Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

There are certain words that most people consider unacceptable in polite conversation.  Most of them have four letters.  Thus they are commonly referred to as four-letter words.

Monday night, in the GOP presidential debate in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich used one of those four-letter words.  He did not get bleeped.  In fact, he got a standing ovation after using it again and again and again.  The word was W-O-R-K.

Over the years, the left has demonized those of us who would dare use this word in a polite discussion of poverty and welfare, so much so that most people simply have eliminated it from their vocabulary.   Read the rest of this entry »

“U.S. files for Chapter 11!”

That should be the headline the day after the new president takes over next January.  Chapter 11 is not bankruptcy, per se,  it is a chance to reorganize.

When a business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection while this reorganization takes place.   During this process, all existing contracts may be cancelled and assets are sold in an attempt to put the company on the road to recovery.   This week, we learned that the U.S. debt is now equal to the size of the entire U.S. economy.   Read the rest of this entry »

Ronald Reagan correctly stated that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

The very last thing we need is a new government agency micromanaging the financial decisions of banks, businesses and individuals. We already have seven powerful entities tasked with the oversight of the banking, lending and investment industries.

We have the Federal Reserve. We have the Comptroller of the Currency. We have the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. We have the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. We have the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. They have done such a wonderful job. Just look at the mess we’re in!

Now, the Obama Administration and the Democrats have given us a new, onerous, unaccountable regulatory agency with virtually unlimited power to control all of our money that isn’t hidden under a rock somewhere. It’s called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If you are the least bit familiar with Washington, the name alone is enough to leave you shaking in your boots. Read the rest of this entry »

What is your price, the price you would take to sell out your country? What price would you take to sell out your children? What price would you take to sell out your grandmother?

Would you sell out your country for a million dollars, a billion perhaps? What is the freedom that you now enjoy really worth? If you had a cool billion in your pocket, would you be willing to take your chances in another part of the world, under a dictator perhaps?

What about the future of your children? Okay, I will admit to considering this question on one of their really bad days, but let’s be serious. Most of us wouldn’t take a billion to trash the future of our own flesh and blood. And Granny? You’ve got to be kidding!

Nevertheless, President Barack Obama, most Democrats and, sadly, many Republican leaders think you are willing to sell out your country, your kids and Granny for a mere thousand bucks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time to count our blessings and thank God for them. For the early pilgrims, these blessings were simple and few. The first thanksgiving celebrated at Plymouth was for a bountiful harvest following a year the colonists suffered great loss from hunger and disease.

In the years that followed, days of thanksgiving were solemn yet joyful occasions. Hard work was a fact of life but no guarantee that a family would have the necessities needed to survive. Our ancestors understood that they could plant and plow but only God could make things grow. Read the rest of this entry »