It appears that Americans are concerned about three major issues: the war in Iraq, illegal immigration and the cost of gasoline. In New York add a fourth major issue which is outrageously high taxes. Many believe the upcoming elections in 2008 will be decided on these issues. The politicians have time for damage control, or for the non-incumbents, issues to destroy their opponents.

While the situation in Iraq is very serious, there is still the concept that as long as the war is contained in the Middle East, the terrorists will be focusing their activity there. If the war is ended or if the troops leave, the terrorists can do their damage here. This is a very serious consideration. With the high tech materials in the terrorist’s arsenal and the apathetic attitude of Americans, they can wreak havoc within our borders.

The second problem, illegal immigration, while serious, doesn’t present a clear and present danger. The media seems to shy away from the actual damage created by illegal immigration in the form of economic disaster. They are more concerned about “who will pick the beans and tomatoes in the fields?”

There is little written or said about the high costs of social services, prison incarceration or the high crime rate of illegal aliens. This is a truly serious problem that most politicians do not want to address with simple and positive solutions. The best answer to this issue is to make it unprofitable for the illegal aliens to come here by denying benefits and jobs.

The easiest problem to solve if the politicians really want to solve a problem is the one of high gasoline prices. Several sources consider that the politicians don’t want lower gasoline costs because it generates more revenue and with their high salaries and perks, paying a buck or more additional for a gallon of gas is only a slight inconvenience.

One of the major reasons for the high costs is the anemic number of refineries in the states. Blame is placed on the environmentalists who claim that it pollutes the atmosphere and that people don’t want refineries in their area. Rubbish!

The oil companies are making record profits with low volume, high profit business tactics and love the status quo. The government keeps giving them tax breaks instead of giving incentives to use those obscene profits to build more refineries. In fact, a recent news article stated that the oil companies are planning to scale back the number of refineries in the country.

They claim the focus on ethanol will reduce the demand for gasoline and the increase in refineries will create more gasoline than needed. From a consumer standpoint, this would be wonderful, because the law of supply and demand would cause the prices to drop to a much more reasonable level.

The confusion extends to forecasts that the increase in ethanol will cause the price of animal feed to increase creating higher food prices because the corn grown will be used to make the alcohol. So if fuel is cheaper, but food is more expensive, the middle class working stiff is still getting the shaft, while the rich get richer.

The government farm program provides for billions of taxpayer dollars to be spent with the large farming conglomerates and with little aid for the family farm. As usual, the politicians intensify their legislative efforts to benefit the big money interests.

There used to be several big oil companies, but mergers reduced them to four significant businesses. This makes it easier to stifle competition and control supplies and therefore prices. As long as Americans are willing to pay more than three dollars a gallon, the oil companies will continue to charge it. That’s big business.

The best way to correct the governmental and big business abuses is to go to the source of the problem. There has to be a groundswell of input from the citizens to the politicians to let them know that if the problems are not solved by the 2008 elections, they might have to leave the capitol and find other jobs. Then, the people must vote accordingly.

We get the government we deserve!

Budd Schroeder is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. He is Chairman of the Board of the Shooter’s Committee On Political Education (SCOPE) and a Director of the Judges & Police Conference.

Talk radio is a business, not a right wing conspiracy.

In the late 1980s, most AM stations were dying in the US. They could not compete with FM stations over music formats. After all, who wants to hear music on the AM band rather than FM?

Rush Limbaugh and talk radio saved the AM dial. Limbaugh started a trend (”opinions on the radio”) and it literally saved the AM dial and created lots of jobs all over the US radio. Today, Limbaugh reaches 20 million people. Sean Hannitty reaches over 10 million listeners!

Why is talk radio conservative? I don’t know for sure but it is. The best answer is that conservative talk radio has listeners and liberal talk radio does not. From Talk radio decidedly right of center by Rick Bird:

“Left-wing talk radio has failed to produce a true political talk star that might entice programmers. Liberal network Air America continues to struggle; it recently relaunched with new owners and a fresh lineup. The closest progressives have come to a radio star is Ed Schultz, now on more than 100 stations.”

Question: What’s wrong with that? The liberals have not been able to succeed on the radio. Why blame conservatives for that? Blame the liberals!

At the end of the day, privately owned radio stations respond to listeners and the advertisers. Radio is a business except for NPR which is subsidized by the federal government.

Why blame conservatives? Blame the liberals who are not supporting liberal hosts!

You can read this and other articles by Silvio Canto on his blog MY VIEW by Silvio Canto, Jr..

The Internet is a wonderful place to gather information. That is its design, and it is invaluable when it comes to getting data on ways to save money or to keep criminals from getting yours. Granted, they do a lot of sales over the Internet, but a shrewd buyer can save money by the use of the computer.

However, the use of the Internet for purchases, like local purchases, often requires the use of a credit card. Sometimes the risks can be greater than the convenience, so it is necessary to be on your guard when dealing with credit cards.

There has been a scam regarding credit cards and the message is this.

A person calls and says: “This is (name) and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department of Visa, (Master Card, or another card company). My badge number is 12460 (or some other made up number). Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your Visa card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona?”

When you say, “No,” the caller continues with, “Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address). Is that correct?”

You say, “Yes.” The caller continues, “I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-800 number listed on the back of your card and ask for Security.”

“You will need to refer to this control number.” The caller then gives you a six digit number. “Do you need me to read it again?”

This is the important part on how the scam works. The caller then says, “I need to verify you are in possession of your card.” He’ll tell you, “Turn your card over and look for some numbers. There are seven numbers; the first four are part of your card number. The next three are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card.”

These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. After you tell the caller the three numbers, he’ll say, “That is correct. I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have the card. Do you have any other questions?”

After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, “Don’t hesitate to call back if you do,” and hangs up.

The tip off should be that the real credit card company already has those numbers, but the thief needs them to exploit you through your credit card. You will then, through a feeling of false security, not worry about it anymore until you get your next bill with a charge for items you never purchased. Then, it is usually too late to file a fraud report.

If this happens to you, you should not give any information, hang up and report the call to the police. Then call your credit card company at the number on the back of your card and check it out. They would also like to be informed of the scam.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. To be aware of this potential problem can save you a lot of grief and money. As always, be extremely wary of people on the phone asking for personal information. Better to be rude than to be scammed.

Budd Schroeder is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. He is Chairman of the Board of the Shooter’s Committee On Political Education (SCOPE) and a Director of the Judges & Police Conference.

It’s not any fun being a politician these days. Nobody is popular in Washington DC. The political class should be grateful that Americans can’t stop their direct deposits every two weeks. Otherwise, there would be a lot of politicians without pay.

Byron York is a White House correspondent for National Review. In this article, he examines the situation:

The year of bad feelings, and not just toward the GOP

“That’s right: Bush 29 — Congress 23.

The 23 percent rating is one point below Congress’s rating in October 1994, just before Democrats lost the House and Senate in a historic landslide. That was at the end of 40 years of Democratic rule of the House.

Now, we’re just a few months into the party’s control of Congress, and it appears people have had it with the new management. Of course, they showed in November that they had had it with the old Republican management.

It’s a good thing there’s not an election next month, or nobody would win.”

What’s going on?

The Democrats over-promised on Iraq and reform. They can’t do a darn thing about Iraq and won’t touch earmarks (see Hogs on the Hill) now that they are running the show.

The Republicans are deeply divided on immigration. There is a huge battle between the party and the base.

What’s next? I don’t know. However, the politicians should be happy that nobody is running anytime soon.

You can read this and other articles by Silvio Canto on his blog MY VIEW by Silvio Canto, Jr..

This is truly a shallow society and the media, whether printed or the airwaves cater to this shallow mentality. For weeks, the lead story in the newspapers and on the TV news was all about Anna Nichole Smith.

Maybe it is because I’m getting older and less impressed with celebrities than most, but it is sickening to get force fed more than I want to know about Anna Nichole, Paris, Brittany, Jessica, Princes Diana and a whole bunch of people who really don’t contribute much to progress, world peace or to the general good of society.

As this column is written, I read today’s daily newspaper and the first story on the front page was how Paris cried when she was sent back to finish her prison term in an actual prison instead of her mansion. That really changed my life to read about that! I have no feelings one way or another about any rich, spoiled brat who became a celebrity by doing outrageous partying and making a porn clip over the Internet.

It concerns me that the editors felt that this was far more important news than the story about the congressional actions on the immigration bill. The fact that there was no action on the bill is a wonderful story. It appears that enough people in the country contacted their legislators to make them shy away from the big giveaway of our country.

There were so many loopholes in the bill and pitfalls that would burden our country for generations to come that it deserved to die and perhaps be replaced by a bill that was fair to Americans. Perhaps it could have a just and effective way to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country, staying here and placing huge financial social burdens on taxpayers.

The story on Anna Nichole Smith centered on a good looking blonde who had a major talent of marrying a very elderly rich man and inheriting a fortune. She apparently had a few tragedies in her life like the death of a son, a bunch of bad affairs and then had a baby.

Several men claimed to be the father of the child, which would be great for them (if true) because they would have custody of the child who would inherit all Nichole’s money. I’m sure we shall see more headlines about that as that aspect of the story unfolds.

The real sadness of that story is about the same time we had a young man who jumped on a grenade in Iraq to save his buddies. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his sacrifice. I think he deserved far more recognition than all the celebrities mentioned above, but compared to them, his story was just a blip on the screen and relatively few paragraphs in the news media.

It is a shame to see the media degrade from an honored institution and journalism, in far too many cases, make the downward spiral from information to sensationalism. We should be able to rely on journalism for accurate information and objective reporting, but the focus now is on making money for the outlets.

You can’t run a successful media business without profits, but the profits should reflect the value of the product. Media moguls should not have to adjust their product and make an inferior commodity because it brings in higher revenue.

The major fault lies in the public who will buy trash and revel in the inane “entertainers” like Jerry Springer, or the private lives of celebrities and athletes. They revere them as opposed to valuable scientists, true artists and people who make substantial and useful contributions to society.

I am willing to bet that Dr. Jonas Salk, who made a vaccine to prevent infantile paralysis never came close to making the income of these celebrities, but he kept millions of children from being crippled for life.

But that is the choice of a society that has been conditioned to value style over substance.

Budd Schroeder is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. He is Chairman of the Board of the Shooter’s Committee On Political Education (SCOPE) and a Director of the Judges & Police Conference.