Two centuries ago, it was common practice for the doctors to bleed a patient in the belief that it would get rid of the "vapors" that were thought to be causing the illness. As a result, most patients got worse and many died. Much of the world is now suffering from equally incompetent politicos playing economic doctors.

Most of the major democratic countries are headed for a fiscal cliff because they have been increasing government spending at a rate far higher than economic growth for the past several years.

Politicians tend to like bigger government because it gives them more power -- so they have a natural inclination to try to increase taxes rather than cut spending.

As poster children for bad economic policy and for bad tax proposals, I have selected three rich jurisdictions. Despite the vast difference in size of these political entities, the three are exhibiting the same disease -- undisciplined spending. Each of their leaders is prescribing the very same lethal medicine -- tax increases on the most productive and on their capital.

The term “killer ap” is geek-speak for a computer application that blows the doors off any competition. By letting anyone or any company write software programs for Windows rather than keep Windows proprietary to Microsoft, Bill Gates made his product the killer ap that left Apple light years behind. Excel did the same thing for spreadsheet applications.

So when Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, whispers in Karl Rove’s and George Bush’s ears this week at the convention, let’s hope they recognize a political killer ap when they hear one.

Happy New Year! 

As 2012 staggers off today's stage and into history as the most bewildering year of modern times, and 2013 will be fascism on steroids for America, how is it possible for conservatives to wish their friends a happy new year?

It's not going to be easy, but this final HFR of 2012 will show you how.

The first step in solving problems is not to sugarcoat the problems.  We can play the Glad Game of Pollyanna Whittier, and look for something to be happy about in any situation - but that runs the risk of ending up like the guys in Monty Python's Life Of Brian singing, "Always look on the bright side of life" while being crucified.

It's little wonder there's a headline story this week (12/26), Public Turns Gloomy, Fearful As 2013 Approaches.  That part of "the public" who were idiots enough to vote for Zero will stay gloomy and fearful, as they won't own up to their responsibility of being the cause of what they are gloomy and fearful about.

But we don't have to be gloomy and fearful, and that gives us a distinct advantage over those who are.  Being gloomy and fearful doesn't solve anything.  Most often, it makes things far worse.  The last thing we should fall for is fear-mongering - and be especially wary of it when it comes from our side. 

Take, for example, this article from yesterday's Canada Free Press, December 27, 2012: The Day Freedom Died in America.  This is seriously dumb.  Because some ditzy Dem senator says she's going to drop a bill that has no chance of going anywhere in either the Senate or the House, it's The End?  Nonsense.

DiFi's bill will be strangled in its crib by Red State Dems like Joe Manchin (WV).  It'll never reach the House.  It's an act of grandstanding desperation, made clear by Kurt Schlichter (12/26) in Liberals Panic As They Lose The Gun Narrative.

Additional evidence is the enormous backlash against the Brit anti-gun nut Piers Morgan, and the Journal News in White Plains NY that published the names and location (with Google Maps) of 44,000 gun owners in its area.

Those backlashes are harbingers of 2013.  They are the opportunity 2013 gives us to have a happy new year.  2013 is going to be The Year of the Backlash.

Do you admire what the Olympic athletes have been able to accomplish, and do you think they should be applauded for their outstanding performances?

The good side of humanity is revealed when we praise and reward such people. The bad side of humanity is shown by those who wish to punish success.

Socialists of all stripes, whether they be politicians, tenured professors, unthinking students, bureaucrats in government (including those enjoying tax-free salaries at international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) have a common refrain that they want equality of outcomes in the name of "fairness" (but not for themselves, of course).

In the name of fairness, should we not allow anyone more than 6 feet tall to play basketball? Should we have given medals to all of the Olympic athletes so none of them would feel bad because they did not get medals? After all, they tried. If we did reward them equally, what affect do you think it would have on the future level of performance?

Yesterday (7/30), military judge Col. Denise Lind found Wiki-leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning guilty on five counts of espionage, as well as multiple counts of theft, computer fraud and military infractions.

Giving Manning every benefit of the doubt, the judge found him not guilty of the charge of intentionally aiding the enemy - but still convicted him on 19 of 21 counts.

Now begins the separate sentencing phase of Manning's military trial. But the long "guilty" list ensures he'll spend decades in a military prison.

Yet two "unindicted co-conspirators" were missing in the dock throughout the trial. Not Julian Assange and his Wiki-gnomes, but the US Army and our Blame-America culture.  They are Manning's enablers.

Welcome to the shortest day of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere - or, as it's also known this year, Moron Day.  Today, anyone with a three-digit IQ gets to make fun of morons and retards - in particular, all the morons who panicked over Mayan Calendar Idiocy, and all the morons to whom TIME Magazine credits for re-electing Zero.

Actually, though, the End of the World didn't happen today because that already happened on November 6^th.  At least for America....

Yet there are some House Pubs who aren't whimpering.  Yesterday, 13 of them pushed Speaker Boehner's Plan B off a cliff.  This turned even the folks at Fox into Nervous Nellies, blaring Fiscal Crisis Nears As Plan B Fails.  This is a real two-fer. 

First, the quicker we go over this dreaded "fiscal cliff" thing, the better. Second, this vote damages Boehner's speakership hopefully beyond repair.  All it takes is 17 of the 234 House Pubs to Just Say No to Boehner on January 3^rd, and he's out. 

John Boehner is a nice, amicable, and competent guy.  But he's the wrong guy now to be in charge of the only chance we have for fiscal sanity and reigning in Emperor Zero.  There's a scene in Godfather I that every House Pub should be thinking of now.

Which level of government do you think should have the responsibility for protecting the rights of the disabled -- local, state, federal or the United Nations?

The United States has been a global leader in protecting the disabled and advancing its interests. Over the past few decades, this has been accomplished through a combination of federal, state and local laws and regulations. But now the United Nations is trying to get involved.

The United Nations was originally established to prevent war among countries. Having repetitively failed in that mission, it has been interjecting itself into virtually every other aspect of human life, including demands for various forms of global taxes to be collected and distributed by U.N. bureaucrats.

On May 18, President Obama sent the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities to the Senate for ratification. Such a treaty requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has just passed this convention, and it is now awaiting floor action by the entire Senate.

This treaty must be disabled.