Obama's Teleprompter?

Well, I guess it had to happen. Obama's teleprompter, the brains behind the empty suit, now has his own blog.

http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com

I guess now we can get answers straight from the TOTUS.

A Rant So Good I had To Post It Here...

I am not an ivy-league educated know-it-all, but I have been in the business world for over 20 years. I may not be an expert in economics, but I have lived history, which is a pretty good road map to the future. I've never seen government spending spur any real economic growth. Tax cuts have always produced economic activity under JFK, Reagan, Bush and just about everywhere its been tried.

You only have to look at what Japan did in the 90s to see that spending money THAT YOU DON'T HAVE on infrastructure does not spur REAL economic activity.

And quite frankly, where is the moral outrage that government is taking money from YOU and giving it to someone else? This is exactly what our founding fathers warned us about. When you allow voters to vote themselves money from the treasury, the country is doomed. Atlas hasn't just shrugged, he's saying screw it, I'm out of here. By the end of Obama's play time in Washington, there will not be any "rich folks" left to tax!

I may be "sophomoric" in my understanding, but I see Democrats, and some Republicans, taking OUR money, that they have yet to confiscate BTW, to give to failing companies, pet projects/causes and to bail out mortgages that were only made under government threats to those that had no business getting them in the first place. And you want me to embrace this!

Again I ask the question. In tough economic times, I have to cut back and spend wisely. When has government ever reigned in THEIR spending?

You have Democrats actively and openly discussing nationalizing banks, carbon taxes and taking over health care. Are we living in Venezuela now? My gosh take off those liberal rose-colored glasses and look at what is happening in Washington today and over the last 100 years of Democrat control. You are seeing the systematic destruction of the US from within before your very eyes. Kruschev would be so proud. Cloward-Piven is working like a charm.

I wonder what is being taught in universities these days when people are defending these types of activities in Washington. But then again, I drank the Kool Aid a few years before I started using my brain.

Maybe when that first Obama tax increase hits your wallet you might change your mind. What's that you say, you don't earn over $250,000 a year? Well guess what, even if you don't make that much your employer, grocer, florist, power company, service station owner, doctor, lawyer all do and they will pass that baby right along to you. You can bet that even if you currently don't pay a dime in taxes, your dollar will not buy as much.

Democrats have been screwing with banking since GSEs were created in 1916. Every banking "crisis" we have had has been very much related to excessive government meddling and "regulating." Do you trust a bunch of ivy-league educated braniacs who have never run a business to understand banking? I sure don't. These guys have never run a business much less a bank.

The nearest Barney Frank has been to meeting a payroll is the male prostitution ring that was run from his apartment. The only experience Christopher Dodd has with banking is getting sweetheart deals from Countrywide and massive campaign donations from Fannie Mae.

Obama was a community organizer and part-time professor before his 150 days as a Senator, Hillary an attorney and First Lady. Half the cabinet and many key lawmakers writing tax code can't even pay their own freakin' taxes. You expect free market solutions from this bunch?

I'm not angry, I'm passionate. I love this country too much to see it destroyed by a bunch of folks unfit for even the most menial tasks at the local fast food establishment of choice.

But I guess if I were more "sophisticated" I would understand the complexities and nuances of economic policy...

The Nail In The Coffin?

Dr. Will Happer is a Professor of Physics at Princeton University. On February 25th he testified before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Among his comments:

Sometimes the obsession for control of the climate got a bit out of hand, as in the Aztec state, where the local scientific/religious establishment of the year 1500 had long since announced that the debate was over and that at least 20,000 human sacrifices a year were needed to keep the sun moving, the rain falling, and to stop climate change.

Sounds like Al Gore must have some Aztec blood in him with his desire to bleed humanity of all their wealth in a futile effort to change the climate.

Al Gore likes to display graphs of temperature and CO2 concentrations over the past million years or so, showing that when CO2 rises, the temperature also rises. Doesn’t this prove that the temperature is driven by CO2? Absolutely not! If you look carefully at these records, you find that first the temperature goes up, and then the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere goes up. There is a delay between a temperature increase and a CO2 increase of about 800 years.

The emphasis is mine. This point needs to be mentioned often because it is so vitally important to understanding the role of CO2 in the atmosphere.

CO2 is not a pollutant and it is not a poison and we should not corrupt the English language by depriving "pollutant" and "poison" of their original meaning. Our exhaled breath contains about 4% CO2. That is 40,000 parts per million, or about 100 times the current atmospheric concentration. CO2 is absolutely essential for life on earth.

Exactly when did CO2 get such a bad rap anyway?

Many of you may know that in 2007 a British Court ruled that if Al Gore’s book, "An Inconvenient Truth," was used in public schools, the children had to be told of eleven particularly troubling inaccuracies. You can easily find a list of the inaccuracies on the internet, but I will mention one. The court ruled that it was not possible to attribute hurricane Katrina to CO2. Indeed, had we taken a few of the many billions of dollars we have been spending on climate change research and propaganda and fixed the dykes and pumps around the New Orleans, most of the damage from Hurricane Katrina could have been avoided.

The emphasis is added by me. This is at the heart of the "global warming" hysteria. We are spending billions trying to solve a mythical problem that we can do nothing about. That money would be much better served back in the hands of consumers, investors and businesses to stimulate the economy.

Plants, and our own primate ancestors evolved when the levels of atmospheric CO2 were about 1000 ppm, a level that we will probably not reach by burning fossil fuels, and far above our current level of about 380 ppm.

Dr. Happer goes on to discuss how much better crops fare with higher levels of C02. It is fascinating testimony that will get little play in the mainstream press.


More and more brave scientists are stepping forward and speaking out against this nonsense. In fact, over 30,000 American scientists (including over 9,000 Ph.Ds) have signed a petition that states in part:

There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the forseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of earth.

President Obama and the liberals in Congress are already salivating over the opportunity to spend billions stolen from citizens in the form of carbon taxes. They also continue to spend billions trying to prove this global warming nonsense when the evidence is overwhelmingly against them and more keeps coming.

Here is a fantastic article from Human Events that details the corruption of some NASA scientists in their support of global warming and the false claim that certain individuals were "muzzled" by the Bush administration. Its worth a quick read.

By now it should be obvious to even the casual observer what this whole global warming scare is all about - more government control and higher taxes. No rational individual after reviewing all the dissenting evidence would try to destroy our economy based on this hoax.

Where Is Our Daniel?

Do you remember the story of Daniel from the Bible? He was a man that served at the highest levels in both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires. Everything he did honored God and he was blessed with wisdom far beyond his peers. He served multiple kings and each time received honor and was elevated above the other advisors.

This of course led to jealousy among the other princes who schemed to have Daniel removed. They knew Daniel was obedient to all the laws of the land and acted in perfect honesty in everything he did. If they were going to accuse him of something, it would have to be based on his religious practices.

The princes tricked the new king, Darius, into passing a law that forbid anyone from praying to anyone except Darius. Appealing to the vanity of Darius, the law was passed and promised a swift execution in the lions' den for anyone who disobeyed the new law.

Daniel knew the law, but more importantly, he knew HIS God. He opened the windows and prayed loudly, praising God as always. The princes saw this and ran to Darius with their evidence and accusations.

Immediately, Darius knew he had goofed and sought a way to overturn the silly law. The Blessing of God was on his empire BECAUSE of Daniel. There was nothing in Daniel's behavior or actions that deserved death. But the law had to be carried out.

Daniel obeyed all the laws, but he also obeyed a higher law. He would face the punishment because he was certain that the God he loved and served would act on his behalf. Based on the story, I believe Daniel's faith moved Darius because he made a very profound confession as Daniel was placed in the lions' den:

"May the God who you continually serve rescue you!"

Darius fasted all night and ran to the tomb the next morning to confirm that Daniel did worship the one true God. Of course you probably know the rest of the story. Daniel was alive and was pulled from the den. His accusers were then thrown to the lions who devoured them before they hit the ground.

When I think about this story I wonder where are our Daniels? Certainly there were men of great faith among our Founding Fathers. The evidence for this is all around us. But there seems to be a major lack of Godly wisdom and integrity in Washington these days. Its time we get more people filled with God's wisdom working in government.

Please join me in thanking God for changing Washington and putting his people in place. By faith, we remove the mountain of corruption and replace it with people of integrity who are filled with the wisdom of God! Amen!


If you would like to read more about Daniel, here is a link to stories, sermons and commentary on the Daniel in the lions' den story: Daniel in the Lions' Den

Buying A Mattress?

This is a pretty good site that gives some insight into the industry and some helpful advice.

How To Buy A Mattress

819 Billion Reasons To Hate The Stimulus...

Let's suppose that you work a job and are paid hourly. Then suddenly you are informed that your hours will be reduced. What do you do? Do you suddenly decide to spend MORE money, or do you look for ways to cut back and save in preparation for the reduced income.

Probably not the best analogy possible, but it frustrates me that supposedly brilliant people in Washington think that in tough economic times, government needs to spend MORE. Where is this additional money coming from?

Well they will just max out Uncle Sam's credit cards so future generations can deal with it right?

The absurdity of this "stimulus" bill is obvious to the political novice. Even 11 Democrats saw through this and joined every Republican present and voted against it. The final tally was 244-188. The Republicans offered an alternative largely made up of tax cuts - a proven job creator and economic stimulant, the Democrats voted that down 286-170.

So exactly what does $819 billion (over a trillion with interest) buy us? Here are a few choice nuggets:

Digital TV Coupons ($650 Million) - Are there really that many people still using bunny ears for TV reception? If they are that hard up, maybe they should be out finding a job instead of sitting in front of the television.

Gov’t Cars ($600 Million) - Didn't we just "invest" in the car companies already?

Nat’l Endowment for the Arts ($50 Million) - Just what a slowing economy needs, more funding of a crucifix in urine. Oh what would we do without taxpayer funded arts...

Repairs to National Mall ($200 Million, including $21m for sod) - $21 million for sod! I hope you can smoke that stuff.

Prevention of STDs ($335 Million) - If after all the millions spent to teach people to keep their pants zipped hasn't worked, why would another $335 million make a difference? Will the CDC find more creative ways to spend money than transgender beauty pageants and teaching gay men to flirt? I guess this is a TYPE of stimulus...

I could rant on about how ridiculous this is, but the cult of Obama is very strong. And the ignorance of the public schooled masses is strong too. Until the myth of government is the answer is finally broken, we are stuck with yet another long downturn thanks to our dear leader and his liberal army in Congress. Maybe the Senate will neuter this mess? Don't count on it.

The era of Obama's Big Government is upon us.

Here are some other interesting opinions on the subject:
Hundreds of economists disagree with more government spending
You Won't Believe What's in That Stimulus Bill
Good Morning, Suckers
The Democratic Porkfest Bill of 2009
Obama's Bill Hands ACORN $5.2 Billion Bailout
$646,214 Per Government Job

The Hoax That Will Not Die...

On one of the coldest days in Washington, and on a day when most of the country is covered in ice, Big Al Gore, champion of the Global Warming Hoax, testified to Congress that we are all going to die unless we turn the world into a Socialist Utopia designed by Big Al.

Never mind that hundreds of scientists, many who originally worked on the UN studies have recanted. Never mind that temperatures have been falling for at least a decade. Never mind that CO2 is a very, very minor player in the greenhouse effect. Never mind that the largest source of heat for planet earth comes from the sun and man can do nothing to prevent that. Never mind all scientific evidence or even the need for further research. In Big Al's feeble mind, the issue is settled.

I guess if you have made millions pushing a hoax and stand to make millions more from it, you set all reason aside.

Here is an excellent link to the story behind the global warming scam. The key paragraph is below with the link.


But the tide was turning with Roger Revelle. He was forced out at Harvard at 65 and returned to California and a semi retirement position at UCSD. There he had time to rethink Carbon Dioxide and the greenhouse effect. The man who had inspired Al Gore and given the UN the basic research it needed to launch its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was having second thoughts. In 1988 he wrote two cautionary letters to members of Congress. He wrote, "My own personal belief is that we should wait another 10 or 20 years to really be convinced that the greenhouse effect is going to be important for human beings, in both positive and negative ways." He added, "…we should be careful not to arouse too much alarm until the rate and amount of warming becomes clearer."
THE AMAZING STORY BEHIND THE GLOBAL WARMING SCAM

Before any government starts taking your money to stop "global warming," learn the facts. This is all about power and money. Big Al and his liberal buddies want to destroy America's prosperity. Do not let them succeed!

Chicago - Roadmap to Obama's America?

I came across this little article that lists major employers in the Chicago area and it is shocking. Observe:

1 U.S. Government - 78,000

2 Chicago Public Schools - 43,910

3 City of Chicago - 35,570

4 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. - 23,453

5 Cook County - 22,142

6 State of Illinois - 18,124

7 Advocate Health Care - 15,660

8 University of Chicago - 14,287

9 Walgreen Co. - 14,254

10 UAL Corp. - 14,000

10 AT&T Inc. - 14,000

78,000 FEDERAL employees in Chicago! Almost 200,000 government employees just in the 5 in bold above. If we add in the hospitals and colleges in the top 25, which through government funding/control could be considered de facto government employers, those numbers nearly double. This is not a model that leads to prosperity. Government jobs are a net loss to the economy. And we are quickly reaching the point where there are not enough taxpayers to cover all these expenses, especially when almost 40% of the country pays nothing in taxes. And many of those actually are receiving handouts from the government.

If this is Obama's plan for America, I'm not interested.

Iraq By The Numbers...

The debate will continue on whether or not the invasion of Iraq was the right strategy. But you can't argue that the Democrats who were screaming that it was a "lost cause" and a "civil war" and that we had "lost the war" all look pretty stupid now.

The military is reporting that American losses dropped to 314 for 2008 down from 904 the year before. It is not clear from the articles I have read if these are all combat deaths. One site only lists 230 actual combat deaths while describing the rest as non-hostile.

In the first link from AP, they made sure to mention that combat deaths were up in Afghanistan. We wouldn't want the current administration to receive any credit or praise. The AP will wait until their savior is in office before starting their "everything is glorious and rosy under the Dear Leader" mode.

The Iraqi government is also reporting a major drop in civilian casualties from 16,252 in 2007 down to 5,714 in 2008. Remember these numbers are out of a 27 million population.

While every life is precious, it is nice to see such a huge drop in casualties, and that the Iraqi Army is taking over more responsibility. The surge seems to have been a success.

Compare those numbers to a typical, liberal American metro area. In 2008 New York had 501 murders, Detroit 340, Los Angeles 376 (as of 12/27), Washington DC 186 (429 DC area), Baltimore 234, Philadelphia 332, and of course Obama's own paradise Chicago (bang bang) posted 509 homicides for the year. Let's hope Obama doesn't do for the rest of the country what he has done there.

FYI - Dallas dropped down to 171 in 2008 from 200 in 2007. We must have had a "surge" or maybe that little concealed handgun law may act as a deterrent down here.

There are still three major terrorist supporting countries left to be dealt with by the next President. But somehow I think they will get a pass.

What Would You Do?

You are President of the United States. In border cities like Detroit, Seattle, San Diego and El Paso, there is a daily barrage of mortars and rockets fired indiscriminately into these urban areas. You have negotiated truces only to see the rocket attacks increase before the ink is dry. Your citizens live in constant fear as the attacks come at all hours and they have as little as 15 seconds to seek shelter. The aggressors don't care who gets killed or what is attacked - a school, hospital, women, children, elderly - it does not matter. The more casualties and fear the better.

What would you do?

This is exactly the situation Israel has faced for over 6 years! Even after all military personnel and citizens were forcibly removed from Gaza - ending the "occupation" and supposedly the largest grievance against Israel. The squatters in Gaza decided to elect Hamas whose campaign promise was the destruction of Israel at any cost. What followed was an ever increasing volley of attacks, becoming more sophisticated as time passed.

Over 5,500 rocket and mortar attacks have occurred during the last seven years. 3,000 attacks have have taken place in 2008 - in spite of a ceasefire. With the level of violence continually escalating, and an enemy that preaches your destruction 24/7 from halls of authority, mosques and even on children's programming, you finally must realize that war is the only answer.

Nobody likes war. But the only way to peace is the complete annihilation of the threat. Hamas and the various factions in Gaza only chance of success is draw Israel into a bloody PR nightmare. Hamas cannot win militarily - especially if Israel takes the gloves off. Their only hope is to win the battle of world opinion. That is why you see the useful idiots in the western press and all of the Middle East talking heads using words like "massacre" and "disproportionate force" when it is obvious the IDF has gone out of its way to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas is counting on civilian casualties - even if they have to manufacture them.

For the sake of the handful of innocent Gaza residents who truly desire peace and prosperity, may the war be quick and decisive.

December 7th - A Date Which Will Live In Infamy...

Today is the anniversary of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Exactly 66 years ago and also a Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese planes caught US forces unprepared for war. The attack resulted in the loss of over 2,000 military and civilian lives.



As America braces for the inauguration of Obama, its good to reflect back on what he has promised while campaigning. Obama has expressed a willingness, almost joy, at the prospects of sitting down with Iran and other terrorists and terrorist-sponsors. Even though history has proven time and again that appeasement will only embolden an enemy, Obama believes that the weight of his charisma will change the mindset of a people that fervently believes that all infidels deserve death. This mission has propelled their religion for over 1,000 years through conquest after conquest until finally they could not keep up technologically with the West.



But now with the benefit of oil wealth, we see their true nature and purpose emerge as they can now afford to fund the spread of their religion. And as in times past, they will use terror, or the threat of terror, as a means to accomplish their plans.



As we saw on 9/11 and just recently in India, this enemy needs to be taken seriously. It is not just a handful of lunatics. It is a movement that infects most of the Middle East. Not all muslims are terrorists, but it is painfully obvious that the vast majority of terrorists are motivated by this religion.

Who's Your Buddy?

I was thinking about writing a blog on which party stands up for freedom and instead came across a very nice read in American Thinker that does just that. This is a great article and I encourage you to take a look. Here is the closing paragraph which is spot on.

When the day comes that the only thing between me and liberty are some Bible-quoting know-it-alls, I'll reconsider. But right now, there are a lot of things between me and liberty, and the "religious right" is not one of them. In fact, I see them voting for more liberty, not less. If the Republican Party ever decides it really wants to be the party of liberty, rather than the slower-road-to-socialism party, I'll gladly join the religious right there.
A Libertarian Defense of Social Conservatism

As much as I approved of George Bush and his war on terror, his domestic spending policies and decisions were very much aligned with the left. I still believe the Bush Presidency will go down as a success - 7 years without a major terror attack, Iraq and Afghanistan liberated etc. You can't argue with that success no matter how bad a case of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) you have.

The financial problems of 2008 are largely the result of Democrat (stupid) policies. The banking scandal can be traced back to Carter/Clinton/Congress encouraging loans to those that could not qualify and then refusing to reign in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac when it was obvious trouble was brewing.

The rise of gas prices is directly related to bad (Democrat) policies designed to "save the planet." By limiting drilling/new refinery construction and then forcing ethanol on consumers, the government involvement forced prices up across multiple industries causing the slowdown we enjoy today - Thank you Dems.

When it comes election time you do have a choice. Unfortunately, Republicans continue to offer up a liberal-lite instead of a true Conservative. Over my lifetime there is the right solution to solving the world's problems and then there is the liberal solution. Each time Republicans compromise with the left, we simply create even more problems to solve.

Stop Me If You've Heard This Before...

From the "President-Elect" Radio Address:

We wont do it the old Washington way. We wont just throw money at the problem. We'll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.


--- Read on. Its the same "let's just waste more taxpayer money to show how much we care" nonsense. Same song, different verse.


Today, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That wont just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.


--- Big Yawn. Why not cut the bloated overhead and reduce the number of redundant jobs. Or better yet, get rid of government agencies that do nothing. Talk about saving some money! Run government like a business - cut back expenses when times are tough.

Changing light bulbs? Give me a freakin' break!


Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We'll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and well set a simple rule - use it or lose it. If a state doesn't act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they'll lose the money.


--- As I said in an earlier blog, government creates nothing but dependencies. Any "job" created becomes a mandate to be funded by someone. Usually the cost is dumped on state or local authorities to pay for the "new job" when the Federal government cuts off funding after reaping the rewards of the PR and photo-ops.

BTW - Government does not invest. They spend and waste our precious tax dollars.


Third, my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.


--- Why not consider some real change such as a universal voucher system? How many billions have we dumped on government run schools only to see them continually fail? Enough already. get the government out of the education business.


As we renew our schools and highways, we'll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they'll get that chance when I'm President - because that's how well strengthen Americas competitiveness in the world.

--- Universal DSL! Woohoo!! Pony rides, cake and punch for all!

And exactly who will pay for this? I don't know why I even ask. I'm sure it will be me and everyone else out there who actually pays taxes.

Choice Is Good...But Only For Our Dear Leaders...

It seems Obama will be sending his girls to a private school when they arrive in Washington. Like so many Democrats in the past, they fall on swords to protect public schools, continuing to waste billions on them, but they would never ever send their kids there.

Observe:

According to a 2007 report by the Heritage Foundation, 37 percent of U.S. Representatives and 45 percent of U.S. Senators enroll their children in private schools – a rate four times higher than that of the general population.


Simply put, choice is a good thing – but only for those rich or powerful enough to enjoy it.So what is Obama's solution for the rest of America's parents?


For all his talk of "change we need," and "change we can believe in," Obama's plan is all too familiar – keep throwing more money into the same old failed bureaucracies while branding anyone who wants to empower parents as being "anti-public education."
America Needs "Change Parents Can Believe In"


I don't fault them for wanting the very best education for their children. On the contrary, I applaud them for wanting the very best. That should be the right of every parent.

We should have a universal voucher system with a dollar amount that follows the child wherever the parent chooses. And there should be economic incentives for those that choose to home school. As a taxpayer, I want to fund quality education - the very best possible, not fraud, corruption and indoctrination camps that currently exist when schools are controlled by the government and unions.

You want to improve education? Raise teacher salaries? Raise test scores? Get parents more involved?

The answer is easy. Get government and unions out of education. Create a universal voucher system that follows students. And let the private sector enter education, allowing competition and free market forces to produce the best possible solutions.

If Democrats REALLY were concerned about teaching the children, they would give this some serious consideration. Instead they view public education as a jobs program that creates a dependent class of secure votes for their cause and a means of dumbing down future generations. And that is just pathetic.

For those wanting more meat on this subject, here is a nice overview from the Heartland Institute:
Executive Summary: Can Vouchers Reform Public Schools?

Look Mom, I'm Driving!

The auto company execs are off to Washington to grovel for "guvmint" handouts. This time they did it right, by actually driving their crappy cars all the way to Washington instead of their fancy private jets. Observe:


All three CEOs made the trip to Washington in high-mileage hybrid vehicles—the types of cars critics say the Detroit Three should have been making more of instead of becoming enamored of higher-profit, less fuel-efficient vehicles like SUVs and Hummers.

--- snip ---

Ford announced Tuesday that it will sell its five corporate jets, and GM said it would close its corporate jet operations on Jan. 1 and try to sell the remainder of the lease time on its seven aircraft.

Ron Gettelfinger, head of the United Auto Workers, will once again join Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally before Congress. He is traveling to the hearings in Washington on a commercial flight, just as he did two weeks ago. Gettlefinger has typically traveled to other union business on commercial flights but is often seen driving to events near Detroit with his wife.
Not just another car ride for GM CEO Wagoner


Well, I appreciate that these guys are willing to make the symbolic gesture of actually driving to Washington, but it does nothing to change my opinion that ZERO taxpayer money be given to bailout failing businesses. The problems at GM, Chrysler and Ford are self-inflicted and they need to do what any other business would do - file bankruptcy and reorganize.

Either they can get their costs down and compete with the rest of automakers or they simply need to go the way of the buggy makers a century ago. Not a dime of taxpayer money should ever be given to any business or industry.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Black Friday...

The day after Thanksgiving otherwise known as Black Friday, gives us the opportunity to examine what really makes our economy hum. Its not bureaucrats and its certainly not Republicans or Democrats. The way America works is ordinary Americans spending money with American businesses. The sooner the folks in Washington figure this out, the more prosperous this country will be.

Black Friday is successful because people expect bargains. And depending on the state of the economy, most businesses respond by advertising aggressively. They lower prices on toys, electronics and all sorts of items that might be in demand. Just like lower taxes spur economic growth and higher revenues, lower prices and sales generate more business. It is a tried and true method.

If Obama and Washington want to truly see America prosperous, they need to stop trying to buy favors or manipulate and "manage" the economy, and just simply get out of our lives and wallets.

How Many Government Workers Does It Take To Bankrupt The Country?

I'm just asking the question. Because if we add another 2.5 million "guvmint" workers to the 20 million we have in local, state and Federal government, we would be well over 20 times the size of the next largest employer - Walmart. That is a payroll close to $15 BILLION we taxpayers have to cover just at the Federal level.

In fact, if we start adding up all those people on Welfare, Medicare, Social Security and then add in whatever additional dependent groups Obama and friends want to create, at some point there are too many mouths to feed and not enough taxpayers. Maybe having those 40 million aborted children in the workforce might not be a bad thing right now.

I understand that we have to have some basic government functions done by government employees. And I certainly have no problem with having a well trained and armed military. But we've got 10,000 people working at the Federal level in freakin' education! What the heck am I getting for my money? There are over 80,000 people working in the IRS trying to figure out the massive tax code and making sure they confiscate every last dime from us!

Enough. Privatize, privatize privatize and get the government out of every industry possible. The path we are headed cannot be sustained. Its time to "change" before we have no "hope."

And Then Obama Said, "Let There Be Jobs."

President-elect Obama - BTW, until he has a day in court and proves that he is Constitutionally qualified, I have a hard time accepting him as President. He needs to immediately produce the paperwork and prove that he is in fact a "natural born citizen" and fully qualified to be President. These doubts cannot linger past the inauguration. If he will take these very basic steps, like every other employee and prove citizenship, he will have my respect (for the office of POTUS) and my prayers for wisdom and success as Bibically commanded.

The POTUS-elect has announced a plan to "create" new jobs, over 2.5 million. He claims he will do this by putting them to work building bridges, to where, who knows and fixing schools - yep that is a good strategy for success. He also added that his administration would "invest" in alternative energy.

Why are Americans so gullible to buy this bilge? Government NEVER creates jobs. They simply take from one group and redistribute it to another. Just like Clinton's 100,000 new cops, give or take a few tens of thousands, these are short term jobs that disappear when Federal funds go away. And they will. The state and local governments will not have the means to fund these jobs, nor should they beyond their budget capability.

The economy grows when government lowers taxes and allows more money to stay in the hands of those who will spend it and invest it in job creation. Any formula involving government "investing" or "creating jobs" will utimately collapse when the higher taxes required to support this welfare cannot be collected.

If I Was King For A Day...

I keep reading all this nonsense in Washington about bailouts and numerous ideas to "spur" the economy and it makes me so sad. So I wanted to imagine a world where I was king for the day and what changes I would make.

1. Drastic Cuts To the Corporate Tax Rate - The fact that we have one of the highest corporate tax rates is one of many reasons business flees to tax-friendly states and nations. And guess what, lower taxes ALWAYS produce more revenue.

2. Drastic Cuts In the Capital Gains Tax - Don't penalize people for investing in the economy. And guess what, lower taxes ALWAYS produce more revenue.

3. Drastic Cuts In All Taxes - If I have more money in my pocket, guess what, I will spend it. If you want to see the economy improve, get people spending money again. And guess what, lower taxes ALWAYS produce more revenue.

4. No Bailouts EVER! - I'm sorry, this is just not the role of government. If you can't run your business, you probably should not be in charge or have a business. Its not the taxpayers' responsibility to save YOUR business.

5. Prosecute! - Prosecute every Fannie/Freddie punk and Democrat with their hands dirty from these banking scandals. Make them repay every cent they stole from cooking the books and jail these clowns in Congress that covered for them in Washington.

6. Freeze government hiring and salaries - In hard times, I have to make do with my income. Its time Washington should do the same. Congress especially should take an immediate 20% cut in pay and benefits. All nonmilitary pay and expenditures frozen. Drastically cut back in redundant useless Federal departments and personnel. Exactly why do we have a FEDERAL Department of Education?

7. Outlaw Democrats, ACORNs and Liberals - Well, most of them anyway. Maybe a few with brains could stay like Joe Lieberman and the more rational grassroots Democrats that vote out of fear of their union bosses or just plain ignorance. But for the most part Democrat politicians just screw up whatever they try and "fix." I call it the EVIL Midas touch. I'm only halfway kidding about this - BTW.

8. Get the Government Out - "Guvmint" needs to be removed from the medical field and a host of other industries ASAP. They only drive up costs with silly "feel good" regulation and make it harder to run a business. Get back to their original Constitutional mandates.

9. Drill Baby Drill! - Immediately open up all available land that shows promise for oil & gas exploration. Take some of the $700 Billion we send overseas each year for foreign oil and invest it in jobs in our country and grow the economy. Oil & Gas, will spike again and we cannot allow our enemies to use gas prices as a weapon against us!

10. Introduce Competition - School choice for education would empower students/parents to seek the best education. It would also create more private opportunities as business, teachers and technology create more effective and efficient ways to educate. Competition will improve education and raise the salaries for the better qualified teachers. The bloated and inefficient education bureaucracy will finally be put down for good.

11. Fairness Doctrine - Since liberals love this form of censorship as it applies to Conservative talk radio, apply this, just for fun, towards the radical left media at ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, New York Times and PBS. Let's see how they like it when they have to offer equal time to offset their liberal bias and rants. This would be only for a short time to make a point. Conservatives do not believe in censorship, unlike the liberals.

12. Free Trade - Absolutely. But treat imports exactly the way they treat our exports. That is truly free trade. If they have trade restrictions, guess what their products will get them too!

13. Terrorism & Pirates - No more playing games. The gloves come off and like the Barbary Wars in the 19th century, the threat WILL be eliminated. There will be no terrorism or pirates and definitely no safe havens for either.

14. Judges - If they try and even create even the smallest law from the bench, or borrow some insane law from a foreign power, its off to jail. Their job is to interpret NOT legislate.

15. The End of Income Tax - Within a short time a Fair Tax or a Flat Tax would replace the current grossly unfair and ridiculous tax code. You should not have to have an advanced degree or pay hundreds to figure out what to pay in taxes.

16. Medical Savings Accounts - Put the responsibility back on consumers to control how much they want or need to spend for health care. Model these after 401ks that can grow tax free and be passed to survivors. Businesses could choose to contribute and/or match employee contributions as a perk. They could be used to purchase major medical and for paying for preventative care. It takes most of the insurance headaches off the table and empowers consumers to spend THEIR money wisely for the best care. Why this has not happened sooner shows you how screwed up Washington really is.

17. UN Money - Not a dime more to support the crooked institutions at the UN or to corrupt 3rd world despots. Money will be tied to Democratic reforms - not like our Democrat party - that would be stupid. But in building Democracies and economic freedom. That is the only true way to help people in poor countries - empower them to succeed.

18. Abortion - Put more emphasis on personal responsibility. This day there are far too many ways to prevent a pregnancy. Why this is such a divisive issue is beyond me. An unwanted pregnancy should never happen. Here's a novel thought - maybe medical science could find a way and save the baby and transfer into a willing mother's womb? There is some out of the box thinking for you. Murdering a baby in the womb is not what any civilized society should ever endorse.

19. Pop Culture - Short of a meteor taking out New York City and a major earthquake sinking California into the ocean, we are probably stuck with the loony left in entertainment. I guess reeducation camps can't be used. Maybe they will move to Canada? Or, we could just ignore them. Would they then cease to exist? Seems like I saw a movie that had as a concept.

20. Religion - Maybe for once I could worship or express my Christian beliefs, or any other religion for that matter, without being chased around by ACLU lawyer types. For some reason I thought I was guaranteed the freedom of worship somewhere, Now where was that again?

Well there you go. A pretty good day of work.

Its good to be the king!

Bailouts?

Where in the Constitution does it say that it is the government's responsibility to bail out failed businesses? That is our money and should not be wasted to reward private sector fraud and failure.

I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. -- James Madison as he disapproved of an attempt to appropriate $15,000 for French refugees. 4 Annals of Congress 179 (1794).


Where is the outrage from American citizens over this $700 billion "bailout." That money belongs to you and would grow the economy much faster in the hands of American consumers where it will do some good. Buying votes or political payoffs to unions to give temporary life to failing businesses makes no sense whatsoever. If Washington is willing to give money to automakers and banks, why not a host of other industries in the future?

I survived throughout the telecom/Internet/dot com disasters, losing jobs in the process and I don't recall any Democrats rushing to bailout those industries. Nor did I expect it. If my own business suffered, I would never expect a government handout.

At the very least, the automakers need to learn from AIG executives. You don't go to Washington with your hands out flying on company jets. If you are that desperate, the private planes, outrageous executive pay/perks and any other excess needs to be eliminated before begging for taxpayer handouts. Geez.