Something To Think About Archive

Alan K. Simpson "There is no "slippery slope" to loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders."

What you expect of yourself will be closely linked to what you accomplish.

George Washington said: “It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes.”

As New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell once noted: “A fellow doesn’t last long on what he has done. He’s got to keep on delivering as he goes along.”

Former GE CEO Jack Welch said: “Any time there is change, there is opportunity.”

Medal of Honor recipient John J. McCloy believed that “Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”

Using The DOGE team to ferret out wasteful government spending has yielded some pretty interesting boondoggles and has the potential to create some real savings. What to do with that money is the big question. Rather than send out “dividend” checks to the American people has Trump has suggested, possibly fueling inflation, 100% of it should go to paying down the National Debt since all that spending really used borrowed money; and then, the budgets of those agencies and departments permanently reduced to create a balanced budget going forward. That would make us less dependent upon foreign governments buying our debt and ensure our fiscal viability.

According to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

The late Michael Landon believed that “Right from the start, we are dying. Live to the limit every minute of every day. Whatever you want to do, do it now.”

Famed baseball player and manager Leo Durocher said: “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you an idiot.”

According to Congresswoman Barbara Jordan: “The stakes are too high for government to be a spectator sport.”

Theologian Nathaniel Emmons once noted that “Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.”

Dropping charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams who has been accused of graft and pardoning convicted former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and then signing an Executive Order allowing U.S. companies to bribe overseas officials in order to get business is just wrong. We understand that some of this is a rebound on the lawfare that was practiced against Trump, and some is a quid pro quo for cooperation with I.C.E., but it’s a step, or three, too far. Bribing state officials here and abroad is wrong. Period. Finally, we note that four of the past ten Illinois Governors served time for fraud or corruption. Some people deserve to be prosecuted and go to jail.

Writer John Steinbeck believed that “People need responsibility. They resist assuming it, but they cannot get along without it.”

Canadian columnist Maurice Switzer says, “You seldom get what you go after unless you know in advance what you want.”

It’s been said that “Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.”

English writer John Ruskin believed that “Really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them.”

Author Elaine St. James notes that “Simplifying is not necessarily getting rid of everything we’ve worked so hard for… It’s about deciding what’s important to us and gracefully letting go of the things that aren’t.”

HUD Secretary Scott Turner said his internal DOGE team has identified $260 million in savings just two days prior to the discovery of $1.9billion in funds “mis-placed” by the Biden Administration. Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said he has canceled a Biden-era $50 million environmental justice grant to an organization that believes "climate justice travels through a Free Palestine." It’s been reported that the EPA had also sent $160 million to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer, bypassing at least five U.S. sources.