Goodbye Barry - Welcome Home AMERICA!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Public Law 112-95 - The FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011

This bill should really be called "The Bleed The Taxpayer Dry Act of 2011", inasmuch as it has authorized funding for the FAA of approximately $3.35B per year for the period 2011-2014. The costs for this one government project are $100.69 per person (and increases their $49,752.84 share of the national debt to $49,853.53 [source: Congressional Budget Office] ). Just what we don't need - another $13B+ of debt.

 

According to WashingtonWatch.com, this "law" - as is true with most legislation - was basically sold to the highest bidder! In the House, whichever side provided the greatest monetary incentive - Yea or Nay - got the nod (with a handful of exceptions who apparently voted for the people). All of Utah's representatives voted for H.R. 658 - now PL 112-95 - and in the Senate, Orrin Hatch chose not to vote at all.

 

Have our lawmakers not heard that we are not only BROKE, as a nation, we are in debt (primarily to China) to the tune of $15.6 TRILLION DOLLARS! Since September 27th, 2007, our national debt has increased at the rate of $4.02B per day! And there is no end in sight!! Has everybody in Washington D.C. gone totally INSANE? How will we ever pay off such indebtedness? Increase taxes levied upon the citizens, of course. Perhaps not directly as "taxes" per se, but by insinuating "fees" and "charges" into everyday activities. An example is the 1% transaction "fee" on each and every banking transaction, as proposed by the Obama administration. Make a deposit - personally or by Direct Deposit - of $1,000 and your account is debited $10 for the privilege of making that deposit. Write a check for $500 and your account will reflect a $5 "fee" for that transaction... a business transaction in which the government itself has no investment of time, labor or money! What is the difference between this activity and "protection money" paid by small business owners to street thugs? Such a governmental action is nothing more than legalized (by imperial fiat) extortion of the taxpayers!

 

Can we stop this financial bloodletting by our elected representatives? Maybe... but ONLY if we let them know that we are onto them, and that we will do everything we can to insure they are not re-elected if they continue along this path.

 

As I said in my opening paragraph, this is only ONE of the hundreds of pieces of cost-ignorant legislation passed by Congress each year. If we allow it to continue, perhaps we are as stupid and indifferent as they seem to think we are. If so, we deserve whatever they choose do to us!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

BLOWING SMOKE...

If you don't read news reports carefully, they can easily be deceiving... as they are generally intended to be. The mission sttement of the media in general is no longer to report the news, but to spin the news in support of whatever political position the publisher or station owner happens to have adopted. Here's a prime example of the "smoke and mirrors" used by the liberal media:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing in the Northeast held up in March, providing more signs the economy was firmly on a self-sustaining growth path.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That took claims back to a four-year low reached in February.
Separately, the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State general business conditions index rose to 20.21 - highest level since June 2010 - from 19.53 in February.
"This suggests that the recovery is firmly on track," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida."

On the face of it we tend to think, "WOW, that's great! Joblessness is at a four year low! The economy is on it's way back up!" But if you remove the 'rose colored glasses' that Reuters has surreptitiously slipped you with this article, and ignore the dying embers of hopefulness in your heart, here's what the article really says:
The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing in the Northeast held up in March, providing more signs the economy was firmly on a self-sustaining growth path. (There are fewer newly unemployed Americans applying for unemployment compensation than there have been during the past four years. This does not take into consideration those who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and are still unemployed, since unemployment statistics only include those people who are drawing unemployment compensation. Manufacturing "held up" in the Northeast? What does "held up" mean in real words, and what about the status of manufacturing in the other 80% of the country?)
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That took claims back to a four-year low reached in February. (SMOKE ALARM! Okay, so 14,000 fewer new claims were made - BFD! The real statistic is that there are still 351,000 people who lost their jobs in February!! Where is the progress in that??
Separately, the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State general business conditions index rose to 20.21 - highest level since June 2010 - from 19.53 in February. (How nice for New York State... and the 49 other states reported what?)
"This suggests that the recovery is firmly on track," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida." (I'm willing to bet that Scott Brown (WHO?) is a registered Democrat, liberal left-wing, "Hope and Change" weenie. And, exactly when did St. Petersburg, Florida become the economic forecasting capital of America? Did Greece use Raymond James of St. Petersburg for their economic guidance?)

The whole story is spun in an attempt by the liberal media to lull us into a sense of false security, and bolster the failing "Hope and Change" fairytale the current administration sold to America almost 3½ years  ago. This is "business as usual" for the vast majority of the mainstream media. There is a need for hope and change, but the hope is for a change... a change of "leadership" - once again - to get America back to its roots. Our survival as a Republic depends on that hope becoming reality!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

American Soldier Kills 16 Afghan Civilians - Who's To Blame?

There has been much ado made in the media about an American soldier killing 16 Afghan civilians during a one man night assault on two Afghan villages. The Afghan people are rightfully outraged by this unwarranted and (apparently) unsanctioned attack. Unsurprisingly, there have been calls from al Quaida for all kinds of reprisals against the U.S. and allied military forces - specifically beheadings. My question is: "Whose head should roll?"
The soldier - on his fourth tour in the giant litter box of the middle-east - reportedly had "suffered traumatic head injuries" during a previous tour. I suggest that he is as much a "victim" of this ridiculously prolonged conflict as were the Afghanis he killed. Four tours in a combat zone is at least two too many, and most likely three too many. If a soldier survives one combat tour, he is both lucky and thankful. A second tour surely makes him/her a bit uncomfortable. Surviving a third tour is "pushing his/her luck", and returning alive from more than three tours borders upon the miraculous.
Would this middle-eastern conflict have been so protracted if members of Congress, or their well-protected children, had to serve with our combat units? Would it have been so lengthy if those 535 of our nation's elected "leadership" could find a single pair of cojones between them, and permitted our military leaders to fight this as a real "war"? If you answered "No" and "No" to those questions, you're absolutely right. (You may have noticed that within my masthead I cite Shakespeare's Antony's [of the play "Julius Caesar"] "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war". This does not mean that I am a "warmonger" [although I have participated in one, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend war as a suitable replacement for other human social interactions].) What I do recommend though, is that when armed confrontation is required of us - by whatever series of events - we respond with all the force that is available to us in order to shorten the conflict and minimize our own casualties. However, our politicians do not share that point of view (which may or may not be a "good thing"). I am enough of a realist to accept the fact that wars have been around since the beginning of time, and they will continue for so long as there are two people left on Earth - one of whom wants something the other has, but the other is not willing to surrender that commodity without what is percevied as unduly high compensation. How is it resolved? Physical (perhaps armed) confrontation - a "last man standing" scenario.
How can we expect our soldiers - who by law must follow both a "Code of Conduct" and "Rules of Engagement" - to act in a perfectly rational way, when the enemy wears no identifying uniform, hides among the civilian population, and has neither a Code or Rules required of them? The only rule for them is "KILL THE INFIDELS!" We must expect, and accept, that there will be "collateral damage" in such a situation. Taking the moral "high road" is extremely costly in terms of American lives. Our troops should take two flags into battle with them - the "Stars and Stripes" and the modified "Culpeper (Don't Tread on Me) Flag"...
Allowing politicians to determine military strategy and rules of engagement, rather than those who are recruited and trained specifically for that purpose, is utter foolishness and an unwarranted waste of American lives.
Who, if anybody, should be tried for "war crimes" regarding this mass shooting of civilians in Afghanistan? I submit that it should not be the soldier who actually did the shooting, but those people - who with full knowledge of his pre-existing head trauma - so foolishly chose to return him to combat duty! But, that's just the way I see things...

Monday, March 5, 2012

Judge Issues Delay In Nidal Hasan Trial - AGAIN!

The murder trial for the Army psychiatrist charged in the Fort Hood shooting rampage has been postponed by Presiding Military Judge Gregory Gross until June 12.

The decision came Thursday at a hearing in which Maj. Nidal Hasan and his attorneys requested a delay in the trial. The defense argued their expert hasn’t completed the investigation of Hasan's background. (The defense expert hasn't completed the investigation?? After 2½ YEARS? Sounds like he has his career picked out - milking this case until he reaches retirement age.)

They also argued they need more time to review documents involved in the case, a totaled of 320,000 pages as of December. (320,000 pages? This "expert" better have a staff of about 500 to read, summarize, analyze and report if the government wishes to go forward before the military judge retires or Hasan - now 41 - dies of old age!)

He is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and faces the death penalty or life without parole if convicted in the November 2009 shootings. (Life without parole should not be an option. He personally ended 13 lives that day, and should forfeit his own right to live to see another sunrise! There should be no need for a trial, either. Hasan was caught at the scene with the weapons. He is GUILTY beyond a shadow of a doubt! It's just a shame that the police officers responding weren't better shots.)