By William L. Garvin
Growing up in Southwest Idaho, summer always brought a radical change of scenery for those of us living in town. As soon as school was out, many of us were shipped off to the farms and ranches of assorted grandpas, uncles, and cousins for summer. I don’t know how we survived without President Obama and his Department of Labor!
My grandparents had a small farm in the Owyhee mountains way outside a wide spot in the road called Reynolds Creek. Grandpa Bass was a quiet, hard working man, as he had to be to make a living farming in the high desert. My first driving lessons were sitting on grandpa’s lap high up on a John Deere tractor. We weren’t wearing helmets, my feet couldn’t reach the pedals and we didn’t have seat belts or airbags.
I also had a horse to ride for the summer, a big buckskin gelding named Midas. He didn’t come free of charge. You see, I had to get up at first light and as soon as Grandpa saddled Midas, I had to ride out and bring in the cows for milking. Again, no helmets, airbags, or seat belts. Sometimes I had to slop the pigs. Other times, I had to gather eggs and fend off nesting hens and overly protective roosters. Pitchforks and pitching hay were also parts of
the summer routine as was riding on top of mountains of hay on a horse drawn wagon. I believe it was a state mandate that every hayloft had to have a rope tied to the rafters for kids to swing as high as they could and then drop into the hay. I don’t believe it was OSHA approved.
When it came to Sunday fried chicken dinner, we had to catch the chickens and off with their heads. Grandma would dip them in boiling water and then we had to pull off the feathers and pinfeathers. We carried in the pails of milk in the morning so she could separate the cream and make butter. We were often forced into service to turn the crank on the churn. We usually volunteered to turn the crank when it came to making ice cream.
We had an outhouse and bathed in the horse tank. We went to bed at dark because there was no electricity and the only light came from kerosene lamps. If company came, we slept on the front porch and listened to coyotes, owls and other night birds hunting prey. If we didn’t have any chores, there were always BB guns and lizards. We could also ride our horses up to the many caves in search of the elusive Indian arrowheads. No chaperones,
no GPS, no guidance other than being home by dark. We left Idaho after I finished the sixth grade and my summers on the farm ended.
If President Obama’s Department of Labor would have had its way, they would never have started. In response to his presidential Executive Order, DOL drafted regulations which would ban children under sixteen on farms from “hazardous work” which is defined as over six feet high or using tools which are “power take off driven,” such as battery screwdrivers! Whereas we thought we were developing a sense of responsibility and a work ethic, DOL
sees exploitation. Whereas we thought we were contributing to the family welfare, DOL sees child endangerment. DOL Wage and Hour Division inspectors were fully prepared to charge onto family farms armed with their citation books. Much like EPA inspectors, they were ready to “crucify” violators.
After the public outcry and concern that even 4-H and FFA projects would be endangered, DOL backed off and has begun a series of “clarifications.” This does not sit well with nanny state surrogates such as Human Rights Watch who complained that “the most vulnerable working children in America” are being abandoned. “Instead of protecting child farm workers, the Labor Department will look the other way when children get crushed,
suffocated, and poisoned on the job,” said Zama Coursen-Neff. Check this out, Zama. On average, 113 youths die annually from farm related injuries. Thirty-five percent are due to motor vehicle and ATV accidents, or drowning. In 2007, 700 kids under 14 drowned; in 2008, 716 bicyclists were killed. Why don’t you outlaw biking and swimming? Better yet, why don’t you mind your own business! We don’t need you or DOL to extricate the
poor downtrodden and exploited masses of grandkids from beneath the iron heels of Grandpa’s capitalist oppression!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
“Smokescreens Versus Accountability”
By
William L. Garvin
If
any additional proof was needed as to the idiocy permeating the Potomac, it was
provided by Senate Leader Harry Reid.
The senior senator from Nevada refuses to close any post offices because
“seniors love junk mail.” In all your
years, have you ever encountered a senior who waited breathlessly for the next
postal delivery because junk mail “was their only contact with the outside
world”? What a bunch of…rubbish. However, it is indicative of Washington’s
patrician attitude that they know what’s best for the drooling, senile, out of
touch, incompetent members of the senior country class. It’s just another smokescreen to avoid focus
on Senator Reid’s dereliction constitutional duty to pass a budget by April 15th. He has now failed to do so for over 1100
days.
Then there’s the smokescreen “war on women”
Democrats concocted to exploit the gender gap.
Boy did that one backfire! Davids
Axelrod and Plouffe don’t seem to be nearly the political geniuses when it
comes to strategy this time around. Of
course, a few people finally seem to be doing some fact checking, unlike
2008. How could they not have known that
women are underrepresented on the presidential staff and paid approximately 18%
less than their male counterparts? How
could they not have known that the President paid a lesser percentage rate of
income taxes than his secretary? How
could they not have known that 858,000 more women have become unemployed during
this administration?
Then
Democrat operative, Hilary Rosen, fires her idiotic salvo at Ann Romney and
stay at home moms. Another smokescreen
example of the patrician and statist attitude that confuses their education
with their diplomas. Anyone who thinks
stay at home moms don’t work and don’t have enough intelligence to understand
or comment on matters of importance epitomizes the height of
condescension. As one mom noted, “I wish
I had an outside job—they’re required to give you a break!”
Then
there’s the “Buffett Rule” smaokescreen.
If the President wants to pay higher taxes, all he has to do is write a
check. All he has to do is stop taking deductions. The same goes for Warren Buffett. Plus, Warren can stop fighting the billion
dollar back tax bill the IRS says he owes
The real smokescreen is that even if the Buffett Rule is enacted, it can
be collected over the next 250 years and that will not even for the deficit the
Obama administration ran up in 2011 alone!
Then
there’s the smokescreen and fanning the flames by Al Sharpton and the
increasingly dangerous racial warfare.
The vast majority of crime is black on black and white on white. There is less white on black crime than the
reverse. Of course, the media never
chooses to publicize those incidents.
Similarly, they never choose to publish photos of the atrocities
committed by enemies of America. They
have an agenda that works hand in glove with the Washington establishment. It is a symbiotic drive to control more and
more facets of life in this country from an all-wise elitist pedestal.
The
arrogance behind the GSA scandal, the Secret Service scandal, the extravagant
bonuses handed out to “green energy” executives just before they go bankrupt,
are just the tip of the iceberg. A very
simple analysis shows what’s looming underneath. On January 31, 1981, President Reagan
inherited a debt of $847, 695 billion.
Over eight years, he increased it by $1.6 trillion. President George H.W. Bush inherited a debt
of $2.448 trillion and increased it by $1.36 trillion in four years. President Bill Clinton inherited a debt of
$3.809 and increased it by $1.9 trillion over eight years. President George W. Bush inherited $5.716
trillion of debt and increased it by $4.916 over eight years. President Barack Obama inherited a debt of
$10.632 trillion and in 3 years and 2 months (3/31/12) has already increased it
by $4.906 trillion with no end in sight!
The
economy continues to stagger and sputter.
Unemployment claims climbed over 380,000 for the second straight
week. The trillion dollar stimulus that
was supposed to keep unemployment from reaching 8% can’t even get it down to
that number. Gasoline was $1.86 when the
President took office. That’s a distant memory.
The housing market continues to struggle. Bush tax cuts and the payroll tax cuts expire
and Obamacare taxes kick in January, 2013. Unless there’s accountability in November, we’ll
all be needing food stamps and that’s no smokescreen.
Monday, April 9, 2012
With Malice of Forethought
By William L. Garvin
"No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law ...." Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution
One of the most basic tenets of American jurisprudence is that one is innocent until proven guilty. Apparently, the uber-intelligent modern media thinks this is an outmoded concept. A significant portion of this liberal elite think they are perfectly capable of acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Take the unfortunate case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin.
At this point, no charges have been filed against Mr. Zimmerman in the shooting death of Mr. Martin. No trial has been held. No evidence has been entered into the record. A special prosecutor, Angela Corey, has been appointed but she has decided not to convene a Grand Jury. Ms. Corey has the authority to file charges herself or to drop the case. As of now, she has done neither. That has not stopped the media from stampeding to judgment and declaring Mr. Zimmerman guilty in the court of public opinion. Furthermore, they have conducted a deliberate media lynching and have conspired (by their combined actions) to prevent Mr. Zimmerman from receiving a fair trial in any venue.
For example, NBC News broadcast the police audiotape of Mr. Zimmerman’s phone call as "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." They deliberately doctored the tape to eliminate the three sentences between the two they spliced together. One critical sentence they deliberately eliminated was the dispatcher asking “OK, and this guy--is he black, white or Hispanic?” It was not Mr. Zimmerman that raised the issue of race.
The once honorable New York Times created the new journalistic description of “white Hispanic.” Then there was ABC News. They aired a surveillance video obtained from the police station after Mr. Zimmerman claimed that Mr. Martin had attacked him. Their meticulously measured and incessantly repeated mantra was that the video showed that Mr. Zimmerman “has no apparent injury.” To the mottled media mind, this proved that he could not have been attacked. Subsequent magnifications of the video show what could be cuts on the back of his head. Oops.
Then there’s MSNBC and CNN repeatedly reporting that audiotapes of Mr. Zimmerman’s calls contained racial slurs. This was supposedly supported by “independent experts.” The only problem is that enhanced audio versions indicate that Mr. Zimmerman was using the word “punks” rather than the oft-repeated racial slur. CNN has now backed off their assertion but MSNBC remains undaunted by the truth.
How about the New York Times and National Public Radio leading the pack in spreading the word that Mr. Zimmerman was paranoid because he had called 911 forty-six times in fourteen months. Of course, the truth was that he had called 911 forty-six times but over the course of EIGHT YEARS not fourteen months! Calling 911 once every two months as a member of Neighborhood Watch doesn’t fit as nicely into the predetermined media verdict, does it? The NY Times should never try to guess anyone’s weight at the carnival either. They attributed 240 pounds to Mr. Zimmerman instead of his actual 170 pounds. Never let facts get in the way when your mind is already made up.
NBC has finally admitted that an “error” was made in the “production process” and has allegedly fired the producer of the segment. They have refused to name the person they allegedly fired. No such restraint or consideration has been shown in any of their coverage of the Zimmerman-Martin affair.
MSNBC’s Al Sharpton demands the immediate arrest of Mr. Zimmerman or he will incite massive civil disobedience. After the Tawana Brawley hoax and the $65,000 in damages he had to pay, you’d think he would have learned a little about discretion. NBC may have ignored Mr. Sharpton’s past and made a mistake in hiring him. They may have erred in using five-year old photos to advance their storyline but deliberately doctoring tapes to create false narratives is tantamount to falsifying evidence. NBC and their cronies have lost all perspective. They have forgotten that it is their job to report the facts, not to create them. They have abandoned journalistic integrity and every shred of credibility they once had.
"No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law ...." Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution
One of the most basic tenets of American jurisprudence is that one is innocent until proven guilty. Apparently, the uber-intelligent modern media thinks this is an outmoded concept. A significant portion of this liberal elite think they are perfectly capable of acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Take the unfortunate case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin.
At this point, no charges have been filed against Mr. Zimmerman in the shooting death of Mr. Martin. No trial has been held. No evidence has been entered into the record. A special prosecutor, Angela Corey, has been appointed but she has decided not to convene a Grand Jury. Ms. Corey has the authority to file charges herself or to drop the case. As of now, she has done neither. That has not stopped the media from stampeding to judgment and declaring Mr. Zimmerman guilty in the court of public opinion. Furthermore, they have conducted a deliberate media lynching and have conspired (by their combined actions) to prevent Mr. Zimmerman from receiving a fair trial in any venue.
For example, NBC News broadcast the police audiotape of Mr. Zimmerman’s phone call as "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." They deliberately doctored the tape to eliminate the three sentences between the two they spliced together. One critical sentence they deliberately eliminated was the dispatcher asking “OK, and this guy--is he black, white or Hispanic?” It was not Mr. Zimmerman that raised the issue of race.
The once honorable New York Times created the new journalistic description of “white Hispanic.” Then there was ABC News. They aired a surveillance video obtained from the police station after Mr. Zimmerman claimed that Mr. Martin had attacked him. Their meticulously measured and incessantly repeated mantra was that the video showed that Mr. Zimmerman “has no apparent injury.” To the mottled media mind, this proved that he could not have been attacked. Subsequent magnifications of the video show what could be cuts on the back of his head. Oops.
Then there’s MSNBC and CNN repeatedly reporting that audiotapes of Mr. Zimmerman’s calls contained racial slurs. This was supposedly supported by “independent experts.” The only problem is that enhanced audio versions indicate that Mr. Zimmerman was using the word “punks” rather than the oft-repeated racial slur. CNN has now backed off their assertion but MSNBC remains undaunted by the truth.
How about the New York Times and National Public Radio leading the pack in spreading the word that Mr. Zimmerman was paranoid because he had called 911 forty-six times in fourteen months. Of course, the truth was that he had called 911 forty-six times but over the course of EIGHT YEARS not fourteen months! Calling 911 once every two months as a member of Neighborhood Watch doesn’t fit as nicely into the predetermined media verdict, does it? The NY Times should never try to guess anyone’s weight at the carnival either. They attributed 240 pounds to Mr. Zimmerman instead of his actual 170 pounds. Never let facts get in the way when your mind is already made up.
NBC has finally admitted that an “error” was made in the “production process” and has allegedly fired the producer of the segment. They have refused to name the person they allegedly fired. No such restraint or consideration has been shown in any of their coverage of the Zimmerman-Martin affair.
MSNBC’s Al Sharpton demands the immediate arrest of Mr. Zimmerman or he will incite massive civil disobedience. After the Tawana Brawley hoax and the $65,000 in damages he had to pay, you’d think he would have learned a little about discretion. NBC may have ignored Mr. Sharpton’s past and made a mistake in hiring him. They may have erred in using five-year old photos to advance their storyline but deliberately doctoring tapes to create false narratives is tantamount to falsifying evidence. NBC and their cronies have lost all perspective. They have forgotten that it is their job to report the facts, not to create them. They have abandoned journalistic integrity and every shred of credibility they once had.
Monday, April 2, 2012
A Potpourri of Political Pratfalls
By William L. Garvin
“A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” Herb Caen
In bygone San Francisco, many a local enjoyed a morning ritual of “coffee and Caen.” Herb Caen, the self described “Sackamenna Kid,” became the ultimate Mr. San Francisco and the master of “three-dot journalism.” With just a couple of short sentences, he could skewer the egos of socialites and politicos of every stripe. Many of his targets bore his darts as badges of honor. In fond memory of the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, here is a potpourri of political pratfalls.
*** We’re Number One! Now that Japan has lowered its corporate tax rate, the United States has the highest rate in the industrial world. So what’s it gonna be, America—lower the tax rates and simplify the tax codes or watch the unemployment rate go up and up and jobs go three strikes and out?
*** After years of denying his support, George Soros is out of the closet and into the open with his support of leftist Media Matters. Rather than funneling funding through Moveon.org, the Center for American Progress and closely related friends and organizations, he visibly dropped a cool one million dollars on Media Matters to “hold Fox News accountable.” That’s akin to Bill Maher holding the National Organization of Women accountable for “fair and balanced” representation of conservative women.
*** Not that there’s a media bias but why are they using five-year-old photographs of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin? Is it because the old mug shot of Zimmerman makes him appear more sinister and the early teen picture of Martin makes him appear nearly cherubic? While you seldom see more recent pictures of either, they tend to reverse the preferred storyline.
*** Ninety-three percent of the murders of black Americans are committed by other black Americans. Where’s the outrage?
*** Now that the federal government has taken charge of student loans, what about the twenty-seven percent of loans that are over thirty days past due? That’s a potential $270 billion in losses that working taxpayers could get stuck with. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the total student loan debt now exceeds ONE TRILLION dollars!
*** Last year, the Senate voted down the President’s budget by a 97-0 margin. This year, the House followed up with a 412-0 shutout. If the President can’t even get a Democrat to vote on his budget, why should he be trusted with another one-sixth of the economy via Obamacare? The Congressional Budget Office has already said Obamacare costs are double the original pie-in-the-sky projections.
*** How has the Republican Party managed to stay in existence if it only caters to the wealthy one percent? How can the Republican Party stay in existence if it is at “war on women,” who represent 51% of the voting population? Both liberal premises are foolish from the get-go!
*** Liberals say there’s no war on religion, however it’s curious that Stony Brook University in New York will no longer observe Christian and Jewish holidays. They even scheduled final exams on Saturday and Sunday. Moving hostility up a notch, England’s Equality Minister, Lynne Featherstone has ordered government lawyers to oppose Christians wearing a cross in the workplace. “Equality Minister”?
*** Speaking of hostility, the New Black Panther Party is at it again. They have put out a bounty of $10,000 on George Zimmerman. Then Chief of Staff (Hashim Nzinga) is arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm! Will Eric Holder’s Department of Justice ever investigate this obvious hate crime? Maybe the National Football League could give DOJ some lessons on dealing with bounties.
*** Leftist blogs plummeted to new lows in civility by wishing that Dick Cheney would die. Only slightly less civil were the television commentators querying whether or not he was “too old” for a transplant. This is the mentality that could easily end up on the death panel known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
*** Does the Party of No (Democrats!) ever intend to propose a budget? Do Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid even know how?
*** R.I.P., Mr. Caen.
“A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” Herb Caen
In bygone San Francisco, many a local enjoyed a morning ritual of “coffee and Caen.” Herb Caen, the self described “Sackamenna Kid,” became the ultimate Mr. San Francisco and the master of “three-dot journalism.” With just a couple of short sentences, he could skewer the egos of socialites and politicos of every stripe. Many of his targets bore his darts as badges of honor. In fond memory of the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, here is a potpourri of political pratfalls.
*** We’re Number One! Now that Japan has lowered its corporate tax rate, the United States has the highest rate in the industrial world. So what’s it gonna be, America—lower the tax rates and simplify the tax codes or watch the unemployment rate go up and up and jobs go three strikes and out?
*** After years of denying his support, George Soros is out of the closet and into the open with his support of leftist Media Matters. Rather than funneling funding through Moveon.org, the Center for American Progress and closely related friends and organizations, he visibly dropped a cool one million dollars on Media Matters to “hold Fox News accountable.” That’s akin to Bill Maher holding the National Organization of Women accountable for “fair and balanced” representation of conservative women.
*** Not that there’s a media bias but why are they using five-year-old photographs of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin? Is it because the old mug shot of Zimmerman makes him appear more sinister and the early teen picture of Martin makes him appear nearly cherubic? While you seldom see more recent pictures of either, they tend to reverse the preferred storyline.
*** Ninety-three percent of the murders of black Americans are committed by other black Americans. Where’s the outrage?
*** Now that the federal government has taken charge of student loans, what about the twenty-seven percent of loans that are over thirty days past due? That’s a potential $270 billion in losses that working taxpayers could get stuck with. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the total student loan debt now exceeds ONE TRILLION dollars!
*** Last year, the Senate voted down the President’s budget by a 97-0 margin. This year, the House followed up with a 412-0 shutout. If the President can’t even get a Democrat to vote on his budget, why should he be trusted with another one-sixth of the economy via Obamacare? The Congressional Budget Office has already said Obamacare costs are double the original pie-in-the-sky projections.
*** How has the Republican Party managed to stay in existence if it only caters to the wealthy one percent? How can the Republican Party stay in existence if it is at “war on women,” who represent 51% of the voting population? Both liberal premises are foolish from the get-go!
*** Liberals say there’s no war on religion, however it’s curious that Stony Brook University in New York will no longer observe Christian and Jewish holidays. They even scheduled final exams on Saturday and Sunday. Moving hostility up a notch, England’s Equality Minister, Lynne Featherstone has ordered government lawyers to oppose Christians wearing a cross in the workplace. “Equality Minister”?
*** Speaking of hostility, the New Black Panther Party is at it again. They have put out a bounty of $10,000 on George Zimmerman. Then Chief of Staff (Hashim Nzinga) is arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm! Will Eric Holder’s Department of Justice ever investigate this obvious hate crime? Maybe the National Football League could give DOJ some lessons on dealing with bounties.
*** Leftist blogs plummeted to new lows in civility by wishing that Dick Cheney would die. Only slightly less civil were the television commentators querying whether or not he was “too old” for a transplant. This is the mentality that could easily end up on the death panel known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
*** Does the Party of No (Democrats!) ever intend to propose a budget? Do Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid even know how?
*** R.I.P., Mr. Caen.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Singing the Blues ‘Cuz I’m in the Red!
By William L. Garvin
If the Blue (Democrat) states are any indication of how things will go if Democrats retain the presidency and control of the Senate, there is no economic hope. Take California, one of the bluesiest of blue states, as an example. The Legislative Analyst’s Office reports that it expects tax revenues to come in at $6.5 billion less than Governor Brown’s 2012-2013 budget. Keep in mind that the Governor already projected a $9.2 billion deficit! That means the Golden State is even worse off than the U.S. Postal Service which is only pegged to be $14.1 billion in the red this year.
Compared to last year, California’s tax revenues in February shrunk by over $1.2 billion. This disaster is double the shocking $535 million decline for the preceding January. Maybe it has to do with the number of companies that are moving people, jobs, and headquarters to other states. Spectrum Locations Consultants observed 254 California companies moving some or all of their work, jobs, or headquarters out of state in 2011. This is 26 percent more than in 2010 and five times as much as in 2009. According to SLC President Joe Vranich, the “top 10 reasons companies are leaving California” include the State being “increasingly adversarial toward business, uncontrollable public spending, unfriendly business climate, expensive business locations, unfriendly legal environment, worst regulatory burden, severe tax treatment, and unprecedented energy costs.”
The pace is accelerating, Vranich said. An average of 4.9 businesses left California each week of 2011, compared to 3.9 per week (202 total) in 2010 and one a week (51 total) in 2009. As far as energy costs go, PG&E must by state fiat raise the percentage of electricity purchases they make from renewable sources from twenty percent to thirty percent. Since electricity from the “not ready for prime time renewable energy players” is many times more expensive than coal, gas, or nuclear, you can expect a massive jump in your energy bills very soon.
This of course fits perfectly into President Obama’s vision. In case you’ve forgotten, President Obama is on record as saying: “I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, natural gas, you name it—whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers under my plan of a cap-and-trade system. Electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Questioned as to why he would not explicitly ban coal-fired power plants, Obama responded, “If somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them.”
Apparently the President intends to make all the same mistakes that California has, only on a national scale. Expect businesses to continue to flee this country (just as they are fleeing California) as government central planning strangles the fifty percent of taxpayers who subsidize the other fifty percent. Many of the ungrateful latter are demanding more and more while contributing less and less.
Why would any sane person support such a disastrous agenda? Maybe it’s not entirely coincidental when USA Today reports that 1 in 8 voter records are flawed. “More than 24 million voter-registration records in the United States—about one in eight—are inaccurate, out-of-date or duplicates. Nearly 2.8 million people are registered in two or more states, and perhaps 1.8 million registered voters are dead.” Later on they note “In Wood County Ohio, home of Bowling Green State University, there are 106% as many registered voters as there were people in the 2010 census.” The census includes every man, woman and child. No one can explain it.
Maybe it’s not coincidental that the President’s Attorney General Eric Holder is blocking voter identification laws in South Carolina and Texas. Thirty states already have voter identification requirements. Two are trying. Maybe it’s not coincidental that Holder’s blocks are the first in twenty years. Maybe it’s not coincidental that the NAACP is taking the issue to the United Nations human Rights Council where Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia will review our processes from their lofty status as human rights champions. The idea that voter id is “human rights abuse” is absolutely ludicrous but it’s increasingly popular in blue fraud circles.
If the Blue (Democrat) states are any indication of how things will go if Democrats retain the presidency and control of the Senate, there is no economic hope. Take California, one of the bluesiest of blue states, as an example. The Legislative Analyst’s Office reports that it expects tax revenues to come in at $6.5 billion less than Governor Brown’s 2012-2013 budget. Keep in mind that the Governor already projected a $9.2 billion deficit! That means the Golden State is even worse off than the U.S. Postal Service which is only pegged to be $14.1 billion in the red this year.
Compared to last year, California’s tax revenues in February shrunk by over $1.2 billion. This disaster is double the shocking $535 million decline for the preceding January. Maybe it has to do with the number of companies that are moving people, jobs, and headquarters to other states. Spectrum Locations Consultants observed 254 California companies moving some or all of their work, jobs, or headquarters out of state in 2011. This is 26 percent more than in 2010 and five times as much as in 2009. According to SLC President Joe Vranich, the “top 10 reasons companies are leaving California” include the State being “increasingly adversarial toward business, uncontrollable public spending, unfriendly business climate, expensive business locations, unfriendly legal environment, worst regulatory burden, severe tax treatment, and unprecedented energy costs.”
The pace is accelerating, Vranich said. An average of 4.9 businesses left California each week of 2011, compared to 3.9 per week (202 total) in 2010 and one a week (51 total) in 2009. As far as energy costs go, PG&E must by state fiat raise the percentage of electricity purchases they make from renewable sources from twenty percent to thirty percent. Since electricity from the “not ready for prime time renewable energy players” is many times more expensive than coal, gas, or nuclear, you can expect a massive jump in your energy bills very soon.
This of course fits perfectly into President Obama’s vision. In case you’ve forgotten, President Obama is on record as saying: “I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, natural gas, you name it—whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers under my plan of a cap-and-trade system. Electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Questioned as to why he would not explicitly ban coal-fired power plants, Obama responded, “If somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them.”
Apparently the President intends to make all the same mistakes that California has, only on a national scale. Expect businesses to continue to flee this country (just as they are fleeing California) as government central planning strangles the fifty percent of taxpayers who subsidize the other fifty percent. Many of the ungrateful latter are demanding more and more while contributing less and less.
Why would any sane person support such a disastrous agenda? Maybe it’s not entirely coincidental when USA Today reports that 1 in 8 voter records are flawed. “More than 24 million voter-registration records in the United States—about one in eight—are inaccurate, out-of-date or duplicates. Nearly 2.8 million people are registered in two or more states, and perhaps 1.8 million registered voters are dead.” Later on they note “In Wood County Ohio, home of Bowling Green State University, there are 106% as many registered voters as there were people in the 2010 census.” The census includes every man, woman and child. No one can explain it.
Maybe it’s not coincidental that the President’s Attorney General Eric Holder is blocking voter identification laws in South Carolina and Texas. Thirty states already have voter identification requirements. Two are trying. Maybe it’s not coincidental that Holder’s blocks are the first in twenty years. Maybe it’s not coincidental that the NAACP is taking the issue to the United Nations human Rights Council where Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia will review our processes from their lofty status as human rights champions. The idea that voter id is “human rights abuse” is absolutely ludicrous but it’s increasingly popular in blue fraud circles.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Teachable Moments for VERY Slow Learners
By William L. Garvin
It appears as if the left got more than they bargained for when they teed off on Rush Limbaugh for his comments about Sandra Fluke. While they had every right to be upset, it ended up spotlighting their “double standard” and bringing their hypocrisy into full public view. That isn’t another tornado touching down, that’s just the radical left in full media spin trying to cover their duplicitous tracks.
It’s quite comical watching the card carrying corps of Kool-Ade quaffers trying to deflect attention from the economic failures of this Administration. After all, it is this President’s policies that have already bloated the federal debt from $10.6 trillion to $15.5 trillion with no “silver bullet” on the horizon. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just said the promised ObamaCare cost of $900 million will easily balloon to $1.76 trillion and the President’s policies will add several additional trillions to the debt! The latest ABC/NY Times poll showed more people disapproving than approving of the President overall and in every single area—the economy, the deficit, gasoline prices, energy, and even his incomprehensible foreign policy. Please explain the “Obama Doctrine.” You can’t.
Also remember that it‘s this Administration’s “war on women” that cut $500 billion from Medicare and Medicaid and wanted to restrict mammograms. It‘s this Administration’s proposal to increase health care costs for active duty and retired military veterans. It‘s this Administration’s policy to throw countless taxpayer millions down a green energy sinkhole populated by campaign bundlers. It‘s this Administration’s policies that resulted in more than one million workers dropping out of the labor force last month. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics only recorded a 63.7% civilian labor force participation rate--a 30-year low! Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts (in a January report) that unemployment will likely increase not only this year but also in 2013. However, their “wag the dog” strategy, their smoke and mirrors, their red herrings, their “nothing up my sleeve” attempts at prestidigitation have failed miserably.
Every rational brain knew that Sandra Fluke was totally unqualified to testify on church-state issues. Her self-indulgent testimony before the flim-flam hearing concocted by Nancy Pelosi resulted in unintended consequences. Sure Limbaugh was wrong but the liberal “outrage” only served to remind everyone of the vile, vicious, and obscene slurs the liberal left continually hurled at Sarah Palin and other conservative women. These newly sensitized protectorates of womanhood were thunderously silent when Bill Maher, the equally foul mouthed Louis C.K., and Letterman voiced their adolescent angst in their crude pre-pubescent “jokes.” By any standard of moral decency, these “men” represented the lowest of the low. Yet the leadership of N.O.W. stood silent. Pelosi stood silent. Reid stood silent. President Obama stood silent. When it’s one of their own, suddenly they are brave new warriors. Their blatant hypocrisy backfired and the President’s poll numbers continue to fall. That’s why he MUST continue his full-time fundraising (on the taxpayers’ dime!). That’s why he doesn’t return the million dollar donation of the supercilious Maher’s “dirty money.”
Kirsten Powers is one of the few Democrats that gets it. She wrote in her Daily Beast column: “Did you know there is a war on women? Yes, it’s true. Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Matt Taibbi, and Ed Schultz have been waging it for years with their misogynist outbursts. There have been boycotts by people on the left who are outraged that these guys still have jobs. Oh, wait. Sorry, that never happened.” She went on to observe that “After all, if Limbaugh’s outburst is part of the “war on women,” then what is the routine misogyny of liberal media men?...It’s time for some equal-opportunity accountability.”
David Axelrod, the President’s Chicago mouthpiece, did cancel his appearance on Maher’s propaganda program and the Radio and Television Correspondents have dropped Louis C.K as their dinner’s featured speaker. However, the Alabama Democratic Party still scheduled the misogynistic Maher for a fundraiser. So much for Democrats being leaders in civility. So much for setting the example and the record straight. It could have been a teachable moment but some people are just too dumb to learn.
It appears as if the left got more than they bargained for when they teed off on Rush Limbaugh for his comments about Sandra Fluke. While they had every right to be upset, it ended up spotlighting their “double standard” and bringing their hypocrisy into full public view. That isn’t another tornado touching down, that’s just the radical left in full media spin trying to cover their duplicitous tracks.
It’s quite comical watching the card carrying corps of Kool-Ade quaffers trying to deflect attention from the economic failures of this Administration. After all, it is this President’s policies that have already bloated the federal debt from $10.6 trillion to $15.5 trillion with no “silver bullet” on the horizon. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just said the promised ObamaCare cost of $900 million will easily balloon to $1.76 trillion and the President’s policies will add several additional trillions to the debt! The latest ABC/NY Times poll showed more people disapproving than approving of the President overall and in every single area—the economy, the deficit, gasoline prices, energy, and even his incomprehensible foreign policy. Please explain the “Obama Doctrine.” You can’t.
Also remember that it‘s this Administration’s “war on women” that cut $500 billion from Medicare and Medicaid and wanted to restrict mammograms. It‘s this Administration’s proposal to increase health care costs for active duty and retired military veterans. It‘s this Administration’s policy to throw countless taxpayer millions down a green energy sinkhole populated by campaign bundlers. It‘s this Administration’s policies that resulted in more than one million workers dropping out of the labor force last month. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics only recorded a 63.7% civilian labor force participation rate--a 30-year low! Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts (in a January report) that unemployment will likely increase not only this year but also in 2013. However, their “wag the dog” strategy, their smoke and mirrors, their red herrings, their “nothing up my sleeve” attempts at prestidigitation have failed miserably.
Every rational brain knew that Sandra Fluke was totally unqualified to testify on church-state issues. Her self-indulgent testimony before the flim-flam hearing concocted by Nancy Pelosi resulted in unintended consequences. Sure Limbaugh was wrong but the liberal “outrage” only served to remind everyone of the vile, vicious, and obscene slurs the liberal left continually hurled at Sarah Palin and other conservative women. These newly sensitized protectorates of womanhood were thunderously silent when Bill Maher, the equally foul mouthed Louis C.K., and Letterman voiced their adolescent angst in their crude pre-pubescent “jokes.” By any standard of moral decency, these “men” represented the lowest of the low. Yet the leadership of N.O.W. stood silent. Pelosi stood silent. Reid stood silent. President Obama stood silent. When it’s one of their own, suddenly they are brave new warriors. Their blatant hypocrisy backfired and the President’s poll numbers continue to fall. That’s why he MUST continue his full-time fundraising (on the taxpayers’ dime!). That’s why he doesn’t return the million dollar donation of the supercilious Maher’s “dirty money.”
Kirsten Powers is one of the few Democrats that gets it. She wrote in her Daily Beast column: “Did you know there is a war on women? Yes, it’s true. Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Matt Taibbi, and Ed Schultz have been waging it for years with their misogynist outbursts. There have been boycotts by people on the left who are outraged that these guys still have jobs. Oh, wait. Sorry, that never happened.” She went on to observe that “After all, if Limbaugh’s outburst is part of the “war on women,” then what is the routine misogyny of liberal media men?...It’s time for some equal-opportunity accountability.”
David Axelrod, the President’s Chicago mouthpiece, did cancel his appearance on Maher’s propaganda program and the Radio and Television Correspondents have dropped Louis C.K as their dinner’s featured speaker. However, the Alabama Democratic Party still scheduled the misogynistic Maher for a fundraiser. So much for Democrats being leaders in civility. So much for setting the example and the record straight. It could have been a teachable moment but some people are just too dumb to learn.
Monday, March 12, 2012
It Doesn’t Add Up
By William L. Garvin
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
President Obama has obviously flip-flopped from Senator Obama. After introducing over one hundred new spending programs, the President just presided over the largest single month deficit in United States history. In February alone, the $229 BILLION deficit pushed the national debt to $15.5 TRILLION! Pay attention to the contradictions between his words and his actions. They don’t add up.
Recently, the President said “Now, because of these new standards for cars and trucks, they’re all going to be able to go further and use less fuel every year. And that means pretty soon you’ll be able to fill up your car every two weeks instead of every week. Over time, that saves you, a typical family, about $8,000 a year.” For analysis, let’s use a gasoline price of $4.00 per gallon. That means you would be saving 2,000 gallons per year which means you are currently using 4,000 gallons per year. Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute say the average fuel economy of cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in February was 23.7 miles per gallon. While the average family drives 15,000 miles per year, President Obama’s fictional family must drive 80,000 miles per year at 40 mpg to achieve his savings. It doesn’t add up.
President Obama spoke in Cleveland about ObamaCare: "Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent, which means they could give you a raise." A White House press spokesman later said the president meant to say annual premiums would drop by $3,000. However, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that health care premiums INCREASED in 2011 by nine percent. Again, it doesn’t add up.
Additionally, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid requested $30 million from the President’s campaign fund, the same amount they received in 2008 and 2010 to elect key Democrats. Despite having held over one hundred mega-fundraisers, the President said no. Plus, neither he nor VP Biden is scheduled at fundraisers for any congressional candidate. Once again, things just don’t add up.
Then there’s Nancy Pelosi staging Sandra Fluke and her preposterous contention that birth control pills could cost “$3,000 over three years of law school.” WalMart, Kroger, and Target advertise the pills for $9.00 per month. Even the outside number presented by Planned Parenthood is $50.00 per month. Apparently they don’t teach math at Georgetown Law School. That may account for the former president of the “Law Students for Reproductive Justice” stupendous mathematical “misrepresentation.” It just doesn’t add up. Rushing to her defense was HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception.” She also said the estimated cost is “down not up.” China’s one-child policy would be even more cost effective wouldn’t it, Madame Secretary? So would fifty million abortions. It doesn’t add up.
Comically, Consumer Reports doled out $107,850 to test the highly taxpayer subsidized Fisker Karma. Unfortunately, the “all show and no go” vehicle completely broke down and couldn’t even complete the testing process. That certainly didn’t add up. Since the Department of Energy keeps on giving, take a look at the “L Prize.” This was a $10 million award recently presented by Secretary Steven Chu for a “green” light bulb that is “affordable for American families.” Phillips received the award for an LED bulb that costs FIFTY dollars! There are already LED bulbs on the market for nearly half the price. Nothing adds up unless it’s in the liberal “new math” world that continues to squander your money.
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
President Obama has obviously flip-flopped from Senator Obama. After introducing over one hundred new spending programs, the President just presided over the largest single month deficit in United States history. In February alone, the $229 BILLION deficit pushed the national debt to $15.5 TRILLION! Pay attention to the contradictions between his words and his actions. They don’t add up.
Recently, the President said “Now, because of these new standards for cars and trucks, they’re all going to be able to go further and use less fuel every year. And that means pretty soon you’ll be able to fill up your car every two weeks instead of every week. Over time, that saves you, a typical family, about $8,000 a year.” For analysis, let’s use a gasoline price of $4.00 per gallon. That means you would be saving 2,000 gallons per year which means you are currently using 4,000 gallons per year. Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute say the average fuel economy of cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in February was 23.7 miles per gallon. While the average family drives 15,000 miles per year, President Obama’s fictional family must drive 80,000 miles per year at 40 mpg to achieve his savings. It doesn’t add up.
President Obama spoke in Cleveland about ObamaCare: "Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent, which means they could give you a raise." A White House press spokesman later said the president meant to say annual premiums would drop by $3,000. However, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that health care premiums INCREASED in 2011 by nine percent. Again, it doesn’t add up.
Additionally, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid requested $30 million from the President’s campaign fund, the same amount they received in 2008 and 2010 to elect key Democrats. Despite having held over one hundred mega-fundraisers, the President said no. Plus, neither he nor VP Biden is scheduled at fundraisers for any congressional candidate. Once again, things just don’t add up.
Then there’s Nancy Pelosi staging Sandra Fluke and her preposterous contention that birth control pills could cost “$3,000 over three years of law school.” WalMart, Kroger, and Target advertise the pills for $9.00 per month. Even the outside number presented by Planned Parenthood is $50.00 per month. Apparently they don’t teach math at Georgetown Law School. That may account for the former president of the “Law Students for Reproductive Justice” stupendous mathematical “misrepresentation.” It just doesn’t add up. Rushing to her defense was HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception.” She also said the estimated cost is “down not up.” China’s one-child policy would be even more cost effective wouldn’t it, Madame Secretary? So would fifty million abortions. It doesn’t add up.
Comically, Consumer Reports doled out $107,850 to test the highly taxpayer subsidized Fisker Karma. Unfortunately, the “all show and no go” vehicle completely broke down and couldn’t even complete the testing process. That certainly didn’t add up. Since the Department of Energy keeps on giving, take a look at the “L Prize.” This was a $10 million award recently presented by Secretary Steven Chu for a “green” light bulb that is “affordable for American families.” Phillips received the award for an LED bulb that costs FIFTY dollars! There are already LED bulbs on the market for nearly half the price. Nothing adds up unless it’s in the liberal “new math” world that continues to squander your money.
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