1.3 million views and counting
This one is making it’s rounds. As of the writing of this post, this video had over 1.3 million hits. Ya think Americans are rather pissed?
H/T Reclaim America on facebook
Voting, or something, LA City Council style
The LA City Council has put in place a very nice feature in the way they vote on the council floor.
LA Times Automatic ‘yes’ votes allow time for back-room dealings at City Hall
Yes, it is true. The LA City Council uses software to automatically cast a “yes” vote unless they show up to override their predetermined vote, allowing them time to do whatever they want instead of having to actually show up in person.
Some are saying it frees up the city council members time, and yes this is true. Not having to show up to perform part of your job will always free up the work day. But what is it that is soooooo important that the city council needs to have this automatic vote (unless, of course, they are voting no)? How about meeting with lobbyists, back room meetings, talking to the media, chatting on their cell phones, smoking, all the things that are much more important than showing up in person to officially put their yes vote on the record.
How lazy has a branch of government become when they can’t even show up in person to place a vote? Wow…….
Can you say “what the heck???”
The procedural move — proposed by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, would allow Democrats to usher through the Senate bill (which, by the way, still has a House numerical designation) without actually having a vote “on passage” of the legislation.
This is from FoxNews: Promises, Promises: Health Care Bill is Biggest ‘Faith-Based’ Vote Ever in House
My question to you, my fellow Americans, is this: should the Senate have the ability to usher through a bill without a vote?
I’ve been saying for a long time that the Dems playbook to pass their government health care plan included making the plan so overwhelming that no one will really understand what is all included in the bill. I also said they would continue to ignore the will of the majority of Americans and use whatever means to get their health care agenda put into law. Now it looks like manipulating the way they are obligated to approve a bill like their health care plan is being strongly considered.
Anyone remember the promise from the Dems that they would bring honesty, ethics and transparency back to the federal government? HAH!!!! I wonder how all those fools who actually fell for it are feeling now?
The Dems on government health care
And yet they are pushing forward to vote it in…………….
Oh yeah, Gitmo is still open (thank goodness)
House Minority Leader John Boehner is predicting the closure of Gitmo isn’t going to happen. Lets hope he is right.
I said this when Bush was in office. Gitmo had gone from being an ideal prison for specific types of individuals (aka terrorists) to a political scapegoat and it’s closure would be looked at as a mistake for years to come. The media did an outstanding job of duping the American people into thinking Gitmo was like a torture camp set up by Saddam Hussein. In all honesty, some of the prisoners in Gitmo have never lived in a nicer place. But this fact is neither here nor there. Gitmo was built for one reason and one reason only: to house prisoners in a U.S. facility but outside of the U.S. for specific legal and security reasons.
Hopefully Boehner is right and Gitmo is staying open. Anything less would mean politics trump security.
Reagan makes me realize how bad Obama really is
I saw this video over on James T. Harris’s blog, and it got me thinking. Reagan and Obama have one thing in common: they were elected to the presidency in difficult times. And the similarities end there.
Check out the audio below. It has been around for quite a while so you may have heard it before. If not, definitely give it a listen.
Here is what I think when I look at Reagan and Obama.
Before Reagan took office, the country was in despair. Unemployment, inflation and interest rates were all in double digits. Real income had been declining through most of the 70’s. America had lived through the gas crisis, but oil prices were still high. The Cold War was in full force with the Soviet Union and it’s Communist leadership threatening democracies across the world. And don’t forget Iran holding 53 Americans hostage. Many Americans thought their way of life had changed forever, that there was no way of turning it all around and America returning to prosperity.
Then Reagan was sworn in as our 40th President of these great United States of America. Within minutes of being sworn in, Iran wisely released the 53 American hostages they had been holding for 444 days. And this was only the start. Reagan stood in front of the world and called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire”, ultimately taking down our Cold War enemy with the power of his words as much as his actions. Double digit unemployment, inflation and interest rates were driven down to levels no one thought imaginable at the time. Oil prices plummeted. And America once again became the greatest country on earth. Reagan was so popular his re-election bid won him 49 out of 50 states (Minnesota barely went to his opponent, Mondale, who happened to be from there).
Before Obama took office, the country was stuck. A recession was in full force, but unemployment was about 8%. Interest rates were very low and inflation was almost non-existent. The War on Terrorism, like the Cold War, had become a battle of the wills, almost like a staring contest with each side waiting for the other to blink. The War in Iraq was a painful success, but a success none the less and America was ready to start bringing our troops home. Afghanistan was becoming a hot topic again, following a pattern of on-again off-again battles with terrorist groups looking to reclaim the country they used to call home.
Then Obama was sworn in as our 44th President. Immediately Obama went on a world wide tour, apologizing to the rest of the world for all the bad America has caused. He ordered an end to the use of the phrase “War on Terror” because he preferred to think of it as the “Overseas Contingency Operation”. He used his words to praise the Muslim religion (the very religion terrorists follow in radical fashion) and brag about his own Muslim heritage, all the while saying America is no longer a Christian country. He extended himself to those who dislike America at the expense of alienating our allies. Unemployment rose to over 10%. Government spending shot through the roof, all financed by borrowing money and increasing the national deficit and debt to levels never seen before. It has only been one year, but nothing good has come out of the Obama presidency yet and there are no indications anything good is on the way.
To really show how completely opposite Reagan’s beliefs were to what Obama’s beliefs are, read the quotes below from Reagan and then think about the stance Obama has so far taken on each.
Welfare
Reagan: “Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”
Obama is trying to expand welfare by turning back the welfare reform put in place in the 90’s
Cold War / War on Terrorism
Reagan: “The years ahead will be great ones for our country, for the cause of freedom and the spread of civilization. The West will not contain Communism; it will transcend Communism. We will not bother to denounce it, we’ll dismiss it as a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written.”
Obama changes the name “War on Terror” to Overseas Contingency Operation”, apologizes to the world for all the bad America has caused, praises the religion terrorists follow to a radical extreme (a religion he loves to point out is in his heritage).
Hard Times
Reagan: “I have a special reason for wanting to solve this [economic] problem in a lasting way. I was 21 and looking for work in 1932, one of the worst years of the Great Depression. And I can remember one bleak night in the thirties when my father learned on Christmas Eve that he’d lost his job. To be young in my generation was to feel that your future had been mortgaged out from under you, and that’s a tragic mistake we must never allow our leaders to make again.”
Obama grew up with his grandparents, attending the esteemed Punahou Academy. Then it was on to Occidental College in LA, Columbia University in New York, working in the private sector for two years, moving to Chicago to be a community organizer in 1985, and finally off to Harvard Law School in 1988. A far reach from searching for work during the Great Depression.
Government
Reagan: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Reagan: “Government growing beyond our consent had become a lumbering giant, slamming shut the gates of opportunity, threatening to crush the very roots of our freedom. What brought America back? The American people brought us back — with quiet courage and common sense; with undying faith that in this nation under God the future will be ours, for the future belongs to the free.”
Obama believes government is the solution to the problems. His faith in the American people is absolutely nil.
Government’s role
Reagan: “[G]overnment’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
Obama: Need I say anything on this one?
Reagan will be remembered as the greatest President of our generation and one of the greatest of all time, an honor he earned during his eight years in office. Using Reagan as the standard of what it takes to be a great President makes me realize just how bad of a President Obama really is.
source for quotes by Ronald Reagan: pbs
Washington should shut up and listen
“Folks in Washington, they like to talk. So Washington is doing right now what Washington does. They’re speculating breathlessly day or night. Every columnist. Every pundit. Every talking head. Is this proposal going to help the Republicans or is this proposal going to help the Democrats? The time to talk is over. It’s time to vote. I don’t know about the politics, but I know that it is the right thing to do and that is why I am fighting so hard to get it done.” (Reuters)
This is what Obama had to say yesterday to a crowd at a high school in St. Charles, Missouri. Believe it or not, I agree with Obama that people in Washington do like to talk. But one thing Obama is oblivious to is the fact people in Washington, including himself, are not willing to listen. And if no one in Washington is willing to listen, it pretty much turns all of this talking into an exercise of futility.
And the irony? Obama is the biggest culprit when it comes to this exercise of non-listening futility. Need proof? Read on…….
The public input on government health care has been nothing short of negative, with the great majority of Americans against the plan Obama is insisting on. Republicans (and we the citizens of America) have been speaking out against the plan to the point of straining our vocal cords, yet Obama isn’t listening. Rep. Paul Ryan has looked Obama in the eye and asked him some very clear and pointed questions, which Obama has yet to answer. And let us not ignore the accusation by Obama and his administration that the Republicans have not offered any of their own solutions to the health care problems when in reality Paul Ryan has introduced a health care bill twice in the last year (ignored both times by Obama and his administration).
I have a little message for the POTUS: “If you really want Washington’s talks to be productive, the first thing you need to do is to lead by example and shut up and listen.” The sad part is, I can say this until I am blue in the face and it will do not good because Obama isn’t listening.
(There is a reason why our logo says “where your voice is heard”. It is because unlike Washington we understand a conversation cannot happen unless you listen.)
And now the Feds want to ban fishing
Just when you think the current administration has done all they can do to impose their will onto our lives, yet another one of their agendas comes to light. This time in the form of fishing, or more specifically, a law to ban it.
This may sound absolutely ridiculous, but it is true. The Obama administration, in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is attempting to prohibited the citizens of America from fishing the oceans and coastlines and the Great Lakes. As far as inland lakes, let’s just say these have not been ruled out of their decision for the ban either.
To read up on the plan, here is the Interim Report Of The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.
Notice how this is dated Sept. 17, 2009? Great transparency on this one, eh? And is it a coincidence that now this story is making it out to the general public, the administration will no longer accept public input on this matter? This is the politically correct way of saying “We don’t need your input because we know what is best and you don’t”.
Now I am all for rules and regulations to preserve our lakes and the oceans. But we all know this administration’s actions reach well beyond the point of logic. To say a ban on public fishing will solve all problems that exist is absolutely ridiculous. This plan lumps together recreational fishing with commercial fishing, pretending they are similar enough to be considered one in the same. It is true commercial fishing is a profit driven business that does not necessarily value our natural resources the way they should. But to say regulations that will protect our waters from the commercial fishing industry should be placed on recreational fishing is nothing short of moronic.
It goes to show this administration cares only about their idea of a ‘perfect’ American and not the lives of the Americans they are elected to represent. And in their eyes, the perfect America means bans on fishing.
Total Compensation, Federal Gov’t Style
If it is a great wage and a phenomenal benefits package you desire in a job, don’t waste your time working in the private sector. Pursue a job with the federal government.
From a USA Today report: “Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations” in 2008 (the most recent data available). And the USA Today also points out an even more disturbing fact. In 2008, the value of health, pension and other benefits equaled $40,875 per employee, compared to $9,882 per private sector employee.
Naturally, those associated with the federal employees will have an excuse why these federal jobs pay more than the national average in the private sector. Supposedly the talent and skill level required to work at the federal level is much higher. I guess this clears up why a laundry/dry cleaning worker earns over $13,000 more working for the feds as compared to the laundry/dry cleaning workers you and I have access to.
But what happens when you throw in the benefits package? After all, this is part of the total compensation package, is it not? Let’s do the math.
Federal employee average = $40,875
Private sector employee = $9,882
Total additional compensation above wage = $30,993
Huh……………….
Maybe the overpaid laundry/dry cleaner isn’t making over $40,000 a year in benefits. But someone is making a boatload in this area. Way more than you or I, I can say that for sure.
The fact our tax dollars are going toward overpaying federal employees as compared to the national average is bad enough. But throw in a benefits package that averages more than four times what the private sector can pay……….
It’s no wonder why our country is in such bad fiscal shape. Call it compensation, federal government style.
Charles Krauthammer ‘Tells It like it Is’
Charles Krauthammer tells it like it is with his take on Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ slogan. “Yes we can means yes I can do anything I damn well please if I have the one vote majority”.
