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.