Friday, October 23, 2009

'The Incredible Bread Machine'

"Billions were spent, but the net effect was not to spur recovery but to retard it, for the State can inject into the economy only what it has first taken out, either openly through taxes or surreptitiously through inflation. When government spends, the economy drinks its own blood and,in the end, is weakened accordingly."

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Your Childrens Tax Dollars at Work

Ways & Means Committee: "According to the data, 49 States and the District of Columbia have lost jobs since stimulus was enacted. Only North Dakota has seen net job creation following the February 2009 stimulus. While President Obama claimed the result of his stimulus bill would be the creation of 3.5 million jobs, the Nation has already lost a total of 2.7 million – a difference of 6.2 million jobs."

The worst part about all this is...
...Did we expect anything different?

No.

...Did we proceed regardless?

Yes.

There is no denying the realities of atrocious government policy, and this is but the beginning.
Thank you Bush and Clinton and Bush and Obama for your train wreck economic policies and contemptible spending of my money.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A Real Solution

Conservative arguments against President Obama are becoming increasingly silly. They oppose Obama rescuing businesses despite all the jobs on the line, they’re against government taking control of health care from soulless insurance companies, and they oppose increased taxes on energy consumption despite the sorry state of the environment. And why do they oppose these most sensible actions? Because of their irrational, brain-dead obsession with liberty.

Of course, everyone likes freedom — to a point — but there are a number of loud, stupid Americans who just take it to ridiculous extremes. They hoard their freedoms like greedy little dwarfs hoarding gold when they have little actual use for most of it. People need rules and order and guidance, but they hardly ever need liberty.

Liberty doesn’t feed your family. Liberty doesn’t heal you when you’re sick. Liberty doesn’t educate your children. A strong government can do all those things, but apparently that’s against liberty. Thus these freedom-obsessed conservatives ignorantly rail against it like Bible-thumpers do against science, when they should realize it’s not their enemy; it’s their superior.

Just look at this ludicrous debate over health care reform. Of course the government should provide health care for everyone; how obvious can anything be? The government has the money and smart people working for everyone’s interests to make sure all get health care, so why would anyone be against that? Because apparently people aren’t “free” to make their health care choices for themselves. How is that freedom worth anything when people go without? Real freedom is not having to worry about health care, and that’s what you get when you have the government take it over. Yes, you’ll have little control over who gets what kind of care, but some people will just have to suffer some for the betterment of the whole. The advantage of having the government in control is that it makes sure the fewest number suffer, and those that do aren’t particularly important.

Simple logic like this, though, is like water off a duck’s back to the tea baggers. They scream about their money being taken, but what exactly were they going to spend it on? Beer hats? NASCAR tickets? Cheetos?

Oh, yes, that’s freedom worth preserving. But the more money the government has, the more control it can take over businesses and, thus, the economy. Then job creation lies in the hands of government — which looks out for its citizens — instead of in the hands of uncaring corporations out to make a buck off the misery of others. But apparently many Americans like being preyed upon by heartless corporations because that’s “liberty.” Well, if that’s liberty, no wonder so many progressive-minded people don’t want to participate.

Most of the civilized world has moved beyond this uncompromising view of “freedom” — if they were ever foolish enough to adopt it in the first place. Can you think of any other country that would permit its citizens to have guns like America does? Of course not; that’s beyond moronic. People know freedom is a dangerous, scary thing, and you have to be careful how much you tolerate. People can’t be free to have items that could be used to hurt others; dangerous things like that should only be permissible for those the government considers worthy of possessing them. The U.S. still doesn’t understand this — in fact, it has in recent years allowed even more freedom to own weaponry to the point that even Democrats can’t discuss the basic, common sense measure of firearm confiscation — and that’s why it is a mockery to decent, civilized nations.

This isn’t to say freedom is a bad thing. I think we can all agree that people should have unlimited freedom to do whatever weird sex stuff they like. Also, people should have the liberty to use mind-altering drugs. We should also have freedom of speech, but that ought to be limited by common sense. College campuses are a good example: they allow all sorts of progressive-minded speech and ban what they consider to be dangerous or hateful speech. That’s a perfectly fine standard, as long as we have the right people in charge making those decisions. That’s why it’s much more important than freedom to make sure we have the right people in government.

So what would be optimal in this country if we stopped the mindless liberty worship? I suggest slavery. Yes, I know it has a long awful history, but think about it. With slavery, everyone is guaranteed a job. Slaves get food and shelter. And we can make sure all needs are met by forcing people to take the jobs they are best suited for.

Slavery is true freedom, because it is freedom from want and worry. It may have been a horrible thing when racist southerners were doing it, but think of how great it could be if benevolent liberals looking out for the good of all were in charge. I would say it is, in fact, the ultimate progressive ideal.

But how are we going to sell slavery to people when they don’t even want a public option?

-Frank J. Flemming '


I don't often repost an entire column, but this is one that needs to be read in it's entirety.


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

2" Pocket Knife = 20 Day School Suspension

Fox News: "A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.

Matthew Whalen, a senior at Lansingburgh Senior High School, says he follows the Boy Scout motto and is always prepared
...
Whalen said he doesn't know who might have said he was carrying a knife, but he was open with school officials.

"And they said, 'Do you own a knife?' I said, 'Yes, I'm a soldier and an Eagle Scout — I own a knife.'

"And they were like, 'Well, is it in your car or anything?' And I told them, 'Yeah, it's in my car right now.'

"And they asked me to show it to them. I didn't realize it was going to be a problem. I knew it wasn't illegal — my police chief grandfather gave the knife to me."

Whalen said he took school administrators to his car because he thought their fears would be allayed when they saw it was just a 2-inch knife.

"They thought I had a dagger in my car or something like that, so I thought yeah, I'd show it to them," Whalen said.

"I showed it to them, and they told me I had a knife on school property and had to be suspended."
"

Its things like this that make me feel like a prematurely grumpy old man.
I'm an eagle scout. At any given time, you are likely to find at least one pocket knife on me, today, 2. Saturday, I had 3 on me.
I have my Leatherman Charge AL, which I love dearly. Been through fire and ice and heaven and hell with me, and is a toolbox on the hip any day of the week.
I have my Victorinox Recruit, a small swiss army knife that does wonders, and is eminently pockitable.
I have my Shrade jack knife, an amazingly durable jack knife I picked up at one of the middle-of-no-where gas stations that are unique to a texas road trip.

At many times, I have had these in situations where people recoil in shock and horror at the presence of sharp steel blade safely folded away. I don't understand it, and I don't understand how a young man with a 2'' blade in his car is any threat to anyone in a school.

Knives don't hurt people, people hurt people.
(Cross posted at Grumpy Old Men Blog)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Who says this?


"What has Obama done to deserve this prize? The jury put store on his hope for a nuclear arms-free world, forgetting his role in perpetuating his battalions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his decision to install new military bases in Colombia
...
"For the first time, we are witnessing an award with the nominee having done nothing to deserve it: rewarding someone for a wish that is very far from becoming reality.
"

Answer, in the comments!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mountain Moonshine Cache

WRAL.com:"State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents seized 929 gallons of moonshine Wednesday and arrested a Wilkesboro man, authorities said Friday.

Roger Lee Nance, of 1117 Shew Ridge Mission Road, was charged with possession of non-tax paid liquor, possession of non-tax-paid liquor for the purpose of selling, and possession of equipment and ingredients intended for the use in the manufacture of an alcoholic beverage."


I think the man should be given a medal for perseverance and benefiting the common good, not arrested and thrown in chain with the fines of the almighty Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms administration raining down upon his head.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Federal Surplus of Deficit +/-, 1895-2010


The median line represents a balanced budget. Any deviation from this line indicates money taken from the citizens unnecessarily(surplus), or money spent that does not yet exist(deficit). 

Sometimes the numbers just scream. 

Sunday, September 27, 2009

India to Produce High-Yeild Nukes


Financial Times: "They[Indian Officials] said India had built weapons with yields of up to 200 kilotons, which would be considered a “proper strategic deterrent” by the global community. A nuclear weapon above 50 kilotons is considered high yield. India’s enhanced capability gives it a considerable edge over Pakistan, its nuclear-armed arch-rival.
...

India, which has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, started developing its nuclear arsenal in 1974. New Delhi is estimated to have manufactured weapons-grade plutonium for at least 100 warheads. Senior Indian officials have insisted that the 1998 tests were successful and deny the need for anything more than computer simulations to gauge the yield of nuclear weapons."

This is good news. We have yet to see a war of nuclear exchanges happen because democracies were to strong. 

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

US, UK, French Ambasadors walk out on Ahmadinejad

Sky News: "In his address, Mr Ahmadinejad launched a scathing attack on Israel, a frequent target of his fury, accusing it of adopting "inhuman policies" in the Palestinian territories. ...

It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions," he said.

British delegates joined American and French representatives in leaving the room at the UN headquarters at this point."

The Canadian diplomats had already walked out prior to his speech. Its not often I am a fan of our diplomats, but this made me smile.

In other news, it appears Mr.Obama's temporary betrayal of Poland and Czech Republic for the purpose's of winning over Russian support for economic sanctions of Iran has worked. The last player on the security council who's support we need to a total embargo of gasoline to Iran is China. I don't know what lever Mr. Obama has to use on the ChiComs, but I wouldn't be surprised if it involved a rescinding of the recent destructive trade tariff we've put in place on tires. That would be nice, and a shrewd high-stakes play.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mass. Bill Allows Police to Forcefully Vaccinate Without Warrant



Here's the bill from the The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Senate Bill No. 2028.

This is quite a succinct clip, but to summarize:
If the governor declares a state of emergency, then police are authorized to incarcerate unvaccinated adults, or vaccinate the individuals themselves. Read, police vaccinating people in there homes without warrants, or hauling them off to prison, still without warrant, until such a time as the crisis is over.
If the children are unvaccinated, they are permitted to take the child from the home, regardless of the current state of health, and place them with CPS.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Labor unions crippling the USPS


Federal Times: "Mail volume is down 12.6 percent compared with last year, and many postal supervisors simply don’t have enough work to keep all employees busy. But a thicket of union rules prevents managers from laying off excess employees; a recent agreement with the unions, in fact, temporarily prevents the Postal Service from even reassigning them to other facilities that could use them.

So they sit — some for a few hours, others for entire shifts. Postal union officials estimate some 15,000 employees have spent time on standby this year.

They spend their days holed up in rooms — conference rooms, break rooms, occasionally 12-foot-by-8-foot storage closets — that the Postal Service dubs “resource rooms.” Postal employees use more colorful names, like “holding pens” and “blue rooms.”
"

After the previous post on the potential for health care to become a bastion of unionized labor with a government medical system, I started looking at other quasi-government agencies, that is, government agencies competing with private companies. The USPS is an organization that has been floundering for years, as the UPS and FederalExpress have thrived.

So, the question must be asked, is this how we wish our lives and loved ones to be handled?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Unionize the Healthcare!


Mark Mix WSJ: " The current House version of ObamaCare (H.R. 3200) goes much further. Section 225(A) grants Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius tremendous discretionary authority to regulate health-care workers "under the public health insurance option." Monopoly bargaining and compulsory union dues may quickly become a required standard resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of doctors and nurses across the country being forced into unions.

Ms. Sebelius will be taking her marching orders from the numerous union officials who are guaranteed seats on the various federal panels (such as the personal care panel mentioned above) charged with recommending health-care policies. Big Labor will play a central role in directing federal health-care policy affecting hundreds of thousands of doctors, surgeons and nurses."

Reading this fine column, I went and looked up the provision 225A of HR 3200, and here it is:
"(a) In General- The Secretary shall establish conditions of participation for health care providers under the public health insurance option."

Suddenly, the union participation in the push for ObamaCare makes a lot more sense. The ranks and funds of Labor have been pillars of strength for the Democrat party to rely upon for generations, and it is only natural a Democrat-Fascist president would kick back to the unions. If this public option medical plan takes effect, it will make little economic sense in the short term for medical professionals to avoid being part of it and eliminate a giant swath of customers. Thus, a schism will develop in the industry itself, leading to an ever increasing number of doctors, nurses and other life saving professionals on the leashes of the Government, the Unions, and maybe even the patient.

So this is what we've come to. Obligatory and nigh compulsory Unionization of our health care system, engorging the ranks of the service unions, and turning our system of medical professionals into a collective bargaining system.

If we seek to turn our medical future into the Detroit auto makers of today, this is what we must do.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Joe Biden as President?

Washington Times: "The vice president, borrowing Mr. Obama's teleprompter for a speech before a friendly audience at the Brookings Institution, said "I" more than a dozen times as he pointed repeatedly to progress on the economy and to his lofty role in the process.

"Every week -- with notable exceptions -- I hold a Cabinet meeting. And most of the Cabinet secretaries attend," he told the audience in Washington.

"I made it clear that our focus had to be, in the first 100 days, accountability, transparency and responsiveness. I wanted each of those Cabinet secretaries to set up systems where they would have a high degree of confidence that as they implemented what they were in charge of, it would be done effectively and efficiently.""

This helps feed my suspicion that Obama is not running things, we have a consortium of Axelrod, Rhambo and some of the financers/hitmen from the campaign running things.
Or, maybe its just Rhambo and the speech writers.

In any event, its amusing for Biden to say "Today there's a growing consensus: The Recovery Act is, in fact, working"

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009

A bill that I figured would never have a chance in the House has proceeded into committee. Its a simple bill, as are most of the ones proffered by Ron Paul, to audit the Federal Reserve.

There's no real rational argument to leave the Fed unaudited, and this will make such an audit happen.
Looking at the list of co-sponsors of HR 1207 serving on the House Financial Services Committee, this bill will likely pass through the committee and into a general session vote. From there, it goes to the Senate, the Senate Finance Committee, and then the president. Every one of those steps is a likely death trap for this bill, but its worth pushing through.

If nothing else, its a bright spot in a realm of encroaching political darkness.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Democrat Health Care cost in NY, NY

Also an excellent representation of what this health care bill will mean to people. People who the democrats claim to help, but only punish. New York Post

A Visual Representation of the Democrat Medical System


Original Link to the Joint Economic Committe Republican Staff Report

Here's a game to play:
1. Find yourself on the Map.
2. Count the number of steps to the 'Health Insurance Exchange'
3. Count the number of steps to the 'Health Care Professionals'
4. Add together, do an identical number of jumping jacks. This will help you more then this plan.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sarah Palin's Tax Record

Question:
Gino: " palm boy: what taxes did she raise that turned you off on her? if its what i'm thinking, it wasnt really an increase in taxes as reported in the media."

Answer:
The CATO institute has a good, albeit short, look at her tax record.
"Palin supported and signed into law a $1.5 billion tax increase on oil companies in the form of higher severance taxes."

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Sarah Palin's Political Masterstroke 2.0

The current Governor of Alaska, former Vice Presidential Candidate of the Republican party, has announced her resignation for later this month.

This is brilliant. No longer is the largest news item for the Republicans Mark Sanford of South Carolina's adultery, but Palin's resignation. Not only that, but it has been a lightning rod once again for energy and chatter on the Right. Where the malaise of Obama was setting in, a resignation for defeat, her exit, if not inspiring, has been though provoking.

Personally, I think she should run for Congress in 2010, then see what happens in 2012. I'm no Palin fan boy, and I really was strongly opposed to her when McCain selected her, and every time I hear her speak in public or the radio my ears revolt violently, but she is a soaring star in the republican party, and primed for a national run in the future.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Independence Day

"Businessmen are the one group that distinguishes capitalism and the American way of life from the totalitarian statism that is swallowing the rest of the world.

All the other social groups- workers, farmers, professional men, scientists, soldiers- exist under dictatorships, even though they exist in chains, in terror, in misery, and in progressive self-destruction. But there is no such group as businessmen under a dictatorship. Their place is taken by armed thugs: by bureaucrats and commissars.

Businessmen are the symbol of a free society- the symbol of America.
"
-Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal