Time Magazine: Meet the Tea Party

These people are real wackos, according to the left. Judge for yourself.

Out with the bad, in with the new

Today I removed Renew America from my blog list. Reason: I'm sick and tired of people using Hitler and the Nazis to make comparisons to modern political parties. Both sides have used this. In the latest post on Renew America, this comparison is used. Remember when Bush was a Nazi, Republicans were Nazis, Convervatives were Nazis, Bush is Hitler? Now, a conservative blog is using the Nazis to compare liberal tactics.

Find something else, will you, for once?

I replaced Renew America with Robert Hall's blog: The old jarhead

A Chris Plante rant...

From Chris Plante, WMAL Radio, Washington DC. He can be heard at their web site, 9 am to noon, EST.

"They slime and they slander and they malign. This is part of an orchestrated campaign...to keep people at home. And you know why they're freaked out — and this is an expression of the fact that they are totally freaked out. Their rhetoric is just...it's Hugo Chavez rhetoric — it's just — I'm sorry — your Republican members of the House 'are aiding and abetting terrorism' (a charge uttered by House Democrat Whip James Clyburn). What terrorism, you hack — you sickening — and you know it's 'Well, people need to be responsible on talk radio.' ON talk radio? You're a member of Congress — you're a senior member of Congress — and you're accusing your fellow (congressmen) of aiding and abetting terrorism because of peaceful protest?

"How many arrests were there, Congressman? How many police officers were injured? How many windows were smashed upon Capitol Hill buildings? How many? How many? Tell them about this terrorism that you're so concerned about, you pathetic hack. Y'know — "why this situation is overheated" — why is this situation overheated? That's why it's overheated, because of what the congressman said right there. They're so freaked out because Middle America is waking up and they [the congressional left] mean to shut us up. They mean to make us sit back down, get back on the couch, and their strategy for doing that — and that's what this is — their strategy for doing that is to slime everyone at these protests with tar — with a broad brush saying you're all terrorists.

"Now they're aiding and abetting terrorists? So obviously Tea Party people are terrorists that the Republicans are 'aiding and abetting.' So now they're calling Middle America terrorists. Nancy Pelosi saying out there, with the swastikas and stuff.... Again, that's Lyndon LaRouche [a Democrat] — except one sign that I saw at a rally — one picture of a swastika with a circle and red slash through it — saying no national socialism. That was not an endorsement of Nazism. That was a suggestion that you're the new version of that, Nanny Pelosi.

"And you can agree or disagree with that, but if you're going to go after these people, then let's compare them with liberal protests, which the news media will not do. And they're going to show the peaceful protests of tens of thousands of Americans on the West Front of the Capitol, and then show you the video or that audio I just played of police coming in on horseback to clear out liberals who are smashing the place up? Of course not — of course they're not. The hypocrisy of the news media is staggering."

The fraud of the stimulus program

The Health Care bill just passed and signed into law is not the first bad bill passed by Congress and signed by Obama.

Of the $787 billion for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, less than $200 billion has been awarded and less than $100 billion has actually been spent. See Recovery.gov

Here's some hightlights of where the money (we don't have) is going:

• The University of California - San Diego received a grant of $233,825 to study African election patterns. The grant proposal stated that "the primary objective of this project is to identify the micro-foundations of vote choice in sub-Saharan Africa through extensive analysis of individual-level exit poll data." I think scientific research is great, but this smacks of a payoff. This is not seriously going to stimulate the economy.
• Deployment Essentials, LLC, received some $648,000 for "expert" installation of 2,074 of digital TV converters in the southwest. That's $312 per box, which cost $50 and a monkey could connect them.
• Vanderbilt University received a grant of $1.1 million to study black holes. Now that's really going to stimulate the economy.
• The city of Cherokee, Iowa, got $30,480 for picnic benches. Dear Obama: Where's mine?
• The Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, MN, received more than $7 million in two separate awards for the delivery of deli turkey breasts. For whom? Since the award came directly from Congress, it must be for their lunches.
• The University of North Carolina received a grant of $447,492 to study the affect of 70 African American children speaking Eubonics (African American English) and its role in school achievement. Very good for the economy.
• The State of NY received nearly $400 million to "weatherize" low income housing. It reportely created 49 jobs. That's $8.1 million per job. Where do I sign up?
• Mt. Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles received a grant for $327,337 for: "Genetic Control of Sensory Hair Cell Membrane Channeels in Zebrafish." I kid you not. 

I'd go on -- there are thousand of examples -- but I'll go puke my breakfast up now.

The American taxpayer is getting ripped off.

Source: Stimulus Watch

Hello? Are you listening?

After the health care bill passed, Obama had this to say:

"We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people."

Huh? Even though the majority of Americans didn't want this bill (they wanted something not so intrusive), Obama still has the gall to stand up in font of his teleprompters and lie -- as usual.

I thought it would be interesting to read the reaction of the SFGate readers, from Pelosi's home turf. About 2 to 1 against:

Like all other social 'reform' packages of the past 30 years, it too will contribute to bankrupting the United States. Dems had better pass as many bills as possible in the next 8 months, for their majority will likely be gone. I'm embarrassed to say I voted for Obama.

and to prove how good this is, members of the senate and congress should give up their current healthcare and use this one.

Get ready for more Socialism. It will be paid for with a 75% tax rate and a crushing corporate tax rate. The only ones to benefit will be those who don't work and don't contribute. The rest of us will be forced to feed, house, cloth, treat and coddle all those parasites who feed off the system.

Welcome to Pelosicare ... and the hoards of new dependents who are now part of your responsibilities. Open wide - your wallet because if you work for a living, you are now paying for their health care. Thanks for your contribution (in taxes and higher insurance premiums) to the hope and change for others. If you had any wealth, it just got spread around to others - as Obama promised it would.

The fight isn't over by a long shot. And pretty much ignored, the goverment just took over student loans. Next up: immigration and energy.

Tricare reportedly not protected by Obamacare

(Update: Shortly after posting this, H.R. 4887 was approved by the House, will applies to the health care coverage provided by the Defense Department to military service members, retirees and their families. It clarifies the tax code to stipulate that coverage provided by Defense is treated as minimal essential coverage, ensuring that service members and their families will not need to purchase additional coverage to meet new health insurance requirements. Please note: THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL HEALTH CARE BILL.)

The original House bill had exempted military personnel, retirees and certain civilian employees who use Tricare, a federally-sponsored health care system. But the Senate version doesn't seem to have the same protections.

As a participant of Tricare, I don't want to be screwed royally by our government even further. After tying Tricare reimbursement rates to those of Medicare on March 1, 2010, it's going to be even more difficult to find physicians who will accept Tricare. (Update for 3/22/10: I found information that says this will be delayed for 30 days). Some sources have reported that only 40 percent of doctors accept Medicare because payments are so low. So now what?

The Democrat plan for health care reform doesn't make sense.

Today, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released the statement below regarding his intent to introduce legislation to explicitly state in law that TRICARE and the DOD nonappropriated fund (NAF) health plans meet all of the health care requirements currently under consideration by Congress for individual health insurance.

As reported by Coast Guard Times today:

Although the health care legislation passed by the House explicitly exempted TRICARE from being affected, the Senate bill did not. Unfortunately, the parliamentary rules of the reconciliation process did not allow for the inclusion of language that specifically protects these programs. To reassure our nation’s service members and their families that their health coverage will remain unaffected by this, I will introduce legislation this week to explicitly state that TRICARE and the NAF health plans meet all requirements for individual health insurance; this language will also be included in this year’s national defense authorization bill.”

While the White House is reporting that Tricare won't be affected, it's hard to believe anything the Obama adminitration reports.

According to Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Ranking Member on the House Committee of Veterans' Affairs:

“The health care reform bill DOES NOT cover most TRICARE beneficiaries under its definition of minimum essential coverage for health insurance--it only includes TRICARE for Life. Further, the bill’s definition of minimum essential coverage DOES NOT cover the children who suffer with spina bifida as a result of a veteran parent exposed to Agent Orange during the Korean or Vietnam Wars, and also does not cover CHAMPVA beneficiaries (certain dependents, widows and orphans).”

Even on the Democrat side of the isle, some Democrats are troubled with the bill as it now stands. Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Virginia Beach) regarding his planned vote on the health care bill:

Our military families need to be able to count on their health care benefits, and I am not willing to risk negative consequences for our military personnel and their families, particularly at a time when our troops are serving overseas in harm’s way...

I know there are some people who will be disappointed with my vote, but I believe that I have a firm duty to vote my conscience and represent the best interests of my district. As much as we need health care reform, we also have an obligation to enact responsible changes for the American people, and to restore their trust in government.

On a broader front, in response to Obama's latest speech about health care, in an editorial titled "The End of Hope and Change," Benjamin Domenech, managing editor of CBS Health Care News, writes:

The fact that Obama continues to spend such energy in support of legislation that all reputable independent data suggest will raise premium costs, increase the entitlement burden, destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs, and enforce a dramatic disincentive for success indicates that this is all about politics, not which policies actually work best for the American people.

We need health care reform. We don't need what is being shoved down our throats.

Jobs bill will not mean jobs

Now that we have a jobs bill, things are looking up, right? No. This bill will do nothing.

I work for a small business (85 employees). I asked our owners yesterday if this bill will motivate them to hire new employees. Absolutely not. They called the current business climate "weird."

What they mean is that there is no certainty, no way to predict the future, or at least forecast what might happen. Without this certainty, they have taken the approach to hold costs in line, reduce debt, and do those things that will increase sales (or at least keep them steady).

But to hire more people in this climate? Not yet.

I believe most business people in this country are taking the same strategy.

Is government too big and too powerful?

Some would say that the goverment doesn't do enough, but those would be people who subscribe to the liberal belief that goverment should take care of everyone.

But I think government has become too big and too powerful. Take the proposed health care bill. Mandating -- forcing -- people to buy a product they may not need or want goes against everything I have believed the Constitution of the United States has stood for.

What about the ability of law enforcement to seize property of suspected drug dealers? Not convicted drug dealers, but suspected. In some cases, even those acquitted don't get their property back.

Now, in a little bill passed by Congress in 2008, law enforcement can seize property of those suspected of copyright infringement. Yes, that's right. If you have a copy of a song, tv show, or movie that is not strictly legal, law enforcement can come sieze your property. What property has not been defined yet. The law created a new czar in the federal goverment to oversee this program.

Let's look at the "stimulus bill." As reported by John Stoessel:

(I)t is difficult to understand how multimillion-dollar "stimulus" programs that research methamphetamine's effects on rats, build turtle crossings under highways, put up roadside signs to advertise stimulus programs and produce few long-term jobs are effective uses of taxpayer dollars. In Washington, $977,346 is being spent on a program that will provide just one job and give a few hundred BlackBerrys to smokers to help them kick the habit...

While policymakers spent $389,357 researching malt liquor and marijuana use in Buffalo, N.Y., and $219,000 finding the relationship between casual sex and alcohol consumption, hardworking Americans lost their salaries.
CAGW's new website, mywastedtaxdollars.org, will compile the many ways Washington wastes stimulus money...a study by George Mason University's Mercatus Center found that four of every five jobs created by the stimulus act were in the public sector, while 49 of every 50 jobs lost since the act passed were in the private sector.

More stimulus acts, now called "jobs" bills, are on the way, which may explain why Joe Biden is busy claiming that the first stimulus was a success.

What's next?

Veterans not getting bennies quick enough

Somewhat old news, but worth reporting again: veterans participating in the post 9/11 GI Bill are having problems getting their education benefits in a timely manner. Some are having problems paying bills, because the payments are late.

One student said he had to wait three months to obtain his benefits during his first semester in school. As reported by the Guardsman:

I received the benefits only with intense hardships,” Meade said. “I did get them, but only after Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office intervened to the Veterans Affairs on my behalf, and that was really the reason I got paid.”

A veteran who who will be referred to as George because his claim with the VA is still pending, said he is tired of waiting.

“They keep telling me, ‘just a little longer,’ but my landlord doesn’t want to hear that anymore,” George said. “It’s not like I’m asking for a handout. I was promised these benefits when I enlisted.”

“They provide, but they are really slow,” he said.

Additionally, it has been reported, the VA, in an effort to reduce the backlog, sent checks out to many vets for $3,000. Now, they have to get some of that back.

And this is the goverment that wants to administer your health care.

A full report on problems facing veterans was issued in February 2010 by the Iraq and Afganistan Veterans of America.

Another federal land grab in the works

From Sen. Jim DeMint:

You'd think the Obama administration is busy enough controlling the banks, insurance companies and automakers, but thanks to whistleblowers at the Department of the Interior, we now learn they're planning to increase their control over energy-rich land in the West.

Read the entire column here.

The trouble with left-thinking people

If you're a liberal, or "progressive," or sitting on the left-side of the Democratic party, you tend to see solutions to problems much differently than I do, and many others who are not liberal, or "progressive."

So here's a guy on Huffington Post who thinks the answer to all of our problems is the government.

It's not rocket science to create decent and useful jobs, (although it does go beyond the current cranial capacity of the U.S. Senate). It's obvious that we desperately need to repair our infrastructure, increase our energy efficiency, generate more renewable energy, and invest in educating our young. We need millions of new workers to do all this work--right now. Our government has all the money and power (and yes, borrowing capacity) it needs to hire these workers directly or fund contractors and state governments to hire them. Either way, workers would get the jobs, and we would get safer bridges and roads, a greener environment, better schools, and a brighter future all around. So what are we waiting for?

If anyone out there thinks this is the solution to our problems, you are living on a different planet. I could answer these questions, but one reader of the HuffPost said it correctly:

Obviously you have no clue on how capitalism works. Let's look at the last stimulus bill:  for every $250,000 spend one $50,000 job was created. Not much bang for your buck there. Impose steep taxes on the rich. Well, how many time has a poor person given you a job? You say “The rest goes into investment” well duh! That is how businesses get capital to invest by selling stocks.

And NO it’s not that the “private sector job is righteous.” It is that the private sector creates wealth -- government jobs spend wealth -- this is how it works... I have an idea for a new product...I build a factory (employing people) I buy tools (employing people) I hire people to make product (employing people) etc. I have created wealth out of nothing but an idea. Name one government job that has created wealth?

Look at history. After 4 years of Wilson’s progressive tax the country was in a recession. Coolidge massively cut taxes in 6 months the recession was over. After 8 years of the “New Deal” unemployment was almost the same (kind of what you want). Kennedy and Reagan cut taxes unemployment dropped.

Any business person will tell you this first put “Health Care," “Cap and Trade” and “Card Check” on a back burner, eliminate capital gains taxes, drop corporate taxes to 12%, extend the Bush tax cut for one year. Talk to someone in business. If you tax them they and jobs will just go someplace else.

At least someone out there gets it.