Will Egypt Become Obama's Iran?

I know a lot of things about a lot of topics. Egypt isn’t one of them. It is considered to be one of the oldest nations on earth, with recognizable borders dating back to 5000 years BC. Wow!! It is a relatively poor nation, with little oil exporting capacity. There is a small, but growing middle class. 70% of the population is under the age of 35. It has a reported unemployment rate of 33%, although it is probably higher. 40% of the population makes less than $4.00/day.

Hosni Mubarak has been a friend to the United States in his handling of Egyptian relations with Israel, the Gaza Strip, and Islamists, which was bought for a price of tens of billions dollars in American aid over the years. As of late, Egypt has taken an extremely tough stance against Islamic terrorists, banning the Muslim Brotherhood, which is figuring prominently in the chaos festering in Cairo today.

A wave of discontent is spreading across the Mideast tonight; from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen and Jordan, one of America’s staunchest allies in the region. It is clear that nobody, including the United States government, has a handle on what exactly is happening there, and who are the players. This is a dangerous situation with ramifications that can reach the United States to our core. President Obama cannot repeat the same mistakes of Jimmy Carter in Iran, and Dwight Eisenhower in Cuba.

There are three stages to any revolution. The first is the popular uprising demanding the voices of the people be heard. The second is the establishment of a democratic government of sorts. Unfortunately, stage two is usually the bugaboo because typically this is when these types of movements are the weakest. Stage three is the attack of the extremists, who are usually better organized than the good hearted but inept democrats trying to establish a democratic country.

The clearest example of this is the Russian Revolution, where there were 2 revolutions. The first was the overthrow of the Czar and the establishment of the Kerensky government in St. Petersburg. The Communists, in turn, overthrew the Kenensky democrats, establishing Communism in Russia. What followed was a bloody civil war…and the rest is history.

Add to that the American penchant for siding with stable dictators instead of messy democracies. Eisenhower refused to come to terms with Castro after the overthrow of Batista, forcing Castro to turn to Russia for aid and support. Carter slept through the Iranian Revolution. He allowed the Shah to fall, then sat on his hands. Things spun out of control as he let the Shah into the United States for medical treatment. The Shah, although installed under American auspices in the early 1950’s, was a bad dude. What was Carter thinking?

So now we have one of the most inexperienced Presidents ever elected to the office dealing with a rolling Mideast revolution rivaling the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Which way will the dominos fall? Will they fall towards democracy and at least neutrality in the war against Islamic fundamentalism? Or will they fall the other way, into the hands of the extremists thus setting the stage for a World War?

Hyperbole? No. This is dangerous stuff. We should all be concerned that Egypt doesn’t become Obama’s Iran. Yes, President Obama, there really is a war on terrorism.

Who Pays? Pantalone!!!

They saying goes fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Let me see, after two nightmare years of unchecked liberal claptrap, spending more money than in the entire history of the United States combined, Congressional closed door meetings expelling and excluding all Congressional Republicans from deliberations on the most significant piece of legislation in a hundred years; after dissing the Chamber of Commerce; vilifying insurance companies, steel companies, oil companies; after telling those who opposed his policies to go to the back of the bus…we are now supposed to believe that this jack ass is “Reaganesque” and “Clintonesque”?

Mr. President, you ran for office saying exactly the same things you said in the State of the Union address, then you literally shoved it up our proverbial you know what. We are supposed to believe you NOW?? No way Jose!!! Take that and you shove it up your Arizona lawsuit. We don’t believe you anymore.

Do I sound angry? I am. I watched all of the major networks say how Obama is moving to the center. He is following the path of Bill Clinton. He is like Ronald Reagan. Really? If I remember correctly, when Reagan was President, the press did everything but crucify him, making continual references to his wife being “imperial” and he being “dumb”…took lots of naps…Bedtime for Bonzo. Now Obama is “Reagan-esque”? Puhleeez.

This guy is the most liberal President this country has ever seen. In real life, he had six months business experience then quit because he couldn’t take it. Notwithstanding his law degree, his working experience as a “community organizer” makes him a social worker. There is nothing wrong with that…just not in the White House during the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. When elected, he was no more qualified to be President than me.

This guy will not change his spots. No matter how they dress him up or how they try to sell this so called move to the middle, at the end of the day, he is a guy with a stolen credit unable to contain his compulsion to spend. That translates over to his personal life. He is addicted to an imperial lifestyle like none this nation has ever witnessed before.

He has yet to answer the question, who is going to pay for all of his largesse? The amount of money he has borrowed is beyond human comprehension. Who pays? As my Italian grandmother used say…Pantalone pays. When asked who was Pantalone…she shrugged her shoulders. In a word, he doesn’t give a damn. You, my fellow Americans, are Pandelone.

He is not Ronald Reagan who made this county stand tall not bowing to the leaders of other nations; standing up to the communists. America first. America last. America always.

You want to help create jobs and innovation, Mr. President? Get the hell out of the way. Stand tough with the Chinese. You can do your environmental thing…but drill for oil in the meantime. And put reasonable restrictions on the EPA. Simplify the tax code. Reduce taxes on corporate profits. Hang tough with the public employee unions.

No, I don’t buy this move to the center one bit. As with all things Barack Obama, always look at what he does. Not what he says. And you won’t like what you will see.

I Almost Wet My Pants - The Mahoning Valley Resort and Casino

Here we go again. Shades of the blimp factory, brewery, and Avanti, the Mahoning Valley has always had a penchant for pie in the sky projects. Never mind that the area is actually one of the economic bright spots in Ohio right now as a result of thirty years of local hard work nurturing small business and General Motors…we be gettin’ a $400 hundred million resort casino and race track. And we are off!!

Apparently all the local politicos were caught with their pants down last week when the Mahoning Valley Development Group out of Cleveland announced out of nowhere that it is planning to build the multi million facility somewhere in the Mahoning Valley on 700 acres of land, including a 400 room five star resort hotel, a racetrack, a casino, a shopping mall, a teen entertainment complex, and a partridge in a pear tree; AND, they were going to do it all with private money...no government assistance or tax abatements are needed, thank you very much. WOW!!!! One small problem…they don't have a racing license, or any other license for that matter. And it was reported that Ohio hasn’t issued a racing license in over fifty years, and doesn’t even have a procedure to do it.

I wonder if they are going to build it next to the Indian Casino announced by Jim Traficant after a meeting with several Indian chiefs at the Yankee Kitchen in Boardman last year, complete with head gear. I almost wet my pants. Only trouble is they have to be declared a tribe first, then show the land in North Jackson was their land. Of course, while the Mahoning Valley was a meeting spot for numerous Native American tribes, it really never had any local resident tribes. But don’t confuse me with the facts. We're talking black jack, baby.

Meanwhile, the Youngstown Business Journal, searching for the why’s and wherefores of the new development, reported that the Mahoning Valley Development Group was forced to go public with their plans prematurely because Penn National, a gaming outfit that owns a racetrack in Toledo and Columbus, was planning on closing the Toledo operation and moving it to the Mahoning Valley. Only problem is someone forgot to tell Penn National.

Here’s the deal. If you remember, the State of Ohio had an election a year or so ago whereby four casinos were approved by the electorate to be located in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The Youngstown area was not included much to our chagrin, in the mix. But the owners of racetracks were still demanding video slot machines at racetracks, and Governor Strickland decided he could allow them by fiat under through the Ohio Lottery Commission. That was booted out by the courts, and further legal action is still pending. No one knows where Governor Kasich stands on the issue…nobody can find him.

The Penn National group is planning on partnering in casino developments in Toledo and Columbus. If video slot machines are ultimately allowed in racetracks, it may have to move one or more of the existing racetracks to an area of a state where there isn’t a full blown casino to keep from cannibalizing itself, and maybe the Mahoning Valley may be considered. Studies are being done, but that is a whole lot of “ifs”.

Nowhere have I seen in the discussion that Mountaineer is just forty minutes away from here, and the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh is just about an hour away. And I have to tell you, watching the local politicians scramble to figure out what was going on with this one was a real day brightner. Talk about getting caught with your pants down...it was hysterical!!!! Where are they going to put the casino? Bend over and I'll show ya.

Seriously, I wish both of these organizations well. Any development for this area is a plus, and quite frankly, I think this a great location for such a venture. There may be something to all of this as there has been an exceptional amount of option activity in North Jackson and around the Youngstown Airport. Something may be afoot!!!

But while we are waiting for hell to freeze over, there is always Connie’s White Owl!!!!! Which way to the blimp factory?

Obama's "Come to Jesus" Moment!

I am not sure what it was that I watched tonight. It was supposed to be a memorial service for the fallen victims of the Tucson shooting. What we got was a Native American blessing the doors of the room and everything else in the universe; Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano quoting Isaiah and Paul; Barack Obama quoting Job; and a university venue filled with 13,000 college students on the inside, and 14,000on the outside acting like this was a standard Obama political rally.

In fairness to the President, he looked more than a little uncomfortable in what should have been a solemn event. He didn’t show up in pep rally mode. To his credit, he adapted and succeeded in turning the thing into a rally for America and our democracy event. His speech was outstanding. He is nothing if not a great orator. On the other hand, didn’t his advance team talk with the University hosting the event and tell them the kind of intended atmospherics?

Notwithstanding, it is clear that the November election was a “Come to Jesus” moment for Obama both literally and figuratively. Many of the speeches he gave around Christmas reflected a “Keep Christ in Christmas” message. And now he has Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano, both looking overtly uncomfortable, reading epistles at public events? Wow. What happened to bowing to the Muslims?

Whatever else the Tucson service was supposed or not supposed to be, intended or unintended, it will be viewed as the kick-off event to the 2012 election campaign because that’s what it turned out to be. The hooting and hollering took on the 2008 Obama messianic ardor. He left the venue pounding the flesh. The media went orgasmic…particular Diane Sawyer. And we’re off to the races.

I don’t fault Obama for what happened. In a way, maybe the Tucsonians were ready for some relief and wanted waive the flag a bit. Obama showed he could speak without a teleprompter. Who knew? His comments about the nine year old girl jumping in heavenly rain puddles even brought a tear to my eye; not as much as John Boehner, but a tear nonetheless. Every now and then we all need to hear about the way a democracy should be rather than the way it is.

Will this be the make-up sex speech between Obama and the American public? Does this speech mark a pivot to the center? Will the discourse of American politics become civil once again? Naaaaa!!! Les jeux sont faites (the dye are cast). Fasten your seatbelts for the next two years…it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Wait a minute, do you think we could get Janet Napolitano to substitute for that crazy nun on the Ecumenical Channel? How do you think she would look in a habit? What a coup!!! Come to Jesus.

Go Paint on the Beach

Today marks the beginning of the 112th Congress. The long two year nightmare of leftist rule in America is over as the Republicans take control of the House and exercise substantially more leverage in the Senate. Watching the parting the comments from the Democratic leadership, particularly Nancy Pelosi, is dumbfounding. She actually got in front of the cameras and stated that the Democrats always practiced fiscal restraint. Their mantra was “pay as you go.” She is either a liar, delusional, or thinks the American public is stupid. I suspect it is a combination of all of the above.

The American public has yet to understand the damage done to this country over the past two years. We are going to be ten years undoing the mess. The Democratic Party has morphed from a common sense, no nonsense, defender of the common man, into a leftist, almost socialist, ideological driven party based on some undefined concept of fairness. I still can’t believe some of the things I’ve seen the last two years. Nancy Pelosi stood in front of the cameras last year and had a John Lennon “Imagine” moment when she said imagine a world where a painter can go to the beach to paint and not worry about health care. Nancy…somebody has to pay for that.

If this sounds rambling, it is. Watching supposedly responsible, rational people steal the nation’s credit card and max it out with no rationality at all is beyond my comprehension level. America fools around with liberalism every twenty years or so, but this time, My God!! If I can’t comprehend what happened, the nation probably isn’t doing much better. Rush Limbaugh likened dealing with what happen to pealing an onion. You have to undo it layer by layer.

And it has ramifications. My business managed to squeeze out a $1,000.00 surplus last month. I went to buy a ten year Treasury note which was paying about 3.4% interest, a multi-year high. My broker didn’t want to sell it to me. He said I could do much better with corporate bonds. “What if there is a problem and the company goes bankrupt?” I asked. He said bond holders are a priority in bankruptcy court. I responded just like the bondholders in the General Motors bankruptcy. The government unilaterally came in and rearranged the creditor priority list contra to established law. The bond holders got screwed. Sure gives me a lot of confidence. He sold me the the Treasury note without another word.

Since the November elections, business confidence is beginning to rise. Private sector jobs are being created. The Republicans forced Obama and his leftist cadre to extend the Bush tax for those who produce the jobs in the country. People can finally make plans knowing that there is a check and balance on the power of an out of control Federal government.

Who knows? I might decide to quit my job and go paint on the beach, but at least Congress will finally understand that someone has to pay the bill for my dreams…and that person should be me.

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.