City Government – DNC-Consulting

Wants vs. Needs – Problems vs. Inconvenience

I recently encountered a highly emotionally driven individual who claimed to have a problem but could not identify whether they were experiencing a problem or inconvenience. This person wanted but could not identify a need. The heaped emotional hyperbole only added fuel to the fires of hostility. From this encounter, this article is born.

Wants

Wants are things we wish for, desire strongly, and do almost anything to acquire. First-world nations generally want material things, and in many parts of the world, food is wished-for in sufficient quantity to silence the hunger pains and provide a good night’s sleep. Is coffee a want or a need?

Needs

Needs are items that are necessary, indispensable, and required for survival. Many people claim they need coffee in the morning to “start their day,” but the need is the caffeine, not the coffee. Coffee is a want as the preferred method for obtaining caffeine. Lacking coffee, is this a problem or inconvenience?

Problems

Problems cause difficulties, presenting a puzzle requiring solving, people who are difficult to deal with, and personal matters requiring action, not merely words, represent problems. For example, lacking coffee, the problem becomes how do I obtain sufficient caffeine to begin my day—a problem requiring solving to feel empowered to act. A want, masquerading as a need, presenting as a problem, is merely an inconvenience in truth.

Inconvenience

Inconvenience is rooted in the word inconvenient, and something inconvenient is merely an annoyance or a disruption in the normal routine. Walking to the coffee pot and not finding sufficient grounds to make a cup of coffee is an inconvenience as it disrupts a plan.

A simple analogy, but adequate to the purpose of helping to identify the differences between each item under investigation. Wants are desires embodied; not getting those wants is inconvenient; plotting for a way to obtain that which is desired presents a problem or a puzzle for solving but cannot ever elevate a want to a need. Needs are more critical problems requiring solving; not obtaining a need is not inconvenient; it is imperative, which if not resolved always leads to a negative consequence.

For example, the Daily Signal is reporting, sourced from the Media Research Center, that the ratio for censoring by big tech is 53 to 1 Republicans to Democrats. Does this present a problem or an inconvenience? Is less censorship a want for Republicans or more censorship a need for Democrats? Some people will erroneously claim, “It depends upon which side of the political aisle you reside.”

Why is this an erroneous claim; for the simple fact that censorship is a denial of liberty and freedom. When one person is denied their rights and freedoms for political gain, everyone loses all their freedoms and liberties. The Second Amendment cannot stand with the First Amendment. Theft of the First Amendment for one person is a roadmap to stealing the First Amendment rights of all people. The Third and Fourth Amendments to the US Constitution fall apart by removing the First and Second Amendments. The legal framework of the Rule of Law is forever destroyed when the US Bill of Rights can be controlled by political operators for personal or political gain. The importance of understanding the interconnectedness of the Rule of Law with morals, values, and the social contract cannot be understated.

What is the Social Contract?

The social contract is an agreement that all capable people living together in a society form with each other, declaring they will abide by a specific set of behaviors, ideals, and shared beliefs codified into law, which undergirds the “social fabric” of a society. The social contract of the United States of America is found in the US Constitution and the US Bill of Rights, the first amendments to the US Constitution. By choosing to be labeled an American, we agree to honor the rights of all people to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, so long as their pursuit does not inhibit another person from pursuing the same.

We understand that the pursuits of life, liberty, and happiness are a path, a journey, not a destination, and not a guarantee. We respect those who achieve and emulate them to reach the same potential destination. We Americans possess hope, born of struggle, that we can achieve liberty and happiness fairly and realize the consequences are ours alone to enjoy or curse based upon our decisions individually.

Let me pause here; currently in K-12 education, witnessed in Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Seattle, and many other locations, the public education system is intentionally abusing children. Stealing their potential by refusing to teach them, and in so doing is raising generations of people who will struggle their entire lives in captivity and ignorance. These actions by teachers, administrators, and elected political officials are intentional and stand in direct opposition to the social contract. However, the children, and their parents, retain the ability to choose a different path, even if it means trying to learn how to read, write, and figure independent from the school abuse. Individual agency to pursue life, liberty, and happiness is the first and quintessential aspect of being an American!

Here’s the rub…

Despite government intervention, the government arbitrarily picks for political gain and personal advancement (through cheating) those which achieve without effort, and Americans inherently despise this aspect of government. Consider the vitriol thrown at Hunter Biden, who has achieved, lived beyond his means, and benefitted from his family’s political connections. The Pelosi’s, Kennedy’s, Clinton’s, Obama’s, Romney’s, and so many others who have achieved, living off the backs of pioneers, but have not contributed, breaks the social contract. Theft, lying, and breach of honor in America are crimes, but when the criminals escape justice, this breeds contempt, copy cats, and empowers others into chasing the same path to a modicum of success through devious and nefarious means—rendering the social contract impotent, sundering any hope of success without government intervention, and placing millions of Americans into captivity.

Look at the disgust America has for Big Technology firms. While these firms have achieved and pioneered success, they have turned monopolistic, oligarchical, and thwarted their competitors, all for personal gain. How are these companies pursuing keeping their gains? They are employing the government authority. They are using mergers to acquire intellectual property to protect their revenues, abusing the power of law, all of which harms competition. This also breaks the social contract, sundering the social fabric of America and destroying the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness of others.

The want of power is breeding a need for correction in America by the oppressed. Look at the rising feelings of freedom as expressed in the #FreedomConvoy. Other examples include the protests against the interminable government mandates, the continued spreading of information deemed by the government, and Big Tech as “misinformation.” Presenting us with a question is this a problem or inconvenience; the answer is PROBLEM! This means there is a solution to the problem and a path to fix the rips in the social fabric and mend the social contract in America.

What is the solution?

With a nod to The Lorax and Dr. Seuss:

“I, the Once-ler, felt sad
as I watched them all go.
BUT…
business is business!
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.

I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
of the Thneeds, I shipped out. I was shipping them forth
to the South! To the East! To the West! To the North!
I went right on biggering… selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered by money, which everyone needs.”

Return to the Rule of Law, smaller government, and stricter adherence to a moral code. Some will claim, also erroneously, this is not the solution or is only a solution in a “perfect” “utopian” world. However, I counter with the following, “What has brought America to this precipice?” The 1880s saw the rise of bureaucrats restricting the ability to read, as a means of controlling the population, born of fear, and as racist an action as enslaving people! Post-WWI, repeated more severely Post-WWII, the rise in government as a means of “recovering from war.”

Trace through history, and every time the government has undertaken a path to grow, the industrial complex has more closely tied itself to biggering government as a path to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. However, the growth of government has come at the expense of the electorate through increased laws and legislation, bureaucratic mandate, and larger standing police organizations. All this while simultaneously reducing the quality of education, restricting the power to read, write, and figure, and calling the advances “progress.” Restrictions on competition, merging to form larger military-industrial organizations, and increased costs have shut out citizens from politics, thus capturing the reigns of government to keep feeding the growing beast.

Recently Biden has begun pounding the war drums to escape the financial problems, social unrest, and other problems at home. He is sending congressional representatives out to try and support protecting the national borders of Ukraine while removing and destroying the borders of the USA. Why take this path of war and destruction; because it has always worked previously. If Biden can get America focused on war, he can keep biggering the government without scrutiny and with the tacit approval of the electorate.

Look at history, especially recent history, and you will find that the most nefarious, liberty stealing regulations, legislation, and bureaucratic mandates have come while America was focused on 9/11, Afghanistan, Iran, ISIS, and the list goes on and on. The hellaciously destructive and misnamed “Patriot Act” was born from 9/11, when had we merely focused on enforcing the laws already on the books, Americans inside America would not have lost all constitutional rights within their own country. The Patriot Act is but one example of the problems created by confusing wants and needs, mistaking a problem for an inconvenience, and using the cudgel of government authority to force behavior changes in the citizenry.

The 9/11 commission found hundreds of places where the bureaucrats enforcing government failed, but were any of these people held accountable? Were any bureaucrats forced from their cushy jobs and made to pay restitution? Of course not, because this would have made the American government at fault as a co-conspirator and facilitator of 9/11’s terror attacks. So, the solution was to avoid culpability, shirk responsibility, and appease the bureaucrats at the expense of all citizens.

COVID-19 is another example of runaway liberty theft, rights reduction, and smoke and mirror charades. The government seized power from the people, biggered itself, and broke the laws for convenience while the electorate was focused elsewhere. How’s that bigger government working for you? Are you tired of being authoritatively ruled, restricted in your pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness? Do you understand the problem? If so, what do you need?

COVID-19 is a viral disease, humanity has survived a lot of viral diseases, yet COVID is somehow different, or so we have been told. Since COVID kills less than .01%, the response has to be the complete and total destruction of the Rule of Law, the restriction of rights, liberties, and the destruction of all we have held dear. But none of those mandating will answer why or how COVID is different from any other viral disease humanity has survived.

The government needs to bigger itself, or it dies. In competition with a bigger government, the citizens need to be “… secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.” The party winning in this competition must be the citizen, and the citizen must staunchly defend all encroachment to their privacy, rights, freedoms, and liberties under the Rule of Law. We, the American Citizens, deserve a smaller and less expensive government; this is not a problem or inconvenience; it is a necessity!

If you believe in the potential of all to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, join me! If you prefer the thumb of government and the boot of oppression, find me when you tire of being abused, cheated, used as cannon fodder for illicit wars, and robbed from, so a select few government employees and elected representatives can live off your sweat and tears. This is the stark reality we are living in right now! We must choose a side and then stand. As Father Mulchay said, “You can’t miss when you have good material.” We, those who stand fast in our liberty, cannot miss, we have good material (the US Constitution), and we can win the day!

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Year End (2021) – An After Action Report

Between Christmas and New Year 2019, I accepted an offer to write more frequently for a group that, at the time, was calling itself “No More BS.” What an amazing opportunity the challenge to write more regularly became, and how much I have come to enjoy writing. Like all things in life, the challenge came with a cost; I had exhausted myself mentally, I was spent by October. Physically my body could not answer the call of my mind, and my mind was screaming at me to stop. Let’s talk about drivers and BS, for the importance to American society success is found in ending the BS.

Little Joey Biden and his Afghanistan Debacle are still unfolding, and I fully admit this turn of events from August 2021 has left me numb. When America left Hanoi (April 1975) and Vietnam fell, many Americans, especially veterans, felt defeated in ways hard to describe. Who knew that in such a short space of time (less than 50 years), America would repeat Hanoi (August 2021) by a couple of magnitudes? Some very cynical veterans I know suspected the politicization of Afghanistan would lead to a repeat of history; but, I can honestly say I never expected Biden to act in such a disastrous and self-defeating manner.

Leaving Americans, allies, and stakeholders on the ground, holding the bag of responsibility, remains the quintessential yellow-spine craven move of the new century. One of the greatest insults from my time in the US Military was the corporatization of the military officer corps. Disconnecting responsibility and accountability, honoring weak-kneed drivel to the detriment of the professional NCOs and the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines has been utterly unacceptable. Why; because every corporatized military in history has failed! Now, America has Afghanistan and Vietnam, and the government leaders refuse to acknowledge they are the problem, and the sitting president rewards pubescent behavior. Sickening!

The military, to be effective, must be out of sync with the society they protect. A sacrifice principle is required from those who love country more than themselves and voluntarily wear their country’s uniform. Yet, the politics and political leaders refuse to allow the military to act at home and abroad, so we repeat history. May I ask, how many more Vietnam’s and Afghanistan’s does America need to relive before accepting that personal sacrifice is quintessential to a strong military? Mr. President, Little Joey, when does the BS end, and the motivation to lead return from bureaucratic hands to professional officers and NCOs? For I warn you, what you have right now is a mob, and you desperately need a military!

But, Afghanistan, in all its depravity, is not the only outrage from this year where BS needs to end. Consider something with me, the power of jury trials. High-profile trials have been occurring and continue through this holiday season and end-of-year celebrations. How incredibly grateful I am for the rule of Constitutional Law that provides for a jury by peers. More often than not, juries get the law right and hand down fair verdicts. Yet, the Corporate Media refuses to accept that jury trials are the best method for handling problems in a constitutional society. I have seen the media meltdowns repeatedly when juries hand down verdicts the media have tried and failed to influence.

Now ask yourself, dear reader, why does the media try cases before all the facts have been presented? Power, the answer remains ever simple, the media have become what they consider as THE single greatest power in American society. The self-delusion is a steaming hot pile of BS dished up for public consumption 24/7/365, and the media refuses to eat the BS they are serving. Considering themselves better than common citizens, above the law, the media companies have decided they can arbitrate, decide, and deserve to be listened to and obeyed. Well, jury trials work, and it is time more journalists are introduced to the concept through defending themselves in a court of law.

Worse than the corporatization of the US Military has been the continual erosion of the rule of law. The Uniform Code of Military Justice is regularly abused for the benefit of the powerful and the destruction of the weak. When the law is cheapened, joked about, and castigated, the trust in civil society is broken, and the military is but a smaller example of what is occurring in American society as a whole. When warriors are not judged by their deeds, but upon their political connections, the society hiring warriors, training warriors, and sending them into harm’s way will quickly find the warriors are gone. Their replacements are not worth the honor and trust. Leading to society being taken over and destroyed.

Feel free to disagree, but Rome remains the quintessential example in history of what happens when a republic fails to accept social consequences, infects its society from within, and then picks fights with neighbors. Rome had the greatest military in recorded history, and it fell ingloriously all because the military, a microcosm of the society as a whole, decided politics was more important than the rule of law. Popularity became more important than law and obedience to the rule of law. Who taught Rome to fall; who brought the Roman Legions to their knees? Look no further than their politically elected leaders who spent their time and the people’s money in riotous living, perversions, and trying to evade responsibility for their actions. Tell me, are we not seeing the same exact abuses in current society that is witnessed on the pages of history with Rome falling?

What is the only difference between Rome’s fall and any other government with elected political leaders? Advanced weaponry to include nuclear weapons. What is the only safeguard in republican and democratic societies strong enough to save those societies from repeating Rome’s example; learning history and obeying the rule of law. Of the two, learning history is more important, which is why learning history was the second casualty in the fight to overthrow the rule of law. The first casualty was teaching students how to read.

The abuse of children remains an utter abomination, and rightly so. But until the political leaders can be made to accept they are facilitating abusers of children masquerading as K-12 School Districts and teachers, the abuse of children, the wasting of precious resources, and the sacrifice of innocence will continue and worsen. In Virginia’s gubernatorial election this past November, the central theme was public education. Virginia, as your newly elected officials come into power, are you willing to watch those elected and demand they obey the electorate’s will and change education in your commonwealth?

Over the holiday, I watched heart-wrenching videos of parents who almost lost their child to suicide because the teachers groomed the child into transgenderism, all without the parent’s knowledge. Worse, the parents were abused by the government when the teachers involved called “Child Protection Services (CPS).” Tell me, when bureaucrats join together for the abuse of those they are duly sworn and duty-bound to protect, who is at fault; the elected leaders! What did the elected leaders do when the parents complained; they joined forces to continue abusing the child and the parents. The exact opposite of what they were hired to do, scrutinize the government employees and protect the electorate from abusive government operations, practices, and people.

Unfortunately, some of you think this is only happening in California, Virginia, New York, or some distant city/county/state. No, the truth of the matter is this is occurring in your child’s school district right now. Your children, grandchildren, cousins, and neighbors are all being abused and harmed, and the rot is at your doors. Don’t take my word for it; investigate for yourself. Go to local school board meetings and ask to see the curriculum your child is being exposed to, and you will find the truth, and the truth will first abhor, then anger, and then motivate you.

I hope the motivation will be sufficient to inspire action to become more informed, pay closer attention to local political races, and stop allowing incumbents a free pass to officiate in the destruction of America. One of the frequent conversations in my home is, “What are my plans after I complete the Ph.D. degree I am chasing?” The temptation is real to run for political office, either mayor or school board, sheriff, or judge; I want to get into this fight to defend the America I love. Most people think the battle for America’s soul is being fought in the US Senate or House of Representatives when the reality is the fight for America’s soul is being fought and lost in local elections, and it is time to find strong candidates who are willing to run for office and fight this fight locally.

The biggest lesson I have learned in writing this year, a degree doesn’t represent smarts or capability; those come by working in the trenches for something more important than self. The US Navy taught me endurance in the face of insurmountable odds and enemy shenanigans, and the US Army taught me to think and have grit and determination. I know I am not perfect; I am not the “picture perfect politician.” I prefer blue jeans and button-downs to suits and ties, but I know people, and I prefer real people to the fake effrontery currently holding the reigns of political power.

Writing this past year, I have faced my demons, and while I still fight those demons, I know the need to engage is real, helping others promotes healing, and teaching provides the opportunity to learn more perfectly. I know the power of citizens motivated to protect hearth and home, and I celebrate freedom. I would see my neighbors armed with knowledge, possessing the motivation to speak out and act according to beliefs and win the American heritage left us. I believe in America, and I know that when Americans are left alone, they use the power of freedom to change the world; all we need is to shrink the government, and America will begin to blossom again.

Shrinking the government begins locally. The local government protects against county and state government abuses. The state government protects against federal violations. The federal government protects borders and provides for the common trade of goods across state lines. Limiting government is not a bad idea at all; in fact, it is the only good idea that can help save America. Join me!

© Copyright 2021 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

The Kool-Aid Crowd and COVID

Bobblehead Doll Since 2000, the US Federal Government has spent billions, if not hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to improve labels and then “educate” people into reading labels. The laws passed have forced private businesses to spend hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars in changing labeling on packaging and products to comply. Go to any mask package and you will find similar: Mask Packaging

Recently I sought service at a Xfinity retail store and was denied service because I cannot wear a mask. During this outing, I received severely dirty and threatening looks and attitudes from shoppers in a Walmart, all because I cannot wear a mask. People are becoming violent, just as the government has demanded, to anyone not toeing the government COVID line, and this behavior reminded me of the Jim Jones religious cult.

President Biden is expected to force more people to listen to him threaten and try to scare Americans into getting vaccinated. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, and New York continue to double down on activities that have not worked since February 2020. The governors of California, New Mexico, Michigan, and others, continue to use powers not available to them in the name of “public health emergency.” More mask mandates, more vaccination orders, and more “green passes” to exist. Here’s the rub, how many of these solutions have worked; honestly, look at the data from February 2020 to December 2021, and tell me how many people were saved wearing masks.

People saved from these government freedom theft mandates, I guarantee, the number is NOT statistically significant! How do I know; Australia, essentially a large island, has the strictest policies, and Omicron was still able to get onto the island. How do I know; COVID infected children (school age K-12) have the same risks as uninfected children. Who is the resource for this information, The New York Times!

Real numbers, Israel has one of the highest vaccinations and boosted populations on the globe; guess what, they also have the highest spike in Omicron infections! Europe, socialized medicine, high vaccination and boosted populations, where the Omicron and Delta variants spiked infection rates. Think of this for a moment, populations forced by government to vaccinate, and they are still passing around COVID infections, which is precisely viral science in action!

Peer reviewed researchers in the virus infection community have shown this life cycle of viral infections repeatedly since scientists began writing down what they do. Vaccinated people pass around strains of viral mutation, which then infect other vaccinated people, until the virus mutates itself to death. Please, do not believe me, look up this science for yourself, and you will come to a similar conclusion. At the end of the day the viral infection community of scientists are plotting the death of COVID as a viral infection, but government elected leaders, and the bureaucrats powering the echo chamber of political thinking, will not give up the power theft committed since Feb 2020.

Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid cult suicide has been mocked, used as case studies in group think, and represents a dark time in human psychology and the abuse of religious thinking and adherence. Guess what, the insanity of COVID-19 is as silly, irresponsible, and dangerous as Jim Jones and his cyanide-laced grape-flavored Kool-Aid. Senator Manchin nailed it, government is beating the “living crap” out of every citizen, the beatings are intensified by the state government, and the county and city governments. Yet, little Joey is going to continue to threaten, cajole, beat, and denigrate people using COVID as the excuse.

Did you get the vaccination just to appease government and end the beatings? Are you able to unmask and live your life without COVID mandates, just because you got vaccinated? I have friends here in NM who have masked, vaccinated, and done everything the government has demanded of them to avoid the government beatings. They caught COVID, the whole family was quarantined, and extended family still caught COVID from my friends, once the quarantine was lifted, they gathered, and the extended, vaccinated, masked family caught COVID. The repetition of this story is exhausting and provides clear proof the government beatings, mandates, and exercised powers are NOT helping but hurting, and make the Jim Jones Kool-Aid episode even more appropriate.

The science from South Africa, where Omicron variant was identified, reports the COVID virus stays in the nose and mouth region. Guess what, so does the common cold virus, and there has NEVER been an attempt to vaccinate against the ever changing common cold. We, the citizens of representative government, are the owners of government and it is time we take the reigns and stop the Kool-Aid massacre. Government should never hold the power over an individual citizen’s health, welfare, or ability to pursue happiness. Yet, this is exactly what the government bureaucrats want you to give to the government to stop COVID. Since February 2020, has this worked? Answer this question as well; how much faster would herd immunity have been achieved had government done what it has done for every other Chinese virus, which is nothing?

Look at recent history, Asian Flu, Hong Kong Flu, Bird Flu A (H5N1), Swine Flu, SARS, etc. the government did nothing. NO shutdowns, no mandates, no economic stimulus, no job losses for those not vaccinating, no Big Pharma money pump for vaccinations of dubious nature, and the world did not end. Did some people die; yes. Did some people get sick; yes. But herd immunity was faster and more effective than any action the government could think would have worked. Dear reader, to you I ask, “Are you better off for the government intervention on COVID-19?” I know my answer, but to you I leave the question and the answer.

Now, flash forward 10-years in your mind. The real death toll of government intervention is still being hidden, but the deaths from a dubious vaccine are scaring populations silly. When do we ask ourselves if the forced government vaccinations are the cause for infertility, for economic destruction, and for the massacre of human dreams and lives? Who do we blame after the money is spent and the vaccines have irretrievably destroyed wide swaths of populations? When vaccinated children whose risk from COVID remains minimal are sick, twisted with pain, or are dying in droves with reduced life expectancies, but the government continues to defend “doing something in the face of COVID.”

If the Jim Jones religious cult comparison is not appropriate now, when will it be appropriate and concerning to every single citizen across the globe? Do you know the phrase “Judas Goat?” The Judas Goat is the goat that befriends sheep, and then leads them to their doom in a slaughterhouse. Belief in the omni-powerful government is a myth and a Judas Goat, yet to not blindly follow the government mandates is to be refused employment (nurses, firefighters, doctors, police officers, etc.) to be denied service (anyone unable to wear a mask), to be refused legal protection, and be castigated as heretic. Jim Jones’ believers did similarly to everyone not believing, and they are all dead! Those who are skeptical of the Judas Goat, are also dead, but their fellow sheep herd went first.

I admit, from day one (October-November 2019) when I first began reading of a new viral infection killing people in China, I have been skeptical, concerned, and boring the daylights out of my wife with the reports, the history, the potential ramifications of this new viral infection. But in my most fevered nightmares I never thought the government could assume and amass so much power without citizens becoming rebellious. Flash forward two-years, three arrests for not being able to physically wear a mask, fines, and economical losses incalculable, and my horror is just starting, when I see the vaccinated kids, the shutdown schools, the lost opportunities and potential, and the “hits just keep coming” from government and the bureaucrats.

?u=http3.bp.blogspot.com-CIl2VSm-mmgTZ0wMvH5UGIAAAAAAAAB20QA9_IiyVhYss1600showme_board3.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 China is using biological warfare against the world; but the Chinese government is to blame, not the people of China. I repeat, only for emphasis, do the research yourself. Make your own decisions. Unlike the government, Big Tech, and the bureaucrats hungry for power, I trust you to use your freedom and powers of critical thinking. We might not reach the exact same conclusions, but we can still respect each other, and being better informed from reputable sources improves us both. Political party be hanged, we are humans first and we need each other. Please, do not go quietly into that dark night like the sheep entering a slaughterhouse, following the Judas Goat who has skipped aside to miss the consequences.

The Problems with Global Anything

Bird of Prey Jerusalem News and multiple other news organizations report that the European Union is threatening Hungary with restricting funds following Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law. From the United Nations, we find a story about how “restoring nature” is a “test for our generation,” claims the UN General Assembly President. Protests turned violent in Nicaragua, and the United Nations “Strongly condemned the actions of the government.”

What do all these stories have in common?

Question These three stories are but the tip of the iceberg in how self-appointed authorities are invading the sovereignty of a nation and demanding they fundamentally take action and change their culture to fit the demands of the global elite. These stories are heavily biased, constantly supplanting the ideas of the populations in representative governments for the ideals of the global whoremongers, and generally tend to have no clue what is occurring in real life. Almost a year has passed since the United Nations condemned the United States of “systemic racism and police violence.” Does anyone else remember this incident? If you remember this condemnation, do you remember any American Politician telling the United Nations to go pound sand and mind their own business?

Global Trade

Trade is defined as a system in which goods and services are exchanged between parties. International trade has stringent laws regarding what, when, how, and where trading can occur. Except if you are the People’s Republic of China (China), manipulation of currency, trade imbalances, and intellectual property theft are considered the costs of doing business. All the international governing bodies turn a blind eye. Yet, President Trump had the diplomatic industry in America wetting themselves when he insisted that China play by the rules. Then China plays some more bio-war games, the world economy goes into the ringer, and suddenly governments are playing nice with China again, as China’s economy comes roaring back to life. Apathy

Now, before the lace and panty brigade in the diplomatic industry becomes more agitated, the question every American should be asking themselves is this, “Do the actions of the global elites represent you?” If not, then your representative government abuses your rights, liberties, and freedoms for personal gain, which is treason most vile! If the actions of the global elite represent you, are these moves consistent with the laws and government of your country? If not, then the government is still committing treason most vile. If so, you need to ask yourself, are you personally benefiting from the government’s actions? If so, you have been purchased using taxpayer dollars, making you the problem and an accessory to treason most vile. If not, you are in the same boat the 99.999% of the rest of the world is in, losing freedoms and liberties for the 0.001%.

The Start of the Global Busybodies

Detective 3 Marking an auspicious day in history, let us remember the 24th of October 1945, when the charter was officially signed, making the United Nations a world-spanning organization. Since this date, the United Nations aims, and activities have expanded to make it the archetypal international body in the early 21st century. But, unfortunately, nobody is higher than the United Nations and can tell it to cease and desist. Do you recognize this slippery slope the world was set on when the charter was ratified?

A lot of charitable organizations raise money for the United Nations and their “global outreach.” Yet, how does the UN repay these philanthropic organizations by allowing missiles to be fired from UNRWA schools in Palestine? Who benefited from the oil for food program that the United Nations hosted; the United Nations! A program meant to trade oil for food left the starving still starving and the UN officials’ pockets full of food and oil, known as the largest scandal to date, where the United Nations was caught red-handed, no accountability, no responsibility, and no power able to thwart the United Nations from growing ever larger.

Detective 4 In 2015, the Guardian walked a very fine line praising the United Nations while expressing deep concerns about the United Nations continuing as a bloated, expensive, and bureaucratic nightmare. Very few modern media companies would consider doing something this important, ever. I remember reading, as a kid, a story from either the Reader’s Digest or Newsweek about the processes of the United Nations, their lack of spines, their pompous attitudes, and their continued lack of money, all while earning phenomenal salaries! Begging the question, what do they do to earn those incredible salaries? So why is it that businesses, when they need to make up money holes decrease staff, take pay cuts, and work harder to recover; yet, the government, and the United Nations, as a quasi-government authority, never have to follow suit?

I am not anti-global; I have severe reservations about global quasi-governmental organizations, including the World Bank and World Health Organizations. I have serious trust issues that the World Trade Organization can ever be effective in solving trade disputes. UNICEF should be more effective, with all the money pouring into this organization, but it remains a farrago of bureaucratic bloat! Speaking of bureaucratic bloat, can any tell me why we have the World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development? Plato 2

How many groups replicate another group, add more red tape, and ultimately hinder getting help to where help is needed? Have you ever considered how many world organizations exist? Why is the world strapped with both a United Nations and a Commonwealth of Nations? How many of these world organizations are struggling with honesty, ethic, and moral flaws? In reviewing the list of world organizations, I learned about some that I have never heard of before, raising all sorts of questions. If a quasi-governmental organization can interfere with local policies and politics, then the Federal Government should be able to remove that entity from its shores.

Knowledge Check! I repeat, only for emphasis, the individual in a representative government is the most powerful force in government. The local/county government protects citizens from state infringement. The state protects against Federal Infringement. The Federal protects against all bodies, foreign and domestic, sticking their noses into a private citizen’s business. Provided the citizen is undertaking legal, ethical, and moral actions, there is no need for government intervention or intrusion. Thus, we must ask why all the ethical and moral laws on the books for Federal and State governments can not act in a manner moral and ethical? Why do the governments kowtow to Federal and Global official and unofficial busybodies, and refuse the citizens’ rights, liberties, and local laws for the global rule? Mark well the 24^th of October 1945, democracy died that day, more than $70 billion and more will be lost, and the media cheered! Shame… Shame… SHAME!!!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Republican Government: The Judicial, the Executive, and the Legislative

Disclaimer: Calling America a Republic is the correct form of language to describe America’s Governmental system, it does not refer to the political party of the same name. Referring to America’s government operations as democratic, does not refer to the political party of the same name.

The US Constitution set forth three separate and equal branches of government, possessing their own powers, authority, and processes for governing America. The problem America is facing right now, the legislative especially, and the executive too frequently, have abnegated their powers to the judicial branch until it is quite common and acceptable for a Speaker of the House of Representatives to rely upon the judicial branch to ascertain intent of a piece of legislation, instead of fixing the legislation in the House of Representatives and the Senate. So, since America’s schools have refused to teach this coequal system of government, and have bastardized the US Constitution, the following is produced.

The executive branch of government is where a person finds all the bureaucrats, or government employees, who exert the government influence through their decision-making authority granted them by elected officials. This is one of the reasons why certain offices in government need both the Mayor, Governor, or President’s approval and the approval of an elected governing body, city council, State or Federal Senate. The US Constitution put in place multiple checks and balances between the three coequal branches of government to ensure that no single branch could dominate all the branches or government.

The legislative branch, which includes city councils, state Houses of Representatives and Senators, and Federal House of Representatives and Senators, write the laws the executive branch is mandated to uphold and serve. Thus, the will of the people in establishing laws through representation was established. Therefore, legislators and senators have such tremendous power as to attract the special interest groups in our representative government.

The judicial branch does nothing more, or less, than interpret the constitutionality of a problem brought before a judge. Criminal judges have a slightly different and more expansive role, but the constitutionality of an action remains the core and the boundaries of their power.

Inherent in the republican form of America’s government is the fundamental belief that there are boundaries and restrictions to action. This is called the US Constitution. Not to be confused with Federal, State, and Local rules, laws, and procedures. A city ordinance is not the US Constitution and if that city ordinance is deemed unconstitutional for the state or federal constitution’s, a judge should declare as much and return the core issues to either the executive or legislative branch for correction.

We must be clear on this issue, the judicial branch can levy fines to encourage behavioral changes, but cannot, and should not, legislate from the bench. Yet, when the legislatures refuse to enact laws that are fair, just, and timely, it has become common practice to run to a judge and get a judicial ruling. Thus, causing chaos in the citizenry, and developing a new term for legal scholars, Lawfare.

Judicial Activism is where a judge declares that the US Constitution is a “living document” that should bend to every conceivable contemporary value. Judicial activism removes the voice of the people from the legislative branches of government and interposes the opinions of a couple of judges as being more valuable than the will of the citizens.

Judicial restraint requires intestinal fortitude and limits the powers of judges to the US Constitution and state constitutions. Judicial restraint is not popular and as such is regularly castigated by the media and those showing judicial restraint have aspersions, insults, and problems set before them.

Here are several examples of judicial overreach, e.g. judicial activism, that support the problem of legislatures or executives writing bad laws or executing poor policies, and demanding the judicial branch sort out the problems. Where chaos in the citizenry ensued.

June 2015 – Horne v. Department of Agriculture, the Court ruled that a federal program requiring raisin growers to set aside a percentage of their crops for government redistribution was an unconstitutional “taking” under the Fifth Amendment.
- An extension of judicial overreach from In United States v. Rock Royal Co-operative, Inc., 307 U.S. 533 (1939), the Court sustained an order under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 246, regulating the price of milk in certain instances.
- The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 was a New-Deal Agricultural order that allowed the government to seize personal property from farmers, dairymen, etc. and give it away, to regulate prices across America. This is the same time where the power of the USDA began to rise and property began to change its definition as elaborated by Charles Reich in the 1960s.
- Judicial activism allowed the government to break the fifth amendment of the US Constitution, and the practice continues to this very day by bureaucrat’s hell bent on destroying personal property safeguards in the US Constitution.
- The legal precedent was set by another case of judicial activism in the Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon 260 U.S. 393 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that whether a regulatory act constitutes a taking requiring compensation depends on the extent of diminution in the value of the property. This decision started the doctrine of regulatory taking and features prominently in the legal grounds for Eminent Domain.

June 2005 – Eminent Domain, Kelo v. City of New London by a 5-4 majority, it affirmed the city’s right to seize private land as part of an economic development plan—a redefinition of the “Takings Clause” under the Fifth Amendment. The US Constitution states clearly that, “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
- Until this decision the Eminent Domain and Taking Clause had been strictly and rigidly defined. Five judges who believe in judicial activism opened this “Pandora’s Box,” and the havoc has been nonstop ever since.
- What was in the “Pandora Box;” before Kelo, eminent domain had been limited to direct government ownership, excluding property transfers to private corporations. With Kelo, the question of whether economic gain, resulting from a “taking” for corporate interests, constituted “public use” finally came under Supreme Court scrutiny, and five judges declared that if a corporation has interests, those interests are the same as government interests.
- As proven by Eminent Domain, corporate interests change with economies and when corporate interests change, the property holder does not get their property back, and if seized under eminent domain, the government can choose what the value of the property is worth.
- Ever want to see the power of bureaucrats in action, look at the abuses that property owners have suffered through eminent domain. Ever want to see why judicial restraint is critical, look no further than the still undeveloped land in the Kelo case!

January 2011 – Obamacare, everyone should remember all the chaos that ensued in this political tug-of-war between the legislative branch and the judicial branch, with a healthy dose of political grandstanding thrown in for good measure by the executive branch.
- A judge in Florida issued a decision in a case filed by 25 Republican Attorneys General and Governors striking down the Affordable Care Act.
- Twelve federal judges have already dismissed challenges to the constitutionality of the health reform law, and two judges – in the Eastern District of Michigan and Western District of Virginia – have upheld the law. In one other case, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a very narrow ruling on the constitutionality of the health reform law’s “individual responsibility” provision and upheld the rest of the law.
- Worse, there remain multiple issues in Obamacare yet to be decided by the courts because the legislature refuses to clarify, act, or even respond to judicial opinions.

Continuous Issue (1973) – Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
- A little history on this subject, 1820s and 1830s abortions were common through the fourth month of pregnancy and herbs, pills, and other home remedies were prevalent for use. Then, the physicians of America and the government stepped in to prevent poisoning and assert control over home remedies, midwives, and other medical opinion providers of the time.
- New York was the first state to legalize, or codify into law abortion, as a public health measure to improve the lives of women. But, the abortion industry had not begun targeting black and non-white communities. The first women getting abortions mainstream were, a middle- or upper-class white married women.
- Original feminists opposed abortion practices and wanted only voluntary motherhood through the “right of women to control sex with their husbands.”
- The original laws banning abortion were enacted to humiliate women who had to discuss their bedroom affairs with the executive and judicial branch representatives.
- Judges made the decisions to outlaw abortion, through judicial activism because it was taking the legislative branch too long to enact laws the special interest groups, the American Medical Association (AMA), wanted.
- Judges then made the decision to make abortion on demand legal, through judicial activism, because again it was taking too long for the legislative branch to act and enact the appropriate laws.
- Thus, judicial activism and abortion have a long and sordid history of causing chaos in America since at least the 1840s. Hence, when a person discusses Roe v. Wade they are only discussing the abortion on demand industry, and not the whole problem of judicial activism on this issue.

June 2015 – Homosexual Marriage. The executive branch of government, almost as soon as America was codified into law, began regulating marriage between a man and a woman, based upon Judaeo-Christian understandings of marriage. By regulating marriage, the government gained a revenue source, a control mechanism for the behavior of the population, and set legal precedents for what is and is not considered a marriage by the state. Each state adopted their own legal precedents, guidelines, rules, laws, and so forth leading eventually to 50-different opinions on marriage.
- Important to note, nothing in the US Constitution requires the definition of marriage for all 50 states, nothing in the US Constitution prohibits the state executive branch to regulate marriage. The executive branch acted to regulate marriage licensing as a control measure on individual morality, e.g. the number of wives of husbands a person may have, marriage to animals being forbidden, etc.
- Five judicial activists decided that all 50-states need to adopt homosexual marriage and exerted their opinion accordingly through the courts. This decision has trumped the executive and legislative branches of government, stolen the individual citizen’s voice, and created untold havoc and uncountable expenses for every person in America.
- A marriage license and a driver’s license are both executive controls on the population through government setting rules, regulations, and policies. The definition of marriage is a state right’s issue, as the individual states claimed they have the right to regulate marriage when they individually began issuing licenses to marry or drive.
- For or against homosexual marriage is a state right’s issue, not a Supreme Court, or Federal Government Issue. Hence, the judicial activism that drove this decision is the problem, not necessarily how the judges expressed their opinions. This decision is a clear-cut example of needing to return a judicial decision to the states to decide through legislative action.

Judicial activism has been carefully cultivated into America, so that every time there is a problem, the solution is to grab a judge and demand a decision. However, as shown herein, the courts are a gamble, and the worst that occurs is more societal chaos because a judge has overstepped their authority and made unequal the three branches of republican government. Worse, that judge has rendered the democratic processes of the people’s rights to self-rule invalid, null, and void.

For example, Kelo should have been referred to the legislative and executive branches for a decision, as the “Taking Clause” was constitutional, but rigidly controlled. But, because the judicial stepped in to “solve the problem,” through adjudication, chaos has ensued, which has forced, at a minimum, 40 different interpretations of the “Taking Clause.” Which opens a minimum of 80-different potential decisions if the courts decide to take up the Eminent Domain issue again. Talk about chaos!

The executive branch and the legislative branch must be held accountable for abnegating their duties. This accountability occurs at the ballot box where the lazy and recalcitrant lawmaker is returned to being a private citizen. Then, launching a judicially correct investigation into why that person abnegated their duties; especially, if personal enrichment occurred. Judges are supposed to be held accountable through the actions of the legislative and executive branch taking firm action, not creating new laws. The judicial branch oversees executive and legislative investigations only to ensure the US Constitution is properly followed. Proper checks and balances!

However, there is a caveat to the US Constitution provided by the second president of the United States, John Adams. “Our Constitution, [which includes all the separate state constitutions,] [were] made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other [type of person].” Why has the executive and legislative branches abdicated their duties to the judicial; they are not inherently moral or religious. Why has judicial activism exploded; the people in office are not moral or religious.

Thus, the solution for America is to begin hiring through the election process morally upright and religious people. Every vote, in every election, matters. Those on the political left understand this policy and use it as a weapon to create enmity and negate the power of the people to self-government and republican rule through democratic processes. Make the time, get knowledgeable about candidates and issues, and then vote!

© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the pictures.
All rights reserved. For copies, reprints, or sharing, please contact through LinkedIn:
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The Role of Police in Current American Society – Knowing IS Half the Battle!

Behavior-Change The recent acts of domestic terror in America have caused the need to teach, instruct, and edify on the basic roles of law enforcement officers, e.g. peacekeepers, sheriffs, police officers, agents, etc. in society. American Society has two different peacekeepers tasked with the job of keeping peace in America, the military, and the police. In this first of two articles, the role of the police officer is discussed, with foundational logic provided. Imperative to understanding the role of police, we must first consider the role of government in America, as the police officer is but a tool of government policy.

Charles Reich (1964) wrote an article about “New Property,” where he discussed how that from WWII the government has been considering their citizens as property, how the bureaucrat picks winners and losers based upon a personal and often hidden agenda, and how this process has affected the law in America. The premise that the government owns you, is here to protect you, and coddle you from the cradle to the grave, is the onerous millstone about America’s neck currently. The size of government after WWII exploded and has done nothing but grow ever since; all because the bigger the government, the more the bureaucrat claims disproportionate power to inflict harm and enact a reign of terror, in the government’s name.

Policy Visit a Department of Motor Vehicles and ask questions, ask “why” questions, and politely insist upon answers. Visit a local zoning office, and refuse to accept their petty mandates regarding your personal property, try, and “fight city hall;” and you will face a bureaucrat. A bureaucrat on their own turf, who will make up rules to inconvenience you, simply because they can. Everything that irritates a person about dealing with the government stems from the petty authoritarian actions of a bureaucrat, acting precisely as described by Charles Reich (1964). Why has President Trump had so many problems with leading the Federal Government; the bureaucrats will not relinquish power “ill-gottenly gained,” and unconstitutionally acquired. Why was President Obama able to lead the government so smoothly, the bureaucrats recognized in him the ability to seize power and took full advantage. Resulting in the IRS being weaponized and illegally used against those deemed inferior to, or unworthy of, government largesse by a bureaucrat. Why did President Reagan have so many problems with the Federal Government in his first term, and President Clinton not have any problems with the entrenched Federal Government; again the bureaucrats. Those people that work in government, using government to get ahead, and have always privately dreamed of being Lord Tyrannus executing their will on others; in short, bureaucrats.

Michael Howlett, Chapter Two, from the book “Designing Government: From Instruments to Governance” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), stated the following, “Policy instruments are techniques of governance that, one way or another, involve the utilization of state authority or its conscious limitation[s]. …[S]ince they often affect the behavior of individuals in society… possess economic costs paid by the governed… are controlled by policymakers… and are designed to implement governance strategies.” The police are but one such tool or policy instrument to affect the behavior of a society. Each criminal class in the criminal justice system has a society with specific rules, obligations, and controllers of policy. For example, the common thief looks down upon a child molester but is in turn looked down upon by a murderer. As one of the most visible tools of government policy, the police officer as a law enforcement agent (including FBI Agent, Sheriff, etc.) remains a target of opportunity by those resisting police enforcement, as well as the political masters who make a mistake and blame the police officers for failing to grasp what is desired by the political master. Please note, the law enforcement officer has one role, to serve and protect society. Under that role, there are millions of ideas about how to “serve” and what “to protect,” how “to protect,” and where “to protect.” Each politician as the creator of policy and user of government tools, dictates to the police their job, how they perform their job, what merits proper performance of their job, and much more. Hence, the need to understand the lines of congruity between proper policing and government policies.

Government Largess 2 Consider the hammer, in the hands of a master craftsman art, is created by using the hammer. In the hands of a child, generally, destruction occurs by using the hammer. The hammer is not to blame for the destruction, nor praised for the beauty of the art, it is simply a tool to be wielded. From this analogy, we find the reason, and often the start of, violent protestors, riots, lootings, etc. when the politician does not appropriately use the tool law enforcement official e.g. the police.

Let us review the Eric Garner incident in New York City. The police officer performed his duty, using the allowed tools provided by the politicians in making an arrest, which included a neck hold that was deemed safe. Unfortunately, Eric Garner’s health problems, environmental concerns (weather, physical exertion, etc.), and other factors played a role, and Eric Garner died at the hands of a police officer. A highly regrettable incident. But, did the politicians pay a price for their decisions to allow the neck hold; no! How many politicians lost their elected positions over the poor decisions of their tool, to make this arrest; none! But, the police officer involved became a household name, the media went crazy, and cities across America burned because of how the tool of governance (Law Enforcement Officials), effected their job (use of an allowed neck hold), in correcting the behavior of society (making an arrest).

The crime Eric Garner was accused of was selling unlicensed cigarettes; essentially, the government was complaining they were not receiving sufficient taxes for the sales of the cigarettes. This is behavior the city, county, state, or federal, collectively called “the state” has deemed unlawful. The police, as tools of government policy, were called to correct the behavior and recoup the taxes through fines and imprisonment, after a trial by Eric Garner’s peers. That through Eric Garner’s untimely death, the government was denied retribution is another discussion regarding the role of the criminal justice system.

As tools of government policy, “use of force by law enforcement” remains a hotly contested topic, all because each politician will decide what is the “proper use of force by law enforcement officials,” to execute behavioral changes in the city/county/state/country. The police officer, as a law enforcement official, is left in the middle between the cries of the governed, and the government using that official to enact policy. Thus, the core and central issue in the lives of law enforcement officials everywhere, and why the treatment of criminals is always a political debate topic for those seeking election to offices of governance and judgeship.

Hollywood to the contrary, the police officer as a law enforcement official is not a military position. The law enforcement official cannot go “rogue,” as this places their authority as a law enforcement official in jeopardy. The law enforcement official can only apply that force allowed them by the politicians as tools of government policy. Hence, when mass social unrest begins, it is not the police who need to be called, but the military. However, the same politician controlling the proper use of law enforcement is also deciding what constitutes “civil unrest,” requiring military intervention; thus, opening the divide between law enforcement, “to serve and protect,” and the military which will insist upon the obedience of the governed, to the government.

The point remains, the law enforcement official, police officer, sheriff, etc. is a visible tool of the government to adjust the behavior of the governed, at the expense of the governed. Hence, one cannot separate the responsibility of how the tool is used, from the tool holder. Like the hammer in the hands of a child when destruction occurs, you do not punish the hammer, you swat the bottom of the child. As adults in American society, we hold the ultimate responsibility for how your law enforcement officials act, through the ballot box electing those who create government policy. If you do not like how the police are acting, it is your job to elect someone different. Thus, it is your responsibility, and as an adult to choose how your law enforcement works. You have no right to be looting, rioting, and causing acts of violence, especially when the police act in a manner that you do not prefer.

GI Joe As G.I. Joe said when I was a kid, “Knowing IS half the battle” [emphasis mine]. The other half, never mentioned, was taking informed action. If your elected officials are “too soft” or “too hard” on crime, the blame lies with the politician enacting the behavior-changing policy. If the criminal justice system is not to your liking, you as a free individual have two choices, use the ballot box to change the elected leadership, or move to an area that possesses the same ideals you support. Take informed action; leave the emotional tantrums to children!

Thin Blue Line

The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the pictures.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesalisbury/

An Open Missive to our Federal Elected Officials: Who Polices the Federal Government in Following Hiring Practices?

As a dual-service, disabled veteran, possessing two master-level degrees from accredited colleges and engaged in the pursuit of a Ph.D., I am finding, from personal experience and in speaking to others pursuing employment with disabilities, discrimination is alive and well. I can understand the discrimination in private sector hiring; I do not like it but understand it. Risk, costs of health insurance, and costs of doing business increase when hiring those with disabilities. I do not see government as a “jobs program” in any way; however, the government has taken it upon themselves to enact rules specifically to hire those with disabilities. Thus, the government should be more open to hiring those of us with disabilities.

People Processes Federal Government hiring procedures provide two hiring paths, competitive and non-competitive. Under competitive, there are several ways of being placed ahead of others and points are awarded for certain hiring preferences, of which being a veteran is but one. In non-competitive hiring, Schedule A provides for disabled people to sidestep the traditional, or competitive, practices of hiring to have an opportunity of obtaining employment without having to compete with candidates not experiencing the special conditions caused by disability

Disabled people are supposed to be able to employ Schedule A hiring practices for Federal Hiring because disabled people know how difficult it is to be hired for the private sector, city, county, and state government hiring. Here is where those in hiring positions for the Federal Government are able to bypass the system and not hire disabled people: no one is policing hiring. I was informed, very politely, by the Inspector General’s Office that they do not inquire or investigate compliance with regulations for hiring. The question to you, elected Federal Officials: who polices and ensures compliance with written protocols established by OPM for hiring?

As a disabled veteran, hiring in the private sector has become more difficult as my injuries have become more noticeable, from fall 2010 to present. Having a disability that is nerve based, causing tics/twitches/spasms, hiring officials acknowledge directly or indirectly that since my cost to employer-based health care will come with a pre-existing condition and higher overall costs in ADA compliance and loss of potential (blue) money, I become the “candidate to beat,” and finally will be told, “you are overqualified,” “you are over-educated,” or my personal favorite “you are not a good fit.” Thus, after four consecutive years of seeing my ability to be hired in the private sector diminish, I began more heavily pursuing employment with the Federal Government.

In June 2016, I was, finally, awarded a Schedule A letter to add to my documents in Federal Hiring. With the Schedule A letter, I was provided OPM training on how to be “Direct Hired” and walked through the OPM website governing the policies that govern Schedule A hiring and disability hiring for the Federal Government. Since the award of the Schedule A letter, I have had a VA hiring official refuse to use the letter claiming VRA and VEOA are both more efficient, and then not hire me for being “overqualified.” I have experienced hiring managers tell me that “Direct Hire” authority lies with managers, and you need to know those managers to employ Schedule A preference, but the hiring managers cannot tell you who else to speak with to receive Schedule A hiring. The absolute best excuse has been a hiring manager’s claim that there is no such thing as non-competitive hiring, that all applicants must be hired under competitive hiring standards, and then proceeded to tell me I am not qualified for the position because my degrees were not specifically those desired in the advertisement, even though the advertisement did not specify a specific degree, other than master-level. Most recently I have been offered positions so far below minimum pay levels only because the government knows that desperation often breeds compliance, even if compliance creates actual harm, all in the name of some future date of possibly being hired for the wages qualified for at the time of hire.

Hence, I emailed the Inspector General’s office regarding these circumstances and received the following reply, “The Inspector General’s Office does not monitor compliance with hiring in the Federal Government.” Thus, Elected Officials, I ask you, “Who regulates and ensures compliance in hiring for Federal Government positions?” “Who is accountable for OPM regulations being adhered to by local hiring decision-makers?” “Where can those who are disabled and trying to work turn for a reconciliation of just grievances?” You, the elected officials, created this hiring system with preferences for disabled people to find work with the Federal Government, so who is policing the hiring for you?

I have now contacted elected officials in four separate states while living and voting in those areas, Ohio, Arizona, Utah, and Michigan, asking the representatives of elected officials directly the same questions posed in this missive. Senator McCain’s office was the most oblique and obtuse claiming that if hiring practices are not being followed it is due to a lack of training somewhere, but the issue is not important enough for the senator’s time. Upon arrival in New Mexico, I asked about hiring at the VA Hospital in Albuquerque and was told by several officials at the VA Hospital that the HR Department was under extra scrutiny due to a significant lack of following the hiring guidelines for Federal Government hiring; but, none of those people could tell me who polices the hiring practices and ensures compliance.

Why is this important; because disabled people are not receiving the kind of hiring support they need. With the current costs to business operation in the private sector, I can understand, I do not like it, but I can understand, that hiring those with disabilities is going to be a major cash outlay upfront with increased risk. As a business professional, I understand the risk/cost structure, and I understand that the speed of business dictates finding the lowest cost/risk, candidate. For the city, county, state, and Federal Government positions, I cannot fathom why disabled people are dragged through such egregious hiring practices. I did an unofficial survey of 25 Federal Government, NM State, Bernalillo County, and City of Albuquerque employees asking them one simple question, how long did it take for you to be hired initially. The answers ranged from multiple months to 5 years of constant applying. If the employee had been promoted, I asked how long did the employee wait for the promotion, and the answers ranged from 3-months in the initial position to 15-years. As a business professional, I can confidently say this is where enormous amounts of blue (potential) money are being wasted, and as the axiom goes, burn enough blue money and green money, in this case, taxpayer funds, evaporate!

Ways to fix the hiring issue:

Each Federal Government office needs to have a single person solely responsible for Schedule A and all other direct hire authority programs that non-employees can communicate with to apply directly to that organization. All open positions would run through this office first providing the option to request Schedule A preference, and upon that selection, USAJobs.gov would automatically drive the applications to the single person responsible for direct hiring and provide this person’s name and contact information to the applicant.
Stop the redundant efforts. Once a background and reference check has completed for one office, make this information available to all offices for 365-days. With applicants making multiple applications to several different offices, this alleviates contacting those references multiple times, duplicating work, and wasting resources. The technology to share is already available, and this is a low-cost, high-return option to invoke.
Every worker in government expects everything to take an inordinate amount of time to complete work. The longer the waiting game takes, the more potential (Blue) money is wasted exponentially. Start shaving unproductive hiring practices, processes, and procedures. Streamlining the hiring process overall is needed!

Blue Money Burning Consider the following as a general guide. For every five dollars of blue money wasted, fifteen to fifty green taxpayer dollars evaporate. Thus, when a position is open, the lost potential is the annual salary of the new hire for every month the position remains open and unfilled, and the green money loss is the annual salary of the position open every two months. Between others having to work harder to cover the open position (Blue), the added strain and stress of working shorthanded (Blue), and the lost productivity of the entire team including the costs of long-term planning (Blue), along with other factors, are “hidden costs” of conducting business. In the blue money loss, the green money evaporation is found in less time for maintenance, tools, and people are used harder and longer, overtime for important deadlines, and commitments lost are all, but not a complete list, of green money evaporation pits.

While not directly a hiring practice, reducing employee churn, training, and promoting more quickly is a best business practice. The people in government make the government, and I am not the only customer service professional pointing to government offices as the epitome of incompetent people wasting resources and destroying morale and customer relationships.

Case in point, at the Regional VA Office in Phoenix, AZ, three people regularly man the front desk and are the face of this VA facility. Of these three, one person is incompetent and intentionally mean, remarking in demeaning and insulting tones to questions and speaking ill of the veteran they just “helped.” One is trying and means well. The third could not be hired to clean road kill off streets and is completely and utterly a drone, for example saying they are working on a task but never accomplishing anything productive. Several times while being harassed assisted by these individuals, I witnessed the third person asking for help from another employee to staple forms together, asking “where does the staple go in the form again?” Hence, I was not surprised when Phoenix became the face of incompetent and heartless government workers literally killing veterans. Clean house of the deadwood, replace with hard-working people and streamline the process of work to reduce the opportunity for drones and hacks to manipulate the system. Of the 10-15 people that regularly float through the Phoenix VA Regional Office Front-Desk/Waiting Area, I think two might actually be working. The rest seem to have an amorphous purpose doing ambiguous work in a cloud of confusion taking taxpayer wages for no productivity.

Customer service improvement begins internally, employee to employee. Want to slow churn, improve how employees serve each other. Want to reduce churn significantly, get the supervisors, team leaders, and other organizational leaders out of the office, onto the production floor, and actively exemplifying customer service and professionalism. Improve employee to employee customer service and departments like the VA and DMV will immediately begin to change their horrendous reputations.

I am not the only person in this country paying taxes and angry about the drones and dregs hired to conduct government business. It is past time to demand accountability for the taxpayer money waste at all levels of government. Decreasing waste begins with improved hiring, respect for the government they work for by being honest in their employment, and increased regard for the people they serve.

When an employee commits a crime, they should be able to be fired and never re-hired by the government, then held accountable in a court of law for their crimes. When an employee does not pay their taxes while working for the government, they should be fired and never re-hired, then held accountable like every other citizen not paying their taxes. To hear about government computers full of porn, child porn, and online gambling, tells me there are workers that are not being supervised properly, work is not being done, and the supervisor and the offending employee need to be fired and never re-hired, then held accountable in a court of law for their crimes. Being paid to work and not working is theft! Child porn is a crime! Watching porn on a computer while being paid is both sexual harassment and theft, both of which are crimes!

The taxpayer receives a slap to the face when federal, state and county government employees are caught gaming the system for personal profit, are not required to remit the monies ill-gotten, and are not fired, or worse are fired and an obscure union regulation returns them to work at the same salary and position of authority, or worse are promoted after being returned to work. These are failures in treating people properly, honoring the tax dollars invested, and reflecting a failure of elected officials to supervise government workers needed to run the government. When will our elected officials become the leaders we are paying them to be, holding those malfeasant characters legally and morally accountable and removing them from employment in government?

Your'e Hired We hired you, the elected officials, to run the government for us, not to enrich yourselves at our expense, and not to allow nefarious and untrustworthy people to lie, cheat, and steal our tax monies and keep being paid with our tax money! More egregious still is allowing those who have abused the power of government to cause harm, then allow those abusers to quietly leave the government with their pensions, and no criminal charges are ever pursued, e.g., Lois Lerner among many others. When you want to know why the approval rating for elected officials is so low, look no further than the issues raised in this missive. Fix the problems!

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