Help! I'm Drowning!

In school work!

It's the end-of-the-year crunch--two papers and two finals!

Senate Subpoenas President Obama over Ft. Hood Murders

Senators Lieberman and Collins issued subpoenas today to the White House for information on the killings at Ft. Hood by Nidal Hasan, who was allowed to remain on active duty despite his association with Al-Qaeda and his pro-radical-Islamic comments.

Apparently the Obama Administration has been putting off the Senate requests for months now. At first, the Department of Defense stated they needed time to complete internal reviews of what in the world happened.

The Senate wants to prevent something like this happening again.

" 'Given the warning signs of Major Nidal Malik Hasan's extremist radicalization and growing hostility toward the U.S. military and the United States generally, why was he not stopped before he took thirteen American lives, and how can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again?' Lieberman and Collins wrote Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041903513.html

Global Warming: The "You've Got to be Kidding" Catagory

If you can't prove global warming without "cooking the data", then try another tactic: From the L.A. Times "Why Cleaner Air Could Speed Global Warming"

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kintisch18-2010apr18,0,3774828.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes/mostviewed+(L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories)

A Great Exercise for the Brain....

....is thinking about the opposition's arguments.

Makes you think about your own arguments!

I've been reading the comments on an article by a Tea Party opponent who insists all tea-party folks are just racist, because he saw few minorities at the Dallas Tea Party. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/opinion/17blow.html

Most all the commenters who are against the Tea Party people insist that the only issues are President Obama's place of birth and that he is a socialist, Chicago-style politician. Many also applaud Mr. Obama for lowering our taxes and keeping unemployment at bay with his stimulus program.

Most also describe the tea party folks as stupid, delusional, paranoid, uninformed, racist, aging WASP males, vigilante, uncharitable thugs.

Okay, so let's think about this.

First of all, ad hominem ("against the man" or attacking someone on his/her perceived charactertistics instead of engaging him/her on the facts of the argument) is a very weak argument--it just is illogical. Who you are has no bearing on if your positions or arguments are correct.

Just because you only saw a few minority faces in a crowd doesn't necessarily mean that the crowd is racist. Just because you don't like someone's position doesn't mean that he is stupid, uninformed, delusional or paranoid.

And, in fact, when you look at the photos, you see many people of many different ages and different backgrounds. Also, a study by the Main Stream Media showed that tea partiers were in fact more educated than average. Other studies show that conservatives are much more charitable than those of a more liberal political persuasion.

So, what about the other arguments?

Did President Bush spend too much? Yes. But the deficit under him pales in comparison to President Obama's.

Do conservatives oppose the new health care? Yes, but not because it helps people with pre-existing conditions or gives health care to several million people who need health care. Conservatives agree that some health care reforms are needed--we just don't need the US government taking it over! And, besides, the new health care law STILL leaves MILLIONS of people un-insured. That truly is Not Very Nice. Not to those people who still will need health care, nor to the rest of us who will be footing a huge bill--that doesn't solve the problem.

And what about unemployment and the economy? Well, it's not doing so well. Very few jobs in the private sector are being created, and the unemployment rate is hovering at a dismal 10%. And the stimulus money has hardly been spent. Plus what has been spent is mostly on helping out government jobs. So, you really can't blame the stimulus spending for helping or hurting the economy---except for the fact that the stimulus bills have added greatly to our national deficit.

Lowering our taxes? Well, most folks' are soon to increase, and then there's all the medical taxes soon to be upon us, plus that National VAT idea....Well, I just don't think so. (I'm afraid Mr. Obama is not exactly telling the truth on this one)

What about President Obama's birthplace? Well, it really won't make any difference. Next!!

So, is Mr. Obama a socialist? Let's look at the definition: 1. Any of a variety of economic or political theories advocating government ownership and administration of the production and distribution of goods 2. A system of society where there is no private property 3. A system or condition of society where the means of production are owned and controlled by the state 4. In Marxist theory, a stage between communism and capitalism distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to the work done. (Thanks to Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

Well, I think that according to definitions 1 and 3, Mr. Obama could certainly be said to have socialistic tendencies. He has taken over GM and Chrysler, some banks, and now will control (since health care will be adminstered by the executive branch) many aspects of how our health care is delivered through control of the health insurance industry. And believe me, when he controls what will and what won't be covered by health insurance, cuts half-a-trillion dollars from Medicare by controlling what it will pay for, and forces everyone to have health insurance--that's control.

And have you heard of the proposed new financial regulations? These would allow the President and the Secretary of the Treasury to unilaterally declare a company is going to fail soon, and is too big and too important to fail. The President would then control that company (be able to fire the board of directors, etc.) and the takeover would not be subject to judicial or congressional review. Now that's control! Just like Hugo Chavez, IMHO. These regulations haven't passed yet--just proposed by President Obama.

And governing Chicago-style? Well, just take Rahm Emanuel, the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase.........why, I'd say "yes".

Hmmm---I'm not ill-informed and dumb as you might want to think!

Something To Write About: Planned Parenthood

The United States government spends big bucks supporting Planned Parenthood.

This is absolutely deplorable, for several reasons. Reasons that need to be pointed out to our Congressmen and women, and this funding for Planned Parenthood ended.

What are these reasons?

1. Racism: PP was begun with eugenics against black people in mind, and this exists still. Last year, PP officials (from seven states) accepted donations (from an undercover investigation) specifically to reduce black births. http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022802.html

2. Violating mandatory reporting for statutory rape laws: PP has been caught repeatedly evading the reporting of statutory rape, which helps protects children.

3. Abortion: PP is the nation's premier abortion provider.

4. Raunchy and incredibly dangerous advice for young people, including the latest which promotes the "right" not to disclose your positive HIV status to your sexual partners. You might not want your sexual partner to know that you do IV drugs, or have multiple or same-sex partners, right? http://www.ippf.org/NR/rdonlyres/B4462DDE-487D-4194-B0E0-193A04095819/0/HappyHealthyHot.pdf

WRONG.

So write your representatives and senators. We, the people, don't need to be funding this.

Tax Day....and a Few Thoughts

Today is the notorious (as in famous) April 15th.
Tax Day!
Well, at least for half of the citizens of the United States.
Only 53% of Americans pay taxes. The rest either pay no taxes, or even get money back from the government--something, by the way, which makes absolutely no sense to me. If you don't pay taxes to the federal government, then the feds don't owe you anything. At all. For any reason--and now, back to the subject at hand....
So, what's the problem with this picture? Well, you get a set of people in our country who will vote--not for smaller government and few taxes which will allow our economy to grow and prosper--but instead vote for increased government spending on them.
Tax credits can also be used as social engineering by politicians--for example, the federal government can reward you for driving a "green" car (or perhaps even a car built by GM aka Government Motors) or give you tax credits for having fewer children or eating carrots or whatever they wish to impose onto We, The People.
Tax credits create dependency on the government and thus discourage people from working hard, being creative, and entrepeneurship.
Under President Obama's so-called stimulus program, several new tax credits were instituted. Then, to raise more revenues, taxes will be raised.
This only discourages people further from working hard. And those that can will get their money out of this country.
So, what to do? Get rid of tax credits. And soon.

How much does Washington collect (and spend) in taxes?

According to this: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2010/04/12/dc_will_spend_31406_per_household_232485.html

The federal government will collect $18, 276.00 per household.

It will spend $31, 406.00 per household (the largest amount EVER in the history of the U.S).

The difference of $13,130.00 per household is part of the huge deficit that President Obama is racking up.

Middle Class Tax Hikes for Healthcare

The Joint Commission on Taxation (the congressional folks who keep up with this stuff) have officially said that by 2019, middle-class Americans will face a $3.9 billion dollar tax increase due to cuts in tax deductions on health care costs.

This is part of our new health care reform law.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/91669-healthcare-law-socks-middle-class-with-a-39-billion-tax-increase

Senator Baucus' office replied that other health care costs--premiums, for example--will be lower to offset the losses in health care cost deductions.

Unfortunately, that's not true.

The CBO estimates that health care insurance premiums will rise.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/30/cbo-obamacare-will-drive-insurance-premiums-higher/

Americans' Income Declining

Real income (not including government handouts) has decreased 3.2% since President Obama took office.
Under President George W. Bush, real income fell slightly during the first months (attributed to the recession at that time), but rose 12.7% over his eight years in office. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/13/personal-income-falls-32-during-obamas-15-months/

Well, Mrs. Pelosi DID say that we needed to pass the health care bill before we could know what was in it....

And I guess that applied to Congress also.

Apparently, Congress messed up big time by passing very ambiguous language concerning their OWN health care insurance.

The new law, signed by President Obama just 3 weeks ago, seems to disallow members of Congress from participating in the federal health insurance program--so that they can participate in Obamacare with the rest of us.

Just desserts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/us/politics/13health.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Good News: What You Can Do

What can you do about all this political stuff?
WRITE your congress folks--your senators and representatives. When a few tens or hundreds of people write--they listen (or at least think about listening!). So few people email or write that it doesn't take too many letters.
VOTE for the conservative candidate.
INFORM yourself and others about the issues.
CONSIDER working on voter registration drives or on a campaign.
Use your MONEY to help conservative candidates win seats. You don't have to be in someone's district to send them money! If lots of folks would just send in a little bit of money to help conservative candidates, these conservatives would have a much, much better chance of winning!

Stupak Resigns

After selling out to Obamacare, Representative Bart Stupak insisted yesterday that he will run again for Congress, and he was certain of winning his next race.

Today, he must have read the polls. He's resigning.

You reap what you sow.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35585.html

New Census Ads: Who Cares about Legality?

Census ads, paid for by you, the citizens of America, encourage same-sex couples to answer the census forms as "married couples" if they feel that they are married.

Doesn't matter if they are legally married or not--it's however you "feel".

http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=4697

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i1MOQt0DqjJyug18zATl_nHDokJwD9ET5CM02

President Obama's Nominee for 9th US Court of Appeals

President Obama has nominated Goodwin Liu for judge of the 9th US Court of Appeals. This court is probably the busiest appeals court in the United States--and is right below the Supreme Court in our justice system.
Professor Liu of Berkeley School of Law is considered one of Mr. Obama's most inexperienced and most radical judicial nominee.
He has only practiced law for TWO years!
And, due to his "glaring omissions" from his required Questionaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Liu's nomination has been questioned by Senators who feel he is either being "incompetent" or "attempting to hide his most controversial work from the Committee."
This nomination will come up for vote on April 16th---
Write your Senator to oppose this nomination!
http://sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressShop.NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=d3d45bdd-004f-b3b6-2abc-d67584cb3524
http://www.citizenlink.org/videofeatures/A000012411.cfm

More Radicalism: Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Or ENDA.

This act will give sexual orientation and gender identity protected status in the workplace.

These sexual orientations will have precedence over free speech and religious liberty rights of U.S. citizens.

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000012417.cfm

Ignoring Iran: An Editorial

President Obama appears to be ignoring the Iranian threat (since we no longer have Islamic extremists, maybe they just don't exist?) http://politicopolitico.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-national-security.html

From the Wall Street Journal: Unserious About Iran

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303382504575163804139815206.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

President Obama's Foreign Policy

Secretary of State Clinton annoying Canada (more of the "let's make our allies mad" ploy by this Administration) and annoying Israel even more over apartment-building in East Jerusalem.

See this article: Hillary: Bull in the China Shop Diplomat

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=529212

The Failure to Defend the United States

Today, President Obama signed the START Treaty with Russia. This treaty specifies that as the numbers of nuclear arms decreases, the number of missile defense systems must also decrease.

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/04/08/new-start-would-render-u-s-vulnerable-to-missile-attack/#more-30899

All this while Russia is arming our enemies. Russia has recently signed agreements with Chavez for billions in military arms. Venezuela, by the way, is also asking for nuclear capability "for peaceful purposes" only, of course.

China has also been buying weapons from Russia.

And, Russia has been selling powerful missile defense systems (isn't this ironic, since Mr. Obama is planning to decrease ours?) to folks who are Not Our Friends--Syria, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/russia_moving_fast_before_arms.html

The good news?

This treaty must be ratified by a two-thirds majority Senate vote.

I don't think this treaty can go through reconciliation--so WRITE YOUR SENATOR and oppose this treaty.

More UNEXPECTED Bad News on the Job Front

Honestly, I'd fire my economic advisors. These folks are SURPRISED by the economic news--every time they turn around.

The new UNEXPECTED news? New jobless claims have jumped up UNEXPECTEDLY. "Economists were expecting claims to decline."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/058cc00c-430f-11df-96c4-00144feab49a.html

New National ??Security??

President Obama is continuing to change the face of our national security.

He will remove the words "Islamic extremism" from all national security documents in order not to offend Islamic nations.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/07/obama-bans-islam-jihad-national-security-strategy-document/

President Obama has also announced new policies on use of nuclear weapons in its Nuclear Posture Review (no, I'm not kidding).

The NPR "lists five priorities...defending the United States isn't one of them", according to a review here: http://article.nationalreview.com/430547/nuclear-posturing/nro-symposium

The President's attempt to create a non-nuclear world is "fantasy". Correctly, this article states that the danger is not the USA, but the soon-to-be-nuclear Iran.

With the NPR's statement that no more nuclear weapons will be built in America, and that we won't defend ourselves against Russia or China--well, Mr. Obama is being reckless and careless with our national defense.

And, in a back-handed sort of way, Mr. Obama's declaration may inspire other countries to pursue their own nuclear weapons, since the USA cannot be counted on to deter terrorists around the world.

Oops.

Where's my free health care?

From here http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/06/91696/health-care-overhaul-spawns-mass.html

people are phoning health insurance companies asking how to sign up for free Obama-care.

And apparently they are not happy that Obamacare is not now, and will never be free.

From informed and reputable sources, I know that our local hospital was flooded with people asking for free care the Monday after health care was passed by Congress and signed by the President.

So, where is our free health care? And why are we paying all these new taxes? And more for our medicine and for grandma's wheelchair?

More Radical Presidential Appointees (AKA Sneaky Recess Appointees)

President Obama has appointed several people during the current recess. Why during the recess? Back in the days of horse-and-buggies, the President was allowed to make appointments during the Congressional recess in order to allow the work of the executive office to go on. These appointments are temporary, only until the next congressional session when they would be vetted according to the usual method of approving presidential appointments.

So, what's the big idea?

Well, at least two of these appointments are so radical they weren't approved according to the usual procedures.

Who are these appointments?

#1) Chai Feldblum, appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which makes sure that there is no discrimination in the workplace.

Okay, so what's the problem?

She believes that marriage is discriminatory to women (in fact, as a lesbian, she calls those in favor of gay marriage to be "gay conservatives"), that being a mom at home is discriminatory, and calls sex within marriage "marital rape". She also asserts that sexual liberty overrides religious liberty (N.B. I didn't see that in the Constitution).

Her beliefs are so controversial that she has been unable to gain confirmation through a regular Congressional session.

#2) Craig Becker, appointed to the National Labor Relations Board. This board makes sure labor organization is done "fairly" and oversees labor unions.

Mr. Becker is a proponent of "Card Check" for union votes, which essentially means a non-secret ballot--something the people of the United States take for granted. Card Check is something that is so unpopular that Mr. Becker has been unable to receive an appointment through Congress, and the Democratic controlled Congress has been unable to pass Card Check legislatively. The suspicion is that Mr. Becker will enact Card Check just through changing the rules within the NLRB.

Tomorrow--the rest of the story.....

And Just in Case You Haven't Enough of New Healthcare Taxes--More New Tax Proposals!

White House advisor Paul Volcker has gone on record advocating a VAT tax as well as carbon or other energy related taxes "to bring deficits under control".

Which, of course, will further depress our economy.

I have a novel idea to control the federal deficit---

Just Stop Spending.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6355N520100406

Thankfully Some Courts Still Understand Freedom of Speech: No Net Neutrality

Today, the D.C. federal court of appeals said "No" to the Federal Communications Commission-- with the support of President Obama--trying to control the internet and internet providers.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/90747-fcc-dealt-major-blow-in-net-neutrality-ruling-favoring-comcast

A Town Hall Meeting and Representative Barton's Health Care Review

Tonight was one of our congressman's (Joe Barton) town hall meetings.

He is very concerned about the new health care provisions, and about the economy.

A few thoughts from Mr. Barton's notes on the new health care (and if I have gotten them wrong, I'm very sorry, Mr. Barton):

1. The questionable means used to pass the bill--ie, reconciliation, which is specifically for budget issues and NOT for legislative type bills.

2. The huge new burden of taxes for we, the people:

--taxes paid by employers for each employee raised 166%--and now also includes part time workers.

--New 3.8% tax on capital venture activities

--New taxes on health care benefits (something President Obama promised NOT to do)

--New taxes on medical devices and on medications

3. Health care premiums are predicted to rise 10%-13% (I would say this is a very conservative estimate)

4. Insurance mandates---everyone will be forced to buy insurance (except, I guess, those millions of people who still somehow won't be covered--something I just don't understand!)

5. Government growth--The federal government will spend billions on new bureaucracy and on IRS agents (N.B.--the IRS will now have access to your medical records, I believe)

6. Over half-a-trillion dollar cut to Medicare over and above those in the Senate health care bill, and cuts Medicare Advantage for many, many seniors.

Plus who knows what else? After all, we had to pass the bill to know what was in it!

And truly, the reconciliation bill was pushed through (as usual!!) with only a few hours for everyone to read it...typical modus operandi.

A Blessed Easter!