Inspiration

After a month away from here I finally ran across something that got me worked up again. Since my Mom passed, I've been preoccupied with all the little things that crop up and have to be dealt with, and trying to do it long distance with my brother being I can't take time off of work until it's absolutely necessary for me to fly up there.

This morning I read a piece by Maureen Dowd. I really need to read her more often being she gets me pissed off faster than anyone, except maybe listening to Olberman.

Going Mad in Herds

Read her take on why a majority of the nation just doesn't trust Obambi and doesn't think he's actually up for the job.

The bookstore gave the president a copy of “Freedom,” a new novel by Jonathan Franzen about a dysfunctional family in America. This is apt, since Obama is the head of the dysfunctional family of America — a rational man running a most irrational nation, a high-minded man in a low-minded age.

The country is having some weird mass nervous breakdown, with the right spreading fear and disinformation that is amplified by the poisonous echo chamber that is the modern media environment.

[emphasis: mine]

It's the typical East Coast Elitism, "The peons are just too dumb to understand." Well, the people after finally getting the details of what "Hope and Change" entailed...do not like it one bit!

A commenter, Chris C. Riley of Seattle Wa. seems to be able to sum up nicely what the problem the p0easants are having with this administration.

If we’re not the ones we’ve been waiting for, who are we?

I am happy to be the first to provide an answer to this question. We are the chumps. We are the chumps that believe that appeasement is a substitute for defense. We are the chumps who believe that, while a for a family to attempt to spend its way out of poverty is idiocy, it is sound policy for a nation to do so. We are the chumps that believe that by turning the health care system over to the Federal Government we will simultaneously cut costs and improve quality. We are the chumps that believe that they way to ensure that African American children close the education gap with their white peers is to make sure that they are denied school choice and access to charter schools. We are the chumps who believe that if we smash the existing energy industry we will all get high paying government jobs as wind-mill oilers or solar cell squeegee boys. We are the chumps that believe that we can alleviate poverty by raising the minimum wage. We are the chumps who appreciate being forced to buy dangerous little lawnmower-cars by people who fly around in corporate jets to give speeches about our excessive use of energy.

We are a nation of chumps. Us chumps elected socialist Democrats in both houses of Congress and the White House. Us chumps(and our grand children) bought a multi-trillion dollar ticket to the most expensive three ring circus ever imagined. We chumps may have destroyed the most free and the most prosperous society in the history of mankind. At least we will ave earned a place in the history books

Back to the 50's?

I just turned 56 yesterday. I don't want to go back to the 50's. I don't really remember much about it except having fun playing those now forbidden games of dodge ball, tag, musical chairs at school, and entertaining ourselves with playing war, and throwing dirt clod at each other.

I don't what to go back to the '60's either. Fun times. The Beatles showed up along with all those entertaining hippies, but by the end of the decade I was seeing the cracks between what the "Free Love" generation idealized and what happens in the real world.

The '70's, still mostly a fun time for me. I really, really fell in love for the first time...I actually got engaged, but we grew apart (bummer), but I started working regular jobs (in hospitals), making money and being able to support myself. Made a lot of dumb decisions that taught me about how life works. All the years of my Dad telling me that applying myself would reap benefits started to sink in, although America had hit a low. The Carter years of "don't hope for better because we're past our prime".

The '80's, I hit my prime I had a job that I liked, met a good woman and got married, bought a house, had what turned out to be a great kid, and the country rebounded under Reagan.

'90's...My life was stable, but things stared to change. Job that I liked, but my good woman started to phase herself out of the picture. The owner of my company, and best friend, died and the company was bought by a bunch of yahoo's that didn't understand the oil industry.

'00's, new job at a underfunded company, my wife and I separated, my boy grew up and joined the Army and left the nest.

'10's, we'll see, but it's looking ugly.

The reason for this?

I keep being told that Conservatives want to go back to a period they idealize. I don't! I've lived through five decades and some were good and some sucked, but I don't want to live them again or live them over and over. I love the advancements that have been made in my lifetime, however, I see the pitfall we are leaving to the future generations.

I want my grandchildren to enjoy these advancements, plus more, but with the debt we have already foisted on our children and with the shift to government directing where spending will go, My dreams that my grandchildren will have a better life than me is now just that, a dream.

As of today, I, my wife, and my son each owe $41,500 just to pay off the incurred debt. Ever run up a credit card debt and work to pay it off? It took me a long time to pay off an amount a hell of a lot less than $40K! And that was after I stopped spending. The government just keeps piling additional debt on us and telling us as soon as they can, they promise to stop spending and will pay off the debt....really!!! Any year now.

I am angry! I live on the front lines of what this country is turning to. ( A long read, but worth it) We are turning this country into a system where there are more bureaucrats and government workers than there are people actually producing something besides rules and regulations that they will tax or fine me with.

A Good Return For Our Money

Another blogger pointed out this PSA to show that Barney Frank backed ACORN. It's a blink and you missed it shot, but it is in there, and there is enough documentation and records from the Senate floor, and from committee hearings to prove where the dog got his fleas, so I'm not going to quibble.

ACORN Grassroots Democracy Campaign



The part that got me was at 8:25...they, over the last 10 years have given out $15 billion in benefits to people...out of the $85 billion they have received in grants.

Math time: $15 billion/$85 billion = 17.65% goes to the people they are helping and 82.35% goes to the organization.

Sound like the "Cash for Clunkers" program, such a deal $1.22 billion paid out to get "bad" cars off the road....but $1.66 billion for the government to handle the paperwork.

Why, oh why do I not trust the government to handle any program in a cost effective way?

"Saved Or Created"

I was wondering how long this would be allowed to go on?

From "The Media Fall for Phony 'Jobs' Claims"
By WILLIAM MCGURN

"Saved or created" has become the signature phrase for Barack Obama as he describes what his stimulus is doing for American jobs. His latest invocation came yesterday, when the president declared that the stimulus had already saved or created at least 150,000 American jobs -- and announced he was ramping up some of the stimulus spending so he could "save or create" an additional 600,000 jobs this summer. These numbers come in the context of an earlier Obama promise that his recovery plan will "save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years."

Ever since his trip to the Caterpillar Factory and his promise that his Stimulus Package would save the threatened jobs there, only to have the President of Caterpillar come out immediately after the speech and say the jobs were gone regardless, I haven't believed what Obambi says about the economy.

Well, being they got laid off, if they do get rehired sometime in the future maybe they can count as "created" jobs.

Of course, the inability to measure Mr. Obama's jobs formula is part of its attraction. Never mind that no one -- not the Labor Department, not the Treasury, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- actually measures "jobs saved." As the New York Times delicately reports, Mr. Obama's jobs claims are "based on macroeconomic estimates, not an actual counting of jobs." Nice work if you can get away with it.

I'm curious if they are using the same guys to write the program to get this "Saved or Created" statisticB.S. that the Goreacle use to get his Global WarmingClimate Change B.S.? Nothing like made up, unprovable numbers to back up your argument.

"The expression 'create or save,' which has been used regularly by the President and his economic team, is an act of political genius," writes Mr. Mankiw. "You can measure how many jobs are created between two points in time. But there is no way to measure how many jobs are saved. Even if things get much, much worse, the President can say that there would have been 4 million fewer jobs without the stimulus."

It's a "When did you stop beating your wife?" formula. You've got the answer you want no matter the answer.

Now, something's wrong when the president invokes a formula that makes it impossible for him to be wrong and it goes largely unchallenged. It's true that almost any government spending will create some jobs and save others. But as Milton Friedman once pointed out, that doesn't tell you much: The government, after all, can create jobs by hiring people to dig holes and fill them in.

The "Jobs Created" part is what really bothers me. I know that we've got 21 new "czars" with attendant staff and support that are jobs created, but who pays the salaries of these new employees?

Lucky us! We get taxed more to pay some more SOB's in Washington to tell us what else we are going to have sacrifice in our life so they can receive their bennies.

But we must remember that things aren't as bad as we think, just like back in in 2003 things weren't as good as we thought.

My God! They're Going To Do It Again!!

I heard last night that the government has taken over GMAC, the lending arm of GM. The news was that now they can make low interest loans on automobiles. Isn't this what happened to the housing industry?

Of course they'll be able to offer low interest loans...this is the government, they don't care if they make a profit...they don't even care if they lose money as long as the loan was given without any discrimination. It'll be more important that they have the proper percentage of minorities and low income loans so that no one is denied a loan just because they can't afford it.

Driving a car will be a RIGHT!!!

I wonder what name will be hung on the new "Peoples Car"?

We'll now be able to buy the overpriced piece of crap cars that the government will mandate GM and Chrysler/Fiat build in order to keep getting bailouts. More NINJA loans to people that can't afford the payments, but don't worry, the loan will be guaranteed by the government.

They keep saying they don't want to run business, but right now gov't controls banking, the auto industry, loan companies and insurance companies. Soon to control Health Care, salaries of ANY company executive (your salary won't be far behind) and the States of California, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and any other high tax liberal state that is going to need federal money to continue to prop up their social experiments (so much for Federalism).

Fun With Taxes

I had my Geithner moment this year.

My wife did the taxes two years ago, gave me the forms (State and Federal)to sign, and after cringing at the amount due, signed them and I thought that was over.

Last year, with my wife gone, I did the taxes. With only one income, we were getting money back (both State and Federal)for the first time since I can remember. Silly me!!!

Turns out she "neglected" to send in the checks to pay the owed taxes, so I got letters stating not only would they not rebate my overpayment, they were garnishing my wages to collect the past due amounts (plus penalties and interest).

Odd thing though, they garnished the total due (plus penalties and interest).

The State of California, finally realized what they did (overcharge me and forcibly took more money than they were "owed"), so they issued me a credit of $550 on this years taxes for their overcharge (NO interest or penalty to them).

The really fun thing about this is the State of California is broke, so being my financial situation hasn't changed, I should be getting a refund again this year, so I should get another refund of around $500, there is no money in the state treasury to pay me, so they are going to give me an IOU (no penalty or interest).

$1000 owed me by an agency, that refuses to pay me the money they owe me and there ain't squat I can do about it.

That $1000 would pay for my trip to Georgia to see my son's graduation from Boot.

The Feds have done the exact same thing. I just haven't had time to figure out how much they've screwed me for. Rough guess...about $3500.

Well, I Know a Guy Who Knows A Guy Who Isn't Doing Well

Here's one of those things that they just can't find time for on the news. Not with all the breaking reports about Anna Nicole Smith, oh, and that unprecedented white stuff that is piling up in the northeast (I think they're calling it snow?).

US Tax Revenues Up 9.7% through four months, Deficit Down 57%; US Media Outlets Mostly Ignore the News

May God have mercy on our souls.