Yearly Archives: 2009

Politics, War On Terror

President Obama's First Rash Decision

No, I’m not going to begin counting them. But President Obama’s decision to close Club Gitmo, Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta, the tropical resort where the world’s worst terrorists are being held, without first deciding what he plans to do with them is putting the cart before the horse. Sound like good judgment to you? Of course not.

His decision to close Gitmo within 12 months had more to do with political expediency than national security. Clearly, pacifying his far left base is more important to him. Either that, or he is more incompetent as a Commander in Chief than anyone has imagined. You can decide which, and there is no good answer.

Letting them go, or affording them the same Constitutional protections as U.S. citizens, which would end with the same result, so that they can again take up arms against us  does not make me feel safer. It does, however, make terrorists feel safer. Prisoner #372 probably likes the idea.

Cairo, Egypt: An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Yemen says the group’s No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee.

link: Report: Ex-Gitmo detainee joins al-Qaida in Yemen

Economy, Politics

Stimulus Bill Is $825 Billion Pork Bill

Of the $825 billion of what the administration is calling an economic stimulus bill, only $275 billion of it goes towards actual economic stimulus. The rest is merely spending money on projects that generate no stimulus to the economy. Like Rahm Emanual said a short time ago, let’s not miss our chance to advance our agenda during the economic crisis.

Here is his exact quote from the Sunday CBS show Face The Nation, November 9, four days after the election . . .

“Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste,” Mr. Emanuel said in an interview on Sunday. “They are opportunities to do big things.”

And this is exactly what is happening.

No longer are they described as a stimulus. They are described as investments. Which is democrat-speak for big spending programs that advance the party agenda, NOT providing an economic stimulus.

Among those “priority investments” are:

— $650 million to help Americans upgrade to digital cable reception after the official transition to digital television transmission on Feb. 17, 2009.

— $44 million to repair and improve the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

— $276 million to upgrade and modernize information technology at the State Department.

— $3.1 billion to fund “infrastructure projects” on federal land, including $1.8 billion for the National Park Service, $650 million for the U.S. Forest Service, and $300 million for the National Fish Hatcheries.

— $600 million for NASA, including $400 million for projects such as “satellite sensors that measure solar radiation critical to understanding climate change.”

— $1.9 billion for the Department of Energy for “basic research into the physical sciences,” including nuclear physics and fusion energy.

— $209 million for maintenance work at the federal Agricultural Research Service’s research facilities across the country.

— $400 million in repairs to various “national treasures,” including $200 million for revitalizing the National Mall, $150 for maintenance at the Smithsonian Institution, and $50 million to make up for a lack of philanthropic support for the arts.

— $850 million for “wildland fire management,” including $550 million to states for “volunteer fire assistance,” “city forest enhancements” and “wood to energy” projects.

— $400 million for “habitat restoration” projects to be doled out by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

— $2.7 billion for “rural water and waste disposal” grant programs for providing loans for digging wells or extending municipal water services in rural areas.

— $2 billion to provide day care services to 300,000 additional low-income children, ostensibly while their parents are at work.

— $1.2 billion to create an estimated 1 million summer jobs for young people.

— $2.5 billion to upgrade government-owned housing projects with new insulation, windows, and furnaces.

— $6.2 billion to weatherize the homes of low-income people to make them more energy efficient.

— $2.4 billion for projects demonstrating carbon-capture technology.

— $600 million to “prepare our country for universal healthcare” by training more doctors, dentists, and nurses.

— $1.5 billion to build new “Community Health Centers.”

— $20 billion to provide “nutrition assistance” for middle-income families and to lift restrictions on how long people can receive food stamps.

— An undisclosed amount to “provide 100 percent federal funding through 2010 for optional State Medicaid coverage of individuals (and their dependents) who are receiving unemployment benefits or have exhausted those benefits.”

related links:

Politics

Tax Evader Approved For Treasury Post

The Obama campaign wasn’t lying when they said there was going to be change in his administration. But who knew that this is what they meant?

The Senate Finance Committee has cleared the nomination of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite unhappiness over his mistakes in paying his taxes.

That’s right, not paying taxes for a number of years in a row were simply ‘mistakes.’ After all, Geithner ended up paying taxes for the years that the IRS told him to pay for.  Which did not include taxes for the years 2000 and 2001 which were also not paid. Taxes for those years were not paid until the day before President Obama announced that he was his choice for Treasury Secretary.  Oh hell, those years were just a simple oversight.

Right, in much the same way that Sandy (socks) Burger was just a sloppy worker (Bill Clinton’s explanation), and stealing documents from the National Archives and stuffing them in his socks, and hiding them on a construction site, and picking them up later in the evening, was just normal for good ole’ Sandy.

I’m not seeing change here. I’m seeing more of the same.

link: Senate panel approves Geithner for treasury post

Economy, Fair Tax

Fair Tax YouTube Ad

This video makes a good case for what is wrong with the current tax system. At the same time, it makes the case for the Fair Tax.

Tim Geithner, President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of the Treasury, would have already been confirmed if the Fair Tax was in place. Because under the Fair Tax, there are no tax returns to file and NOT paying your taxes becomes impossible.

Politics

What Can You Do About It?

Conservatives and conservative principles took a huge hit in this last general election, and the one before that. Getting a bit frustrated? I understand. Been there, done that. No more frustrated than I was when republicans didn’t know how to lead once they won in 2000, and started loosing seats four years later. Here’s one thing you can take to the bank, or under your mattress, whichever you trust more. As for ‘our representatives’ in Washington, when they feel the heat, they will see the light.

Enter the Intelligent Thinkers Movement. It is what grassroots is all about.

Here’s an excerpt that lays the foundation, check the link for more details and how you can help. No cash required. Just your commitment.

The voice of “we the people” has been hijacked by partisan politics, government bureaucrats, and the influence of money on elections and legislation. To take back our government, we must be able to un-elect members of Congress on a timely basis, and dramatically influence their decisions while they are in office.

Because of the proliferation of biased media reporting, gullible voters, and too many in Congress who willingly and intentionally make deceptive and misleading statements about proposed legislation, “we the people” must be able to provide succinct and intelligent feedback to Congress frequently and persistently. We can then hold them accountable intelligently at election time, which is our only leverage for holding their feet to the fire.

We don’t need all 306 million citizens to be successful. We only need 100,000 voters per Congressional district for them to “see the light”.

“We the people” can and will take back our government and the strategic direction of this Nation. It is our right and responsibility.

This is NOT a republican, democrat, libertarian, conservative, liberal, or progressives movement. This is a “we the people” movement.

link: Hermanator’s Intelligent Thinkers Movement (HITM)

Media, Race Relations

Welcome President Obama

Today’s inauguration of the first black head of state was remarkable to say the least. The pre-inaugural hype about President Obama’s inaugural address turned out to be just that, hype. True to his style, Obama delivered the speech well and made everyone feel good for any number of reasons. But also true to his style in his campaign, he did not say very much that would put America in a direction that we, as Americans, could follow. That will have to change.

As is also his style, he covered all the bases on all sides. Personal responsibility up, government involvement up. What? Take care of yourself and your family, be responsible, while government will take care of them if you don’t. Huh? He was equally vague or non-committal when it came to energy. Seeming to focus more on what we don’t yet have than on what we do have.

I don’t recall any inauguration that patently offended an entire race, like the divisive benediction delivered by Rev. Joseph Lowery did when he prayed to God for a time “When white does right.” The fact that white people put Obama in the White House seems to have escaped this old man who is stuck in the last century. What a coincidence that the ghost of Rev. Wright would return on inauguration day.

I’m offended by the suggestion that our country has made no progress in race relations to the point that we need to pray to God for it. When what we need to pray for is an Obama administration that can keep us safe and repair our economy, while preserving our liberties and freedom.

I don’t expect the President to address and correct what Rev. Lowery said, but he should. And I don’t expect for the media to make anything of it either, and they won’t. But imagine for a second, the reaction of an inaugural benediction of a republican president where there was a focus on blacks to do something. Anything!

War On Terror

Thank You President Bush

For all the ways that President Bush has stuck it to conservatives like myself in the last eight years (government spending, bigger government, lost veto pen), there remains a couple things he did right, and I hope his successor carries forward. He kept us safe to the extent that our enemy has been on defense and we have been on offense. He did not yield to his anti-war critics which has allowed us 7 years of safety at home by doing what was necessary (Patriot Act) against an enemy like no other we have ever faced.

Bobby Eberle at The Loft puts it in perspective in I’ll Never Forget Sept. 20, 2001.

Makes one wonder what could have or would have happened in the US had the war on terror not usurped his presidency. Nothing could be worse, however, than to forget that we are in a war.

Politics, Race Relations

To Commemorate MLK's Birthday

On November 2, 1983, Republican President Ronald Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Reagan signed the bill in the White House Rose Garden making the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. The bill first came up for a vote in 1979, but the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives refused to pass the legislation. The first national celebration of the holiday in honor of Dr. King took place on January 20, 1986 and is celebrated on the 3rd Monday in January. In his remarks on signing the bill Reagan said: “Dr. King had awakened something strong and true, a sense that true

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justice must be colorblind, and that among white and black Americans, as he put it, ‘Their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom; we cannot walk alone.'”MLK3

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission with the mission of overseeing the observance of the MLK holiday was created in the bill signed by Reagan.

In May 1989, Coretta Scott King was made a member of the commission for life by Republican President George H. W. Bush.

Democrats today are trying to usurp Dr. King’s legacy, when in reality it was the Democrats who Dr. King was fighting. See the below article for details.

* * * * * * * *

Democrats Smeared Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960’s

By Frances Rice

Character assassination. That’s the tactic used by Democrats in the 1960’s to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican who was fighting the Democrats and trying to stop them from denying civil rights to blacks.

The relentless disparagement of Dr. King by Democrats led to his being physically assaulted and ultimately to his tragic death. In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King’s leaving Memphis, Tennessee after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a “trouble-maker” who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Prior to his death, Democrats bombed Dr. King’s home several times. The scurrilous efforts by the Democrats to harm Dr. King included spreading rumors that he was a Communist and accusing him of being a womanizer and a plagiarist.

An egregious act against Dr. King occurred on October 10, 1963. With the approval of Democrat President John F. Kennedy, Democrat Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy – President Kennedy’s brother – authorized the wiretapping of Dr. King’s telephone by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Wiretaps were placed by the FBI on the telephones in Dr. King’s home and office. The FBI also bugged Dr. King’s hotel rooms when he traveled around the country.

The trigger for this unsavory wiretapping was apparently Dr. Kings’ criticism of the Kennedy Administration, according to the author David Garrow in his book, “Bearing the Cross”. The justification given by the Kennedy Administration publicly was that two of Dr. King’s associates, including David Levinson, had ended their association with the Communist Party in order to work undercover and influence Dr. King. However, after years of continuous and extensive wiretapping, the FBI found no direct links of Dr. King to the Communist Party.

The unrelenting efforts by Democrats to tarnish Dr. King’s reputation continued for years after his death. To his credit, Republican President Ronald Reagan ignored the Democrats’ smear campaign and made Dr. King’s Birthday a holiday.

Today, while professing to revere Dr. King, Democrats are still trying to tarnish his image by making remarks that diminish his civil rights achievements and continuing to claim that Dr. King embraced Communism – a system that is secularist and socialist.

In reality, Dr. King was a Christian who held deeply religious beliefs and was guided by his faith and his Republican Party principles in his struggle to gain equality for blacks. He did not embrace the type of socialist, secularist agenda that is promoted by the Democrat Party today, which includes fostering dependency on welfare that breaks up families, supporting same-sex marriage and banning God from the public square.

An understanding of who the real Dr. King was can be gained from a glimpse of Dr. King as a young man who participated in an oratorical contest when he was 14 years old. The title of his speech was “The Negro and the Constitution” which had the following sentences: “We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance…We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flout the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule….”

If Dr. King were still alive, he would be slandered by Democrats in the same way that they smeared him in the 1960’s and demean all black Republicans today.

Bio: Frances Rice is a lawyer, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and Chairman of the National Black Republican Association. She can be contacted at: www.NBRA.info/

Uncategorized

aSide Order

Colombo the Asbestos Sleuth

Judge exposes phony claims in asbestos lawsuits

Good legal news for a change: The courts keep making progress against phony asbestos lawsuits, this time in Michigan, by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo, Jr.

Judge Colombo disqualified Michael Kelly, a physician who had diagnosed people in 7,300 cases with asbestos-related disease, from a case  on dubious grounds.

More than 90% of the lung function tests Dr. Kelly performed failed to meet basic standards. The defendants also showed that Dr. Kelly submitted nearly identical reports for every patient he saw, yet he failed to note that some of his patients also had heart disease or renal failure. Asbestos attorneys apparently don’t pay for doctors to observe the Hippocratic Oath.

endofstoryTexas death row inmate pulls out eye, eats it

Hard to believe someone could do that. Except that this guy pulled out his other eye four years ago.Death Row Eye

A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant’s death.

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Here’s one for the ‘you gotta be kidding’ column. A police officer steals marijuana, bakes some special brownies then calls 911 and says “I think we are dying”.

endofstory

video: The end of civilization?

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video: A day at the races.

Warning: colorful language including the F bomb but funny nonetheless.

Organized Labor

What If The Boss Calls During Your Furlough

As noted in this post, the Gannett Company has asked its employees to take a week off without pay sometime in the first quarter of 2009. It is called a furlough. Here’s what should happen if your boss calls you while you are on furlough.

From Gannett Blog (not affiliated with Gannett Company),

“Federal and state laws require that employees, whether hourly or salaried, must not work while on an unpaid leave. That includes reading or responding to e-mails, calling or responding to calls from colleagues and being on site at your location at any time during your furlough days.
A furlough means you will not work.”