Food Police or Snow Removal?

2011 will be called the Year of Austerity. Spending with abandon is now oh so passé. Belt tightening, both for girth and fiscal management, is de rigueur. Thank God for the French!!

The question that all levels of government is going to have to face is just what is it government is supposed to do? President Obama, and those of his ilk, think social engineering should be at the top of the list. That idea goes in and out of favor. Beginning midterm of the Bush administration, it was in favor. States like California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and even Ohio expanded the role of state and local government way to unheard limits. And now it has bitten them on the ass!!!! And now I hope that all of you are learning a hard lesson.

Two stories jumped out at me this past week. The first had to do with New York City’s snow removal debacle. Mayor Bloomberg, who has more money than God in his own right (Bloomberg TV??) went on a holy crusade to clean his perception of New York’s ills. First, he went after trans-fats, and hired public employees to enforce trans-fat limits in food. New York restaurants are now required to post all sorts of stuff relating to fat content, sodium content, and trans-fat content. Of course, enforcement of these rules takes public employees. Then, he goes after salt. He actually tried requiring restaurants to take salt shakers off of tables in addition to them meeting sodium requirements in their food.

Is he nuts? Well, he got a big kick in the derriere (there goes those French again) this past week when a blizzard dumped snow on New York City when the snow reached derriere levels, grinding the city to a halt. And you know what? They didn’t have enough road crews to clear the street and people died. Bloomberg claims the unions slowed the work down in protest of layoffs. The unions claim Bloomberg deliberately delayed plowing the streets in an effort to save on overtime.

Notwithstanding, I am sure the money Bloomberg spent on the food police could better have been spent on city maintenance workers. What is wrong with him? First and foremost, citizens of a city expect three things: pot hole patrols, snow removal, and trash removal. The city is responsible for essential services, not trans-fat/calorie/sodium monitoring. And now Bloomberg will pay the price. He won’t be the first mayor to lose his job over snow removal. Just ask some of the mayors of Chicago. And he gets exactly what he deserves. Before you go out social engineering, take care of essential business first!!

Story number 2 has to do with the Boston School System, which just closed ten schools because of budget concerns. Yet it continues to provide extraordinary perks to its teachers’ union. Included are free legal services for basic wills, house sales and the like. It also provides for funeral assistance and picks up the cost of a soft ball league. All of this largesse will cost the school system $8.4 million placed into a “trust fund” while the school system has a $64 million deficit. Teachers respond that this was agreed to in 1968 in lieu of a salary increase. Of course, now it has both the perks and the salary increases…not to mention standard health care benefits way beyond what the average American gets. The City response is “It’s time to rethink this!” Do ya think?

Folks, the priorities of government are out of whack, and if not fixed, will cripple this country for the next 100 years. I think it is time to get rid of Mayor Bloomberg, and time for a new school board in Boston…one with some cajones. (That’s not French…that’s Spanish!!!)

The 111th Congress - Good Riddance

It is a sad state of affairs in Washington. While us grunts go about our lives of quiet desperation trying to put together a living, those over bloated, over paid, self centered, ideological idiots in Washington are sticking it to us once again. This time, in addition to a most disgusting display around the tax hike compromise, the lame duck Democratic Congress is attempting to pass another $1 trillion dollar omnibus (what a great word) spending bill dressed in a 2000 page document filled with thousands upon thousands of earmarks which nobody has read. Just like the fiasco health bill, they will shove this one down our throats on Christmas Eve as well. Shame on them!

The 111th Congress will go down as one of the worst in American history. It has been ripe with histrionics, lies, concealments, out of control spending, and a complete disregard for the taxpayers and our liberties. They have behaved like a crook with a stolen credit card. It can’t end soon enough for me. How can these people go home and sleep at night? Are they tone deaf? No. They just have no regard for the hoy ploy that pays their outrageous salaries and benefits.

In addition to the financial fiascos, Congress is addressing periphery issues like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the Dream Act, the Start Treaty….all items which could have, and should have, been addressed earlier. Instead of acting responsibly, the Democratic led Congress decided to do these things during the Christmas holiday, when the members’ unpopular views can be implemented while the rest of America is distracted with Ho Ho.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve the problems with Congress is a complete revamping of how they do business. If it has to be done by a grass roots movement to amend the Constitution, so be it. These folks have placed themselves in a world so far out of reality that this may be the only way to get their attention. Here is what I would like to see:

1) Term Limits: 12 years in the House or the Senate is enough. I didn’t vote for Nancy Pelosi, and I am sure her constituency didn’t vote for Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker. These set for life power hungry narcissistic politicos have to be turned over on a regular basis in order to prevent an over concentration of power and a feeling of self importance way beyond the needs and desires if their constituents.

2) Health Insurance: Congress and all government employees should be subject to the same rules and access as the rest of us relating to their health care plan. Costs and benefits should not exceed those of the average American citizen.

3) Salaries: Salaries for all government workers, including member of Congress, should be based on the average salary of the American worker…no more and no less. Increases in salary should be pegged to inflation, and not be subject to Congressional whims of fancy and self grandeur.

4) Perks: No excessive perks. Nancy Pelosi did not need her own government jet. I hope she enjoys flying Coach…and getting the TSA pat down.

5) Disclosure of Net Worth: If the net worth of any member of Congress increases more than 10% over the course of his/her term, it should be disclosed. Have you ever seen a Congressman leave office poor…on a civil servants salary….serving the public?

When will America say enough? Now is the time.

Will the Real President of the United States Please Stand Up!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s President Obama. No…wait!! It’s President Clinton. No…it’s President Obama. Will the real President of the United States please stand up?

I came home early from work yesterday and turned on the television. What to my wandering eyes did appear but a news conference featuring Barack Obama and Bill Clinton trying to do a hard sell job to the hard Democratic left wing whack-a-doodles on why they should approve the Obama deal with Republicans extending the Bush tax cuts another two years.

I thought how nice. I am a believer that ex-presidents should serve some function in their post presidential lives. After all, we pay them beaucoup bucks. First Obama talked. Then Clinton talked. Such kum bah yah moments are few and far between. But then…in a twinkling…Obama said Michelle has been waiting for a half hour and he had to go. He basically told Bill Clinton to stay and handle it. Off Barry goes to a Christmas party, leaving the former President to stave off those wishing to derail legislation preventing the most massive tax hike in American history.

Watching the news this morning, I am still trying to process this picture. There was Bill Clinton standing in front of the Presidential Seal doing what Barack Obama should be doing. I understand that nobody can do a snow…I mean sales…job like Bill Clinton. But Barry, you are the President. You are the Commander in Chief, not the partier in chief.

This only goes to confirm what I heard a White House insider say a few weeks ago. He said Barack Obama is a slacker, who really dislikes the mundane workings of government preferring a game of basketball or watching ESPN. He takes delegating to a new level, believing he is too intellectually superior to have to deal with the boring tasks of governing. He would rather pontificate grand ideas while letting the minions, including a former president, do the scut work.

Now we know why Obama was so angry about at his angry news conference last week. He actually had to do something presidential. He can’t delegate to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid when they are the object of his ire. So he found someone else…Bill Clinton. More troubling is that this isn't the first time. Everytime the going gets tough, the tough get going; except it is never Obama. It is always Clinton. This is getting to be a bad, and somewhat disturbing, habit. People talked about the lack of experience of Sarah Palin. Obama had even less when he was elected, and it is beginning show big time.

Talk radio will debate this debacle for the next few weeks. But at the end of the day, it makes Barack Obama look weak. He’s partying while Clinton is taking care of business. It’s going to be a long two years until the 2012 election. By the way, my wife made a comment while watching the news reports. Where is Hillary in all of this? Mmmmmm? Just sayin'!!!

Political Chaos

Each week it becomes more apparent that the United States is becoming a nation in chaos. It is adrift with a captain with little experience, minimal knowledge, and no inclination to fix what needs to be fixed. The latest example is handling of the looming tax increase after January 1 if the Bush era tax cuts aren’t restored. It will be a financial disaster for the country, but the Democrats in charge…even against the advice of many in their party…have taken an ideological, class warfare position, the consequences be damned. Obama’s tirade of a news conference on Tuesday afternoon shows that although he understands the problem, his political acumen in resolving the issue is non-existent. Who’d of thought?

But it just isn’t the tax thing. Our country’s foreign policy and relationships with the rest of the world is in shambles after the WikiLeaks revelations. Obama has been immobilized. He still can’t figure out how to vote present on this one. Julian Assange belongs in jail for espionage, but he and Eric Holder just bring themselves to do it.

Chaos is growing along the Mexican border as the drug cartels take control of the country. A fourteen year old boy has been arrested for beheading three or four people over the past year. Maybe it hasn’t crossed over to the United States yet, but it is only a matter of time. Obama needs to address the illegals question now…and he ideologically can’t bring himself to do it.

Rather than deal with the tax issue, or the WikiLeaks issue, or the illegal issue, the Democratic Congress is tra-la-la-ing its way through things like the Dream Act, which gives resident status to children of illegal immigrants who have gone to school here in the states for a certain period of time. It is concerned with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. It is concerned with the Start Treaty...ideological issues all. But those things don’t do a thing for you and for me.

I am still hoping that Barack Obama can live up to his promise of being a uniter instead of divider; of being a post partisan President. Calling Republicans “hostage takers” in a press conference more geared to the deterioration within his own party is not a good start. My hope is fading. But this is just the beginning of the new political reality in Washington. We will see what happens.

Nooks and Crannies

This past week I paid a visit to Barnes and Nobel to buy a Christmas present for a family member who was visiting from out of town. I do most of my shopping online these days, and it had been over a year since I had been there.

The first thing that greeted me when I walked through the door was a massive display for the Nook. For those of you who belong to the technological unintelligensia, a Nook is the B&N equivalent to the Amazon Kindle, which is a poor man’s version of the IPad and the newly released Samsung Galaxy. All of these are different grades of a new computing class of machines called e-readers or pads. These are thin, hand held devices that are cross between a computer and a smart phone.

The low end Kindle and Nook are primarily used to buy and download books from either Amazon or B&N, along with newspapers and magazines. Most cost under $200.00. I know people who absolutely love them.

At the other end are the spectrum is Apple’s I-Pad and Samsung’s Droid based Galaxy. These are much more sophisticated and can almost do anything a computer can do, but in a hand held configuration. They are amazing machines. Prices for these: $300.00 ranging up to $900.00. The Nook has a new color version out that is closer to the upper end devices, but only has a wifi connection…no G connection. Keeps the cost right around $280.00.

All of these devices connect to the internet either through a wifi connection (you need a hot spot) or through a 3 or 4 G connection, which means you can access the internet from anywhere. Kindle and Nook connects you to a 3G connection for free. The limited purpose of their product allows them to do that. They are used primarily to download books and newspapers which involves minimum data flow.

The I-Pad and Galaxy, on the other hand, use the connections much more, and will charge a monthly fee for the G connection based on usage. These units also have a wifi card to allow the user to use the G connection only when necessary, like if you were stuck in a car in the middle of the Sahara and wanted to download Madame Bovary, thus keeping down the cost. You can adjust your G access cost from nothing to maximum by the month, depending on how you intend to use the device during that month.

It is complicated, and that is exactly the point. B&N used to be a refuge. People would go there to browse the books, get a cup of coffee, or go back to the CD room and listen to music samples to see if you wanted to spring the fifteen bucks for the tunes. Now…well it’s not really like Best Buy, but I hate to see books reduced to a computer screen. It almost seems like they are using the store to sell the gizmo that will put the store out of business. And instead of relaxing, you have to figure out more of that technology stuff.

Which one should you buy? More than ever, you need to know what you want to use it for. If you don’t, you will end up buying way more machine than you need, or under buy after you get the hang of it and wish it could do more.

If your intent is to buy books at discounted rates on line, download them at home onto your device, then go to the beach to read them…the Kindle or Nook are for you. The screen looks like a page of the book, and shows up well in direct sunlight as well as being easy on the eyes. No color here. The screens are top lit black and white and work well in the daylight. Access to your email account and limited internet usage is included.

If, on the other hand, you like color razzle/dazzle and like to watch videos and play games and look at colorful magazines in addition to downloading books, then look into I-Pad or Galaxy. They do amazing things, but if you don’t need those amazing things, save your money. I use the amazing things, and am leaning toward the Galaxy for a whole lot of reasons. But it is pricey and has only been on the market for a few weeks. I am going to wait until next year for the next generation after they get the bugs out. These screens are backlit, like a computer screen, and tend to be difficult to read in the sunshine. Such are the tradeoffs.

I felt bad when I left the store today. On the plus side, progress is great. I have downloaded the Kindle program onto my mini net book computer at home to get me through until I decide on which pad to buy. It works great, and beats paying thirty bucks for the book itself. I downloaded George Bush’s book and have enjoyed reading it.

On the other hand, it just isn’t the same. They were playing the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas over the store sound system. The world has changed a lot since Charlie Brown first set out to find the needy Christmas tree and discover the true meaning of the holiday. Are the new pad devices technological marvels making our lives better; or would we be better off keeping the lowly Christmas tree? That's a call for you to make. Nevertheless, it makes me sad...and makes me rant.

TSA: Genitals on Parade

I think the safest way for all Americans to fly would be to strip before entering the plane, and wear TSA robes…after a full body cavity search. Folks, that is about where we are at. Just because the technology exists to take graphic x-rays of your body doesn’t make it right. When Barack Obama got elected, I wondered just how much freedom America would be willing to give up in the grandiose government controlled scheme of things. Now we know that a good portion of Americans don’t mind being seen naked in a picture. By the way, the picture to the left is what they see. If it makes you uncomfortable, then you know what I mean.

I wouldn’t mind it so much if there weren’t other means available to do what needs to be done…like profiling. Every one brushes aside the example of the insanity of searching an African from Nigeria while looking for Irish Republican Army terrorists. But this is exactly what this is. In some bizarre twist of logic, we are willing to show the genitals of ourselves, our family, our parents, our children…in order not to hurt the feelings of young Muslim males with one way tickets flying from Yemen!!

Liberals pontificate that profiling doesn’t work, like it is the 11th commandment. Everybody knows that. It’s a given. No, I don’t think so. Just look the Israelis who haven’t had a plane hijacked in years and years. Feeling up a blond haired, blue eyed Scandinavian five year old little girl does not increase our security one bit, and I defy anyone to tell me how it does.

Over the years we have subjected ourselves to cameras everywhere, drunk driving checks, and GPS systems installed on our car. Our internet activities are categorized and traced. Our telephones and credit cards are available for the world to see. Our health care records are being compiled and stored. And now we are allowing ourselves to be photographed naked in an airport; all in the name of security based on political correctness rather than common sense necessity.

In all of this, our constitution is lost. Whatever happened to unreasonable search and seizure? And while we are being groped and patted down and ogled at the airports, illegals are streaming across the border by the thousands, attending our schools, getting instate tuition…but they aren’t a threat. No, not at all! Worse, the government is suing the states trying to stop it.

Just for the record. Profiling is absolutely justifiable under the constitution. Courts continuously weigh competing rights to develope a legal basis for compelling public policy. Think shouting fire in a crowded theater. No rights are absolute. It depends on how the argument is framed.

So I ask you, pit my right to privacy and protections against unreasonable search and seizure (having my genitals displayed on a screen in an airport) against those opposing criminal profiling because someone's feelings might get hurt. Which is the better public policy position? Does the governmnet really have a compelling interest to feel up someone with an artificial knee?

If we continue down this absurd path instead of using common sense…we can tear up the Constitution. This is the face of illogical, bureaucratic, big brother liberalism. It is an ugly face, a dehumanizing face. The searches they are doing now would not have stopped 9/11, and most experts say would not have stopped the underwear bomber...who was a young muslim male, not granny in a wheelchair. Wake up America.

Quantitative Easing Explained - The Video

Just a fast comment on the TSA: name just one incident that TSA has stopped with pat downs or the invasive xrays. There aren't any. All of the near misses that were caught these past two years were based in intelligence, and the perp bypassed all screening. These intrusive, and unconstitutional invasions of our privacy are rooted in political correctness, not in any proof they do any good, or they actually work. No one should be subject to what is, for all intents and purposes, a stip search before boarding a plane, when more sensible and effective means are available to solve the problem. Grandma in a wheelchair won't have bomb. Once again, liberalism leads to slavery.

Sometimes a picture or video can do the job better than any written explanation. A friend of mine sent me this explanation of Quantitative Easing. It nails it.

The Letter the Vindicator Wouldn't Print

The Vindicator
Letters to the Editor

Sir:

Once again, Bertram De Souza’s ramble on the state of politics in Mahoning County can’t abide without comment. In his column “What Are Voters Thinking?” he once again attacks the quality of Republican Party candidates specifically referencing the Republican candidate for Auditor, Tracey Winbush. He should be ashamed of himself.

1) In what way was Tracey Winbush unqualified to be Auditor? In a previous column, he made much of her not having a college degree in accounting or law. As a lawyer, I can tell you my most successful clients don’t have college degrees, graduating instead from the School of Hard Knocks. Perhaps Bertram should do us a favor and review which of our elected public officials do or don’t have college degrees, and amend previous Vindicator endorsements accordingly. As Chairman Munroe so aptly pointed out in his letter after De Souza’s last rant, the prisons are littered with “qualified” college graduates from this area. Tracey is a business woman, has actually taken numerous college level courses, is an active Rotarian, sits on numerous area boards, is a community activist, a hard worker, a fast learner, and honest. What do you see in her, Bertram, that makes her unqualified?

2) The local Republican Party fielded some great candidates this past election, and the Vindicator chose to ignore all of them. Matt Lewis and Mike Pestian ran outstanding campaigns for State Senator and the 59th State Rep District with little resources against all odds. I was close to the Pestian campaign. He knocked on over 10,500 doors meeting the constituents. He is a successful businessman, a good family man with a great personality, and a relentless campaigner. He reached out to local teacher unions and attended other local union events not normally frequented by Republicans. Both of these campaigns were managed by a group of Young Republicans who spent countless hours doing the drudge work to make them viable. Yet the Vindicator gave absolutely NO coverage to these guys notwithstanding numerous attempts to bring attention to their efforts, qualifications and issues…not five words. So Bertram, don’t you and your paper dare complain about the lack of qualified Republican candidates and the lack of new young local political activists when they are right there in front of your face and you deliberately choose not to see them. How about getting up from your desk, talk to some of these folks about what is going on in this area, and do some actual reporting instead of pontificating?

3) Finally, a word to those Republicans at all levels of the party, who donate money on a regular basis to Democratic candidates and not the Republican candidates. Stop it. Come home. If you want Mahoning County to have a viable two party system, now is the time to re-examine what we have to offer and work with us to further develop a viable alternative to one party county rule. There is a new wave sweeping the nation and state. It is now here in Mahoning County. We would be glad to have you join the ride.


Mark G. Mangie
Attorney at Law
Finance Chairman, Mahoning
County Republican Party

Quantitative Easing - $5.00 Bread and $5.00 Gas

The Federal Reserve System was set up in 1913 by the government in order to help quell a series of financial panics. It is quasi-independent, which means it is a creature of the United States government, but acts independently and without review of the government. Among its many purposes is to act as a central bank, regulate other banks, and establish the country’s monetary policy which, prior to 1913, was subject to the political whims of Congress.

How does it do it? It can raise and lower interest rates on loans from one bank to another. It can establish the amount of reserves banks must have to back up outstanding loans. It can put money into the economy, or take money out of the economy. All of these things are supposed to keep our financial system stable. How’s that working out for you?

Over this past week, you may have heard about the Fed doing “quantitative easing.” That means the Federal Reserve is pushing cash into the economy. They are literally printing money, and putting it into circulation. How do they do that? The United States government owes a lot of people a lot of money. They borrow the money by issuing bonds to folks like you and me, corporations, investors, and other countries. If the Fed wants to add money to the system, the Federal Reserve buys up those bonds that are being issued by the government, and pays for them with money that is literally printed up. In other words, the government buys back its own bonds.

In this second quantitative easing done over the past several months, the Fed is buying back $600 billion worth of bonds…or it is simply putting an extra $600 billion worth of currency into the world financial system. This “easy money” policy is directed at flooding the system with so much money, that the banks will start to lend money to businesses…which the banks can’t do because the FDIC, another arm of the government, has tightened the lending standards for the banks. Does it sound confusing? It is, and you wonder why things are FUBAR!!

The immediate effect of this much money pouring into the system is a devaluation of the currency…an old trick of debtor nations. That's us!!! Experts believe this quantitative easing will devalue the dollar by 20%. So the government will pay back a $100.00 debt with money that is only worth $80.00! Neat trick! But there’s a catch.

When the major currency of the world is being devalued, investors look for places to put money that will protect it from the devaluation…usually hard assets. You, as a consumer will get the double whammy. Let’s say you wanted to buy a pound of widgets for $100.00. But the currency is being devalued. Speculators start to buy up widgets driving the price up to $120.00. As the currency is devalued, your money is now worth less…only $80.00. So what would have cost you $100.00 last month, will now cost you $140.00 in devalued currency…the speculators drive up the price, and your money is worth less. That is called inflation.

And you are seeing it right now. There is already a rapid rise in all commodity based goods. That includes not only gold, silver and oil…but also food….including sugar, corn (at an all time high), wheat, coffee…you get the picture. There is a real possibility that you will be paying $5.00 for a loaf of bread...and just as much for a gallon of gas within a year.

But even as prices begin to skyrocket, the government will tell you there is no inflation, because it figures inflation by a formula that leaves all of these things out…seriously. The inflation figure will be “ex food and energy.” So there you have it. All is right with the world. Such are wages of government borrowing and spending. Quantitative easing is a way the government can tax you without taxing you. And it is only going to get worse.

This is what the Tea Party movement is all about; and why these folks are so upset.

Leave the Chamber Alone / It Ain't Over Yet - Financial Meltdown Part Deux

LEAVE THE CHAMBER ALONE

It’s time for Dave Betras and Bob Hagan and Barack Obama to shut up about the Chamber of Commerce. It almost seems like Betras and Hagan have taken up their attacks on Tom Humphries and the Regional Chamber right out of the Democratic playbook from Washington, which claims the national Chamber is spending foreign money on various election campaigns. When asked to provide proof that this is happening, Obama’s spokesperson told CBS News to prove that it isn’t. Even the New York Times and Washington Post didn’t buy that one.

On the local level, Chamber President Tom Humphries is not a public employee. He is employed by a private organization and is entitled to his political views. If he wanted to co-sponsor a fund raiser for John Kasich, that is his business. He is not one of the local Democratic officeholders and/or employees who pay tribute to the local Democratic Party for its political support.

The Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself with these kinds of juvenile antics against the organization representing those who create jobs in America. Keep it up boys. You are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Go look for another bogeyman.

IT AIN’T OVER YET - THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN PART DEUX

Folks, you may think the financial crisis over…but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!! Recent announcements by major banks about a mortgage foreclosure moratorium may sound good on its face, but it is bad news. The amount of pending of mortgage defaults is so big, the banks can’t process the paperwork. Our local courts are clogged with foreclosure cases. I personally have three clients living in foreclosed homes, making no mortgage payments, and the banks are happy to have them there.

Banks aren’t lending money to small business for a reason. They know that as we move into 2011, they may have to write down further amounts to compensate for these mortgage foreclosures being held in abeyance. Even scarier, the fraud lawsuits are just now beginning against those financial institutions who sold those whacky derivative instruments to unsuspecting bondholders. All that money being held in the banks right now will be needed to maintain FDIC required reserve requirements.

Nobody knows how much is involved here. Fair warning, the billions upon billions spent in the TARP program may have been grossly insufficient to fix the problem. This may spell years of stagnation for the American economy, with no job creation. Couple that with Obama’s anti-business policies…you should be concerned.

No Sugar Tonight

As election time approaches, there are lots of things to rant about!! Here are two more:

1) No Sugar Tonight: Mayor Michael (I know what’s good for you) Bloomberg once again is trying to stick his nose into your smoking and eating habits. After imposing trans-fat requirements on New York Restaurants; attempting to ban smoking in all public spaces; trying to set limits to salt used in restaurant cooking and banning salt shakers from restaurant tables; requiring restaurants to post calorie information next to the menu items….he now wants to ban food stamp recipients from using food stamps to buy “sugary drinks,” soda to New Yorkers; pop to you and me! It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. Do-gooders have no end to making you comply to what their idea of what is good for you. Well, you might say, they are taking government money, so they should expect restrictions based on government rules. Here’s the rub!! If they can do it here, just wait until you see what they will try to do when you are on government health care…or just breathing. This is dangerous stuff, folks. Freedom loss creep alert. Mr. Bloomberg…from me to you…why don’t you mind your own “frickin” business!!!!

2) No Justice Tonight: Who is Ahmed Kahlfan Ghailani? He is the dude who killed 240 people (including numerous Americans) and injured an additional 3000 in the East Africa Embassy bombings several years ago. He was being held in that hell hole at Gitmo. In an effort to prove how wonderful American civilian courts can handle Gitmo prisoner trials, the Justice Department decided to use this trial as a model. Eric Holder and his cronies had it shoved right up their corpus delecti by the judge in the case. Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan barred the testimony of the government’s main witness stating that the name of the main witness was obtained in a secret prison where there have been allegations of the use of coercive methods for information. In other words, the government’s case is screwed. Eric Holder’s response: “We are talking about one ruling, in one case by one judge.” I guess we’ll go with that. So much for Obama’s academic idealism! They should have taken these guys and hanged them in the public square.

With the election three weeks away, I can’t wait to see what I will rant about next week!!!

Three Mini-Rants: Congress Moves on Chinese Currency; St. Dominic's Shootings; Are These Obama's Friends?

Sometimes events happen so fast, you have to address all of them. Here are three mini-rants.

1) Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: While there has been plenty of duly earned criticism of Congress for leaving Washington without resolving the tax cut expiration issue, not much attention was given to a truly bi-partisan measure passed overwhelmingly today by Congress laying the groundwork for resolution of the China currency issue. As I understand it, unless China allows its currency to float rather than keeping it pegged artificially low to the dollar, Congress will enact a sweeping 25% tariff against all Chinese goods entering into the United States. Glenn Beck doesn’t like it, and ranted on his radio program this morning. But on this issue, both Dems and Republicans are stunningly united, and I say “huzza!” Now if they only have the courage of their convictions to enforce it. Outside of energy independence, resolution of the China currency issue is the single biggest thing that can be done to give a boost to the American economy.

2) The senseless shooting last Saturday afternoon of an elderly couple leaving St. Dominic’s Church, resulting in the husband’s death and the wife with an amputated leg, is the single most disturbing news story I have seen in a long time. In a case of mistaken identity, two men shot up the couple’s car, in broad daylight, on the busiest part the major north/south road in the city. Caught up in a drug/turf war, these poor seniors didn’t know what hit them. The car was pelted with at least 12 rounds of ammunition. This came several months after another incident at St. Dominic’s where another elderly woman was shot in the parking lot while entering her car after Mass in an attempted robbery. After the arrest of the perpetrator, his family tried to kill the witnesses. Both of these incidents were black on white crime. Black on white and black on black crime, already a major problem, is on the rise. It is deteriorating fast. Northern Boardman Township and the historic Forest Glen is in jeopardy as thugs from Youngstown’s southside attack people in their driveways or while walking down the sidewalk. City law enforcement needs to wake up before things get totally out of control. But it can only do so much. The violence in the black community has to be addressed from within, and unfortunately, I don’t think there is any solution.

3) Advice to President Obama: Dude, get some new advance people. In a staged CNBC Town Hall meeting, President Obama was berated by one of his “supporters” about the “new normal” of high unemployment, shaky medical insurance, and lack of confidence in the government. In an Iowa backyard picnic meeting, he was attacked again by those afraid of Obamacare. Both of these venues had an handpicked audience and question reviews. If these are Obama's friends, what about his enemies! What is really scary is that these were the toughest questions posed to him by anyone since before the 2008 election up until now. If Obama citizen supporters can ask the questions, why can’t the press?

The Heart of the Recession: China's Currency

You can have a political debate from now to the cows come home on some sort of domestic policy that will solve the current economic malaise. The fact of the matter, the source of the problems lies overseas in two places: China (manufacturing) and Saudi Arabia (energy). This essay is about the problem with China.

We have lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs to China. Some of the blame lies right here in the United States in the form of draconian environmental rules, high corporate taxes, minimum wage requirements, and unions. The other part of the equation is the deliberate attempt by China to bankrupt the world. I have been writing this blog for five years now, and I have been saying, over and over and over again, unless China lets its currency float like the other currencies in the world, things will only get worse, not better.

While most major currencies float allowing adjustments to imports and exports if an imbalance develops, the Chinese currency does not. It is tagged to the dollar at a 30% discount. No matter how far the dollar may fall in value to the Euro, for example, boosting US exports to Europe, the Chinese currency will always be 30% cheaper than the dollar, keeping its exported goods at a strong competitive advantage to anything made in the United States. Couple that with an artificially low Chinese wage structure, of course companies will move entire factories to China.

China has done this deliberately. It is a predatory exporter. The result is the massive buildup of currency reserves…the largest in the world. The United States has paid lip service to resolving the problem. Every six months or so a trade delegation heads of to Beijing and does the dog and pony show thing. The Chinese have said for years they will take care of the problem. The make a few cosmetic adjustments, and six months later the cycle is repeated.

Why does the United States allow this to happen? Because major US corporations have historically dreamed of a billion Chinese consumers market, which is ignored by China in favor of exports! Corporations like IBM, GM, GE all have major markets in China for goods they produce here, but mostly make in China. That does nothing for the American worker. Add in Walmart, which has built its business around Chinese imports, you have the perfect storm.

The reality is that China guards its markets carefully. American business will never realize its dream of open and free Chinese markets. China is slowly but steadily developing the technology to rival what we have here. What it can’t develop it steals. China has decided not to conquer the world, but to buy it.

China is buying up Australia wholesale. It is THE major political issue down under. Now it has its eye on the United States, and has put out feelers to become a major stockholder in General Motors when the new GM does its initial IPO. The Chinese partner would be GM’s current partner in its China operations, the state backed SAIC. Because SAIC is state controlled, it has unlimited access to Chinese government capital.

State capitalism is a new concept to the United States, part of Barack Obama’s fundamental change to America. Up until his election, we were probably the only country in the world that didn’t have some form of state capitalism in which the country has only a quasi-free market with government hybrid corporations calling the shots. These corporations are driven only partially by market forces. In exchange for government financing and capital, these companies are also directed by government policy, both domestic and foreign.

The issue we currently face is way beyond tweak fixes to our economy. The United States has moved headlong towards state capitalism in its financial markets and in the automotive industry. Some people say a purely capitalistic society can’t compete in a world where the other major competitors practice State Capitalism. That is the debate. I believe free markets can win out, but only if the playing field is leveled. If a country wants to do business in the United States, it must play by the same rules as everyone else.

Until the Chinese currency issue is resolved, we are just spinning our wheels.

Sucking at the Public Tit

My wife hates that phrase. She always goes “eeewww” when I start on one of my rants. But tonight she said she finally got it. Once public employees start to suck at the public tit, it takes the Jaws of Life to pull them off. Several recent events demonstrate my point.

Chris O’Donnell beat Mike Castle for the Republican nominee for Senate in Delaware. She was a Palin supported candidate who dislikes masturbation, as has been repeatedly reported on the news over and over and over again. It was “assumed” that Mike Castle, a long time member of the House and former Delaware Governor, would breeze into the Republican nomination, and blow his way into the Senate. In fact, so sure were the politicos that he was going to win, VP Biden’s son dropped out of the Senate race as a Democrat because Castle would have beaten him. The press did a hatchet job on O’Donnell this past week that made their treatment of Palin look like a walk in the park.

Silly politicos!! Chris O’Donnell, an attractive Palin like woman public relations person, who has had some personal financial reversals, and of course dislikes masturbation, wins the nomination with TEA party support. The press went nuts. She is crazy. She is a nut. She is a right wing whacko. Castle went into a frenzy releasing statements that O’Donnell is undeserving of the victory. President Obama and VP Biden called him to offer their condolences reinforcing the campaign allegation that Castle would switch parties after being elected. Even Karl Rove went nuts. How dare someone beat Castle in a primary election! It was pitiful. Never mind Castle voted for Cap and Trade…the ultimate conservative no-no.

So now there is speculation Castle will run as an independent or in a write in campaign. That is already being done in Alaska, where the current Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary to another TEA party supported candidate Joe Brown, and is announcing she will run a write-in campaign. How dare someone beat her in a primary election!! That seat belongs to her!!!!!

She is following in the steps of another whiney baby loser, Charlie Crist, current Governor of Florida who dropped out of the Republican primary for Senate because he was going to lose to TEA party supported candidate Marco Rubio. Now he is running as an independent, and has switched policy positions from abortion to immigration to move to the left, and has consulted with the Democratic Party…most likely because he would caucus with the Democrats if he wins. Of course, the poor Democratic Party candidate, a black guy who has a lot going for him, has been hung out to dry by the Dems who are having a love fest with Crist.

Like I said…it takes the Jaws of Life. Rubio will do okay and most likely win in Florida. Murkowski in Alaska has some current polling that shows she beats Brown by 4 points in a three way…but the situation is fluid and people don’t like sore losers. Castle hasn’t given any definite indication he might try an independent run…but he should take note that O’Donnell garnered as many votes in this primary as showed up to vote in Republican primary the last time one was held.

This election, people are fed up and are going to throw the bums out. The bums would be wise to get out of the way, be they Republican or Democratic bums. Of course one way to solve this would be term limits…that way all of the bums would have only a limited time at the public tit. Eeewwww!!!!!

Godspell: WOW WOW WOW

Usually I get to rant about something outrageous. But tonight, thanks to Marlene Strollo, I get to rant about Move Over Broadway’s boffo version of Godspell playing this weekend at St. Michael’s Church in Canfield. The only bad thing I can say about it is you better see it tonight (Saturday) or tomorrow night. It’s a shame it is only running for one weekend. Word of mouth could keep this going for a month.

Godspell is a 1970’s Broadway musical based on the Gospel of Matthew. There are widely known songs: Prepare Ye The Way (new to me) and, of course, Day by Day. I've never seen Godspell. I had some general knowledge as to the type of play it was. I am friends with a number of the cast members and had some concerns. It is a youth oriented hippie type musical. Is the cast too old? Is the play too dated? Is there too much choreography (think Sister Act and Sister Act 2, especially the Joyful Joyful sequence)? I even joked with one cast member about renaming this production Geriatric Godspell!!!

I was wrong. What the audience got was WOW-WOW-WOW!!! Ms. Strollo put together an eclectic, extremely talented cast of all ages, some of whom cartwheeled down the center aisle at the end of the show. These are superb amateur musicians who turned on the energy from the very first note and kept it going as it greeted the audience going out the door at the end of the performance. It was infectious. It was fun. It was inspiring.

No, the cast wasn’t too old. No, the play wasn’t too dated…it was as fresh as when it was written. No, the cast handled complicated, non-stop choreography with ease. The visuals on stage were terrific. Choreographer Nick Opritza outdid himself on this one.

It's hard to name standout cast members when it's pretty much all of them, but I'll try. If I leave someone out, please forgive me because they were all so good.

The lead (Jesus) is played by Mark Samuel. His history wasn't in the program notes, but I understand he came late to the cast. I had my doubts at the beginning of the show, but he made me a believer by the end. His humor and confidence fit the role to a tee, and the Passion scenes, particularly the Last Supper, gave me chills. His outstanding falsetto at the end of the program shows this guy knows what he is doing.

Tom Gent, a perennial local favorite, showed his talents again in a dual role of Judas and John the Baptist. His solid voice adds gravitas to any show he is in. Mr. Gent and Mr. Samuel stopped the show with their tap dancing/singing duet All for the Best.

Showstopper #2 was By My Side performed by Sarah Sobota and Brooke Fusco, both students at South Range High School…lucky South Range. We can only hope that they both decide to stay in the area so we can enjoy their talents in the years to come.

The same can be said about Hogan Russell whose All Good Gifts shows he ready for Broadway now. Another South Range student…I can hardly wait for their school play.

The same can be said about Tim Harkleroad and his version of We Beseech Thee…another South Range High School student…what are they putting in the food out there? They must grow talent by the bushel in the hinterland.

JoAnne Santagata shocked the house with her Sophie Tucker/Mae West bump and grind Jesus seduction song Turn Back, Oh Man. What a hoot. I didn’t know she had it in her…but she does in spades.

And Grace Vouvalis brightened the stage with her winning smile and rock the house number Bless the Lord. She’s a grown up!!! And doesn’t go to South Range, but we can forgive her for that!

One of the biggest treats of the night was Nikita Jones’ version of Day by Day. It brought a tear to my eye. She is a real talent and her rendition was stunning. I am really looking forward to seeing her in other productions.

The balance of this ensemble cast gave a strong choral and dance performance way beyond what anyone should expect in this type of production. Music Director Jodine Pilmer always does a great job in getting the amateur MVOB chorus to sound like pros, not to mention the accompanying musicians. This was no exception. It was like listening to the cast recording…which I did when I got home.

And here’s the secret…this was better. One of the ironies of Community Theater is that when it is good, the intimate setting and the enthusiasm of the cast always pushes it from good to way, way beyond real good. In this case, short of Broadway itself, I doubt if you would find a better version of Godspell anywhere.

It was a real treat for me to set aside the worries of the world and be inspired by this great show. Thank you to Marlene Strollo and her Move Over Broadway associates. Do more stuff like this!!!!

A DYSFUNCTIONAL BIG TEN

All of us Big Ten fans were abuzz when Nebraska announced its jump to our then eleven and now twelve team conference. The Big Ten brand of hard hitting, old fashioned football is legendary; and as of late, has come back favor notwithstanding the Southeastern Conference style of razzle dazzle.

But now that the afterglow of the announcement has faded, what are we left with? Once again the Big Ten is showing an appetite for money instead of sports, and that college football at that level is no longer amateur, but a multi-billion dollar business built on the backs of unpaid players and frustrated fans. What is it doing, and why?

This past week the Big Ten announced how the expanded conference is going to operate. It will be divided into two yet to be named divisions: Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin are in one division. Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern will be in the other. Each team will play all of the other teams in its division, plus three cross divisional games, several of which are mandated.

Of immediate concern is the traditional Ohio State/Michigan matchup at the end of November. Fans in each of the states plan their lives around the game. In my case, my wedding day was determined by the OSU/Michigan game…and reminds me each year it’s time to buy my wife and anniversary card and present.

Winning coaches at Ohio State and Michigan have lost their jobs over losing streaks in the rivalry, especially at Ohio State where the game can determine million dollar bonuses for the coach. When Bo Schembeckler died on the eve of the big game a few years ago, it raised the game almost to a mystical religion. This is a big deal to the schools and to the conference.

So…the Big Ten was faced with a dilemma. How to keep the tradition alive that is the lifeblood of the Big Ten conference and its rabid fans…and how to make more money!!! What a dilemma. And guess what…the money won out.

Here is what they came up with. Ohio State/Michigan is a mandated cross divisional game to be played at the end of the season…just because!!! The big finale will be the divisional playoff game in December at a neutral domed stadium somewhere in the Midwest (it will be in Indianapolis in 2011). Given that the Big Ten Championship has historically been tied to the Ohio State/Michigan game, the question then arises as to what happens if both teams have won their respective divisions…and then play the “just because” mandatory cross over game in November which will have NO conference significance, only to have to play another game two weeks later to determine the Big Ten Championship.

The Big Ten commissioner said the fans would love it. Really? What I see is a disaster waiting to happen. This is not fair to the players who have to get ginned up twice for the “big game(s),” it is not fair to the fans who now faced a diminished importance of a traditional rivalry game, and probably isn’t fair to the other teams in the Big Ten notwithstanding, because the possibility exists that the team with the best win/loss record in the conference would not represent the Big Ten in a national championship game because of “division” win-loss issues.

This is a really dumb idea based solely on a Big Ten Conference dream of money and more money and more money flowing from a Conference championship game. That is all that matters to them.

Here is a better idea. Eliminate some of the warm up games. Ohio State doesn’t really have to play Marshall. Add a week to the season and have the teams play as many conference games as possible, even if they don’t play all of the teams all of the years…just like now. The team with the best conference win/loss record, wins the championship.

I think this system will flop and cause frustration and anger across the board. We will see!

Feel Me....Touch Me

Some people are touched by other people. Other people are touched by angels. Still some people are touched by the Lord. Now the Government Accountability Office has come out with a metric to justify Obama’s stimulus package called “lives touched” by the stimulus! Has your life been touched by the stimulus? I know mine has. Let me bend over and show you where.

Please tell me they are kidding. They couldn’t show how many jobs the stimulus created. They can’t figure out how many jobs have been “saved”. So now they are counting jobs created to include “lives touched” by the stimulus…seriously. The metric popped up in a report by the GAO justifying money spent by the DOE. “LBJ took the IRT down to 4th Street USA. When he got there what did he see? The youth of America on LSD!”

I digress. This metric is not used as jobs saved…it is used to determine jobs created. And it is cumulative, to show the jobs number, which really isn’t a jobs number but a lives touched number, is ever increasing. Where is George Orwell when you need him?

This is pitiful, but what do you expect from a self perpetuating bureaucratic behemoth struggling to justify what is happening in the country? It is so outrageous, one is almost speechless. What can one say about the government, and the omniscient Barack Obama, touching our lives?

I suppose "lives touched" can be argued to be a legitimate metric. If you have lost your job, your life is touched. If your home is foreclosed on, your life is touched. If violence is erupting in your school system, your life is touched. If your retirement has been lost or your stock market portfolio has tanked while your taxes are going up, your life has been touched. And I guess all those people on Martha’s Vineyard are having their lives touched by Obama’s sixth or seventh vacation this year.

How has your life been touched? I think the GAO should have a website where all Americans can post how their lives have been touched by the stimulus.

Sounds a tad pornographic, doesn’t it? IT IS!!!! Hey Mr. President! Stimulate……nevermind.

Economic Rage

If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny. Day after day I continually hear reports about what is wrong with the American economy. Political pundits and economic pundits and business channel pundits talk about stimulus, the lack of stimulus, monetary policy, fiscal policy, monetizing the debt, inflation, deflation, stagflation…talk is cheap!!!

It’s no great mystery why the economy is in the crapper. This President has stuck it to small businessman, and created an atmosphere of mistrust, fear and instability while exhibiting nothing but anger and revenge towards business. What do you think these folks are going to do?

So Obama wants small business to hire. Let’s see how this works. He has changed health care to such a point the business owner doesn’t know who is entitled and who is not entitled to health benefits, or what it is going to cost. He is told that his taxes are going up after the first of the year with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. The minimum wage has gone up, and will continue to go up periodically over the next few years. He is told to expand his factory, but then told don’t do this. Do that. You need that permit. You need that study. Get an EPA review. Make sure to unionize your work force. Watch for those carbon emissions. They are going to cost you. To finance it, you have to mortgage your first born child. And oh ya! If you are successful in actually getting something off the ground and operating, we will take it from you when you die with a confiscatory estate tax of 55%. Now there’s a deal. Sign me up for that.

What world do these people live in? Nothing is going to happen to help the economy until this jack ass is out of office, and some sanity comes into government. The proverbial ivory tower is not a myth. It is a reality. At the end of the day, Obama and his entire group of advisors are liberal, progressive left wing academics who know NOTHING about business, and what makes this country run. While boo-hooing over the minorities and the illegal immigrants and the Muslims and the Mexicans, all the while paying the government employees implementing these plans a full 30 -50% more than their private employee counterparts, they have forgotten the number one rule. DON’T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU.

Obama does a lot of biting. The very people he denigrates and demonizes are the ones who are picking up the tab for his utopian programs…and they are not happy. Now he’s worried, or so he says, that the private sector isn’t “growing” jobs? Really? He’s lucky that more people aren’t being laid off.

Under Barack Obama, what side of the economic line would you like to be on? Those busting their ass trying to pay the bills, or those on the receiving end of Obama largesse? Folks, this guy is bad news. It is time for a change. It is time to change now.

To Mosque or Not To Mosque

The tone deaf president strikes again. For reasons known only to him and to God, President Obama came out yesterday in support of the proposed controversial mosque at Ground Zero. He didn’t have to say anything, but he once again had to open his big mouth. 64% of Americans believe the proponents of the mosque have the constitutional right to build it there. However 64% of Americans believe it is wrong to build it there, and oppose its construction. So once again, Obama is sticking his finger in the eye of Americans.

From what I read, there are numerous unanswered questions about what this Islamic Center is, who is funding it, what are the beliefs of those behind it, yada yada yada. To me, it looks like a shrine to the Muslim martyrs. I agree with the commentator that said the mosque should be built at Ground Zero when Saudi Arabia allows the construction of a Christian Church within its borders.

What the freedom of religion crowd is running into is the sense in America that Islam is more than a religion. For many, not all, it is a political movement as well as a religion. There are certainly religion tolerant modern Moslem countries; Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq to name a few. But the radical Moslems are something else. Saudi Arabia and Iran are theocracies which have melted the political and the religious aspects of Islam together.

That brand of Islam is NOT a religion. It is a movement of male domination and female subjugation coupled with a brutal legal code and an intolerance which is beyond the understanding of most Americans. It is racist, and would practice genocide in a heartbeat. That should not be tolerated in America anymore than the KKK, which was a hate based political movement clothed in religion. Freedom of religion is not anymore absolute than freedom of speech…the proverbial you can’t yell fire in a theater.

What disturbs me about the proposed mosque is that the government officials are refusing to investigate what this is. Where is the money coming from? Who will have access? What are the ground rules for its operation? Will it practice tolerance or intolerance? MOST IMPORTANTLY, DOES IT ADVOCATE POLITICAL GOALS…LIKE IMPLEMENTATION OF SHARIA LAW IN THE UNITED STATES? Does it advocate the overthrow of our system of government?

Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama are wrong. This is sacred ground. 9-11 cost this country 3400 lives and billions of dollars directly…and has resulted in the cost of blood and treasure in two subsequent wars.

Build the mosque somewhere else. Sanctimonious political correctness doesn’t cut it. Bloomberg and Obama should be ashamed of themselves.

Can't We Just All Get Along?

Newsweek Magazine is a liberal publication on life support courtesy of the Washington Post. It is up for sale, but the WP is being a tad choosey as to whom it sells this venerable American rag. (UPDATE: SOLD YESTERDAY FOR $1.00) Nevertheless, I enjoy reading the magazine, and its new format is not too bad. The front part of the mag is heavy on editorial opinion, including some conservative articles. The back of the mag is dedicated to life style stories…way too much on movie stories, but interesting none-the-less.

But a particular in this past week’s edition earned a MKIA raised eyebrow, given its usual intellectually elite tenor. It was written by its editor, Jon Meacham, entitled When the Facts Get in the Way. Making reference to the Shirley Sherrod story, Mr. Meacham writes: “The seasonal issue is one particular to the age of Obama, if universal to American politics: the underlying role that white prejudice against blacks plays in our national life”. Huh???

Mr. Meacham, are you tone deaf? In the media’s continual pursuit of looking for white racism, it has completely ignored time and time again racism rooted the black community. Ms. Sherrod’s experience is the perfect storm showing of white racism, and black racism, wrapping themselves up into one big surprise package that has exploded in this administrations face. I haven’t seen a whites on television calling for the killing of black babies. I haven’t seen white media list serve groups plotting to call black commentators and politicians racists. And I haven’t seen any white screaming ministers on television calling for the destruction of black America.

Minimally, Mr. Meacham, racism is something experienced across all swaths of American society: white, black, brown and red. President Obama has called for a national dialogue on racism. I agree. Mr. Meacham and President Obama, why don’t we start with both of you coming to Youngstown, and accompanying me to Southern Park Mall on Friday night…or riding up Market Street…or talking to the folks who live in Forest Glen. Then let’s sit and talk about racism.

The issue isn’t white racism in America. The issue is “racism” in America. It comes in all forms and colors. Until the liberal media is willing to accept that, nothing will get better. It’s time for an honest dialogue…but I can assure you under this post racial president, it ain’t going to happen. Race baiting is one of his political tools. Rodney King may have been right…”Can’t we just all get along?” We can only hope.

How's Post Racial America Working Out for Ya?

Obama and the press have learned a hard lesson. They played the race card, and lost. For the past 1 ½ years, the left wing press, the progressive Democrats and Obama himself have accused everyone and everything that has opposed Obama’s political agenda a racist. Fox News is racist. The Tea Party is racist. Your Aunt Tilly is racist. Never mind that the only racism that I have seen has come from the people screaming race the loudest. Thugs can intimidate voters. Black Panthers can talk about killing white babies. Illegal drug lords can sneak across the border and kill policemen. But it is the Tea Party that is racist.

Now it has bitten Obama on the ass. And I hope that it hurts. After a week of racial vitriol from the NAACP, Andrew Breitbart posted an edited version of a canned speech given by one Shirley Sherrod, an underling employee of the Department of Agriculture. In her speech, she tells of her redemption in attempting to deal with her own prejudices 24 years ago when she was called on to help a white farmer save his farm in Georgia. She goes on to say that she had difficulty in dealing with her personal feelings of race, but concluded through the process that it is not a white/ black issue, but a have/have not issue.

The White House found out that Fox News had this piece of video tape without really knowing the content of the tape. One of the mucky mucks then decided they better get Ms. Sherrod’s resignation prior to this tape being aired on television, and forced her to email in her resignation while she was driving her car from Georgia to Washington. They actually made her pull over to the side of the road to email her resignation. We are getting conflicting stories as to who forced whom to what, and who knew what when. One thing is clear. The edited version of the tape eventually shown on Fox News did not tell the whole story, and portrayed her as being a flaming racist. The administration tried to say it was the tape played on Fox News that made them fire Ms. Sherrod…but in reality, the poor woman was fired prior to anything being aired on television. The joke was on them.

Add to the mix the racially charged atmosphere created by an NAACP trying to recapture its glory days; then add a report about something called “Journolist”, you have a media feeding frenzy.

What was Journolist? This was a group of 400 mainstream media types and journalism professors who conspired to portray any conservative as racist during the 2008 election. What is scary is that the professors were from the most elite of the elite schools, and many of the journalists were mainstream reporters for the big three networks as well as smaller networks like Bloomberg television.

The discovered emails show a deliberate attempt to portray those who opposed Obama as racist.They also display a hatred of conservatives beyond any rational basis, including comments that people like Rush Limbaugh should die horrific deaths while others watch in glee. Some of this stuff is almost sickening…and scary.

I don’t think America understands the hatred that comes from the left. Racism is a cancer in our society that should be cured, not exploited. Obama was supposed to be the post racial President and help heal the wounds. Looking at the Black Panther wanting to kill white babies; a group of media types purposely destroying individuals by calling them racist; and President who got it wrong a year ago with his Harvard professor thing and now with Ms. Sherrod…how’s that post racial thing working out for ya?

Uncle Sam Wants to Know: How Much Do You Weigh?

Folks…it is getting scary out there. I told you this was coming, and here it is. Buried in the mass of stimulus legislation is a new regulation requiring every American have a BMI (Body Mass Index) rating by 2014. This number must be entered into a national data base, and be available on an electronic “national exchange” along with your height and weight.

The government spin on this states that BMI is the most important indicator of health issues, and that all the health care professionals taking care of you should know what it is. Your health care providers are required to make “meaningful use” of the Electronic Health Records (HERs) or face substantial fines and/or penalties.

On the surface, nothing is wrong with that. We all want to stay healthy. But you're dealing with the government here, and that type of information floating around is dangerous. Since the government is now taking an active role in health care with all sorts of insurance regs, exchanges, policy boards (re: Death Panels) determining how much treatment you can get at what age…it seems only fair that the government be able to dictate not only how much you should weigh, but also what you BMI should be. Afterall, since the taxpayer must foot the bill, it is in the public interest to make sure you are fit as a fiddle, or be denied coverage or taxed for the extra weight. Seems far fetched? It's already happening in Britain! What about weekly weigh ins? Now there's the ticket.

And with Michelle Obama going around screaming about obesity…child obesity…look for the health police to monitor what is in your refrigerator and what you serve at dinner. Listen up, folks, there is no end to how much good these people want to do.

Like I preach every week, this “good” generally goes counter to normal human behavior, and has to be “enforced”, or as they would say – “encouraged.” With do-gooder agencies going after McDonalds and Kellogg’s and other food businesses, they will see a source of infinite revenue and infinite regulations…all because they know what is good for you.

And all of that information will be swirling around the internet. Freedom loss creep is alive and well under Barack Obama, and his band of merry, progressive do-gooders. Watch out. It’s your freedom. PS: The picture at the top of the page is Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. Looks like she needs a little BMI work herself.

Obama's Hope and Change War on America

President Obama has implemented some interesting policy initiatives over the past several weeks. Is this the hope and change you voted for?

1) The administrator of NASA, soon to be supervising a space program with no space program once the Shuttle program ends this year, now says he has been advised that the number one priority of NASA is outreach to Muslim nations to make them feel good about their contribution to science and math. On the other hand, maybe the Muslim nations can get us back into space. Iran has a pretty active missile program.

2) The lead lawyer in the dismissed Philadelphia Black Panther voter intimidation case…dismissed after the government won it…claimed rampant racism against whites in the Justice Department. The orders to ignore black on white racism came are not only understood, but articulated in a public way by the Justice Department higher ups. Of course, three big black brothers with billy clubs standing in front of a polling place telling white people they will just have to get used to a black man in the White House...cracker...doesn’t sound like racism to me. Maybe Obama can have another beer summit like the one he did for the abusive Harvard professor.

3) While illegals are crossing the borders in droves making Phoenix the second largest kidnapping center on North America right behind Mexico City, the Obama administration decides to sue Arizona for passing a law that mirrors Federal law relating to identification when an individual stopped while committing another crime. I have to produce ID if I am caught speeding, or doing anything else for that matter. Why should illegals be exempt? After all, maybe they just scaled the fence and wall to celebrate Cinqo de Mayo on this side of the border. Must be all of the Taco Bells over here!

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. While unemployment remains high; while terrorists are trying to blow up plains with crotch bombs; while the Russians have sleeper spies are walking among us; while the oil well keeps gushing into the Gulf of Mexico; while Iran is building nuclear bombs...Barack Obama is going golfing; taking vacations; and making a four day campaign swing to Nevada to raise money for Harry Reid. He does that while he wakes up in the morning and goes to bed night focusing on unemployment and the BP oil spill.

Like I said, is the hope and change you voted for?

McDonald v. Chicago: Guns, Obama, and the Supreme Court

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that gun ownership is a fundamental right of Americans. Contrary to National Rifle Association press releases and conventional wisdom, it was never a settled issue. In overturning Chicago’s ban on hand guns within its city limits, the Supremes dropped the other shoe. The first shoe was finding a similar law in Washington D.C., a federal jurisdiction, also unconstitutional. McDonald v. Chicago now extends that ruling to all cities and states.

While the ruling of this case gets the headlines, it is the dicta of the case that is absolutely stunning, and will have liberal legal eagles flapping their wings furiously for years. The S.C. could have determined this case in 10 pages or less. Instead, it has provided the country with a 207 page treatise on Constitutional law. It is brilliant. It is historical. And its conclusions should be a warning to any President or political party that is willing to play fast and loose with the Constitution in order to achieve social utopian dreams. This is the Supreme Court reasserting the rights of citizens to defend themselves against tyranny, and re-examining the compact between citizens and the state.

I am no constitutional scholar, and I found reading the opinion tedious. But the message and logic are clear. Up until the Civil War, the court stated that the rights granted citizens in the Constitution only related to laws passed by the Federal government. States could pretty much do as they pleased. It had to be that way because of slavery.

After the Civil War, the Court had a problem. The country passed the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution ending slavery and granting citizenship to African Americans. But in order to enforce it, the courts had to re-examine the relationship between constitutionally guaranteed rights, the federal government, and the state governments. In a series of cases, it changed its approach, and ruled states could not abrogate fundamental constitutionally guaranteed rights. This particularly related to the rights of former slaves to own guns. To allow southern states to outlaw former slaves from owning guns would deprive them of their right to protect themselves from not only other citizens…but also local and state governments.

Wow!! And the court goes onto to reiterate that position in this ruling. The right of Americans to bear arms is fundamental to our system and is part of the fabric of our checks and balances protection between the government and its citizens. In our American psyche, the mistrust of strong, centralized government still rings loud and true.

While the ruling of the case settles a long standing dispute, the dicta is a clear shot across the bow of Obama’s utopian vision of the world based on social justice rather than the rule of law and the Constitution. It raises the hue and cry against rampant and relentless expansion and centralization of power in Washington and into the White House itself. The progressives should take note. “Don’t tread on me” is alive and well.

This 207 page decision will be the foundational document studies in all future Constitutional law classes…and should be a primer for our politicians. It should be required reading.

The Western Reserve America Group

2009 will be studied by historians for years to come. It is a seminal year in American politics equal to 1968 in which changes in American society spontaneously bubbled up from a citizenry demanding a restatement of the relationship between the government and the governed.

The economic collapse in September, 2008, in the midst of a presidential election, propelled a true leftist progressive into office. Although Barack Obama ran on a centrist platform, he was shaped by his Indonesian childhood and his work as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side. He meant it when he said he would fundamentally transform America, but the public didn’t understand the nature of the change he was promising.

Contrary to his promise of centrist post partisanship, he used bullying tactics to implement his policies of massive spending and debt, government bailouts of select corporations and banks, government control of all aspects of America’s energy sources, and his attempt at intrusive government interference in America’s health system.

With no central opposition leader, the center right majority of Americans reacted spontaneously to policies too well understood and not wanted. The public began to read Jefferson, Adams, Washington, and Paine. They came together in ad hoc groups of citizens called “Tea Parties” to demand accountability from an ideologically based government who chose to ignore the will of the people. Folks actually began to read the founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

They marched and protested and attended town hall meetings as their representatives derided and scorned them calling them “Astroturf” and “Nazis” and “vigilantes.” And they elected opposition candidates in Virginia and New Jersey. Finally, in a coup de grace that forced the attention of ideological left, they elected a centrist Republican to fill the Massachusetts senate seat of Ted Kennedy, the iconic progressive.

Notwithstanding, the progressive movement doubled down, and continued to dirty deal behind closed doors to enact its agenda into law in spite of overwhelming public opposition. The opposition demanding the consent of the governed for this type of legislative agenda continues.

The Western Reserve America Group is an organization of war horse conservative political activists who watched what was happening and concluded that although the immediate political battles were interesting, something had fundamentally changed in our society over the past 30 years. This change took place under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

WRAG believes that our society has lost its understanding of the fragility of freedom, the importance of responsibility for one’s self, and that common sense should not be lost in the din of political rhetoric or legalities. This is the result of the failure of our schools to embrace these principles; an emphasis on the collective by media outlets; government programs and taxation policies which teach government reliance and punish individual effort; government trade and environmental policies which make it difficult for folks to get good manufacturing jobs; and the massive intrusion of the digital age on American life destroying our sense of well being and privacy. Big Brother is watching, and has the means to do it.

WRAG hopes to restore Freedom, Responsibility and Common Sense into American life both through outreach into our education system and issue oriented political activism to promote a measured conservative approach to the debates of today.

The Western Reserve America Group is based in Youngstown, Ohio, the first major settlement in the old Connecticut Western Reserve. It is a microcosm of the problems caused by intrusive government, and a bastion of self reliance in the face of adversity. Although it is considered to be a Democratic stronghold, the citizens aren’t San Francisco liberals. These are hardworking, fiercely independent folks rooted in our industrial past. They are survivors. This is something shared by both the Democrats and Republicans in our area. Youngstown is currently poised to lead Ohio out of the recession…due to our firm belief in freedom, responsibility, and common sense.

The Government is Watching...YOU!!!

Freedom Loss Creep is scary because it happens so slowly you don’t realize what you have lost until it is gone. Then it is too late. But since Obama’s inauguration, it has morphed into a Freedom Loss Sprint. It is happening so fast, our minds can’t comprehend it or accept it. But it’s happening folks, and you should be concerned.

Tucked in the financial reform legislation is another new government agency whose job it is to monitor risk. The “how’s” and the “why’s” and the “what for’s” of this super agency are still being debated. It may end up as part of the FDIC, or part of the Federal Reserve, or simply a new stand alone mega-agency. But this is going to be a bad dude.

This agency will have the power and authority to monitor every financial transaction in the United States. It will have access to your brokerage accounts, and monitor what you are trading or in what you are investing. Ostensibly, it will then use some computer model to see if anything “risky” is developing and warn appropriate authorities so they can make adjustments to policy.

Of course, they say, they really aren’t interested in what you are doing individually. Just what the collective result is…so they say. Do you want the government watching every single transaction you make?

In the past year, here is what America has turned into.

1) Under the new health care legislation, the government is forming a super agency to monitor all of your medical activity. It will be kept on file in a central computer…to keep you safe. And to make sure you aren’t getting too much medical care.

2) Under the new health care legislation, the government is expanding the role of the Internal Service to monitor your health insurance policies, or lack thereof, just to make sure the fit what the government says you should own…or that you have one in the first place…just to be fair. Of course, if you don’t have a policy, you will be fined.

3) Under the proposed legislation from the Federal Communications Commission, the government would monitor every piece of communication over the internet in order to make sure it is being used “fairly”. The Supreme Court threw that one out.

4) Under the proposed new power grid, the government will monitor exactly how much energy your house is using, and will more likely than not either turn it off or tax it if the government feels you are using too much…just to be fair.

5) The EPA has unilaterally announced that Carbon Dioxide is a deadly gas, and can be regulated by fiat. Just wait to see what happens with that one. A taste of things to come: just wait until you have to buy a light bulb in 2012…then have to dispose of it. There will be separate containers for the trash guys to pick up your broken light bulbs which will be filled with mercury…to save the planet.

6) And now the government wants to monitor and collect data on your financial transactions…to prevent another meltdown.

Is this the kind of America you want to live in?

Socialist Taxes

Today is tax day. The Tea Party people are out in full force and the airwaves are filled with chatter about taxes. Most years the statistics are of passing interest. This year, as the Obama administration increases the national debt exponentially, they are frightening, and we should be concerned. The United States, as we know it, cannot survive if we continue on this path to destruction. Obama said he wanted to “fundamentally change” America. He is, into a European Social Democracy built on a cradle to grave welfare state.

President Obama talks about fundamental fairness. Let’s take a look at some of the figures and you tell me if these are fundamentally fair.

1) Over 50% of wage earning Americans pay NO federal income tax. What they do pay is the Social Security and Medicare tax. And even then many complain. When the Bush administration gave tax “rebates” to stimulate the economy, even those who didn’t pay one penny in taxes got a tax rebate check (translate: handout) because “it wouldn’t be fair.” What’s fair about that?

2) The top 1% of wage earners in the United States paid 40% of all collected federal income tax. The top 10% of wage earners pay 75% of federal income tax. What does that translate to in income? If you earn over $400,000.00/year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners. If you make over $160,000.00/year, you are in the top 10% of wage earners. If you make over $66,000.00/year, you are in the top 25% of wage earners. And if you bring home over $33,000.00/year…you are in the top 50% of wage earners. Does that make you feel wealthy?

3) 20% of all Americans depend on the government for 75% of their income. The next 25% depend on the government for 40% of their income. 40% of all Americans receive more in government benefits than in taxes they pay.

The statistics can go on and on. I'm sure there are many who are snickering and laughing. After all, as long as they are on the receiving end instead of the paying end, what’s it to them? How long do you think a house divided this way can stand?

But even Obama’s economists have concluded that you could increase the top tax rate in the United States to 98%...taking all the wealthy make…and still not make a dent in the deficit as it currently is being incurred by the Obama administration. They are predicting an economic Armageddon.

What is scary is Obama doesn’t seem to care about any of this. So here is the question, how hard would you work if the government would take, let’s say, 60% of every dollar you make? Not very!!! And that means less jobs, and more government reliance.

As Margaret Thatcher said, the trouble with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money. And make no mistake about it, Obama is a socialist, which is why he doesn’t care. He is a socialist, and he is doing exactly what he promised, fundamentally changing America. How’s that change working out for you?