The Marlboro Man to the Rescue

Any Republican in the Senate or House of Representatives who votes for the current Obama/Reid/Pelosi stimulus package has no reason to be in Washington, DC.

They might just as well stay home and admit to their constituents that they have been blinded by the light emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The decision will help their personal fortunes, as the wound will qualify them for medical disability payments.

With all historical data in evidence, no country (including Japan) has ever ended a recession with government spending. That is an absolute fact with zero exceptions.

During all of the recent congressional hearings on the economy, the Democrats could not muster one single, non-partisan government spokesperson who would state the stimulus package was a viable instrument to increase employment. That includes the Congressional Budget Office. Again, that is an absolute fact with zero exceptions.

Do the arithmetic. If the Obama/Reid/Pelosi stimulus package manages to create 3 million jobs, each job will cost the taxpayers $207,000. That is insanity.

And the Democrats are just warming up. They want to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Their revised version includes free medical care for all children (under the age of 25) for every US family of four with an income under $62,000/year. Of course, it is pro-rated to include larger and smaller families.

The new SCHIP proposal extends the coverage to all immigrants who have green card status and the cost of pregnancy care for the same group. Does anyone believe that the states won’t surreptitiously enroll illegal aliens to defray the mandated costs they are already incurring? In fact, it is already common practice.

It gets uglier. To pay for this generosity, the Democrats have proposed increasing the federal tax on a package of cigarettes by 61 cents. Again do the arithmetic. The federal government will have to encourage an additional 22 million Americans to immediately start smoking a pack of cigarettes each day to make the program “revenue neutral.”

So when you hear the Democratic proponents of this scam claim they are doing it “for the children,” and that the cost is “revenue neutral,” know they are liars. It’s nothing more than a scheme to get the camel’s head under the tent. It’s a ploy to destroy the private health care system, and gain favor with potential Hispanic voters.

And be reminded that mealy-mouthed weasel, Senator Reid, is working overtime on legislation which will grant every single illegal alien automatic US citizenship. Others in his party are insisting that the job opportunities, potentially created by the stimulus package, be skewed toward minorities. Anyone with a pulse can see where this is headed.

Last Tuesday, Mr. Obama addressed environmental and energy issues. His solutions are fiscal folly. Wind, thermal and solar power are viable energy sources, but only in the distant future. The government funding of alternative energy research is critical, but the nation can’t wait for the promise of science. The pre-mature introduction of bio-fuels, especially corn-based, increased the cost of energy and food stuffs across the world. It proved haste makes waste, or in this case, caused famine.

Nuclear power, clean coal technology and tapping the oil resources right off our shores offer the only rational counters to the importation of foreign oil. Ignoring these energy sources will cripple the nation’s economy and security beyond comprehension within four years.

Gas prices are already rising. And to think, Obama has only been in office a week. . . .

A Messianic Complex?

It’s official. Obama is president. Hope is here, change has started and prosperity is just around the corner. His inauguration speech made it clear that with President Bush’s administration gone it will be nothing put clear sailing.

Despite all the hoopla, the nation still doesn’t know what Obama is about. But the picture is getting clearer.

We do know the Senate Finance Committee gave Tim Geithner the nod for Treasury Secretary. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats seem to care that the man sat in front of the committee and lied for hours. This sack of dishonesty, who will head the Internal Revenue Service, is an out and out tax cheat.

It’s apparent that Congress doesn’t care if he is ethically bankrupt. It must be nice to have friends and a boss who are willing to overlook and marginalize the value of personal integrity. He will fit right in with the Wall Street crooks and Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Charlie Rangel (another tax evader). Their meetings should be very collegial.

Eric Holder’s confirmation hearings for the post of Attorney General have certainly defined loyalty. Like any good lapdog, he will do the bidding of his boss. Without equivocation, he personally handled the pardon of the international fugitive, Marc Rich, so President Clinton and his wife could leave the White House with an extra $18 million in their pockets. How nice was that?

Of course, that’s what subordinates are for in Washington DC. Only a mean spirited person would suggest that Eric Holder would again sell out the justice system if it benefited his superiors. Before the doubters rush to judgment, stop and drink some more Kool Aid.

Everyone seems to love Leon Panetta. Can anyone think of a better time to hand over the management of the country’s foremost intelligence agency to a neophyte?

This lovely man will embark, hand-in-hand with Obama, on a noble experiment. The closure of Gitmo, ending rendition and tough interrogation practices, electronic eavesdropping on terrorists, and eliminating military tribunals will have the world swooning at the feet of the Statue of Liberty.

And what terrorist won’t beg for capture knowing that he will be treated better, sleep better, dine better and be given more judicial rights than his jihadist buddies still intent on killing Americans? Only a skeptic would fear the outcome of this noble experiment. However, the folks in New York City might want to increase their vigilance, or find someplace else to live and work.

Wow! Hillary Clinton is the new Secretary of State. Now there is a pillar of truth telling. That her husband, President Clinton, is the most successful lobbyist in the history of the nation will be a great benefit. The rulers in the Middle East have already paid the Clintons over $500,000,000 to buy influence, which will certainly expedite any negotiations. She will be able to hit the ground running.

And Obama explained his definition of bipartisan politics when he asked Americans to "stop listening to Rush Limbaugh," and by extension, all who disagree with his brand of politics.

He inferred that those who don’t believe that he is The One are evil. He wants no gods before him. He truly believes that he is the light and path. This acknowledgement of his Messianic Complex is the most chilling revelation ever made by an American president.

While You Watched Obama

This week the spotlight is on Obama’s ascendancy to the White House. The coverage, to say the least, is overwhelming. Most of the rhetoric revolves around how proud the mainstream media is to have a black president, and how lucky Americans are that it’s Obama.

The national polls indicate that the exuberance of over 70% of the citizens tilts between happy and thrilled to see him. That’s good. It’s probably safe to assume that the 30% who are less infatuated are those who bear about 95% of the tax burden.

The citizens who vote on issues, rather than the hue of a candidates’ skin, are watching the backdoor of Congress. Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid are greasing the skids for the largest transfer of wealth ever recorded in the United States.

They aren’t breaking new ground. Stalin, Castro and Mao introduced the joys of socialism to billions of people. It worked out well for the political ruling class. The only losers were the property owners and the peasants. The latter learned too late that the government spigot dries up when the revenue generating class is crushed.

Comrade Pelosi has been a busy little socialist. Her finished version of the second phase of the bailout/stimulus package is neither a bailout, nor an economic stimulus. It’s $1.3 trillion of pork and earmarks which target pet projects and welfare.

Naturally, she wants personal and corporate income taxes, as well as, capital gains raised to reduce the deficit her spending fling will propel into the stratosphere.

Expect Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy to brush aside questions about the consequences. These are the guys that lied about the financial health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and refused to admit that Social Security and Medicare are fiscal time bombs.

Pelosi and her comrades were unhappy that the few remaining capitalists in Congress could stop their assault on the taxpayers and the Constitution, by using the one hundred year old House rule, referred to as the “motion to recommit.”

The rule forces the House members to vote separately on legislation buried in unrelated bills. Were it not for this parliamentary procedure, government publications could not mention God, the right of private gun ownership would have disappeared, unabridged amnesty for illegal aliens and multiple tax increases would already be law.

The Republicans thwarted these Democratic initiatives in the last 24 months with the “motion to recommit.”

Comrade Pelosi found a solution. She suspended the rule on the first day of the new Congress. Now the Democrats can pass their agenda without having to show their colors. In effect, they can pass bills with zero regard for voter backlash because tyrannical legislation can be hidden in footnotes.

Does anyone doubt that Pelosi will scramble to pass the Fairness Doctrine, which will legally silence political descent? The pandering mainstream media has her back covered. The suspension of the “motion to recommit” and the institution of the Fairness Doctrine will open the gates to a reign of terror.

And their sits that little weasel, Senator Harry Reid, ready to shove amnesty for every illegal alien down the throats of Americans, with Obama’s blessing.

The inaugural festivities were a distraction. Now let’s hope the 90% of employed Americans and the 95% of Americans making their mortgage payments aren’t betrayed by Congress and Obama. It doesn’t look hopeful.

Protecting Obesity

We have all met people who have been disfigured by accident or disease or the cruel randomness of birth deformities. Someplace in our souls we quietly sigh, knowing that but for the grace of God we could be enduring the same scourge.

So in terms of those who have no choice, it seems the conscious and deliberate disfigurement or crippling of the human body is especially despicable. Obese people are at the top of this list. It’s a slap in the face to those who have no alternative, but to bear their fate throughout life.

Obesity is a crime against all citizens. The price tag for this epidemic, measured in job productivity and medical expenses, is about $45 billion annually. Every American consumer is tagged with this cost. The financial burden is hidden in medical insurance premiums, higher taxes and the cost of purchased goods and services.

Forget political correctness. The environmentalists should be up in arms over obesity. How many additional millions of gallons of fuel are required, and how many extra tons of toxic emissions are spewed into the air to transport the obese in private vehicles? The number must be staggering.

If the airlines can charge passengers for exceeding luggage weight limitations, why can’t they add a fuel surcharge for obese flyers to compensate the other passengers for the infringement on the already meager space they are assigned?

It’s difficult to feel anything other than revulsion when a five foot tall mammoth blocks the view of a food court, or waddles away from a donut counter with a fist full of sugar coated dough stuffed with jelly.

We are told that these eaters are hapless victims of discrimination. They claim companies don’t want to hire them. They complain that their co-workers and neighbors openly display disgust when they trolley by. These are natural reactions, not hate crimes.

Compassion is not a right; it’s induced by circumstances. Does your blood run cold when you see an obese parent holding the hand of an equally obese child?

They know that they are setting up their children to be targets of ridicule, shunning and self-loathing. They place their children in the intolerable position of being dependent on someone whose proximity some day will be an embarrassment. So where is their compassion?

About 98% of the grossly overweight eat too much and too often. It’s about personal choice and personal responsibility. They have no right to expect merciful understanding for a self-inflicted condition. And why should others be forced to respect them when they don’t respect themselves?

Political correctness be damned. The obese are an affront to the senses. The sight of unrestricted protoplasm floating in spandex garments is beyond revolting. Maybe if the obese saw themselves in the eyes of others they would reduce their food intake.

Granted, the caustic comments aren’t charitable. My apologies for the rudeness. But masking contempt behind political correctness and feeble excuses only enables the sordid behavior. Let the truth be told.

Interpreting Election Results

Recently, a poll question was asked on The O’Reilly Factor: Do you want Obama’s presidency to be successful? The responders could select “yes” or “no.”

It’s a loaded question because it requires the viewers to define success before voting. Few Americans want Obama to fail, if failure entails the collapse of capitalism, the elimination of the right to a secret ballot, censorship, open borders and abandoning our national security.

His ardent supporters, including most of the mainstream media, would view these results as positives. Thus, if the intent of the question was to measure good will, it failed miserably.

A more important question, the one that will define his presidency, is why does Obama believe he was elected? That’s the question that will stalk him from January 20, 2009 until the next national election in 2010.

The collapse of Wall Street, blamed on President Bush and the Republicans, was the preeminent event that secured his success. Terrorism, national security, Iraq, illegal immigration, energy and the environment were swept away by the prospect of economic doom.

His ardent supporters believe the election was a referendum on the liberalization of the country. This vocal minority expects to be rewarded for its support. Obama’s cabinet selections suggest that he understands that liberal promiscuity is a political dead end. But he can’t turn his back to the progressive secularists.

This explains his appointment of Carol Browner to the post of Global Warming Czar. She is an avowed socialist and a member of the Center for American Progress. This organization is demanding $300 billion to address its fictitious global warming forecasts, and draconian legislation to restrict energy use by US families and businesses.

Her environmental recipe would starve Americans to insure the energy consumption of every person on the planet be equal. This wacko, beloved by the mainstream media, will attend Cabinet meetings. Let’s hope that Obama realizes her potential for being the government’s number one security leak.

Obama’s commitment to close Gitmo, end rendition practices, eliminate aggressive questioning of terrorists and to stop government eavesdropping on conversations between known terrorists and US citizens will please Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Harry Reid and every other moron who doesn’t equate terrorism to war.

If these policies are instituted, a second major attack on our shores will end Obama’s career and the lives of countless Americans. His willingness to take these risks to appease the leftwing was forgotten before the election. Let’s hope he understands the mainstream media won’t be able to conceal his complicity.

It doesn’t appear that the majority of Americans believe his $1.3 trillion, bailout prescription will benefit anyone not on welfare, or living in penthouses. And Senator Schumer just confirmed that Obama knew his campaign pledge ($3000 tax credit) to small businesses to hire new employees was an inside joke.

Let’s hope America’s citizens don’t have to experience economic disaster before Obama realizes why he was elected. And let’s hope the country is able to dig out of the hole he creates, if he continues to please Nancy, Barney and Harry.

Scary, isn’t it?

Obama's Economic Stimulus Omissions?

The cornerstone of magic acts revolves around the magicians’ ability to hide the deceptive elements that create the illusion. President-elect Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan speech was brilliantly delivered. As intended, it blurred reality.

The audience heard him state that he will create 3 million jobs in the energy, education, and the healthcare sectors, which will be augmented by infrastructure projects. The cost of his vision will add another $775 billion to the national debt.

Improving the energy grid and computerizing medical records will indeed benefit the nation. And we need safe bridges. But adding 600,000 bureaucrats to the federal payroll, as promised, sounds like assault and battery on America’s taxpayers.

He also promised that 95% of Americans will receive a $1000 tax cut, the doubling of alternative energy resources and the federal bailout of states that have incurred huge deficits. He believes that all of these initiatives will be handled in the “spirit of responsibility.”

There were a few subjects that he failed to address. This was probably an oversight. For example, he didn’t mention that dumping another trillion dollars into the bailout will all but make China the defacto Secretary of the US Treasury. It’s possible China will keep our best interests in mind, when it decides what we should spend on national security.

Nor did he mention the reduction of capital gains and corporate taxes which would encourage the rebirth of manufacturing in the US. Maybe this is a green issue. Creating good paying jobs in the private sector would require people to drive to work, which in turn, could harm the environment.

And pardon the confusion over his definition of a tax cut. Forty percent of the targeted people pay no income tax. Sending them a check for $1000 smells a lot like fattening the Earned Income Credit (EIC), which is already the largest welfare boondoggle, with the greatest incidence of fraud, ever created.

He failed to mention a couple of options which would reduce the cost of private healthcare. Again, it was probably just an oversight. Illegal immigrants add $900 to the annual cost of every family’s healthcare premium. And state regulations, which outlaw inter-state competition among healthcare insurers, inflate the cost of medical coverage about 20%.

Maybe he didn’t mention these facts because he is a big supporter of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which includes free medical care for all children and all illegal aliens under the age of 25. For good measure, the bill throws in unrestricted access to Medicare for border jumpers.

How many illegal aliens are in this country? The number twelve million has been bandied about for years. Not to put to fine an edge on it, how many illegal aliens are working in the trades? Give or take, does 3 million sound about right?

If the E-Verify legislation was passed, which demands employers verify Social Security numbers before hiring new employees (or suffer fines), within five years 3 million jobs would open to Americans. It’s a real shame he didn’t have the time to explain his opposition to this legislation.

It’s great that Obama wants to double the amount of green energy consumed in America. That will service about 2% of the national requirement. Where does he plan on getting the other 98%? Maybe he forgot to mention “Drill Here, Drill Now.”

And darned if he didn’t forget to mention that each illegal alien costs this nation about $19,500 a copy. Most the cost is absorbed by the states. Any state that offers sanctuary to illegal aliens can quickly reduce its deficit by enforcing the immigration laws. Most state budgets would be in the black if they obeyed the law.

The last question: Who wrote his speech? My money is on Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and the President of Mexico.

The 51st State?

In 1869, US General Philip Sheridan observed that “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” If national polls were available at the time, the vast majority of European settlers who spearheaded the trek across North America would have agreed with his assessment.

Now, 149 years later it is much easier to put this clash of civilizations into perspective. The Indians were defending their lands against the onslaught of western expansion. They were just as determined as the settlers, but lost because they were outnumbered and outgunned.

There are few boundaries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or in the Western and Eastern Hemispheres that weren’t forged with armies. It takes time to clear the fog of war and view history in objective terms. Perspective doesn’t change history, or justify outcomes. It just pinpoints what worked and what failed.

The immigration of Jews to Palestine, especially from Eastern Europe, began in 1917 when the British mandated the Balfour Declaration, which supported a national home for Jews in Palestine. The plan was an acknowledgement, by the West, of the recent centuries in which Jews were maligned.

Hitler’s crimes were so abhorrent that the world didn’t need the perspective of time to rectify the injustice this race/religion suffered. Palestine was partitioned. In 1947, a tiny plot of land on the Mediterranean Sea was officially deeded to the Jews by the United Nations.

It is one of a few noble decisions ever made by this self-serving body. But this spirit of generosity and humanitarian kindness ignored one fact. The Palestinians had to be evicted from the land at gun point to accommodate the creation of Israel.

The result: 92 years of warfare and terrorism driven by bitter memories and humiliation.

Only a fool can believe that this ebb and flow will stop, if what’s left of Palestine is declared a state. Put simply, the Palestinians want all the land back, including Jerusalem. Their desire is supported by hundreds of millions of fellow Muslims in the region.

The existence of Israel is a call to arms throughout the Middle East. There is only one reason why this little nation continues to exist, and it has a name. It’s called the United States of America. Although it has never been stated, or proposed, Israel is our 51st state in all but name.

For this undisputed reason, the Muslim world knows the US is not an honest broker. The collapse of the Twin Towers defined the Arab’s opinion of this relationship. And it introduced the United States to the reality that Arabs believe the only good American is a dead American.

The Iraqi Conflict drew a line in the sand which defined our viewpoint. The most efficient military force in history confirmed how the US responds to an attack. Might didn’t make right, but it sure expedited the outcome and eliminated any guesswork.

Israel becoming the 51st state, or a Protectorate of the US, is the best chance for an enduring peace because it eliminates the charade and defines the rules of engagement. Uncertainty would be removed from the equation.

Those who would protest that such an action would draw the US into the conflict have their heads in the sand. We are already hated, already at war and already Israel’s partner.

That's the Truth

There is a dark cloud hanging over America. It’s not the economy, or terrorism, or the cost of healthcare that saps the optimism required for a turnaround. It’s the growing awareness that Congress, the Bush Administration and President-elect Obama’s team have and will continue to destroy the American Dream.

In truth, most Representatives and Senators are hypocritical, arrogant, self-serving slugs. This sleazy club works on the premise that Americans are too stupid, too lazy and too ill-informed to vote on issues. Based on the last election results, it seems their hypothesis is correct.

For fifty years they have milked the Middle Class to strengthen and protect their tenure. They passed laws that outlawed promotion based on merit, and undermined economic growth and opportunity by confiscating investment capital. Their voracious appetite for power narrowed and undermined the bridge that couples personal incentive to the monetary rewards of accomplishment.

For five decades Congress has glorified and justified incompetence under the guise of fairness, diversity and affirmative action. Their polices, regulations and taxes offered manufacturers the option of committing fiscal suicide or moving offshore. They chose survival, which gutted the labor market of high paying jobs.

The thriving Middle Class of the 1950’s and 1960’s no longer exists. Government bankrupted it. They stole its treasure, and doled it out to build a loyal constituency of bottom feeders dependent on government handouts.

Obama’s promise to lower taxes on the Middle Class was a hideous, cynical charade. There are only a few remnants left of this once flourishing class and they have nothing left to give.

So don’t be deceived. Obama’s promise to confiscate the income of the wealthy wasn’t based on tax fairness. Simply put, these survivors are the last available source of revenue, other than deficits, to sustain the welfare ranks.

The out-of-control entitlements will collapse without this infusion. And everyone in Congress knows this to be true. They are also aware that the collapse, or even the interruption of entitlements, will destroy their powerbase and chance of re-election.

And don’t equate welfare with just food stamps, subsidized housing and medical care. Government bureaucracies are growing exponentially. These ravenous bottom feeders are the antithesis of productivity. Their existence depends on their ability to shuffle paper and smoother the private sector’s freedom of choice with regulations that favor mediocrity.

And don’t kid yourself. The bailout is more about government encroachment than fiscal sanity. Not one paragraph or sentence in the current or pending legislation addresses the root causes of the fiscal meltdown. Lending practices that demand borrowers be credit worthy aren’t mandated, nor have the tax contributions to organizations that prey on the system been outlawed.

Americans don’t have to be statisticians to know that government malfeasance is rotting the nation’s capability to prosper. It’s squandering our resources, endangering our security and enriching its friends at the expense of working Americans.

Know the politicians are pouring tax dollars into this sinkhole to protect their fiefdoms. If they represented working Americans they would eliminate corporate and capital gains taxes and slash spending. And that’s the truth.

You Know

You know, there is no reason why Caroline Kennedy, alias Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, alias, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, alias, Caroline Schlossberg, alias, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg should be denied the Senate seat in New York.

You know, she has spent more time in the White House than her uncle, Ted Kennedy, and he was recently bestowed with the title, Lion of the Senate. And about forty-five years ago her father was a president of the United States. That has to count for something.

You know, there have been thousands of images of her in magazines and newspapers. These photos provide an abundance of evidence that she dresses well, can dance, comb her hair and sit up and take nourishment without help.

You know, she went to school and earned a law degree. Of course, she never practiced law. That would have required passing a bar examine. That’s not all bad. It sets her apart from the 1,141,000 other lawyers out chasing ambulances.

You know, she shouldn’t be denied the appointment because she doesn’t vote or have any political experience. In her favor, she has no close attachments to domestic terrorists (other than her uncle), or to racist preachers, or felons. This puts her integrity head and shoulders above the new president-elect.

You know, she was director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education. In this capacity she raised about $65 million in private donations for the public schools and promoted the excellent education they provide.

You know, this first hand experience proves her intelligence and perception. She sent her three children to private schools, which shows she is one smart cookie.

You know, she endorsed Barack Obama’s candidacy. She put her reputation right on the line. She never held his lack of credentials or experience against him, so no one can claim she’s a hypocrite for seeking a Senate seat with comparable qualifications.

You know, she’s too old to be a debutante, and too young to retire from the limelight. The Senate is filled with rich people of the same caliber. Being a socialite, based on the happenstance of birth, must have its limitations. So don’t begrudge her a prestigious job that justifies and dignifies her privileged existence in her waning years.

You know, she has floated through life on the memories of Camelot and a $100 million trust fund. But this doesn’t mean she doesn’t have executive experience. It’s not easy managing a household staff, or deciding which invitations to accept.

You know, she has the makings of a perfect Democrat. She is out of touch with the millions of people who actually work for a living, has never filled out a tax return and loves the charity of others. It’s as if she was born to the post. Oh, that’s right. It’s the only qualification she has for the appointment.