President Ronald Reagan said, "If fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the name of liberalism."

Welcome back to The Home Office where I settle all of the issues of the day based on the consultations and conclusions from my own panel, made up of me, myself and I. Today is Monday, February 11, 2019. I thought the proposals last week from the Democrats on how to deal with climate change were pretty amazing. This proposal was underwritten by the most liberal of the new crew who recently came into office. Essentially, it has as its target to get rid of air travel within 10 years, to eliminate all fossil fuels, to rebuild every office building in America, to get rid of all cows, and for the government to provide every need of every person from cradle to grave. Somehow that last one got stuck in there as a way of dealing with climate change. The bottom line is government-run everything. While the proposal has been met mostly with nervous laughter even from those who typically support ways to deal with climate change, the truth is these people are serious. They had to delete some of their explanations in the Frequently Asked Questions section after they were totally destroyed by scientists and financial experts. (One example: Their proposal to replace a portion of the use of fossil fuels with wind turbines would require a wind farm the size of the state of California with not even a guestimate on how much that would cost.) Scary stuff. It reminds me of the first vote against Israel by the United States at the UN. It came during the Clinton years. There has to be a first before a second. This is how it works. There has to be a ludicrous proposal before the foothold is made to begin this whacko nonsensical path. Even those in the Democrat Party leadership are ducking this one. At least for now. (Here's a late newsflash: They are now saying, after nearly a week, that it was the Republicans who tampered with their Green Plan and made it look foolish. Now that is a good one!)

The leader of this so-called new socialistic movement says the experiment of our nearly 242 years existing as a free enterprise country has failed, and it is now time for them to take over. In other words, the old regime had their chance and didn't get the job done, now we will replace that system with something called 'democratic socialism'. (One tenant of this program is to do away with individualism in favor of the collective well being of the whole. The government would make those determinations. If that doesn't scare us, I don't know what will.) Sadly, younger folks are being persuaded that rich people can pay for all of this. Once the wealthy are soaked to the point of destruction, we have no clue where they will get revenue after that. And, even if they took all the wealth of all the so-called super rich, it would still not pay for their programs. This is a fact. I don't know of anyone who doesn't believe in everyone paying their fair share. However, the tax system is fraught with all kinds of built-in shenanigans, loopholes, and other ways to hide income. Throughout our history, people have come up with ways to make the system fairer and more flat, however, the special interest groups wield great power and that includes the welfare interest groups who have thwarted efforts to reform the system. I would rather have a flawed system that allows some to skate under the radar than to have the government dictating our lives 24x7. There was bloodshed to get the freedoms we hold dear and even more blood to keep them throughout our history. We can always hope for America to wake up and for her people to come to their senses. Before it's too late. Amen.

Sorry if this sounds like a downer. It's intended to be my version of a play-by-play announcer as they see what's transpiring in front of them. I'm sure the lens I use to observe has been honed by my own beliefs, upbringing, and convictions. Other folks see the same thing and come to a completely different appreciation for what is going on. The governor of New York responded to the President's comments about the celebration they had in his state after passing what is perhaps the most aggressive abortion bill in our nation. He said he still considers himself to be a good Catholic even though he is aware of the Catholic Church's stand against any and all abortions. He said it came down to separating religion from politics. If your religious beliefs do not inform your practice in everyday life, then are they really your religious beliefs? Most likely not. I believe the videos of the celebrations held after the passing of that unprecedented death penalty for babies will be prominently featured in the next round of elections. It is pretty hard to respect those who fight to protect any and all illegal alien children, regardless of their age, while they support the killing of American babies. If that is not a disconnect and travesty, well, I don't know what one would be. In an episode of the erstwhile detective, 'Father Brown', the other evening, he told someone of rank and prestige that all the accolades he has do not impress God. His point was that God sees through the external and reads the heart. Good point. That could be something our fellow citizens in New York State need to think seriously about. Amen. ....More later.