to lose influence in these regions and these countries preferentially trade with other emerging markets.

We have recently seen this with both Russia and China’s refusal to sanction Iran and to develop trade policies with Iran despite their statements to the contrary at the recent U.N. summit.

With the dollar demise, we see the influence of western democracies decline as well.  Should we care about declining influence?  After all we have never been a colonial imperial geography seeking nation, despite claims to the contrary.

We should care about losing influence, as we will lose liberty. Burgeoning deficits and debts, falling dollar and anti-growth government policies make us prey to the agenda of foreign nations.  Similar to post WWII U.K.

Those who don’t know history, repeat it.  Are we on the same trajectory as Britain?