Category Archives: Politics: National

California: Part V

Posted on January 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

What do you do when you’re short money?  Do you spend less?  Go try and earn more?  Or do you go and hold your hat on the street?

California can’t t spend less.  They won’t do what it takes to earn more.  The only option left open to them is to ask you and I for money:

California’s political leaders, who are facing the daunting challenge of closing an estimated $20.7 billion budget deficit this year, are looking to Washington for help. Just don’t call it a bailout.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he plans to head to the nation’s capital “early and often” seeking federal assistance. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger already has put the federal government on notice that he wants billions he says the state is owed. And outgoing Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), said she would head east as soon as this month.

Awesome.  California continues to drive themselves deeper and deeper into debt and insolvency.  And then, when the well is dry, they come running to the Federal government for help.

Only in America.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National

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Michigan to Overcome California Soon

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 1 comment

My only hope is that these Leftist States lead us out of darkness by their example fo what NOT to do:

Flint, Mich.

Michelle Berry runs a private day-care service from her home on the outskirts of this city, the birthplace of General Motors.

…

Ms. Berry owns her own business—yet the Michigan Department of Human Services claims she is a government employee and union member. The agency thus withholds union dues from the child-care subsidies it sends to her on behalf of her low-income clients. Those dues are funneled to a public-employee union that claims to represent her.

…

A year ago in December, Ms. Berry and more than 40,000 other home-based day care providers statewide were suddenly informed they were members of Child Care Providers Together Michigan—a union created in 2006 by the United Auto Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union had won a certification election conducted by mail under the auspices of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. In that election only 6,000 day-care providers voted. The pro-labor vote turned out.

Awesome.

This woman, and thousands like her, are putting it on the line every day.  They are working.  They are sacrificing.  They are, in short, DO’ERS.  And yet, somehow, the moochers and the looters have arranged a deal in Michigan where these business owners are getting screwed.

I mean, for a sec, just for a bloody second, think about what is going on here.  Ms. Berry is the OWNER.  And she is supposed to pay into a Union?  If there were a union/employer relationship present here, it would be HER that the Union would organize against.

California or Michigan.  Michigan or California.

Which one is going to give us the clearest example of what NOT to be?

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Posted in Politics: National

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Government Preventing Entire Class of People From Buying a Home

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 1 comment

The State of North Carolina claims that it is serving the people.  It claims that by relieving my money from, well, from me, they are helping other people in need.  Never mind for a second that I already help people in need through my various charity giving and other activities.  Or that the people I help are people that I think need help.  Or that, in any case, this decision on what to do with my money should be mine to make.  The State is helping an entire class of citizens, or so they claim:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has helped more than 2,500 North Carolina homeowners avoid foreclosure, officials said Monday.

…

Birdsong will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

That’s one way of looking at it.  The other way, of course, is to look at it this way:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has prevented more than 2,500 potential North Carolina homeowners from attaining affordable housing, officials said Monday.

…

Their goal of home ownership has been prevented because select citizens will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

But serious.  I’m sure that all the people who are in danger of losing their homes are good, hard-working people who almost certainly bought a home that was within their means and needs.  Right?  No?

She said she’s most relieved that her three children will be able to spend the holidays at home.

“Each one of them has their own room. They’re like, ‘It’s mine,'” said Birdsong, a widow. “I wouldn’t want to take that from them. They’ve had enough problems already.”

So, a single mother with one revenue stream over reaches, buys a FOUR BEDROOM HOME surprisingly finds herself in a financial pinch.  And because of that, the government takes my money, thereby preventing me from giving to who I think is deserving, props up this family and keeps what would otherwise become a more affordable home from falling into the hands of more responsible home owners?  Unbelievable.

For the record, I grew up in a house that had TWO bedrooms.  Sure, after a bit we added a bedroom, but that was when my family grew from 3 to 6.  That’s 2 rooms for 4 kids.  If only I could have had my own room.

Merry Christmas.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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The Logical End

Posted on December 24, 2009 | Leave a comment

When we begin to teach our children that it’s okay to grow up to depend on other to provide for us, this is what happens.

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Posted in Politics: National

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Que Pasa

Posted on December 24, 2009 | 2 comments

It would appear that ruling is much much different than campaigning.  Mr. Obama has failed to deliver on many of the promises that he made while he was on the trail.  However, ones concerning International Diplomacy make me giggle the most.

See, things like the economy and health care, these are things that can be “seen”.  That is, they are not secret, kept under tabs or otherwise covered up.  But this diplomacy thing?  Please.  It’s ALL secret.  And he should have know that.  Which either make him naive or those who voted for him naive.  I mean, just look at Cuba:

Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest.

I mean, come on.  This man RAN on promises and hope.  What else Ought we expect.  He didn’t run on a body of work that he could call upon and say “I have done this and that, so therefore it is reasonable that you can count on me.”  No.  He ran on HOPE.  And it is becoming more and more clear that we can only hope.  Hope for change.  This guy is a disaster.

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Posted in Politics: International, Politics: National

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It's That Time of Year

Posted on December 21, 2009 | Leave a comment

Actually, you could say it’s that time of Decade [ you would be wrong, of course, the decade doesn’t end until December 31, 2010 ] but the point is this.  At around this time of year we begin looking for the “Best of” stuff.  Best movie, book TV or whatever.

I think that I have the “Best Quote”.  This idea is really Coyote’s, but I just HAD to post it here:

From the outset, the White House’s core claim was that reform would reduce health costs for individuals and businesses, and they’re sticking to that story. “Anyone who says otherwise simply hasn’t read the bills,” Mr. Obama said over the weekend. This is so utterly disingenuous that we doubt the President really believes it.

This is hilarious.  Not only had few people been able to slog through the old 2000+ page bill, but Harry Reid threw the whole thing out and substituted a double secret replacement bill on Saturday the NO ONE has read, Obama included.  So this statement is technically true, but reverse statement is also equally true – “anyone who agrees with the President simply hasn’t read the bill, either.”

Truly amazing.

Hope and Change people, Hope and Change.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: National

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Government Run Health Care

Posted on December 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

In action!

ATLANTA – Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday.

Render unto Caesar!

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: National

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When MSNBC is Bashing the Leftists…..

Posted on December 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

In a sign that the shine is wearing off I am beginning to see a change of tone in the selection of stories on some major news outlets.  For about 2 years, the only things we saw on such leftist sites as msnbc were stories that painted the liberal agenda.

However, in the last few months I have started to see more stories that are less than complimentary of the left.  This one included:

Automakers are promising that affordable plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be available in the next couple of years, but a new report contends that it will be decades before the fuel savings and lower emissions make up for the high cost of batteries.

In their eternal quest to regulate, the left continually misses the boat on larger picture issues.

I mean, how do you miss the obvious:

The per-mile cost of running an electric vehicle has been estimated at about a quarter of the equivalent cost for gasoline, which has led some experts and consumers to see plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, as the cure for what ails America’s energy economy.

The research council’s report, however, estimates that it could be 2028 or later before the fuel savings outweigh the additional up-front cost for plug-in vehicles.

When it comes to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the report said regular hybrid vehicles such as the present-day Prius might well be more environmentally friendly — unless power companies start phasing out the use of coal and other fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Slow down.  Take your time.  Get it right.

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Posted in Global Warming, Politics: National

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Unintended Consequences

Posted on December 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

The world is full of ’em.  Heck, my family is full of ’em.  I tell my daughter to get her younger brother breakfast….?  I get milk and cereal all over the floor.  Unintended consequences.

Now, left to our own natural devices, we, as a group, as a society, will work to avoid negative unintended consequences.

But when drastic changes are made by only a few people with little or no “complete knowledge” bad bad things happen:

Cities around the country that have installed energy-efficient traffic lights are discovering a hazardous downside: The bulbs don’t burn hot enough to melt snow and can become crusted over in a storm — a problem blamed for dozens of accidents and at least one death.

“I’ve never had to put up with this in the past,” said Duane Kassens, a driver from West Bend who got into a fender-bender recently because he couldn’t see the lights. “The police officer told me the new lights weren’t melting the snow. How is that safe?”

The answer Duane?  It’s not.  It’s not safe at all.

And this is the problem that skeptics have with global warming.  It’s not that we think the globe isn’t warming.  It’s not that we don’t acknowledge man may play a part.

We object to stupid people doing stupid things that will cause massive massive loss of life.

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Posted in Global Warming, Politics: National

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You Can Tell a Bad Idea

Posted on December 14, 2009 | Leave a comment

By how hard you have to work to sell it.

My friendly neighborhood watering hole prolly spends close to zero dollars on advertising.  I might be wrong, but seriously, pretty close to $0.00.

And the flippin’ place is FULL.  It’s great.  I get to watch my Vikings, have some beer and burgers and they get to stay in business.  Wonderful arrangement.  Very easy.

But this, this just sounds silly:

Oakland has become the latest city to allow residents to finance solar panels, insulation, new refrigerators and other efficiency improvements through their property tax bills.

…

The plan allows residential and commercial property owners to make energy improvements without paying up-front costs. Instead, they pay installments through their property tax bill over a 20- or 30- year period, in most cases at a lower interest rate than what they could obtain individually.

And that’s not all.  Not only can you now fund your home improvement projects through the State of California, you can obtain credits and rebates from the Federal Government.  Heck, even the utilities are in the game:

rebates as high as $15,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

If this idea was such a good idea, they wouldn’t have to work this hard.

By the way, I wonder how this works:

The property tax payments stay with the property even if it is sold.

Is it possible to buy a new refrigerator, freezer, washer and dryer and then move?  Would you have to list that when selling the house?  Can you imagine buying a house in California, not have this be required to be disclosed and get your first city property tax bill?

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Posted in Global Warming, Politics: National

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