Freedonia Part 1 - Immigration

While visiting Edonia and marveling at the wonderful republic these people had created your beloved Emperor could not help hearing about the problems of neighboring Freedonia. Your Highness was resolved to visit the nation to see if the reports were true.

Getting into Freedonia was difficult. Visitors must apply for a visa through the consulate in Edonia. The consulate was poorly staffed. Not that there weren't a lot of people employed there, it was just that none of them did any work. The Freedonia government did not hire people based on merit, but rather on a system of quotas based on ethnic background, gender, sexuality, age, race, and religion. If any one of the groups was not represented in the Freedonian Department of Immigration, then no one could be hired until that quota was filled. People from a specific category who were hard to find were guaranteed continued employment no matter how poorly they performed. As a result, the people who were talented soon moved on to private industry or emigrated abroad. That meant that most of those who worked in the consulate were completely incompetent and usually corrupt.

It took your Emperor three weeks to get a tourist visa through the Freedonian consulate. Your Highness endured an interview process at the consulate in which his Lordship was asked if he had a criminal background, was financially solvent, had an relatives in Freedonia, had any medical problems, and whether he bore any animosity toward the Freedonia government. He was also required to state where he was planning to stay in Freedonia and show that he had tickets to return to Edonia within 90 days. Despite answering all the questions to the satisfaction of the consulate employee, he was still denied a visa until an Edonian acquaintance suggested he provide a small monetary donation along with the visa application. Once this final step was taken, your frustrated Emperor was finally given a visa.

Once through the Freedonian port of entry, your Emperor was astounded to see a thriving emigration business in the border towns. It turns out that Freedonia derives a significant amount of its gross national product from its citizens working in Edonia. Freedonian unemployment was high and many workers tried to get jobs in neighboring Edonia to support their families. However, Edonia has certain standards for guest workers before granting a work visa. The Edonian government required guest workers to not have a criminal background, nor have any health problems, and to be legally sponsored by an Edonian employer. However, there were many citizens of Freedonia who did not meet these criteria and who also could not get any economic assistance from their own government. Thus, large numbers of diseased, criminal, and unskilled laborers were constantly trying to sneak into Edonia to get jobs.

To capitalize on this migration phenomenon, there existed along the border a massive illegal immigration smuggling industry. Because those Freedonians who successfully got into Edonia and got a job would send their paychecks back home to their families, the Freedonian government did everything it could to assist the illegal immigration industry. The government provided information on how best to penetrate the Edonian border and provided a network of support from within Edonia to help migrants get to their final destinations. The illegal immigration industry was the second largest source of income for the Freedonian government right after the illegal drug industry.

In the past, the Edonian government suffered greatly from the influx of illegal Freedonian immigrants. The arrival of millions of illegal aliens overburdened all the government services provided to the public including education, health, economic assistance, employment assistance, law enforcement, and penal institutions. The border provinces were especially hit hard as crime and damage to private property became an epidemic. Fortunately, the wise Edonian government decided to take decisive action.

The Edonian government implemented a phased approach to the illegal immigration problem. First, they sealed the border with a 20 foot wall the entire length of the 2,000 mile frontier. To prevent Freedonians from climbing over or tunneling under the wall, the Edonians increased the size of their border protection agency to completely man the entire length of it. There was no section of the wall that was not under continuous surveillance. Second, the Freedonian government established clear and unequivocal laws concerning immigration and actively punished those who violated their laws or assisted those who did. Captured illegal immigrants were fined and put into prison camps and sentenced to hard labor for one year on the first offense before being deported. A second offense resulted in a heavier fine and five years of hard labor. Hard labor usually consisted of cleaning up and repairing the damage caused by illegal immigration. A third offense resulted in no fine but did result in permanent incarceration. There were few of these cases. Employers who knowingly hired an illegal immigrant or who failed to take the necessary steps to determine their immigration status, were fined heavily on the first offense. The second offense resulted in the loss of the business to the government. The government would sell off the business assets and use the money to pay for border enforcement, deportation costs,and to assist citizens who had suffered loss at the hands of illegal immigrants. The third phase of the immigration plan was to establish a simple and fair guest worker program so that Freedonian citizens could legally work in Edonia in those sectors of the economy where there were not enough native workers to fill the employment need. Although their was initially a public outcry from the millions of illegal Freedonian immigrants and their supporters, the new emphasis on border security was paying off. Within three years of completely implementing the first two phases, illegal immigration had dropped 50% and was expected to drop further.

Unfortunately, the Freedonian government failed to take the required steps to solve internal employment problem so the slow sealing of the Edonian border was causing increased pressure as more and more of their citizens were not able to get jobs. With no legitimate employment available in their own country, more and more Freedonians were turning to criminal organizations for employment. The Freedonian government was under siege by its own people.

Audacity

Your beloved Emperor apologizes for not writing for so long. His Highness has crossed the border into Fredonia from Edonia and the Internet connection is not so good on the other side. However, we have noticed the recent comments of the Dictator of Mexico who had the unbelievable audacity to comment on Arizona's attempts to enforce the law of the Realm. The Mextator is obviously proud enough of the long history of corruption and human rights violations of his own realm to feel he has a right to comment on the efforts of the righteous citizens of Arizona to prevent the murderers, thieves, and child molesters from his realm from spoiling their own. In your beloved Emperor's eyes that takes unbelievable self delusion or perhaps just the encouragement of the Obamanites.

Edonia Part 4 - Healthcare

While your beloved Emperor was walking back to his hotel he noticed an ambulance loading up an accident victim and taking him to a local hospital. Several people were standing around and watching the activity as the man had been struck by an automobile. The victim was not badly injured but had sustained some minor scrapes and bruises and was a little shaken up. I remarked to the people standing there that he would probably regret taking an ambulance because emergency services were so expensive. With minor injuries it was better to walk to the hospital or have a friend take you in a car.

One of the bystanders remarked that it was usually not expensive for Edonian citizens to get medical help as most purchased insurance at an early age when the premiums were cheap and then maintained it for life. Since it was illegal for private businesses to provide insurance in lieu of pay in Edonia, they didn't have the problem associated with people losing their jobs or the business shutting down and people thus losing their health insurance coverage. I asked why they just didn't make business provided insurance portable so people who changed jobs could take their insurance with them. They said no because that would make businesses less likely to hire people who they think might have health problems and would trap people in whatever business they started with. With no deductions in salary for health care coverage, people were expected to buy their own insurance independent of the business.

All Edonians had the option of whether or not they wanted to buy health insurance. No one was forced to buy insurance, however, most did because it is affordable. The Edonian government made sure that their were no regional monopolies for health insurance. There were at least three health insurance providers in each region and competition between them was fierce. However, people who practiced risky lifestyles were subjected to higher premiums and if it was determined that they had lied on their applications, their coverage could be legally dropped or the applicant could be required to pay a corrective premium to make up for the difference.

Most Edonians paid for routine medical expenses out of pocket and only used insurance for big expenses due to accidents or bad illnesses. Most medical fees were worked out between the patient and the doctor which helped to keep costs down and gave doctors the flexibility of helping those who did not have much money. Likewise, malpractice claims were limited to cases where doctors were clearly negligent. A doctor couldn't be sued for accidents unless he was clearly not following proper medical procedures. Cash awards in malpractice cases were determined by a judge and limited to reasonable costs associated with the harm done such as loss of income. One could not win a jackpot judgement from an Edonian jury for emotional suffering.

There was no government health coverage for the elderly as it was believed that citizens were responsible for their own health care and each citizen had an entire lifetime to save money for health care in old age. It was also considered better not to have government involvement in something so personal as health care, particularly at the end of a persons lifespan. Each citizen was permitted to maintain a tax-free medical savings account and could use it at any time to pay medical expenses without penalty. Medical tests were usually paid for out of pocket or through insurance so that doctors and patients were not in the habit of ordering lots of unnecessary tests "just in case."

The Edonian poor, about four percent of the population, could apply for assistance for medical bills through charitable organizations. However, charities were somewhat discriminatory depending on the lifestyle of the applicant. Drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers, and the obese were not necessarily helped with associated health problems regardless of how poor they were. Assistance was primarily given to those who were poor because they could not physically work and who suffered from health problems that were not caused by their own personal choices in life. Each Edonian citizen had to accept his own fate if he did not maintain a healthy lifestyle. A man who dropped out of school, began taking illegal drugs, and turned to a life of crime would usually not qualify for assistance unless it came from a prison.

As a general rule, Edonians are very healthy and do not usually suffer from problems associated with bad lifestyle choices unless they could pay for them themselves. The overall medical system is characterized by excellent availability, high quality, and affordable costs.

Edonia Part 3 - Taxes

While your beloved Emperor was having lunch one day in the beautiful nation of Edonia, he couldn't help notice a man next to him a the lunch counter filling out a tax form. The form was a single page and had little writing on it--very similar to the 1040-EZ form used in our own nation. I asked the man, who was middle aged, if I could ask him questions about Edonian tax policy. He said he'd be happy too so I began by asking him what tax bracket he was in as he obviously had a simple form. He replied that there was only one bracket for all citizens of Edonia. All Edonians are taxed at a flat rate of 15% regardless of how much income they made. He said there were only one tax deduction that could be made and that was through charitable giving. The government would send out a list of approved charities that tax payers could select to receive up to 5% of their tax money. The charities had to have an overhead of no greater than 10% and they had to help poor citizens with living expenses or medical expenses. By doing this, they were able to eliminate government welfare programs entirely. They also found that this system provided a surplus of money that was held by the charities in special funds that could be used in times of war or disaster. The remaining 10% of the tax revenue went to pay for national defense, law enforcement, legal system, and the administrative costs of government. The cost of local government services were funded by sales taxes, property taxes, and fees for services. There were no additional local income taxes. I asked him how long it typically took him to fill out his income tax form each year. He said it took only a few minutes and that he had completed this year's form while we were talking.

Edonia Part 2 - Immigration

Intrigued by these wonderful people, I traveled to the border they share with the neighboring nation of Freedonia. Freedonia is a poor nation and poorly managed. The government is rife with corruption. Crime is out of control and there is virtually no middle class. People are either rich or they are poor and most of them are poor. Freedonians constantly try to flee the hell of their own nation by sneaking into Edonia.

The problem of illegal immigration had gotten so bad that the Edonians erected a huge wall the entire length of their 1,000 mile border with Freedonia. The wall is fully manned by their border security agency. The Edonians spent a lot of money on the wall and the security guards but they determined that the cost of millions of poorly educated and criminally minded Freedonians in their country was much more expensive than the cost of the wall.

I asked them why they didn't use their military forces to man the wall but they said that guarding the wall was not a good job for their military forces as it did not enhance their primary mission of fighting their nation's wars. A security agency with the authority and training to enforce law was a much better fit. I could not find fault with their logic.

I also asked them if they ever gave amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens who had crossed the border before the wall went up. They looked at me incredulously and explained that such a foolish act would be unfair to the people who had legally immigrated. They also explained that granting amnesty would only encourage more illegal immigrants to try to get into the country. They said it was fairly easy to find all the illegals and send them back to Freedonia. They merely required that anyone who applied for a job, voted, received public assistance, went to a public school, or was ever arrested for anything, provide proof of their citizenship. Again, I found no flaw in their thinking.

Edonia Part 1 - Political System

Your beloved Emperor apologizes for not writing for so long. Dismayed by the lapse of his Realm into socialism at the hands of the Order of the Donkeys, your Emperor decided to take a trip abroad to clear his mind. With no direction or plan in mind, your Emperor wandered into the beautiful land of Edonia. It is a land hidden away from the rest of the world and cannot be found via travel agencies or maps. One must seek it through spiritual means. It is a land populated by a content people who are strong in spirit and prosperous in their ways. Rich in resources, they are self sufficient, and live their lives in freedom and prosperity.

Arriving by chance in their mystical land, I engaged many of the citizens in discussions about the nation and their way of life. I first inquired about their political system and how they seemed to be so stable and content. I learned that their political system was similar to ours with a two party system and three branches of government. However, they had found a way to remove much of the corruption and mismanagement so endemic to our own system through the careful crafting of rules governing their political system.

First, they established a rule that prohibited anyone under the age of 45 from serving in public office. The intent was to ensure that all political leaders had lived at length as private citizens in some capacity prior to becoming politicians. This avoids much of the problems associated with politicians who take office with no practical experience in anything other than getting elected. Edonian politicians must live and prosper under the rules of society before they can serve in a capacity to that allows them to make rules themselves. This ensures they understand how well intentioned laws and regulations can adversely affect daily life before they impose them on others.

Second, candidates for public office can only take donations from individuals and the amount is capped at the equivalent of $200 per individual. All donors must be publicly identified. No organizations or businesses can donate to any political candidate. Any unused funds after the election is over must be turned over to the state.

Third, no candidate can use personal funds for their own campaign. All campaign funds must be raised from individual donors. This prevents the rich from buying an election.

Fourth, no politician or group of politicians can impose any law or regulation on anyone that they themselves are not subject to.

These four simple rules have created a very healthy political system that produces candidates who are truly representatives of the people. Most of the candidates are from the middle class and when they are finished with their political careers they return to the middle class. Your Emperor sees much wisdom in the Edonian political system. It is designed to produce elected leaders who want to help the people instead of leaders who wish to help themselves to the peoples wealth.

Death of a Rancher

The Emperor is saddened by the murder of an Arizona rancher last weekend by a citizen of Mexico. However, the death of subjects of the Realm at the hands of illegal aliens is not new. This case is merely more sensational than previous incidents. The illegal aliens are like a scourge along the southern border of the Realm. They leave mountains of trash, burn thousands of acres of land, destroy millions of dollars worth of personal property, commit thousands of crimes, and once in a while end up killing someone. It is a shame that it took the death of a rancher to finally illustrate the seriousness of the situation. The Order of the Donkeys wants to offer amnesty to these people or at least ignore the problem in hopes of getting a bigger share of the Hispanic vote. However, more and more Americans are beginning to see this nightly invasion of our borders in a more serious light. Perhaps this rancher's death will not have been in vain if more people finally wake up and smell the pinto beans.

The Tyranny of Socialism

The Emperor believes in giving charity to people who are poor due to no fault of their own. It is the duty of all subjects of the realm to look after the widows, the orphans, and the people who cannot work due to a handicap. However, the Emperor has little compassion for those who are healthy but do not work. Saint Paul once wrote to the Thessalonians, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." And so it should be. That is not to say that a citizen should turn his back on a friend or neighbor who is temporarily out of work, but no man should get too comfortable with poverty. A helping hand for the healthy should be temporary, not a way of life.

Charity has two-way benefits. Not only is a fellow citizen helped but the giver of the assistance benefits spiritually for complying with the wishes of the Almighty. Charity is also voluntary. A citizen gives what he can, when he can. The subjects of the Realm are famous for their legendary generosity. It is truly amazing what they give up for their fellow man when permitted to do so voluntarily.

There is a difference, however, between voluntary giving and being compelled to give. The socialistic programs of the government don't care about the personal circumstances of the people of the Realm. Their hopes, dreams, goals, and personal circumstances are irrelevant to the collectors of the taxes. Their money is taken away and given to others in the name of so-called social justice. But is it really justice? To tell a man he must give up anywhere from a fifth to a third of his earnings or face having all his possessions confiscated and being put in jail is not justice. Paying extortionate taxes is not "patriotic" and it is not just because it is not voluntary. To extort money from a working man to give it to another who doesn't work is nothing more than tyranny.

The Politics of Hypocrisy

It was revealed today by a number of news sources that the Donkeys have exempted themselves from the health care bill they just imposed on everyone else in the realm. That pretty much says it all.

The Natives are Restless

Your Emperor is disturbed by the reports of vandalism and threats directed at the Donkeys who voted for the Obamacare bill. However, the anger of the citizens of the Realm is understandable. Many people feel betrayed by the Order of the Donkeys. The people had used the ballot box in several recent elections to demonstrate their displeasure with the intentions of the Obamanites. The election of Scott Brown should have been a clear signal to the Thin Skinned One that he was not complying with the wishes of the people. Various opinion poles backed up this message so that he could have been confused by it. Yet, for people to show their displeasure with violence plays into the hands of the Donkeys. They are experts at playing the victim. They have already implied that the leaders of the Order of the Elephants is responsible for the violence. Your beloved Emperor hopes that those who's anger is so intense can hold on to it for another eight months and save it for the November elections. They have much to win, if they do.

Arrogance of Power

Your beloved Emperor is an expert on the arrogance of power. As Supreme Ruler of the Realm, your Emperor must constantly remind himself that he betrays the interests of his subjects at his own peril. And so it goes with the Thin Skinned One. Where are his advisers who should be whispering in his ear that he is a servant of the people? Why are they not telling him that he is to serve them and their interests and not what he thinks they should be? Does he think he knows best for the people? He was elected on the promise of "change we can believe in." However, everyone just assumed he meant change for the better. What made him think he could go against the will of his people and decide for them how to live their lives? When they Great Socialist FDR was in power, he created a so-called Great Society. Almost all of it was soon dismantled by the representatives of the people as his "society" was not consistent with the Constitution or the will of the people. Perhaps the same will happen with Obama's "Society of Change." One can only hope...or, perhaps, vote.

Historic Moment

The Emperor grieves with his beloved subjects tonight as a little more of their freedom has been taken away under the guise of social justice. We have all lost a little bit more of our ability to make free choices in our lives with the passage of the new health care bill. We can no longer choose between health insurance and starting a new business, or sending a kid to college, or buying a house, or just saving our money. Now we must buy insurance to pay other people's health care bills. It is the way our beloved realm has been drifting for the past 80 years. Less personal responsibility and more government direction in our lives. Where will it end?

The Royal Jester Joe

Your beloved Emperor admits he is a big fan of the Thin Skinned One's Court Jester, Joe Biden. He is the master of making ridiculous comments while seemingly making a serious statement. Today, in another moment of comic genius, he made the following comment:

“I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century.”

Now who, but Joe, could make such a bland and serious statement into something so clever and funny? We all know, of course, that we are currently in the 21st Century but only a master of comedy like the Royal Jester himself could subtly tweak a boring sentence like that to make it truly hilarious. The best part about him is his ability to feign ignorance of his own genius and continue to offer his spectacular public gaffes to help take our minds of these dark economic times. What a genius.

Labor Pains

The Emperor was surprised to see that the Thin Skinned One's appointee to the Labor Board, Craig Becker, was rejected by the Senate. Two members of the Order of the Donkeys joined the Elephants in thwarting Obama's plan to instill one his acolytes on the Board. The reason for rejecting the appointee was his stance on the so called Employee Free Choice Act. The act, with an Orwellian type name, has nothing to do with freedom. It is designed to intimidate workers into casting pro-union votes by taking away the secret ballot. For some mysterious reason, workers who indicate publicly that they are pro-union, vote anti union when they get into a voting booth. Unions employ thugs and sometimes people who anger the labor people end up playing cards with Jimmy Hoffa. Call it the "Hoffa Affect". Thus, people who publicly sign cards saying they support the creation of a union in their work place sometimes vote different once they can vote without their vote becoming public knowledge. The Unions want to stop that. The Emperor thinks the legislation should be renamed the Employee Free Choice to Vote Union Act. Fortunately, even some of the Donkeys saw though Craig Becker's thinly veiled plan to advance Union power at the expense of free enterprise and voted Becker down.

Differing Philosophies On Health Care

The Thin Skinned One has invited the Elephants to discuss health care with him in front of the TV cameras. After months of "closed door drug deals" in which a 'Frankensteins' health care bill was cobbled together by the Donkeys, the Obamanites are now trying to draw the Elephants into a public spectacle in which they hope to show their opponents as inflexible and recalcitrant. Of course, the Elephants are inflexible and recalcitrant--as they should be. The Elephants represent those conservative subjects of the Realm that have a different philosophy about health care. The Order of the Donkeys believes that providing health care to the subjects of the Realm is the responsibility of government. The Order of the Elephants believes that health care is a personal responsibility--just like getting a job and planning for retirement is a personal responsibility. The Elephants want to make it easier for people who wish to take responsibility for their own lives to get the coverage they need at a reasonable price. The Donkeys want to provide free health care to people who don't want to take responsibility for themselves. To achieve this, they must force everyone to buy health insurance regardless of whether or not they want to buy it. With the extra money pumped into the system, they can then provide free health care to more people who do not want to take responsibility for the consequences of their own life style choices. The Emperor watches with great interest how the Elephants deal with this latest tactic of the Donkeys. Hopefully, they will successfully preserve the rights of the beloved subjects of the Realm to retain their personal responsibility where health care is concerned.

Failure to Learn

It is obvious from the recent State of the Union address by the Thin Skinned One as well as other recent statements he has made that he has not learned from his errors. When Bill "Pants on the Ground" Clinton had a disastrous first year as President and then saw the Order of the Elephants sweep into power in Congress in his second year, he was smart enough to change his ways. He abandoned the left wing and moved to the center and enjoyed a sudden "market correction" where his poll numbers were concerned. Not so with Obama. He has chosen to cling to the left wing and is trying a different tack that will also ultimately fail. He is still trying to blame all the Realm's problems on the Bush the Younger but is also trying to capitalize on "wealth envy" by grouping Wall Street into the blame kennel. However, the financial problems we are experiencing today have more to do with bad government policy than the mistakes made on Wall Street. The failure to recognize the causes of the "Great Recession" and instead focus on populist distaste for the rich will only breed more failure. The causes of the recession have still not been corrected because to do so would require an honest assessment of poor policies implemented and defended by the Order of the Donkeys. While the Elephants are certainly not blameless in the policy errors, they at least made a token effort to correct them. Your Emperor despairs to see the Thin Skinned One digging in and clinging to certain failure. The Realm will suffer as a result.

Scalpel Becomes a Hatchet

The Emperor was reading the Thin Skinned One's plan to freeze spending to help control run-away spending. A brilliant idea in the Emperor's humble opinion. His Highness, however, recalls hearing that plan before--accept it was proposed by Obama's opponent, the Aged Warrior of Arizona known as John McCain. The Thin Skinned One mocked the Warrior's words. He said that a spending freeze would be like using a hatchet on the budget when a scalpel was needed. The Thin Skinned One said he would go through the budget line by line and remove those items that weren't working and keep those that were. The Emperor supposes that the Thin Skinned One decided that everything in the budget was working and decided to add lots and lots more to the runaway success of all those government programs. Now the Obamanites want to use the Warrior's unused hatched to freeze spending. Except, of course, they only want to freeze spending on those programs that aren't welfare programs, climate change programs, health care programs, or programs that have anything to so with homeland security or national defense. That leaves the Washington D.C. dog pound as the only spending program that can be cut. And the Baroness Pelosi rejected that. The Emperor agrees that it is time to "use the hatchet" but it will have to be wielded by someone who actually has the courage to swing it.

Brown's Historic Win

The Emperor was pleased with Scott Brown's victory in the Land of the Kennedy's. Not so much because he clearly stated he was opposed to the policies of the Obamanites but that he was able to criticize those policies without being negative. As your Emperor has said before, the beloved subjects of the Realm seek leaders who can point the way forward without pointing fingers. Hopefully Brown's election will help Congress to return to some measure of sanity as the Donkeys realize that many of their initiatives and behaviour is objectionable to the people.

STRIKE THREE!

The Thin Skinned One has finally struck out. First he missed with the bid to host the Olympics in Chicago, then he put his credibility on the line during the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, and now, in an epic upset, the Order of the Donkeys has lost the fabled seat of the "Lion of the Senate." To the Emperor, a casual observer of politics of the Realm, it was a clear repudiation of the Obamanites and their agenda. The beloved subjects of the Realm have consistently and strongly rejected the Obamanite agenda at every opportunity. And yet, the Emperor can't help but notice that the Obamanites either are oblivious or do not care and plan to stick to their plans anyway. Their mouthpieces in the MSM continue to bleat that the election was not a rejection of Obamacare but just the results of a little confusion about the difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox. It will be interesting to see how many of the Donkeys stick by their leader and how many desert the SS Obama. This year's elections will be brutal for those who stay the Donkey course. That carrot on the end of the stick is starting to look a lot like a stick of dynamite to those Donkeys not wearing the rose colored Obama goggles. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Obama's innauguration. My, how far he has fallen in a year.

MLK Legacy vs Malcolm X

The Emperor believes it is appropriate to celebrate the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr today. MLK was a Christian minister who believed in bringing about racial equality and desegregation through non-violent means. He believed that all men were brothers and should treat each other as such. Malcolm X believed in the opposite. Malcolm X believed that white man was the devil and Christianity was the white man's religion. He was a Muslim who believed that blacks should be completely segregated from whites and that this should be achieved by whatever means necessary including violence.

King grew up in the south in Atlanta, Georgia and had many obstacles to overcome growing up. However, he acquired an university education including two doctorates and became a Baptist minister.

X was born in Nebraska and was raised by foster families. He had an opportunity to live a normal and prosperous life but he wanted more. He moved to Harlem and became a criminal. He ended up in prison before long and there became a Muslim. After leaving prison he became a leader within the Nation of Islam.

Both men were assassinated in the prime of their lives. MLK killed by a white racist; X killed by other Muslims due to a power struggle with them.

But who's legacy has been stronger? Although there are elements of black separatism still existing in the Realm today (black universities, black television, black beauty pageants, etc.) it is the Emperor's opinion that King's legacy has been the stronger. Greater equality has been achieved and mostly though non violent means. Segregation seems to be slowly fading away and will hopefully, one day, be gone forever. Perhaps some day when we no longer feel compelled to celebrate history along racial lines, we will have achieved King's goal.

Thin Skinned One's Skin Gets Thick

The Emperor was slightly amused by the recent revelations of odd comments by Baron Reid of the Order of Donkeys concerning the Thin Skinned One. The Baron commented during the campaign a couple years ago on the electability of Obama due in part to his skin color and savvy speech patterns. The comments were slightly "off color" so to speak. The Order of the Elephants pounced on the comments like hobos on a hot dog and demanded that Baron Reid the "Out of Touch" resign his powerful position immediately citing double standards. But the Elephants could have saved their breath. The double standard for Elephants and Donkeys is well established and understood by the public. Had an elephant made the same comments, his hide would be hanging on the wall in the Senate chamber. Donkeys get a free pass and always will. The Thin Skinned One suddenly developed a thick skin of hypocrisy since the comments were made by a key member of the Donkey Order. The Emperor advises the Elephants to get over it and stop making it such a big issue. It is enough to point it out without belaboring it. Besides, the comments weren't that bad. Elephants should have not made a fuss over it, letting the media handle it. Elephants should have just smiled wryly and shaken their trunks in amusement when asked to comment. It is time for the Elephants to stop feigning indignation at every careless comment made. Let the Donkeys gnash their teeth and paint themselves as "thin skinned." They are better at it anyway.

Barney on Skates

Your beloved Emperor read today that the Thin Skinned One wants to impose a new "tax" on the banks of the Realm. The banks will be subjected to the new tax regardless of whether or not they paid back what they borrowed from the government or whether or not they ever borrowed money in the first place. The rationale of the Obamanites is that the banks are responsible for the Great Recession and should have to pay for it. The Baron of Shamelessness, Barney Frank stated, "Look, the financial institutions collectively, particularly the larger ones, caused problems by their errors -- their errors of judgment, their irresponsibility, in some cases their skating around dishonesty."

Your beloved Emperor sees this as nothing more than a shameless shakedown of the Realm's banks to try and cover money that was lost in the automaker bailout and the home buyer subsidies. The banks did not foster the recession. The recession was brought about by bad government policy and the corruption of those responsible for providing government oversight.

The government instituted policy that tried to force banks to give loans to low income people so they could buy houses. The problem was then compounded by government incentives to compel the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgage backed securities involving loans to the poor. This link helped turn the crash of the Realm's housing market into a global meltdown.

In the middle of all this was the Baron of Shamelessness himself. He steadfastly refused to allow Congress to improve oversight of the GSEs while taking large sums of cash in campaign contributions from these very same institutions. In 2003 when Bush the Younger tried to push for more regulation of the GSEs Frank blocked the effort and stated, "These two entities...are not facing any kind of financial crisis.... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Emperor Edict 2010-1: No politician shall be allowed to accept money from anyone other than private individuals. These donations will be limited to $200 per person per year and the individual making the donation must be fully identified.

Medicare Millionaires

The Emperor was reading a report today about Medicare fraud. Apparently the amount of fraud in the system is believed to cost about $60 billion a year. It sounds like Robbing Hood's Merry Men are running circles around the sheriff. Except in this case, the money is not going to the poor. It is being used to buy luxury cars and diamond rings.

The Thin Skinned One promised to pay for his new Obamanite Care by stopping the fraud and waste in the Medicare system. One of his ideas was to automate the filing of claims. However, it appears the Robbing Hoods are using the automated feature to overwhelm the people approving the claims. There are so many claims the bureaucrats cannot take the time to verify their veracity. The criminals set up false offices, file the claims, receive the money, then move on before the feds can get figure out what is happening.

Of course, there is no real incentive for the Medicare bureaucrats to take the time to prevent or uncover the fraud. Losing $60 billion is no sweat to a non-profit government organization that draws more tax payer money each year regardless of how effectively it uses it. A real insurance company would never be able to allow a $60 billion loss each year.

The Emperor is certain, however, that expanding the governments role in the health industry will make all these fraud problems go away.

Dodd the Knave

The Order of the Elephants is salivating at their prospects at the November elections. Several prominent Donkeys have indicated their intent to retire and several more are looking vulnerable. The Donkeys are lucky, however, that the vile knave Dodd has bowed out. It is unfortunate that he will retire in comfort using the riches he acquired from the loyal subjects of the realm when he should be retired to a dark dungeon somewhere.

The Elephants are premature, of course, in thinking their status will greatly improve. While many of the Emperor's loyal subjects are upset with the ways of the Donkeys that does not necessarily translate into a majority of Elephants in the House. At best the Elephants will break the super majority but only if they change their own ways. It was not long ago they were being blamed for all of the ills within the realm. Their own supporters were disenfranchised by their foolish acts resulting in a complete loss of power to the Donkeys. They need to stay off the "red meat" and stick to "meat and potatoes."

The people of the realm will respond better to good ideas delivered without rancor than they will to the tired old campaign attacks that are delivered year after year. The Elephants have a golden opportunity here. The Donkeys came to power by blaming all the realm's problems on Bush the Younger. Now, however, it is hard for them to use that argument as they have held the Congress for three years and the White House for one. Their campaign message has become stale and it is obvious to everyone their ideas don't work. The Elephants need to explain what they plan to do to fix all the problems without pointing fingers at the Donkeys. They will reap many benefits if they do.

Housing Slump

Once again the Emperor read in the news today how government involvement in the free market has backfired. The housing market which had been badly damaged by the creation of sub prime loans fiasco through the Community Reinvestment Act has been improving the past nine months due to government subsidies for home buyers. Now, however, the tax credit is expiring and housing sales slumped more than expected in November and indications are that December's numbers will be even worse. Industry experts speculate that the improvement in the housing market is a "house of cards" ready to fall the instant the tax credits disappear. Conversely, the market for steel, computers, and chemicals is rebounding nicely and will probably lead us out of the recession. Of course, those industries were not subsidized. The Emperor wonders when the government will learn this simple lesson: stay out of the free market.

Bio Fuel Industry Trouble

The Emperor noted a story in the news today about trouble in the biofuel industry. It seems a government subsidy of $1 per gallon of biofuel expired at the end of the year. This development along with the worldwide drop in oil prices and a few other developments makes biofuel unprofitable. So what else is new in the renewable energy world? If these energy sources were economically viable, they would already be proliferating throughout the realm. If renewable energy production can't survive without giant government subsidies, they will never work. The only hope for renewable energy advocates is that the world runs out of fossil fuels or that the energy industry becomes nationalized. Until one of these things happens, renewable energy technology will remain too costly to be viable in a free market.