Pay Freeze for Queen in UK Austerity Measures!

"In a sign of dire economic times across the pond, Queen Elizabeth II will see six consecutive years of frozen pay, as new austerity measures in the U.K. have cut funding for the royal household."

In the interest of "belt tightening" the leaders of our government should lead by example. But something more significantly more immediate than a "down the road" approach. It's as easy to tell the populace to tighten their belts, as it is to spend other peoples money - which is what the Socialist-Progressives in our government do with great aplomb, and impunity.

Here's my suggestion: Every government official, being paid with our money in Washington D.C., should take an immediate 50% cut in pay and benefits (staffing allowances, etc), and a staff reduction of 30%. Then eliminate their retirement benefits and place them all into the Social Security retirement system. Cut the freebies - haircuts, lunches, healthcare, vehicles, drivers, and education packages for their children. I think most of us could live very well on $87,000 per year... that's one-half of the salary with which a Congressman begins his "government service" experience.

And, as long as I'm running the country, let's revert to the system under which elected officials were originally paid in 1813. No, not the $8 per day, that's just too severe. They were paid only for the days they were in session, ostensibly doing the necessary work required to satisfy the people. Not themselves, or the labor unions (which didn't exist back then), or some major corporation in which they were deeply invested. They were "the servants of the people"!

Then let's see how many of them want to make a career out of government "service". My best guess is that we would have about 500 vacancies to fill in the combined House and Senate. They are not royalty! They deserve nothing better than that which the average person has in the way of pay, benefits and perks.

Have you ever wondered why anybody in their right mind would spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays $174,000 per year? Well, they're spending other peoples money, most of whom consider the expense to be more of an investment than a "donation". Could there possibly be a hidden agenda there? Could there be more "perks" for our elected representatives than simply their pay and allowances? Politicians would sell their mothers if they thought it would benefit them!

We know that they are all liars, and that they will play to whatever audience is in front of them during their campaign, only to do the bidding of their major contributors after they are elected. Knowing this full-well, we vote for them anyway, fearing that if we don't go to the ballot box, some other liar (the one whose lies we don't like) will get elected. We have no true leadership, only fools who have fooled us into electing them to run our country. If they ran a McDonald's franchise the way they run our country, it would be the only McDonald's to ever go bankrupt! If they were in charge of Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, it would be depleted of salt within 90 days. Send Washington D.C. a message in 2012... replace them ALL!

How To Return Our Nation To Its Intended Course

"The Idiot's Guide to Voting"

(for those of you who apparently do not have a clue)

1. If you are dead, please do not allow ACORN, or any of its recent progeny, to pressure you into voting for anybody. You are not eligible! No matter what the people in Chicago may tell you, dead people cannot vote. As do most criminals, ACORN has developed aliases for many of its branches.

For example, Affordable Housing Centers of America was formerly ACORN Housing. The new corporation has the same tax ID and employer identification number as ACORN Housing, which received millions of dollars in funding from the Department of Housing Urban and Development.
In Missouri, Jeff Ordower, a former head organizer for ACORN in that state, founded Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), which focuses on jobs, education and housing advocacy.
Other groups that bear a striking resemblance to ACORN are the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, New York Communities for Change, New England United for Justice in Massachusetts and Arkansas Community Organizations. And the list grows almost daily. Combined they make up "The Organization Encompassing Just American Minorities", or TOE JAM. The stench of corruption remains - a skunk still stinks, even if you call it a "woods kitty".
2. Give up voting the "party ticket". If you truly wish to see America remain the land of the free, don't vote for somebody just because they are a Democrat or Republican. Vote for somebody you believe will do their best to return America to its intended course, regardless of their party affiliation... but make sure the candidate is viable. If you are a registered Democrat and you think the Republican candidate will do a better job for our country, vote for the Republican. (If you're a Republican and you think the Democrat will do a better job, go home and take your meds.) As much as I like the idea, voting for a 3rd party candidate is - at this point in time - throwing your vote away, and by so doing you help the moron you could have voted against. If you vote for somebody who actually stands a chance of becoming elected - even if they lose - you will neutralize 1 vote for his or her moronic opponent. Every splinter party takes votes away from potential winners, and right now we have about 6 splinter parties that I know of. As much as I hate to say it, Presidential elections are presently won only by Democrats or Republicans. Not that either party necessarily deserves to win, but they are established, recognized and organized, and there is no single, strong 3rd party that can successfully challenge them.
3. Don't accept a politician's word for anything! Go into the voting booth knowing full-well that politicians are professional liars. They will tell you what you want to hear during their campaign, and then do whatever they damn-well feel like after elected. Politicians should be rented to farmers, because politicians are the perfect self-propelled manure spreader! Look into the candidates VOTING RECORD to discover who they really are, and then vote accordingly.
3. We need honor, courage and wisdom in our government. Obviously the vast majority of the incumbents are lacking any of those character traits, so let's replace them in November with people who have demonstrated those traits. Vote against those incumbents who failed to heed the voice of the people during the past two years - even if you have to write-in your own name.

REALITY CHECK: It takes BIG money to run for national office, and BIG money comes from BIG business, and BIG business considers campaign money more of an investment than a "contribution" or "donation". They expect to be repaid BIG! If all we working-class Americans threw a couple of dollars at an honest, courageous and wise candidate, he or she might just do the job they are elected to do... without being owned by big business and special interest groups. What we do not need are more elected officials whose main concern is, "What's in it for me?" rather than, "How does this benefit our country?". Those who sold their votes on the health care bill should be the first to be sent home.
4. Do not vote for anybody supporting larger government and higher taxes. Larger government requires higher taxes to keep it running! Don't let anybody tell you differently. The government performs no income producing function other than taxing the people it "serves"... and we ain't getting our money's worth, Bubba!
Stevie Wonder could see what it will take to restore the Republic. "Hope and Change" is what we need, but we need to work for the changes it will take to restore our hope. Our government doesn't just have a "boo-boo" that will heal itself if we leave it alone. It is suffering from the all-consuming CANCER of the left-wing, Marxist, socialist-progressive agenda, and if we choose to ignore it, it will kill the USA!

Remove the cancer - refresh the House and Senate this November.

Show them that We the People are paying attention!

Living Large on Taxpayer-Supplied Easy Street

Want a raise? Don't beg to your boss. Just vote yourself one. That's what the United States Congress did in 2004. "For the fifth year in a row, lawmakers voted not to reject their automatic "cost of living" raise that will increase the annual salary of members by $3,400 to a total of $158,103 per year."

During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.

From 1789 to 1815, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1815, when they were paid $1,500 per year - a significant amount of money in 1815, considering that those who were working for "wages" (as opposed to farmers and tradesmen) were knocking down a whopping 50¢ per day! Members began receiving a larger annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year. The current salary (2009) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. The Majority and Minority Leaders of the House and Senate are paid $193,400 each. And the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi is paid $223,500. Are we getting our moneys worth? Oh, and let's not forget the $120,000 in jet fuel that Pelosi burns up every weekend in that 200 seat Boeing 757 aircraft for a round-trip from D.C. to California at taxpayer expense! If the private sector (Big 3 Auto CEOs) flies in private jets to meetings called by the ruling party in Congress, it's a big waste of taxpayers money. If a Democrat flies in a taxpayer funded private jet on government business, it's OK. If the country is having hard economic times, you certainly couldn't tell it by looking at how our government is managing our tax dollars!

Here's what I see as a few problems in our system:
1. Our laws are made by lawyers rather than people with common sense. This is the equivalent of having the fox guard the hen house. Does anybody still wonder why our laws have become so complex and bifurcated? Special interest groups, PACs, Labor Unions, and essentially anybody else with lobbyists on Capitol Hill goes to the head of the line, while the majority of the citizenry suffers in silence. We have the best politicians money can buy.

2. Those who make our laws are overcompensated for what little they do for us - they're too busy doing for themselves. And they get to approve their own pay raises! Wouldn't we all like to have a job like that? "Public service" means serving the public, not servicing them!

3. Members of Congress are entitled to a retirement after only 5 years of participation (I refuse to use the word "service" to describe what they do). There are about a half-dozen different retirement schemes for them, so they can milk us for as much as possible (source: 2007 Congressional Research Service Report). They also have full medical coverage, and a staff and office plus other expenses for which we pay.

4. The worst part is that "we the people" keep re-electing the same lazy, corrupt, lying bastards over and over again!

What's the solution? There is no solution so long as #4, above, continues unchecked. Should that ever be corrected then things like term limits, a salary cap at around $50,000 with a very modest local housing allowance become more possible (or, better yet, government supplied quarters on a military installation such as Bolling AFB, Andrews AFB, or Fort George Mead, all within reasonable commuting distance of downtown D.C.). Lawyers should have minimal representation in Congress, comprising no more than 1/3 of the total makeup of Congress, thus insuring that our laws are less likely to be intellectualized to the point of ineffectiveness in the real world.

I just think "we the people" are getting ripped off to the maximum extent possible by professional politicians, and thought I'd share these "tip of the iceberg" thoughts with you.

I could be ... nah, no way!

Sarah Palin - Perhaps No Pro, But No Con Either

Sarah Palin is now a household name, yet prior to her selection as the John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate she was virtually unknown outside the state of Alaska. Sarah, as she prefers to be called, may not be a professional politician - which to my way of thinking is a good thing - but she doesn't try to con the American people, either. She presents herself in a WYSIWYG manner, without the typical political smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand. Sarah is guilty ... of being an American in the first degree!

This typical American daughter/mother/wife moved up the political ladder more because of her plain-spoken believability than in spite of it. Sarah is easy to look at, and appears to be at ease in her surroundings, whether they be a coffee shop in Wasilla, Alaska or the floor of the Republican National Convention. Unlike most professional politicians, Sarah Palin rings true.

Her background is not that different from most Americans. She comes from a working-class family, attended public schools, graduated from Wasilla High and the University of Idaho fer cryin' out loud! Sarah's background - prior to her election to the internationally powerful Wasilla City Council - is neither a politcal one nor a monied one. She didn't attend Harvard, Yale, or Brown Universities ... she went to a university that would probably even accept me! Sara Palin is one of us.

And that is precisely why the elitist media snobs chose to make light of her exhibited qualifications. Sarah isn't one of them, and that scares the hell out of the liberal left. She doesn't think, talk or shoot fancy - just straight from the hip. Sarah has more executive-level experience than our incoming President, brought new energy and excitement to McCain's hobbling campaign, and created hope amongst the leadership of the RNC that they might actually be able to salvage the country from the grip of left-wing socialists. Almost overnight, she rejuvenated the conservative body of America. Unfortunately, conservative America - once again - turned out to be the too silent majority. Conservative complacency, and an increased number of liberal judges legislating from the bench, will be the downfall of these United States.

So ... what's not to like about Sarah Palin? All of her positive qualities ... if you're a left-wing bleeding heart liberal! I believe we've just seen beginning of Sarah Palin at the national level. If nothing else, her short VP nominee gig did one thing for her. Of the potential Republican Presidential candidates for 2012, Sarah Palin now has the most recognized name in the Republican Party!

I could be wrong about his ... but I'm NOT!