Right to work? Sounds great!

In Michigan yesterday, Governor signed two 'Right to Work' laws, which is the culmination of an intense debate about the future of union domination in the state.  Read about it here.  Detroit News Article

This is such an interesting story to me because of its location:  Automobile USA (at least at one time).  If a state like Michigan, that would not even support its native son, Mitt Romney, last month in the Presidential election, can become the 24th state to enact this type of legislation, I still see hope for the future of our economy and society.

For those unaware, the basic premise of the laws is to allow employees of an organization that is a 'union shop' to choose whether or not they want to join the union.  They will no longer be required to do so.  This workplace freedom will grant more power, not less, to employees.  They now can decide if the union dues are worth what they cost, and (at least in terms of the law) won't be forced to join if they do not wish to.  This is a big victory for freedom and a blow to the power of the UAW specifically.  Many union members have protested and decried this as a way to push down wages by employers.  Honestly, that could happen, and actually should, in many cases.  Let the free market determine wage value rather than setting artificial wage guarantees that can destroy a business's ability to turn a profit.  President Obama chose to bail out our largest auto makers a few years ago, and while he won't say it, this union wage establishment was a primary reason for why this happened.   

My favorite aspect of this is the view of liberals in Michigan that this will create a new wave of freeloaders.  From the article linked above:

Democrats said the law will create a class of "freeloader" workers who enjoy the pay and fringe benefits negotiated by unions without paying the costs of union representation.

"We expect everyone in an organization to pay their fair share. Let's call this legislation what it is-- the right to freeload," said state Rep. Bob Constan, D-Dearborn Heights.

So, Representative Constan is against freeloading?  That is hysterical.  This man's party has pushed through legislation that is the embodiment of freeloading.  How about ObamaCare?  Is he against food stamp and welfare programs?  I doubt it.  I guess its only ok to freeload through government programs in his worldview.

I would argue that this is not freeloading at all.  The workers will be paid a market-based wage that is competitive and based on the value of what they produce.  In most cases, the cost of business will be reduced, and prices will go down.  Additionally, more businesses will flock to Michigan because of this cost reduction, meaning MORE JOBS for a state whose unemployment rate is significantly higher than the national average (Michigan's unemployment rate is 9.1%, and Detroit's is 19%!!).  This is good news for the state's workers.

Seeing this happen here keeps me hopeful that we can turn things around across the country.  We have ample opportunity to do so.  This is one of many small steps on the road back to prosperity, and more importantly, real freedom.

Quid Pro Quo, Baby!!

This morning, I saw a news clip that blew my mind. Well, it blew my mind for about 2 seconds, until I realized the state of our culture here in the United States. Detroit is facing a disastrous fiscal situation right now, with a projected shortfall of $47 million deficit for this year. People have left the city in droves over the past few years, and city revenues have plummeted. This leads to the following clip, in which City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson called upon President Obama to provide a bailout for the city. She said, among other things,


"Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo and you ought to exercise leadership on that. Of course, not just that, but why not?"


Link to Video


Hmm, let me think about this one. First, who is 'our people'? Is that the city of Detroit? They did in fact vote over 75% to re-elect the President. So, should every city or county that voted for the President get preferential treatment and receive bailout money? And what does she mean by quid pro quo? Latin for 'this for that', I understand this to mean votes for bailout. Great idea JoAnn. How can we expect the average citizen to understand how to build an efficient culture and economy when our elected officials don't even get it? My favorite part of this, though, is her statement, 'why not?' Really JoAnn, why not. How about because it doesn't work. If Detroit were to receive a bailout like this, they would be asking for it again next year. Their economy is decimated right now and needs to be fixed from the ground up, through business investment and reduced public spending. With leaders like her, what viable business would want to invest millions and/or billions of dollars into establishing themselves in that jurisdiction?


The irony is, her request isn't much different than representatives and senators allocating federal funds for pork projects to take back home to benefit their core supporters and constituents. This is an attitude and expectation that runs across party lines, unfortunately. This is why I have such a problem with the current Republican party, because so much of our federal spending is on programs that should be managed and paid for at the state and local levels.


I'm just glad someone was brave (or dumb) enough to vocalize it the way she did, so that we can see what is going on with our government spending first-hand. Thanks JoAnn.

One week away... some voting tips for the undecided

About this time next week, we will be watching the early returns coming in from the east coast states on every channel on the dial.  I will be sitting on the couch, hopefully ready to celebrate a critical victory on our country's path to fiscal responsibility and real economic growth.  For those of you who are undecided (and at this point, I have no comprehension of how that is possible), I decided to make a little checklist of some of the issues and my guidelines on how you should vote.

If you believe it is the role of the government to 'create' jobs (paid for by taxing others or increased borrowing, aka adding to the debt/deficit), vote for Obama.  If you believe that jobs are created by market forces like demand, and that private business will efficiently create jobs that add value to the economy, vote for Romney.


If the words 'debt' and 'deficit' don't make your skin crawl, stick with the current regime.  Otherwise, vote him out.

If you are not worried about how this debt will affect your kids and grandkids, Obama is your man.  And good luck with that when you are 80 and need their help, because they aren't going to have much disposable income to spend on you.


If you believe 'free' health care (and I use the quotes because NOTHING is free) is an inalienable right, vote for the sitting president.  If you believe it is the responsibility of the individual to take ownership of their health care and it is not a right like life and liberty, vote Romney.  For those of you on Obama's side here, just beware of what you want in his plan versus the reality of how it will impact the economy.  Nothing like having great health care that kills our way of life.

If you support appeasement of our enemies, and believe that our country's designed structure is no better than any other, by all means, support our president.  If you believe what Romney has said on the campaign trail and in the debates about the greatness of America and agree with his unapologetic toughness towards our enemies, vote Romney.

Lastly, if you don't think you can succeed on your own, vote for the incumbent.  I'm sure his second term will be chock-full of entitlements that we will never pay down.  It might be nice though, if he actually would tell us what his second term agenda  will be... seems kind of important to me.  If you want to blaze your own trail, and succeed OR fail by your own accord, vote Romney.

You have seven days left to decide.... good luck.

Mr. Obama, thank you

Just watched the DNC Convention headliner, our own Mr. President, Barack Obama... I sit here at almost midnight wondering what I just watched.  He spoke about hope and change, and sticking with him for four more years because he could not get done what he said he would.  Well, to be honest, he didn't apologize for not getting his promises done, he just asked us to give him more time.  So I ask, why should I?  What has he done in this term that would give me any belief that the next four would be better?

He gave a very compelling argument to the undecided about why we should trust him and believe in his presidency.  Republicans are negative, and only want to benefit the rich.  His opponent wants to take us backwards, not "Forward".  Blah blah blah.  Apparently you can say whatever you like during a speech with no immediate repercussions.

What Mr. Obama did not realize is that over the next two months, we will see through his lies and rhetoric to see the truth about what makes this country the greatest.  So to that, I say, Thank You Mr. Obama.  Your words will come back to bite you in the ass when the real truth comes out.

Take that, Constitution!!

Chief Justice John Roberts and President Obama

Today was a landmark day in this country, as our Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, ObamaCare) is constitutional... Huh?  I, like most rational thinkers, was baffled when I heard the news this morning.  How could a conservative-leaning court make such a joke out of our founding documents?  Well, I decided I wanted to know.  I need to understand ACA and what it means to me.  So I started reading the bill.... and reading... and reading.  Then I realized it was 27x longer than the longest book I have ever read (Atlas Shrugged, by the way, at 1,100 pages and well worth the read).  So, I am going to take some time over the coming weeks to research the law, research the judicial decision-making that went in to SCOTUS's decision today, and provide my commentary on what it means to all of us "working people". 

For now, I am just dismayed.  But, for the first time in a long time, I felt a passion in me for this nation that has been dormant.  I got so jaded watching debates, listening to the pundits, and watching all of the candidates bash each other that my interest just fell by the wayside.  It was a cesspool into which I did want to wade.  But, we as a people have NO CHOICE BUT TO DO SO.  I am sick of the apathy, mine included, that has allowed us to be duped into giving away liberty after liberty without even blinking an eye.

This issue is so embedded into our ability to prosper as a nation that we need to understand its ramifications.  We as citizens need to know what it is going to cost us directly, and how it will impact our economy and therefore our way of life.  So, stay tuned for some statistics, commentary, informative links, and, of course, my opinion. 

Who 'deserves' the HOPE Scholarship and Zell Miller Award

In last weekend's Atlanta Journal-Constitution online, a story was published regarding the HOPE Scholarship here in Georgia (Link to story), specifically about the 'full' scholarship called the Zell Miller Award.  This scholarship is awarded to students who perform at the top of their class.  According to the story, :


'Zell Miller scholars must graduate high school as the valedictorian or salutatorian, or with at least a 3.7 grade-point average and a 1200 on the SAT’s math and reading sections. While in college they must maintain a 3.3 GPA.'

To say the least, these students are the highest academic achievers in our state school systems.  The article goes on to question the legitimacy of the scholarship, due to the fact that the authors of the story believe that too many of the recipients are from affluent areas of Metro Atlanta.  Rather than debate the presented facts (which I believe are debatable... read the article and you may agree), I would rather debate the bigger story, which is, Why does it matter where the kids are from? 

The last time I checked, there were no guarantees that any parent, no matter how rich, was required to provide a college education for their children.  The education is for the student, NOT the parent.  So, are we to assume that just because a student's father or mother is successful, a student is entitled to their money and assets and therefore not worthy of a scholarship?  Just because a student's parents make a good living does not mean that this student is guaranteed success, let alone tuition payments.  It baffles me that we have become a culture that just inherently believes that all parents should pay for their children's educations... ever heard of student loans?  Or earning a scholarship? 

The AJC has a clear agenda in attempting to manipulate us, the people, into believing that the rich are getting richer, when the reality is that the students who work hard and earn their good grades are getting richer by getting the opportunity to graduate from college with zero to little debt... that sounds like capitalism at its finest to me.

“Free” coverages… Thanks ObamaCare!!

My employer’s benefits programs renew and update every March 1^st, so last Friday we sat down in a staff meeting to discuss the upcoming changes and enhancements to the program. During this meeting, we learned about healthy lifestyle choices, alternative ways to better use our benefits and insurance, and other riveting facts and figures. In attendance were representatives from our benefits broker agency as well as a representative from our carrier.

The representative from our carrier informed us of a new benefit we would be receiving. We now have the ability to go two times per year for ‘wellness’ visits. These visits will not even require a co-pay, she tells us! She is so excited about this feature that she actually personally thanked President Obama, and praised his “new healthcare initiative” (her words) as the reason for this change. My co-pay for an office visit ranges from $25-$60, depending on the type of doctor, reason for visit, and services rendered. So, at best, these two visits would save me $120 per year. On the surface, that is not a bad deal, and on the surface is where she left it.

Ten minutes later, our benefits broker stood up in front of his PowerPoint slides and explained to us that our rates were rising, and went through the variety of reasons that health care costs are rising. If my math is accurate, the increase in my premiums will be nearly $300 per year. Furthermore, my premium only represents a fraction of the total cost of my coverage, as my employer contributes a significant majority (75-80%) of the total cost. So, if my cost is going up $300, my employer’s cost for me is going up at least 3 times that much. Hmm, something is not right here… I now get up to $120 in wellness visits for free, but I am paying almost 3x as much in premiums.

I will not be so naive as to claim that this wellness visit option from ObamaCare pumped my premiums up that much. It is much more likely that the overweight, out-of-shape, always sick co-workers of mine had a significant impact as well, but that is a post for another day. But these “free” initiatives, such as the birth control mandate that has been front and center in the news this week, are NOT FREE. My favorite cliché from my years in college getting a business degree is, “There is no such thing as a free lunch”. Someone always pays. The politicians who pushed the health care bill through in 2010 will claim that this cost is going to be picked up by the insurers, and on paper it will. But any business that seeks to make a profit (is there a business that doesn’t??) will be forced to take action. They will find other ways to pass the cost on, as they should. Every business that operates is in the same industry... the industry of making a profit. Even if they get subsidies from the government to cover their increased costs, we as taxpayers will foot the bill.

I think what makes me most angry is the fact that this representative could sit there with a smile and pontificate about the “free” visits and then listen to the broker explain about our increased premiums. Does she think I am stupid? Or is she that stupid to believe what her own words? Either way I lose.

He's baaack

Hello ladies and gentlemen... I mean lady and gentleman. My alter ego and blog writer, Stewie, called it quits last year on the posts.  Although I will miss him, I think I can handle the job from here...  I have been sitting on my hands stewing (no pun intended) for too long about some of today's hot topics. So I am back.

I plan on putting up at least a post per week for the foreseeable future. As those of you who know me can attest, I have a lot to say. Hopefully I can provide some unique and entertaining insights into topics and policies that have impact on our everyday lives. This election year should prove to be good for the posts, as we are in the midst of so many important decisions being made.  Whether you agree or disagree, please leave comments and if you see fit, pass this blog address on to those who may have an interest. Just click 'Follow' at the top of the page.

One request: I would love to have some new readers of this blog who will disagree with me.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy it, hate it, whatever... My desire is to make you think.

Who's Fault?

First things first... long time no see. Glad to have both of you that read this blog back for more.

I, like most everyone else in this country, have been reading about, listening to, and seeing the images and video from the Tucson shooting for the past few days. Its been the lead story in every news broadcast, blog, and news site on the web that you can find. Its a tragic story that should never have happened, and my prayers go out to all of the individuals who died or were injured and their families. It was senseless, and I hope that our judicial system does its job and sends the guy to an early dirt nap.

The problem now is just how political the debate has become over who is really responsible for one man's actions. I am still reading today how it is talk radio's fault for inciting violence through their rhetoric and propaganda. If we are going to blame any man's actions on what they hear on TV or on the radio, then why do we even have political discourse in the first place? It would be one thing if Glenn Beck or Neal Boortz was out telling people to go find their local congressman and get rid of them. It is entirely different when we have heated debate over policies and actions that we ABSOLUTELY HAVE to hold our elected representatives accountable for. The liberal pundits in this country want to use this heinous act of one person to put a leash on our ability to have real debate over the issues that matter most to the people of this country. The irony is that those on the left side of the debate use as much, if not more, hate speech than anyone else. They seek to control the debate not by merit of their words or beliefs, but by inspiring fear that their enemies in this argument are too dangerous to be allowed to speak.

I've got an idea... let's focus on the real problem here. In this case, it was a lone, deranged individual. It was not the Tea Party, not conservatives, or those who wish to limit the power of our imperial federal government. If a socialist did this, would I blame George Soros, Harry Reid, or any other liberal leader? (the answer is no, by the way) It was a tragedy that hopefully does not happen again. But let's not draw dozens of conclusions that have no ties whatsoever to what happened in Tucson.

Guns and the Media

On my commute into work the other day, I was listening to one of the morning shows go through their news stories. Typical weekday stuff, then I heard something that caught my attention. Georgia's legislature just passed a new gun bill that allows licensed gun owners to carry their piece into additional places, such as portions of Hartsfield Airport. The woman on the radio made a statement about how gun rights advocates were hopeful that the bill would be signed into law, but that 'gun safety advocates' were firmly against the passage of this bill.

Gun safety advocates? Classic work by the media to frame the argument the way they see fit rather than the way it really is. I would say most gun owners are the most stringent gun safety advocates I know. Study after study has shown how violent crimes are committed with unlicensed firearms and weapons in much greater number and frequency than with a licensed, owned weapon. The media would have us believe that gun owners are irresponsible wack-jobs and that this law would make ATL the wild west. I can't say I'm surprised, but I can't help but think of all the people who hear this broadcast and subliminally start believing the news the way it is presented rather than the way it really is.

Tax Day!!

Just wanted each of you four readers out there to know how special tomorrow is to our American culture. April 15th represents all that is good with America... yeah right. Another year, another tax refund, right? I'm sure you all are very excited about the money you have gotten or are about to get back from our imperial government and state government. But I want you to think about a few things as you spend that refund check or sock it away for a rainy day.

The government is not giving you anything (at least those of you reading this, as I am sure you are all taxpayers, not tax-moochers) with that check you get. That is payment you earned for your labors that the government has taken from every two weeks or so to pay for parks in Oregon, farm subsidies in Kansas, art museums in Boston, and conservatories in California. Maybe one day you will get to visit these fine places.

The top 5% of wage-earners in this country pay more than 50% of the tax revenues that good old Uncle Sam takes every year. I'm not a Mensa genius, but that sounds like they are already carrying quite the tax burden.

Imagine if your employer did not take out your taxes each pay period. Imagine every April that you had to come up with the total amount due to the feds. If you are in the 25% tax bracket, and make $75,000, then come tomorrow you owe nearly a $19,000 check to the IRS. And you wonder why they force employers to deduct taxes every pay period? Imagine the revolt that would occur if you had to pen that check?

Just a few random thoughts for you... So go spend that check while the dollar still has some value. Happy April 15th tomorrow!!

Watch Out

I was listening to some talk radio yesterday and heard a few soundbites from a press conference Obama gave the other day. He was talking about a number of things, most notably the Tea Party movement and its hoards of followers. Little did I know, but the core of the Tea Party movement is a bunch of Americans who only care about Obama's birth certificate and the idea that he is a socialist. These 'birthers' seem to run things on the conservative side of the fence... at least according to the White House.

It's simply a bait and switch tactic to get mainstream America to believe that those of us on the conservative side of the aisle are racist pigs who are convinced that Obama wasn't born in Hawaii like he claims. I have news for you Mr. President, I don't care about that. Neither do 99% of his constituents in the USA. His tactic to characterize those of us that are fed up with out of control looting and spending falls on deaf ears... at least to those with half a brain or more. He and his staff know that if this conservative uprising can be classified as radical and hate-filled, then it can be thrown off course as fast as it got started. What scares me are those idiots on our side of the fence that will make statements and act in ways that prove the Prez to be right. And then the media will have a field day stereotyping anyone of us who opposes this unsustainable agenda as radical racists... and it could work for them.

Its important that those of us who do speak out on the issues do so based on fact. The great news is that logical decision-making is what conservatives do best. We rely on cognitive ability to make decisions on what we do, who we support, and how we view our world. Get into a discussion with a real conservative and reason overpowers emotion. That's the problem with the left in this country. Very rarely can they make a logical argument to support their cause. They rely on the emotional context of an argument to carry them through.

This health care and economic stimulus plan are perfect examples. As a conservative, I cannot support Obama or the left's plans because they are unsustainable, over-reaching, and they hinder the real growth this country needs. "But people need health care" they'll say. "People need jobs" I've heard again and again. And on the surface, I agree. In that they are correct. But Pelosi and crew have let the emotions of the day fester and instead of enabling the private citizens and producers of this country once again put the economy on their backs, they create programs that over time will have negative impact on the country as a whole. All because it 'feels good' to help someone. The problem is all they are doing is enabling Americans to sit on their asses, do nothing, and loot from those of us who achieve.

The Pursuit

Last time I checked, nowhere in our Constitution did our founders expect or require the government to provide rights and privileges to one group by plundering from another. The Declaration of Independence mentioned three 'unalienable rights': life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are based upon the tenets of a free society that enabled its citizens to succeed or fail by their own hands. These rights do not infringe upon the rights of others by nature. Our Constitution provided protection for its citizen's rights(and states rights, for that matter) from other citizens AND from the federal government. In fact, the tenth amendment, which I will dig deeper into in a different post, states that rights not 'delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to it by the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'

Our founders found it necessary to protect citizens not just from themselves, but especially from their own government. They laid the groundwork for a nation that could provide endless opportunity for those who worked to achieve. This also means that the groundwork was laid for people to land flat on their faces in failure. That is the essence of freedom and liberty. Today, our government is taking this basic right away by robbing the achievers and handing out their wealth to the moochers of society as tokens to control them.

The key word to the phrase from our Declaration of Independence quote is PURSUIT. It is not a guarantee of happiness. It is not a guarantee of success. We are not free from failure and we never will be, regardless of what our esteemed President may lead us to believe. Furthermore, we are enabling massive numbers of citizens to exist solely to loot from their neighbors. And the saddest part is that they can do it legally.

This did not start with ObamaCare, but this law brings to light many facets of today's America that are so wrong and detrimental to our lasting success. Without a reward to be had, who is going to pursue? Who is going to achieve? We are being rewarded for laziness, incompetence, and stupidity. We are providing the foundation for my generation to step into our most productive years robbed of any reason to do more than we are, because our efforts will be rewarded by being stolen from us.

We do not need our government to protect us from failure and hardship. It is an impossible task, and it has never been their job. Our leaders today would have us believe that this health care bill and others like it will make our lives perfect and easy. Many are going to learn the hard way that this is simply not true or feasible. Better late than never I guess.

Atlas Will Shrug

So now that our President has signed into law the monstrosity that is ObamaCare, our nation is going to move into the future with great uncertainty facing all of us. I have listened to pundits from both sides argue about the effects this bill will have on our economy. I have heard the arguments about the right to healthcare and the need for all of America's citizens to be insured. I have no idea how this is all going to play out in the long run, but I do know that we have taken a major step towards removing one of our most basic tenets of our American society and culture... the belief that you can achieve through your own means your own life.

This bill represents more than healthcare change. This represents a fundamental and seismic shift in the role our imperial government will play in our everyday lives and decisions. Don't be fooled by the rhetoric that this is about 'helping people in need'. The men and women in Washington are smart enough to understand that handouts = votes, and votes= power. The irony is that the biggest losers in this whole song and dance are going to be the lower class, underemployed workers and laborers. H.R. 4872 states that by 2014, businesses that have employ 50 or more workers will be subject to fines if they do not provide 'affordable' coverage to their employees. Faced with this business decision, a business owner has an easy choice. Don't get bigger. Growing businesses in fast-paced industries will decide to stay small to avoid the fines and bureaucratic red tape that will come with expansion. Inventors, creators, and those that have put the economy on their backs over the past 240 years will choose to harbor their wealth elsewhere. These are smart business decisions, and they have every right to do with THEIR money and resources as they choose. And when they choose to stop producing, our economy, and therefore our culture as we know it, is going to come to a screeching halt.

I recently completed 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. She wrote the book in 1957, but this epic could have been written in 2010. The similarities are beyond eerie, they are absolutely scary. And in this book, the producers of America 'disappear' because they no longer have the opportunity to create. The central government has taxed and cheated and manipulated the laws into such a state that these leaders of industry no longer had reason to take risks and create. The men and women carrying the load of driving growth and innovation simply shrugged that load off.

Rand saw the writing on the wall 53 years ago. Its time we all take a minute to realize where this road is heading. This bill and the policies of this administration are curtailing our rights and limiting the opportunity for America to continue as the world's greatest society. America has been great because we have had the power to succeed or fail by our own merit, not by the redistribution of wealth. And even if you believe that people need help when they are down, this method of redistribution only reinforces their belief that they can't succeed on their own. And on top of that, the cost is unsustainable and too great for our economy to bear.

It will be interesting to see what transpires on the political front over the summer and into the fall election season. I believe this vote has triggered a conservative eye-opening the likes our liberal leaders have never seen. They have no idea the can of worms they have opened.

GM and the Imperial Federal Government

Looks like GM is headed for the toilet, as bondholders decided yesterday that they would not accept an offer to convert over $27 billion (yes, billion, with a b) into a 10% ownership stake in the company. They needed 90% approval from the bondholders, and the story in USA Today said that they got 'considerably less' in approval. Can't say I am surprised. You know its a bad sign for the company when people holding debt are too leery to convert any of it into an equity position. If I was them, I probably wouldn't either. And that is mostly because our lovely federal government is involved, taking a stake in the company on behalf of all of us as taxpayers. So we are going to bail out GM instead of letting them fail. Guess what people? We need cars. We always will. If GM goes away, someone else will step in and produce them more efficiently as demand dictates. Instead, we will continue to prop up a failing company with taxpayer money and continue to support a federal government policy to keep idiots in business. In my humble opinion, its all about the union, but that is another story that would take all day.

On a separate note, I am absolutely enthralled with the NBA conference finals right now. I hate the NBA and most of what it represents, but the defense and hard-nosed play comes out in the postseason, and the conference finals have been great, aside from one thing... the officiating. If I hear anyone say that the refs don't have an agenda, I will immediately label you an idiot. Certifiable. I'm sitting here watching the Cavs-Magic in game 5 and I have had to just laugh about 15 times at the calls. LeBron-Kobe in the finals is the mandate, and the refs are doing everything they can (especially in the East) to make sure it happens.

Good Riddance

Famous Republican in name only (RINO) Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania announced today that he would be switching parties, joining his buddies on the Donkey side of the aisle moving forward. He has been a Republican Senator for 29 years. He can say what he wants to, but the main reason he is making the switch in my humble opinion is that he knows that he would lose in the Republican primary to his newest conservative challenger. So instead of standing up and being strong in his stance, he chooses to wuss out and go where winning is easier in his opinion. Pretty gutless move but I expect no more from him. He has long been a stain on the conservative ideals that the Repub's claim to hold dear, so I am glad to see him go. He is one of the three idiot Repubs who voted in favor of Obama/Reid/Pelosi's stimulus plan earlier this year, ensuring that the monstrosity passed in the Senate.

So, in the words of somebody famous... "Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya."
Adios.

Reality check for me

Getting away from politics for a few minutes to show some pics of the tornado damage that hit our area last night. The damage occurred less than a 1/4 mile from our house. Pretty amazing considering there was no damage to our neighborhood. My take is that our hood is protected by the mountain that we sit up against. We sit on the northeast side of Sweat Mountain, and the tornado touched down just on the north side of us, as the storm was moving to from the southwest to the northeast pretty rapidly. Luckily, no one was hurt, but according the AJC 12 homes were destroyed and about a hundred damaged....

Tax Day and Tea Party

Well now that is four days past Tax Day, I hope everyone can get back to normal and forget about the little tea parties that took place through many cities and towns across the USA. You know, they were just a bunch of racists and idiots that don't want to pay their 'fair share' of taxes to help support all the unfortunate citizens of this country who just can't seem to get out and get it done for themselves. We should just forget that so many of us lined the streets to demonstrate against the ever increasing power surge of the federal government and the accompanying debt that it is creating.... No, I am not on drugs people. Just having a little sarcastic moment.

Looks like the Tea Parties drew between 520,000 and 580,000 US citizens out to the streets to protest the ways our government is attempting to take over our daily lives. I was in Savannah, GA on Wednesday, and witnessed hundreds of people shouting through the streets and carrying the signs of freedom and liberty. The best part for me was that most of the demonstrators looked like college students and other young people. A little ironic considering how our brainwashing centers (universities) typically get their students involved in liberal movements. It was great to see the excitement and enthusiasm that the crowd brought out. The key to this being a success will be the continued emphasis that we as citizens put on this issue to our local, state, and federal officials, because the main stream media is not going to give this another second of coverage.

Most of the media wants to label the movement as anti-Obama, or racist, or redneck, or whatever other negative label they can make up. At its core, the movement is about getting our government spending under control and doing it now. No more, no less. The federal government is growing every day, and concurrently so is our debt. So thanks to everybody who participated and will continue to fight for our rights of liberty and freedom.

Pay For Performance Bill... yeah right

Take a few minutes and watch this clip of Neil Cavuto from Fox News interviewing the chief sponsor of the Pay for Performance piece of junk. Its amazing how futile arguing with a liberal is. By the way, for those of you in Florida, this man represents a district in your state....

Perusing the news this morning, I came across this little morsel of goodness that we call the Federal Government at its finest. More specifically, our wonderful Congressmen (and Congresswomen, in the name of political correctness) have decided that the American people have empowered them with the right to set limits on compensation for companies receiving taxpayer funding. At first glance, many folks might believe this to be a good thing. But I beg you please to think again. Does anyone that has any desire for personal success want Congress to set pay limits for what we can do? Its fundamentally wrong and goes against all notions of pay for performance (which ironically, is the name of the bill. I guess its Opposite Day), as artificial ceilings on comp do not aid in growth. Who in their right mind would take a job at one of these companies? Quick hint: someone who already works in the most inefficient bureaucracy around.... if you don't know the answer, you haven't been reading this blog. These companies will fail or need even more government intervention to survive because they won't have the best people in place to make it work. And the best people should be compensated the best. Not only that, but the bill sets no standard for excessive pay, as that will be left up to the Treasury Secretary. Are you freaking serious?!! Tim Geithner will be setting pay levels? The man who cheated on his own taxes, who now heads the IRS, who would be open to a world currency that would supplant the dollar and thereby weaken the United States, who formerly headed the FED Reserve New York last year and helped lead the way of this bailout process, etc, etc, etc, this man to set pay for private sector employees? I'm embarassed for any congressperson (I am so politically correct) that think we our dumb enough to think this is good for our country.

G20

Well Happy April Fool's Day to all of you readers out there, or both of you, whatever. I throw this out there to say that what follows is true, not a joke or prank for this fine worldwide holiday. As crazy as it seems, it is real. I don't claim that these people make any sense whatsoever, or that they are being truthful with themselves, but the stories are true nonetheless.

The G-20 Summit is set to meet in London tomorrow to discuss the world's financial crisis and figure out a way for our corrupt and inept governments to solve the problem that they in large part created. Should be interesting to hear how these "leaders" plan to get us back on the track to prosperity.... wait, that is an incorrect statement. Let's rephrase and say... these "leaders" plan to get us on track to complete dependence on government and forget freedom and prosperity. Now that is more like it. With all of these leaders in one place, they make an easy target for protesters from around the globe. According to an AP report, the protest group is filled with "over 4,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists, and others." Read it here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_eu/g20_protests), or just take my word for it. I can't help but laugh to think that anarchists and anti-capitalists are protesting side by side, because they are polar opposites and probably don't even know it. It seems that all of these activists want to blame the financial services markets and the "greed" of capitalists for the problems we face. What they don't realize is that their governments are the issue, yet they want their governments to control prosperity, so its "fair". Bogus. If these clowns could think through a logical argument instead of throwing tomatoes at banks then they would realize that their prosperity and livelihood is at stake, just not in the way they think. But then again, these are emotionally-driven reactors that wouldn't know how to take real initiative if their life depended on it, which, ironically, it does.

So I'll wait with baited breath to see what these protesters do next, or not. I also look forward to hearing what comes out of the actual meetings tomorrow, or not. Pardon my cynicism today, it must be the fact that I wish this was all just a cruel April Fool's Day joke, but we really are heading straight to the toilet. We have mass hysteria about bankers making profits, we want greater government intervention to make things fair for those who are too lazy, weak, or unmotivated to get ahead in life, and we have world leaders getting together to plot just how to create more dependence on the power centralized in our capitals. Its disgusting yet true, and those of us who actually take initiative to reach our own prosperity are the ones who will be footing the bill for this nonsense. Profit is bad, fairness is good. Individualism and self-reliance have been replaced with collectivism and entitlements. We must no longer think for and of ourselves, because that inflicts damage on others that won't suck it up and go make it on their own. In the name of fairness, let's all concede our liberties and freedom to that monster that is taking more of it each and every day.

Speaking of taking, Tax Day is rapidly approaching. I for one can't wait to give Tim Geithner (who didn't pay his taxes, FYI) and his IRS crew my hard earned dough. But that story will wait for another day.