"Chuckie D" speaks

The Gospel of Tim

2012-01-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

From the Gospel of Timothy 1:14:12

The Lord is my sheperd; I shall not want.

He maketh me play football in green pastures;
he leadeth me to the end zone when the game is on the line.

He restoreth my soul;
he leadeth me in the path of my offensive blockers.

Yea, though I walk through the depths of Gillete Stadium,
I will fear no Patriots;
for thou and my teammates are with me;
my coach and his staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest an upset before me in the presence of mine enemies;
thou "anointest" my head with trick plays;
and my adrenalin runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me each minute of this game;
and after winning I will dwell in the house of the Broncos forever.

"Praise the Lord and pass me the football"

Give em hell Saturday night Tebow!

"The Bain Train"

2012-01-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

As the rough and tumble primary moves on to South Carolina, Romney is being attacked from the left over his so-called "vulture capitalism" while being CEO of Bain Capital. Sadly this "left" attack, I call it the "Bain Train", comes from Obama, Gingrich, Perry, and to some extent Santorum. What the hell are these so-called Conservatives doing joining the Democrats in their battle on capitalism?

First of all I am not a Romney fan. But I am a 'venture capitalist" fan. There is no question that if Romney wins the nomination that the Obama machine will portray him as the "Gordon Gecko" of Wall Street. But I can't believe our side is throwing gas into those flames. I have some experience with venture capital companies and like everything else there are a few bad apples, but without those companies many of the corporations we are all familiar with today (that employ millions of people) would not exist. I have no idea if Bain did any "dishonest" deals, but I did some research today. When Romney started the company they had assets of $37 million to invest, today Bain and it's affiliates are "managing" $66 billion in assets.

I put quotes around "managing" because that's what venture capitalist's do. They take investor's money (if they want to invest it) and risk it on companies that have a potential to make profits, offering them a higher return than they could get elsewhere - IF they are willing to take the risk. The key word is "risk". When I started my high tech company in the late 70's, the failure rate of high tech companies was two failures for every success. Would you take those odds? Remember the .com "bubble" in the 90's - some like Microsoft, Dell, and Oracle were successful, but many more went "bust".

I don't know anything about Bain's performance, but the fact that they have grown so much over the years certainly indicates that they have done a good job for their investors. When venture capitalists take over companies that are in trouble or struggling, they restructure and bring in new management and hopefully turn them around; and in some cases the company is too far gone and they have to put them through bankruptcy. Do people lose their jobs, of course? But if Bain went from $37 million to $66 billion in assets managed, a lot of jobs must have been created along the way by those successes.

Investing in high risk companies is like gambling, and gamblers only tell you about the times they won. The dialog about Bain Capital should be open and then voters can decide whether they did a good job for their investors (and the country) or not. But that will probably not happen - if Romney is the nominee the Obama machine will only tell you about those Bain Capital "gambling losses" and all the people that lost their jobs along the way. We don't need people on our side to help them with that false message.

"The Paul Paradox"

2012-01-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

As the Republican primary season moves forward at high speed, many still wonder why Ron Paul is even in the race. He has little charisma and comes across as an "old man" in the debates. Now I am also an "old man", so that is not a pejorative statement. But contrary to his image, he continues to get strong support in these early races and ironically much of this "old man's" support comes from young people.

In my last Blog I referred to Congressman Paul as "the crazy uncle", that was probably unfair, especially since I agree with many of his policies. His support comes primarily from his stance on reigning in the federal budget and getting this country on a solid financial basis, a position he has consistently preached for 20 years. No one really paid attention to him in the past but now his prophecy of a "financial disaster" due to uncontrolled government spending has people taking a second look at his long-held warnings.

I agree with many of Paul's policies - audit the Fed; cut the government budget $1 trillion next year no matter how painful it may be, even it means cutting out complete government agencies; quit giving foreign aid to people that don't like us; quit spending money protecting countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea, and dozens of others that can afford to do it on their own. But his so-called "appeasement" foreign policy has been his Achilles heel, resulting in attacks from the main stream media with voters following suit.

This evening I watched a "focus group" of about 30-40 sample voters who were Libertarians, Conservatives, and Republicans giving their opinions on various candidates. In some cases the candidates themselves answered questions and in some cases their representatives answered questions. During the Ron Paul "focus session" his son Rand Paul represented him. The focus group had an interesting response to Ron Paul's policies. On domestic policies (mentioned above) he received almost unanimous support of the group. On his foreign policy only two people raised their hand.

His son Rand is a very impressive young Senator and made some interesting points: The domestic situation is a disaster and financially the country is close to falling off a cliff...and the group agreed. He also pointed out that even though he may not agree with all of his fathers foreign policies with regard to going to going to war, the President cannot make those decisions anyway since it takes Congress to declare war, set defense spending levels, etc. His father is a strict constitutionalist - go to war to protect the USA, but do not to get involved in other country's affairs. It is ironic that more Ron Paul contributions come from the US military than all the other candidates combined.

So the debate goes on, and I don't think Ron Paul has a chance to be elected president. But he is making quite an impact on this primary, if for no other reason the dialog about the financial disaster this country is facing is now front and center. Paul is also single-handedly making many of us think about what the Constitution really means because of his ability to explain it in simple and concise terms. Sadly, Ron Paul's honesty may be the biggest obstacle to him ever winning this primary.

Do I support many of his policies - yes. Will I vote for him - no. Because I still believe the primary mission in 2012 is to get rid of Obama and his clueless Harvard trained administration that has no idea how a capitalistic system works, and what made this country exceptional. Even though an "establishment" candidate might not be our first choice, we cannot afford to lose this election. At least with an establishment Republican administration we can start moving in the right direction. Another four years of Obama could be the death knell of this country as we know it.

Don't forget the "End Game"

2011-12-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

Since this is my last Blog of 2011 - "Happy New Year" everyone.

Next week will start the Republican primary season and the gloves are already off with the candidates taking shots at each other. I guess this is expected, but as they attack each other I hope none of them will forget the "end game" - defeat Barack Obama.

The beauty of "Blogging" is you can give your opinion, whether anyone agrees with it or not. Like many of my generation we have been waiting for another Ronald Reagan to come along, but sadly that will not happen in this election cycle. So here are my thoughts about this field of Republican candidates in order of their recent polling:

Mitt Romney ("the Suit") - Romney at this point looks like the front runner. He has impressive business experience; I do remember when he turned around the Utah Olympics; he has the executive experience of being a Governor; and he seems "Presidential". But Mitt, show us some "fire in the belly"! And what about your "Obama-Lite" insurance program in Massachusetts? He seems to be a competent manager, but I hate the term "moderate", and will someone mess up this guy's hair just once!

Ron Paul ("the crazy uncle") - OK I'm going to catch hell from my youngest son for this comment. But does anyone believe Ron Paul could win this primary, and if he did, beat the Obama machine?
I agree with many of Paul's policies - audit the fed, cut the budget $1 trillion next year no matter how painful it may be, quit giving foreign aid to people that don't like us, quit spending money protecting countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea, and dozens of others that can afford to do it on their own. But his comments about leaving Israel to fend for themselves; or let Iran develop a nuclear bomb; or 911 could have been an "inside job" by the Israeli Mossad makes me wonder if this guy has thought out his foreign policy issues. Here's my suggestion: Keep Ron Paul on the back burner until after the election and then if the Republicans win, make him Secretary of the Treasury and let him do his thing to get our finances back from the edge of the cliff.

Newt Gingrich ("the bomb thrower") - I'm not sure about Newt. I do remember when he pulled off one of the great feats in political history leading the takeover of the House in the mid 90's after 40+ years of Democratic rule. But then the power went to his head. He was thrown out due to ethics violations and alienated many of his fellow Representatives along the way. His personal life has been a bit of a train wreck but he now claims to be "older and wiser", so I guess he deserves the benefit of the doubt. But on this subject I have one nagging question: Cheating on one wife; OK everyone deserves to be forgiven for one serious indiscretion, but twice?
Newt is attractive because he is a "fighter" and would not take it from the liberal press, and could destroy Obama in debates, especially when Obama doesn't have a teleprompter to tell him what to say. But the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac $1.6 million consulting fees, his flip flops on Global Warming, mandated health insurance, and the fact that he is just such a "slick" life-long politician makes me nervous.

Rick Santorum ("the Evangelist") - Don't get me wrong, I am a Christian myself, and I like former Senator Santorum. I agree with him that "restoring the family" in this country is paramount to getting our social climate back on the right track. A classic example is the black community with 70% of children being born out of wedlock (and in many cases without a father in the household). Without some basic cultural changes, they haven't got a chance to improve their situation in our society.
Santorum is a solid "pro life/pro family" candidate and should have much of the evangelical constituency locked up. But this is not an election about social policies. This country is in such serious financial and economic trouble that social principals just can't be a determining factor.

Rick Perry ("the Texan") - I was a Rick Perry fan at the beginning, but he blew it in many of the debates. Not because he wasn't a good debater, he just doesn't seem to be ready to run this country and whether anyone agrees with me or not - giving "illegal" immigrants preferential treatment over out-of-state US citizens for college tuition is something I can never agree with. Governor Perry comes across as a likable politician but just doesn't make it to my short list.

Michelle Bachman ("Sarah wannabe?") - OK that's not fair. She is a bright, impressive woman and will be a future star in the Republican Party, she is just not there yet. She is a former attorney and strict constitutionalist - how about Attorney General in the next Republican administration?

John Huntsman ( "Slick") - He claims to be holding back for the New Hampshire primary and recently said: " Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks Presidents"...we'll see John.

Gary Johnson (the "Libertarian") - Former Governor of New Mexico who has just announced that he will run as a Libertarian candidate. If you listen to this guy he makes a lot of sense and it has been surprising that he never rose above being an "obscure Republican", even to the point of not participating (or being invited) to the debates. But if you are a "Libertarian" (and I have those leanings) this guy is rock solid, even more so than Ron Paul in my opinion. Hopefully the Libertarian candidate will not draw enough Republican votes to give Obama a victory.

So there it is; I am as undecided as anyone at this point, but whoever becomes the Republican candidate we all need to remember the "end game" - we cannot endure four more years of Barack Obama, or this country will never be the same. If something is not done about our massive debt and ridiculous social entitlement policies, the USA as we know it may reach the "point of no return".

"So long Barney"

2011-11-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

If there is a poster boy for what is wrong with American politics, this is the man. After 30 years in politics, Barney Frank announced this week that he will not run for reelection.

He is not "retiring" because he is in his early 70's, he is retiring because due to redistricting he actually has to "run for reelection" with a new group of voters and he knew he would lose.

His problems with new constituents has nothing to do with being gay, or the fact that years ago a male prostitution ring was run out of his DC condo; his personal and political record simply reeks of all the things that are wrong with Washington. He was a major sponsor of the legislation which enacted the Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac loan programs that resulted in creating the sub-prime housing bubble that led to this deep recession; and maybe was even the cause of it. He denies it, but that program put millions of low income people into homes that they simply could not afford; homes that were destined to go into foreclosure.

One of his reasons for leaving congress: "I don't like being in the minority". Like many of our politicians power was all that mattered to Congressman Frank. The fact that this arrogant, corrupt, career politician will be gone is a small step in the right direction.

He may not be purple, but this "Barney" certainly is a dinosaur.

"Super Failure"

2011-11-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

Deep down we knew the so-called "Super Committee" would fail. And think about it, what was so "super" about this committee of ideologues who were just shills for their leadership, and for the President. Congress continues to display their complete incompetence and Obama continues to display his complete inability to lead.

So here we are back at the starting line. The failure of this super committee means that by law the $1.2 trillion in cuts will be automatically split between the Defense Department and spread among other governmental agencies except social security, Medicare, veterans programs, and programs for the poor. But these automatic cuts will not start until 2013...isn't that interesting, after the next election. And they will probably never happen.

The super committee was a sham from day one . The Constitution states, among other things, that the Congress shall have the responsibility to lay and collect taxes, spend money, borrow money, and pay debts. It says nothing about a "super committee" and the fact that Congress took this cowardice method to try and work on the debt problem illustrates one thing - a majority of Congressional members did not want to go on record voting for any spending cuts or tax increases before an election year. What a shame that the self-interest of our politicians overrides what is good for the country. I believe this "super committee" was designed from the beginning to fail, since Obama was giving a press conference within hours after their announcement, blaming the failure on the Republicans. And that will be his campaigns mantra: "I could not perform my job because of an ineffective Congress". He sure as hell cannot run for reelection on his record.

Those that read this blog know I am a partisan, but whether you are Republican, Democrat, or Independent you must feel like I do; this is the most ineffective, incompetent Congress and President in our lifetime. We need to replace the whole lot.

"Obama is a Godsend"

2011-11-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard the interview of the Russian man with one of the Wall Street protesters last week. He had lived under communism/socialism for more than 20 years and is now a US citizen. He decided to go down to the protest and talk to some of the protesters.

He was very polite and asked this young girl what they were protesting against. She said: "Capitalism!" Trying to keep things simple he asked if she would rather live in North Korea (communism/socialism) or South Korea (capitalism). Amazingly she said: "North Korea, socialism rocks". Now obviously this young lady was either "high" or she simply is so uneducated that you could not say she is representative of her other protest compatriots.

Today Laura Ingraham interviewed this Russian guy and he had a chance to further discuss this experience at the Wall Street protest. He said that his first comparison to this young lady could have been East and West Berlin during the cold war. But since the fall of the Berlin wall those people in East Berlin are now starting to see the benefits of, (bad word) "Capitalism", and East Berliners are living prosperous like the rest of Germany. So he used North/South Korea as his example to her. And in the Ingraham interview he made a simple point - North Korea and South Korea are the same country, the same people, and the same resources. The difference is the SYSTEM.

Now here is a guy that has seen both sides and loves America. Laura Ingraham ended the interview by asking how he felt about this country now, with all our economic problems, protests, and in many people's opinion: "America is in decline". His response: "I am very positive about America, recent studies show that 40% of Americans call themselves 'Conservative', and their numbers are increasing, 20% of Americans call themselves 'Liberals' and their numbers are decreasing. For that I thank Obama, he is a godsend".

Editor's note: In 1967 I had the opportunity to visit East Berlin during the cold war. My brother was imprisoned there for; "Aiding in the escape of an East German citizen to the West", a crime he did not commit. It was an experience I will never forget and I wish these protesters could just experience 10 minutes of what I saw traveling from West to East Berlin during that time.

Teleprompter terror

2011-10-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Terror struck the Obama road tour today when a truck that contained his teleprompter was stolen. With the President unable to speak, in a panic the Secret Service put Vice President Biden on alert. At first the SS tried to activate Biden's teleprompter as a substitute, but were unable to debug the "gaffs" in time.

Luckily the stolen truck was recovered with Obama's teleprompter in tact and the President was able to function again. I trust that the Secret Service checked the software in the recovered teleprompter because he will say whatever is posted on the screen. Let's wait until the President's next speech - if he proposes tax cuts, reducing the size of government, reducing food stamp and welfare budgets, and deregulation of the American business community, it was obviously a Tea Party conspiracy.

"Occupy this"

2011-10-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Drugs, sex in the streets, disorganized people that can't come up with a coherent message, and unsanitary conditions, Occupy Wall Street has aptly been called the "Flea Party". But thanks to George Soros and his money, trade unions, complicit media, and even encouragement from President Obama and many Democrats, this movement has had more coverage in a month than the Tea Party has had since they became a force in American politics.

This is a classic example of the uphill battle anyone but a liberal movement has in getting their message out. All we read about is the "Occupy" protests, not just here but around the world this weekend. But what are they protesting? I have watched interviews of various protesters without seeing any focused thought.

But one "focused" thought has come from Herman Cain; "This movement is designed to take attention away from the failed policies of the Obama administration". And he is exactly right. When you cannot run on your record, and all your excuses have failed, create an enemy to attack, and hope people will buy it. The enemy - rich people, Wall Street, George Bush, and as one black lady in the 'LA Occupy' protest proudly stated on television today; "We need to collect the rich Jews that control everything and send them out of the country". I wonder how Steven Spielberg and all his Jewish friends in Hollywood feel about that liberal protester's statement?

It is amazing that all this vicious energy is directed against corporate millionaires but not the Hollywood millionaires. Sean Penn recently stated that the Tea Party wants to 'lynch' Obama and Morgan Freeman said "The Tea Party is a racist thing". Yet not one in the main stream media has reported the anti-Semitic, lynch Bush, arrest rich people comments of these so-called protesters.

This strategy by the Democrats is going to fail, Americans are not that stupid. We don't need income redistribution, we need jobs. Most Americans don't want a handout, they want the satisfaction of working with the opportunity to make something of themselves; they do not want a "Cuban" or "Venezuelan" society.

Obama and his handlers are making a huge mistake in trying to divide this country and create a class war. Even with the main stream media on his side his effort to divert attention from the miserable economy will not work. The "pay your fair share" argument won't fly when almost 50% of wage earners pay NO income tax. Even if the taxes on all so-called rich people were doubled it would not make a dent in the deficit.

Ironically, in the last election Obama received more contributions from Wall Street than any President in history. That will not happen this time around. But he had to create a villain and they are it. He is not stupid, he knows exactly what he is doing, but I believe in Americans and his "class strategy" is not going to work.

The Antisocial Network

2011-09-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Antisocial behavior is defined as: "Deviating sharply from the social norm".

I have always thought of myself as a social person but am beginning to think I belong to the "antisocial network". Oh, I am somewhat shy but not really antisocial. I do feel most comfortable with close friends, but having been president of three different companies during my career I had to learn to play the social game. I have traveled around the world, socializing with customers all day along and then entertaining and attending social events in the evening. I was at the top of my game during my career...then I retired.

I have tried to keep up with this fast moving world but now I seem to be sliding toward the bottom of the social ladder; I might even be considered 'antisocial'. Here's the problem - I don't have a smart phone so I cannot keep up to date with what is going on in the world while waiting for the light to change, and can't even check my email except on the computer in my office. In fact I rarely talk on my cell phone except to see if my wife wants me to pick up groceries on the way home or if my car breaks down. I feel guilty that I have never even had a 'social' telephone conversation while driving my car. And texting...well that's another story.

To make things worse, I don't have an Ipad. So here in the country I sit at my old computer trying to keep up with what is happening in the world while deer and turkeys stare through the window wondering where I got that clunker. With WiFi everywhere I could be on-line 24 hours a day with my Ipad and not miss a thing.

But mostly I feel 'antisocial' because I only have 52 Facebook friends. I like to follow what my family is doing and am so envious of my grandchildren; some of them have 500-1000 Facebook friends. Now that's what I call 'socializing'. Where have I gone wrong?

But I'm getting old so maybe I'll just sit in the background and enjoy watching my children and grandchildren socialize on Facebook with all their friends. Although I only have 10- 20 close friends and another 30 or so good friends, I feel blessed with them.

But I'm not giving up. Watch for me on Twitter...whenever I figure out what the hell that is.

War on all fronts

2011-09-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Class warfare has always been part of the Democratic playbook, better known as the 'populist' movement; protect the working man (unions), subsidize the poor (housing, welfare, food stamps, school lunches, etc.) and during the years of Democratic power, installing programs like the War on Poverty. Obama has taken this war to a new level on all fronts. After single-highhandedly increasing the national debt by more than all previous presidents combined, today he proposed HIS deficit reduction plan which includes $1.5 trillion in tax increases. This from a man who last year said; "The last thing we should do during a recession is raise taxes". Today was a "speech du jour", written by his handlers and posted on his teleprompter.

He tells us the wealthiest need to pay their 'fair share' and if not, children won't get proper health care, firemen, policemen, and teachers will lose their jobs, etc. He also told us that he will veto any bills that do not include these tax increases. These wealthiest people now pay 75% of the income taxes while almost 50% pay no tax, but I guess to Obama this is still not fair enough.

Sadly, rather than leading this country he is in full campaign mode focusing only on getting re-elected. It's not working. Even Democrats are jumping ship. Obama knows this bill will never pass, but with failures everywhere in his administration's polices they are in panic mode and this 'straw man' deficit plan named after Warren Buffett is their strategy to up the ante in the class war. I'm surprised they haven't brought up white men lynching a black man dragging him behind their car as they did with George Bush after the James Byrd incident. But mark my words; the race card is still in their bag of tricks.

But Americans are smart and they are getting involved, and the class warfare strategy is not going to work as well as it did in the past. Even the black community is starting to realize that the 'War on Poverty', welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, and the first black President has done NOTHING for them. They want jobs like every other American. The 'enemy' - the so-called rich are the job creators and people are starting to realize that socialism doesn't work and that 40 million on food stamps, 14 million unemployed, unfunded liabilities for federal and state pensions for public employees in the $ trillions - cannot work. As Margaret Thatcher once put it so aptly; "The problem with socialism is that sooner of later you run out of other people's money".

We can only get out of this economic mess by cutting the massive government spending, reducing taxes and regulations, so the job creators of this country can get to work and 'grow' us back to prosperity.

What leader?

2011-08-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

I hate to criticize a person on their 50th birthday, but here goes.

Every time I hear President Obama referred to as 'Leader of the Free World' my head almost explodes. I think many of us would agree he is not even leader of the USA. This debt ceiling fiasco was a classic example of his leadership style; stay in the background and let other people make the tough decisions then jump in at the end and try to take credit for the results. After all he voted 'present' 90% of the time in the Illinois Senate. Well the stock markets around the world today made a statement about his leadership of our (and the world's economy); a statement about his performance.

The average American is becoming more and more educated about this debt crisis and Obama's 'golden voice' has lost its impact. This so-called leader has already had 37 fund raising events in just 2 1/2 years in office, and at a time this country has been hurting badly. But he should be able to celebrate his birthday and if you have the money to shell out $34,800 you can attend his party tonight; and if you kick in another $10,000 you can get your picture taken with him. Most of us would agree that you have to be rich to pay $35K to attend a birthday party and it's ironic that these are the same rich people with private jets and yachts that he demonizes in every speech. But these are HIS rich people.

The experts are telling us that Obama has no more arrows in the quiver to shoot at this failing economy - I disagree. Here are some 'arrows' that could ignite this failing economy and get it moving at high speed again:

1/ Repeal Obamacare and replace it with a sane health care bill that provides a safety net for truly poor people.

2/ Rescind all the ridiculous EPA and consumer protection regulations that the Obama administration has instituted. Some experts predict these regulations alone will cost American industry a trillion dollars over the next ten years.

3/ Open up Anwar, the Gulf, and both coasts of the USA for responsible oil drilling.

4/ Eliminate all corporate subsidies and tax loopholes and reduce the corporate tax rate to a permanent 25%.

5/ Freeze ALL government spending including salary raises for all employees including the President and Congress, at 2011 fiscal year levels and DO NOT raise it again until the debt is 18% of GDP or below. This includes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

6/ Raise the top tax rate of 36% by 10% making it almost 40%. At the same time raise everyone's tax rate 10% including requiring the 50% of Americans that pay no tax to kick in something. Even if they make $10,000 per year why should they not participate in this country with at least a 1% income tax? After all, they benefit from all the services.

7/ Put a reasonable limit on unemployment insurance and require people on welfare to do some form of work, even if it means picking up trash or mowing lawns in local parks.

8/ Finally, cancel this so-called 'super-committee' and tell elected members of Congress to either do their jobs or resign and go home. And that includes our "leader"

Do you think any of these arrows will be put back in the quiver? Not a chance.

My son Michael as a guest blogger

2011-07-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Some of the ways your government is spending your money

by Michael Strickland on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 9:32am

You may have watched President Obama's speech last night, in which he implored all of us to tell our members of Congress to make a deal on the debt ceiling issue. Specifically, he said that if we default because the debt ceiling is not raised, "we would not have enough money to pay all of our bills -- bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans' benefits, and the government contracts we've signed with thousands of businesses."

The president is trying to make you think that retirees won't get their Social Security checks, veterans won't receive their benefits, small businesses won't get paid. That is a scare tactic, plain and simple; our president is playing politics just as much as everyone else in Washington.

If we default, yes -- we will not have enough money to pay ALL of our bills. But we will have plenty of money to pay MOST of our bills. Do you really believe our government will let retirees and veterans go unpaid, while other, much less critical bills get paid? Highly unlikely -- and if so, it will be a political move at the expense of those in need.

Take a look at the following very long list of items in our federal budget that receive billions of dollars. Not only could many of these go without getting paid in favor of paying retirees and veterans until the debt crisis is solved, most of these could (and perhaps should) be cut from our budget entirely. Yes, there are some items like NEA and PBS that many people would want to keep. But do we really need Mohair Subsidies? And is it unreasonable to require federal employees to pay their taxes like the rest of us?

In a perfect world, there would be enough money to go around for everyone's pet programs. But it's time to get serious. We are drowning in debt, and we have to cut runaway spending. When all of us are in debt, do we have the luxury of asking our employer (if we're employed) to raise our salary? No -- we have to cut our spending and live within our means. Ask your government to do the same; don't enable their spending problem by letting them raise more "revenue" (Obama's weasel word for "taxes").

[TOTAL SAVINGS if all of the following were cut: $2.5 trillion over 10 years.]

➢ Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
➢ Save America's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
➢ International Fund for Ireland. $17 million annual savings.
➢ Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
➢ National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
➢ National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.
➢ Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
➢ Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
➢ Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
➢ U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
➢ Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
➢ Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
➢ John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.
➢ Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.
➢ Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings.
➢ Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings.
➢ Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.
➢ Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.
➢ Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.
➢ Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. $125 million annual savings.
➢ Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.
➢ Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.
➢ New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.
➢ Exchange Programs for Alaska, Natives Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts. $9 million annual savings.
➢ Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings.
➢ Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.
➢ Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.
➢ Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.
➢ Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.
➢ Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.
➢ FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.
➢ Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.
➢ Economic Assistance to Egypt. $250 million annually.
➢ U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.
➢ General Assistance to District of Columbia. $210 million annual savings.
➢ Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.
➢ Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.
➢ No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.
➢ End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
➢ Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act. More than $1 billion annually.
➢ IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget. $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
➢ Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total savings.
➢ Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
➢ Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.
➢ Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress.
➢ Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.
➢ Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. $12.5 million annual savings.
➢ Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.
➢ USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.
➢ Subsidy to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). $93 million annual savings.
➢ Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.
➢ Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.
➢ Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/house-gop-gets-specific-on-cuts_n_811557.html

"Eat your peas"

2011-07-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Obama in a recent speech about the debt limit deadline: "It's not going to get easier. It's going to get harder. So we might as well do it now: pull off the Band-Aid, eat our peas. Now is the time to do it. If not now, when?"

As the debt ceiling deadline draws near these clowns in Washington are acting like eight year olds, just blaming each other with both sides not willing to negotiate while the American people stand to be the big losers. The national debt is going to bankrupt this country and some very serious cuts in spending need to be made. But as a conservative Republican I also agree that there are probably tax loopholes that can be eliminated (ethanol subsidy, etc.).

I know about negotiating, especially when the subject is "eat your peas". When my youngest son was eight years old, one evening he refused to eat his peas at dinner. I had had a bad day at work and reverting to the way my parents raised me, I told him; "You are not leaving the table until you eat your peas". He sat there and stared forward, making no effort to eat. So I dug in my heels and we left him at the table and I told him he could not get up until he ate his peas. A half hour passed, he just sat there - no progress, another half hour, no progress. Finally I lost my cool and told him; "Eat your peas or you will get the strap!" His response; "How many times? ". He won the battle.

But here is my point; if an eight year old can master the art of negotiation these so-called politicians we elect to represent us need to figure out how to get their act together. And Obama needs to start showing some leadership and solve this problem. He is the key and so far his performance as our president has been pitiful in his ability to manage this country's financial affairs.

Conspirators believe he is deliberately trying to let this country's economy fail so it can be converted to a socialist society. I have never bought into that, but sometimes I wonder.

Goodbye "Goldie"

2011-06-22T18:32:00.001-07:00

I love California because we are such a progressive state and have always been in the "lead". We lead with the highest gas prices in the country, we are 12% of the population of the USA but lead with 32% of the welfare cases, we lead with the largest debt of any state in the country, and being an environmental leader we are banning plastic bags in most metropolitan areas. Is this a great state or what?

Recently, San Fransisco the most progressive city in our state is banning circumcision and has proposed banning the sale of goldfish because of the inhumane life they lead swimming in a little tank. I have to agree with this ban and am pleased that the politicians in that city are working on these serious problems.

Living in the country we know about inhumane treatment of goldfish and I am reminded of a blog I wrote many years ago so thought it appropriate to post it again:

Lipstick

Her name was "Lipstick."

Not that she wore a lot of make-up; to my knowledge she didn’t wear any. She wasn’t beautiful, but she had that look that makes females attractive. Large eyes, some would say too far apart, but they always seemed to be wide open and full of life. Her large beautiful lips glowed a golden color in the sun, and that’s how she got her name.

Lipstick became part of our family last year and has been a constant companion ever since. Joining me for my morning coffee most days, her body moved with the grace of a bird, gliding with effortless motion as we both relaxed in the morning sun.

She could have spent her life in the city, safely enclosed behind four glass walls, but chose instead the country, surrounded by the sounds of birds and waterfalls.

But Lipstick is gone. A victim of nature’s cruel cycle of life, after becoming a midnight snack to a hungry raccoon. She is now in that great goldfish pond in the sky, swimming to her heart’s content for all eternity.

These are the harsh realities of living in the country, surrounded by wild turkeys and Indian casinos. But it was our choice to move here, and as we forge out a life in this untamed wilderness, we will think of Lipstick often, and keep a vigilant watch for the wily raccoon who is most likely planning his next raid on our goldfish pond.

Israeli Pundits and Politicians

2011-05-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

I watched the meeting today between Obama and Netenyahu and it was refreshing to see the Israeli Prime Minister take this "man-child" to the woodshed and teach him what leadership is all about.

But I find it amusing how the political pundits and the politicians have "analyzed" the situation between Israel and the US after Obama's speech Thursday and this meeting today.

I have been to Israel and have a basic understanding of the Israeli situation, and have to laugh at the pundits after this week events. Obama was given a verbal spanking by Netenyahu today but afterwards I watched a democratic pundit say: " Obama is brilliant, this is a chess game he is playing and he knows exactly what he is doing". Who the hell pays these people to make such stupid comments?

If you are even a casual student of history or have read bible history, it has to be clear that there is no way the Israelis will accept a compromise that might sacrifice their security or make them give up their homeland. I visited Israel in the late sixties after the 'six day war' and the one message that came through loud and clear from all the Israelis I talked to was; "No retreating and to the last man there will never be another Holocaust".

I don't know if Obama is a Muslim sympathizer or if he and his advisers are just plain stupid. But I know that in one short speech this week Obama moved the peace talks back a decade. Netenyahu told Obama in no uncertain terms on national TV today that there will be no retreating from the 1967 borders and unless we change our "new" policy towards the Israel/Palestinian problem, there will never be a peace treaty.

It's pathetic when the leader of a small country like Israel can make our President look like such a novice. But in the words of that great philosopher Forrest Gump; "Stupid is as stupid does".

Are we too far gone?

2011-04-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

I read this week that for the first time more people in the US are on government assistance than those who are not. In other words, there are more people riding in the wagon than are pulling it.

At first that statistic is hard to believe until you think about the growth in government assistance during the Bush administration, and even more so since the Obama administration took over. In addition to the normal entitlements like social security, Medicare, Medicaid (and if Obamacare becomes law 50 million people getting assistance with their insurance premiums), also consider the following:
Forty million people on food stamps; millions more on welfare; 99 weeks of unemployment insurance; subsidies for people whose mortgage is in default; school lunch programs; college assistance programs; remember "cash for clunkers"?; how about $7500 government assistance if you buy a GM Volt?. In addition there will be unforeseen government assistance to victims of natural disasters - floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.

It is not my intention to debate whether or not all of these programs are necessary. I'm sure many are vital and there is no question the "baby boomers" are presenting a huge financial burden on this country. BUT WE HAVE NO MONEY! The national debt is insanity and approaching a level that will be impossible to overcome. Are we too far gone?

The debt is at $14.5 trillion dollars (and climbing) and is so large that most Americans cannot even comprehend it. To put it in perspective we are borrowing $188 million every hour. Congressman Paul Ryan recently proposed a budget that will "reduce" the debt by $6 trillion dollars in ten years. It was immediately dismissed by democratic politicians and president Obama as "radical". Now let's see, this so-called radical budget will reduce the deficit to just $8.5 trillion by the year - 2021, this is assuming no major disasters, terrorist attacks, wars, etc.

Next week will be a debate about raising the debt limit. If the republicans and moderate democrats vote to raise it again, you will have the answer - we are too far gone. Politicians talk about a 'Balanced Budget Amendment" to the Constitution. Realistically that would take 5-10 years, even it if received affirmative votes throughout the very complicated process. Here is my idea for a quick balanced budget amendment - freeze the debt ceiling permanently and tell the US government "that's all folks". Make interest payments first, then tell the managers of our government agencies to divide up the balance and do whatever is required to keep the country functioning. It could be painful, but as simple as that.

We approach the debt limit in just a week and what action do we see in Washington? While Obama goes on Opra and gives press conferences about his birth certificate, our politicians enjoy the remainder of their two week "spring break".

"The Social Network"

2011-04-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

If you have not seen this movie it is worth watching. And if you are a very observant grandfather (like me) with the ability to step the DVD through frame by frame, you will see my grand daughter in the 'dance scene'...it's only a few seconds, but she is a beauty. OK...that's not the point of this blog.

Facebook started as a local Harvard experiment in 2004 by a young man wanting to get students in touch with each other, and since has become a worldwide phenomenon. It has also made its 20+ year old founder the youngest billionaire in the world.

I love Facebook because I can follow the day-to-day activities of my large family and many friends, communicate with them, post pictures, and even get into a spirited debate from time-to-time. But Facebook and other so-called social networks have had a much more profound effect on this world.

I wonder if that young man who started the Facebook experiment at Harvard would have ever dreamed that after a Tunisian vendor set himself on fire to protest his totalitarian government, that the simple communication between people on the internet would set the Middle East on fire. That one incident has caused revolts from people wanting freedom in Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and now especially Libya and Syria. Countries that have for centuries been ruled by an iron fist are being brought to their knees by a network of communication that is slowly bringing this world together and allowing people who have been isolated all their lives to see what freedom is all about.

Think about China and their 1+ billion people who are mostly oppressed without the ability to communicate with the rest of the world. The Chinese government controls all aspects of the internet, but sooner or later technology will win out and when their citizens start realizing what they might be able to achieve in a truly free society, the Chinese government may have the biggest revolt of them all.

Isn't it ironic that all the guns, arrests, torture, and prisons that maintain control in these totalitarian states may some day be defeated by the technology resulting from some college boy at Harvard trying to get students to "network" with each other?

Newt can't win

2011-03-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich has formed a "presidential exploratory committee". He says that he is not sure if he will run for president, but we all know the political dance - he will be running for president against Obama. And he cannot win.

I am a fan of Newt and he is an intellectual giant compared to Obama. In a debate he would make Obama look like a high school political science student, but he cannot win.

It's sad, but in today's environment of 24 hour news and a left wing media that creates the images for the masses, Newt cannot compete with Obama. The reason - the average American is not that smart or better said; not that interested in politics except for what they get from the two minute sound bites.

Newt is smart and tough; if elected he would be a great president and he would replace the most incompetent president in this country's history. But he has personal baggage, he doesn't have a good physical "image", and the media would destroy him.

I hope I am wrong, but I believe the Republicans need a fresh, intelligent, and tough new candidate that will be able to convince the American public that this country is in deep trouble, while at the same time has the gift of charisma and political polish that our incompetent "Golden Boy" has.

The "Union" Myth

2011-02-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

Now let me get this straight - unions are good, they "rise up" middle class workers - which middle class workers? Unions argue that they need collective bargaining to increase the pay and benefits for workers. The operative word here is "collective". Maybe in the short term that is the case but in the long term unionism breeds mediocrity and individual incentive and lines the pockets of union organizers who spend union money trying to get Democrats elected to protect their power base.

Just as the Democrats (Progressives) are champions of "income redistribution", I contend that unionization is nothing more than redistribution of performance and productivity. Let's look at two hypothetical examples - two high schools:

Let's call the first high school 'Strickland High'. Teachers are non-unionized and they keep their job based strictly on their performance. The better performing teachers get the highest pay.

Let's call the second high school 'Obama High'. The teachers are unionized, they get paid strictly based on their seniority not their performance, and after a few years they get tenure and cannot be fired.

I believe that in any group of teachers, some will be above average, some will be below average, but there will probably be one great teacher and one complete loser. At Strickland High, before long the loser will be fired and replaced with a better teacher and the great teacher will get a raise in pay thus increasing the overall performance and morale at the school.

At Obama High the union will protect all the teachers' jobs, so the "loser" will quickly become a "union man" knowing that his job is secure and his pay and benefits are the same as everyone else with his seniority. But over time a natural thing starts happening at Obama High. The great teacher gets frustrated because she busts her butt trying to be the best teacher, while getting little more recognition than the loser.

In the meantime Strickland High, not satisfied with another one of their low performing teachers, fires him and hires the frustrated "great teacher" from Obama High resulting in further increasing the performance of the teachers group at Strickland High and at the same time lowering the performance of the unionized teachers group at Obama High.

So as this pattern continues over time, the performance of the teachers group at Strickland High continues to improve, the performance of the students continues to improve, and the parents are waiting in line to get their children enrolled. While at the same time the unionized, tenured teachers at Obama High plug along, knowing their job is secure and they cannot be fired. While at the same time, the high performers at Obama High get frustrated and leave to work in an environment like Strickland High where individual performance is rewarded.

Obama High then slowly becomes one of our typical low performing schools with teachers ready to protest if anyone threatens their situation, while the parents of the Obama High students complain and wonder why their kids under-perform, fail in science and math, and can hardly read or write a proper sentence.

Which school system do you want your children to attend?

The Entitlement Bandwagon

2011-02-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

OK I confess; I listen to Rush Limbaugh from time to time. The other day the subject was "redistribution of income". And of course this is a pillar in the divide between Democrats and Republicans - if you are obtaining wealth why shouldn't you give some of it back to those less fortunate? And who can argue with that.

But there is a difference between charity to help your fellow human being get through a tough period, or to recover from a disaster, and giving them an on-going "entitlement". It is an indisputable fact that Americans are the most charitable people in the world. But why are any of us, even if we are poor, "entitled" to share in the success of people who by virtue of hard work (and sometimes luck) have obtained a certain amount of wealth. Doesn't the tax system take care of that? Last year almost 50% of Americans paid no federal income tax, while the top earners paid 36% of their income to the federal government - isn't that redistribution of income - after all someone has to pay for our bloated government services.

But for Democrats (and now they call themselves Progressives?), that is not enough.

On this Rush Limbaugh program, a woman called in and she said it was her "right" to receive a portion of the income that "rich" people get; "I live in the hood, and we need to be taken care of". That is a serious problem in this country - "entitlement" vs. short term help when people really need it. We all face obstacles in our lives, and quite often need help until we get our feet on the ground; that is not an entitlement.

But the entitlement mentality has become a disease in this country. No longer do people look for help to get through a tough period - for some it has become a way of life and in many cases for generations.

I believe every human being starts out in life with a desire to "achieve"...it's human nature. That desire to achieve may take many forms - provide a good home for your family, or a successful career, or in some cases driving ambition to achieve great things. The goal doesn't matter, but the desire to achieve is something that is natural to all of us.

But provide a person "something for nothing" for any length of time and that desire to achieve slowly dies out and they become a "dependent". Some believe the Democrats/Progressives want a dependent society as the only way they can retain power. I can't believe they would be so sinister, but one thing is indisputable, after spending trillions of dollars, the "Great Society" and every other entitlement program in history has failed. The poverty level is the same today as it was 50 years ago and some people are mired in a lifetime of despair and dependency.

I really believe that woman who called Rush had been a potential "achiever" at one time if she had the incentive to do so, but because of a lifetime and maybe even a generational history of entitlements, she now just wants to be "taken care of"...how sad.

I am a "radical"

2011-01-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

I am a right wing radical. I'm not sure how I turned out this way, but I did. These days it seems to be normal to blame your parents for your failings, so that's what I'm going to do. I grew up in a poor household; for a while my dad was an alcoholic but he got sober, on his own, without any help from social services or rehab programs. But I am sure those vague memories I have of him coming home drunk, and yet he and my mother somehow working out their problems, contributed toward my development as a future radical.

Even though my parents were poor, and went through many difficult years raising three boys, to my knowledge they never accepted help from anyone nor would they have ever considered reneging on a debt no matter how long it took to pay it off. They were not very political but were Republicans, I think mainly because after World War II my dad would not have voted for any presidential candidate except general Dwight Eisenhower or "Ike" as they called him. So I guess being the son of "Republicans" started me off on my path towards being a radical.

Parents were strict in those days and being one of three "somewhat wild" boys (we did have our share of trouble), when I look back I recall my parents always taking the side of the school teachers or administrators, and even in a few cases the police. They never tried to claim our "innocence" with school officials, and they never took legal action when we broke ankles or arms on the neighbor's ice skating pond or playing tackle football without equipment at the local park. I am sure this attitude about us kids taking "personal responsibility" for our actions had something to do with me becoming a radical.

During the past week those of us that are Conservatives have been defined as radicals. There was no sense to it but the main stream media who have so much control in this country have done a very good job of redefining what a "radical" is in this country. If you believe that the government is too intrusive in your life, you are a radical. If you believe that the national debt can potentially ruin the lives of your children or grandchildren, you are a radical. If you believe that everyone should take personal responsibility for themselves except when they seriously need help, you are a radical. If you believe that people that live in this country should be citizens or should be legally here as a guest, you are a radical.

I could go on about how I became a radical, but if my parents were here they would not recognize this country. They would not believe you can get three years of "unemployment insurance"; or if you made a loan commitment you cannot pay for, there is a government program to help you get out of paying that debt; or if you can't provide for your children, their school will provide all their meals; or if your child broke their arm playing football at the local park, there is a lawyer somewhere that will get you a cash payout.

The main stream media has done such a good job of defining our new culture, that those of us who remember the "old days" in this country are now radicals. I guess if they were alive, my parents would be proud that I am defined as a radical.

Twas the 36 Days Before Christmas

2010-12-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the 2000 election? Those 36 crazy days of counting and analyzing punch-card ballots, "hanging and pregnant chads", vote-a-matic machines selected by Democrats (but confusing to Florida democrat voters), legal challenges, and mass confusion over what was one of the most dramatic political dramas of our time.

The Bush/Gore election was one for the books and had the nation on the edge of our seats until the Supreme Court stepped in and stopped the madness. People will argue forever whether Bush or Gore won the election, but looking back neither turned out to be a very good choice. Bush was a disappointment, but at least he was honest and tried to do his best. But can you imagine Al (global warming) Gore as President and John (the adulterer) Edwards as Vice-President. Those two are classic examples of why many Americans have such a negative image of politicians.

But this blog is not about politicians it's about that crazy election. I heard recently that Hollywood is even making a movie about it. So as we approach Christmas I though it might be fun to revisit a version of the famous Christmas poem that I wrote after that '2000' election was over:

December 2000

'Twas the Night Before Christmas II
By Charles L. Strickland

‘Twas the night before Christmas at the White House this year,
the Demos had gathered to all shed a tear;
Carville, Jesse, and Al Sharpton were there,
hanging their heads by the chimney with care.

Bill Clinton was nestled all snug in his bed,
While visions of Monica danced in his head;
And Hillary in her kerchief, and Chelsea her cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
They rose from their beds to see what was the matter.
When what to their wondering eyes should be seen,
But Tipper and Al Gore with a Vote-a-matic machine.

"We flew in from Palm Beach, and guess what folks?
I think we have found some more votes!
Look at these ballots with hanging chads pushed through,
and I even have dimpled and pregnant ones too!"

"Oh please Bill, can we count them once more,
you promised the next President would be named Al Gore"
Bill settled him down and said, "Do I need to repeat?,
The Supremes have spoken, and you are dead meat!"

So they all went inside and gathered around,
to see if George W. Bush’s FBI file could be found.
And as Christmas drew near, you could hear them all sigh,
"Merry Christmas to Al, and to Al a good-bye!"

Hands off my Estate

2010-12-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

The debate on the "estate tax" is raging in Congress right now because at the end of this year it could change dramatically. The Bush tax cuts on estate tax have been progressively more lenient and this year there is 'zero' estate tax. But unless something changes, on January 1st the tax reverts to the previous level of a tax of 55% on all assets over $1 million. This may seem fair to some people, but if you own a small business, a family farm (or ranch) your heirs could have to sell the business or property just to pay these ridiculous estate taxes.

During an interview with Democratic Congressman Anthony Wiener today he was asked; "If a person works all their life to earn assets and pays taxes on those assets (like a business or farm), why should he pay taxes again after he dies?" The arrogant Congressman responded "He doesn't pay taxes, he is dead, and his heirs pay the taxes because this is "income" to them.

This one question to a committed liberal clearly illustrates their philosophical belief in "income redistribution". Liberals (progressives) believe that when someone with assets dies, a (major) portion of their assets should be distributed to the people in the country who are "not as fortunate". And of course liberals believe the government should be the ones to redistribute those assets.

It will be interesting to see what the politicians negotiate during the next few weeks, but there is no way the successful investor, or businessman, or farmer is going to tolerate 55% of their estate going to the government instead of their family. What I have earned in my lifetime (and paid taxes along the way) belongs to my family. If the government does pass this ridiculous tax we will figure out how to keep from paying it.

Old-time comedian Jack Benny who loved his money once said "If I can't take it with me, I'm not going to go". I say; "If the government tries to take 55% of it, we will give it away before we go".

Dancing with the "Stars"

2010-12-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

This cleverly photo-shopped picture has been traveling the internet as a parody of the TV show and as a parody of our politics.

It seems like the only people you hear about in the news these days are Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Now it's understandable that the (mainly) liberal media in this country would spend their time concentrating on Obama's activities - but why are they also so obsessed with Sarah Palin?

I'll tell you why - FEAR. I am not a Sarah Palin fan, especially as a presidential candidate, but if you look at the polls Palin's ratings are almost the same as Obama's - both positive and negative. Whether you like her or not, a lot of the "folks" do. I have a son who cannot stand Sarah Palin and shutters at the thought of her ever being president. So of course as a good father I forward every Palin article I can find to him (he is working on a "Palin" filter to stop my emails). He is also a Libertarian and cannot stand Barack Obama and would vote him out of office in a minute.

But what if his only choice is Palin or Obama in the next election? His response would be; "Then I won't vote". But not voting means the Washington "elites" that want to run this country win.

Palin is not an articulate speaker; she has little international experience, but has managed a city as a mayor and a state as a governor. Obama is an articulate speaker (as long as a teleprompter tells him what to say), and he had some international experience when he became president, but he had no management experience whatsoever and after two years his incompetence as a manager has risen to the surface and put this country in huge peril. Do any of the readers of this blog believe Sarah Palin or any other conservative could have done a worse job?

Palin in a recent interview was asked by Barbara Walters if she thought she could beat Obama in an election; she said "yes". You have to give her an "A" for self confidence. I don't think she will be the republican nominee in 2012 but if she decides to run it will be interesting to see if the "folks" can push her over the top. If they do, I believe one of my sons will start making plans to leave the country...but as Ronald Reagan once said; "If we ever lose our freedoms here there will be no other place to go".

As for Obama, to paraphrase one of my favorite commentators; "The Obama presidency will eventually be nothing more than graffiti on the wall of American history".

We need to "rescue" California

2010-10-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

The state of California is sinking under its own weight and some big changes are needed.

California is a very "blue" state. To begin with, Conservative candidates start with a 16 point disadvantage compared to their Democratic opponents. But this is an once-in-a-lifetime election and if we don't change the course of this state - predictions will come true that California will slide into the ocean; not from an earthquake, but from a debt burden that we cannot sustain.

The fiscal problems in California are too numerous to detail in a blog but one thing is for sure, we need to try something radically different. So why not put some business people in charge and give them a chance at trying to rescue our state. Career politicians and our so-called "Republican" governor have failed miserably.

Senator Barbara Boxer has represented California for decades and has done nothing but help dig the hole deeper. Jerry Brown had his chance as governor in the past so why should we "retread" him and send him back to Sacramento. He is nothing but a career politician who has no experience running any business. Do we really want to reelect someone who has spent his whole life in politics?

I urge my California readers to give Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman a chance to get this ship turned around. Both accomplished business women who at least know what a balanced budget is all about. The men have had their chance; let's turn this state over to some Conservative women.

Socialism on the March

2010-09-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

How would you like it if instead of giving you your paycheck, your employer sent it to the government who then would decide how much tax was to be taken out, and then wired the balance to your bank account? "The government would never try something like that", you say?

Well maybe not yet, but that is just what has recently been proposed in Great Britain. Instead of employers deducting income tax then paying net salaries to employees, the gross monthly payment would go to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs "tax calculator”, which would then pass the net salary to the worker's bank account.

The reform would mean the end of traditional monthly pay slips, because employers would no longer be able to tell workers how much tax they had paid each month. This would be called the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) system.

It sounds crazy, but is being seriously considered in Britain because the British government says "There are too many errors in the system and we need more direct control of taxes". Do you think there might be a chance that the government themselves are making most of the errors? So of course the "socialist's" answer is to give the government more power?

I can't believe this proposal will ever become law, but just the fact that it has been proposed makes us Conservatives want to run for the hills. Liberals want power over our lives; it's as simple as that, because without control they have no ideas that will fly with the American people.

We are still dumping tea in the harbor

2010-09-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Boston Tea Party was an action by colonists against the British government when as a result of over taxation they boarded British ships and destroyed the British shipments of tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event in American history and other political protests often refer to it.

The liberal left (especially the media) made fun of the present "Tea Party" movement when it first started. They accused the movement of being composed of radicals, racists, religious fanatics, homophobes, etc....and wrote them off as just a bunch of "kooks". But then Tea Party candidates started winning elections and the movement became more than just a few people "dumping tea in the harbor". Glenn Beck had a non-violent "rally" in Washington and the media played it down as about 50,000 "right wingers" - it has been proven by photographic evidence that there were 300-500,000 people at that "rally" and as much as they tried, the liberal media could not come up with one incident to demonize those right wingers.

In recent primaries many inexperienced and unknown Tea Party candidates have won elections against the "elites" in the Republican party, to the shock of the "machine". I contend this election is different than any in my lifetime - people are pissed. They DO want so-called conservative "extremists" to go to Washington and stop the madness.

Liberals are worried about their future, but so are Conservatives; what is different is that conservative voters are not just worried about their future; they are worried about their kids and their grand kid's future.

The government is out of control and I believe we are ready for a group of conservative (even though inexperienced) legislators that are not part of the Washington machine, who will represent their constituents. Some of these recently elected Tea Party primary candidates may not win in November, but I believe conservatism will win in the long run. The media has made it a top priority to label us conservatives as "radicals" but in the long run it won't work. We are no different than those brave souls that dumped that tea in the harbor in 1773 and started a movement that resulted in the creation of the greatest country this world has ever known.

Islamaphobia?

2010-09-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

I am watching a television program depicting the events that happened on that tragic 9/11 day nine years ago, and I am angry. The program brings back vivid memories of planes crashing into the World Trade towers, people leaping to their death, followed by a plane crashing into the Pentagon, and then that last plane that went down into a Pennsylvania field thanks to the heroes on board. Had those patriotic Americans not brought that last plane down, what might the terrorists have crashed it into?

Nothing will ever change 9/11 and all the events that happened after that. And to many that day seems to be a distant memory. But as I reflect on that terrible period in our history, I am struck at how things have changed, and how "political correctness" seems to be destroying this country. The latest controversies over the mosque at ground zero and the "Quran burning" are classic examples of the hypocrisy of this country and especially of the Obama administration.

No one questions that both of these organizations have their "rights" under our constitution. The Muslims have the right to build a mosque and the so-called Christian pastor and his church have the right to burn the Quran if they wish (after all, people burn American flags all the time and liberals emphatically support their "constitutional right" to do so). But I believe building a mosque at the hallowed ground zero or burning the holy Quran in both cases are stupid and insensitive ideas.

But the liberal left including our President are in a quagmire. Obama supports the mosque but condemns the Quran burning. Yes, the Quran burning was a stupid idea, and under world-wide pressure that small church in Florida has decided against it. But building the mosque at ground zero knowing that more than 60% of Americans are against it is stupid also; and it is a slap in the face to all those families who lost loved ones on 9/11. But our President shows his true colors by supporting one and condemning the other.

We are accused of being "Islamaphobic" for being against this mosque. But as I watch the events of 9/11 again tonight and am reminded of that horrible day I have to wonder about Islam. During the past year we have had the Fort Hood killing of 14 Americans, we have had the Christmas bomber trying to blow up a plane full of Americans, we have had the Subway Bomber and the Times Square bomber planning to kill more innocent New Yorkers....and these were all Muslims planning to kill in the name of Allah. So are we "Islamaphobic"? How many terrorist attacks during recent history have been attempted by Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintos, or Atheists?

The "Elite" disconnection

2010-09-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

In a recent article in Newsweek Fareed Zakaria one of the New York "elite" journalists stated that Al-Qaeda was significantly more incompetent than Americans believed in the aftermath of 9/11, and the result is a “national-security state” that threatens civil liberties. And he goes on to say that “Al Qaeda is simply not that deadly a threat.” and that the USA "overreacted" after 9/11.

I submit that Al Qaeda is not a deadly threat now because our "overreaction" kicked their ass after 9/11 by killing or capturing most of their leadership. We could have killed Bin Laden had not political correctness kept our troops from attacking his caravan as it was leaving Afghanistan.

This Newsweek article struck me as another example of how the political elite and journalistic elite have completely lost touch with the average American.

As we approach the anniversary of 9/11, everyone I know remembers that day vividly and I know the families of the people killed do not think Al Qaeda is an enemy to be ignored. I believe this "elite disconnection" with the average American will rear it's head in November when I hope the American people send a majority of our political elites packing... the ones that believe they know what is better for us, even when the voting majority is against almost everything Washington has done the past few years. We cannot do anything about the journalists, but if we kick out the liberal politicians they support, the journalists will be nothing but a bunch of op ed writers left out in the cold.

Is it no wonder that Newsweek was recently sold for $1 because of low circulation and massive debt. The American people do not believe all the BS spewed out by the main stream liberal media anymore.

Spin, spin, spin

2010-08-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have not been blogging a lot lately because so much of what I want to say about the Obama administration might get me arrested, or at least a visit from the FBI.

I have seen politicians "spin" all of my life and we all expect it. But this administration has taken it to another level.

Recently Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser has stated; "Everybody agrees that the recession is over". In a separate interview Christina Romer, head of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers was asked if the recession was over, she responded; "Of course not". Romer has since "resigned"...was it because she told the truth? You make the call.

In July 130,000 jobs were lost and Obama makes a speech saying "We are making progress". In the meantime the federal deficit is exploding and the House has been called back into session during their vacation to pass another $26 billion bill to help the states with their budget problems - a "bailout" to the state teacher and public employee unions to keep them from laying off people. Yes this will save some jobs, but instead of facing up to the budget problems that most of the states are having, this bill will just "kick the can" down the road with more borrowed money because the democrats hope it will pick up some more votes in November.

I have never seen an administration that is so detached from the will of the American people and an administration that seems to believe we are all a bunch of idiots (probably an accurate call for a lot of the democratic voters out there).

But I believe the "spinning" is losing its effectiveness and if our lame Republican party can just get its act together we may turn this thing around in November. If not, we will hear the constant Obama spin for two more years as this country heads into the tank...but "spin" will never overcome real world economics.

"Poetic Justice"

2010-06-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Obama has fired General McChrystal and replaced him with General Petraeus who will be responsible for turning around and (hopefully) winning the Afghanistan war. Many of us recall that during the congressional hearings on the Iraq war "surge" many top democrats including then Senators Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe "bite me" Biden, accused Petraeus of being a liar. Left wing organization MoveOn.Org also ran the famous "General Betrayus" full page ad in the New York Times. To their dismay, Petraeus was successful managing the Iraq surge and left those democrats looking silly.

Now all these top democrats are praising Obama for his "leadership" in firing McChrystal and his "wisdom" in putting Petraeus in charge. Typical Washington hypocritical politics.

Here is a scenario that would truly be a clear definition of "Poetic Justice":

General Petraeus takes control in Afghanistan, reorganizes, manages the Afghan "surge" and wins the war there. Then he retires in 2011, runs for president in 2012 and defeats Obama.

Could happen folks.

"It's Howdy Doody Time"

2010-06-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm giving away my age. As a kid after World War II living in the projects of Buffalo, NY one of my fondest memories was getting our first television set. Black and white of course, but it was magic because before that, our family sat together on weekend nights drinking sodas, eating chips, and listening to the radio.

And believe it or not one of the most popular dinner time programs was a puppet show called "Howdy Doody Time". I and my two brothers watched every night. It was also "live" and you never knew what was going to happen. I remember one evening when the arm came off the puppet and they just continued the program while Howdy commented; "Oh my, my arm just came off"...funny. This was the early 50's so why do I remember this program?

I remember because to me this memory is a metaphor for what we are seeing in our President. He is charismatic, he is an impressive speaker, but he is Howdy Doody...a puppet. We have all heard the jokes about how he cannot make a speech or presentation without a teleprompter, and I remember when he used a teleprompter to talk to some school children. But today after meeting with the BP executives, I was appalled when he came out to make "comments" about the meeting and talked from a teleprompter. This man cannot talk from his mind (or heart). There is a reason he has few impromptu press conferences and when he does, he limits the time and filibusters every answer. If he is a "puppet" I wish I knew who was operating the strings. Someone...maybe a left wing group of powerful people who recognized this guy's oratorical talent, and with the support of the liberal media have been able to pull all the right strings and now he is the leader of the free world. Or he is a "so-called" leader with no experience in managing anything.

I realize this sounds like a conspiracy theory and I don't believe that, but I think history will show that Obama was either a black "Howdy Doody", or the most incompetent president in our history. He and his administration are doing much damage to this country. I don't worry for us; but I worry for my children and grandchildren.

"Drill baby drill"

2010-06-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

There I've said it...and I am sure I will catch hell from my environmentalist friends.

In Obama's speech last week he jumped on the "clean energy" bandwagon and made his best argument to "rid ourselves of fossil fuels". We heard the typical anecdotes of "Joe the shrimp fisherman" whose livelihood has been destroyed because of oil - a classic political tactic to push through another big government agenda.

Obama was very disingenuous in one part of his speech saying that, "We are running out of places to find oil". That is pure BS. The reason that oil companies have been moving to deeper water is because of the power of the environmental lobby that have made it impossible to drill in shallow water and on land. There are billions of barrels of oil in Anwar that would only require a footprint of a few acres to drill and in the event of a "rare" blowout disaster (like we are now experiencing), the blowout could be shut down in a matter of hours or days.

The liberals (progressives) want "clean" energy, yet we haven't built a new nuclear power plant in more that 20 years. And remember, even though nuclear is "clean", can we recall the Three Mile Island accident or Chernobyl in Russia where the land around that failed reactor will be radioactive for a few thousand years?

We have all seen this picture depicting the tragedy of hundreds of birds being killed by the oil spill. It is emotional to anyone that looks at it...even me. But this is where the media, the environmentalists, and even this liberal administration of ours shape our opinion to fit their agenda. Here are some interesting statistics from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service (http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf):

- Communication towers kill 4-5 million birds each year.
- Transmission power lines kill tens of thousands of birds each year.
- Cars kill 60 million birds each year.
- Pesticides kill an estimated 72 million birds each year.
- Domestic cats kill an estimated 39 million birds each year.
- And wind turbines (that magical "green" energy source); kill an estimated 33,000 birds each year.

Here's my point - I am not trying to minimize the oil spill disaster, just trying to keep things in perspective and show how the media can use a few well placed pictures of birds covered with oil to shape the emotional impact of a story.

The oil spill is a disaster and will affect many lives. But it is the result of the short cuts taken by BP to save money and get that well on line. I am not making excuses for the oil industry but I know something about that business and there is NOTHING that will replace oil for many years (maybe decades). This oil spill is the first major accident in 60 years of drilling in the gulf.
The problem is BP not oil.

The last thing we need is a new "cap and tax" energy program that will give the government more control over our lives, hurt the economy, and do nothing to help our dependence on foreign oil. What we need is a long range energy plan that explores every possible energy source, but for a long time we will need oil, and I believe we should drill for our own instead of being dependent on countries that hate us for our future energy supplies.

"Man-made-disaster"

2010-06-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

President Obama, now 57 days into this oil spill disaster is down in the Gulf proving that he is "engaged", while at the same time trying to determine "whose ass to kick". It's comforting to finally see our leader taking control of the situation. Not only is he now an expert on tar balls, but ate a shrimp salad for lunch yesterday to "prove" that seafood from the Gulf is safe.

Tonight he will address the nation and you can be sure that as Rahm Emanuel has said many times; "This administration will never let a crisis go to waste". And I predict Obama will use this crisis to try and push forward his global warming/climate change/energy bill and all the new taxes and government control that go along with it.

So this evening from the oval office we will have one "man-made-disaster" reporting to the nation on another "man-made-disaster".

"Did the Robot Plug the Hole Daddy?"

2010-06-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Now that Obama has had his photo op on the beach, and enjoyed his oil field "fifteen minutes of fame" last Friday as he showed us all what a tar ball looks like, it's time for him and the rest of the government to get the hell out of the way, and let the oil experts do their job.

As a former President of a company that pioneered underwater robotics, and someone that worked in that business for 30+ years, all I can say is what BP and their support companies are trying to do is amazing. Yes, the blowout should not have happened, and yes the oil spill is a once-in-a-lifetime disaster, and yes it will probably get worse. But it "is what it is" and the problem they are trying to solve one mile underwater with just robots, is truly impressive.

To put things in perspective, we have all seen astronauts leaving the space station on a 100 foot tether cable and working in a weightless environment. We have seen how difficult that is, and how long it took for the astronaut to do each task. Can you imagine trying to do what those astronauts have done, with just robots? And instead of the problem being 100 feet away, try solving it underwater and a mile below the control station.

The robots working on that oil leak are working in a weightless environment just like an astronaut, probably with not a lot of visibility, and the man operating the machine is a mile above and controlling everything while looking at a TV screen. The water temperature is freezing, and the water pressure is more that one ton on every square inch of that robot.

BP is to blame for this oil spill, and so are the drilling company and government regulators that monitor drilling operations, but instead of directing anger at the people that are trying to stop the oil leak we should be amazed at the technology that can even try to solve this problem, a mile underwater where no man, not even in the most sophisticated space suit could ever survive.

"Did you plug the hole Daddy?"

2010-05-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Obama's press conference last week was a disgrace. He believes his "golden voice" will always carry the day, so instead of answering questions directly and to the point, he filibusters to simply use up time. It's a classic tactic for a blowhard politician - set a specific time for the press conference and then use up the time by giving long meaningless answers to limit the questions. And Obama is a master at it. It took him 30 minutes in a one hour press conference to answer the first two questions - both about the oil spill.

And then to use these stupid anecdotes to show how the problem is foremost in his mind; like his daughter coming into the bathroom in the morning and asking "Did you plug the hole daddy?" It reminds me of the Democratic Representative during the Health Care debate telling the story of the old lady that had to use her dead sister's false teeth because she had no medical insurance. These politicians must think the American people are just plain stupid.

And then our "leader" goes to the Gulf for a photo op shown picking up tar balls on the beach. He looks at the camera and explains: "See these tar balls, they are actually from the oil spill". Thanks Mr. President we did not know that.

Then he's off to Chicago for a long weekend vacation rather than honor our dead soldiers at Arlington on Memorial Day. As one crusty old veteran put it; "I'm glad he's not going to Arlington, it would soil that hallowed ground". I suspect most of the military feel the same way.

So to those who read my Blog that are Obama fans, I apologize if this is harsh. But the hole I would like to plug is his mouth; when he opens it we all know it's more of the same - all talk and no action.

I am sick...

2010-05-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am sick of this weak, left wing socialistic President of ours apologizing to the world for our country's faults. He not only stood next to Mexican President Calderon and criticized the Arizona immigration law today, he then stood by while Calderon criticized and "advised" us on how we should change our immigration laws - I almost came out of my chair watching this spectacle.

And then President Calderon went before Congress and criticized our immigration laws, and our gun laws, and we watched the Democrats give him standing ovations. As they say in professional sports "You do not come into my house and disrespect me". The Republicans should have acted like a bunch of NBA thugs and put Calderon in his place. All the while our lily-livered President stood by and let him put this country down while the "Demos" gave Calderon "standing o's".

Excuse this blog - I have had a martini and am fuming at what I saw on the news today. How did we ever elect this lightweight as our President?

Read the G D bill!

2010-05-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

A majority of Americans were frustrated when the monstrous Health Care bill was passed and most of us suspected that the politicians who voted for it probably never read it. The bill is 2000+ pages long. I have tried to read it and I guarantee that not one of those politicians read the complete bill. It is a bureaucratic, legal nightmare, and it would have been impossible for anyone to read it completely in the short time they had before voting. Someone once said; "A camel is a horse designed by a committee". There must have been a hundred committees that designed this Health Care bill.

We send these politicians to Washington to represent us because we think they are smart and then they behave more like moronic ideologues and "political lemmings" rather than representatives of the people.

But what is inexcusable are the recent events when the administration's key people including the President, publicly condemned the Arizona immigration bill and then in an embarrassing set of events Attorney General Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and even State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley all admitted on national television that they had not read the bill - all 17 pages of it. Yet they have all condemned the bill and accused Arizona of discrimination and racial profiling, following the lead of their President.

And the main stream media are complicit by not reporting that 70% of Arizonans and 65 % of the country are in favor of this bill which explicitly prohibits racial profiling.

From the Health Care bill, to this response to the Arizona bill, it is obvious that our politicians simply have lost touch with the "main stream" of this country and I hope that in November American voters "clean house" - whether Democratic or Republican, and elect politicians that will start representing the people and move this country back toward the Republic our founders envisioned.

Big Ben Busted

2010-04-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

"Big Ben" Roethlisberger has singlehandedly contributed toward improving race relations in this country by proving that it doesn't matter whether you are black or white, you can still behave like a moron.

His six game suspension will cost him more than $473,000 per game or almost three million dollars. In addition, the Pittsburgh Steelers team will be fined several hundred thousand dollars, and there are rumors that he is being offered in trade for a top ten draft pick. The Steeler organization has always been very conservative and very professional, and are fed up with athletes that act like this. That's why they sent Santonio Holmes packing.

Three million for a "roll in the hay" (or should I say "booty in the bathroom") - Ben could have hired all of Tiger's mistresses for a year with money left over.

"No mo money"

2010-04-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

The traditional Democratic method of getting votes has been to promise to "take from the rich and give to the middle class and the poor". It is basic Socialism philosophy and very difficult to argue with. We all want to provide for the disadvantaged, but human nature distorts this Socialism philosophy and tends to create an "entitlement culture" whereby many people feel that rather than take responsibility for themselves, they "deserve" a share of the pie, even if they took no part in earning it.

But Socialism has never been successful because those that work hard to make the pie quickly lose their incentive, while the entitlement culture continues to grow as they get used to receiving their free welfare check, food stamps, health care, housing subsidy, etc. etc...

Former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher once said; "The problem with Socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other peoples money".

At the federal level we have not reached that point for one simple reason - the Fed simply prints more money whenever they need it, resulting in a debt that is staggering and will effect generations to come. But the states cannot print money so they are now "running out of other peoples money":

- The city of Los Angeles is contemplating reducing all but essential services to three days a week because they are out of money.

- The state of California, $21 billion in debt recently announced that their state employee pension funds are "underfunded" by almost $500 billion.

- Ten thousand residents of New York City have recently been told that they will not receive their housing subsidy...the City is broke.

- Today 33 states have reported that they do not have enough money to fund their unemployment obligations.

These examples are just the "tip of the iceberg" as our entitlement culture is starting to see the reality of a socialistic society. When the "takers" outnumber the "producers" the society begins its collapse. Or as one wise person put it the other day; "When the number of people riding in the wagon outnumbers the people pulling the wagon, the wagon stops".

The Moody "Blues"

2010-03-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a blog about one of my favorite 60's rock bands.

The national debt and uncontrolled spending in Washington is one of the least understood and at the same time the most serious issue affecting every American today. But why should you worry about the country's debt as long as you get:
your social security payment;
or your Medicare subsidy;
or your welfare payment;
or your food stamps;
or your free government housing;
or your children get their free school lunches;
or you get your free "stimulus" check from the government;
or you get subsidized for your college education;
or cash back from the government if you buy a car;
or cash from the government to buy a home;
or two years of unemployment benefits;
or cash from the government to help pay the mortgage you cannot support;
and soon a government subsidy to help you buy health insurance ?

How can anyone criticize such a compassionate and "giving" government? As one Detroit recipient responded when asked where she got her free stimulus check; "Obama give it to me, from his stash". Unfortunately, I have news for Obama and his Administration - "THE GOVERNMENT 'STASH' IS GONE".

As a result we are about to get the "Moody Blues". Most Americans have never heard of Moody's Investors Service. Moody's are the world-wide recognized authority in bond ratings. In layman's terms when a country, or a state, or a company sells bonds to finance their debt, Moody's rates the risk of those bonds being paid back. Throughout history the USA has had a gold-plated credit rating of AAA for their Treasury Bonds. But in a recent report Moody's made some interesting comments:

Regarding our AAA bond rating they said: "The rating is 'stable', but the 'distance-to-downgrade' has substantially diminished". In layman's terms, for the first time ever the USA is getting closer to having their Treasury Bonds downgraded. Why is this a problem? Because if Moody's reduces our bond rating we will pay higher interest rates to finance our staggering debt. And this higher interest rate will affect all aspects of our economy and could drive us into another recession, or worse.

In analyzing our massive debt burden, Moody's also made another interesting statement: "Growth alone will not resolve the USA's increasingly complicated debt equation. Maintaining a AAA bond rating will invariably require fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that in some cases will test social cohesion". In layman's terms Moody's are predicting that we will not be able to "grow" our way out of this massive debt problem - meaning spending cuts and higher taxes could be so severe that it could result in "public unrest".

Could we be seeing riots like they are having in Greece...citizens upset because they cannot get their welfare, or food stamps, or pension payments? Or upset because Obama has had to break his promise of, "no new taxes on the middle class"?

My parents always told me: "There is no such thing as a free lunch"...and if Moody's are accurate in their predictions, Obama's free lunches will soon start to disappear and if he truly is the Messiah he will have to start "feeding" the multitudes from an empty pot.

The "Statist" revealed?

2010-03-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

When Obama was running for president many of his opponents called him a "Statist" because of his long associations with many left wing radicals and associations, and his past socialist views. But Obama's campaign attributed these accusations to the right wing and convinced the American voters that he was a "centrist" and would pull this country together.

What is a "Statist"?
Wikipedia defines Statism as an ideology that advocates the use of government to achieve goals both economic and social. Economic statism promotes the ideology that the government should play a major role in directing the economy by heavy regulation or by government running major segments of industry (such as owning the country's auto industry). Social or political statism promotes the ideology that individual freedoms and rights are less important than the right of the government to"level the playing field" and insure that all citizens share equally in the productivity of the state - i.e. "redistribution of income". Historically, the classic examples of statism were the societies of Nazi Germany and the communist Soviet Union where the central government controlled every aspect of individual life.

I will not call Obama a "Statist" but look at what has happened since his administration was elected:

1/ The government bailed out many of the major banks and now owns or controls much of the financial industry. Government owned Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac control more than 50% of the mortgage market and many say are responsible for the housing "meltdown" by issuing mortgages to tens of thousands of unqualified buyers who eventually defaulted. Both of these government owned mortgage companies continue to lose massive amounts of money, yet are bailed out annually with taxpayer money.

2/ The government bailed out the failing auto industry and now along with the auto unions owns two of the three US auto companies.

3/ The 700 billion dollar stimulus program has resulted in few new private sector jobs but an increase of thousands of new government jobs. Government unemployment stands at half that of the private sector.

4/ The expansion of unemployment and welfare programs during the past year has been unprecedented resulting in many more citizens relying on the government for support, and has contributed toward pushing the national debt to the precipice.

5/ This new Health Care Bill gives the government unprecedented control over most aspects of the medical profession and in the opinion of many experts is just the first step toward elimination of private health care. The "statist" believes in "single payer" nationalized health care with government controlling all aspects of the medical industry. It is estimated that the government will need to hire 16,000 new IRS agents just to administer the mandates in this new bill.

6/ In addition, hidden in this Health Care bill is a complete government takeover of the College Student Loan Program which up to now has been administered by private companies.

7/ And finally, one of the next items on Obama's agenda is "Cap and Trade" - government regulation of carbon emissions, which could result in complete control of the energy industry and it's affect on each of our lives.

Is Obama a "Statist" - you make the call.

It's not "sausage"

2010-03-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Pundits refer to this health care madness as "making sausage" because the bill includes so many special earmarks, new rules, and backroom deals; many of which have nothing to do with health care. Believe it or not the final bill even includes a government takeover of the Student College Loan Program...health care?

Even though a majority of Americans are in favor of health care reform, that same majority are against this bill as it is written. It appears the bill could become law this weekend and possibly with a margin of just one Democratic vote changing one fifth of the economy of this country; and it will give government more control over our lives than any time in history.

Because of the financial "trickery" being used to present this bill to the American public, I don't call this sausage, I call it a sweet cookie with a poison pill inside. Many of the good aspects of this bill are "front loaded" while the negative aspects are delayed until after Obama's first term as president.

1/The democrats are "giddy" because the CBO reports that the bill will reduce the deficit over one hundred billion dollars the first ten years. They do not tell us that this deficit projection includes ten years of taxes but only six years of benefits since most of the plan costs do not start until 2014 - part of the "sweet cookie".

2/Mandatory coverage for pre-existing conditions begins immediately for children, and parents will be able to carry "children" on their own policy until those children are 26 years old. Both sides are in favor of this part of the bill - part of the sweet cookie.

3/Income taxes on individuals earning over $200,000 or couples earning over $250,000 go to 44% under this bill; not including state or local income taxes. These are "Jimmy Carter" tax rates and if you were alive during that period you can remember what happened to the economy. Since most of the beneficiaries of this new entitlement are lower income people or people who rely on the government to take care of them (and are probably Democratic votes), this is also part of the sweet cookie. But since most of these high income people are small business owners who create jobs, the future effect on the economy could be disastrous.

There are many other provisions in this bill that are part of the sweet cookie but in 2014 the "poison pill" will be reached as the costs start up and some economists predict the national debt will then explode. If you add that to our existing debt this country could be heading for bankruptcy or massive taxes on EVERYONE, not just the "fat cats". Then we will get a close up look at what out-of-control entitlements can do to an economy. It is easy to "sell" another entitlement - after all, everyone wants something for free. It is another thing to pay for those entitlements.

There is an old adage proven throughout history; "When people who are taking out of a society outnumber those that are putting in, that society collapses". This new Health Care entitlement along with our bankrupt Medicare and Social Security programs could be taking us to the edge of that cliff.

Obama fatigue

2010-03-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Is anyone besides me sick of seeing Obama on television EVERY day making a speech? This narcissistic orator believes all he has to do is stand up, turn on his golden voice and all the country's problems will get better. On the contrary, the more he spews his line of BS the more this country continues down the wrong path.

The financial madness in Washington is beyond anything I have seen in my lifetime and the spending just seems to continue with the national debt approaching $13 trillion. Who will pay the bill? Obama says that only people making over $250,000 will see their taxes increase. In one of his latest blustering homilies he informed us that a "Commission" has been formed to come up with recommendations on how to reduce the out-of-control national debt. The reason for this Commission confused me so I decided to go back and read again that document that our President and Congress seems to have forgotten about - the US Constitution.

The constitution states that; "the Congress shall have the power to borrow money, collect taxes, and pay the country's debts". We elect 435 Representatives and 100 Senators to manage the country's finances; supposedly our best and brightest people. Then why do we need a special Commission to tell them how to do their job? I'll tell you why - FOR POLITICAL COVER.

There is no way our national debt can be reduced without drastically reducing spending or increasing taxes on everyone. But Obama has promised that "No one under income levels of $250K will see their taxes go up one dime". Since the government is the only part of this economy growing and with Democrats in charge, do not expect to see any significant spending cuts. I predict that this Commission of 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans will recommend tax increases on everyone in the form of a "Value Added Tax (VAT)"...similar to what they do in Europe. And Obama will respond by making another speech and telling the American public; "I promised not to raise taxes, but I must follow the recommendations of this Commission". He will do this to hopefully get him, his administration, and Congress off the hook - it won't work.

I predict a VAT is on the horizon folks, probably 5-10% on top of everything you buy...in addition to state and local sales taxes. Ironically this will have the most damaging effect on the poorer citizens of this country; the citizens that the Democrats claim to protect the most. And the effect on the overall US economy could be disastrous.

VAT - watch for it.

"Color Correctness" - Update

2010-02-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

Under mounting pressure from the Asian community, Atlanta's rapid transit district MARTA has changed the name of the "Yellow Line" to the "Gold Line". Phew...another monumental problem solved by our politicians. What would we do without them.

"Color Correctness"

2010-02-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

Forget about political correctness; color correctness seems to be the latest controversy.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is under fire for naming one of their main routes the "Yellow Line". Since this route goes through an Asian community local Asian-Americans in Atlanta are up in arms and demanding the name of the route be changed.

MARTA also has a Red Line, a Green Line, and a Blue line. How insensitive of the city of Atlanta having the gall to name a route the "Red Line". If I were an American Indian I would also demand a change. And to further complicate the situation we understand Al Sharpton is planning protests in Atlanta because they do NOT have a "Black Line", and even though some may think that would be discriminatory, he believes the African American community are being left out.

When I started thinking about this story I became upset. I have traveled the world, Tokyo, London, Paris, New York and almost all their subway systems are color coded...yet I have never seen a "White Line" and like Al Sharpton I am pissed.

"Lone Survivor"

2010-02-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

I normally would not write a book review on my blog but since my last blog was about the Taliban this continues that subject.

I just finished "Lone Survivor" -The eye witness account of Operation Redwing and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10. The book was written by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Marcus was the 'lone survivor' in this true story of a tragic SEAL team operation in Afghanistan that went bad.

During my career, I had the opportunity to work with the SEAL teams at their training base on Coronado Island, San Diego. We were developing underwater communications equipment for them and I was one of the topside engineers working with these crazy underwater military men. I was impressed then and after reading this book which details the training they go through, I am even more impressed. You may ask what are Navy SEALs doing in land locked Afghanistan. Even though they specialize in underwater operations, the name SEAL comes from sea, air, and land Navy special forces.

The book is both uplifting and heartbreaking and after reading it you will have a lifelong appreciation for what our military men go through. You will see the political side of war where "political correctness" as applied to Rules of Engagement can literally handcuff and impair our troops from doing their job against a ruthless enemy. And you will get a true insight into the culture of the Taliban and the Afghans - both good and bad.

Whether you are for or against this war or any other war, this is a must read. These guys are not the ones who make war, they just follow orders with unwavering dedication to our country. I understand that Hollywood is making a movie of this remarkable story; let's hope they will portray the military like this lone survivor does - read the book.

A kinder gentler Taliban

2010-02-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Those that have followed the history of

Afghanistan

know that it has had a tumultuous history. From Buddhism to Islam and mostly local tribal rule it seems like war is part of the culture of the country. They were at war with the Russians for ten years before the Russians left with their tail between their legs. Then in the mid 1990's the Taliban took control of the country and instituted the strictest version of Islamic Sharia law.

Women were not allowed to leave their homes without a male escort, and when out of their homes they were not allowed to be seen; having to wear a "chadri" which is a full covering including their face. Women that attempted to go out in public without a chadri risked having acid thrown in their face or being intentionally disfigured. Girls were not allowed to go to school. Thievery was punished by cutting off a hand; adultery was punishable by public execution.

After taking control of the country and installing strict Sharia law which prohibits idolatry, the Taliban leaders issued an edict that all statues with even the remotest religious significance were to be destroyed. This included priceless ancient Buddhist and Hindu Statues located in many Afghan museums. Museums around the world offered to take these priceless artifacts but the Taliban refused and destroyed them.

The Buddhas of Bamyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan. Built in the fifth century these statues were worldwide tourist attractions and being the largest ancient statues of their kind were priceless artifacts. They were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban on orders from their leader Mullah Mohammed Omar after the Taliban government declared that they were "idols".

After the 9/11 attack the US and its allies drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan into the northwest mountainous regions of Pakistan. The US and NATO established a fragile democracy which turned out to be not as violent as the Taliban but just as corrupt. So we have been mired there for 8 years as the Taliban try to re-establish their power in the country.

This is the enemy the US and NATO are now fighting. The Taliban insurgency although growing stronger, has been losing favor in Afghanistan because of their random violence which has killed many innocent civilians. But the Afghans are not enamored with being "occupied" either and are simply war weary. This is what our troops are facing and I wonder if the problems in Afghanistan will ever be solved - after centuries of war it seems to be in their blood.

But the height of hypocrisy, coupled with their 6th century mentality, is the recent directive from Taliban leader Omar. The Taliban's spiritual leader in hopes of creating a kinder gentler image to the local Afghans outlined a new code of conduct for the Taliban. The dictates includes: “Bans on suicide bombings against civilians, burning down schools, or cutting off ears, lips and tongues"

I'm pleased to see that these enemies of ours are finally becoming civilized.

"Miracle in Massachusetts"

2010-01-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

Last year we had the "Miracle on the Hudson" and this year it is the "Miracle in Massachusetts". Scott Brown a Republican has won the Massachusetts senate seat held by the Kennedy's for the last 45 years. This was more than just a win in a "state" election. With registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans 3:1 the voters sent a clear message to Washington that "enough is enough".

Americans cannot stand to be pushed around by other countries, and they will not stand being pushed around by their own government. Critics say this win in Massachusetts was a referendum against the policies of the Obama administration - cronyism, false promises, special interest payoffs, nationalization of the auto industry, massive deficit spending, the proposed "Cap and Trade" tax bill, and especially a partisan Health Care bill negotiated in secret after all of Obama's promises to "keep an open process and post it live on CSPAN". This health bill is loaded with special deals, payoffs, and borders on pure Chicago style political corruption. A majority of Americans have been against it from the beginning and after sending a message in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections this Republican win in Massachusetts is a true indication of how fed up the public are with this administration since Brown had to secure many Independent and Democratic votes to get the win.

This was a particularly important election because the Republican winner eliminates the Democratic filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Brown did not just win, he won in what could be called a "landslide" in Massachusetts. But even with this strong message sent to Washington, I predict the arrogant Obama administration and Congress will still "play games" and somehow try to shove this partisan health bill down our throats.

The Massachusetts power base in Congress must be very concerned: John Kerry has to be wondering if his wife's money and his heroism in Vietnam will be enough to get him elected again; and Barney Frank must be shaking in his little pink boots.

More...."Madness"

2010-01-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

I watched Obama's speech today about "how we need to increase our security" along with another dozen platitudes, and my head was ready to explode. His speech was so canned, I could predict within a second when he would turn from one teleprompter to the other. He now claims to get serious with these "few extremist Muslims" that are trying to kill Americans.

Think about it...during the past year a Muslim extremist killed an Army recruiter in Arkansas, then a Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood killed 14 innocent people (including one unborn child), and now the Muslim "crotch bomber" came close to killing almost 300 people in the air, and who knows how many on the ground. All of these terrorists are being given the "rights" of American citizens and will go through jury trials as ordinary criminals instead of military tribunals which have always been this country's wartime tradition. Most Americans will agree that we are at war with these Muslim extremists.

After his arrest the "crotch bomber" started to talk about his training in Yemen and he even hinted that future attacks were being planned against the USA. But then when he was detained as a common criminal instead of a wartime combatant, he was given a lawyer, and he shut up. No longer can we interrogate him.

The final straw was when NYC Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the civilian criminal trial of Sheik Khalid Mohammad and his associates would cost New York City $216 million for security the first year and an estimated $206 million per year thereafter. This will be a "show trial" that will give AL Qaeda and Khalid a world stage to promote their Jihad philosophy. Here is a terrorist that has claimed total responsibility for the 911 planning and has even requested to be executed. He should be taken out to the back lot at Guantanamo, reminded of how he beheaded Danny Pearl, and then given the same treatment.

I have thought all along that Obama was just stupid and incompetent, but I am now starting to believe that he and his cohorts know exactly what they are doing and want to change this country from the bottom up. They believe this country should be taken down - we are Imperialists, we control too much of the wealth of the world, and they want to maintain control by making the average American slowly becoming dependent on the US government.

It's "madness" Obama, but it is not going to work. Every day I talk to more people that are just getting fed up and disillusioned at his socialist mentality and his glorious but empty speeches. And if there is one more attack on this country, one that kills a lot of people, I predict Obama's golden voice will turn to stone.

An IQ test for Al Qaeda?

2009-12-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

These Terrorists do not seem to be the brightest bunch.

Although they did pull off the largest peacetime attack in history on 911; since then they have had their list of duds. Richard Reed, the "Shoe bomber" could not get his matches lit to set off his bomb; many of the planned terrorist attacks since 911 have been thwarted because the potential terrorist was working with a government informant; and in the case of the Colorado terrorist traveling to New York for his "mission", his mistake was working with an informant that was a Muslim Imam.

But this recent try at blowing up a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit makes you wonder if Al Qaeda gives these "geniuses' any kind of IQ test. Here was a guy that boarded a plane with a powerful explosive hidden in the crotch of his underpants. Not only did he fail to trigger this bomb that he supposedly assembled himself, he was about to blow his "family jewels" to smithereens just before meeting up with his 72 virgins. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

But if you think about it, Al Qaeda has to walk a fine line - first they have to find someone smart enough to learn how to assemble, conceal, and then denote a bomb they are wearing, while at the same time that person has to be stupid enough to blow themselves up in the name Allah.

"Madness"

2009-11-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

"Madness"... the only term I can think of to explain what is happening in this country regarding the financial management by our government. It is such a subtle thing that many Americans pay no attention to what is happening. Why should you question the government when you may get a "stimulus" check, or a welfare payment, or food stamps, or help to pay off your mortgage, or a $4500 "cash for clunkers" payment, or an $8000 rebate for your first home purchase? Most people will not question "free" money? And if you get yours, why should you care if the government has to borrow the money to give you your free handout?

Many Americans do not even understand what a "$ trillion" is. My son recently made a good suggestion - eliminate the word trillion and replace it by "1000 billion" when talking about deficits...I agree; more people might understand the problem if they heard that the deficit this past year was 1,400 billion dollars.

We are now starting to see the reality of this spending of money that the country (and states), do not have. California was the first, now New York is almost bankrupt, and today ten states are close to bankruptcy. Has California tried to solve the problem by cutting expenses? No...they have raised taxes and increased the state tax withholding by 10% to in effect get a free "interest only" loan from the citizens of the state.

This reckless spending by Congress has caused the value of the dollar to drop 35% the past year. While at the same time Congress and President Obama are working hard to pass an unpopular Health Care bill and a "Cap and Trade" bill that will add even more 1000 billions to the deficit.

As a businessman that had to meet budgets all my life I cannot believe what these politicians are doing. They have no concept of managing money - because it is not theirs. They preserve their jobs by distributing "pork" and free services to their constituents with no regard to the future financial stability of this country.

But I see a tax revolt coming - our politicians cannot continue this uncontrolled spending and expect the public to support it with higher taxes, higher fees, higher interest rates, and higher inflation.

The unemployment rate continues to climb over 10%; and many estimate it is closer to 15%. And I'll tell you why, because the entrepreneurs and the small businesses who are the "machine" that makes this country work are standing on the sidelines, waiting to see what madness this government will come up with next.

Is he a Marxist? - correction

2009-10-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

In a recent blog post I wrote about a a thesis that President Obama produced while at Columbia. I checked this report out on Snopes and found no information regarding whether it was true or false, and I have found Snopes to be very reliable.

One of my readers pointed out that this quote from Obama's thesis may be a hoax. So I checked it out further and find that it was written as "satire". So in the interest of keeping this blog accurate I now believe the thesis quote was not made by Obama, and I certainly do not want to come across as a "right wing extremist".

This does not change the other points in the blog, so I ask again - is he a Marxist? You make the call.

Is he a Marxist?

2009-10-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

President Obama has been called a Socialist, a Marxist, and even a Communist. And of course these accusations are normally attributed to the "radical right wing" in this country. But if you look at Obama's history with Reverend Wright for 20 years, his past association with Louis Farrakhan and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, and the many left wing thinkers in his administration, it surely makes you think about his philosophy. Add to this his push for government run health care, along with his government takeover of two out of the three US auto companies, the takeover of several major banks, and the out of control "stimulus" spending that has driven the national debt to unheard of levels. But with the main stream media behind him, when Obama's policies result in accusations of promoting socialism, these accusations are just written off as "right wing rhetoric".

It's hard to find out how Obama thinks because his history, his writings, his speeches, and even his interviews and press conferences are so tightly controlled that we really do not know what this man thinks.

But recently, several pages from one of Obama's college theses at Columbia have surfaced and some of his writings in this thesis are quite interesting. Here is an excerpt from that thesis. I have put single quotes and highlighted some of the interesting thoughts:

"... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The 'so-called' Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is 'supposedly' a cornerstone of the document, the 'distribution of wealth' is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

These are very interesting writings by the man who was to become the President of this country:

In this thesis he refers to Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton etc. as the "so-called" Founders of our country. When I read this quote I actually sat down and read the Constitution again today. And I must say, the Founders of this country would not believe the American public elected this man President.

Second, Obama states that political freedom is "supposedly" a cornerstone of the Constitution, and that the Constitution does not even mention the "distribution of wealth".

If "distribution of wealth" is not classic Marxist or Communist philosophy, I don't know what is. Obama seems to have missed the Bill of Rights in his thesis. This country, starting with nothing, became the most powerful economic force in the world because individuals had the opportunity to show that hard work and innovation could make them wealthy - and many of them started with nothing. Now our President and his administration would like to "redistribute" that wealth.

Is he a Marxist? You make the call.

Kahlid the Martyr

2009-09-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

The picture seen around the world - Kahlid Sheikh Mohammad was captured in Pakistan in 2003 after a global search for this mastermind of the 911 attacks. Mohammad was also the "terrorist" who cut off Danny Pearl's head and posted the video for the world to see.

After his capture Mohammad was taken to Guantanamo Prison (GitMo) and has been detained there ever since. According to the Obama administration he was "tortured"; this torture included sleep deprivation, threats of injury, and of course "water boarding". Even though this man was responsible for the deaths of 3000 Americans, many from the left have accused the Bush administration of human rights violations for his treatment. Obama's Attorney General is now even investigating our CIA to see if criminal charges might be in order for the agents who interrogated Mohammad.

For some reason when I see all of this concern for Mohammad, the image of those innocent Americans jumping off the twin towers comes to mind. Their only choice was to jump to their death, or burn to their death.

After the election Obama immediately announced the US will never "torture" again and he reiterated that this week in his speech to the United Nations. Ironically on the same day as Obama's speech, Mohammad wrote a letter to the military court in GitMo calling Obama a liar and stating that 911 was a "noble effort". In the letter he also sent his best wishes to Osama Bin Laden and Mula Omar, the leader of the Taliban.

Mohammad is acting as his own lawyer and will be representing himself in military court. He states that his desire is to be given a "swift death penalty" so in Allah's eyes he can be a martyr. If only we could accommodate. But like a mass murderer on Death Row here in the U.S., he will most likely still be alive 20 years from now while endless appeals are pursued in our "very fair' legal system.

Now that he is working as his own counsel he realizes that he must change his image. What jury would take sympathy on him if he entered court looking like the picture above? Even common criminals in the U.S. know that your image when you show up in court is very important - out with the "low rider jeans" and on with the suit and tie.

So as Mohammad gets ready to start his trial he has changed his image to look more like a citizen of the world - I'm sure when the jury sees the "new " Mohammad they will take pity on him, and who knows he might even convince Obama that he deserves a Presidential pardon because of all the "mistreatment" he has gone through at the hands of our CIA. After all what jury could convict someone with a face like this?

More broken promises

2009-09-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

During his campaign Obama promised full "transparency" and told us that every proposed law would be put "on line" for 72 hours, for the public to read, before a vote. The administration has yet to do that on ANY proposed law.

As a Senate committee works feverishly this week on their version of a Health Care bill, the Republicans introduced an amendment today to post the proposed Senate bill on line for 72 hours, before the committee votes to send it to the Senate floor for final approval. The Democrats rejected the amendment.

This is what we are up against as our politicians try to ram laws down our throats without input from "the folks".

All I can say is yell and scream and write to your Senator and Congressperson, although so far the Democrats do not seem to be listening. They know that they have the power to push just about any law through.

Political Hypocrisy

2009-09-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

In 2004 when John Kerry was running against George Bush for the presidency, Mitt Romney, a Republican, was governor of Massachusetts. At that time the law stated that if a Senator vacated his seat, the Governor would appoint a Senator to serve out the remaining term. This is the law in almost every other state in the country.

Because John Kerry was a Massachusetts Senator running against Bush, the Democrats led by Teddy Kennedy were afraid that if Kerry won the presidency and vacated his Senate seat, Governor Romney would appoint a Republican to the U.S. Senate. So Kennedy convinced the Massachusetts democratically controlled House and Senate to change the law and require a "special election" to fill Kerry's vacant seat, knowing that the overwhelming democratic majority in the state would elect a Democrat. Kerry lost the election so the law change did not matter at that time.

After Teddy Kennedy died a few weeks ago; according to this law a special election for his vacated Senate seat was scheduled for January. But the White House balked, afraid they might lose their 60 vote "filibuster proof" majority in the Senate until then. Since there is now a Democratic Governor in Massachusetts, the Obama administration has pressured them to "go back" to the old law which would let the governor appoint a Senator to serve until the 2010 elections. With huge majorities in the Massachusetts House and Senate they voted today to change the law back to the way it was, insuring that the Governor will appoint a Democratic replacement for Kennedy next week.

This is the height of hypocrisy, so is no wonder that in a poll that came out today 66% of the American people are angry and have lost confidence in our politicians - both Democrats and Republicans.

What happened to the days when the people had a voice in this country? 2010 could be one of the most important elections in this country's history.

"Roasting Acorns"

2009-09-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

There is an old saying; "Sooner or later even a blind squirrel finds an acorn".

This story is almost too good to be true. Two twenty year old kids with a Handycam could cause the downfall of Acorn, a multi-million dollar corrupt liberal organization. Over the past several years many Acorn employees have been convicted of voter fraud and there have been Acorn voter registration fraud indictments in more than fifteen states. But these video tapes taken by these kids all over the country showing Acorn employees literally advising them how to commit fraud could be the nail in Acorn's coffin.

All the while our main stream "Ivy League educated" media stand by and look like they haven't even graduated from journalism school as the story is broken by two young students. Why? Because the main stream media did not want to investigate Acorn - they are Obama's former employer. Charlie Gibson the news anchor jerk that looked down his nose glasses while he interviewed Sara Palin said this week in a radio interview that he had not heard about the Acorn story, even though it was the biggest story of the week. He is either an idiot or he did "not want to report" the story. You make the call.

Obama is a former Acorn lawyer and trainer, but of course like Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers "he is no longer associated with them". Come on America wise up. Every piece of the puzzle keeps falling into place. I said in a recent blog I wonder how Obama ever got elected - the corrupt Acorn voter registration organization might have been a factor.

The House and the Senate have voted to stop funding Acorn and they have also been removed from participating in the 2010 Census. It will be interesting to see if Obama actually signs the bill ending their funding or if the administration will do a "dance" and somehow keep Acorn in business.

Now the CIA are the "Terrorists"

2009-09-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Obama Administration, specifically Attorney General Eric Holder, has appointed a special prosecutor to "review" allegations that terror suspects were abused at the hands of their CIA interrogators and possibly charge those interrogators with criminal behavior. Several details of the so-called "abuse" have already been reported, such as the alleged use of mock executions and other tactics to scare detainees.

The report said interrogators threatened Abdal-Nashiri, the alleged planner of the 2000 USS Cole bombing, by holding a power drill and handgun to his head. The Cole bombing killed 17 US sailors. The report also said they staged fake executions by having CIA officers and guards scream and yell in an adjacent cell and then leading the detainee past a hooded, motionless guard -- who was lying on the floor and made to look like he had been shot. And of course we have heard for months about the "water boarding" of several of the detained terrorists including Khalid Shaikh Mohammad mastermind of the 911 attacks.

Now let me see...in addition to masterminding the 911 attacks, this is the same Khalid Shaikh Mohammad who cut Daniel Pearl's head off and proudly posted the video tape for the world to see. Am I missing something here? I wonder if the majority of Americans believe these terrorists were "abused".

The more I see of this administration actions, the more I wonder how they were ever elected. If Holder moves forward and actually presses criminal charges against these CIA interrogators, I believe you will see a revolt even larger than the rebellion against Obama's Health Care proposal.

And yes, this is the same Attorney General Eric Holder who dropped all charges against the members of the New Black Panther Party that were threatening people with billy clubs at polling stations during the last election.

"The greatest job in the world"

2009-09-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

Think about it...the greatest job in the world is to be an incompetent Democratic Politician who is black.

We all have jobs and our performance in those jobs usually determines the future of our career. If we do not perform, we lose our job...unless we have a fallback position...the "race card". Many black politicians are in a no lose situation; if they do not perform their jobs, they are not necessarily in trouble with their constituents, they have an option; "People are against me because I am black". They can pull the race card from the bottom of the deck anytime and move it to the top.

I don't mean this to be a blanket condemnation; there are many good public servants on both sides of the aisle both black and white. But it is sickening to see the race card played again and again.

More than half of Americans are against Obama's health care plan and these Americans have valid concerns that have nothing to do with race. But starting with our former President Jimmy Carter the race card is now being played big time:

Former President Jimmy Carter: "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward president Obama is because he is a black man". Carter fails to mention that 53% of the electorate voted for Obama.

Representative Hank Johnson, Georgia: "I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods and white robes again and riding through the countryside intimidating people".

Gov. David Paterson, New York: "I and other black politicians are being judged by the color of our skin".

Rep. Dianne Watson, Los Angeles: "They are spreading fear and trying to see that the first President that looks like me fails".

Rep. Charles Rangle, New York: "Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is President. They go to sleep wondering 'How did this happen?'". Charlie Rangle is under investigation for tax evasion, failure to report millions in assets, and a half dozen other ethics complaints. 'But of course he is black and that is why people are after him'.

Maureen Dowd, New York Times: "What Rep. Joe Wilson meant to say was 'You lie boy!'".

These comments drive me crazy. If you disagree with a black politician you are a racist. I have never been a racist, but here goes:

"Barack Obama is an incompetent President that is not up to the job. He has never run a company, he has no business experience, he has nationalized the auto industry, he has no foreign policy experience, he has created a national debt that will take generations to pay off, he is an admitted socialist, and he is taking this country toward some very serious problems that will affect every American".

There I've said it, and I am now officially a "bigot". If anyone reading this blog has access to a white hood and robe send them to me, I might as well play the part.

"You lie!"

2009-09-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

These two words heard around the world on the Internet made Congressman Joe Wilson from South Carolina an instant "villain" of the left and an instant "hero" of the right. He admits that he just lost his cool during Obama's speech on Health Care to a joint session of Congress last week because of several statements made by the President that he knew were untrue.

Wilson immediately called the White House after the speech and apologized, and the President along with the Vice President accepted his apology. But that was not enough for the Democrats who admonished him today on the floor of the House along a mostly party line vote. The official resolution said that his outburst was "a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House."

I won't defend Joe Wilson's comment and he was out of line by shouting at the President during his speech. But let's remember all the times President Bush was called a liar by the Democrats and the time Democratic Senator Dick Durbin compared our military to Pol Pot and the Russian Gulags from the Senate floor, yet no action was taken.

I am not going to call President Obama a liar, but whether you are a Republican or Democrat you know deep down that quite often he does not tell the truth as he tries to "sell" his agenda.

He said during his speech that his health care plan would not cover illegal aliens, but Joe Wilson served on two different House committees while amendments to require "proof of citizenship" as part of the plan were rejected.

On abortion - whether you are "pro choice" or "pro life" it is a fact that several amendments introduced in the House to prohibit federal funding of abortion were defeated. Yet Obama promised during his speech the bill would not cover federally funded abortions.

During his speech Obama said his health care plan would not raise the deficit by a nickel, while the Independent Office of Management and Budget projects the House bill as proposed would raise it by more than a trillion dollars.

There were many more inconsistencies in Obama's speech about health care and I guess Joe Wilson just "lost it" when he heard one too many false promises.

I have never seen a President that has made so many speeches - he is on television every day because he is pushing hard to ram his agenda down America's throat. He is a wonderful speaker but I wonder if the public is starting to get "Obama fatigue"? If the poll numbers are correct he has lost the trust of millions of Americans, including many Independents, who just do not believe him anymore.

Obama is a charismatic and vocally talented "salesman" for his policies, but the more I hear him speak, the more the term "snake oil" comes to mind.

"Retirement sucks"

2009-08-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

At least that is what Bret Favre thinks. One of the greatest quarterbacks in history has for the second time come out of retirement. Financially he has more money than any of us could dream of having, and yet he could care less about the money. After all, his wardrobe consists of jeans and t-shirts. And now he is coming back for his 19 th year in the NFL; a punishing career that only a few could endure.

So why would he do this? I'll tell you why - he is a classic example of someone who just loves his job so much he finds it very difficult to give it up. Even though the chances of more injuries become higher as he continues to play a young mans game, he cannot let it go.

How many of you could say the same thing? If you were financially independent would you still be obsessed with continuing your career? I don't think so. That is why it is so impressive to see this kind of passion from a person that truly loves his work. I had the same experience for 35 years; a job that I was "passionate" about - but sadly that does not seem to be the case now with many young people.

After a lifetime of a career that I loved, I am happy in retirement and someday Bret Favre will feel the same. Let's hope he does not destroy his body in the process of pursuing his passion for football. I wish him well in the NFL this year.

"Snitch on your neighbor"

2009-08-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

The U.S. government blog website is asking you to "snitch" on your neighbor regarding the health care debate. They claim there is a lot of misinformation being spread about the Health Care Bill and they cannot track it all. So they want your help to "spy" for them and fight back against citizens who are against this bill. Here is what the White House blog says:

"If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

I snitched on this blog today. I sent an email to their blog site and told them that this blog has been spreading misinformation since it insinuated that members of Congress were voting on this 1000 page Health Care Bill without reading it. I told them I could not believe that was true. Being a loyal snitch I also told them that people were saying that even President Obama has not read this bill...can you believe people are saying that? And sadly some of these people accusing the President of not reading the bill are my friends and unfortunately I may have to report them also.

So be a loyal snitch and email the above address if you see or hear anything about this bill that seems "fishy". After all, if we can't trust our government to be truthful, who can we trust?

"Cash for Cluckers"

2009-08-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to see that there is still some humor left in Washington. A Republican Congressman, who is against these massive government giveaways like the "Cash for Clunkers" program, suggests we consider a new bill: "Cash for Cluckers". His reasoning: "Why should we just subsidize the auto industry, why not the poultry industry?" His proposal is a $10 rebate check from the government every time we eat a chicken or turkey.

This is funny, but there is a deeper message in this "giveaway" madness that has come from Washington for a long time. We are becoming a society that just looks at the government as one big handout. My parents who went through the great depression would find this disgusting. We are turning from a nation of hard working, industrious and creative "givers" to a nation of "takers". And the Democrats know that by creating a society of "takers" that depend on the government, they have a greater chance of keeping power. And I believe that has always been the liberal plan. Think about it - after trillions of dollars spent the last 50 years on Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" which created one welfare program after another, we now have just as many poor people dependent on the government as we did then. Think about how that money could have been spent on programs to educate and create jobs for those poor people.

Giveaways by the government do not create jobs they create dependents.

A new study that came out today showed that now the top 1% of taxpayers in the country pays more taxes than the bottom 95%. That is almost hard to believe. But many will say, "Well they are so rich they can afford it". Maybe so, but what if that 1% like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs....all the innovators of the last decades, and what if all the innovators of the future, finally reach a point where they say "The hell with it, it's just not worth working so hard".

My son recently suggested that a good book for all of us to read is "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire". The analogy may not be the same, but one thing is for sure - when more people are "taking out" of a society than those that are "putting in" - the society will collapse.

"Cash for Clunkers"

2009-07-31T17:14:00.000-07:00

The government has come up with another successful program doing what they do best - giving away money! All you have to do is take in any old car and if you buy a new car with better gas mileage, you get a free check from the government from between $3500-4500 dollars, and of course you improve the environment at the same time by reducing all those nasty gas guzzling cars that Americans seem to love.

In just one week, the "Cash for Clunkers" program blew through its billion dollar budget and was on the verge of being canceled. But our benevolent government quickly came to the rescue. In a matter of hours the House of Representatives found another $2 billion laying around and the program is back on again. A few billion here, a few billion there, I love the way our politicians enjoy spending our money - money we don't have.

This program has been so successful, I understand that as part of the new Health Care Reform Bill the Democrats are considering a "Cash for Senior Clunkers" program, so that when us old folks reach a point where the government decides it is no longer cost effective to give us health care, our kids can turn us in to the local government-run euthanasia facility and get a cash rebate. It's comforting to know that someday my kids will at least get back a small portion of the taxes I have paid all these years.

"Health Care for Everyone"

2009-07-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Of course we want health care for everyone, but the way this plan is being presented the Democrats fail to mention that 80-90% of Americans are satisfied with our present health care system. This leaves about 30 million people without health care in the USA, plus an estimated 12 million illegal aliens, which is where the "42 million" number comes from.

Why not concentrate on the 30 million uninsured instead of the majority that are satisfied with the best health care system in the world? I won't go into all the arguments in this blog; if you have followed the news you know what they are; if you haven't, this blog will mean nothing to you. All I know is that I want to keep my doctors, I trust them, and I want any medical decisions made between just me, my doctors, and my family.

Representative John Conyers said yesterday; " How can you expect us to read a document that is more than 1000 pages long when you would need days and a few lawyers to understand it". He is one of the key democrats trying to push this bill through Congress and he admits that they did not read the bill before voting on it - unbelievable. Our political system is broken - politicians are voting on ideology not what they think is best for the American people.

Here is a draft of of the bill - 1018 pages - pretend you are a Congressman or Senator and read it:
http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

If you want "free" health care, you should read this, because if this bill is passed it will affect the rest of your life. But you won't read it, just like our politicians won't read it...it would take weeks if not months to truly understand it. Yet Obama says we need to vote on it NOW. Why? Because the Democrats know that if the public has time to see what is in this bill they will reject it, so "cramming" it through is their only hope of getting it passed.

One "minor" portion of this proposed bill is the requirement to give "end of life counseling" every five years to all seniors over the age of 65. Being almost 70 I will move to the top of that list. Can you imagine the day that a young civil servant with a bachelors degree in psychology comes and knocks on my door to give me "end of life counseling"? He will wish that he had picked engineering as a profession - if he survives the visit.

"Hope and Change"

2009-06-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Unemployment in this country is now over 9.4%, the highest level in 27 years, with no sign of getting better. Foreclosures are at an all time high and show no sign of getting better. Real estate prices are at rock bottom with no sign of getting better. The Government and the United Auto Workers now own General Motors and Chrysler, and both companies are in bankruptcy. The national debt is projected to exceed ten trillion dollars by 2016 and the administration is trying to push through a national health care system that will not only destroy our private medical system but will add another trillion dollars to this debt.

Obama has appointed 21 "Czars" that report directly to the president and they are not accountable to any congressional oversight. This is now the most autocratic administration in this country's history with Obama and his cronies in the Executive branch trying to gain control of everything.

There are rumors of the government planning to tax medical insurance benefits, adding a 50 cent gasoline tax to replenish the bankrupt highway fund, and talk about adding a VAT which is a "value added tax" or in simple terms; a national sales tax. This would be a sales tax on everything we purchase, in addition to our local sales taxes. The Obama administration is also working on a "Cap and Trade" system to regulate and control CO2 emissions from American businesses which will add an energy tax that will affect every American, with some estimates projecting a $2-3000 per year increase in our average energy cost.

The North Koreans are threatening nuclear war and have just sentenced two innocent female American journalists to twelve years hard labor; many say this could be a death sentence for these American citizens. Obama's response has been a scolding to North Korea and desire to pursue "diplomacy". Iraq is sliding backwards and the Taliban are making significant gains in Afghanistan, and even threatening the government of (nuclear powered) Pakistan. During all this Obama travels around the world apologizing for the "conduct" of the United States and referring to his own country as a "torture nation".

So how is this "Hope and Change" working out for you?

Through all this, Obama still commands a 60 percent approval rating by the American public. My son said recently that "Americans are obsessed with style over substance", and nothing could be closer to the truth. It's sad to see a majority of the American public continue to skip down the Yellow Brick Road following an "empty suit" with a golden voice.

"No Mas"

2009-05-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

"No Mas" - the famous words uttered by boxer Roberto Duran during a championship fight when he could not continue to take the beating he was getting from Sugar Ray Leonard.

Voters said "No Mas" to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California state politicians yesterday in a special election designed to raise our taxes further. In an effort to pay for spiraling debt due to uncontrolled spending by politicians, six propositions were on the ballot; five were various schemes, cleverly worded to get people to accept additional fees and temporary taxes, with the politician's "promise" that it would only be for two years. But the voters saw through these scams and defeated the five propositions by a more than 60% NO vote. The final proposition was a new law that will not allow State Senators, Representatives, or the Governor to take a raise in pay during any year that the state has a deficit. That proposition passed by a whopping 70% YES vote.

Even though the state will now face a deficit of $20-30 billion, and our Governor has threatened to cut many vital programs, the voters have finally had it. In a state that is heavily Democratic and voted overwhelmingly for Obama, people are finally getting smart and realizing that whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, politicians cannot continue to spend money that they do not have. Schwarzenegger is now in Washington trying his best to get a "bailout" for California, and if he is successful the rest of the citizens in the country will have to pay for the morons we have in Sacramento who just spend without any thought of where money is coming from. In the past they knew that all they had to do was raise taxes on Californians to get more money - no more.

Let's hope the time will come when voters in the rest of the country will finally get the message and say "No Mas" to Obama and his free spending socialist administration that threatens the future of this country.

GM - "Government Motors"

2009-04-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

My first car in 1955 was a Pontiac, my second car was a Chevy, my third car was a Dodge, and my fourth car was the classic 1957 Chevy convertible - arguably the most beautiful car ever to come out of Detroit. I now drive a Dodge truck and have owned at least one American made car most of my adult life. Those days may be over.

Last November I wrote a blog entitled "Let them die". Here is an excerpt from that blog:

"If I were President, I would tell the CEO's of the auto companies to pack their briefcases, go back to Detroit and solve these problems by themselves; or go bankrupt. If all three US auto companies went out of business it would be a dramatic event in the history of this country, but out of the ashes of their destruction would come a better, stronger auto industry that would be competitive with the rest of the world. Detroit's problems are all of their own making primarily as a result of ridiculous union agreements and lack of long term research.

Automakers are trying to renegotiate union agreements but the damage is done. If any of the big three go bankrupt many of those union employee pension and lifetime health benefits will be gone. Or maybe the government will give these auto workers a "bailout" too. "

Well, the government gave the auto workers more than a "bailout". In the "restructuring" that was announced today the United Auto Workers could own 55% of Chrysler and 39% of General motors. With the government owning the majority of the remaining stock in both companies, the UAW will have control of Chrysler and GM will essentially be nationalized. Incredibly, in the case of GM, common shareholders who owned 100% of the company a year ago, will now own about 1% of the company.

These plans will most likely happen whether or not the companies go through a restructuring bankruptcy. So we could have a "government owned" (nationalized) auto company and a "union owned" auto company; which raises some interesting questions:

1/ If GM (Government Motors) continues to fail and lose money, will the government subsidize their own company to keep it in business?

2/ Will the government come up with new rules like "Card Check" that could penalize the non-union companies that compete with them?

3/ With the UAW owning 55% controlling interest in Chrysler, how will they negotiate union contracts? Will the UAW majority owners decide what salaries and benefits their own union workers will get?

One has to wonder if this bailout and reorganization was not the plan all along by the Obama Administration - "Nationalize" GM (Americas largest auto manufacturer), and allow the UAW to get control of Chrysler.

I predict both of these companies will now eventually fail unless the government continues to subsidize them. They simply will not be able to compete with a private business (e.g. Post Office vs UPS or FedX).

As for me, I have bought my last GM or Chrysler automobile.

"The Party is over"

2009-04-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

"The Party is over"...a parable.

For us Christians today is Palm Sunday; a day that celebrates Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey with multitudes waving palm leaves and shouting "Hosanna" (Arabic for "save us"). The bible says, "He proceeded to a temple where he drove out the merchants, knocked over the money changers tables, and began to heal the blind and the lame".

Today our Pastor gave a sermon about that week in ancient religious history. After arriving in Jerusalem to such a celebration on a Sunday, by Thursday the "party was over" with Jesus hosting the Last Supper, being tried and convicted by the Jewish High Priests, and crucified on Sunday.

To me there is a parable here. Our charismatic President arrives in Europe this past week to the celebration of thousands in Europe, all wishing for hope and change...someone to "save them". And he rose to the occasion; not healing any of the blind or lame; but in his charismatic way promising the world that he is here to turn the world economy around and return us to the days of prosperity. But even though the multitudes flocked, the "High Priests" in Europe did not buy his sermon. No, he won't be tried or convicted of anything, but after apologizing for America's "arrogance" he left Europe with nothing more than the adoration of thousands, who like many here, look at him as a savior.

The future will tell if he really is a "savior", because economically we need one. But I predict all the reckless spending in Washington and uncontrollable growth of debt will catch up to us and within a few years Obama's star will die out, and his "party will be over". Unfortunately our children and grandchildren will live with the legacy of this financial madness.

Gopher wars continue...

2009-03-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

We have been invaded by gophers. We have gophers everywhere, but they mostly invade the soil around our house - in the lawn, in my wife's flower gardens, and in our small vineyard. Now it's not like these little buggers are starving. We live on 20 acres with an estimated 600-900 oak trees, so they have enough oak roots to eat from now until eternity. But I guess the gophers are looking for more culinary delights like, "root of fescue grass with topsoil", or "root of marigold", or "root of agapanthus", and the more discriminating gophers go to our vineyard where they can feast on "root of Viognier" before dinner, followed by "root of Pinot Noir" for the main course.

This is a war, but we have discovered a new weapon; "The Gopher Tool", a subsoil bait injector. The "Tool" is a clever invention; it is a long probe with handles on the upper end plus a capsule with a crank. The capsule is filled with poison bait. The probe is pushed into the ground and when you feel a sudden lack of resistance, you know the tip of the probe has entered a gopher tunnel. You then turn the crank and a small door opens at the bottom of the probe and deposits strychnine poison pellets (coated with a special tasty "gopher sauce") in the tunnel. The gophers come along, feast on this delicacy and die.

We recently ran out of the pellets, which we have been borrowing from our neighbor. He said that to get a new supply, a government permit from the Department of Agriculture was required and his permit had expired. So being a lifelong taxpayer that has never depended on the government for anything, I decided to put the government in action. So the next day I went to our local DOA office. As I walked in, it was like a morgue but I could see several people behind glass windows "hanging out" in their offices. I was the only visitor in the building. I told the receptionist I was there to get a permit to buy "Wilco Gopher Getter" poison bait pellets. She said, "You need to talk to an Agriculture Inspector for that let me see if he is available". Unfortunately he and his office mates were obviously very busy behind the glass windows and she came out to tell me that he would have to call me back, and she took my name and phone number.

So I left the DOA, and on the way home I stopped at our local Farm Supply where I know a guy, who in addition to working at the store, has a 20 acre vineyard. I told him that I was at the DOA to try and get a permit to buy bait for my "Gopher Tool" and asked him if there was anything else I could use. He said, "We have the Wilco Gopher Getter bait" and took me to a section with a full shelf of what I wanted. He then explained that the bait used by homeowners like myself includes 0.5% strychnine poison and is available off the shelf. He said the poison that requires a permit (like my neighbor had) contains 1% strychnine and is normally only used in large vineyards and agriculture fields where they spread the poison pellets and then plow them into the ground so gophers eat them while they are digging their tunnels. Isn't it nice to know that the vines that grow our grapes and the agriculture we eat is grown in soil laced with a bit of strychnine poison?

Anyway, that evening I was back in action filling those tunnels with an evening meal for all the local gophers.

A week later...

Now originally this was going to be a sarcastic blog about our incompetent government, but I received a call today from an Agriculture Biologist with the local DOA. I must admit he was professional, personable, and very accommodating. He spent a lot of time with me literally describing the physiology of gophers, how this poison bait works, and why it is regulated and is sending me a booklet on gopher control. He said I made the right decision buying the lower dose poison bait since the higher dose is only used by large agriculture operations.

So even though they were a week late in responding to my problem, my perception is that at least this small segment of our government seems to know what they are doing.

"The great Obama facade"

2009-03-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

'facade': a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect.

Today President Obama signed a budget bill that included more than 8500 "earmarks'". This was a candidate that promised he would eliminate earmarks line-by-line if he were president. Unlike all of the executive orders and bills he has signed (with much fanfare) in front of the cameras the past few months, this bill was signed in private without cameras. Later he made a short televised speech and stated that this was an "imperfect" bill, but in the future he will insist that Congress change their ways and he will clamp down on all earmarks. As I watched his head move from side-to-side reading the teleprompter during this short speech I was again amazed that this man cannot even make a short statement without reading something that was prepared for him.

Obama is the most closely managed politician I have ever seen. He seems almost incapable of speaking from his heart. He only gives interviews to friendly media. The few press conferences he has had have been ridiculous. The main stream media are his co-conspirators throwing him "softball" questions and he follows with long meaningless answers. As we have observed the past few years, "Obama says nothing better than it has ever been said before".

Even during a recent interview he made with the New York Times; when they asked him if he was a "socialist" he stumbled, and the interview had to be revised in a phone interview the next day. That next day Obama told the Times, "I thought you were kidding when you asked that socialist question". Let's be real - he didn't think they were kidding; his "handlers" knew that he got off message and immediately went into damage control.

This guy is a gifted public speaker and brilliant in front of a teleprompter, but I believe we are witnessing one of the greatest "political facades" in the history of American politics.

"The chute didn't open"

2009-03-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the auditors of General Motors reported that they have "substantial doubt" that GM will be able to survive and may go into bankruptcy. This is after GM has received $13 billion in "bailout" funds and is asking for another $17 billion.

American International Group (AIG) has received a $150 billion "bailout" and are now asking for $30 billion more.

Citi Group has received $45 billion in "bailout" funds and is asking for more. Yesterday their stock dropped to less that $1 per share from a high of $50, as experts predict their failure.

Housing foreclosures continue to increase and today the House approved a $75 billion "bailout" program that will allow homeowners in trouble to refinance at more attractive mortgage rates and longer payment terms. These "bailout" rates will in many cases be MORE attractive than the rates being paid by homeowners that have been responsible by making their mortgage payments. In addition this bill will give judges the ability to "cram down" a mortgage - in simple terms, if the irresponsible homeowner can show they have "made an effort" to redo their mortgage, the judge can cram down the interest rate and possibly even the principle of the mortgage to ease their payments and keep them in the home. So if Obama eventually signs this bill, a judge may have the power to legally break a contract and decide that an irresponsible homeowner does not have to pay the price they agreed to when they bought the home. This stupid "cram down" provision will never work because lawsuits will stop much of this program and attorneys will get rich while the courts decide if this latest "bailout" is constitutional.

After throwing billions of dollars at these failing companies and bad mortgages, these "bailouts" have failed and our economy is falling like a skydiver whose chute did not open.

I am an advocate of letting market forces work; looking back here is something interesting - Bear Stearns was given no "bailout" money and they were allowed to fail. The market worked, the economy absorbed that business failure, and it is behind us. But we were told: "AIG is too big to fail". Could it be because AIG insures the Congressional Pension Plans? Most experts agree that one way or another AIG will fail or be broken up and us taxpayers will take it on the chin again...but what the hell, it's only $180 billion.

The stock market is a predictor of the future and it continues to plummet. The market has lost 3000 points since the Obama administration took over - the worst stock market performance for a new President in more than 100 years. Investors are standing on the sidelines wondering when the market will reach bottom. In my opinion it will reach bottom and start to turn around when our President and our moronic politicians in Washington stop the spending madness and say; "NO MORE BAILOUTS". The pain may be great, but the economy will recover and the country will be stronger. And after all, how could the economy get much worse?

Comparisions

2009-03-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

This blog may be self serving but allow an ageing man an opportunity to "compare" himself to one of his own.
I saw this recent picture of my grand daughter Kelley who runs for the Saddleback College cross country team, and it reminded me of my running days. Even though my joints no longer work and my knees have been replaced with synthetic materials by a brilliant surgeon, I can still "race" vicariously through my grand daughter. If you have never been a runner this "comparison" will not mean much, but to me it brings back the memories of some great times and I am so pleased that Kelley loves to run as much as I did.

"The man behind the curtain"

2009-02-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

Generations of Americans remember the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy and her friends brought back the witch's broom and confronted Oz. As he blustered at them Todo the dog pulled the curtain aside and his charade was revealed as he said "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"

I am almost seventy years old and still remember that scene from this classic movie. It reappeared from the deep recesses of my memory last night as I watched President Obama make his first major speech to the Congress and the rest of the world. Obama is a gifted orator who rivals John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and even Oz (as long as he was behind the curtain). But last night as his golden oratory flowed along and he continued his populist message of free everything for everyone, this scene from my favorite movie came to mind again, but I think the wording should be changed to: "Pay no attention to the man behind the golden voice".

Populism is hard to go up against;

- tax cuts for 95% of the people and tax increases on the "rich"
- bailouts for those who cannot pay their mortgage
- free health care for anyone who cannot (or will not) pay for it
- extended unemployment benefits and then welfare and food stamps
- college tuition grants for everyone who needs it
- development of renewable energy sources that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce global warming (forget that we could be completely energy independent with our own oil and nuclear power)

Who can argue against any of these promises, but there is never any discussion about how this will be paid for, and how can you argue against this populist message when many Americans see these promises as something for "free".

During his campaign, and even in his speech last night Obama said, "There will be no more earmarks". Anyone with a brain can see that the $720 billion stimulus bill is fifty percent "pork" and an independent report estimates that the 2009/2010 budget bill being approved this week includes more that 8500 earmarks - for want of a better word...disgraceful.

So I say: "Pay no attention to the man behind the golden voice". When you pull the golden curtain aside, this gifted orator is an "empty suit" and in my opinion he will go down as one of the more incompetent Presidents in the history of this country along with George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - wow three in a row...we are on a roll (a bad one).

"Comparisons"

2009-02-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

This blog has been too serious lately, so I thought I would lighten it up. Have you ever seen two people in completely different professions that have some similarity in their looks and also seem to project the same image? Maybe it's the combination of those images and your own emotional feelings that actually "make" them look like each other. There is nothing like an image to relate this feeling. Why do these two remind me of each other?

Helen Thomas - Journalist, Heath Ledger - The "Joker" , Dark Knight

Or maybe it's just me...

Financial Madness

2009-02-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

"Financial madness" is the only way to describe what is happening in Washington lately. I will not go into the details - anyone with a brain or the least bit of interest about what is going on in this country knows what the numbers are - trillions of dollars of "pork" spending leading to more future debt.

After the first half of the $720 billion "TARP" bill was distributed to banks, and later the government admitted they had "no idea how it was spent", it just confirmed my belief that our politicians are not just idiots, they are mostly incompetent managers who have no idea what economics are all about - the average small businessman in this country would make the average politician look like he failed ninth grade math. Since that first stimulus bill, additional trillions of dollars have been spent and when Obama makes his speeches about all this spending the crowds cheer. Financial madness is the only way to describe it and I would guess a large portion of the people that voted for Obama have no idea what the consequences of these spending bills are...in fact many look at it as "free" entitlements for themselves.

Since the country had a deficit to begin with, these trillions of dollars have to be borrowed. But that borrowing will soon come to an end as the rest of the world begins to worry about the USA's ability to pay it back. At that time our government will have only a few choices - raise taxes on everyone, or print money and let inflation reduce the debt. Both are losing propositions for main street Americans.

I am convinced that this is a power grab unprecedented in the history of this country, aimed at laying the foundation for a socialist government with hopes of securing power for the Democrats for years to come. These bailouts reward homeowners that made poor choices, they reward auto makers and banks that have mismanaged their companies, and they re-establish a broad welfare system in this country. Think about it - most of these programs support people that have "failed' and ask achievers to pay for that failure. It's just a way to redistribute the wealth of this country from the achievers to the non-achievers...classic socialism. Margaret Thatcher, former Conservative Prime Minister of Britain once made a very prolific quote:

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money"

Unfortunately the Democrats have almost total control in Washington and Obama, the "pied piper of socialism" is leading his throngs like lemmings over a cliff. And I think he knows exactly what he is doing.

Priorities?

2009-01-22T18:18:00.000-08:00

Any good manager will tell you that when there are serious problems, you work on the most important ones first and forget about everything else.

Obama's first executive orders included closing the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, bringing the terrorists to the USA for trials, and eliminating all harsh interrogation techniques. I'm sure terrorists around the world are running around like Munchkins singing "Ding dong the witch is dead".

And then last Friday evening during the 'slow news cycle' he quietly reinstates an executive order which provides for the USA to fund overseas "Family Planning Services" which we all know is code for supplying contraception and abortions around the world. It is estimated this will cost our country $400-500 million/year. Whether you are Pro Choice or Pro Life does the Obama administration remember this country is BROKE!

Our economy is in shambles, we are in debt over our heads, millions are out of work, we are involved in two wars, terrorism continues to loom it's ugly head, and Obama's first priorities are to lighten up on terrorists and lead the charge on international population control.

Good work Mr. President, we are pleased to see you and your administration have your priorities in order.

Our "no class" society

2009-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

The inauguration today was impressive as it usually is. This country knows how to show the world that our democracy can change power in a very civil and impressive way. I did not vote for Obama but he is now my President and I wish him the best.

But two things turned me off about our country today. Obviously the attendance at the inauguration was mostly liberal folks; after all it is their victory. During the introductions the crowd applauded the Clinton's, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and all the other Democratic dignitaries...as they should...they won. But when first President George H. W. Bush and his wife were introduced, the crowd was quiet, and when President George W. Bush and his wife were introduced the crowd booed and some yelled obscenities. Whether you agree with his politics or not he was our President and should get the respect of his office. The reaction of the crowd shows the lack of "class" that many in our country have. I am a hard core Conservative who disliked Clinton and Carter with a passion, but I would NEVER boo a standing President. Whether you agree with our President or not they deserve our respect...another black eye for you Democrats.

And finally I must take exception to the Benediction especially the final paragraph:

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right."

I am a 69 year old white man that has always "embraced what is right". So Reverend Lowery I take offense with your prayer and on the day of the inauguration of the first black President, which is supposed to bring us all together, you have by your words kept the racial divide in this country front and center.

"Hope and Change"

2009-01-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I have had writers block the past few weeks, perhaps it's the holidays or maybe in my excitement anticipating the inauguration I just can't wait for the "hope and change" coming this year - along with lots to write about.

Here is what I am "hoping" for...

I am hoping that we pack up and leave Iraq and let the Sunni and Shiite Muslims get on with killing each other off. Maybe the Iranians can recruit another 70 thousand Shiite suicide bombers (in addition to those selected for war against Israel), and they can go after the Iraq Sunnis. The Iraqi Sunnis can then go to Saudi Arabia and recruit 70 thousand Sunni suicide bombers and they can all meet in Iraq and have one big self-sacrifice. Allah will have to work overtime to prepare the virgins - but can you imagine the fun those martyrs will have when they get to heaven?

I am hoping the Israelis and Palestinians will finally have peace with each other. But we must have patience; after all they have only had 50 years to work out their differences.

I am hoping Barack sends us all a BIG check to stimulate the economy. Don't worry about where the money will come from or how big the deficit will become. I have heard from a very reliable source that the US Mint has already doubled their order for ink next year in anticipation of the Obama administration. Who knows, someday Barack Obama's picture may be on the $100,000 dollar bill that you will use to put a down payment on your new car.

I am hoping for a 20,000 point stock market in 2009.

But even more important is the "change" we have to look forward to...

Even though Obama has filled his cabinet with more than 50% of Clinton "retreads", obviously they must have learned from their mistakes or the "messiah" would not have selected them. No more corruption or special interests. Forget about Illinois and Blago - Obama had no connection with those corrupt Chicago politics. After all, he has disassociated himself from Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan. He has said his close relationship with convicted felon Tony Resko was a mistake, but assured us there was no wrong doing. He has said that his relationship with the terrorist Bill Ayers was just a distant "friendship" and that kicking off his campaign in Ayers house was not a big deal.

We need to give Obama a break - as he says "The days of old boy politics in Washington are over". Sure his staff dropped the ball in not finding out that Bill Richardson, his designate for Commerce Secretary was being investigated for corruption ("pay to play" - does that sound familiar).

And he is raising the CIA to a higher level installing Leon Panetta as Director - he promises no more harsh interrogations like those in the Bush administration conducted. We will now be a kinder gentler country and convince terrorists that they need to become good guys. No more Metallica playing 24 hours - they will get Lazy Boys, iced tea, and wind chimes. I am sure this gentle treatment will convince them to reject Islam and come over to our side.

If you have a business in these difficult times do not worry, the government will bail you out. Don't be a "capitalist slacker" and try to work your way through your problems...after all the government is there to help.

But the biggest change I look forward to is that finally I will have a government that will take care of me. I worked my butt off all my life and now a "messiah" has come along to tell me that "I do not have to work so hard, the government is there to help" - damn, and here I am retired. Those of you that are out there working for a living - how lucky you are - slack off, the government has arrived.

But if you have been on welfare all your life, what can I say - unfortunately you folks will not experience the exciting "changes" that the rest of us are looking forward to.

I can't wait.

Israel's "Barracuda"?

2008-12-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

The recent terrorist events in Mumbai had a profound effect on the Israelis. Now that the details are revealed, the story of a young Rabbi and his wife that ran a local Jewish center is tragic. They volunteered to run a student center called the Chabad House in Mumbai which provided assistance to Jewish tourists and worked to help the poor in India. This young couple was in their late 20's and had a toddler son who thanks to an Indian nanny was pulled aside and rescued from being executed. His young parents were not so lucky. An autopsy revealed that the Rabbi and his wife were violently tortured before they were executed with a gun shot to the head. Four other Jews were killed the same way during that siege. The coroner that performed the autopsy said that he had never seen violence like that against a human being before, and never wants to even think about it again.

Jewish communities around the world are in shock and angry. And the Jews do not forget. The Mossad (Israel's CIA) is acknowledged to be the most competent intelligence agency in the world and anyone connected with this terrorist attack should consider updating their Last Will and Testament.

As a global political addict, and someone who has spent time in Israel, and for years conducted business with the Israelis, I have always been interested in the politics of the Middle East, especially since in many ways it is the root of Islamic extremism. Many conflicts involving radical Muslims lead back to Israel and the Palestinians. Starting with Jimmy Carter every President has cajoled, negotiated, shook hands, visited the holy land, signed agreements, and 30 years later here we are with zero progress - the Palestinians still hate the Israelis and vice verse.

Iran is now the major threat to Israel. They fund the terrorist groups Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon and have openly advocated the extinction of Israel. With Iran now close to the development of a nuclear bomb I am sure the Israelis feel their backs are against the wall. Their unofficial national slogan is, "There will NEVER be another holocaust" so I am sure they feel they must make a decision on the Iran issue soon. This week we read about Israel preparing for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities even without the USA. That is probably political bluster aimed at Iran and the incoming President Obama, but I believe this could be the next major world conflict and Obama's first real test as President. The truth be known, many Mideast countries are probably quietly in favor of an Iranian attack by Israel or the USA because they are afraid of Iran also.

Recently Ehud Olmert the Prime Minister of Israel has resigned while being investigated for corruption and his party elected Tzipi Livni as their leader and the new Prime Minister. Most Americans do not even know who Tzipi Livni is. She is not a career politician, but a former Mossad agent and she is a tough lady. Although she is called a "liberal", in Israel that has a much different meaning. Her mission is peace in a country that has been at war for 60 years. She has been the lead negotiator with Palestinians in the most recent peace negotiations and appears to be the first Israeli leader in many years willing to seriously compromise and do what is required to insure Palestine finally becomes an independent state.

But Israeli politics are different from ours, and she had to put together a majority coalition of other political parties in order to take charge, and she could not do that. Many "hard liners" are opposed to any concessions with the Palestinians, so new elections must be held in February, 2009. As a result, Obama does not even know who he will be dealing with as the Prime Minister of Israel. It appears to be a tossup as to who will be elected to the top spot in Israel next year. It could Livni and if so, we could see real progress towards peace in the Middle East for the first time in a half century. She will be fighting a "hard line" network in Israel and a "hard line" culture with Muslims who do not believe women are capable of anything.

Like Sarah Palin, Tzipi Livni could be a leader of the future. Who knows, maybe the women of this world can straighten things out - we men certainly do not have a very good track record.

Back to work

2008-12-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

I have had writers block the past few weeks. Perhaps it's the holidays or a post election depression, but after a great Thanksgiving with my family it's time to get back to work.

Here are some random thoughts:

One of the liberal platforms in this country is gun control: "We need to keep those wacko militias in Montana from acquiring AK 47's". After the attacks in Mumbai how far do you think gun control legislation will go in our next Congressional session? I don't carry a gun, but we do have guns. You have to wonder if law abiding citizens in India were allowed to carry guns how much those ten terrorists would have accomplished. Here were ten terrorists that kept a city of 18 million frozen for almost three days. If just a few of those hundreds of innocent people had access to a gun what might have been different? It just continues to prove that guns don't kill people - criminals kill people. Do you think those terrorists would have followed gun control rules? Another comment on this thought - why is it politically "incorrect" to refer to Islam as a violent religion?

The day after Thanksgiving we all read about the poor Wall Mart "greeter" who was trampled to death because people wanted to be the first to get a plasma TV on sale. It was tragic and his family will be wealthy for life, since there is already a civil lawsuit underway. But what good is being wealthy if one of your loved ones is killed in such a violent way. This tells us more about our culture than anything else - greed and material possessions. Question: If you were charging into that store to get a great deal on a plasma TV and you stepped on a body on the ground, would you have stopped? It would probably have been impossible for you to stop, but would you have fought to do so? Those shoppers did not.

At Thanksgiving my kids asked for my advice on the economy and what to do with their 401Ks. With all of my experience as a chief executive, businessman, and small business owner I had to tell them, "I have no idea". "Bailout" was the Merriam Webster word of the year, but the process has become ridiculous; billions, even trillions to bailout individuals, companies, and state governments that were mismanaged (some criminally), and our Congress has no clue so they throw money at the problem. Throughout the past few months of this economic disaster a majority of the American public has been in favor of just letting the pain happen and if companies were mismanaged, let them go bankrupt. But our Congress knows better and has been issuing money at a rate that cannot be sustained - money the country never had in the first place. I feel sorry for our kids and grand kids and although I am not an economist, look for the possibility of hyper inflation in the future.

So far Obama has moved toward the center with many of his cabinet picks - who knows how he will govern. The economic disaster will probably limit his options with regard to all of his "socialist" intentions. I predict in a few years he will have budget deficit so large that both he and the Congress will have no choice but to raise taxes and cut spending. The future will be very interesting.

As for me, now I'm going to relax with a martini and listen to Christmas Carols - Merry Christmas everyone! It's hard not to feel good during this season.

The "Crossroads"

2008-11-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yogi Berra, one of our national icons and a "philosopher" in his own right once said: "When you come to a crossroads, take it"

Putting Yogi's humor aside, there is little doubt that this country is at a crossroads and I fear we are taking the wrong road. In a previous blog I predicted that if Obama won the election, voters would eventually say to themselves, "What have we done?" I still predict that will happen.

I recently watched William Ayers being interviewed on "This Morning America" and cannot believe we give people like this a national forum. He had the nerve to say that the organization he founded; the Weather Underground, were not terrorists since they did not "target people". He was personally involved in bombing the Pentagon, the Capital, and New York police headquarters where people were injured. Three of his "associates" did die while preparing a bomb that was to be used against a military base, and he tried to bomb the family home of a judge he did not agree with. He has also been taped stomping on the American flag. And this is a person as a college professor teaches our children and was voted "Citizen of the Year" in Chicago in 1997...unbelievable.

Here is what I mean about the country being at a "crossroads":

- We tolerate individuals like Bill Ayers teaching our children;
- We accept irresponsible behavior and allow the government to bailout individual mortgage holders and financial institutions who made bad decisions;
- We consider "bailing out" major businesses like the auto makers, or state and municipal governments that got themselves into trouble because of poor management, while the small businessman works his 60 hours a week to keep afloat. We do these bailouts with taxpayers money and put our children and grandchildren in debt;
- We propose increasing taxes on hard working entrepreneurs and rich people so we can "spread the wealth" to help out less fortunate people, many of whom will get a free welfare check paid for by the working people of this country;
- We refuse to expand our vast energy resources and as a result have become more and more dependent on foreign countries that hate us. In my opinion one of the reasons for the failure of the automakers is the "controlled" high price of oil by foreign countries which killed US auto sales;
- We decide that in the interests of "humanity" we should allow our borders to be open so the "American dream" is available to everyone, even when the American people pay the bill;

Yes, we are at a crossroads. In addition to the Presidency, the Democrats will have control of the House and possibly a "filibuster proof" Senate. If that happens, Independents, Republicans, and Conservatives will be powerless during the next two years, and maybe longer.

Let's hope we do not get too far down that wrong road before the people of this country realize their mistake.

Let them die

2008-11-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

The big three US automakers have already received a $25 billion "bailout" low interest loan from the taxpayers and now they are frantically asking for another $50 billion from us taxpayers. General Motors has announced that without this additional bailout, they will run out of cash by January.

It is estimated that if the three automakers went out of business, it would result in a $200 billion hit to the US economy. In addition, we are told that 2 million American jobs would be lost from the auto companies themselves, and from peripheral businesses (parts suppliers, etc.). I believe those estimates are overstated and the companies are playing a game of "chicken" with the government to get more bailout money.

If I were President, I would tell the CEO's of the auto companies to pack their briefcases, go back to Detroit and solve these problems by themselves; or go bankrupt. If all three US auto companies went out of business it would be a dramatic event in the history of this country, but out of the ashes of their destruction would come a better, stronger auto industry that would be competitive with the rest of the world. Detroit's problems are all of their own making primarily as a result of ridiculous union agreements and lack of long term research on new technologies.

In the past auto companies agreed to employee pension and lifetime health care agreements that even a junior accountant should have known they could never pay for. With the low cost of gasoline, they continued to produce large gas guzzling cars and trucks based on old technology. Then when the price of oil went through the roof their market disappeared.

But the worst agreement the automakers were talked into by the United Auto Workers was the "Jobs Bank Program". To put it simply, this was a worker security guarantee program agreed to in the mid 1980's.This was a plan to guarantee pay and benefits to union members whose jobs fell victim to technological progress, plant closings, or restructuring. So as the rest of the world became more productive through automation and the digital revolution, the US automakers were stuck with these Jobs Bank agreements. As a result, by 2005 there were 12000 auto workers being paid "not to work". And as Jeremiah Wright would say: "Now the chickens have come home to roost".

I recently read a story about one auto worker. He shows up at 7 am every morning at a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant and signs in. Then his "work day" starts - he works on crossword puzzles, and watches videos. He says it is monotonous, but his pay is $31/hour plus benefits, for no work. And when he reaches retirement age for this "no work" position he will retire with a very generous pension plus health benefits for life. He is one of the 12000 in the Jobs Bank as of 2005; so is it any wonder the automakers are in trouble?

Automakers are trying to renegotiate this Jobs Bank agreement but the damage is done. And if the big three go bankrupt many of those employee pension and lifetime health benefits will be gone. Or maybe the government will give these auto workers a "bailout" too.

Our "morons" in Washington

2008-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

When the market started going south because of the mortgage crisis our Congress led by the Bush administration jumped in:

- A $300 billion "stimulus" bill which sent a check ( welfare payment) to almost all of us.
- An $85 billion bailout for AIG.
- A $25 billion bailout loan to US auto companies who now want another $50 billion.

And finally, a $700 billion bailout program to save "Wall Street" and "Main Street". More than 60% of Americans were against the bailout bill, but our politicians said "We need it to save the economy". I joined this 60% of Americans and sent letters, emails, made phone calls to our elected politicians urging them to let the free market work and kill the bailout bill. But our politicians knew better; all we received were canned responses and they passed the bill.

So the government made all of these moves to save us from a bad economy and the market crashed even more than anyone expected. The more bailouts, the more the market went down. If you want to put your faith in our politicians to run the economy be my guest. I'll take the free market and let the chips fall where they may.

Sadly the American people made the right call on this stupid bailout, but Washington did not listen. And now Obama and his Democratic Congress are talking about another "stimulus" package...how exciting, another "free" check for all of us...with money we do not have.

As a kid I remember we told each other "moron" jokes. I recall one in particular: "Why did the moron keep hitting himself in the head with a hammer?" Answer: "Because it felt so good when it stopped hurting". The American people just elected an inexperienced but smooth talking "socialist" as President, and they gave more power to a House and Senate that includes most of the same old cronies that have screwed things up so badly. Reminds me of that old joke.

Reflections

2008-11-05T18:11:00.001-08:00

This blog may be rambling because my mind is still trying to clear itself after the election. I am very competitive and am a poor loser (even when I compete vicariously through someone else), so here are some random thoughts:

- I believe in this democracy and therefore feel we need to stand behind our new President and give him a chance.

- Obama's first appointment was to make Rahm Emanuel his Chief of Staff. Emanuel is a left wing "tough guy" from the Clinton administration, but also has a reputation for being fiscally conservative so he may be a "buffer" against all of the Democrats proposed spending. He is also a devout Jew whose father fought for the Israeli resistance before the founding of Israel. This appointment by Obama certainly will raise some eyebrows in the Muslim community.

- The stock market in the two days after the election had the largest post-election decline in history, and many experts say the market predicts the future. The market seems to be moving up and down on emotion and the possibility that Obama may raise taxes across the board. Let's hope some of his top economic advisers will convince him that to raise taxes now would be a death blow to the US economy.

- John McCain had his "chance" - how he ever became the Republican candidate still amazes me; I guess Republican voters in the primaries wanted to give him a "lifetime achievement award". He ran the worse campaign I have seen in my lifetime, so let's hope he will fade into the sunset and some young vibrant Conservatives will take the helm and get the ship back on course. No more chances for McCain or his RINO associates "my friends". Ironically, McCain's best speech of the campaign was his concession speech.

- Sarah Palin was attacked viciously during the campaign and now is even being attacked by members of the McCain campaign. Maybe she did stumble a few times during the campaign, and she did not have the depth of experience of a Joe Biden, but had she been running head-to-head against Biden she would have destroyed him. She was thrust into a situation that most of us could never handle. So she will go back to Alaska, continue with her responsibilities as governor and I believe she will have her chance again.

- The "green" movement took a big hit in this election. Almost every green initiative in the country was defeated. Not because people are anti- environment, they are starting to realize we just cannot keep spending money we do not have.

- During the next few months you will see thousands of people lose their jobs because of the failing economy. Watch closely - how many of these lost jobs will be government employees? Very few - and if Obama follows through with all of his "large government" promises, while the productive private sector in this country is cutting jobs the government will probably be hiring.

So in closing, those Conservatives out there do not lose hope. Our movement may be dormant for a while but only to regroup. We need to get rid of the "moderate" dinosaurs in our party and go back to our principles. Conservatism never grows old and it will never die. The Soviet Union tried to kill it, China has tried to kill it, but it remains alive. You cannot kill the basic human desire for individual freedom.

Some decisions are easy

2008-11-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine has a small business employing 30 people. He has resigned himself to the fact that Barack Obama along with a Democratic House and Senate will probably take full control after this election.

Like most businessmen he is already planning for the future and estimates that with the additional taxes and fees the Obama administration promises, he will have to raise his prices 8%. In addition, he believes that he might have to layoff as many as 6 of his employees. He is in a quandary since all of these employees are like "family". I can appreciate his position having had my own small business for many years with as many as 25 employees - they were all like my family.

He could not decide how to choose who he would have to let go, so one day he went out into the parking lot and noticed that 8 of his 30 employees had "Obama" bumper stickers on their cars. Those 8 became his "layoff list".

Sometimes business decisions can be easy.

"Blood in the Streets"

2008-10-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write one more blog before the election, but it seemed like everything has been said.

Then today I heard about an interview that author Erica Jong gave in Italy this week. Erica Jong is an author of many "feminist" (erotic) novels and a well known liberal who not only hates George Bush, but believes the conspiracy theory that the 911 attack was an "inside job" orchestrated by the Bush administration. I would normally not waste time writing about Erica Jong, especially since one of her best friends is our famous "patriot" Jane Fonda.

But Jong made an interesting comment during this interview. She said, "If Obama loses, there will be a second civil war in the USA, with blood in the streets". Wow...that is even worse than those of us that will be called a "racist" if Obama loses.

At this time it looks like Obama may win, but I am an optimist and I still believe the voters on Tuesday will THINK about this country and where it would go under an Obama/Pelosi/Reid administration. Even the polls this weekend seem to be changing slightly toward McCain.

But if the Democrats win; and if they take full control of the House and Senate; Republicans will not riot, and there will be no "blood in the streets". We will regroup, try to move the Republican party back to their conservative roots, and work on getting this country back on the right track; hopefully with young conservative leaders like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jendal, Governor of Louisiana. And I believe that over time, the Democrats will prove, like Jimmy Carter did, that a socialist program will never defeat the American spirit, and Conservatism will rise again.

"Sprint to the Finish"

2008-10-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

As a former runner and triathlete I remember how important it was to have some energy at the end of a race; to make a final "sprint to the finish"; and sometimes that was enough to win or at least move up several positions in the final standings.

This week is the final sprint in the election and both sides are sucking it up and pouring out all their final energy heading for the finish line.

The pollsters are doing the same thing. It's hard to tell during the campaign season what polls are accurate and what are phony because they go all over the place. But most experts agree that the pollsters "get focused" during the last week and the polls start becoming accurate. After all, the polling companies have to keep their reputation. Isn't it interesting that the polls are starting to close. Obama still has the lead, but that lead is getting smaller.

Now the candidates are "focusing" also. Last week Obama said "Everyone making under $250,000 will get a tax break". This week he said "If you make less than $200,000 you will not see your taxes increase" And also this week Joe Biden said, "Everyone making less that $150,000 will see no change in their taxes. Hmmm...it appears the Obama campaign are also starting to "focus" in on a final number for tax cuts - keep your hand on your wallet.

I have finally become a racist

2008-10-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

I grew up in upstate New York and I give my parents credit for being the most tolerant human beings I ever knew. Yes, I did grow up in an all white neighborhood and went to (almost) all white schools, but I can honestly say that I never heard the "N" word until at the age of 15 we moved to a small town in Florida. Then I experienced what segregation was all about. But it was too late, by that time I thought of blacks as human beings just like me.

So here we are now in a historical campaign that could produce the first black President. To those on the left this is an opportunity for the country to finally bring the civil rights movement to its "peak". But is that going to happen?

- If we criticize Obama for his looks (big ears), his middle name "Hussein", or his comment, "Oh by the way they will say I am black", we are racist.

- If we criticize his wife's comments about the USA being a "mean country", or that "for the first time she is proud of this country", we are racist.

- If we criticize Obama's friends; Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Resko, Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Phlegar, we are racist. But are not your friends a reflection of your character?

- Last week a black Congressman said that even the word "socialist" is a code word for racism. I wrote a Blog on that a few weeks ago...hmm.

- And tonight Jonathan Alter, a far left ideologue stated, "At this point if Obama loses the election, the results will be because of racism".

So here I am after a lifetime of being tolerant; a history of hiring black employees (without ever considering their color); and by the way, I have fired black employees because they have not performed; now I have become a "racist".

We are told that Obama is the candidate that will bring the country together. I predict that if he becomes President we will continually be faced with accusations of "racism" whenever we criticize his actions or decisions. I wonder if in the weekly White House press sessions, if a "President Obama" will ever get the tough and sometimes ridiculous questions that George Bush or other Republican Presidents have been submitted to.

The way Obama and his campaign have run this campaign, pointing everything toward racism, I believe the end result will be to put race relations in this country back instead of forward. I have never been a racist until the Obama campaign defined me as one.

Obama's Tax Scam

2008-10-23T17:21:00.001-07:00

We have heard it over and over and over from the Obama campaign: "We will reduce taxes for 95% of Americans". This is the classic Democratic populist promise going back to LBJ's "Great Society". Who does not want a tax cut, who does not want to feed the poor, who does not want to take care of the elderly, who does not want their college tuition paid for? All of these are the classic Democratic promises. But there are some subtle mistruths in Obama's "tax promise":

1/ 40% of Americans do not pay income tax, so they cannot get a "tax cut". What they will get is a $500-1000 welfare check from the government. A welfare payment provided from the earnings of other Americans. The Democrats argue that these people DO pay taxes since they are charged payroll taxes on their job. What they don't say is that these payroll taxes are the employees contributions toward Social Security and Medicare when they retire...and their employer matches it. Anyone that studies our Social Security system can easily see that if this person is an average (or below average) wage earner who retires at age 65 and lives a normal life span, those payroll taxes paid in, will never even cover their Social Security and Medicare expenses.

So in summary - Under Obama's plan 55% of Americans MAY get a tax cut and 40% will get a welfare check provided by other Americans.

2/ Obama proposes to raise the Capital Gains tax to 29% from the existing 15%. More than fifty percent of Americans invest in the stock market, and if they trade stocks, many of those "95%" will get a tax increase.

In addition, a little known "proposal" of Obamas that will never be talked about during an election season is to eliminate the $500K exclusion for married couples when selling a house ($250K for singles). Instead, sellers would simply pay Capital Gains tax on all of their profit from selling a house.

Other tax proposals talked about by the Obama campaign:

- Obama may let the estate tax law expire, so it will revert back to a one million dollar exclusion, and after that inheritance taxes will increase to 55%. Good luck if your family owns a business, farm, or real estate in any metropolitan area of the country.

- Obama proposes a "windfall" profit tax on corporations. I was President of three different corporations during my career and believe me, any "windfall" tax will simply be passed on in the form of higher prices to the "95%" that he claims to represent. Corporations are responsible to provide a return for their shareholders. If they don't do it, the shareholders will go somewhere else.

There is also a cultural effect in play here. Even though we would all like a tax cut, many Americans; even those that are not so fortunate (yet); have a problem with the redistribution of people's income to other people that haven't earned it. This is so basic to American culture, I predict Obama's comment to Joe-the-Plumber about "spreading the wealth" may come back to haunt him.

So even though things look good for Obama right now, I am an optimist and believe as we get close to the elections, "smart" Americans will see through the Obama tax scam; even though he probably has the "not-so-smart" vote locked up.

"Locked and Loaded"

2008-10-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

There has been much discussion this election season about voters "real" feelings concerning Barack Obama and whether or not these feelings are reflected in the polls. In the previous blog my son, as a guest contributor wrote about the "Bradley Effect".
I had an experience this morning that was interesting...

I swim at a club three days a week and like most people, am a creature of habit usually arriving for my workout at the same time. As a result I swim with many of the same people week after week. This morning I swam next to a young man that I have seen at the pool regularly during the past several years. He is a quiet guy and we usually exchange small talk like the weather, etc. After this morning's workout we were in the locker room discussing various subjects mainly concerning the election and economy. I recalled that he once told me he had a small construction company, so I asked if the construction business was as bad as we have read about. He said that the activity had dropped to almost zero and that he had to close down his company and lay off his three employees. He said that his wife was a nurse with a very good job and if it were not for her job they would be in serious trouble. He also mentioned that they were concerned that if socialized medicine were introduced, she might lose her good job or have her pay reduced significantly. As we talked about small business he wanted to know what I did. I described the business I started back in the 1970's and we laughed about how 10 hour/six day work weeks was one of the "benefits' of owning your own company. Then I said: "I would like to ask Obama if we spread the wealth around, who is going to pay us small business owners for all those long hours working for nothing, building the company."

That comment triggered some suppressed feelings because he got quiet and then said, "I know this is controversial, but if that son-of-a-bi*** gets elected, we are going to learn what the second amendment is all about. There will be a revolution, and I am locked and loaded baby". He then walked out of the locker room.

I did not say anything because I was somewhat stunned. In thinking about our conversation, he did not refer to Obama as that "black SOB", so I don't believe this is an example of the "Bradley Effect". But obviously he blames the loss of his business and his wife's concern about losing her well paying nurse's job on liberal policies. I would have reminded him that this is a democracy and we change things by voting, but to see such change in this quiet young man left me speechless - his feelings obviously ran deep.

"Bradley Effect and Cause"

2008-10-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

A "guest" blog by my son who lives and works in New York City...

"Bradley Effect and Cause"

If you've tuned into the news during the past week, you've probably heard about the "Bradley Effect." This term refers to the alleged behavior by white people to say in polls that they're voting for a black candidate to avoid the appearance of racism, but then to vote for a white candidate in the privacy of the polling booth. The term takes its name from the 1982 California governor's race, when Tom Bradley appeared to have the edge over George Deukmejian in pre-election polls, only to lose the election by a narrow margin.

It angers me to see the media throwing this term around in reference to the current McCain-Obama race. It serves no useful purpose, and fans the flames of racism. Setting aside the question of whether this is even a real phenomenon, I can't imagine it has much strength left now. This country has made great progress since 1982 in terms of race issues, and most reasonable Americans can judge a political candidate based on his or her qualifications, not skin color.

Though, if anything, the pendulum may have swung to the other side, and we may see a "Reverse Bradley Effect" (Obama Effect?), where a percentage of Americans do vote preferentially based on the skin color of the candidate -- but in this case for the black candidate, not against him. The Bradley Effect holds that white voters may be ashamed to admit they're not voting for a black candidate; in this election, we're seeing many white voters proclaiming their support for Obama because he's black, because his very skin color symbolizes "change."

It's that perceived shame of not voting for a black candidate that sickens me about the Bradley Effect. Voters may have perfectly valid reasons to vote against a black candidate (such as qualifications, stances on issues, etc.), but in the climate of political correctness that has taken over our country since the 1980s, these voters might be accused of racism if they were to admit they were not voting for a black candidate. In the world of the sound bite, the reasons why white Americans are not voting for a black candidate would not be the story; the simple fact that they are not voting for the black candidate would be the story, with the implicit suggestion that it is because of race.

Finally, in a time in which the issue of race, while still important, is not what it was in the 1980s -- and in an election where, if anything, race will work for the minority candidate -- it's disingenuous and irresponsible to report on the Bradley Effect when there's no evidence that it's even in play. To people who have never heard of the obscure term, it gives the appearance that the phenomenon is alive and well, and working against Obama in this election.

More importantly, it reinforces the false stereotype in the minds of blacks that all white people are against them. While I waited for the subway today, I overheard a black man talking to his friend about the Bradley Effect and the election in general. In his opinion, the Bradley Effect was real and a big factor, and that no white person would ever vote for a black man. He didn't seem to be much of an Obama fan, though, commenting that Obama and McCain are the same: "one dicks you with a frown, one dicks you with a smile, but they all keep us [black people] down".

I certainly don't think this guy represents the average black voter (I hope not), but it makes me wonder if media reports of the Bradley Effect are feeding the fears of racism surrounding this election -- or, rather, creating fears of racism that don't really exist outside the fringe.

Michael Strickland
Guest contributor and son of Chuckie D

'so·cial·ism'

2008-10-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

'so·cial·ism' : "Social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members".

The Democrats are running their classic "populist" presidential campaign and Obama with his smooth approach, is the perfect messenger. Their platform includes a tax cut for 95% of citizens, with a tax increase only on "rich people" making more than $250,000 per year. They fail to disclose that 40% of people do not pay taxes - those folks will get a "free check" from the government. They promise an increase in welfare, food stamps, help with college tuition, along with free child care and preschool for the needy. These are the classic promises made by Democrats every election and who can argue about helping poor people? But the Democrats never promise to create the opportunities that will give poor people the chance get out of poverty.

Barack Obama let the "cat out of the bag" today during a discussion with a small business owner. The discussion was caught on tape. The business owner had a small plumbing company and he explained to Obama that he had worked long and hard to build up his business and the proposal to increase taxes on people making more than $250,000 would hurt his business. Obama's response; "It's not that I want to punish your success, but I believe that spreading the wealth around is good for everybody".

This statement of his philosophy along with his other promises needs no further explanation when comparing it to the definition above.

The "Perfect Storm"

2008-10-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Those that read this blog know that I am a Conservative Republican and all that goes with that philosophy - small government, less regulation of our lives, low taxes, and free enterprise.

But it appears that we are in for a big change. The party in charge always takes blame for existing conditions and this period in time has turned out politically to be the "perfect storm" for Democrats. Here are some reasons why:

1/ People are "war weary". Whether you were for or against the IRAQ war, it has turned out to be a mess and poorly managed. I was against the war - for financial reasons, and after being the parent of a son involved in the first Gulf war I did not think it necessary to risk American lives going after this maniac when we could have kept him under control with bombs. Saddam had thumbed his nose at thirteen UN resolutions, and I am sure he would have reconstructed his nuclear and chemical warfare programs given the chance. But I believed spending $300 billion on this "tin pot" dictator was ridiculous. As it turns out, the Iraq war will probably cost a trillion dollars before we are through...a "trillion" we don't have.

2/ The Republicans had full control of the government during the beginning of the Bush presidency and blew it. They spent money like they were Democrats, increasing the national debt to the largest in history and as a result lost the House and Senate. Now they do not have a leg to stand on when talking about fiscal restraint and "small government".

3/ The recent crash in the stock market is a phenomenon that even I have not seen in my lifetime. Much of the blame for this debacle goes to the Democrats and the Clinton administration. Allowing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to promote ridiculous mortgages to people who simply could not afford them; trying to push poor people into the American dream - home ownership. Bush claims that the Republicans raised concerns several years ago about Fanny and Freddie's dangerous lending policies. If that is the case he could have stopped it, even if he had to shut down the government to make his point. So the blame falls at his feet. As Harry Truman once said, "The buck stops here".

4/ And finally, the Republicans have fielded a weak candidate this year and although Sarah Palin has added some "fire" to the campaign, she has been unable to overcome John McCain's lack of fire. He would probably be a competent President, but his performance in the last debate was not good, and Barack Obama seems content with just "stalling the game" until the election. If McCain says "my friends" one more time I will choke.

If John McCain can somehow pull out this election, I will be the first to applaud him as a miracle man, and applaud the American public for being smarter that anyone thinks. An Obama presidency along with a Nancy Pelosi House and Harry Reid Senate would be the most left leaning government this country has ever seen. But as of now it looks like the Democrats have the "perfect storm" working for them.

If they win it all, I predict the American electorate will look into the mirror in a few years and say "What have we done?"

"Show me the money"

2008-10-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

As of this date the national debt is more than $10 trillion, and increasing at a rate of $3 billion/day. I am a businessman with some financial experience, but I cannot even comprehend these numbers.

Governor Paterson of New York recently announced the state has a $2 billion deficit and is in deep financial trouble. But Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of our great state of California makes Paterson look like a financial genius as our state deficit reaches $16 billion.

Congress recently bailed out AIG to the tune of $85 billion and then followed that with a $700 billion "bailout" bill, even when 65% of Americas were against it. Congress responded to the citizen complaints by telling us "The bailout is needed and the 777 point drop in the stock market on the 29th 0f September is proof ". So Congress approved the "bailout" and the market responded with an 800 point drop the first two days of this week.

And now our governor is the first to run to the government and say, "We need help, bail us out too". I have read that California needs $7 billion just to get through the next few months. And believe me, many states will follow suit with this request for a "bailout". Incredibly the Democrats are still campaigning on the "populist" promise of more for everyone and "We will fund these programs by raising taxes on rich people". I am not rich, but during my career as a small businessman we provided jobs for several hundred hard working employees. No one ever got a job from a poor person.

We are doing all this "social engineering" and unlimited spending starting with a $10 trillion national debt.

Can anyone "Show me the money"?

"Joe: Say it isn't so"

2008-10-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

In 1919 "Shoeless Joe Jackson", one of the greatest baseball players in history was accused of fixing the World Series that year and was later banned from baseball for life. He was never proven to be guilty, but the phrase from his fans "Joe: say it isn't so" became part of baseball legend.

Tonight in the debate, Sarah "Barracuda" used that line against Joe Biden when he spewed more of his untrue liberal rhetoric. For us die hard baseball fans that was a beautiful "middle America" moment - I wonder who gave her that line? By all accounts Biden made many outright lies in his responses, but it landed on deaf ears. Most will agree she was the star of the show.

But more important, she erased the main stream media's image that has been created by way of "gotcha" questions and clever editing. Tonight even die hard liberals had to agree that she was "Vice Presidential" material and believe me, she knows how to relate to the pulse of this country. The Barracuda was in her element tonight, speaking directly to the American people, and she made Joe Biden look like what he is - an old entrenched typical Washington politician; and after the events of this week do we really want more of the same in Washington?

Let the "Barracuda" swim

2008-09-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin has been getting it from all sides and I am impressed that she hasn't "caved in" or lashed out at her enemies. Her recent interview with Katie Couric was not good. Just like the Charles Gibson interview Couric seemed to be just trying to come up with questions that the "Barracuda" could not answer. That is not necessarily a bad thing; candidates need to be tough; but it seems to me these interviews should be directed toward trying to find out what kind of a person Governor Palin is.

I believe the McCain "handlers" are trying to box her in, and make her look like something she is not because they don't want her to make a mistake. She is the 44 year old governor of Alaska and of course she doesn't have much foreign policy experience. Why not say so? When Couric asked her about her foreign policy experience and she talked about how "Alaska was close to Russia", and "When Vladimir Putin flies to the USA he flies over Alaska", that was not a good response (or image) for someone that could be the next Vice President. The McCain handlers must have known that the foreign policy question would be asked, so I can only conclude that the "Russia proximity" and "Putin fly over" answers were prepared.

This is how Sarah Palin should have answered the question on foreign policy: "Katie it should be obvious to everyone that as a young Governor of Alaska I do not have a lot of foreign policy experience, especially compared to Senator Biden who has been in the congress for 22 years. But I am strong in many other areas such as energy and management experience. In this interview you should be trying to find out what kind of a person I am, what kind of an executive I am, and what kind of a leader I am. I have more executive management experience than both Senators Biden and Obama, and even though I may not be strong in certain areas like foreign policy that is not necessarily a problem. As Vice President I will most likely be surrounded with very talented people and I learn very quickly".

Let's remember that the McCain campaign was "brought back from the dead" by Sarah Palin so they should quit rehearsing her and trying to make her into just another politician.
Let the "Barracuda" swim.

Will taxpayers take it on the chin again?

2008-09-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

We are among the millions of Americans that have bought homes over the years - homes that we could afford; and we rarely missed a mortgage payment. We used credit cards, but rarely got over extended. If we could not afford to get a loan to buy a new car we bought used cars. If we could not take that "dream" vacation because it was too expensive, we went camping or on a driving trip. We rarely took out an equity loan and rarely bought "risky" investments just to get a higher return.

Now we are asked to bail out the millions that did just the opposite. From the bottom up, home buyers, mortgage banks, financial institutions and corporations took the big risks believing that the real estate market would continue to rise. But that did not happen. Now we are told that we "have no choice" but for the taxpayers to pay a trillion dollars to bail out the risk takers and "save the economy".

I believe the economy can work its way through this problem even if it is a painful process. If Americans suffer financially, that might be just what it takes for people to get things in perspective in their lives. The "I want it now" generation took the risks, they should accept the consequences. Requiring the US taxpayer to bail out all of these bad loans is against the fundamental credo my depression era parents taught me: "Take personal responsibility for your actions no matter how difficult your situation becomes". Maybe the pain will develop some character in a society that thinks everything is easy and if you get in trouble the government will take care of you. Our family stands to feel the pain as much as anyone, but this country needs to get back to the fundamentals - work hard, stay within your financial means, and if you make a bad decision, take responsibility for it. This proposed bailout is nothing more than another step toward socialism.

"Chuckie D" speaks

The Gospel of Tim

"The Bain Train"

"The Paul Paradox"

Don't forget the "End Game"

"So long Barney"

"Super Failure"

"Obama is a Godsend"

Teleprompter terror

"Occupy this"

The Antisocial Network

War on all fronts

What leader?

My son Michael as a guest blogger

Some of the ways your government is spending your money

"Eat your peas"

Goodbye "Goldie"

Lipstick

Israeli Pundits and Politicians

Are we too far gone?

"The Social Network"

Newt can't win

The "Union" Myth

The Entitlement Bandwagon

I am a "radical"

Twas the 36 Days Before Christmas

'Twas the Night Before Christmas IIBy Charles L. Strickland

Hands off my Estate

Dancing with the "Stars"

We need to "rescue" California

Socialism on the March

We are still dumping tea in the harbor

Islamaphobia?

The "Elite" disconnection

Spin, spin, spin

"Poetic Justice"

"It's Howdy Doody Time"

"Drill baby drill"

"Man-made-disaster"

"Did the Robot Plug the Hole Daddy?"

"Did you plug the hole Daddy?"

I am sick...

Read the G D bill!

Big Ben Busted

"No mo money"

The Moody "Blues"

The "Statist" revealed?

It's not "sausage"

Obama fatigue

"Color Correctness" - Update

"Color Correctness"

"Lone Survivor"

A kinder gentler Taliban

"Miracle in Massachusetts"

More...."Madness"

An IQ test for Al Qaeda?

"Madness"

Is he a Marxist? - correction

Is he a Marxist?

Kahlid the Martyr

More broken promises

Political Hypocrisy

"Roasting Acorns"

Now the CIA are the "Terrorists"

"The greatest job in the world"

"You lie!"

"Retirement sucks"

"Snitch on your neighbor"

"Cash for Cluckers"

"Cash for Clunkers"

"Health Care for Everyone"

"Hope and Change"

"No Mas"

GM - "Government Motors"

"The Party is over"

Gopher wars continue...

"The great Obama facade"

"The chute didn't open"

Comparisions

"The man behind the curtain"

'Twas the Night Before Christmas II
By Charles L. Strickland