Time and time again …

It’s June 2011.

And here we are all a-twitter about who the heck is going to run in the presidential primary elections in 2012.

Is this what we have come to? Would-be king- and queenmakers running for an office years before the election, like Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin have done?

As the state holding the first primary next February, Iowa is already attracting attention. Chris Christie was there recently, meeting with potential backers and turning up the conservative heat factor. Who’s Chris Christie? Exactly.

For the record, he’s the governor of New Jersey. To make a blanket statement with no semblance of reality: Finding an honest politician in New Jersey is like finding a virgin working a shift in a New Orleans strip joint.

Christie made some points early with ultra-fiscal conservatives by erasing a huge state deficit but the accolades may have been premature. The state Supreme Court has ordered him to spend more money on education and the state’s credit rating has been downgraded.

Lesson 101 for conservatives: Some things you cut, other things you don’t.

Other pols who have already tromped through Iowa or are planning to shortly include Romney, Palin, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, John Huntsman, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain.

Don’t worry if you don't know half of those names. Don’t bother looking them up. You’ll just be wasting your time.

A statement to remember: If this is the best the Republicans can do, Obama is a shoo-in for re-election.

Cutting the budget

Cutting the federal budget should not be a big deal … if we could get the politics out of the process.

Step 1: Order all federal agencies (Education is the only exception) to cut 10-15 percent of their budgets within 30 days with orders to cut from the top down, and, initially, without cutting services to citizens.
Step 2: Put every federal official on the exact retirement plan that covers everyday Americans.
Step 3: Declare one-year moratorium on foreign aid. No exceptions.
Step 4: Pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq by year-end. No dilly-dallying.
Step 5: Form an independent commission of large and small businesspeople to go through federal budget with an eye on cutting all duplicate services and errant programs, as well as surplus people, equipment and other assets.
Step 6: Declare a two-year moratorium on major projects that only affect a small area – city, county, state. If the people of Florida want a high-speed train, then let the people of Florida fund it.
Step 7: Run government like a business. If you don’t have the money, don’t spend it.
Step 8: Have quarterly reviews of Steps 1-7 and adjust as needed.

Folks, we’re smarter than this. And, it’s time to start acting like it.