Recently I did something I don’t do very often, I bought a new car. No, this is not a “cash for clunkers” story, but a brief look at the serious challenges that are faced by the free market in America from the Barack Obama administration.

Now, buying a new car, whether it’s a brand spanking new car, or just a new to you car, involves a familiar procedure that we often refer to as the “dance,” or the “game,” or whatever signifier people use to explain how free-markets work in the buying and selling of things. It usually starts with the covert car lot trolling, which escalates to the commando-style deployments to check sticker prices, with the option to retreat to ‘escape vehicles’ to avoid the salespeople that seem to appear like wraiths from nowhere to begin their overly-happy greetings and the beginning of the all too familiar sales pitch process. If you have been there and done that, then you have probably made it to the advanced stages of the car buying process, which includes the test drives and the gritty back room negotiations, which usually involve the tag-team process of the salesman (always trying to get you the best deal – wink, wink) and his hard nose, but fair, supervisor, who must be privately consulted with repeatedly by the salesman, as you haggle your way to an amicable conclusion.

Now you might think I’m complaining about the process, which would be quite to the contrary. In fact, not only do I think the free market process of buying cars is the best game in town, I submit that the same supply and demand, give and take, process we see in the free market is what makes America uniquely great in all facets of life. Think about it. As with the investment of dollars for a car, Americans invest their time, labor, and even their vote, into the people and products they want to fulfill their services and needs. It’s at times hard work and we all have experienced a few ibuprofen moments, but it’s a fair system that works better than anything else on the planet.
The reason the free market works, and why it’s worth fighting for, can be easily seen by simply looking at the car buying (free market) process. In America, the buyer has the freedom to ‘talk’ and the freedom to ‘walk.’ That is, you can always – and I repeat, always – ask questions and kick the tires. If, heaven forbid, the buyer smells the “scent of lemons” on the ‘gem’ of a product being offered, he or she can take his or her money on down the road. That’s called freedom, and it has been the catalyst of improvements and innovations within the free market for the life history of this country.

The Barack Obama administration is attempting to turn this successful, time-tested, process on its head. Yes, they have products too. The latest products coming from the White House are Obama care and Cap and Trade – and many new models still to be brought out on the show room floor. However, with the Obama administration, they appear to be most fond of the ‘no questions asked’ purchase policy, and when the American people start to drive through the details of the president’s new policies and complain about the ‘scent of lemons,’ things start to get downright nasty. Not only has the administration demonized those who would bring about questions on why we should or should not buy into what the president is selling, it now appears that the American people may not be given the choice of taking their money and moving on down the road for something better. This little maneuver on a good day is called socialism, but after you drive it for a while, you see it really handles much more like communism.

For most Americans, the last several months have reinforced the true meaning of the slogan “buyer beware.” However, for those still in doubt, I would submit that if we wish to maintain the free market in this country, we must collectively stand up and stamp “No Sale!” on the anti-free market initiatives of Barack Obama.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

America, with all its imperfections, is still truly the land of opportunity. This has been the unique component that has brought people from around the world, in every way imaginable, and even some ways not. This opportunity to succeed and, yes, to also fail, is a product brought about by individual freedom that has been unique to America since our founding fathers placed their lives on the line to create a better future for themselves and their families. If we are to hold worthy the struggle of those who fought to give us a free nation, should we not also observe those who wish to take away both our freedom and the opportunity that living in a free country brings?

The Obama administration is truly a ravenous hydra, in which there are many deadly heads, that must be addressed one set of fangs at a time. This time, the head most near in striking distance is that of the Cap and Trade bill, H.R. 2454, which has passed the House of Representatives and currently is being deliberated on by the Senate.

The case against Cap and Trade is all but overwhelming. The bill runs on the faulty, if not dubious, premise that by the government making it so expensive for the U.S. manufacturing and industrial complex to emit CO2, businesses will turn to “green” alternatives on their own accord. This is to happen while, at the same time, the government selectively sells CO2 permits to industries of its choosing. Beyond creating what Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma described as the largest tax increase in American history, this will inevitably force viable industry outside the U.S. during a recession period – when economic growth is an absolute must for the country’s future survival. Also, as painfully obvious, those industries that are privileged enough by whatever system of measure the Obama administration sets forth to be able to buy their emission permits, will then, by the nature of simple economics, charge higher prices to the average American for electricity and other products to recoup their costs. Yes, you and I, the American people, will pay the bill for Cap and Trade.

If that last statement hurts, this next statement will be excruciating. The Cap and Trade program will have no measurable effect on carbon emission reduction. That’s none, zero, zilch, nada. Other than creating extreme debt, reducing economic growth and American freedom, Cap and Trade is the equivalent of a dead turtle in what has been promoted as a jackrabbit race. My conversation with Dr. Calvin Beisner, national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance on my radio program, Conscience of Kansas, only strengthens previous statements made this month by the Environmental Protection Agency that U.S. action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will have no impact on the climate. In effect, our government will spend trillions of American dollars for absolutely nothing.

If there is no upside (and there isn’t) to the Cap and Trade bill, then why are liberals throughout the Obama administration trying to push the bill through without proper inspection? Why does the Obama administration give this issue the full court press to include wheeling out Al Gore (who becomes more Bela Lugosi-esque by the second) to sound the “Earth alarm” by way of nothing short of eerie organ music.

The truth is that Cap and Trade is but a symptom of the liberal environmental psychosis, of which capitalism and the free market (and the prosperity both bring), are seen as dangerous and destructive. It is through this derangement that CO2, a naturally occurring substance – crucial for life on this planet, can be seen as a poison and we are all told to hate our “carbon footprint.”

It is interesting to note that while science daily disproves the correlation between the growth of carbon emissions and increases in planet temperature, few people speak out about the undeniable correlation between the growth of our “carbon footprint” and the growth of our freedom, stability, and economic prosperity. You see, there are blessings to be found in those big honking carbon footprints. India and China see this clearly, and they have chosen prosperity over carbon credit tomfoolery. Even the little developing nations of the world, with their war, death, and famine, would like to have a shot at a little more carbon footprint growth. That is, they would like to reap the rewards, not the Hollywood hyped detriments of the industrial world. With the Obama and Gore liberals of today, it is the capitalistic smell of the carbon footprint that offends them most; and in defense of such wondrous things, I say, embrace your carbon footprint, cherish it while you have it, and remember what it has given you. In reality, it is not a burning planet but prosperity, stability, and economic growth. Not a bad smell indeed.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

The wolf who cried “boy!” Make that statement today and it won’t take but a moment for someone to utter that a correction must be made, as you have obviously gotten the important parts of the childhood story title turned around. Of course, they would be right. The childhood story of the boy who cried wolf depicts a youth in charge of a flock of sheep that were under potential threat from the dangerous, hungry wolf that crept along the woods near the foot of a nearby mountain. The boy, fighting bouts of loneliness, repeatedly tricked the villagers into coming to his aid with false calls of “wolf!” Of course, as the story goes, when the wolf actually came, no one believed the boy’s distress call and the hungry wolf had “leg of lamb” for supper. It’s an exciting and educational story about honesty and it shows the ramifications of true threats that are not addressed properly.

We can attempt to apply this very useful analogy to the wolves that crouch at America’s doorstep today. We can talk about who the wolves are and wonder, “Do we have the knowledge and fortitude to sound the danger call in time to save what is precious to us?” The problem is, for expanding periods of time today, the American people, the true shepherds of their own destiny, are having their attention diverted to nonsensical distractions while they are about to get bit in the backside.

We, the American people, are increasingly being faced with 24 hour news coverage by the media for events which have a news value equivalent to that of cheap plastic baubles. Walking hand in hand with quality is the issue of quantity. The amount of meaningless news feces being thrown at the public is now unending and, to prove the point, I can start almost anywhere. The Anna Nicole Smith death is a salient example. The death of the relatively unaccomplished reality star ran for weeks and was treated by the press with the same media blitz given to the JFK assassination. Like it would never end, the television talking heads pondered the obvious (to the public) as to whether Smith, who hadn’t uttered a slur-less word in years, might have died from drug abuse. It could be said that to expend the energy to say, “Why should I care about this?” is to care too much. The demise of Michael Jackson, in its grotesque over-coverage and analysis, may, in its own strange way, make the Anna Nicole Smith coverage seem normal and proper. Do you see the problem?

It could be addressed that the news stories like Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson depict the false framing by the media that minimizes the true life tragedies of the lives of such people and treats them like success stories. If this were the case, it would be much more like the story of the boy who cried wolf; it would be an issue of truth telling and accuracy when a true foe, that is – the truth itself, is at stake. Unfortunately, we are currently not in that ballpark, not even in that universe.

Our country is in the midst of real monumental historical challenges, such as the War on Terror, border security, escalating national debt, and an environmental “cap and trade” bill, which will be the largest tax increase in U.S. history. Issues such as these are being left on the cutting room floor so extra 30 year old footage of the Jackson Five in concert can be aired. It’s not an issue of Jackson’s talent, or the inventiveness of the “moon walk,” or even the creativeness of the video “Thriller,” which took place over two decades ago; it’s the point of fact that the nation does not have time for this or other meaningless distractions. It is also a point of fact that the meaningless begets the meaningless to the point where we as a people, and as a nation, are so turned around on what is important that we live in a place where the statement “the wolf who cried boy” makes as much sense as anything else. It’s a place we can’t afford to be.

Paul A. Ibbetson is the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 FM. For interviews or questions, please contact Ibbetson91.9@gmail.com or go to www.IbbetsonUSA.com.