Shovel-Ready
As in, infrastructure projects that are ready or almost ready to begin, the antithesis of some dimly imagined earmark or budget-sucking bridge to nowhere. Then-president-elect Obama used the term on a December 7th visit to NBC’s Meet the Press, describing the kinds of projects that would be supported by the upcoming economic stimulus bill.
Here is a graphic illustration of the “shovel-ready” contents of the democrat’s “stimulus bill.”
Source: Michael Ramirez of Investors Business Daily
~~~
Climate Change
Have you noticed how conveniently the old “sky is falling” caption changed from “global warming” to “climate change”?
Why? That’s easy, because it is difficult to convince the uninformed masses that the planet is warming at an alarming rate when the past twelve months have exhibited a cooler-than-normal climate and we’ve had more ice, snow, and blizzards than usual this winter.
So, rather than admit that their hypothesis may be faulty, they changed the designation to one that is less precise….
Taking a page from the Obama playbook, they threw the term “global warming” under the bus and are now explaining how we misheard or misinterpreted what they were saying – they really meant that the climate was changing – not necessarily just heating up – just changing.
Right.
With wit, smarts and hope, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.
“The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.”
Source: climatecrisis.net
Well, I don’t know how many “scientists” are qualified to express a knowledgeable opinion about global warming, but consider this:
More than 31,072 scientists across the U.S. – including more than 9,021 Ph.D.s in fields such as atmospheric science, climatology, Earth science, environment and dozens of other specialties – have signed a petition rejecting “global warming,” the assumption that the human production of greenhouse gases is damaging Earth’s climate.
Source: petitionproject,org
Just what exactly did these 31,072 scientists agree to – what did the petition say?
Following is an image of the petition that was signed by 31,072 scientists:
I don’t think that anyone (including those 31,072 scientists) would disagree that our climate is changing – Holy Moley! It is? Duh … we know that. The question is: what’s causing the change? Al Gore says I am, you are, we are – we humans are. What are the chances he is wrong? I’m still waiting to see the publication of (at least) 31,073 scientist’s names who are willing to go on the record as saying that we are the cause – where are they?
Maybe I’m being obtuse, but when we’re told that the “vast majority” of scientists agree that we are the cause of global warming, and we have 31,072 who have publicly gone on record as disagreeing, pardon me if I’m skeptical.
Yet, we (the taxpayers) are supposed to accept without question the left’s assertion that there is no longer any question, that the verdict is “overwhelming and undeniable,” that we are at fault and be prepared to shell out more funds to address a problem that may not even exist.
I say “bovine excrement.”
~~~
New York City Taxpayers
New York state and city revenues are falling amid the collapse of Wall Street, and state lawmakers in Albany are considering income tax hikes for households earning between $250,000 and $1 million, who already pay 6.85% to the state.
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants to increase the city's top tax rate of 3.68% for households earning as little as $297,000 (to 4.25%); those earning $532,000 to $1.2 million would pay 4.45%; and above that 4.65%.
But late last week Mayor Bloomberg said that raising taxes on high earners could drive them from the city. "One percent of the households that file in this city pay something like 50% of the taxes," explained the Mayor. "In the city, that's something like 40,000 people. If a handful left, any raise would make it revenue neutral. The question is what's fair. If 1% are paying 50% of the taxes, you want to make it even more?"
Did you get that? About 40,000 households in New York City pay 50% of the taxes. That equates to about 1.25% for each of those 40,000 households. What if five or ten choose to move because of the burdensome tax rate? Five households leaving would equate to 6.25 % and ten moving to greener pastures would just about qualify as a “mass exodus” since it would reduce the city’s revenue by 12.5 %. And the liberal answer to this catch-22 is to raise taxes some more?
When will logical, reasonable thinkers (yes, even democrats and liberals are capable of minimal thought) finally realize that raising taxes is not always the answer?
~~~
The Porkapalooza Bill
Can you believe that more than 300 Senators and Representatives voted for the 1,071 page “stimulus” bill WITHOUT EVER READING IT!
How STUPID is that? Who else but our democrat-led 111th Congress would approve the largest spending bill in history without knowing what was in it? Would you?
Let’s say that you are the financial backer of a small business grossing $1 million a year. The general manager comes to you and says that he/she needs an additional $250,000 in order to continue business. The problem is … the general manager won’t divulge the details of what the quarter-million will be spent on – you’re supposed to write him/her a check for $250,000 without any veto power over any unnecessary or frivolous spending? Are you apt to approve? There’s not a funding source around (be it bank, backer, agency, etc.) who’ll approve that “blank check.”
Contrary to popular belief, the buck really stops with the financial funding source, not with the management staff. How would the country have voted? Think we’d have approved?
But nevertheless, our Congressporks committed to spending $800,000,000,000.00 of OUR MONEY on items, mostly unknown to them. Remember, even though our Congressporks forget, that the $800 billion is TAXPAYER MONEY, not money owned by the government. Money that will be FORCABLY TAKEN by the government to fund over one thousand pages of spending.Even the rabid Obama-ites can’t be comfortable with that kind of “management.”Much has already been written about the built-in excesses inherent in the bill and much more will undoubtedly follow.
My main point here is pointing out the LUNACY of approving $800,000,000,000.00 of public funds to be spent for … what? THEY DIDN’T KNOW. Yet they voted to spend OUR money and OUR CHILDREN’S money on programs that will do little to stimulate the economy today, and in some cases, won’t even be in place for 3 or 4 years down the road.
These people have PROVEN that they are not acting in the best interest of their financial backers (US) and should be removed from office.
~~~
Roland Burris
R.I.P. (Resign In Peace)
Sometime between the January 8 hearing and February 4, Roland Burris discovered that the FBI had taped at least one of his conversations with the governor’s brother, Rob Blagojevich, who was heading up fundraising for the governor’s re-election campaign.
There has been some speculation that the office of U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who was using the thousands of hours of tapes that trapped the governor to build his case against Blagojevich, may have, as a courtesy, warned the Burris camp. There has been no comment from either the FBI or Fitzgerald’s office on whether they had contact with Burris or his lawyer.
However, it seems certain that it was the prospect of being exposed as a liar that impelled Burris on February 4 to send a new, “corrected” affidavit to Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, chairman of the impeachment committee. In it, he admitted to five separate contacts with Governor Blagojevich’s representatives, including three with the governor’s brother.
For reasons that seem unbelievable, Rep. Currie sat on Burris’s updated affidavit, never releasing it to the press. It wasn’t until the Chicago Sun Times somehow got wind of the story and confronted Burris on February 13 with his altered testimony that Burris gave the newspaper a copy of the affidavit which the Sun Times published the next day.
Burris told the Sun Times that he refused to raise any money for the governor and that he personally would not donate any cash to get Blagojevich re-elected. But then, he immediately had to backtrack when at a news conference on February 15, Burris admitted that he had actually phoned fat cats trying to get them to contribute to Blagojevich’s campaign.
Then, to add to his miseries, a group of black ministers who previously supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now plan to ask for his resignation, one of the ministers told The Associated Press on Thursday. Many of the city's influential black pastors supported Burris because of his “scandal-free reputation” — even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich after the governor was arrested.
And now as a final straw, Governor Quinn has called for Burris to “step aside and resign from the office.”
Burris has proved that he can't keep his story straight about the nature and extent of his contacts with Blagojevich's operatives -- the issue that overshadowed his appointment from the beginning.
It is becoming more and more evident that Mr. Burris is not to be trusted. Here is another example of how Mr. Burris has difficulty in being honest and forthright. This occurred right before he was named to fill the empty senate seat.
“Mr. Burris said at a news conference Saturday that he only wants to serve the remaining two years of Obama’s term, and would not plan to run for re-election.”
Source: New York Times, December 14, 2008, 12:24 pm - article titled: “Guessing Game on Blagojevich’s Future” By Sharon Otterman
However, after saying that in December, he changed his mind. According to Federal Election Commission records, on January 2, 2009, prior to being sworn in to the Senate, Burris signed a statement of candidacy for the 2010 election.
Are we surprised? Nah, he’s just another “typical” Chicago politician.
~~~
Ya Gotta Love Ted
Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.
The discussion came around to deer hunting. The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, "Are you my friend?" or is it "Are you the one who killed my brother?"
Nugent replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, where am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away! They are very much like the French."
Thanx to my buddy Rock who sent me this one.