Sunday, January 30, 2011

CUTTING: SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, VETERAN’S BENEFITS

SPECIAL POST

Slice the cost of government by 50%. Each and every Department, including Congress and Administration, gets cut by 50%. They need to show us that they are serious. Get rid of the dead wood. Cut lavish spending on things we don’t need and things that are ridiculous. Only the prisons and the Supreme Court go untouched. At the same time, keep the level of spending on front-line services intact.

Does this mean we have to cut a lot of high-paying jobs in Washington and shift our spending to actual provision of service to the American public? Yes, let’s empty a lot of those high-rent government office spaces. Let’s bring some troops home from places where they are not needed and let’s get rid of a whole slew of officers while we are at it. We can keep the troop levels as they are and significantly cut expenses at the same time.

Until they do these things, they’d better leave Social Security, Medicare and Veterans benefits alone. They have no right to saddle the people who use these services with the costs of repaying a debt that was created by gross negligence and horrible mismanagement. We’re not the ones to blame here; they are.

It’s just that simple. Cut the government and cut costs by 50%... and then we’ll talk about some adjustment of these benefits. 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

JOE WILSON TOLD IT LIKE IT STILL IS

A year ago, Joe Wilson stood up in the House of Representatives during the State of the Union speech and accused President Barack Hussein Obama of being a liar. He was correct on that occasion and nothing has changed.

I am at a total loss to understand those who now contemplate that, since the November election debacle, Obama is moving to the right and we can believe his new rhetoric. This guy has never told the truth about anything to anyone at any time. He is a pathological liar and a dedicated manipulator. His chief accomplishment in politics has thus far been standing up in the Illinois Legislature during key votes and voting, “Present.”

He lied about Wright; he lied about all of his past associations. When Americans questioned whether or not he really was born in the United States he gave us the finger; whether or not he is a citizen no longer is the issue, your right to know IS the issue, and he wins. So there.

He lied about what he was going to include in the ObamaCare bill. He lied about government money going to pay for abortions. He lied about “transparency.” He lied about his relationship with "ACORN." He looked you and me straight in the eye and told the nation we were spending too much money and he turned right around and sucked Congress into an $800 billion “stimulus” bill that has lined everyone’s pockets except yours and mine.

He has flagrantly violated the law by having his own Executive Branch enact rules and regulations that Congress has refused to enact. Take Cap & Trade, for instance. That issue is, rightfully so, dead in Congress, but Obama is maneuvering EPA Rules and Regulations to make it a reality anyway.

This is the kind of guy who drives down the road, signals a right turn and steers left. He’s now telling the nation that we need to quit spending and to create jobs. He’s been saying that for two years and has taken no steps to accomplish either. As a matter of fact, if you remember correctly, this is the guy who bragged about the statistics that showed that his Economic Recovery Act programs were creating tens of thousands of jobs and, when it turned out that the government website containing the “statistics” had listed jobs being created in dozens of Congressional Districts that don’t exist, he shrugged it all off by saying that statistics don’t matter anyway.

Now you want to believe what this six-faced tap dancer has to say? 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

RNCC SENDS OUT COLLECTION NOTICES


SPECIAL POST

NRCC
320 1st St SE
Washington   DC   20003

In re: Dun

You amateurs have a lot of guts sending out letters requesting contributions that have “SECOND NOTICE” printed on the outside like a collection notice from a finance company.  Now, I suppose, my mail lady figures I’m a deadbeat who doesn’t pay his bills.  What comes next, Guido in a black limo? 

You talk about all of the seats YOU won.  You didn’t WIN a damned seat; WE gave you those seats to get rid of the idiots who held them and to take back our country.  Now, YOU have to prove to us that you have the ability and intent to do your jobs the way they should have been done the last time you held the House. 

You’re not going to get one dime out of me until 2012 and I see what you are going to do this year.  If you step up to the plate the way you should have done before, I’ll gladly contribute.  But, you need to show some class first, and quit sending out trash mail like this last piece.  


Sunday, January 23, 2011

WILL STATES DECLARE BANKRUPTCY?

SPECIAL POST

The NEW YORK TIMES is reporting that “policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.”

Unlike the Federal Government, states are not able to print money to pay their way out of debt. Some states are so burdened with debt and obligations to employees that it is impossible for them to work their way out; obviously, this is due to poor fiscal management, both past and current. Added to this problem is the fact that the states cannot issue bonds at favorable rates, because potential bondholders are afraid they will not get paid or will not get paid on time. The fear of destabilizing the municipal bond market with the words “state bankruptcy” has the bond markets watching closely.

Theoretically, a modification to the Constitution may be necessary to accommodate state bankruptcy. Such bankruptcy would not eliminate debt, but would restructure it and would allow states to renegotiate pensions and government wages.

It appears to me to be part of the American culture to run up all of the debt that we want and then to run from the consequences by finding a way out of repayment. It’s the same culture that infests Washington, where they enact laws without reading them and then shuck and duck when things go bad.

And, who is to blame for that?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

THE TRAGEDY OF BRIAN AITKEN

Brian Aitken was an entrepreneur and a media consultant who is now incarcerated in a New Jersey prison for seven years for obeying the law.

He was in the process of moving back to New Jersey from Colorado. He had three handguns and he was concerned about complying with the law when making the move, so he contacted the New Jersey State Police who properly advised him to unload his weapons, lock them and then lock them in the trunk of his car. He complied.

Once in New Jersey, he stopped by his mother’s house. Concerned about his mental state because he was going through a divorce, she called 911 after he left her place to continue his journey, thought better about it and hung up. Police responded anyway and she related her concerns. They contacted Aitken on his cell phone and asked him to return to his mother’s house, which he did. They subsequently searched his car and discovered his handguns and then arrested him for unlawful possession.

Once in court, the Judge disallowed testimony about the fact Aitken had contacted the State Police to determine how to legally move the guns. The Judge also disallowed testimony about his searching the web for the law. The Judge also ruled that the term “moving” as applied to his transport of the guns from Colorado to his new home in New Jersey had not been met. He was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison,

It should be mentioned that Aitken had no prior record. He had taken cautionary steps to comply with the law in the move from Colorado to New Jersey. Had he gone directly to his new home and dropped his guns off there, he would evidently have been okay, but he instead opted to visit with his mother enroute. As I understand it, the Judge is an anti-gun freak.

What in the Sam Hell is this country coming to? 

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

WHAT’S BEHIND THE “FAIRNESS DOCTRINE?”

On the face of it, the “Fairness Doctrine” sounds fair: opposing views on politics, religion and government deserve an opportunity to be heard. I think we would all agree on that as a premise in free speech, print and broadcast media.

No so quick. I’m going to switch for a moment to ObamaCare. There is not a sane soul in the country that wants ObamaCare. Yet, our illustrious government, led by our illustrious President, saw to it that ObamaCare became a “cram down;” they crammed it down our throats whether we wanted it or not.

Well, this “fairness doctrine” issue is the same thing.

The liberals have discovered that no one wants to listen to them. They even launched their own network, which has gone nowhere. How can you sell advertising when no one wants to listen? What these guys want to do is to herd everyone into a giant coliseum and start broadcasting the liberal agenda over loudspeakers until everyone there has become indoctrinated. That’s how they did it in the Soviet Union and that’s how they did it in Germany.

The airwaves are free. People can listen to opera, symphony, bluegrass, rock, pops, news radio, NPR, religion, and liberal or conservative radio. The fact that most people are listening to conservative talk radio and very few are listening to liberal talk radio just frosts the gizzards of the left wing.

In short, we’re to blame for the ills of the nation because we refuse to listen to and adhere to the liberal agenda. That’s why the subject is being talked about in the halls of Washington yet once again, because Pelosi, Reid and their pals want to silence the conservative voice. They see it in a more practical light; if they require broadcasters to give equal airtime to their liberal views, broadcasters will stop their conservative programming because they won’t be able to sell any advertising while the liberals are on the air.

You might think that this is a figment of my imagination, but you also know they are doing everything possible to shut down bloggers. The only reason they are not going after the newspapers is that the print media is already in the pocket of the liberals. The fact that sales of newspapers is drastically down underscores my argument; the few conservative news outlets still around seem to be holding their own quite well.

So, the fairness doctrine is not about assuring the freedom of speech at all; it’s about controlling what information the people are allowed to hear, just as ObamaCare is about controlling what type and quality of medical service you can get.

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In a side bit of news, British Petroleum… you might remember the guys who caused that giant oil spill in the Gulf… has always been close to the Russians. In fact, BP has been engineering Iran’s oil fields for years and the Iranians have been selling their oil to Russia. Now, BP is selling out to Russia; in a very low key announcement over the holiday, BP says it is selling the bulk of its corporate stock to them. Now, I ask you: when BP refuses to cough up monetary damages for what happened in the Gulf, are we going to sue Russia? Think about that the next time you pull into a BP ARCO station to gas up.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

NRA MEMBER DISCUSSES TUCSON TRAGEDY

SPECIAL POST

Too often, when there is a shooting or tragedy involving a gun, the fingers of blame immediately point to those of us who legally own and operate guns.  Many of us are members of the NRA and/or other gun organizations and we are automatically assumed to be behind the misfortune in some sinister way.  The talk is always about that "nasty NRA," or the "ugly gun lobby."  I guess they spontaneously feel that anyone who owns a gun is a crook, murderer or terrorist. 

Very rarely, if ever, does a reporter or talking head come to a legal gun owner, a member of the NRA, to ask us how we feel about these terrible events.  What is our position?  Who is to blame?  How do we stop these things?  

Let's just start with the premise that from now on, guns are illegal.  Will that stop shootings?  No.  Thugs and mental cases will still have guns or access to them.  Then there are knives, baseball bats, slingshots and other weapons of convenience that can be used to inflict bodily harm or death.  The truth is that the crime rate goes down when gun ownership goes up.  

Every single one of us who is a member of the NRA, or who is otherwise a responsible gun owner, dreads the day when we might have to use our weapons for something other than hunting or target shooting.  Those of us who carry concealed weapons do so not with the hope that we will have the opportunity to use the gun and become a brave hero, but with the hope that the gun will never have to come out of the holster to save a life or stop a crime.  

So, what is the answer?  Well, we gun owners all agree that anyone who owns a gun should have the training in how to safely use it.  We sponsor shooting events and safety events designed to sharpen skills in gun safety and use.  We all look at the guy who uses a gun to commit a crime or who brandishes his gun whenever he gets ticked off about something as being someone who needs to be punished and their actions stopped.  While it is totally illegal for felons to have access to or own a gun, the majority of gun crimes are committed by felons.  

There comes a point when the restrictions you place upon gun ownership in order to reduce the possibility that a crook or terrorist or murderer or nut case might get a gun and use it in the commission of a crime, interfere with the rights of a legitimate, law-abiding gun owner.   You can make it illegal for a mentally deranged kook to have a gun, but that does not mean that the kook cannot get a gun and use it, and it does not mean that a legitimate gun owner won't suddenly go around the bend and and start shooting.  But, those general rules apply to knives and beer bottles, too.  

We are all sick about Tucson; there's not a one of us who is jumping for joy.  Yes, the guy should have been under psychiatric evaluation.  No, he should not have been able to purchase the Glock at a legal gun store but, given his mental state, he probably would have gotten one illegally anyway.  

I could be glib and suggest that all law-abiding citizens carry guns; if someone had been there with a weapon, they may have been able to shoot the guy before he killed and wounded so many people.  He may have thought twice about committing the crime if he knew, or had reason to suspect that he would be surrounded by gun toting citizens.  In fact, that is probably the real answer, but I don't suggest that everyone runs out and gets a gun, either; some people just can't handle the gun or the responsibility that goes with it.  

What we do need is better ways to identify potential problems and better ways to deal with them.  This applies not just to gun ownership, but to behavior in general, because we could be talking about a stabber or a karate expert or someone else who has "lost it."   If we encounter someone who brandishes a weapon, he should be reported.  If we suspect criminal activity, we should report it.  We have to stop "not getting involved" because the guy next door just might be a terrorist or kook and who is going to know unless we say something to the authorities?  

In closing, we gun owners are just as unhappy with these crimes as everyone else is.  We are not to blame for the events; society in general is, and the social fabric of our society has been worn thin by a multitude of factors.  So, we have to be alert and we have to get involved. 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

WE ARE NOT FALLING FOR THIS, ARE WE?

SPECIAL POST

For years, every time you tried to discuss anything on a reasonable basis with a liberal, their reaction was to start screaming, yelling, name calling and attacking on a vile and vicious basis.  When they did not get their ways,  they got vindictive and downright nasty.  

Now, we're getting right back in their faces and we're winning the battle.  

What's their reaction to that?  

After turning around and blaming us for the deaths and tragedy in Tucson, they are now telling us to tone it down, talk reasonable and be nice? 

Bullshit.  I can see right through this and I, for one, am not falling for it.  It's just more of that "sit down and shut up" that we have been hearing ever since we started to stand up for ourselves.  

Oh...and let's get rid of the Tea Parties while we're at it.  

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

THE ENEMY MUST BE SILENCED

Well, this is not going to be a nice, polite attack on some daily facet of life brought on by the enemy. This is going to be a rant, and they are the enemy.

People who tear at the fabric of our society are the enemy. People who openly avoid constraints of our Constitution are the enemy. People who subvert American ideals are the enemy. People who assault patriotism and its tenets are the enemy. People who bow to our country’s enemies are the enemy. And, people who do not have the guts or the courage to stand up and defend our country, its citizens, its Constitution and its foundation… are the enemy.

Politicians who refuse the will of the people are the enemy. The press and media who refuse to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth are the enemy. Judges who defy the Constitution and established law are the enemy. Members of government at any level who accept bribes and who enact regulations or legislate for their own personal gain are the enemy. And any person in the position of power, be it governmental, business or personal, who seeks to impress his will upon the will of the nation… is an enemy.

Now, I guess that doesn’t leave a whole lot of people who are not the enemy? Believe it or not, less than 30% of our citizens fall into the category of enemy, and yet they seek to tell the rest of us how to live our lives, how to vote, how and when to worship and when to go to the toilet.

The poor woman was barely on her way to the hospital when the enemy started to blame me and my friends for the tragedy. She lies in a coma in a Tucson hospital and the enemy claims to speak for her: guns injured her, right-wing extremists injured her, talk show hosts injured her, and Tea Party members injured her. But the son-of-a-bitch who pulled the trigger had a poor family upbringing; it wasn’t his fault!

Yes, he is a son-of-a-bitch and the people who seek to shift the blame from him to me and you and guns are the enemy. And we are at war right here in our own country. Anyone who does not understand that the enemy seeks to destroy us from within needs to step back and take a close look at what has happened to this nation in the last forty years and who is responsible for it.

I blame the enemy for our economy. I blame the enemy for our prisons being full. I blame the enemy for the immigration problem. I blame the enemy for our nation’s health costs. I blame the enemy for our civil unrest. I blame the enemy for fanning the flames of racism. I blame the enemy for allowing other nations to challenge us. Virtually every ill that has best our nation can be laid at the feet of the enemy. 

Most of all, I am fed up… fed up with the enemy who has perpetrated these wrongs to our country and who seek to blame us for it. Shame on them. They are un-American bigots. They come from another planet and they should return there. Yes, the enemy is the target of my anger and I will take shots at them every chance I get in every blog post I write or speech I make.

It’s way past time for someone to shut the enemy up and to put them in their place.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

MORE GUNFIRE; WHO IS TO BLAME?

SPECIAL POST

The shooting of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a Federal Judge, and several others in Arizona has been solved, but the question remains as to why this tragic event happened.  The anti-gun lobby will be quick to blame guns, but the simple fact is that guns don't have the ability to pull their own triggers.  They will then counter that, if guns were not available in this country, the shooting could not have occurred.  But, they will be the first to insist that knives are needed in the kitchens of America. 

What I find incomprehensible is that there apparently were no citizens in the immediate vicinity who were carrying concealed weapons and who could have fired on the assailant and saved some injuries and maybe some lives.  The fact is that in locations where larger percentages of citizens are carrying guns, the crime rates are lower.  I agree that the shooter appears to have some mental issues and should not have had a gun in the first place, and I will be interested to find out where he got the gun.  Still, sane people who are slicing onions suddenly go berserk and stab their husbands.

There is no justifiable excuse for pulling out a gun and shooting someone other than fear for one's life or self-defense.  Yet, these things happen.  My position is that having more trained and capable citizens carrying guns would reduce such violence.  That's why I carry mine wherever I go, except where it's against the law.  Thank God I have never had to use it; I don't want to.  But, had I been there during this shooting, mine would have been out and it would have been used.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

AMERICANS MUST NOW STEP UP TO THE PLATE

I was watching Hannity on Fox last night. He had the freshman Representatives on for a discussion about where they want to take the 112th Congress. It was very refreshing. I’d like to have the same group back on at the same time next year and get an update on their views and how they were received and treated during their first year.

They have a real tough job ahead of them. The Pelosi regime has not left; it’s still intact and most likely will stay awake most nights while looking for ways to trip up the freshmen. They have high objectives and lofty ideals, but they are going to be facing long-time fellow Congressmen on both side of the aisle who are tainted by the processes that have become the culture of cavalier corruption in the Capitol.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether or the new kids on the block can stand up to the “resistance.”

To be honest about it, the situation as it exists in Washington is our fault. We’re the ones who were not paying attention to what was going on in the kitchen; it was that lack of attention that created the atmosphere and the opportunity for things in our nation’s Capitol to become what they have become. In recognizing that reality, it is our duty now to support these freshmen in every way possible as they go about their daunting tasks.

Already, the Pelosi regime is positioning itself against the looming repeal of Obamacare and the end of runaway spending. I’ve heard it said so many times that the Republicans are in charge of the House now and it’s up to them to right the endless wrongs that have been perpetrated over the past 22 years by Democrats and Republicans alike. But, that is an untruth. The fact is that it is up to US to police our government. They work for us; we do not work for them. And those who would obfuscate and refuse to get on the train need to be targeted for removal in 2012.

We simply have to accept that these problems are our fault and we now have to step up to the plate and clean things up. One thing is an absolute certainty: we cannot allow our government to get away from us again… ever.