Many things are going wrong for our United States of America at the present time.  “Exhibit 1″ of this bleak picture is a list of the policies already signed into law by President Obama like the questionable $787 billion “stimulus” package and the termination of what had been successful bi-partisan welfare reform.  “Exhibit 2″ contains the proposals that the President and Democratic Party leaders in Congress have sworn to make into law like giving government money (taken from responsible tax payers) to people who bought and financed houses they could not afford, “cap and trade” taxes and restrictions on carbon emissions by American car drivers and industry, and the Orwellian named “Employee Free Choice Act” which will remove the right of American workers to the secret ballot in union organizing elections.  “Exhibit 3″ is that financial markets have crashed an additional 20% in response to these policies since President Obama took office (the worst January and February for American equity markets in history).

Given all of this gloom, I have a number of readers, listeners and friends who are openly wondering if the U.S. will still be here in its current form 5 years from now.  Some are asking if our country will “fall” like Rome did in the 5^th century AD.  I understand their fear and recognize the economic and social damage that President Obama and the Democratic Party leadership (which is now in control of Congress) are causing.  However, I believe we should all maintain our hope and confidence during these challenging times because unlike Rome, we are still a society of laws with democratic elections and peaceful changes of power.  Again unlike the late Roman Empire, the strong majority of Americans work hard, are responsible and pay their taxes.  Finally, again unlike the late Roman Empire where Roman citizens, and particularly the wealthy, almost universally avoided military service allowing their borders to be defended by foreigners, our volunteer military is staffed by young Americans who represent a broad cross-section of our population, with (according to Defense Department data) young men and women from higher income families actually being overrepresented in our war-time volunteer military.  For more information, please see my article in this Sunday’s Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

I then play an audio clip from a 1979 interview of the famous economist, Milton Friedman, by liberal talk show host Phil Donahue.  Addressing Phil’s statement that capitalism creates an unfair distribution of wealth so government must step in to help people, Milton reminds Phil-and his audience-that government is not the answer to our economic problems.  Milton poses this question, “just tell me where in the world you’ll find these angels who are going to organize society for us?”  Thirty years later (people never change) I offer several current examples of greed in government to remind us that our government officials are no angels.  Politicians like Nancy Pelosi continue to fly in their expensive tax-payer-funded private Jets while chastising corporate CEOs for doing the same.  Government officials express the importance of personal economic sacrifice for you and me while government spending is at an all-time high.  President Obama throws extravagant Wednesday night cocktail parties at the White House and serves special $100 per pound beef to Congress people who visit him while Americans struggle (I kid you not; I could not make this stuff up).  Vice President Joe Biden tells us to be patriotic and pay higher taxes, while many Democratic Party leaders (Tom Daschle, Rom Emmanuel, Timothy Geithner, etc.) do not pay the taxes currently in place.  And we are going to trust these people to decide how to distribute our wealth, what businesses to invest in, and what energy technologies are best for our future?  The idea is so ridiculous that if there were no danger of it actually happening, it would be funny!

Yes, we conservatives need to work hard in many ways to win the next round of Congressional elections as well as the next Presidential election.  But do not worry; have trust in the American people.  Such hypocritical leaders will not retain power long!

I then turn my attention to Pennsylvania, and interview State Senator Jeff Piccola.  Senator Piccola is a conservative leader who is fighting for fiscal responsibility in Harrisburg.  He explains his counter proposal to Governor Rendell’s tuition relief act.  Realizing the need for tuition assistance in these tough economic times, Jeff argues that we should increase the amount of state aid to students by $145 million.  To fund this increase, Senator Piccola suggests cutting Governor Rendell’s Hollywood film tax credits and some state funding to museums and non-profits.  (Believe it or not, Governor Rendell wants to raise money for college tuition assistance by legalizing gambling in bars and restaurants throughout Pennsylvania.  Does this seem ironic and counter-productive to anyone else?)  Under Senator Piccola’s proposal, grants would only be available to colleges and universities that limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation.  Senator Jeff Piccola’s proposal makes economic sense and highlights Governor Rendell’s flawed “tax and spend” policies that have led to a LOST DECADE for Pennsylvania.

Although I announced this week that I will not challenge Arlen Specter for his U.S. Senate seat, I remain absolutely committed to endorsing and working for the right candidate to take Senator Specter’s place.  Law makers in Washington should examine the failure of Governor Rendell’s policies in Pennsylvania before continuing to enact government led “tax, borrow and spend” economic policies on the Federal level.

Finally, I close the hour by discussing the recently passed Housing “Relief” Bill.  In a written analysis, economist David A. Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch states that this “program is very likely to be yet another dismal policy failure.”  The Obama administration claims that the program will only benefit homeowners who are truly “needy.”  But David challenges the administration by asking, “how is the government going to determine a ‘needy’ homeowner?”  This plan actually modifies loans before they become delinquent, “so the government is going to be deciding who to help before the actual default occurs.”  David asks how the government can possibly make this determination other than just to help anyone who says they cannot pay their mortgage.

The bottom line is that the mortgage bailout bill that President Obama and the Democratic Party leadership will likely pass into law is absolutely immoral and wrong and will delay real economic recovery.  How can we encourage the kind of good behavior that makes our economy work when responsible people who did not take on too much debt and who pay their taxes and mortgages are being punished and forced to bailout the irresponsible?  I think it is time for a “tea party” in every city.