TICKLED!!!!

I don't know what headline on Drudge tonight made me happiest, so I'll let you choose:

1 The Day Healthcare Died.
2 Pelosi: House Lacks Votes to OK Senate Health Bill...
3 Brown Heads to Washington
4 UN Abandons Climate Change Deadline
5 Chief Admits Mistake on Himalayan Warning
6 Air America Ceases Live Programming, Will File for Bankruptcy

I just don't know which one makes me smile the widest....

Town Hells

I don't want socialized medicine, and I believe the majority of Americans don't want it either (there were polls and if I recall correctly almost 70% are happy with their current health care). So when the August recess rolled around and members of the House started holding town hall meetings to try and "sell" their cockamamie health care takeover, they started getting an earful.

The rush to jam this omnibus through was to avoid anyone saying anything before it was too late. The guy spent six months picking out a freakin' family dog, and this overreach has to be passed in a few weeks, before the bill could possibly be completely read, and it's not even really finished.

Apparently to eliminate our right to peaceful assembly and dissent, Obama is enlisting Union thugs to muscle us out (oh, and Unions are to be exempt from the "universal health care" bill that is currently circulating, and government employees won't be part of it either). If only the mainstream media weren't in his pocket and complicit in his election, you might hear more about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kxaGfClPws

Punch back twice as hard? He's taking the theoretical class warfare and making it physical.

Welcome to Chicago Politics America!

Global Warming and Developing Nations

If you know me, you know I'm skeptical of the global warming alarmists out there who insist that if we do not reduce our economic output the polar ice caps will melt and people will die. The fact that this has been one of the coolest summers in Chicago in my memory seems to me to justify my stance (to be fair, I have relatives in Nevada who are suffering through their third week of 100 degree days).

Anyway, I've been dubious to the efforts of the Democrats to pass the "Cap and Trade" bill for a number of reasons, some of which are that it transfers more power to the Government and away from private industry (you know, people who create JOBS), is a hidden HUGE Tax increase on Americans, and it's based on inconclusive science that anybody who questions it has been demonized.

Lastly, my concerns were no matter how badly we damage our economy, people lose their jobs and cannot provide for their loved ones because of this, the efforts would be in vain because few other countries are pushing this agenda as well.

Whatever production we shut down will be increased in India and China because they are emerging economies and like to have discretionary income.

Anyway, I saw George Will's column and it crystalized it for me. Please hit the Post and read (it was also printed in the Chicago Tribune as well today).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/22/AR2009072202415_pf.html

Figured Out Why There's a Hurry...

To pass health care "reform" before the August recess. It's because the President can only delay his economic update so long and he's hoping to jam down this NEW round of spending we as a nation cannot pay for (and expand the power further of his administration) before it's released...wait for it...DURING THE AUGUST RECESS!!!!

That economic update will show how badly Team Obama "misread the economy" (those are Joe Biden's words, not mine), how the last thing the nation needs is ANOTHER round of spending, and if he truly cared about the economic health of the Nation, he'd put his vanity project on hold until later.

It's like rushing out to buy a new car you don't need before the bill is due on your mortgage you cannot afford.

It's all right here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002277_pf.html

Feel free to highlight and paste in a new browser.

See, It's SIMPLE!!!

No need to debate Free Market Healthcare, just RAHM it through!!!!

What is the Rush?

So, the Dems in the House fashioned a cap and trade bill just tonight (Wednesday), and are going to vote on Friday. So, is this bill, simple, straightforward, short, and solves the "problem"? The answer to all of this is "of course not", which is why they want to vote on it less than 48 hours later, before ANYONE has time to read it, much less figure out the pros and cons and then have a debate.

This happened before with the stimulus bill (which hasn't stimulated ANYTHING except government waste). Didn't we learn from that?

If the Republicans had tried this nonsense, the Mainstream Media would have had a field day. ABC couldn't be reached for comment because the President told them not to.

Somewhere Algore is smiling, before jetting off somewhere else to lecture the masses about pollution, while promoting his personal business interests.

Here's the link to the WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124579482359843937.html

There are a Number of Reasons Why I Haven’t Been Blogging:

• You’re right I’ve been busy.

• I’m on Facebook probably too much right now (NEVER while at work, EVER!!!!).

• The wind is out of my sails politically right now. The Republicans have nothing. They’ve done nothing. There’s no credible opposition in the current march toward Socialism that’s going on right now in Washington, and nobody is bothering to cover it. Unemployment jumps another 345,000 and the media couches it as “a good thing”. Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

• Local politics have beaten me down. All they talk about in Springfield is raising taxes and there’s a budget deficit of like 12 Billion dollars (or something like that, the numbers are TOO BIG to have any meaning and they’re all starting to run together for me), yet they find the money for a women’s war memorial, a new footbridge, and the zoo. Yet, if they don’t raise taxes NOW, they’ll lay off all the cops, empty out the prisons and close the schools. They accept the most toothless ethics “reforms” ever and the only people covering (and doing it well) are the Tribune. GOD BLESS THEM. Nobody else cares.

• I’m tired of how politicians and celebrities say completely contradictory things and nobody calls them on it. Just because Burris claims he didn’t try to buy that Senate seat doesn’t mean he didn’t try. When did this become an option? LIE TO THEIR FACES and there’s no concern for it coming back to bite you. I hear those transcripts and think the Burris didn’t do it because he was incapable of it, not because he didn’t want to. He offered, but was impotent when it came time to do the deed. How is it my best interest as a citizen of Illinois to have this bozo representing me? He can’t even cheat right.

• I’m tired of the Drew Peterson’s of the world. How is this guy STILL in the news? The amount of energy and money devoted to giving this creep a platform astounds me. GO AWAY!!!

• I’m tired of reality television, and yes I know I’m part of the problem because I watch it from time to time, but really, shows like “Rescue Me” are too few and too far in between. Do we need “I’m a Celebrity, Get me Outta Here.”? Who are Heidi and Spencer Pratt and should I be embarrassed because I know their names (but not what they do)?

• Why does having 8 kids either by yourself or with your wife (who you apparently hate because she’s apparently psycho) make you noteworthy? Why do people think I care?

I've apparently turned into a grumpy old man

D-Day and Obama Beach

At least he didn't apologize for that, so I guess it's a step in the right direction.

Tax Dollars At Work

Almost $400,000 of them.





I don't fault Obama for dumping the news (with the rest of the trash on a Friday afternoon), because W used to do it before him and Willie did it before him (and probably Bush 42...)

At least someone got fired for causing a collective flashback to 9/11 for millions of New Yorkers.

It's Over!!!

The checks and balances I mean. With Spector flipping to the Democrats, and Stuart Smalley maneuvering his way to the Senate in Minnesota, there will be the magic 60 votes in place to break any filibuster the impotent Republicans could muster.

Goodbye tax cuts, innovation in healthcare, 2nd Amendment, School Vouchers, Secret Ballot, world class healthcare, and Capitalism.

Hello tax increases, cap and trade (a FARCE), Gun Control, Card Check legislation (BIG UNIONS), socialized medicine, inferior healthcare and Socialism.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can pass whatever laws they want and NOBODY CAN STOP THEM!

Let's give the media, sheep that followed them, and LOUSY leadership of the Republicans a round of applause.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

"Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste"

Not my words, but those of Rahm Emanuel the POTUS Chief of Staff (or the "tiny dancer" as a friend of mine calls him in a nod to Rahm's time as a Ballet dancer).

Anyway, Global Warming is a sham and the Democrats are cowards who would rather plug their ears and say "lalalalalalalala" rather than have a serious debate.

Witness their desire to have Al Gore, the global warming "expert" himself testify without allowing a counter point on how dire it is for the government to hammer out the Cap and Trade taxes on businesses (in a recession no less, did these clowns even bother studying economics) without debate NOW.

The Republicans flew in Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to testify and the Democrats refused.

Here's the link: http://www.climatedepot.com/a/429/Report-Democrats-Refuse-to-Allow-Skeptic-to-Testify-Alongside-Gore-At-Congressional-Hearing


The global warming emperor has no clothes and the party in power would just assume we didn't notice.

SPOOKED!!!!

The American Consumer is scared. Holman Jenkins wrote a fantastic piece on the WSJ about how the supply of money isn't really in short supply, it's the demand. Americans are caught in a vicious cycle of savings!!!!

Now, I'm joking slightly, but the truth is because we're told how bad things are out there, how they're only going to get worse, how for the last 18 months we heard about "failed policies" ad nauseum, and we watch Congress and the President cram though enough spending to fund the Iraq war (AGAIN) in three weeks, it scares us. Lots of folks have lost their jobs (so they can't be spending), but I know personally, after we got a little bonus, we went a little crazy with spending, but we've dialed back too.

I've lost my faith that the government can spend our way out of this mess. My friend Geoff suggested to me that the government could consider, rather than giving the money to the banks and demanding they lend, give it to the homeowners (ALL of them, not just the idiots who borrowed too much because someone said they could) a one time voucher to be used to substantially reduce their first mortgage debt. It would help with the folks who's mortgages are inverted, spur purchases and refinances, and ALL the homeowners would benefit.

How about it???

Grrrr.....

So I'm reading today's Chicago Tribune and I turn to Page 6 of the Play section and Ellen Warren's column, "Bargins, of Course" and I'm OUTRAGED by not just the behavior of Lenore Wineger, 69, porfessor of early childhood education at UW-Oshkosh of Wilmette, but by our Federal Government for apparently pissing away my tax dollars.

Ellen's question: "And what brought you out to the mall today?", her response. "I just got a FEDERAL GRANT, so I wanted to treat myself [with lunch at] Joes's [Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab] and buying my funky watch. It was $104.90, reduced from about $125 at Nordstrom".

My tax dollars are going to this nitwit so she can treat herself to a fancy lunch and get 15% off at retail on a funky watch!!!

What the hell is wrong with people????

Barney Frank

Honestly, HOW does this guy look at himself in the mirror? HOW does he continue to get away with his political patronage game. First he oversaw the financial failure of Fannie/Freddie (not only ignoring, but SHOUTING DOWN calls for reform YEARS ago) who happened to be contributing to his campaign, NOW he's gone to bat for OneUnited Bank in Boston and given them a check for 12 MILLION DOLLARS of FEDERAL TAXPAYER money because they are FOB (Friends of Barney).

The good news is OneUnited Bank has provided a company car for use by the executives, it's a PORSCHE. Yeah, they spend almost as responsibly as our "friends" in Congress.

These clowns in Washington are issuing blank checks to friends of theirs and letting others fail (because they're not as connected), and they're using MY MONEY to do it.

Where's the "Change I can believe in?"

Or doesn't that apply to conservatives?

Read ALL about it on this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123258284337504295.html#printMode

NO MORE BAILOUTS!!!

OK, so Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid ("the dim bulb from Searchlight, NV"), and the rest of the Democrats in power need W. to bail out the auto industry so their friends in the auto workers unions can continue the status quo and the "Big Three" do NOT file bankruptcy. The Democrats can't/won't do it themselves so their hands are clean and can claim the moral high ground when flushing 25MM of Taxpayer's money down the toilet, er I mean giving it to the same idiots who ran the big three into the ground, is proven to be a waste.

Bankruptcy is the answer as it allows management to drag the unions back to the negotiation table to work together to save the industry (or dump the union completely). The Airlines filed, reorganized and they're still flying, why can't it work in Detroit?

Like the housing crisis, Congress is also culpable with their ridiculous CAFE standards they enforce on US car manufacturers that Honda & Toyota aren't subject too. Per the CAFE standards, the Big Three can't count imported vehicles to their mileage efficiency standards, so they have to have the union workers make the cheap cars with better mileage as well as the much more profitable SUV's and trucks.

Change We Can Believe In

Hearty congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama. He ran a great campaign and did what he needed to in order to ascend to the highest office in the land.

We are in for an interesting four years.

I'm VERY CURIOUS to see what the GOP does next. They got their hats HANDED to them and this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

I hope they make the most of it.

So, I'm Selfish...

Now I'm being told that those who don't want to pay higher taxes are "selfish". No, I just want only MY hand reaching into my wallet, not Uncle Sam's.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obamas-new-atta.html

Here's a secret, you can pay AS MUCH AS YOU WANT in taxes. The IRS will cash your check if it's more than you owe. Go ahead. Try it.

I'LL keep my money and spend it on my family (my mortgage, my property taxes, my children's education, our retirement, our cars, and MAYBE a vacation every other year).

The sack on this guy is amazing. Does he use a wheelbarrow to cart it around?

Arnie Still Pumps 'Em Up

I'm ready to run through a wall for him.

Taxes and an Example

From an E-mail I received and it summed up our tax situation perfectly for me:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too.
It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison.‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

WATCH THE LANGUAGE

The sentiment is true, and no, I cannot believe I'm agreeing with Penn & Teller: