A Common Man's View of the U.S. Debt...

I don't usually post political opinions on here unless they are directly related to wildlife or habitat, and even then rarely... But what is now going on in Washington is decades overdue and still going nowhere. The House passed a bill last week that would satisfy the criteria required to put the U.S. debt on a track to responsibility when it passed the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill. Harry Reid promptly tabled the bill w/o a vote when it got to the Senate...

Then he proclaims that the Republicans in Congress need to compromise, and that his bill is the only compromise in play?? How is that a compromise when it hasn't even come to a vote in the Senate? And who is he to claim no compromise when he tabled, w/o so much as a vote, the only effectively viable bill to, so far, address the problem?? But that's the way our government works... or doesn't work?? 

Give us a break! So many people in Washington don't think the American people know what's best for our country. Or even that we are paying attention... Well, we are paying attention, and we don't like what's been going on for a long time now.

When we, as individuals, run up too much debt, we have to make sacrifices to pay it off. But our government just keeps borrowing and wasting and taxing and spending until now the U.S. is $14.5 T in debt... And they want to borrow more to pay what is outstanding, and tell us that they will cut spending by more than they will borrow?? But they don't tell us that the cuts are merely cuts in expected increases in spending... and not really cuts in existing spending at all... The only compromising here is OF the American people.

I am reminded of the following true story:

"The Sierra Club and the U. S. Forest Service were presenting an alternative to the Wyoming ranchers for controlling the coyote population. It seems that after years of the ranchers using the tried and true method of shooting or trapping the predators, the Sierra Club had a "more humane" solution to this issue. What they were proposing was for the animals to be captured alive. The males would then be castrated and let loose again. This was ACTUALLY proposed by the Sierra Club and by the U. S. Forest Service.

All of the ranchers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes.

Finally an old fellow wearing a big cowboy hat in the back of the conference room stood up, tipped his hat back and said, 'Son, I don't think you understand our problem here. These coyotes ain't f_____' our sheep; they're eatin' 'em!'

The meeting never really got back to order."

Well, I doubt Congress ever gets back to order either, at least anytime soon. But one thing for sure, the sheep in this story are the American people... and the coyotes are the bureaucrats. The government? Why it's the Forest Service and the Sierra Club, don't you know... 

Natural Nitrogen Fixation...

If you would note the piece that I posted here last August entitled, " How large the habitat project?", you might recall that the 3-acre parcel is behind my house and a continuing project of mine. Last year I had merely disked the ground to regenerate the natural seedbank and wound up w/ a field full of native grasses and clovers which greatly enhanced the bird population around my house.

Most people are aware that clovers are a legume and most varieties will fixate nitrogen naturally in the soil, improving the fertility. Clovers are a predominantly cool season grass that thrive through the winter and lie dormant in the hot summer. This year, as hot and dry as it's been, I'm not sure dormant is the word... maybe dead is a better one. Point is, clovers not only provide excellent wildlife benefits, but enrich the soil as well.

Another beneficial native legume that also provides food and cover for wildlife is Partridge Pea.

http://www.easywildflowers.com/quality/chamae6.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaecrista_fasciculata

Since I was gone for 3 months last fall, my field of native grasses and forbs got a little overgrown and shaded out my clover through the winter. By the time I got home and got it mowed, the thatch was so thick that it just covered everything. I tried disking it again, but it was still too thick and simply clogged up the disk w/ thatch. Consequently, I burned it off last March and cut it up again w/ the disk, leaving me w/ a plowed field ready to grow something.

I considered planting anything from sweet corn to a quail mix. But realizing that we were in a La Nina weather pattern this year and likely to be dry, I decided to let the natural seedbank germinate again to see what I got this year. It's a good thing I did because this has been a miserable summer w/ extended triple digit days and very little rain.

When the natural seedbank began to grow, I found that I had a field full of Partridge Pea mixed w/ other native grasses and forbs. Realizing that the Partridge Pea would serve as a natural fertilizer for my field as well as food and cover for the birds that I already had here, I decided to just let it grow. And realizing that this was going to be a stressful summer for the local wildlife as well, it was an easy decision to make.

The neighbors are all wearing me out on their back porches about my weed patch, but the birds have found it a bonanza for seeds and insects in a tough year to make a living. But wildlife is my neighbor too, and it outnumbers the porch watchers...

There still haven't been any visits from deer or turkey here that I've noticed, but the squirrels and raccoons and coyotes are frequent visitors, along w/ a few hawks and owls. And still no quail... but I keep hoping. Too much fescue around me still, I think...

The field has pretty much dried up w/ all the heat and lack of rain to date, so I figure I'll mow it as soon as I get a day that isn't in triple digits...  Man, it's been HOT this year!!  Then later in the fall, providing we get some rain to soften the blackland and shrink the cracks in the soil, I may reseed the field in clover to start the process again. But, at least, I know that what I've done (or not done) has improved the fertility of my soil w/o the high cost of chemical fertilizer.