Tag Archives: zNorth Carolina

Note to Obama

Posted on December 3, 2009 | 2 comments

Obama is having his jobs summit today; in fact it may already be over.  In the spirit of wondering how to create more jobs, I noticed that Krugman has a solution:

Meanwhile, the federal government could provide jobs by … providing jobs. It’s time for at least a small-scale version of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, one that would offer relatively low-paying (but much better than nothing) public-service employment. There would be accusations that the government was creating make-work jobs, but the W.P.A. left many solid achievements in its wake. And the key point is that direct public employment can create a lot of jobs at relatively low cost. In a proposal to be released today, the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, argues that spending $40 billion a year for three years on public-service employment would create a million jobs, which sounds about right.

That got me to thinking.  There are currently about 15.7 million unemployed people in America.  Almost all are receiving some form of unemployment benefits.  How about instead of spending $40 billion a year for 3 years like Krugman says, we just make these people do the work he is suggesting and call ’em jobs?  Why would we create a program to offer “relatively low-paying” jobs for people to work when we already have a program that offers “relatively low-paying” jobs where people have to do–NOTHING!?

Krugman.  Sheesh.

Hat tip:  Forbes

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Posted in Economy

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Powerful Hurricane Set to Hit North Carolina

Posted on December 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

Do you remember the hurricane that made landfall onto North Carolina beaches this past July?  Uh, no?  Maybe August then?  September-October-November?  Yeah, me either.  Wanna know why the mainstream media didn’t report any of those storms hammering the Carolina coast?  Cause we had the quietest Hurricane season in 10 years.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Atlantic hurricane season ended Monday with barely a whimper: Not a single hurricane came ashore in the United States.

Since June, when the season began, just nine named storms developed. Only three of them became hurricanes, and those stayed out at sea or weakened before passing over land.

Two tropical storms made landfall in the U.S., causing little more than rain and some beach erosion.

It would seem that with a vanishing hockey stick, record cold and dampening of the powerful tropical storm season that we should finally be able to make some progress in combating the Climate Alarmists.

Prolly not, see, CO2 changes climate of which can appear all kinds of different symptoms.  Including cooling and lessening of storms.

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Posted in Global Warming

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You Have to Try to be This Dumb

Posted on November 29, 2009 | 2 comments

Or, maybe, you just have to have never done it.  Check out this bit of information describing the Obama Administration:

Hat Tip The Enterprise Blog via Carpe Diem

Rookie QB, RB and WR. Wonder why we have zero points?

We are witnessing a deadly combination; A powerful government expansion into the private sector coupled with an administration that has not one single clue how to run an organization within that private sector.  The Entrepreneur in Chief himself has never held a single position that required him to run an organization of people, accomplish a goal and do it well or be fired.  Shift managers at McDonald’s have more experience running a shop than this guy.

And so it is that while I shake my head in wonder, I find myself understanding how this can continue to continue:

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration, battling a foreclosure crisis that shows no signs of relenting, will step up pressure on mortgage companies to do more to help people remain in their homes, officials said Saturday.

… the goal was to increase the rate that troubled home loans were converted into new loans with lower monthly payments.

Industry officials said the new effort would include increased pressure on mortgage companies to accelerate loan modifications by highlighting firms that are lagging in that area.

So, to be clear, the government “stepped up pressure” on firms to borrow people money so that they could get into a home.  Then, when those people who couldn’t afford to buy a home actually start to demonstrate that they can’t afford to own a home, the government is going to “step up pressure” on those companies to help those people who can’t afford to be in a home stay in the home that they can’t afford to be in.

Awesome.

And why are we going to do this?

Rising foreclosures depress home prices and threaten the sustainability of the fledgling economic recovery.

Ahhh, yes.  Of course.  And so, in an effort to help fix the problem, ol’ Unc Sam is gonna step in and hold those home prices artificially high.  See, right now, there are a number of people holding onto assets [homes] at a price that isn’t sustainable.  Given their marginal risk and marginal gain, they are determining that keeping the house is not an option.  If left to normal devices, the house would foreclose and the surrounding properties would adjust their value; almost assuredly downward.  This in turn sends a signal to home BUILDERS that new homes are not needed and therefore they won’t be built.  In time, the value of existing homes will find a level at a sustainable price and people will again begin to buy homes.

But no.  Obama wants tp keep prices artificially high.  This in turns keep people in their homes sending signals to builders that we need more homes.  Further, because these value stay high a whole segment of the population is not able to realize THEIR dream of buying a home; they are priced out.  In any event, the bubble that was is now becoming the bubble that continues to be.

The best part?

Under the $75 billion Treasury program, companies that agree to lower payments for troubled borrowers collect $1,000 initially from the government for each loan, followed by $1,000 annually for up to three years.

We get to spend a TON of money that we don’t have on a government program that is going to beg, BEG, for fraud and abuse.

At this rate; Sarah Palin, heck, anyone, will be able to beat Obama in 20112.

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Posted in Economics, Economy

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Honduras

Posted on November 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

This one I don’t get.  There is a country.  This country has a Constitution that says a President can only serve 2 terms.  The current President wants to serve at least 3.  The legally sanctioned Vice-President along with the Constitutionally called for “Senate” arrest said President and strip him of his power.  The Vice-President, a political ALLY of ex-President, reluctant to do so, accepts the job of President and is willing to hold elections and step down to the winner.

Obama calls foul.

So, America crafts a deal that would call for the disgraced President to regain his office IF he recognizes the elections in November, per the Constitution.

Now, the rascal is backing out.  He even sent a letter to Obama.

Obama: Love – 40

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Posted in Politics: International

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A New Low

Posted on November 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

Unbelievable.  Then again, maybe it IS believable.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night injected race into the national debate on health care, saying any black lawmaker who votes against President Obama’s sweeping overhaul isn’t really black, the Hill newspaper reported.

“We even have blacks voting against the health care bill,” Jackson reportedly said at a Congressional Black Caucus reception Wednesday night honoring the 25th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s run for president.

“You can’t vote against health care and call yourself a black man,” the Hill reported him saying.

What an ass.

And on a second note:

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.

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Posted in Health Care, Race

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What Have We Become

Posted on November 9, 2009 | 5 comments

Stumbled across a letter to Joe Lieberman tonight over at American Hatriotism today.  It’s awesome.  Basically you have someone over there talking about how awful, simply AWFUL, Mr. Lieberman is for coming out against the health care bill.  After a WHOLE bunch of discussion on the fact, we get to the point where a letter is penned and delivered to the Senator’s office.  I’ve captured all I could stand the beginning and then added my response to it.  If ya want, stop on over the Hatriotism and see if the comment got any action:

Dear Mr. Lieberman,

Do you sleep well while …..

so many Americans struggle to bear the pain and anguish they are experiencing today?

Far be it that people ought to struggle.

somewhere in America a hard working student finds out there is no means, no money, no way to college?

Is that hard-working student willing to work hard at a job?

a mother and father are struggling to provide the bare necessities for their disabled child?

Good bless then for being able to supply the necessities for their child; disabled or not.

an elderly man who fought for his country eats a can of beans for dinner and must dress in several layers of clothing because he can not afford a decent meal or to heat his meager home?

We thank him for his service; service to ensure that we are all free.  Free to be responsible.  Or not to be responsible.

a Mother over-medicates her baby with tylenol for his earache because she can not take him to the urgent care or doctor for treatment?

She should take the bay to urgent care or the doctor for treatment.

a family will huddle in the cold behind a dumpster to block the wind because they have nowhere else to go?

Before they go to the government, they should go to church.

a husband and wife lie in bed discussing how to break it to their children that they will soon lose their home and have to move?

The tender mercies of learning not to borrow money you can’t afford to pay back.

a couple that saved thousands for a home they will now lose when the bank takes it away?

This should be sent to Senator Frank actually.

a father tells his family he has lost his job and they can no longer count on him to take care of them?

A real father would say that he has lost his job and will do whatever it takes to take care of them.  Even if it means working 3 others.

a mother tells her children there isn’t anything left in the house to eat?

How many different ways can you say the same thing?

another father wonders how many more days, weeks, months before he will work again and worries how they’ll make it until then?

Jeez.

The whole rest of your letter is the same point on and on and on.

And the real tragedy?  Passing a law isn’t going to change any of that.

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Posted in Health Care, Liberty, Raising Men

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The Mind of a Leftist

Posted on November 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

Washington state has to play the “add-value” card, not “low-cost-leader” ace

That’s the headline from the Seattle Times this morning discussing why Puget Sound lost out on the Boeing factory to South Carolina.

We all look for value in the things that we buy.  Old Milwaukee is a cheaper beer than Long Hammer.  You can buy WAY more of it than you can that better beer for the money.  But, then again, Long Hammer is a better beer.  So, what do you buy?  Well, that depends.  On YOUR value proposition.  Almost every American I know enjoys this freedom, this Liberty.  The ability to tend to your individual tastes and take advantage of choices.  We do it with beer, with gas and even with eye glasses.

Why wouldn’t a corporation do the same?  In fact, value is one of the key considerations for corporations.  If they do NOT go after the best value, you could argue that they aren’t acting in the best interest of their shareholders.  Which makes this just laughable:

Boeing’s decision to establish a second 787 production line in South Carolina was a “race to the bottom” on pay punch to the solar plexus of the Puget Sound region.

Boeing didn’t decide to establish its second production line in South Carolina because of low pay.  They established their second production line in South Carolina because it offered more VALUE.  But Mr. Talson, contrary to his headline, hammers home the point of low pay:

After all, South Carolina’s new Boeing workers will make about $15 an hour compared with on average the $26 earned by veterans in the company’s Washington-state factories.

But wait, it gets even better.  As if lower pay isn’t enough, these Southern states offer such “amenities” as :

few unions and light environmental regulations

Further, those States have *gasp*

spent billions of dollars on incentives, such as cutting taxes and providing job training.

How dare those States create tax structures such that businesses can survive and even flourish.  And don’t even get me started on job training; down right repressive!

After these first few salvos, the tone of the article changes.  Mostly nonsense not having to do with why South Carolina won the line and Washington lost it.  But then comes this gem:

Washington workers are caught in the same downdraft that has been affecting Americans for at least 30 years: slowing growth of middle-class incomes, declining benefits and, through most of the 2000s, stagnant wages.

Ahh, huh?

When you ask the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, they disagree:

non-monetary gains

Whatever.  Different topic for a different post.  However, its stunning what people can just write.  Because they want to.  Simply stunning.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: North Carolina

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This is Where We are Wrong

Posted on November 4, 2009 | 2 comments

The situation playing out in Seattle frustrates me.  Frustrates me on two levels:

  1. What I consider basic human rights are being denied to a group of people.
  2. Conservatives are continually alienating whole demographics who would otherwise embrace us.

Supporters of gay rights were buoyed by first-day returns that showed Referendum 71 leading by a narrow margin Tuesday evening.

…

The results were disappointing to religious conservatives, whose aggressive efforts to get the expanded partnership law thrown out had gained momentum in recent months.

I. Simply. Don’t. Get. It.

As conservatives, we hold that individual Liberty is the cornerstone to our version of government.  Liberty extended to all living people.  And personal responsibility from those same people.  In that vein, extending civil liberties, civil rights should be the our rallying call.  This issue is NOT a Liberal issue, it is a Conservative issue.  We have the opportunity to take this away from the Democrats, make it our own and pull millions of people to our side.

But we don’t.  And we continue to blow it.

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Posted in Liberty

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An Interesting Test

Posted on November 2, 2009 | 2 comments

If you break into my house and threaten my wife and kids; expect to be shot.  And hopefully killed.  Self defense is one of the most dominant of American traits.  And really, it makes sense that it be so.  After all, I have the freedomw to call mine what is mine.  To sell it, keep it or give it away.  It’s the cornerstone of what makes us great.

I’m also a father.  And when going into the delivery room for each of my children, I pulled the doc aside, looked her dead in the eye, and said “If at any time there is to be a choice, a choice between my wife or the baby, be very clear that it is my expectation you will not flinch when I tell you to save my wife.”  I get the whole choice thing when it comes to weighing the tender balance of two lives.

So I get that there are certain cases where a person would make a choice to take the life of another.  I do.  If my wife’s life would have been put in danger due to the pregnancy, I would without a doubt, terminate that pregnancy.  Without a doubt.  But equally so, there would be no doubt that what I was doing was weighing one human life against another.  It wouldn’t cross my mind that what I was doing was removing a wart or mole.  It would sadden me greatly that I was ending the life of my child.

And because of that, I understand the argument being made in Raleigh.

Family members of murder victims spoke to a Chapel Hill crowd Saturday in support of proposed legislation that would recognize unborn children as victims in homicide cases.

…

“You can’t tell me it is not a human being,” Blaine said of Nielsen’s unborn child.

She’s right.  The man that took her daughter’s life not only robbed a mother of her daughter, but a grandmother of her grandchild. In that one act, that man took two human lives.  It’s time this law is passed.  And then extrapolated.  Extrapolated into anti-abortion laws in cases where it makes sense; health of mother/child and victim of crime.

But the left won’t allow it:

When similar bills have been introduced, various women’s rights and pro-choice groups have spoken against it.

And that’s gross.

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Posted in Liberty, Politics: State

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The Cost of the War

Posted on October 31, 2009 | 1 comment

I was tooling around the internet this morning and hit upon Ben Hoffman’s site.  He had some really good activity on the War in Iraq.  One of my comments there gave me reason to maybe make a post of my own.

Make no  mistake about it, this war is and always has been about what is good for America.  We may have been wrong, we may have been right.  But the reasons we invaded were reasons that would benefit the good ‘ol US of A.

Some think that we invaded because we thought there were weapons of mass destruction.  Others think that we invaded to give us better leverage in Middle East politics.  Some feel we invaded for oil.  And others yet think that we invaded because Dubya wanted revenge for his Daddy.

Whatever the reason we went in, the fact remains that we did.  And those from the Left are pissed.  Pah-issed. If it ain’t the money we spent it’s the lives that have been lost.  Not only ours, but those of the innocent Iraqi civilians too.  They just scream that we are killing civilians.  Let’s take a look.

Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq in July of 1979.  The United States overthrew him in April of 2003.  During that time, Saddam was responsible for between 600,000 and 1,000,000 civilian death.  When you break down the deaths per month, and only Iraqi civilian deaths–not ALL deaths, you get between 2,105 and 3,509 civilian deaths per month.  These are deaths due to Saddam Hussein being in power.

Now, let’s flash forward to the US invasion.  We removed Saddam from power 78 months ago.  If Saddam remained in power for those 78 months, he would have put to death between 164,190 and 273,702 innocent Iraqi civilians.  Using the numbers provided by this Liberal website we see that between 93,793 and 102,330 people have died due to the invasion.  The difference for the average civilian in Iraq since the US invasion toppled Saddam?

Between 70,397 and 171,372 more of their neighbors, friends and family would have been killed.

Makes you wonder why the Liberal Left hates the average Iraqi so much, doesn’t it?

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Posted in War

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