Any leader MUST have top quality lieutenants. They advise from different perspectives and they can contribute a more detailed level of knowledge in specific areas. It’s one of the things you learn, either via formal education or by on-the-job training – a leader can’t do it alone, he/she has to choose the right people to be part of the team.

The ability to choose team members is proving to be one of the glaring weaknesses of Barack Obama. He’s a rookie, a novice, a newbie at it – he’s never been a real leader. And his choices for friends and associates make one wonder about his ability to judge character.

Other prerequisites for a good leader are consistency and honesty. Unfortunately for Barack Obama, being consistently dishonest doesn’t qualify.

The promises that he so eloquently made to American voters during his campaign are one-by-one, disappearing into the Obamosphere, never to be seen (or heard) again. He’s forgotten about those promises; his flock should also forget them as well, as he had no intention of keeping them.

And now, because of the electorate’s American Idol-style popularity vote, he’s been thrust into the most difficult job on the planet, a job for which he is woefully unqualified.

If the left – just for a moment – could open their eyes (don’t worry, nobody’s looking – and we won’t tell) and look objectively at what their Chosen One has done so far. It is not a pretty picture. It’s falling waaay short of the rhetoric of his campaign.

His actions and miscues have planted seeds – seeds of doubt, about Obama’s ability to lead.

Each seed is being fertilized by the over-application of manure, shoveled on by today’s Democrat party leaders, and watered by the tears of those who love the Constitution and hate seeing it raped and pillaged.

The seeds are growing.

And now, we’re seeing new sprouts.

For instance, let’s look at Obama’s choice for Budget Director, Peter Orszag. Mr. Orszag produced a particularly rosy projection in August of last year while working at the CBO (Congressional Budget Office): “CBO projects that outlays will first exceed revenues in 2019 and that the Social Security trust funds will be exhausted in 2049.”

And yet a PBS Nightly Business Report video clip forecasted on Friday 3/27/2009 that, based on the President’s own budget figures, stats from the Treasury’s own website and new data from the non-partisan CBO, revenues are down and benefit cost is up right now, putting Social Security in a position of drawing down of the surplus built up over many previous years. It is reported that February of 2009 is the first time in 25 years that benefits exceeded income and annual deficits are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

And another example of Mr. Orszag’s qualifications to be budget director is his assessment of Fannie Mae’s future. In 2002, he said “GSE’s (Government Sponsored Enterprises) have an extremely small probability of default.” And he also said, “To be sure, it is difficult to analyze extremely low-probability events, such as the one embodied in the (GSA) stress test. Even if the analysis is off by an order of magnitude, however, the expected cost to the government is still very modest.”

His estimation of the cost of a possible failure of Fannie and Freddie was covered in this statement: “the implication is that the expected cost to the government of providing an explicit government guarantee on $1 trillion in GSE debt is just $2 million.”

And this guy is Obama’s new budget director?

Oh golly, look! There’s another sprout!

In the midst of an economic crisis, Obama names a Treasury Secretary who has had trouble paying his taxes on time.

In 2006, the Internal Revenue Service audited Tim Geithner for tax years 2003 and 2004, and he paid $16,732 for the back taxes, and interest for those years.

After Obama nominated him for treasury secretary, Geithner voluntarily amended his taxes for 2001 and 2002 as well, paying $25,970 for back taxes and interest for those years.

Whether his tax filings were wrong because of honest mistakes or a conscious attempt to cheat on his taxes doesn’t really matter. It does show that Geithner has a pattern of not dotting “i’s” and crossing “t’s,” a dangerous trait for someone in charge of the Treasury of the United States – the taxpayer’s money – our money.

And to support this new economic sprout, Obama has only filled two slots out of twenty-three at treasury (2 of 23). True, he has named a few more, but for various reasons, they didn’t make the cut. So, while we’re supposed to be in “crisis” mode relative to the economy, we have a skeleton crew at the helm (about 8% of the authorized manpower).

Sixty days into this “best-ever” administration, Obama has dropped the ball (again) by woefully under-staffing the Treasury Department while we’re struggling to stave off an economic meltdown.

These actions exhibit ineptitude at its highest level.

And yet another shoot sprouts up:

Remember Obama’s promise to “loosen the grip of lobbyists on Washington,” or his promise that “they won't find a job in my White House.”

Contrast those campaign promises to reality.

USA Today reported Obama's campaign fundraising team included 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million in 2007 to lobby the federal government. Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million" for Obama's campaign, the report states. "Employees of their firms have given Obama's campaign $2.26 million."

But that was the campaign, you say.

Well, it continued right into his new administration. When it came to naming administration appointments, it wasn't long before he allowed at least two dozen exceptions and broke his promise two dozen times.

During the Presidential debates he said, “We need earmark reform. And when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely."

And then he said to a joint session of Congress (of the $767,000,000,000 “stimulus” bill), "Now, I'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks."

He says, (on his own website) "Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." What a crock.

And yet, his first bill was signed 2 days after passage, the 2^nd one, only 3 hours after Congress passed it.

And the coup de grace, Obama signed his 1,000-page $787,000,000,000 stimulus bill only one business day after it passed through Congress.

It was also pushed through Congress so quickly, not one member read it before voting.

I only wish that we, the people, could hear how we’re characterized behind closed doors. He really has to have a low estimation of our intelligence and common sense to flagrantly ignore his “promises” and consistently do just the opposite.

I’d be willing to personally contribute $10,000.00 (seriously) towards payment to someone wearing a wire (or somehow) recording a meeting between Obama, Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Harry Reid, etc. and recording an hour or two. I am firmly convinced that the release of that tape showing the low esteem with which we, the people, are held would rally the populace to dump the lot of them.

He must believe that he won’t be called to account, his popularity, and his powers of flim-flamery are just too great. And as long as he’s popular, the other dems will support him.

But, even now, growing numbers of his supporters are becoming disenchanted and are beginning to ask “WTF?”

As Rush would say, “For those of you in Rio Linda,” WMDs are Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Distasteful as it may be, consider real catastrophes for a moment: a nuclear bomb explosion or the release of some virulent strain of a biological agent. Or, consider Global Warming and assume that all that has been attributed to it comes to pass.

Any of those disasters pale in comparison to the effects of a “Carrington Event,” a space storm.

Following are excerpts taken from an article by Michael Brooks, appearing on March 23, 2009 in New Scientist on the web.

The Carrington Event was named after the British amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, who was the first to note its cause: "two patches of intensely bright and white light" emanating from a large group of sunspots.

The Carrington event happened in 1859, and comprised eight days of severe space weather. Though a solar outburst could conceivably be more powerful, "we haven't found an example of anything worse than a Carrington event", says James Green, head of NASA's planetary division and an expert on the Carrington Event. This is not some far-fetched science fiction event – it’s already happened again, in 1989.

The incursion of the plasma into our atmosphere causes rapid changes in the configuration of Earth's magnetic field which, in turn, induce currents in the long wires of the power grids. The grids were not built to handle this sort of direct current electricity. The greatest danger is at the step-up and step-down transformers used to convert power from its transport voltage to domestically useful voltage. The increased DC current creates strong magnetic fields that saturate a transformer's magnetic core. The result is runaway current in the transformer's copper wiring, which rapidly heats up and melts.

This is exactly what happened in the Canadian province of Quebec in March 1989, but things could get much, much worse than that.

Following is a possible scenario: It is midnight on September 22, 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colorful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.

A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometers away on the surface of the sun.

It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that.

There are two problems to face. The first is the modern electricity grid, which is designed to operate at ever higher voltages over ever larger areas. Though this provides a more efficient way to run the electricity networks, minimizing power losses and wastage through overproduction, it has made them much more vulnerable to space weather. The high-power grids act as particularly efficient antennas, channeling enormous direct currents into the power transformers.

The second problem is the grid's interdependence with the systems that support our lives: water and sewage treatment, supermarket delivery infrastructures, power station controls, financial markets and many others all rely on electricity. Put the two together, and it is clear that a repeat of the Carrington event could produce a catastrophe the likes of which the world has never seen.

According to the NAS report, a severe space weather event in the US could induce ground currents that would knock out 300 key transformers within about 90 seconds, cutting off the power for more than 130 million people.

From that moment, the clock is ticking for America.

First to go - immediately for some people - is drinkable water. Anyone living in a high-rise apartment, where water has to be pumped to reach them would be cut off straight away. For the rest, drinking water will still come through the taps for maybe half a day. With no electricity to pump water from reservoirs, there is no more after that.

There is simply no electrically powered transport: no trains, underground or over-ground. Our just-in-time culture for delivery networks may represent the pinnacle of efficiency, but it means that supermarket shelves would empty very quickly - delivery trucks could only keep running until their tanks ran out of fuel, and there is no electricity to pump any more from the underground tanks at filling stations.

Back-up generators would run at pivotal sites - but only until their fuel ran out. For hospitals, that would mean about 72 hours of running a bare-bones, essential care only, service. After that, no more modern healthcare.

The truly shocking finding is that this whole situation would not improve for months, maybe years: melted transformer hubs cannot be repaired, only replaced. "From the surveys I've done, you might have a few spare transformers around, but installing a new one takes a well-trained crew a week or more," says John Kappenman, a power industry analyst with the Metatech Corporation of Goleta, California, and an advisor to the NAS committee that produced the report. "A major electrical utility might have one suitably trained crew, maybe two." Within a month, then, the handful of spare transformers would be used up. The rest will have to be built to order, something that can take up to 12 months.

Even when some systems are capable of receiving power again, there is no guarantee there will be any to deliver. Almost all natural gas and fuel pipelines require electricity to operate. Coal-fired power stations usually keep reserves to last 30 days, but with no transport systems running to bring more fuel, there will be no electricity in the second month.

Nuclear power stations wouldn't fare much better. They are programmed to shut down in the event of serious grid problems and are not allowed to restart until the power grid is up and running.

With no power for heating, cooling or refrigeration systems, people could begin to die within days. There is immediate danger for those who rely on medication. Lose power to New Jersey, for instance, and you have lost a major centre of production of pharmaceuticals for the entire US. Perishable medications such as insulin will soon be in short supply. "In the US alone there are a million people with diabetes," Kappenman says. "Shut down production, distribution and storage (of insulin) and you put all those lives at risk in very short order."

Help is not coming any time soon either. If it is dark from the eastern seaboard to Chicago, some affected areas are hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away from anyone who might help. And those willing to help are likely to be ill-equipped to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster. "If a Carrington event happened now, it would be like a hurricane Katrina, but 10 times worse," says Paul Kintner, a plasma physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

In reality, it would be much worse than that. Hurricane Katrina's societal and economic impact has been measured at $81 billion to $125 billion. According to the NAS report, the impact of what it terms a "severe geomagnetic storm scenario" could be as high as $2 trillion. And that's just the first year after the storm. The NAS puts the recovery time at four to 10 years.

It is questionable whether the US would ever bounce back.

"I don't think the NAS report is scaremongering," says Mike Hapgood, who chairs the European Space Agency's space weather team. James Green agrees. "Scientists are conservative by nature and this group is really thoughtful," he says. "This is a fair and balanced report."

The good news is that, given enough warning, the utility companies can take precautions, such as adjusting voltages and loads, and restricting transfers of energy so that sudden spikes in current don't cause cascade failures. There is still more bad news, however. Our early warning system is becoming more unreliable by the day.

By far the most important indicator of incoming space weather is NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). The probe, launched in 1997, has a solar orbit that keeps it directly between the sun and Earth. Its uninterrupted view of the sun means it gives us continuous reports on the direction and velocity of the solar wind and other streams of charged particles that flow past its sensors. ACE can provide between 15 and 45 minutes' warning of any incoming geomagnetic storms. The power companies need about 15 minutes to prepare their systems for a critical event, so that would seem passable.

However, observations of the sun and magnetometer readings during the Carrington Event shows that the coronal mass ejection was travelling so fast it took less than 15 minutes to get from where ACE is positioned to Earth. "It arrived faster than we can do anything," Hapgood says.

There is another problem. ACE is 11 years old, and operating well beyond its planned lifespan. The onboard detectors are not as sensitive as they used to be, and there is no telling when they will finally give up the ghost. Furthermore, its sensors become saturated in the event of a really powerful solar flare. "It was built to look at average conditions rather than extremes," Baker says.

The world will, most probably, yawn at the prospect of a devastating solar storm until it happens. Kintner says his students show a "deep indifference" when he lectures on the impact of space weather. But if policy-makers show a similar indifference in the face of the latest NAS report, it could cost tens of millions of lives, Kappenman reckons. "It could conceivably be the worst natural disaster possible, a really large storm could be a planetary disaster," he says.

The report outlines the worst case scenario for the US. The "perfect storm" is most likely on a spring or autumn night in a year of heightened solar activity - something like 2012. Around the equinoxes, the orientation of the Earth's field to the sun makes us particularly vulnerable to a plasma strike.

"We're in the equivalent of an idyllic summer's day. The sun is quiet and benign, the quietest it has been for 100 years," says Mike Hapgood, "but it could turn the other way."

The next solar maximum is expected in 2012.

Obama has billions in his 2010 budget for “global warming” related spending. By now, it should be evident that global warming is NOT a scientific fact as thousands of scientists now refute the forecasts of future devastation by Al Gore and his minions.

Not only that, but a solar storm is not the only way that EMPs (ElectroMechanical Pulses) are generated. Our military (and presumably others) have been working on a highly secret EMP bomb for some time. We already know of programs in Russia and the UK. Military systems have been undergoing retrofit to guard against EMPs, but since it has been impossible to recreate a high-level EMP blast, realistic testing has been limited to small-scale emissions.

So, in addition to natural phenomena, we also have the possibility of some enemy detonating a nuclear bomb with the intent of EMP emissions damaging our electric infrastructure and crippling the U.S.

Wouldn’t it make sense to transfer some of the billions that Obama is directing into bad science (global warming) and begin to make provisions to protect the country from either source of EMP?

Why has this doomsday scenario been completely ignored by the media? I’m not suggesting a conspiracy in this case, I’m suggesting that the media has its collective head in the sand instead of up its rear as is usually the case.

I understand that some of you are fed up with this issue and just want it to go away. It is my position that it is not yet settled. Obama has reputedly spent close to $1,000,000 to keep his records from public scrutiny – why?

Obama’s Eligibility for POTUS

I’m not going to give up on this issue. Many have thrown in the towel and just resigned themselves to that fact that OB is the president, thus the issue is closed.

It is far from closed. The thing that I have a hard time understanding is how his supporters, blinded by adoration, refuse to see that if he is not a natural born citizen, how that alone would create a constitutional crisis. What would be the effect on the legality of his actions. If he is not “legal,” how can his actions on behalf of the country be legal? The result could be extremely damaging to the U.S.

Suppose he signs treaties and agreements with other countries, are they required to adhere to those documents? How could they be held liable if the U.S. was represented by an illegal president? How about closing Guantanamo, sending more troops to Afghanistan, spending Trillions of taxpayer dollars, etc.. What if we find out tomorrow, a year from now or in 2011, that he is legally not a U.S. citizen?

I’ve seen no constitutional scholars volunteer their opinions on the effect of an “illegal” president – perhaps Barack Hussein Obama could offer his learned opinion?

The possibilities are disturbing and for that reason, if for no other, it is incumbent on us to verify that he does fit the Constitution’s requirements for the office of the President – that he is legal.

Following are reasons that I have real doubts that he is legal.

Exhibit 1. Chiyome Fukino, the director of the Hawaiian Department of Health, issued the statement, "I as Director of Health for the State of Hawaii, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."

Right … did you catch the glaring absence of the word “Hawaii” preceding the words “birth certificate”? The director just stated that Obama’s original birth certificate was on file – she didn’t say that it was a Hawaii birth certificate. Given our presidential history when it comes to parsing words (depends on the meaning of “is”, etc.), it is incumbent on us to be wary of the way that statements are worded.

Attorney Phillip Berg maintains that there is a valid birth certificate on file in Hawaii alright, but it is a Kenyan birth certificate – not a Hawaii birth certificate. Mr. Berg is one of those who are attempting to legally force Obama to product a valid birth certificate, showing him to have been born in the United States.

It has been asserted by Mr. Berg, that Obama was born in Mombasa in Kenya (said by some to be the Coast Provincial General Hospital) at 7:24 PM on August 4th 1961.

·         A Hawaii birth certificate is already on file AND the individual has had a sex change operation

·         A Hawaii birth certificate is already on file AND a parent-child relationship has NOT been shown to existfor the parent listed on the birth certificate (could there have been a “Frank” in the woodpile?)

·         A Hawaii birth certificate is already on file AND a court order or a certificate of marriage establishing the marriage of the natural parents to each other is presented

·         The first four paragraphs deal with the authenticity of the COLB. Personally, I think that it has been shown to have been altered, but forget that issue – it’s moot. It doesn’t matter whether the COLB is good as gold or a forgery – it’s still NOT a birth certificate.

o        No evidence that Obama’s mother traveled to Kenya during 1961. Since Kenya has also refused to make details surrounding Obama’s records available, this may or may not be true. Any record showing her travel to Kenya could lend credence to the Kenyan birth and would therefore be kept under wraps. For someone who is refusing to show his birth certificate, I don’t think we should expect the voluntary disclosure of any facts that could be detrimental to his position.

o        Despite the many statements attributed (via transcript) to Obama’s grandmother that she was present when he was born in Kenya, Snopes quotes Alex Koppelman writing in Salon (hardly an objective source) as saying that she was mis-translated and the “correction” is “consistently excised from transcripts of the conversation.” Everyone else’s transcripts are wrong, only Mr. Koppelman’s is correct?

·         The next section notes that Phillip Berg’s August, 2008 suit was dismissed by a federal court judge. True, but that decision was based on Mr. Berg’s standing to bring suit – not on the merits of his evidence.

Why won’t Obama allow access to his REAL, ORIGINAL, ON-FILE birth certificate and his college records?

A final note on this issue. If Obama does eventually produce a valid Hawaii birth certificate showing him to have been born in the state of Hawaii, I will gladly publish a single-issue post apologizing to Obama and his supporters in big, bold, capital letters. I will admit that I was wrong.

~~~

Dr. Seymour Heine is Nancy’s Reconstructive Surgeon, he specializes in the repair of facial cracks, rutting, sunken trenches and general resurfacing. She now has him on retainer to be immediately available in the event of flaking, crusting, or catastrophic sagging of various facial components.

 

Fig. 1

WARNING: Do not allow the image (Fig. 1) to remain stationary on your PC screen for more than 20 seconds or risk stoppage of your system clock.

Writing in the Journal of Reconstructive Folly, Dr. Heine detailed the procedures that were necessary to bring Mrs. Pelosi’s face up to code. Renovation was so extensive that Dr. Heine was required to secure a building permit.

It was necessary to remove the existing epidermis and flabodermis to a depth of 7 mm (exceptionally deep), and then remove scale, mold, and dermal debris to provide a clean base surface. A tack coat of tar emulsion was applied to aid adhesion for new layer.

Compaction was necessary to smooth out ripples and bumps, followed by multiple layers of a polymer-modified bitumen material. A latex grout was troweled into surface deformations and hairline cracks to facilitate smoothness, durability, and skid resistance.

The following photo (Fig.2) was taken after the temporary scaffolding has been removed from the upper portion of her face. One can detect the sunken appearance of the eyes prior to the procedure to extrude the eyeball out to Mrs. Pelosi’s preferred Marty Feldman-like protrusion.

 

Fig. 2

 

Fig. 3

 

 

Fig. 4

Figure 5 is the “after” picture, taken after the completion of the final procedures and a complete detailing. Cosmetic engineers and facial reconstructionists have been known to work magic, and they certainly did with Mrs. Pelosi. One can hardly recognize Fig. 5 as the same woman as in Fig. 1. Dr. Heine is considered the Michelangelo of California Reconstructive Magicians. He has truly worked a miracle here.

 

Fig. 5

 

Everything went well until a minor (4.0) earthquake hit the San Francisco area and the tremors jiggled her lower lip off – but it’s ok, she has a bumper-to-bumper 12,000 mile warranty.

In our unending quest for the truth, our intrepid investigators have unearthed some little known facts about the Obama administration and the democrat congressional leadership. These little-known facts have been checked, re-checked, and double-dog checked and found to be the gospel truth, so help us Rush Limbaugh.

This is the first portion of our investigation, much more to come.

Obama’s early policies

Obama is now offering a Tax Recovery Stipend as a signing bonus to any democrat appointee to his administration. It is intended to cover any outstanding unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties. The payment should dramatically expand the pool of available talent now that being a tax scofflaw is no longer an impediment to public service.

The president has taken a firm stance on the gun issue. He stated yesterday that “I’m not against guns; I know that guns aren’t evil.” But it was later learned that that statement was incomplete – he had continued by saying that he was dead set against triggers. “Triggers are evil, dastardly things that cause injury and death to thousands of our citizens. I am therefore issuing an executive order banning triggers.”

Obama apologized for a misunderstanding regarding his use of the term “earmarks.” When he railed against earmarks, he was referring to the scratches sometimes left on body parts by earrings. Nine thousand of those would be bad, the other kind, not so bad.

Obama bristled at the characterization of his first two months as “wham bam, thank you ma’am” politics. Taxpayers are distraught, feeling that he took advantage of us. He sweet-talked us, he courted us, he said all the right things, and when he got what wanted, he ignored us. And he got what he was after without so much as a dinner and a movie (at least Gordon Brown got dinner and some movies and Obama hasn’t even screwed him ... yet).

Obama’s entire vocabulary when a teleprompter is unavailable

• Uh
• Uh, uh
• Uh, uh, uh
• Ah
• Ah, ah
• Ah, ah, ah
• Uh, ah, uh, ah, uh, ah … uhhhhhh ……… (smokes a cigarette)
• Hey man, don’t bogart that doobie
• Rama lama ding dong
• A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar …
• Yes, Michelle
• I’m sorry, Michelle
• It’s my fault, Michelle
• Ooh, ouch, ummph, owww, please stop, owwww, that hurts! I give, I won’t do it again, Michelle

Reason that Joe Biden misspoke:

• He opened his mouth
• He was misquoted
• We misunderstood the misquote
• His misquote was taken out of context
• We misheard the context of the misquote
• We misunderstood what we thought he said when he reiterated his misstatement in a sub-context
• He isn’t fluent in the language (English)
• English is his second language, gibberish is his native tongue
• He was recovering from a dentist visit and his mouthal parts were not yet operational
• Joe had a recent tonqueotomy, it’s not yet fully healed
• He spoke before fully removing his foot
• Even after removing his foot, various shoe parts remained, preventing his proper enunciation
• Unaware that a microphone was still “live,” Biden was heard to complain “give me a bucking frake.” Bystanders were confused since no one knew what a frake was or why it was bucking
• What should we expect, he is Joe Biden

Reason for Nancy Pelosi’s haggard facial expressions lately:

• Her face needs re-spackling
• She quit using Aging Mare horse linament ‘cause it made her face break out
• The underlying plastic foundation got too hot and sagged
• Some grout is old and flaking out
• Both eyelids snapped shut when the Krazy Glue holding them open gave way
• A resulting trip to Eyelids Are Us was disappointing since her usual size (32A) was on backorder and she was fitted with 40DD lids instead
• During her most recent facial liposuction, she required emergency re-lipping when a malfunction by the liposuction machine caused it to run amok
• It’s impossible for her to smile since her mouthular nerves were hyper-extended in a freak Folsom Street Fair incident
• Two coats of Boudreaux's Butt Paste just aren’t enough
• You could shove her face in dough and make gorilla cookies

Bawney Fwank

• He twied to warn us about the Fannie/Freddie pwoblem, but the Wepublicans wefused to listen and wouldn’t weconsider
• It is weputed that he wote a bestseller, “Foot tapping your way to airport womance” under the psuedonym, Ben Dover
• Fwank’s aides deny that he was tweated in the emergency room of Saint Sodom Hospital for wemoval of a plastic banana and two plums from an unidentified orifice. Sources speculate that it was his wectum
• Representative Fwank was honored by the Pinspotters Club of Massachusetts as the only person to have accurately positioned a full rack of ten pins individually without using his hands
• Wecently, the Blue Oyster Bar retired his favorite stall in his honor

Stay tuned ... more to come

This one really hit home for me. I retired in July of 2007 after 27 years of running a successful business with my two partners. We experienced everything that this letter-writing boss relates about starting and growing a business; the long hours, doing without in the early years, the concerns about how we were going to pay the bills and cover the payroll.

Been there; done that.

We were apparently similar in size; we had 15 employees. Those employees bought cars and houses, sent their kids to college, and generally had a solid upper-middle-class lifestyle due to the economic viability of the business.

But now …. ?

We were bought out by a larger competitor (thank God) or I’d still be working – and worrying – about the future of the business. This guy has it right. At some tipping point, it is no longer worth the effort to continue. When even the boss(es) no longer work to grow the business, but instead work to pay increased government taxes, the return is no longer worth the investment.

And the goose that laid the golden egg dies.

Here’s the letter:

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news  is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner  there is a Back Story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed  by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the BACK STORY :

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by t he way, would eventually employ you. My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying.. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy  cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead  of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling  through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look  like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and  lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my  life into a business with a vision that eventually, someday, I too, will be  able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you h ave a weekend all  to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend.  There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a  1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the Back Story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bailout all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to  the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is  steep and not without wounds.  Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you,  is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why: I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes.. Taxes on taxes.  I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess  what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and  regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my  time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000  people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting  at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?  Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who  wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government  mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of  promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America   are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?  It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I'll fire you and your coworkers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done.  I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape  forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....

Signed,
THE BOSS

My friend Rock has sent me another excellent letter – also going viral. This one is signed. I visited the Blogspot blog for the writer and it is posted there on his blog (The Old Jarhead) - linked here:

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/02/robert.html                                          

If anything, this letter is even better than the one I recently posted, the “I Don’t Care” letter by a New Jersey woman. He is a Marine, a Viet Nam vet and did time in the Massachusetts Senate – so he’s a real person, not some anonymous, unidentifiable entity. He is one of us.

I'm Tired

Robert A. Hall

I'll be 63 soon.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18.  Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years.  I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am.  Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.  Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic.  I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help.  But if they bought Mc Mansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left wing Congress critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers.  In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women's rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.  Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qurâ Tan and Shariâ Ta law tells them to.

I believe a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.  I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.  I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation.  I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful.  That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News?  Get a clue.  I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.  My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs.  We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live.  Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do.  Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?  I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs.  And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime.  What's next?  Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists?"  And, no, I'm not against Hispanics.  Most of them are Catholic and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.  Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military.  They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves.  Do bad things happen in war?  You bet.  Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure.  Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years?  And still are?  Not even close.  So here's the deal.  I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian.  Then we'll compare notes.  British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption.  Read the papers... bums are bi-partisan.  And I'm tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship.  I live in Illinois, where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years.  And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught.  I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor..

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor.  The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor."  The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions.  I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired.  But I'm also glad to be 63.  Because, mostly, I'm not going to get to see the world these people are making.  I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

 He blogs at: http://www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com

Since this letter is going viral, you may have already seen it – if so, just disregard it. I had not seen it, but I do wholeheartedly agree with all of the statements made and thought that others may agree as well. BTW, emphasis is mine, added to the letter text.

It was sent to me by my old friend, Marvin.

Called “Letter from one 'Angry Woman'”, I don't know who wrote it but they should have signed it.  This woman should run for president. It was supposedly written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it! This is one ticked off lady.

~~~

Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning? And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? ...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for chopping off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide. I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care...

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it-I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, and then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country!

And may I add: 'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' - Ronald Reagan.

I have another quote that I would like to add AND.......I hope you forward all this. 'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by - Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

A Pesky Truth postscript: How can anyone call themselves an “American” and not agree with this lady’s letter? When we see the “Intellectual Elite” in this country turn God into a four-letter word, when the mainstream media extols the virtues of Islam and denigrates Christianity, when we don’t care about unborn babies and begin to accept the “gay lifestyle” as being the equal to heterosexuality, something has gone very wrong with this country.

While few conservatives contributed directly to this abhorrent behavior, we have added and abetted these transgressions by inaction. It is PAST the time to take our country back. Take it back from the liberals, the extreme left, and the Socialists and return to the United States of Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson – and of Ronald Reagan.

In the interest of “can’t we all just get along-ism,” firearm manufacturer Smurf & Westing has released a new revolver model.

Called the “Eliminator,” and chambered in .44 Magnum, it is designed especially for liberals and lefties of the Brady variety. The revolver is designed to accomplish a “one shot, one hit” result every time it is aimed and fired by a liberal.

We firearm enthusiasts should show our support for our gun-hating foes by encouraging them to acquire the revolver and insist that they try it out at a local range. I think that we can guarantee that they will no longer voice their displeasure with guns (or anything else for that matter).

In addition to communicating with the local Air Traffic Control facility, all aircraft in the Persian Gulf AOR are required to give the Iranian Air Defense Radar (military) a ten minute 'heads up' if they will be transiting Iranian airspace.

This is a common procedure for commercial aircraft and involves giving them your call sign, transponder code, type aircraft, and points of origin and destination.

 
I just flew with a guy who overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai. It's too good not to pass along. The conversation went something like this...

Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'Unknown aircraft at (location unknown), you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.'

Aircraft: 'This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.'

Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!'

First the disclaimer: I’m not an expert at this – I succeeded in getting it to work just yesterday after contacting several other Townhall bloggers for help. None of them had been successful using images and didn’t know exactly how to do it.

I was given some useful tips by Chris (at Townhall) and finally, by trial and error, I was able to get three images in a post. So, thinking that others might want to utilize this new capability, I thought that I’d write some (minimal) instructions.

Finally, realize that I too am a rookie at this and while I’ll do what I can to help, I’m unlikely to have many answers for anything outside of my own experiences.

Step One. The first and most important step is that the image must be hosted.

Apparently, you can’t just cut/copy the image from its source and paste it into the Townhall post editor. That’s what I tried and I couldn’t make it work. If anyone has found a way to use a simple copy/paste, please enlighten us all, ‘cause I was not successful doing that. It did look like it allocated space for an image – but the image never displayed.

So, again, you must upload the image to a hosting site. I used Photobucket.com but I’m told that Flickr.com also works. The hosting is free; you just have to sign up as a member. Since I used Photobucket, all of the following comments refer to how it was done using that site’s link code – I don’t know what/how Flickr provides to support image hosting – but probably something similar.

Once the image is in place on Photobucket, you link to it using the HTML they provide.

After the initial session, when you return to Photobucket, you’ll have to click on “My Albums,” then “Albums and Upload” to get to your images. Once the image(s) display, double-click the one you want to use and when it expands into a new window. You’ll copy the “Image Link Code” in the lower right part of the window into your post.

They provide four sets of link code - use the HTML code for “websites and blogs.” Simply copy the entire line of code by clicking in the box and CTRL “C”. Make sure you get it all since there is more code than can be shown in the size of the display field.

Now comes Step Two - the other shoe drops – kerTHUD.

Now you’ve got to paste the HTML code you picked up from Photobucket into the HTML generated by your Townhall post. To do that, you’ve got to switch the editor display from “Normal” (the default) to “HTML.” Do that by clicking HTML down at the lower left corner of the editor.

You’ll see the normal text display change to Etruscan or Sanskrit or something practically unreadable. You can actually make out your English words intermingled with assorted special characters (>, <, /, etc.). You’re on your own when it comes to locating the exact spot to paste in your HTML, but it will probably follow an end of paragraph (</p>) – and insert before the next new paragraph (<p>).

In my post, I just located the sentence that said, “Here is a graphic illustration of the “shovel-ready” contents of the democrat’s “stimulus bill” and pasted the Photobucket HTML immediately following that point (with a CTRL “V”).

Once your HTML image link is pasted into your post, you can Publish it and verify that all is ok. Returning to “Normal” before Publishing or leaving the edit display in “HTML” doesn’t seem to affect the outcome.

So, that is what worked for me – I hope it works for you as well. Good luck!

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.”

~~~

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 111^th 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?

These people have PROVEN that they are not acting in the best interest of their financial backers (US) and should be removed from office.

~~~

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.

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.

~~~

Obama said “I won.”

It’s true, he did win. And yes, he has a mandate from the electorate. According to the definition of the word, any election win is a mandate:

man·date noun (plural man·dates) - support from electorate: the authority bestowed on a government or other organization by an electoral victory, effectively authorizing it to carry out the policies for which it campaigned

So, I’ll accept that Obama has a “mandate” from the electorate to carry out his policies (distasteful as that is).

But does a 9,522,083 vote win mean that the 59,934,814 that didn’t vote for him should be ignored? Do almost 60,000,000 voters become second-class citizens because they voted for someone else? Ignoring them can easily be construed as a form of retaliation, can’t it? He is supposed to be a President of the country, not just those who voted for him.

Let’s put his win in perspective. Obama won by the combined populations of New York City and Dallas, TX. That puts some perspective on the size of his win. Remember, we only have to turn about 10,000,000 people to put someone else in office in 2012; only about 7 % of those voting.

But now the democrats are embolden and beginning to push their pet projects, the first being their distribution of taxpayer funds to pay for votes they purchased in the 2008 elections, a classic quid pro quo situation.

What we’ve seen so far – just since January 20^th – looks ominous. A number of major proposals that are, or will be, presented in bills are enough to give a conservative a searing, burning case of political hemorrhoids.

Get your inflatable doughnuts ready and follow along:

Political Hemorrhoid #1 - The Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau is an agency within, and under the jurisdiction of, the Department of Commerce or, at least it was BO (Before Obama).

Last week, an administration official revealed that the yet-to-be-named director of the Census Bureau will report to Rahm Emanuel (Obama’s Chief of Staff) widely known to be an uber-partisan, instead of Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg.

The main reason that the black and Hispanic groups were against Gregg is that he was against a “re-evaluation” of the Census hard count in order to introduce adjustment of results through sampling and computer modeling. Ostensibly, these “adjustments” would increase black and Hispanic counts in order to compensate for under-counts.

There is a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that would make sampling-based adjustment difficult in the absence of compelling evidence that the customary hard count would be less credible. And that evidence not only is lacking, but a three year statistical study that was finished in 2003 to respond to this issue concluded just the opposite: adjusting the Census numbers through sampling and computer models could lead to a less credible Census result. A hard count has always been legally defensible. A fuzzy “adjusted” Census, where figures at the Census tract and block level would be plainly erroneous in many cases could invite endless litigation.

Since its inception, the Census Bureau has reported to the Commerce Secretary. The Obama administration is ending the Census Bureau's traditional (and necessary) autonomy and is now introducing the opportunity for political skullduggery.

The U.S. census - a counting of the U.S. population - is conducted every 10 years by the Commerce Department. Its results determine the decennial redrawing of congressional districts.

Now, why would Rahm Emanuel want the Census under his control in the White House? Huh? Why might that be? "There's only one reason to have that high level of White House involvement," a career professional at the Census Bureau says, "and it's called politics, not science."

As a matter of impact, the census has tremendous political significance. Political parties are always eager to have a hand in redrawing districts so that they can maximize their own party's clout while minimizing the opposition, this is called gerrymandering.

The census also determines the composition of the Electoral College, which chooses the president. If one party were to control the census, it could perpetuate its hold on political power.

The results of the census are also enormously important in another way - the allocation of federal funds. Theoretically, a political party could disproportionately steer federal funding to areas dominated by its own members through a skewing of census numbers. 

What Obama is proposing "takes something that is supposedly apolitical like the census, and gives it to a guy who is infamously political," Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah said of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who would be tasked with overseeing the census at the White House.

Joseph Stalin said: “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” The same principle applies to the census.

This action is another step taken by the democrats to maintain control of Congress indefinitely – perhaps, if they’re successful, permanently.

An 2/12/2009 update: Senator Gregg has withdrawn his nomination as Commerce Secretary, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with President Barack Obama's handling of the economic stimulus and 2010 census.

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Political Hemorrhoid #2 - FOCA, The Freedom Of Choice Act.

Nearly two years ago, the public debate over abortion was irrevocably altered. In the landmark Gonzales v. Carhart decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion and, more importantly, abdicated, at least in part, its role as a de facto “Abortion Control Board.”

In its decision, the Court signaled an increasing willingness to blunt attempts by abortion extremists to use the federal courts to impose their radical agenda. The immediate reaction of activists and some members of Congress confirmed the view that the court decision effectively stripped them of their most effective weapon in forcing abortion “rights” on the population.

Recognizing that the federal courts would no longer be a reliable tool for actualizing their demands for unlimited and unregulated abortion, abortion supporters began to look elsewhere for the means to advance their radical agenda.

In late April 2007, Obama along with Senator Hillary Clinton and others, re-introduced the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a radical attempt to enshrine abortion-on-demand into American law, to sweep aside existing laws that the majority of Americans support - such as requirements that licensed physicians perform abortions, fully-informed consent, and parental involvement -and to prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

More importantly, FOCA is a cynical attempt to prematurely end the debate over abortion and declare “victory” in the face of mounting evidence that (a) the American public does not support the vast majority of abortions being performed in the U.S. each year and (b) abortion has a substantial negative impact on women.

Although expressing as its goal the simple codification of Roe, FOCA also expressly provided that it would apply “to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment.” “Before, on, or after,” that pretty much covers everything doesn’t it? As Senator Boxer eloquently explained in 2004, “FOCA [will] supersede all other laws,” especially those that the Supreme Court has held to be constitutional under Roe and its progeny.

FOCA creates a new and dangerously radical “right.” It establishes the right to abortion as a “fundamental right,” elevating it to the same status as the right to vote and the right to free speech which (unlike the abortion license), are specifically referenced in the U.S. Constitution.

If enacted, FOCA would retroactively be applied to all abortion-related laws and would result in the invalidation of more than 550 federal and state laws.

If implemented, FOCA would invalidate common-sense, protective laws that the majority of Americans support. It will not protect or empower women. Instead, it would protect and promote the abortion industry, sacrifice women and their health to a radical political ideology, and silence the voices of everyday Americans who want to engage in a meaningful public discussion over the availability, safety, and even desirability of abortion. 

Source: Americans United for Life, by Denise M. Burke

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Political Hemorrhoid #3 - The “Stimulus” bill.

I’m not going to spend much time on this aberration since everyone else in the known universe is writing about it. There are just a few points that cry out for special emphasis. For example, what should a stimulus bill do?

By now, it’s apparent that there is a divergence between what the dems intend to accomplish with this bill and what it should do. For Nancy Pelosi and her band of ne’er-do-wells, it is an omnibus spending bill although they are intentionally misleading the uninformed public by calling it an “economic stimulus package.”

The intent of such a bill should be to fund those activities that will put people to work and cut taxes to get money into the public’s hands – more tax cuts and less government spending. It should remove impediments to production, saving and investing. But the bill, as it currently stands, is heavy on spending and light on tax cuts.

First, it is impossible for many of the recipients of this bill to immediately stimulate the stagnant economy. Some funding won’t be in a position to affect the economy until 2-3 years down the road. It’s like planning a dinner party when you’re up to your arse in alligators. Your immediate action should be to save yourself from the ‘gators – worry about the guest seating arrangements later.

And secondly, much of the bill is simply the dems paying off political debts via pork. Obama bristles when asked about the “pork” in the bill. In Obama’s vocabulary (using his definition de jour), “pork” = “specified earmark.” Thus, if there are no specified earmarks, there is no pork. But there is language in the bill directing funds to entities defined in such a way as to leave no doubt as to the intended recipient – it is therefore an earmark even though it isn’t called an earmark.

Exactly what is an “earmark” in the context of its use by congress?

There is not a single specific definition of the term earmark accepted by all

practitioners and observers of the appropriations process, nor is there a standard earmark practice across all 13 regular appropriations bills.

According to the Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary, under the broadest definition “virtually every appropriation is earmarked.” In practice, however, earmarks are generally defined more narrowly, often reflecting procedures established over time that may differ from one appropriation bill to another.

For one bill, an earmark may refer to a certain level of specificity within an account. For other bills, an earmark may refer to funds set aside within an account for individual projects, locations, or institutions. (emphasis mine)

 Source: www.senate.gov

It is plain that there are earmarks in the stimulus bill, whether they’re specified as congressional earmarks or not. There is plainly pork in the bill although Obama won’t admit to it. An animal with a flat snout and a curly tail that makes “oinking” sounds, is a pig - just ‘cause Obama wants to mislead taxpayers and call it a hampster, doesn’t mean it’s not pork.

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Political Hemorrhoid #4 – Our Guns and Ammo.

Second Amendment foes are taking two new and different paths to reach their desired goal – taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.

One bill filed early this year by U.S. Representative Bobby Rush would require each gun owner to be licensed in order to retain his/her guns. I won’t go into detail about that bill here since it was covered by an earlier post on Pesky Truth. This bill has no co-sponsors at present and is not actively being pushed – hopefully, it will die a natural death.

Here’s a link to that article:

http://garnet92.blogtownhall.com/2009/02/07/hr_45,_assault_on_the_constitution.thtml

The second attack is by way of “encoded ammunition.” There is an e-mail currently making the rounds that makes it sound like this is a fait accompli when it is not. It has not (yet) become law in any state.

Eighteen states have introduced bills to require that the base of each and every bullet and the inside of the cartridge casing would have to be encoded with the same unique identifying number. Each round in a box of ammo would be encoded with the same number. Each box (a unique number) would be registered to the purchaser. The original purchaser would have to maintain a record of a transfer if he/she gave or sold the ammunition to someone else (the tax applicable to the cartridges would apply on any transfer).

This required encoding would apply to all center-fire as well as all rim-fire cartridges. Some even mentioned shotgun ammo, but that seems like an impossible task and not at all realistic.

A tax would be levied on each round of (approximately) 5 cents per cartridge. Re-loading would be abolished so that cartridge cases couldn’t be reused with different (or non-encoded) bullets.

And the worst stipulation is that all un-coded ammunition would be forfeit after a specified time period – typically, two years. Consider that gun owners currently possess hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition that would become illegal on some specified date. Consider also that American manufacturers produce some 8,000,000,000 (8 billion) rounds each year. All un-encoded ammunition would be confiscated (without compensation) from gun owners on/after a date specified in each state’s law.

In 2007 and 2008, eighteen states introduced bills requiring ammo encoding – so far, none have become law.

Although ammunition encoding is not yet a law in any state, this new attack is presented here to illustrate the length to which the “gun-grabbers” will go to take the guns from American citizens. After all, there’s no need to ban guns if ammunition is expensive and tightly controlled.