Monthly Archives: September 2011

What Happens When Americans Are Not Paying Attention

Posted on by
This is a graph of U.S. gross federal governme...

Image via Wikipedia

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday:

The U.S. Senate, in an unusual procedure, cleared the way Thursday for the U.S. to lift its borrowing authority by $500 billion to $15.19 trillion, enough to keep the support federal government borrowing through late January or early February.

The action came under an unusual legislative procedure spelled out under the August agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. credit default. In a 52-45 vote, the Senate blocked an attempt by Republicans to slow down the process that will result in the $500 billion debt-ceiling increase.

Only one Democrat broke party ranks to vote with the Republicans in trying to slow down the measure–Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat. The article reminds us:

The next increase in the borrowing limit, likely in the first quarter of next year, will be dependent on the ability of a panel of 12 lawmakers to reach a deal that cuts at least $1.2 trillion from federal budget deficits over the next decade.

The procedure used to vote on the increase was part of the debt ceiling worked out with President Obama in August. The bottom line here is that the spending continues unchecked as Congress goes on its merry way. It’s time to replace those in Congress who are continuing the spending with people who understand the fact that they are spending the taxpayers’ money–not their own.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

One Explanation For The High Unemployment Numbers

Posted on by
States that border the Gulf of Mexico are show...

Image via Wikipedia

The Offshore Marine Service Association (OSMA) has posted a video at YouTube explaining the impact of the ‘permatorium’ the Obama administration has on American drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Washington Examiner posted a short story on the impact of the ‘permatorium’ which included this statement:

But other than pointing to staggering unemployment figures and gas prices that remain nearly double what they were when the president took office in 2009, it’s difficult to convey the magnitude of the Obama energy crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences of this crisis far exceed in terms of human and economic losses those occasioned by the Deepwater Horizon disaster that was used to justify the Permatorium in the first place.

Lifting this ‘permatorium’ would help unemployment and also bring down the cost of gasoline which would help all Americans.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Has Washington Lost Its Mind ?

Posted on by
Kathleen Sebelius alternate HHS portrait

Image via Wikipedia

CNS News is reporting today that the Health and Human Services Department has announced that it plans to spend $700 million building, expanding, and improving community health centers across the U.S.

The funding will also expand the infrastructure for Obamacare.

The article reports:

“For many Americans, community health centers are the major source of care that ranges from prevention to treatment,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “These funds will expand our ability to provide high-quality care to millions of people while supporting good paying jobs in communities across the country.”

Most of the taxpayer money — $600 million – will be spent on existing health centers for longer-term projects including facility expansion and hiring more employees to serve more patients. The remainder, around $100 million, will be spent on shorter-term projects addressing “immediate facility needs.”

What part of “we’re broke” do these people not understand?

The article further reports:

The $700 million announced on Friday is just the beginning: Over the next five years, the Affordable Care Act provides $11 billion in funding for the operation, expansion and construction of community health centers across the country. 

In 2010, community health centers employed more than 131,000 staff, including 9,600 physicians, 6,400 nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, and certified nurse midwives, 11,400 nurses, 9,500 dental staff, 4,200 behavioral health staff, and more than 12,000 case managers and health education, outreach, and transportation staff.  The centers currently serve nearly 20 million patients regardless of their ability to pay.

It is a good thing to provide medical care to people who may not be able to afford it. I agree with the concept. I just wonder if there is not a much more economical way to do it. The $700 million announced today is truly spending we cannot currently afford. Let’s look at places we can cut in order to provide these services. I am sure we can find some.
Enhanced by Zemanta

I Guess It Really Does Matter Who You Know

Posted on by

Boston.com reports today that Uncle Omar has been released from jail.

In case you have forgotten, Uncle Omar is Onyango Obama. He was arrested for drunk driving on August 24 by Framingham, Massachusetts police.

The article reports:

Onyango Obama came to America in 1963 to attend a prestigious preparatory school in Cambridge but dropped out and was initially ordered to leave the country in 1989. He appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, but lost in 1992.

Earlier this month, Bratton said Obama would fight deportation and hoped to remain in the United States. Obama has lived here for almost 50 years, since he was a young man under the limited supervision of the president’s late father.

Obama had worked for the past five years at Conti Liquors in Framingham, where he was praised as a good worker and beloved employee.

Is the job at Conti Liquors in Framingham a job Americans won’t do? Otherwise, he is taking a job away from an American while he is here illegally. Did the liquor store know he was here illegally? Did they ever check? How many Uncle Omars are out there working illegallly while Americans are unemployed?

The article also reports:

As a result of the immigration agency’s refusal to discuss the case, it is unclear what happened to Obama after he left the Plymouth County House of Correction – or whether he could be returned to jail.

An official at the Plymouth County House of Correction who would not give his name said yesterday afternoon that Obama was no longer in custody. He had been taken to Burlington, where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has offices, he said.

If his name was John Smith, would he still be in jail?

Enhanced by Zemanta

When Did Voter Identification Become Unconstitutional ?

Posted on by

The Attleboro Sun Chronicle reported today that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has declared unconstitutional a ballot initiative filed by Mansfield Selectman Olivier Kozlowski that would require voters to show government-issued identification at the polls.

These are the same government-issued identification needed to rent a video, buy alcohol or cigarettes, board an airplane, or collect a welfare check. Why is it unconstitutional to have to show that same identification to vote?

The article reports:

Supporters of the measure still need to collect the signatures of 68,911 registered voters by Dec. 7 and, assuming lawmakers do not approve the measure first, then an additional 11,485 signatures by July 2012.

Kozlowski said the SJC has an expedited appeal process for ballot initiatives that will allow him to gather signatures while the measure is under review.

I hope this measure eventually becomes law. I don’t want anyone discriminated against or any hurdles put in front of anyone who wants to vote, but I want to make sure that every legal vote is counted and not cancelled out by an illegal vote. There have been many incidents in the state where people have gone to vote and been told that they have already voted. This law is needed.

Enhanced by Zemanta

President Obama’s Jobs Speech

Posted on by
The western front of the United States Capitol...

Image via Wikipedia

Heritage.org posted a fairly detailed analysis of President Obama’s jobs speech tonight. Please follow the link for the details. I will try to highlight it.

In reference to regulations, Heritage.org points out:

“What we can’t do,” he said, “is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.  I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety.”

But no one is suggesting that any basic protections be erased — instead the pressing need now is to stop the tidal wave of regulation — costing almost $40 billion dollars — that has swamped Americans and the economy since the president was elected.

The infrastructure bank the President is proposing would simply increase the size of government and take more money out of the private sector, thus further reducing jobs in the private sector.

President Obama has fought spending cuts since he was elected to the Senate. It is unlikely that his request to the debt ceiling committee to pay for his increased spending with spending cuts will get the necessary results.

The President is calling for tax increase on those people who create jobs. Remember, corporations do not pay taxes–they pass the extra expense on to their customers. Any increase in corporate taxes is an additional tax on the consumer.

The President totally ignored developing America’s energy resources as a way out of the current recession.

This was a campaign speech that rehashed a lot of ideas that have already been rejected. It’s only purpose was to put forth a lot of bad ideas the Republicans would reject so that the President would have a campaign issue.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Watching The Foxes Moderate The Townhall Meeting They Held With The Chickens To Discuss Security In The Chicken Coop

Posted on by
"The Honorable Rick Perry (front right), ...

Image via Wikipedia

Sorry, I couldn’t resist that. The fact remains that in order to get airtime on stations that cater to the left side of the political spectrum, Republicans are having to engage in some debates moderated by people who do not want them to win or to communicate their ideas to the American people. You are welcome to disagree, but that is the view from where I sit.

Byron York at the Washington Examiner posted his take on the debate early this morning. He felt that Rick Perry did well, but walked into two minefields that could be a problem for his campaign–in the past Governor Perry has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme (it is, but it’s not polite to call it that), and Governor Perry sees more value in boots on the ground at the border than a fence (true, but not always popular). Byron York sees the race as between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. I think that is generally the conventional wisdom.

During the debate, Governor Perry and Governor Romney discussed who had created the most jobs as governor. Guess what–nobody cares. We just want to know what you will do with the current unemployment situation.

Andrew Malcolm at the Los Angeles Times simply broke the debate into award categories. He listed both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney as winners. He also gave Newt Gingrich the award for most eloquent–noting that the loudest applause came when Newt chastised the moderators for asking questions to divide the candidates rather than contrast their views with the President’s.

To me, the debate illustrated the political and cultural divide we currently have in this country. When Brian Williams seemed concerned that the audience applauded the use of the death penalty in Texas, Rick Perry had to explain to him that they were applauding the concept of justice. There is a portion of our society that has lost the concept of justice and confused it with not being compassionate. I support compassion, but believe that without justice compassion is useless. I regret that a murderer is being executed, but I believe the family of his victim is entitled to justice. I don’t want to see a murderer back on the street in ten years. That almost guarantees future victims and is not compassionate.

All in all, I think the debate went well. I look forward to a debate in the future with a less biased moderator.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Something To Take Note Of

Posted on by
Shafilea Ahmed

Image via Wikipedia

The U.K. Daily Mail is reporting today that Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed have been charged with the murder of their then 17 year-old daughter in 2003. Shafilea Ahmed vanished in 2003, and her body was discovered in 2004. The article at the Daily Mail describes this as an ‘honour killing.’

The U.K. Guardian reports:

The couple have always strenuously denied any involvement in their daughter’s death and once stormed into a police press conference to tearfully protest their innocence, claiming the police were racially motivated.

But at the inquest evidence was heard that Shafilea claimed she was held down and beaten by her parents and was fearful of an arranged marriage. The coroner ruled that she had been the victim of a “very vile murder”.

She disappeared shortly after a trip to Pakistan in which she was introduced to a potential suitor. During the trip she drank bleach and harmed herself in an apparent cry for help, and needed regular hospital treatment to correct injuries to her throat.

The coroner said: “Shafilea was the victim of a very vile murder and there’s no evidence before the court as to who did it. There are things people know that have not been told to this court.”

Under Sharia Law, the parents did nothing wrong, and there are Sharia courts in Britain. It will be interesting to see if the parents request a trial in a Sharia court.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Governor Romney’s Economic Plan

Posted on by

Governor Romney has released his plan for turning around the economy. Yesterday John HInderaker at Power Line released his initial evaluation of the plan. The article at Power Line posted a graph comparing the Obama ‘recovery’ to recoveries from past recessions. This is the chart:

That chart makes it pretty clear that we have a problem.

The article also includes a chart on the number of new of government regulations:

The uncertainty caused by the increase in government regulations is one reason companies are reluctant to hire new employees at this time. One of the tenets of Governor Romney’s economic plan is to undo the excessive regulations put into place by the Obama administration.

At this point I would like to insert a few thoughts about the Republican Primary race. I live in Massachusetts, and I feel that Governor Romney did a good job as governor of the state. Those who criticize the Governor for passing healthcare in this state do not understand the political composition of the state. Massachusetts is a one-party state that occasionally elects a Republican governor. The Democrats hold overwhelming majorities in the state legislature and pretty much do what they want (to the point where the last few leaders of the legislature have been sent to jail). Governor Romney could not have stopped healthcare in Massachusetts–he could only attempt to make it less awful, which he did. That said, I will be voting for Governor Perry in the Republican Primary. I like Mitt Romney, but I like Governor Perry better. Either one will be a very good candidate to run against Barack Obama.

Enhanced by Zemanta

One Answer To The Deficit And To Job Creation

Posted on by

In April of this year, the Daily Caller posted a story about the high cost of government regulations. The article reports:

Wayne Crews, vice president for policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, combed through the 81,405 pages of the Federal Registry — which contains the nation’s regulations on businesses, and state and local governments — and cites a report showing that regulation cost the economy a whopping $1.75 trillion in 2008.

In July, Forbes posted an article about the cost of Government regulation stating:

The country’s wealth creators need a real review of regulations, not comforting words from federal officials. Out of over 3,500 rules finalized in 2010, OIRA (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs) reviewed 66 — and of those only did benefit calculations for 20.

A simple perusal of the Federal Register shows over 430 rules costing over $65 billion so far this year alone, let alone the entire Crain (Nicole and Mark Crain, author of the SBA’s oft-cited report finding of $1.7 trillion in regulatory costs) universe of rules, which stops at 2008. As the Crains note, regulatory costs are often “indirect,” compared with direct taxation.

The article at the Daily Caller also points out:

Combining regulatory costs with federal FY 2010 outlays of $3.456 trillion reveals a federal government whose share of the entire economy now reaches 35.5 percent.
In 2010, federal agencies issued 3,573 final rules.

While agencies issued 3,573 final rules, Congress passed and the president signed into law a comparatively “few” 217 bills. Considerable lawmaking power is delegated to unelected bureaucrats at agencies, an abuse addressed recently in proposals such as the REINS Act.
Proposed rules in the Federal Register have surged from 2,044 in 2009 to 2,439 in 2010, a jump of 19.3 percent.
I don’t know what the President will say in his economy speech tomorrow night, but unless he agrees to cut government regulations drastically, the unemployment numbers will not change significantly.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

As We Remember September 11, 2001

Posted on by
The north tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Cen...

Image via Wikipedia

As we approach the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, Americans will be bombarded with images, articles, television specials, etc. We need to remember that day and remember the lives that were so tragically cut short that day. There is a website that has collected the television reports from around the world of the events on that day as they unfolded. The website is called “Understanding 9/11: A Television News Archive.” The website is very easy to navigate and very well done. It is sobering to watch the news videos from that day.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Ignoring The Facts When Publishing A Newspaper

Posted on by
Young Saudi Arabian woman wearing Islamic clot...

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday the New York Times posted an op-ed piece entitled, “Don’t Fear Islamic Law in America.” I would like to disagree. I am not planning to bore you with the details of Islamic Law–I have written about many of its tenets before. Instead, I would just like to cite a few examples of life in countries where there is Islamic (Sharia) Law. But, as an aside, I suspect that the reason the New York Times is calling it Islamic Law rather than Sharia Law (which it is) is that many people might not realize that they are the same thing.

Yahoo News reported on August 12 of this year:

In its 2010 report, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says almost 800 women were victims of “honor killings” — murders aimed at preserving the honor of male relatives — and 2,900 women reported raped — almost eight a day.

The bulk, or almost 2,600, were raped in Punjab alone, Pakistan’s most populous province.

And the numbers are rising: media reports say crimes against women have risen 18 percent in the year to May and the human rights commission believes its figures represent only a fraction of the attacks which take place across the country.

Pakistan is a country under Islamic Law.

On November 17, 2010, AOL News reported:

Saudi Arabia has no religious freedom in theory or practice, according to a report released today by the U.S. State Department. The report also slammed other countries, including Iran and China, for their lack of tolerance of diverse faiths.

“The public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited” and Saudi government officials “continued to raid private non-Muslim religious gatherings,” the report said.

Saudi Arabia is under Sharia Law. Religious freedom is not part of Sharia Law. It is a very necessary part of our democracy.

Iran is also a country ruled by Islamic Law. Breitbart posted a story about the fashion police in Iran a few years ago:

Tehran’s police have said they are operating a three stage process in implementing the new wave of a crackdown on dress deemed to be unIslamic, which started with some intensity on Monday afternoon.

First, women are given a verbal warning on the street. If the problem is not resolved there, they are taken to the police station for “guidance” and to sign a vow not to repeat the offence. Should this be unsuccessful, their case is handed to the judiciary.

“Sure my manto is short, but there are many others whose clothes are more seductive than mine and they walking by without any punishment,” one of the arrested girls in the minibus complained bitterly.

The arrested women will now go to a “centre for combating vice”.

Their parents will be phoned and they will bring a longer coat and fuller headscarf for their daughters. If the young women sign the pledge they will then be released. 

As someone who raised three daughters, all of whom were teenagers at one time, I would have loved to have the fashion police in my house. However, the idea of fashion police is not compatible with democracy.

If we allow Sharia (Islamic) Law into our courts, we will undermine our democracy. Those who support Sharia Law do not support individual freedom.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Weekend In Chutzpah

Posted on by

CNS News posted an Associated Press story on a Labor Day Rally held in Detroit yesterday.

The article reports on the President’s statements:

I’m going to propose ways to put America back to work that both parties can agree to, because I still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems,” Obama said at an annual Labor Day rally sponsored by the Detroit-area AFL-CIO. “Given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship that many people are facing, folks have got to get together. But we’re not going to wait for them.”

“We’re going to see if we’ve got some straight shooters in Congress. We’re going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party,” he said.

My first thought upon reading that quote is “How come only the Republicans have to put country before party?” Up until January of this year, the President held majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is rather disingenuous on the part of the President to accuse the Republicans of obstructing his programs. For the first two years of his administration, they couldn’t have blocked anything if they had wanted to. Also, during the time, Congress never even bothered to pass a budget.

The rhetoric at the rally did not lend itself to cooperation between the political parties. This is a quote from Teamsters President Jim Hoffa who spoke at the rally:

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of b*****s out and give America back to an America where we belong.”

Tacky, over the top, but not really all that unusual. However, if the President truly wants bipartisanship, he does need to tone down his own rhetoric. Everything that has ever gone wrong in Washington is not the Republicans’ fault, and negotiations cannot be successful if the President begins with that premise.


Enhanced by Zemanta

The Government Is Suing The Wrong People

Posted on by

On Friday, Market Watch reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is ready to sue a dozen major banks, claiming they misrepresented mortgage securities they bundled together and sold during the run-up to the burst of the housing bubble. Bloomberg.com ran a similar story on Saturday reporting:

Edward J. DeMarco, head of the U.S. watchdog overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says his job is protecting taxpayers. His critics think he’s undermining the government’s efforts to shore up the economy. 

I firmly believe that the government is suing the wrong people. There is a video at YouTube I have linked to in the past called Burning Down The House which does a very good job of detailing the history of the housing bubble. It shows Congressional testimony relating to decisions that caused the bubble. It is well worth watching.

In 2010 Republicans on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee issued a report entitled, Follow the Money: ACORN, SEIU and their Political Allies.” The executive summary of the report states:

“ACORN drafted language to loosen underwriting standards and decrease down payments in the housing industry, paving the way for the high rate of subprime loans millions of Americans eventually defaulted on.

“ACORN used provisions in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that allowed community groups to challenge bank mergers and acquisitions if a bank did not adequately invest in its own community. These challenges, which featured ACORN’s standard intimidation tactics, successfully forced banks to make lending agreements with ACORN Housing. If banks refused ACORN’s demands, they jeopardized approval of mergers in a timely manner. ACORN Housing moved to become a conventional service provider for the loans. ACORN reaped profits from over a billion dollars in loans to low-income neighborhoods. Because of the policies and financial instruments developed, in part through ACORN’s lobbying activities, borrowers eventually defaulted on the loans. The end result was the bursting of the housing bubble.

“ACORN Housing received a total of $39,925,620.13 from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co., CitiBank, HSBC, CapitalOne, and SunTrust. These lenders and banks also provided ACORN with grants, address and bank account information of at-risk homeowners so ACORN could provide free counseling services. Instead, ACORN used the address and bank account information to target struggling Americans who would be signed up as dues-paying members of ACORN. ACORN’s membership recruiting brought in $48 million a year for ACORN — a boon for their Muscle for Money program.”

The banks were not totally innocent in the financial collapse of the housing market, but they were not entirely guilty either. When the government and ACORN required the banks to make risky loans, the banks dealt with the situation by bundling sub-prime loans with good loans and selling them as a package–thus selling off any mortgages that might not be repaid. That was an understandable business decision. What we need is a local banker who knows his customers and can make decisions regarding mortgages based on that knowledge. Unfortunately, when ACORN began protesting banks that were not making enough risky loans, the game changed. It’s time to let banks be banks and the government be the government. There is some need for regulation, but the overregulation and rules of the 1990’s helped cause the problems. The government is suing the wrong people–but I don’t think they can sue themselves.


Anti-Semitism In England

Posted on by

Yesterday Scott Johnson at Power Line posted a story about protests that took place in London last Thursday when the Israeli Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta, participated in the annual eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts known as the Proms. The concert by the Israeli Philharmonic was disrupted to the point that the BBC cut off its live broadcast.

The New York Times reported:

…the repeated disruption of its (the Israeli Philharmonic) concert at Royal Albert Hall in London on Thursday night by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, to the point that the BBC cut off its live broadcast and played recordings of the evening’s program instead. 

Stephen Pollard in the UK Telegraph had a slightly different take:

But Thursday night’s events can only be understood in the context of anti-Semitism. When have there been similar protests against “violations of international law and human rights”, as was chanted on Thursday, by any other country? And this in the middle of the Arab Spring, when genuine protesters for human rights are daily risking their lives in Syria against a murderous dictatorship.

If, indeed, this was a protest against the actions of the Israeli government, rather than against Jews, where have been the similar disruptions of performances by Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Iranian or any number of other nations’ musicians? What about disruptions of British national companies, in protest at British human rights abuses? To pose the question is to answer it. There’s little doubt in my mind that this was an action motivated specifically by the fact that the performers were playing in the national orchestra of the Jewish state. 

If the Jews are the canary in the coal mine, we need to pay attention–the gas is rising. As the day nears when Palestine will unilaterally declare itself a state–regardless of the fact that it has never adhered to the Oslo Accords, we can expect to see more accusations against Israel and more anti-Semitism under the guise of supporting human rights. This is the same kind of upside down logic that has been used in the past to persecute Jews. We need to our own research on what is happening rather than believing everything we see in the news.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Fact Checking The Associated Press

Posted on by
"The Honorable Rick Perry (front right), ...

Image via Wikipedia

Rick Perry was in New Hampshire on Saturday. He spoke at an event at the home of Chuck Stephen co-hosted by John Stephen, the former Republican gubernatorial nominee. Human Events reported on Sunday that the coverage of the event by the Associated Press left out some significant information.

This is an excerpt from the Associated Press article:

Speaking to hundreds of Granite State voters at a private reception, the Texas governor was asked whether he supported a fence along the Mexican border. “No, I don’t support a fence on the border,” he said.

“The fact is, it’s 1,200 miles from Brownsville to El Paso. Two things: How long you think it would take to build that? And then if you build a 30-foot wall from El Paso to Brownsville, the 35-foot ladder business gets real good.”

The answer produced an angry shout from at least one audience member.

Channel 7 (WHIOTV) in Ohio did a slightly better job of reporting the speech:

“No, I don’t support a fence on the border,” he said, while referring to the long border in Texas alone. “The fact is, it’s 1,200 miles from Brownsville to El Paso. Two things: How long you think it would take to build that? And then if you build a 30-foot wall from El Paso to Brownsville, the 35-foot ladder business gets real good.”

Instead, Perry said he supported “strategic fencing” and National Guard troops to prevent illegal immigration and violence from Mexican drug cartels.

The answer produced an angry shout from at least one audience member. And it exposed an ongoing rift with some conservative voters over Perry’s immigration record.

That’s a little better. However, a website called Instapundit posted a first-hand account:

A BLOG REPORT FROM RICK PERRY’S SPEECH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: “I attended that event, stood about 15 feet from where he delivered those remarks and never heard an ‘angry shout’. Either the AP is making it up or it wasn’t much of a shout. Perhaps they can supply the audio.”

Maybe it was a reporter in the back who was doing the shouting. But after the 2004 bogus-boos incident, I encourage bloggers and others attending these events to record audio and video. You never know what’ll happen — or what people will report happened, even if it didn’t.

This election season every voter will need to be careful when gathering news and deciding on candidates. Unfortunately much of the major media is no longer objective and is reporting things that didn’t happen or not reporting important facts. There are many places on the internet (hopefully this is one of them) where a voter can go to fact check and get the whole story. Be careful what you read, and stay informed. That is the only way to preserve our freedom.



Enhanced by Zemanta

An Early Entry In The Silly Season

Posted on by

The silly season is that period of time when everything Congress, the President, or the media do is related to an upcoming election. It usually starts about seven or eight months before the election–in the 2012 election cycle it has already begun.

Newsbusters posted an article on Friday about an article posted in the Daily Kos by Ray Pensador. In his article, Mr. Pensador states:

There is a strong legacy of puritanism in the American culture.  There is a strong legacy of atrocities, of the enslavement and extermination of millions of people, of the appropriation of other people’s land and property, of cruelty, of unimaginable greed.

Yes, this could be said about many other countries, and it takes generations for a country to cleanse itself from those abominations, but again, as a country we are very young, and many of those atrocities happened only a few decades ago.

And therefore that cultural legacy has not gone away completely.

Today, in 2011, there are millions and millions of people in the United States that harbor a deep-seeded hate for what they consider to be minorities, immigrants, and for people who advocate for concepts of social justice and equality for all.

These people hold a twisted sense of piety that revolves around the concept that God will bless His followers with richness and good fortune, and will punish the sinner with poverty, disease, and despair.

They see the concept of equality and justice, and compassion, as advocated by Liberals and Progressives, as interference with God’s will.

In that sense, there is a certain proclivity towards sadism.  There is a certain satisfaction is seeing the suffering of those who they consider unworthy, lazy, sinful.  In their eyes, and again, richness and prosperity are the results of piety, and poverty and suffering, the result of debauchery.

What planet is this man living on? I am not a theologian, but I am not an idiot either. The Puritans were not perfect, but they believed in a work ethic, the family, morality, faith, and following God to the best of their ability. They made mistakes along the way, but generally speaking, I would say that their society was much healthier than our current society. Christianity supports equality of opportunity and equal application of justice–it does not support equal outcome. Christianity sees hard work as a virtue, and encourages charity.

Trashing Christianity is not attractive. Trashing a candidate because of his Christianity is even less attractive. Our country’s laws are based on a Judeo-Christian ethic–to attempt to undermine that ethic is to attempt to undermine the foundations of our government.

 

How To Use Washington Politics To Discourage Economic Growth

Posted on by
Wind turbines at Altamont Pass near Livermore,...

Image via Wikipedia

According the the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in July 2011 the unemployment rate in North Dakota was 3.3 percent. Why does North Dakota have such a low unemployment level?Oil production. However, Washington has just attempted to slow that industry down in the state.

Yahoo News reported on Friday that seven oil companies have been charged in federal court with killing migratory birds that died after allegedly landing in oil waste pits in western North Dakota. Between May 6 and June 20, 28 birds were discovered in oil waste pits.

The article reports:

The so-called reserve pits are used during oil and gas drilling operations. Once a well is completed, companies are required to clean up the pit, and it must be covered with netting if it’s open for more than 90 days. None of the pits referenced in the charges were netted, but it’s unclear how many of them were open beyond three months, documents show.

The increasing number of dead birds has state officials debating whether to ban waste oil pits and require companies to recycle liquid drilling waste.

Authorities say a dozen dead birds were found in Slawson pits, including three mallards, two gadwalls, two blue-winged teal, one redhead, one common golden eye, one northern pintail and two birds of indeterminate species.

The death of the birds is unfortunate, but it pales in comparison to the number of birds killed by windmills on a regular basis. In September of 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported:

A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont. 

Windmills are being encouraged by the Obama Administration. Many of the President’s biggest campaign donors are involved with ‘green energy’ and any ‘green energy’ production is being encouraged and its negatives overlooked.

Right now the oil production in North Dakota is helping that state’s economy, as well as providing a domestic source of energy. The Obama Administration might do well to keep its hands off success and go find someone else to harass.

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Politics Of Scheduling

Posted on by
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Image via Wikipedia

I haven’t mentioned the dust-up about the scheduling of the President’s speech on the economy because I really wasn’t too impressed by all the ruckus. Frankly I thought the whole discussion was dumb. However, Michael Barone, who is considerably smarter than I am, posted a very interesting article about the kerfuffle at the Washington Examiner website tonight.

It is naive (at best) to believe that President Obama was unaware that the Republican presidential candidates were having a debate on the night that he first suggested making a speech about the economy to a joint session of Congress. I think it is also a safe guess that he knew this would be Rick Perry’s first appearance as a candidate and that Rick Perry is a definite threat to President Obama’s desire to serve two terms. I also expect that President Obama also assumed that someone would actually watch his speech (or the Republican debate).

Michael Barone points out that the request to give a speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday showed a lack of respect for the Constitution. Congress is a separate branch of government and is not subject to Presidential dictates. Mr. Barone points out that in the past when a joint session of Congress was requested by the President, the arrangements were made privately, then announced.

The original plan of a Wednesday night debate also showed a contempt for public opinion.

The article reports:

White House press secretary Jay Carney said it was just “coincidental” that the president wanted to speak at the same time as the Reagan Library debate. It was just “one debate that’s one of many on one channel.”

Wow. The article points out that in the past President Obama has tried to upstage opposition with scheduling.

The article lists some other weaknesses of the Obama Presidency that are becoming very apparent. I strongly suggest that you follow the link above and read the entire article. This is a difficult time for the President–the economy is not doing well and his poll numbers are falling–I expect we will see him play some serious hardball in the coming months.

Enhanced by Zemanta

One More Reason To Make Sure Our Borders Are Secure

Posted on by

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera is reporting that Hezbollah has opened a center of operations in Cuba. This was reported on Thursday by YNET News. The article states that a Cuban operations base is being set up in order to expand terrorist activity in South America and to facilitate an attack on an Israeli target in South America.

According to the article at YNET News:

The operation, titled “The Caribbean Case,” was reportedly allocated a budget of $1.5 million. The Cuba base is to be initially used for logistics purposes, including intelligence collection, networking and document forgery.

The attack being planned on an Israeli target is said to be in retaliation for the death of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, which Hezbollah claims Israel is responsible for.

The article in the Italian newspapers reports that Hezbollah has been active in South America for some time, mainly in Paraguay, Brazil and Venezuela.

We need to remember that right now there is a large part of the world that is simply not friendly to the idea of democracy or freedom. There are leaders in foreign countries that would like to take away the freedom of Americans rather than granting freedom to their own citizens.

The problem with a Hezbollah base in Cuba is the ease of crossing America’s southern border. This is a link to a response to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request showing the native countries of people arrested for trying to enter America illegally. We need to keep track of who is entering our country.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Government Regulation And Jobs

Posted on by
John Boehner

Image via Wikipedia

On Tuesday, Fox News posted an article detailing some of the current discussions on government regulations and their impact on jobs.

Representative John Boehner has asked the Obama Administration for a list of all pending and planned regulations with a projected impact on our economy in excess of $1 billion. This request comes at the same time President Obama is claiming that he is planning to save the government money by cutting regulations.

The article reports:

President Obama replied Tuesday with a list of seven proposed rules with an estimated economic impact of over $1 billion. The various proposed regulations apply to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, ranging in rough costs from $1 billion for DOT hours of service regulations, to as much as $90 billion for ozone air standards.

Boehner’s office answered Obama’s letter with a statement Tuesday afternoon bashing the seven regulations.

“The combined cost of these seven new regulatory actions alone could be more than $100 billion,” the statement read. “These costs will be felt by the American people in the form of fewer jobs and slower economic growth.”

The amount of savings President Obama has called for in the reduction of federal regulations is $10 billion over 5 years. Seems a little unbalanced to me.

When the House of Representatives reconvenes this month, it is expected to examine the impact of regulations on employment and propose legislation to free small businesses from excessive regulation, allowing the businesses to grow and to hire new employees.

Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/08/30/obama-and-boehner-square-government-regulation#ixzz1Wonnmfm0

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Government Does Not Create Jobs

Posted on by
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States Hou...

Image via Wikipedia

The government does not create jobs. If the government is working well, it creates an environment where the private sector can create jobs.

However, some of the rhetoric coming out of Congress right now is amazing. Howie Carr at the Boston Herald posted an article today on some recent statements by Representative Nancy Pelosi on the economy. The article reports some of her statements:

Late last month, at a fund-raiser in her hometown of San Francisco, she discussed those wonderful days of 2007, when the Democrats retook control of the House and raised the minimum wage. It hadn’t been increased for a decade.

“It was kept down for the purpose that people would not be able to live on that. They’d have to borrow against home-equity loans, against their mortgages.”

“They’d have to live on credit cards, and what are they doing when they’re doing that? They’re paying fees to the banks.”

“You wonder, do their children breathe? Do they drink water? Why do they not care? But they don’t. But they don’t.”

“Imagine that they are protecting the tax cuts for top 2 percent, it’s really more higher than that, lower than that, I mean a higher number — percentage of people excluded for who they’re looking out for.”

“And it’s a stunning thing because it’s a few people amassing money that doesn’t really make a difference in their quality of life.”

“What more do they want? They have enough homes, the yacht, ya-da-da-da, the tall masts, the whole thing, they have museum-quality art.”

“They want immortality. They want so much money . . . for prestige they could never get any other way.”

Ms. Pelosi made additional comments today on why the unemployment numbers are low. The Hill reports:

“We cannot afford another 241 days of Republican refusal to pass jobs legislation,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The only plans offered by Republicans have not only failed to create jobs — they actually have destroyed them.” 

I don’t like to confuse things with facts, but the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate up until January of this year. The Democrats still control the Senate and the Republicans do not have the numbers to block any legislation. The Republicans in the House have passed budget and plans for the deficit. The only budget suggested by the Democrats was suggested by the President an voted down unanimously.


 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Government Thuggery At Gibson Guitar

Posted on by
guitar Gibson Les Paul Classic

Image via Wikipedia

On August 26, I reported on the Wall Street Journal report on the federal raid on the Gibson Guitar factory (rightwinggranny.com). Yesterday the Wall Street Journal updated the story.

The article reports:

Federal agents first raided Gibson factories in November 2009 and were back again Aug. 24, seizing guitars, wood and electronic records. Gene Nix, a wood product engineer at Gibson, was questioned by agents after the first raid and told he could face five years in jail.

“Can you imagine a federal agent saying, ‘You’re going to jail for five years’ and what you do is sort wood in the factory?” said Mr. Juszkiewicz, (Henry Juszkiewicz, chief executive officer of Gibson Guitars) recounting the incident. “I think that’s way over the top.” Gibson employees, he said, are being “treated like drug criminals.”

Michelle Malkin added a few new facts to this story yesterday on her blog. She points out two very interesting aspects of the story:

1)Andrew Lawton and Landmark Report note that Juszkiewicz has donated to GOP candidates, while one of his leading competitors “is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles.”

2) Stacy McCain has the transcript and Ben Howe at RedState also spotlights Juszkiewicz’s recent KMJ interview in which the CEO revealed that the feds asserted in a court pleading that Gibson would be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas to Madagascar… 

Aside from the thuggery, what impact does this kind of behavior on the part of the government have on unemployment in this country?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Something To Keep In Mind As We Discuss The Deficit

Posted on by

One of the problems with our deficit is that the government does not always spend money wisely. Occasionally they do, but as with any large organization, mistakes are made. We could cut some of our deficit simply by being more efficient and avoiding stupid mistakes. Speaking of stupid mistakes…

Hot Air is reporting today that illegal aliens not authorized to work in the United States collected $4.2 billion in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. This number is the result of an audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The article reports:

Many individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States, and thus not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN) for employment, earn income in the United States.  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides such individuals with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to facilitate their filing of tax returns.  Although the law prohibits aliens residing without authorization in the United States from receiving most Federal public benefits, an increasing number of these individuals are filing tax returns claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), a refundable tax credit intended for working families.  The payment of Federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside, and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts Federal law and policy to remove such incentives.

The article goes on to explain that the IRS says it does not have the authority to deny the claims. I don’t mean to be difficult here, but shouldn’t Congress (or even President Obama) be doing something about this? Isn’t that their job?

Enhanced by Zemanta