Mexico

Just came back from Mexico at 4am this morning, another successful trip to Iglesia Prince de Paz in Reynosa.

18 people, 1 completed house, 1 fully painted church, 1 expanded bathroom and breezeway, 1 girl in the ER, 12 sick people and 1 long haul road trip later, and yet another series of lessons from my Brothers in Christ.

And we didn't even get to the tacos.

Happy New Year, and may the liberties we enjoy today be expanded in the coming year.

Merry Christmas

And for your accompanyment through out your next 2:54 of browsing,

Manager's Edition

Wall Street Journal: "Mr. Obama promised a new era of transparent good government, yet on Saturday morning Mr. Reid threw out the 2,100-page bill that the world's greatest deliberative body spent just 17 days debating and replaced it with a new "manager's amendment" that was stapled together in covert partisan negotiations.

Democrats are barely even bothering to pretend to care what's in it, not that any Senator had the chance to digest it in the 38 hours before the first cloture vote at 1 a.m. this morning. After procedural motions that allow for no amendments, the final vote could come at 9 p.m. on December 24.

Even in World War I there was a Christmas truce.

The rushed, secretive way that a bill this destructive and unpopular is being forced on the country shows that "reform" has devolved into the raw exercise of political power for the single purpose of permanently expanding the American entitlement state.

An increasing roll of leaders in health care and business are looking on aghast at a bill that is so large and convoluted that no one can truly understand it, as Finance Chairman Max Baucus admitted on the floor last week. The only goal is to ram it into law while the political window is still open, and clean up the mess later."

Splendid.

Opposing Obamacare = Aryan Nation

"They are desperate to break this president. They have ardent supporters who are nearly hysterical at the very election of President Barack Obama. The birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militias and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist. That is one powerful reason. It is not the only one."

Texas Represenatation

So I took a look at the Roll Call of Senate Vote 381, on the closure of the discussion of the Health Care destruction bill.

Looking first to my Senators, I look at John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both of Texas.

You know, that bastion of Conservatism.

That state that is republican when all else fails, one of the crown jewels of the Regan revolution.

You know, the state W himself rode in on the clouds from.

So how did these statesmen of conservatism represent my state in the dark night of legislation?

Cornyn did not vote. Of 100 individuals in the Senate, only 2% opted out of this vote, with my senator representing half of this.

Hutchison, she went one step farther. Rather then attempting to mount a filibuster, rather then trying to fight for one more day in the hallowed halls of legislation that the senate resides in for the liberty of my people, rather then standing for what is right, Hutchison votes to end discussion. She votes to pass the bill. She votes to bring this nation to its knees in the coming decades by taking a meat cleaver to the ankles of a once mighty economy.

Which is worse, to take the cowards way out and hide from having principles and voting with them, or to join headlong the horrific descent into corruption and malicious law proffered by the democrat party.

The Human Element

Ah, the esteemed Senator Ben Nelson and his interactions with Reid others of his ilk prior to sacrificing my children's lives on the altar of fascist solutions.

AP: "By evening, the two sides took a break to consult with their respective constituencies. Nelson left Reid's suite, planning to return at 8:30 p.m. He called a leading anti-abortion activist in Nebraska, but was not able to get a commitment for the deal.

At 9:00 p.m. Nelson had yet to return. At 9:15, still no Nelson. Reid and Schumer started getting nervous. Finally, at 9:30, Nelson turned up. He and Boxer signed off on the deal within a half hour. Nelson came into Reid's office to say he'd hold off on a formal endorsement until the text of deal was released in the morning.

Reid and Nelson started to say goodnight, and wound up hugging each other. Nelson hugged Schumer next and then left.

Obama, aboard Air Force One on his way back from the climate summit in Copenhagen, called with congratulations. Reid put the president on speaker phone so Boxer and Schumer could hear.

After the deal became public Saturday, Nelson was slammed by former allies opposed to abortion. He tells people he feels like he's been bitten by the family dog."

Nelson Sells out Cheap

and the fascism of Reid-care marches relentlessly forward.

Washington Post:" Nelson secured full federal funding for his state to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Other states must pay a small portion of the additional cost. He won concessions for qualifying nonprofit insurers and for Medigap providers from a new insurance tax. He also was able to roll back cuts to health savings accounts.

"I know this is hard for some of my colleagues to accept and I appreciate their right to disagree," Nelson told reporters at the Capitol, of the many changes made at his behest. "But I would not have voted for this bill without these provisions."

With Nelson on board, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid unveiled the final version of a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health insurance system that would expand coverage to an additional 31 million Americans, coming closer to attaining the Democrats' long sought goal of universal medical coverage."

Nelson has joined his fellow democrats in selling the freedoms of the nation for a blatant power grab. For what? A few more bucks for his state's medicare.

This snake will languish once again with the democrat brood of vipers infesting the senate, writhing fiercely away from reason, individual rights, and the bed rock of these United States.

With the votes now locked in place, I have little doubt that it will pass through the gates of the senate, and pass triumphantly across the desk of my President. Many of the most egregious provisions are not in place until 2014, well after the next presidential election. This gives us two terms of congressional action to remove this travesty of government.

But in the words of the wise, there is nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.

A merry Christmas indeed.

Obama's Healthcare Tweets

Why should this atrocity of legislation, Nationalized Healtare, be passed?

Well, obviously because it will make things better.... no, it will not.

Well, because it's a basic human right... no, it is certifiably not.

Well, because it's the only option America.... oh, nope.

Well, if all of those fail, then by golly, lets appeal to emotion! We are democrats obviously!

(Hat tip to Marshall Sherman)

Disarm!

In reference to the global warming farce, and the attempt at the Copenhagen envirofascism oracle,

one of the beacons of wisdom in the senate steps forth to call for mandatory emmisions supervision of all nations.

""The only way we'll be successful in America is for countries like China and India to make an equivalent commitment," said South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's crafting a bipartisan climate bill. "We're not going to unilaterally disarm.""

Compassion Run Amuck

The Australian: "The lead negotiator for the small island nation of Tuvalu, the bow-tie wearing Ian Fry, broke down as he begged delegates to take tough action.

"I woke up this morning crying, and that's not easy for a grown man to admit," Mr Fry said on Saturday, as his eyes welled with tears.

"The fate of my country rests in your hands," he concluded, as the audience exploded with wild applause."

And, the real kicker:

"But the part-time PhD scholar at the Australian National University actually resides in Queanbeyan, NSW, where he's not likely to be troubled by rising sea levels because the closest beach at Batemans Bay is a two-hour, 144km drive away. Asked whether he had ever lived in Tuvalu, his wife told The Australian last night she would "rather not comment"."

Copenhagen Climate Conference: Farce!

Video Description:

"Journalist Phelim McAleer ('Mine Your Own Business', 'Not Evil Just Wrong') asks Prof Stephen Schneider from Stanford University an Inconvenient Question about 'Climategate' emails. McAleer is interrupted twice by Prof Schneider's assistant and UN staff and then told to stop filming by an armed UN security guard."

Covering this story, is Mike Flynn:

"McAleer says he has made an official complaint tabout the incident.

“I have met Mr Christopher Ankerson the UN’s head of security for the conference and he has confirmed it was Professor Schneider’s staff who asked the security guards to come corral us at the press conference. Mr Ankerson could not say what grounds the security guard had for ordering us to stop filming.”

“This is a blatant attempt to stop journalists doing journalism and asking hard questions. It is not the job of armed UN security officers to stop legitimate journalists asking legitimate questions of senior members of the UN’s IPCC.”

Professor Schneider was interviewed for McAleer’s “Not Evil Just Wrong” documentary but lawyers later wrote to McAleer saying he was withdrawing permission for the interview to be used."

Responses!

In response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, KnightWing says:

"..."Those" people were Democrats."

Yes. They were.

John Fund writes in the Wall Street Journal:

"Historians also faulted Mr. Reid's curious reference to the Senate civil rights debates of the 1960s. After all, it was Southern Democrats who mounted an 83-day filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.

The final vote to cut off debate saw 29 Senators in opposition, 80% of them Democrats. Among those voting to block the civil rights bill was West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who personally filibustered the bill for 14 hours.

The next year he also opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mr. Byrd still sits in the Senate, and indeed preceded Mr. Reid as his party's majority leader until he stepped down from that role in 1989."

Also chiming in, K-Rod writes:

"What does slavery have to do with health care / insurance?"

Nothing....

Absolutely nothing.

Really, nothing.

It is nothing more then this.

Reid on Republican Opposition to National Destruction

"“If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right,” Reid said. “When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, ‘Slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.’ ”" (Hat tip to the Hill)

Environmental Distortions of Monday

Mr. D of Mr. Dilettante's Neighborhood sums it up nicely:
"...the Environmental Protection Agency has declared that CO2 is a pollutant. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if CO2 is a pollutant, I've been polluting the air with every breath I take. And unless the enforcement agents are cyborgs, they have been too. There isn't any activity that I undertake that isn't potentially subject to regulatory enforcement now. I'd suggest that if the EPA were really concerned about setting a good example, they could have all their bureaucrats stop breathing..."
(Further review of the EPA C02 power grab, and the Copenhagen party after the jump)

It's obvious that the Environmental Protection Agency (thanks, Nixon!) is no longer seeking the health of the environment and protecting our natural resources as its first priority. Rather, they seek to control the nation through the manipulative reins of environmental legislation.

Disgusting power grab, one that I fear is a decoy, a greater evil so we settle with a lesser evil. Not sure what it is yet, but keep your eyes peeled.

Cap & Trade Protests from the Far Left

Chicago Tribune: "As the group reached LaSalle and Adams streets, in front of the Chicago Climate Exchange, about a dozen protesters laid down in the street. Chicago police officers picked them up and put them in a squadrol. Other officers moved other activists off the street.

"We are saying no to cap-and-trade. We don't think it's a solution," said Kim Wasserman, coordinator for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. "We are demanding just climate change.""

The right hates this.

The left hates this.

Cap and Trade will not happen, at least in this session.

FTC dislikes free speech

AP: ""News is a public good," FTCChairman Jon Leibowitz said. "We should be willing to take action if necessary to preserve the news that is vital to democracy."

...Among the options being discussed: tax law changes that would allow media companies to earn tax credits or become tax-exempt entities, and copyright law changes that would force search engines and other online aggregrators to compensate media companies for the content they produce.

Also on the table is a proposed change in antitrust rules to allow newspapers to jointly negotiate payments from Web sites that use their content."

Great. So the government needs to take action to save a failing product, the current newspapers and networks.

How?

By paying them or turning them into non-profit entities.

By making search engines and blogs pay to use their material.

Brilliant.

Here Be Change

A look at the cabinet appointments by each president from 1900 until today, examining the percent with private sector experience. Initially from a JP Morgan report, (hat tip to The American) you can quickly see a radical departure from the past administration's cabinet appointments.

Essentially, 92% of Obama's appointments have no private sector experience. Splendid.

Reid-care Supports Infanticide, The Sun Rose this Morning

John Boehner Congressional Blog: "Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under “Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run health plan. Leader Reid’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions (line 13, p. 120).

What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

Section 1303(a)(2)(C) describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run health plan and for those who are given an affordability credit to purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion through the Exchange. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month."

Not surprisingly, the democrat system once again is looking not only to provide the metaphorical axe-handle for free, but require everyone else to pay for the grotesque murder of babies.

As if it isn't offensive enough that we allow infanticide, this would require that the slaughtering of small children be paid for by the government health care system, and in turn, by every single tax pay off of whose back it so gleefully rides on.

If you needed another reason to be horrified by this stampede of socialism, here you go. But then, nothing else can really be expected from a system that leads only to collective graves.

The Stimulus of 76248

In the light of this recent post, I took a closer look at www.recovery.gov, to see how my area was being treated by this catastrophe of legislation. To wit, it has been a colossal failure, an unparalleled crusade against my kids future, and criminally deceptive to the American people.

Recovery.gov is "the U.S. government’s official website providing easy access to data
related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse."

Sure. The site cost $27.5 million to develop, where similar sites such as USAspending.gov ring in well under $1 million, so I trust in the Orwellian newspeak of its description.

With little ado, I punch in my zip code, 76248.

My district has no contracts.

My district has some grants, totaling $6,203,318.

My district claims to have job creation as a result of this totaling 2 new jobs.

WHAT???

We spend $6.3 million to create two jobs?

Does. Not. Compute.

Curious, I tried to look into where the grants went near me.

Ok, so $155,000 went to retrofitting Keller City buildings to make it more energy efficient, and that grant comes from the Dept. of Energy.

$2,728,850 to Northwest Independent School District, largely for disability compliance.

$69,008 to Westlake for disability compliance, that mysteriously creates a job.

$6,136,385 to Keller Independent School District, $5.4 million of which is for disability compliance, the rest for preschool development and "Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies"

$10,933 to the City of Keller for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Formula program, to be pooled with the grants of 19 other municipalities to combat crime, under the jurisdiction of Tarrant County.

$24,188 to the City of Watauga for the same program. (Why did the smaller city get more funding for this program? Why is there any federal funding for this program?)

I found a contract for Hastech Solutions to do electrical work in Connecticut for the Army Corp of Engineers, $33,000. How that is efficient or cost effective, I don't know. The closed bidding process for this contract makes me suspicious however, and in light of the rest of this program, dubious.

The simply unimaginable amount of wealth poured into the city streets for this stimulus plan staggers the mind, the calculator, and certainly the bureaucracy.

I encourage you to look up your own zip code and look around, and see if the $3.1 million per job 'created' is the norm. (I still maintain this job creation figures have no basis in reality, and are simply used to fill in wonderful spreadsheets by some mindless drone buried deep within the heaving bowels of the Federal operation.)

Your Stimulous at Work, Invisible Congressional Districts

In a remarkably fine piece of journalism, ABC news puts this up today:
"...In Oklahoma, recovery.gov lists more than $19 million in spending -- and 15 jobs created -- in yet more congressional districts that don't exist.

In Iowa, it shows $10.6 million spent – and 39 jobs created -- in nonexistent districts.

In Connecticut's 42nd district (which also does not exist), the Web site claims 25 jobs created with zero stimulus dollars...."

Change we can believe in Mr. President? Really?

The sun will rise. The sun will shine. The sun will set. This is the nature of the earth.

The government will tax. The Government will waste money. The Government will be corrupt.

This is the nature of Government, power wielded with strength by those who have not earned it to the benefit of none but themselves.

My president's administration claims human error, simple mistakes, for this wanton waste of money that was borrowed to begin with, as expected.

Impossible.

Humans do not assign money to places that do not exist, nor are jobs created in places that do not exist, unless they intend to intentionally deceive, as has become apparent.

The data given at recovery.gov is as transparent as an algae encrusted shrimp brine holding tank slathered with petroleum jelly sitting on a mirror in the midst of an aging smoke filled bingo hall. Further investigation by your favorite intrepid blogger is forthcoming.

Take note, fellow Americans. This is all that can be expected of legislation that is criminal by its very nature. Only further corruption and fleecing of the public can result from the legalized theft of the socialist policies being pushed by my national leaders.

Final Effect of Cash for Clunkers

Beneficial, no?

Even more painful to look at is this Demonstration Video, showing how to seize an engine, as per the Cash for Clunker program.

Obama on Obamacare

Politico: "“What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty.”" - Barack Obama

Auto Insurance Premise:

A. Driving involves inherent risk to other people

B. This risk is best minimized by requiring auto insurance.

This is true, and A is correctly followed by B. Driving is dangerous, large and heavy metal objects moving about quickly with drivers who may or may not be competent.

Not only does insurance help cover property damage, it also provides medical liability, and provides a free market response to reckless driving by increasing rates. By requiring a driver and vehicle to possess insurance, society can minimize the risk and maximize the benefits of utilizing public roads.

Obamacare Insurance Premise:

A. Medical care is the obligation of all society

B. Medical insurance should be required to benefit society.

C. If a person lacks medical insurance, they harm society.

These premises fail on several levels. Medical care is the responsibility of the individual, and that is the sole place where this responsibility falls. How they choose to do this is their prerogative, but it remains with them nevertheless.

Corollary, medical insurance is not always the best choice, for many it does not make financial sense to insure themselves if they are in good health.

An individual with no health insurance does no harm to be personally, and to require them to do so would only further damage the fabric of society.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Tom Smith's Bread

TOM SMITH AND HIS INCREDIBLE BREAD MACHINE

by R.W. Grant

This is a legend of success and plunder

And a man, Tom Smith, who squelched world hunger.

Now, Smith, an inventor, had specialized in toys.

So, people were surprised

When they found that he instead

Of making toys, was BAKING BREAD!

The way to make bread he'd conceived

Cost less than people could believe.

And not just make it! This device

Could, in addition, wrap and slice!

The price per loaf, one loaf or many:

The miniscule sum of under a penny.

Can you imagine what this meant?

Can you comprehend the consequent?

The first time yet the world well fed!

And all because of Tom Smith's bread.

A citation from the President

For Smith's amazing bread.

This and other honors too

Were heaped upon his head.

But isn't it a wondrous thing

How quickly fame is flown?

Smith, the hero of today Tomorrow,

scarcely known.

Yes, the fickle years passed by;

Smith was a millionaire,

But Smith himself was now forgot Though

bread was everywhere.

People, asked from where it came,

Would very seldom know.

They would simply eat and ask,

"Was not it always so?"

However, Smith cared not a bit,

For millions ate his bread,

And "Everything is fine," thought he,

"I am rich and they are fed!"

Everything was fine, he thought?

He reckoned not with fate.

Note the sequence of events

Starting on the date

On which the business tax went up.

Then, to a slight extent,

The price on every loaf rose too:

Up to one full cent!

"What's going on?" the public cried,

"He's guilty of pure plunder.

He has no right to get so rich

On other people's hunger!"

(A prize cartoon depicted Smith

With fat and drooping jowls

Snatching bread from hungry babes

Indifferent to their howls!)

Well, since the Public does come first,

It could not be denied

That in matters such as this,

The Public must decide.

So, antitrust now took a hand.

Of course, it was appalled

At what it found was going on.

The "bread trust," it was called.

Now this was getting serious.

So Smith felt that he must

Have a friendly interview

With the men in antitrust.

So, hat in hand, he went to them.

They'd surely been misled;

No rule of law had he defied.

But then their lawyer said:

"The rule of law, in complex times,

Has proved itself deficient.

We much prefer the rule of men!

It's vastly more efficient.

Now, let me state the present rules,"

The lawyer then went on,

"These very simpIe guidelines

You can rely upon:

You're gouging on your prices if

You charge more than the rest.

But it's unfair competition

If you think you can charge less.

"A second point that we would make

To help avoid confusion:

Don't try to charge the same amount:

That would be collusion!

You must compete. But not too much,

For if you do, you see,

Then the market would be yours And

that's monopoly!"

Price too high? Or price too low?

Now, which charge did they ma~e?

Well, they weren't loath to charging both

With Public Good at stake!

In fact, they went one better They

charged "monopoly!"

No muss, no fuss, oh woe is us,

Egad, they charged all three!

"Five years in jail," the judge then said.

Your lucky its not worse.

Robber Barons must be taught

Society Comes First!"

Now, bread is baked by government.

And as might be expected,

Everything is well controlled;

The public well protected.

True, loaves cost a dollar each.

But our leaders do their best.

The selling price is half a cent.

(Taxes pay the rest!)

Saudi Justice

Reuters: "A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the desert, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The convict was arrested earlier this year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child left in the desert after the rape was three years old, Okaz newspaper said."

I agree with this decision, and I can't understand the international humanitarian outcry over this decision.

The man raped 5 kids and killed 1. He can be crucified and then beheaded for all I care.

Oddly Timed Election Results

"Looks like a Republican sweep tonight in NY, Virginia AND New Jersey. Woo hoo! The New Jersey one is huge." SolaMeanie, commenting last night.

And that about sums up everything I could say. It appears that even in the brutally liberal North East, there is disgruntilification of the voting base.

Pelosi-care Facts

As per Politico:
Length: 1,990 pages

Number of words: Approx 400,000

Cost per word: $2,200,000.

In the unfortunate case you are under the assumption that this bill is to benefit the world, try this little number from the Washington Times on for size:

"House Democrats blocked the public from attending the unveiling ceremony of their health-care bill Thursday morning, allowing only pre-approved visitors whose names appeared on lists to enter the event at the West side of the Capitol....

The West side of the Capitol — the area where President Barack Obama was inaugurated — is traditionally open to the public. But the entrances were blocked off Thursday morning by metal fences, with Capitol police officers standing next to staff members holding clipboards with lists of approved attendees."

This is no longer politics, this is no longer another step towards liberalism. This is another stride on the road to serfdom.

Failings of Power

A. The democrats own the White House.

B. The democrats own the House of Representatives.

C. The democrats own the Senate.

D. The democrats want to pass a national health care destruction bill.

Given all of the above, why have we been arguing about this nonsense for the past 4 months?

Because it is a disaster of a concept, a failure of legislation, and an appallingly bad deal for Americans.

Regardless, this bill could be passed with the power they now possess.

Yet, it hasn't.

I think this is the result of their knowledge of the travesty contained in these numerous documents, and are unwilling to foist it upon the American people without the umbrella of bi-partisanship, under which they can cower at election time and point to these bills as the best option we had available. This may truly be a case where one individual on the House Floor can determine the disaster we will face.

Never give into evil, republicans of the house.

Never aide the destruction of wealth, republicans of the Senate.

Never loose the hope of a conservative philosophy, my friends.

History hinges on the actions of individuals.