MORT’s Meanderings

Clichés: The verbal bridges to nowhere

I have always had an aversion to clichés. It is my practice to avoid them like the plague.

I’d meant to write about this a while back but, just never got around to it; oh well, better late than never. I guess I’d just gotten used to kicking the can down the road. Truth be told and the fact is, and let me be perfectly clear here, as I’ve said before, I just plain put it off.

And let’s face it, one of my failed policies has been my propensity for putting off ‘til tomorrow, what should be done today. No excuses, such behavior is unsustainable. It is an unconscionable avoidance of looking the beast in the eye. I shall endeavor to improve, going forward.

Now that I’ve confessed to my own character weakness, I feel vindicated in pointing the finger of blame at those who promised transparency in government during the last presidential election. I believe it is time to apply the Litmus Test and to hold their feet to the fire. It’s time to make them walk it back to a time of more fiscal responsibility. All talk of bi-partisan compromise, a balanced approach and paying our fair share, is just so much poppycock chatter. One just has to watch what they do, as opposed to what they say. It would be nice to see some fiscal responsibility for a change. We hear about 2000-page bills being passed in the middle of the night, with nary a Congress person having read nary a page. Only later, do we learn the dirty little truth, that indeed, the devil is in the details.

Who can deny that Federal spending is out of control ? There can be no denying that we are in a severe economic crisis. Political expediency has reared its ugly head as it always seems to do. The Congress on both sides of the aisle, in both the Senate and the House, have no will when it comes to reining-in the spending. Game-changing tactics parading as policy, have been slyly re-named to gain acceptance for example, Stimulus Package, which stands for drunken-sailor spending spree, with the bill being picked up by the tax payers. Redistribution of wealth which means, taking from the producers and giving to the non-producers. Investment in the future, which means, more wild-eyed, unaccountable spending sprees.

Tax cuts for the rich according to community organizer in the Oval Office, includes anyone making more than $250K a year or anyone owning a private jet. Bi-partisan cooperation means giving up one’s principled position and doing it his way. Spending cuts in Government lexicon means, “We wont run up the debt as much as we’d planned, just now . . maybe later”. One of the most egregious perversions of our language by this and previous administrations, is in the meaning of the term, Entitlement. It now means, an outright give-away with the complicit recipients fully expected to reciprocate by casting their vote for Democrat candidates. It is an out & out quid pro quo bribe. Another nod to ‘government-speak’ is the use of an innocent-sounding invention, the Single-payer. Whenever you hear that one being bandied about, it means that generous Uncle Sam is going to sign the check – and, that you and yours will be beholden to that kindly gentleman and his nephew (the IRS), for the rest of your lives. Better believe it. And further, if you ever try to renegotiate in good faith, you will find that Uncle Sammy has been quietly, moving the goal-posts in the middle of the night. It’s called, a Zero Sum Game. When you play, you lose.

Oh, I could go on with this verbal twitter but, I’d only be raising the bar. And, enough is enough. Now, I’ve got to get back to my multi-tasking.

Conservative Commentary by MORT KUFF © 2011