POLITICAL: The moral hazzard aka when the gooferment picks winners and losers!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122156561931242905.html

* SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout;
Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up
Emergency Loan Effectively Gives Government Control of Insurer;
Historic Move Would Cap 10 Days That Reshaped U.S. Finance
By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, DEBORAH SOLOMON, LIAM PLEVEN and JON E. HILSENRATH

*** begin quote ***

The U.S. government seized control of American International Group Inc. — one of the world’s biggest insurers — in an $85 billion deal that signaled the intensity of its concerns about the danger a collapse could pose to the financial system.

The step marks a dramatic turnabout for the federal government, which had been strongly resisting overtures from AIG for an emergency loan or some intervention that would prevent the insurer from falling into bankruptcy. Just last weekend, the government essentially pulled the plug on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., allowing the big investment bank to go under instead of giving it financial support. This time, the government decided AIG truly was too big to fail.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but the gooferment should NOT be picking winners and losers. Sorry “Lehman Brothers” stockholders and employees, you lose. Fannie and Freddie, you win. Fannie and Freddie CEOs get big golden parachutes; so they win big.

Who’s the biggest losers? Why the American Taxpayers, of course, silly rabbit!

Get ready Ford and GM retirees, you’re screwing is just around the corner!

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POLITICAL: Obama ” … tax hikes … neighborliness.”?

Monday, September 15, 2008

“If I am sitting pretty and you’ve got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it (the tax hikes) but she can’t, what’s the big deal for me to say I’m going to pay a little bit more. That is neighborliness.” Obama

No, I’d call that Socialism.

Car jockeys in Vegas make more than I do. It’s only fair that they be “neighborly” and send me some of their earnings?

And, guess who decides what is your “fair share”? The gooferment lead by the Socialist In Chief.

It’s one thing for me to decide voluntarily to support a charity like Homefront in Mercer County, that actually helps women and families on welfare to move off the gooferment dole and out on their own. It’s quite another for the gooferment in DC and Trenton to take money form me by force to put these people on welfare in the first place. From whence, they can’t escape. Modern day gooferment slavery! In the first case, I’m giving to charity; in the second, it’s armed robbery like the Mafia.

The big deal Candidate Obama is that you are supporting and expanding an immoral enterprise.

Amazing that folks don’t see these politicians for what they are. Mafia Dons!

Argh!

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POLITICS: The “cost” of the absurd drug war

Thursday, September 11, 2008

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/federal-drug-war-rethough_b_125458.html

Federal Drug War Rethought
Bob Barr
Posted September 10, 2008 | 04:12 PM (EST)

*** begin quote ***

It is obvious that, like Prohibition’s effort to eradicate alcohol usage, drug prohibition has not succeeded. Despite enormous law enforcement efforts — including the dedicated service of many thousands of professional men and women — the government has not halted drug use. Indeed, the problem is worse today than in 1972, when Richard Nixon first coined the phrase “War on Drugs.”

Whether we like it or not, tens of millions of Americans have used and will continue to use drugs. Yet in 2005 we spent more than $12 billion on federal drug enforcement efforts. Another $30 billion went to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.

These people must live forever with the scarlet letter P for prison. Only luck saved even presidents and candidates for president from bearing the same mark, which would have disqualified them from not only high political office, but also many more commonplace jobs.

The federal drug laws affect even those who have never smoked (or inhaled!) a marijuana cigarette. One of the lessons I learned while serving in Congress is how power tends to concentrate in Washington, and how that concentration of power begets more power and threatens individual liberty. The ever-expanding drug war is a perfect illustration of this principle.

*** end quote ***

# – # – #

It saddens me to think of the cost of the gooferment’s quote war on drugs end quote.

I know some Manhattan College students who’s lives were ruined by it. Even back in the Sixties, I knew it was wrong. A killer. My best friend in high school, who flunked out of Manhattan Engineering, dropped out due to the Vietnam Era Draft, and fell into the druggie crowd. Because I my security clearance and the new “war on drugs”, I could not afford to be anywhere around the stuff. So, he and I parted ways. I never saw him again. He was killed on the Beltway in a traffic accident. A casualty of the gooferment’s war. Either the VietNam war or the War on Drugs.

When America get it’s head screwed on straight, we’ll as a nation realize that Prohibition doesn’t work! Period. What peopel put in their own body is their own business. MYOB. And, there ain’t a single thing you or I can do about the decisions that others make. Anything we think will prevent it, like laws, jails, and fines, merely inflict a terrible cost on the unfortunate user who happens to get caught and us. Us, as a society, where we lose our Fourth Amendment rights, where we can’t buy antihistamine wothut a hassle, and where we suffer the collateral damage in gang violence. Just like Al Cappone in the Twenties.

Want to end gang violence? Just have the gooferment walk away from regulation. Ever see a Coke versus Pepsi shoot out? How about Bud and Miller duking it out on the street? Sending vast amounts of money to drug gangs in Mexico, drug kingpins in Columbia, or the terrorists in Afghanistan! We can end that in a heartbeat.

Legalize, deregulate, and wipe out the age restrictions. End all restrictions. And, for good measure allow WalMart to run it.

Will children get drugs? Yes! Do you think that the current system prevents it? Dreamer!

It’s the Libertarian assertion that a free market in drugs will have much less collateral damage than the current insane ‘system’.

42B$ will pay for a lot of things. Drug treatment, education, and giant tax reduction.

Now, what will all the unemployed drug dealers do?

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POLITICAL: UK PM opines that O should be Prez!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2713430/Gordon-Brown-triggers-row-with-John-McCain-by-backing-Barack-Obama.html

Gordon Brown triggers row with John McCain by ‘backing’ Barack Obama

Gordon Brown has triggered a potential row with John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, after apparently backing Barack Obama – breaking convention not to get involved in foreign elections.

By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor and Tom Leonard
Last Updated: 9:05AM BST 10 Sep 2008

# – # – #

Oh that’s going to help O with the American people.

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POLITICS: Maybe THAT misstep?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/09/obama-attacks-gop-tickets-mantra-of-change/

September 9, 2008, 6:23 pm
Obama Puts Different Twist on Lipstick
Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from Lebanon, Virginia.

*** begin quote ***

What’s the difference between a more hopeful kind of politics and old-fashioned attacks? Lipstick.

Barack Obama says the John McCain-Sarah Palin policies don’t represent change, they’re “just calling the same thing something different.”

“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” Obama said during a town-hall style event here Tuesday night.

The comment played on Republican vice presidential candidate Palin’s joke during the Republican National Convention that the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick.

*** end quote ***

Given my opinion that this race will be “LOST”; not “WON”. It appears that the O campaign is, are, on the erge of stepping on their … … putting it politely … … their tongues. I would have deleted all references to lipsticks and pigs. When I heard this, I said to myself: “Self, He’s really calling the sitting GOvernor of Alaska a pig? Has he lost his mind?”

Yup, I bet that’s what others heard.

Hit her on the issues. Better yet, hit McC on the issues. The O campaign is acting like they are running against the VP candidate.

LOL, it is quite humorous to see these wanna be tyrants rassel for the right to tell people what to do!

Sheeple need the Massa!

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POLITICAL: “price controls”

Monday, September 8, 2008

http://channel-surfing.blogspot.com/2008/09/real-economy.html

Sunday, September 07, 2008
The real economy

*** begin quote ***

Forget the stock market. I’m standing in the Stop&Shop and looking at the milk prices: $4.29 a gallon.

*** end quote ***

Interesting. Perhaps now you might want to forgo the gooferment’s price supports and price controls on stuff. Remember WashingtonDC’s solution of energy forever by gasohol out of corn. (A political payoff to ADM and the Farm states.) Think that might have some relation to food prices skyrocketing? Feed prices go up with food prices. Cost of milk goes up. Gas and diesel go up so the price of things carried in trucks goes up.

I can’t wait for the gooferment’s solution to “save” us from these problems!

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POLITICAL: My impression of Ms. Palin’s speech

Sunday, September 7, 2008

moms

What’s a woman have to do to please the liberal media?

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POLITICAL: Watch what people do; not what they say!

Saturday, September 6, 2008
http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2008/09/06/republican-recycling/
by on September 6, 2008
*** begin quote ***
This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.
*** end quote ***
Hoot! Talk about your gun, your bullet, and your foot. Actions speak louder than words.
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POLITICAL: Why Sarah Palin matters? Money!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists
/gerard_baker/article4677799.ece

http://tinyurl.com/5rb3vh

From The Times
September 5, 2008
Sarah Palin: it’s go west, towards the future of conservatism
Her thrilling convention speech showed that the Governor of Alaska is a force to reckoned with. But she might be more than that
Gerard Baker

*** begin quote ***

First of all she offers an opportunity for an ailing Republican party to reconnect with ordinary Americans. She’s conservative, but her conservatism is not that of the intolerant, uncomprehending white male sort that has so hurt the party in recent years. She is much closer to a model of the lives of ordinary Americans – working mother, plainspoken everywoman juggling home and office – than any Republican leader in memory.

*** end quote ***

I correctly forecast her selection. As first among three women back on March 3rd, I hedged my bet. The R’s just HAD to pick a woman.

BUTT, and there is always a big but!

I missed an even bigger thing that she brought to the ticket, fund raising power!

Money!

The root of all evil is the mother’s milk of any political campaign!

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POLITICS: What Sarah P does to the election, IMHO!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

I have no like for either set of candidates. Force is force. Whether its the R’s tell in me what to do or the D’s telling me what to do, I still object to getting told what to do.

That being said, I think the media is missing the real wild card that Sarah P is.

In the USA, half the people don’t vote. Don’t blame them because voting doesn’t change squat.

Half of that no-voting half are women. If Sarah can bring out 5% of that 25% of self disenfranchised women. The election is OVER!

Of the voting half of the USA, it usually breaks 25% D, 16%R, and 9% swing.

Remember the Hilary inspired backlash? It is a concern that may be as much as 4%. The media keeps saying of that 4% “where are they going to go”. They don’t have to go anywhere. They just don’t have to NOT come out to vote.

Soooo, it could be a razor thin election.

That’s what SarahP does to the election!

:-)

Of course, I can root for every one to lose.

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POLITICAL: Obama … might allay Catholic voters’ disgust with his votes to uphold infanticide in Illinois

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/
obama_biden_and_the_catholic_v.html

http://tinyurl.com/6lu54c

Kyle-Anne Shiver is an independent journalist and a frequent contributor to American Thinker. She welcomes your comments at kyleanneshiver.com.

*** begin quote ***

Or, was Obama thinking that he might allay Catholic voters’ disgust with his votes to uphold infanticide in Illinois, by picking a Catholic, somewhat more moderate, pro-abortion candidate?

Biden did vote for the partial birth abortion ban, but then he roundly criticized the Supreme Court decision last year, which upheld the ban. Biden does hold a lower approval rating with NARAL (36%) than Obama’s 100%, but as any voting-age citizen already knows, the Vice President has zero, zilch, nada to say on abortion law. The only time the Vice President could even have a vote would be as a tiebreaker in the Senate on legislation, which is not going to happen in the next 4 years.

Senator Obama may have been thinking that he would help himself by putting a Catholic on the ticket, but he seems to have not taken any note of the fact that the Catholic Church is now guided by a new, very conservative Pope. There is not a single dictum emanating from this Pope, nor from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which lets a single Catholic off the hook on the matter of voting for pro-abortion candidates. If anything, the strictures against such votes have become much more important under Pope Benedict XVI than under Pope John Paul II.

It is entirely possible that Senator Joseph Biden will publicly be denied the Sacrament of Holy Communion during the course of this campaign. This, of course, will invite a siege of press attacks against the Catholic Church, but it will also signal to the Catholic laity, who make up a full 25% of the American electorate, that this Pope takes the abortion issue more seriously than any other at the moment.

Obama seems not to have paid much heed to the fact that John Kerry was the first Democrat to lose a majority of the Catholic vote to George W. Bush. He seems also not to have taken note of the new Pope’s resolve on this issue. Perhaps Obama has been persuaded to believe that Father Pfleger is more the rule than the exception, and if this is the case, then he has been squarely bamboozled.

Why in the world would Obama think Biden helps his bid for the Presidency?

In one fell swoop, Senator Obama has stated uncategorically that he is flying by the seat of his pants on foreign policy and needs a Daddy figure to guide him. And this particular Daddy figure, Biden, has stated repeatedly that Obama’s positions are wrong and McCain’s are right.

Bonus for McCain.

Also, Obama has brought a pro-abortion Catholic politician to the glaring attention of Pope Benedict XVI, while unnecessarily putting the U.S. Bishops on the spot. The Vatican has lately been reminding priests and Bishops that they are not to offer Communion to pro-abortion politicians. It’s always been a no-no, but Biden’s position on the ticket will highlight the issue once again for one quarter of the American electorate, while putting Bishops on a hotter seat with the Vatican.

So, what in the world was Obama thinking?

Not much, it would seem.

The VP choice was perhaps another thing “above” Obama’s “pay grade.”

*** end quote ***

Will the American Catholic Bishops grow a backbone? My prediction … no. Why you say? One word …. pedopholia!

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POLITICAL: “REASONABLE” CUTS IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING, TAXES, OR WASTE

Monday, August 25, 2008

http://www.centerforsmallgovernment.com/

3 BIG LIES: OUR OPPOSITION SUPPORTS “REASONABLE” CUTS IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING, TAXES, OR WASTE by Michael Cloud

*** begin quote ***

“I support reasonable reductions in Massachusetts government spending, but ending the income tax would decimate the state,” said several elected politicians.

“I support sensible tax cuts, but eliminating the income tax is too extreme,” said a local government official.

“Of course, we want measured and moderate reductions of unneeded government spending, but abolishing the income tax is ridiculous,” said several opponents.

They publicly empathize and sympathize with workers and taxpayers. They tell us they understand our frustration with economic conditions. They feel our financial pain.

When pressed, the opposition to ENDing the Income tax tells interviewers, reporters, and audiences… 3 Big Lies.

Big Lie Number 1: They support ‘reasonable’ reductions in government spending – but not the extreme and devastating reductions Ballot Question 1 would cause.

Big Lie Number 2: They support ‘reasonable’ tax cuts – but not the drastic step of repealing the income tax.

Big Lie Number 3: They support ‘reasonable’ efforts to reduce government waste – who doesn’t? – but they’re against using Ballot Question 1 to squeeze out waste.

How can you be sure that the opposition is lying when they say these 3 things?

“Watch what they do, not what they say,” advised Attorney General John N. Mitchell.*

“By their fruits shall ye know them,” says Scripture.

“Actions speak louder,” says the proverb.

Test what the speaker says against what he does. And has done. Look at his political actions for the last 10 years, 20 years, or 30 years.

Ask the Opposition Massachusetts Teachers Union official to show you, say, any 3 ‘reasonable’ tax reductions for the 3,400,000 workers and taxpayers that they donated to and campaigned for. Any 3.

Ask the Opposition politician to give you 3 ‘reasonable’ government spending cuts that he personally sponsored or cosponsored in the legislature in the last 10 years.

Ask the Opposition speaker to give you 3 specific examples of ‘reasonable’ waste cuts that he publicly campaigned for in the last 10 years.

Ask the Opposition organization to show you any 3 tax cuts, spending cuts, or waste cuts they lobbied the state legislature for – or lobbied their city government for.

If any of them can give you just 3 examples of actions they took on behalf of ‘reasonable cuts’, follow up with a money question: “If we added up every dollar of your 3 ‘reasonable cuts,’ how much money would your cuts give back to taxpayers?”

The Massachusetts state budget is $47.3 billion. In light of that number, how reasonable are their “reasonable cuts?”

True values are expressed in action.

Big Lies are limited to words.

Earlier this year, we asked Governor Deval Patrick and the state legislature to: “Show Us the Tax Money: Open the Government Books.”

Today, we challenge the Massachusetts Teachers Union and their allies, Governor Deval Patrick, and the other elected politicians:

“Show Us your ‘reasonable’ tax cuts, spending cuts, and waste cuts. Your deeds, not words. Your results, not rhetoric. Your actions, not intentions. Show us your Tax Cuts.”

And stop telling 3,400,000 Massachusetts workers and taxpayers the 3 Big Lies.

+++

* John Mitchell wanted the Nixon Administration to be judged by its actions, not its words. So he said, “Watch what we do, not what we say.”

It’s still good advice.

*** end quote ***

Anyone who lives in Taxachusetts has a real chance to send the “tax and spend” D’s and the “borrow and spend” R’s a real message.

If Massachusetts can do it, why not New Jersey?

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RANT: Obamacide

Sunday, August 24, 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/obamacide.html

http://tinyurl.com/5p4j3m

August 23, 2008
Obamacide
By J. Matt Barber

*** begin quote ***

How does one properly describe another who would — for purely selfish political reasons and with deliberation — intentionally refuse a thirsty child water or a hungry child food?

More specifically, what does one call a lawmaker who would condemn to death the child survivor of a botched abortion by permitting doctors to refuse that child, once born alive, potentially life-saving medical treatment and nutrition?

A number of things come to mind. Mr. President isn’t one of them.

*** end quote ***

It’s hard to imagine how this issue can swept under the rug under the rubric of “hope & change”!

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POLITICAL: Obama Campaign Finance Shenanigans

Saturday, August 23, 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/obama_campaign_finance_shenani.html

August 22, 2008
Obama Campaign Finance Shenanigans

*** begin quote ***

With all that money rolling in, it is to be expected that some of it is being used in a way that either skirts the letter of the law or breaks it.

Michelle Malkin is on the story of $800 thousand that went to the far left group ACORN for “advance work” that was funneled to them not by the Obama campaign but through an organization called “Citizen Services, Inc.”

It turns out that Citizens Service, Inc. and ACORN share the same address in New Orleans. And the more than $800,000 given by the Obama campaign to this group was remarkable considering that the average amount paid for “advance work” in 1200 other entries on Obama’s FEC report was around $540.

*** and ***

But, said Blair Latoff, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee: “Barack Obama’s failure to accurately report his campaign’s financial records is an incredibly suspicious situation that appears to be an attempt to hide his campaign’s interaction with a left-wing organization previously convicted of voter fraud. For a candidate who claims to be practicing ‘new’ politics, his FEC reports look an awful lot like the ‘old-style’ Chicago politics of yesterday.”

*** and ***

Watch for this breaking story of Obama returning money used illegally by ACORN on your national news tonight…

Yeah, right.

*** end quote ***

Ahh, those rules are for others!

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POLITICAL: Biden … Another CINO politician

Saturday, August 23, 2008

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92NROBG0&show_article=1

Obama taps Biden to be running mate
Aug 23 03:25 AM US/Eastern
By LIZ SIDOTI and NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writers

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON (AP) – Barack Obama named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate early Saturday, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues.

[JR: Highlighting the shortcoming at the top of the ticket!]

*** and ***

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

[JR: Another CINO politician. How does JoeB align with O’s extreme abortion position? What a joke! Catholics, Right to Lifers, and people with a moral conscience should not be fooled by this fellow. It’s about politics!]

*** and ***

Obama’s decision leaked to the media several hours before his aides planned to send a text message announcing the running mate, negating a promise that people who turned over their phone numbers would be the first to know who Obama had chosen. The campaign scrambled to send the text message after the leak, sending phones buzzing at the inconvenient time of just after 3 a.m. on the East coast.

[JR: SO much for the vaunted announcement to supporters first. LOL]

*** and ***

Biden is seeking a new Senate term in the fall. there was no immediate word whether he intended to change plans as he reaches for national office.

[JR: This will be the indicator of how committed he is to the ticket. If he keeps running for “his” Senate seat, then he’s not. And, that’s red flag. If he does commit to the national run, then at least we have one less liberal in the Senate! I’d wager, he won’t commit.]

*** and ***

“For Obama supporters, this is like finding out from your neighbor instead of your sister that she’s engaged—not how you want or expect the news to be delivered,” Silberman said.

[JR: Get used it it. Politicians always over promise and under deliver.]

*** and ***

“I am not running for vice president,” he said in a Fox interview. “I would not accept it if anyone offered it to me. The fact of the matter is I’d rather stay as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee than be vice president.”

[JR: Either a fool or a liar. Maybe both.]

*** and ***

It was Biden’s second try for the White House. The first ended badly in 1988 when he was caught lifting lines from a speech by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.

[JR: And wasn’t he a plagiarist in college? Wonder if the liberal media will bring that up. Does he have the character to be President?]

*** and ***

And, he added: “I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a yes person when it comes to policymaking.”

[JR: Yeah, right. What’s the quote about VP? Warm useless spit?]

*** end quote ***

It will be interesting to see if this makes any difference at all. McC can shake up the race with a good choice like that lady from Alaska. Condi, or maybe a military guy like Powell.

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POLITICAL: why I’ll never be President

Sunday, August 17, 2008

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/08/16/obama-says-pointed-abortion-query-above-his-pay-grade

Tales from the Trail
Tracking the 2008 U.S. campaign
August 16th, 2008
Obama says pointed abortion query “above his pay grade”
Posted by: Ed Stoddard

*** begin quote ***

DALLAS – U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama side-stepped a pointed query about abortion on Saturday by “mega-pastor” Rick Warren during a televised forum.

Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.”

*** and ***

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who followed Obama onto the stage of the nationally televised event, was more blunt and more emphatic.

He said a baby’s human rights began “at the moment of conception … I have a 25-year pro-life record.”

*** end quote ***

1. “Pay Grade”! Hey, man, you are running for the most powerful job in the world. There ain’t NOTHING above your paygrade!

2. This IS a tough question. Akin to any genocide question.

I’d have said: “Life begins at conception. That’s science 101. When rights are assumed to begin is arguable. I DO know that when the Gooferment gets involved in tough questions, with one size fits all solutions, it muddies the waters. Abortion is a tragedy for all involved. I’d move the Gooferment out of people’s most heart wrenching decisions. Politicians don’t know sqwat! To think we can tell people what is right and wrong with one broad brush rule is absurd. We’ll leave that decision to the individuals involved and pray they make the right decision. As President, I’d remove rules and funding that push people around. My advice to the American People is: Zip it up folks! If you don’t dip your pen, there would be no need for abortions! Women control the situation. Demand a ring, a bank account, and fidelity. It’s your right. This is not one of those erasers on the end of a pencil. This is human life we talking about! Think about all the beautiful productive human beings we’ve nuked by our own stupidity! Have we killed the person who is going to cure cancer? Wise up and wake up. Next question!?”

But, then that’s why I’ll never be President. Too blunt!

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POLITICS: A comment on “Catholic Case Against Barack”

Saturday, August 16, 2008

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27992

Catholic Case Against Barack
08/12/2008
Pat Buchanan

*** begin quote ***

In the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama rolled up more than 90 percent of the African-American vote. Among Catholics, he lost by 40 points. The cool liberal Harvard Law grad was not a good fit for the socially conservative ethnics of Altoona, Aliquippa and Johnstown.

But if Barack had a problem with Catholics then, he has a far higher hurdle to surmount in the fall, with those millions of Catholics who still take their faith and moral code seriously.

For not only is Barack the most pro-abortion member of the Senate, with his straight A+ report card from the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood. He supports the late-term procedure known as partial-birth abortion, where the baby’s skull is stabbed with scissors in the birth canal and the brains are sucked out to end its life swiftly and ease passage of the corpse into the pan.

*** and ***

Before any devout Catholic, Evangelical Christian or Orthodox Jew votes for Obama, he or she might spend 15 minutes in Chapter 10 of Freddoso’s “Case Against Barack.” For if, as Catholics believe, abortion is the killing of an unborn child, and participation in an abortion entails automatic excommunication, how can a good Catholic support a candidate who will appoint justices to make Roe v. Wade eternal and eliminate all restrictions on a practice Catholics legislators have fought for three decades to curtail?

And which Catholic priests and prelates will it be who give invocations at Obama rallies, even as Mother Church fights to save the lives of unborn children whom Obama believes have no right to life and no rights at all?

*** end quote ***

Pat nails the pseudo Catholic right to the Cross. How can one claim the label “Catholic” and yet be pro-aboirtion. Or, in anyway support such a pro-abortion candidate.

And, I’m not judging anyone. Far above my pay grade, and I have my own flaws to fix.

HOWEVER, I’ll make an excpetion for the pseudo Catholic politicians we see int he media today. They beg for a come uppance!

Now there are many issues that one can have a debate about, but abortion, speciifcall partial birth or live birth abortion, is hard to see the other side’s pov. Think of all the Einsteins, Pastuers, and Hawkings that have been vacuumed from their mother’s womb. The Free Love generation has given us a travesty far worse than “back alley abortions”. Now, clearly we need a lot less “laws” and a lot more common sense. I trust Moms and their Doctors to do the right thing without some politician “helping” them with a bunch of one-size fits all “laws”. Tossing people in jail or forcing folks to do what they don’t want is not the basis of a peaceful society.

I hope Pat keeps up the heat on these very confused people (aka pseudo-Catholics).

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POLITICAL: Socialism prevents art appreciation?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Best_of_ARC/best1.asp?msg=116&forumID=18

*** begin quote ***

Q: How can you call for removal of government support for the arts? Wouldn’t it help if we were able to divert more government money to better kinds of art?

What we need is not more socialism for the museums and symphonies or government regulation of record companies and schools. What we need instead is to replace the mis-education system that removes the audiences from the symphonies, museums, art schools, and galleries. What we need to do is shrink the vast resources at their disposal and keep on plugging away trying to educate people about the good stuff. We don’t need socialism to support us. We just need the support for modernism that is extracted from the public by force to be eliminated. Suffice it to say that in cases where some genuinely desirable task is completed by the expenditure of government money, you always see manipulation of the process by those seeking special favors from the government. Generally the question in these genuinely desirable areas is not over whether the project will happen at all, but whether the government (with its typical lack of accountability, inefficiency, corruption, and power mongering) will do it or whether relatively more efficient and accountable private interests will do it

*** end quote ***

I never had much use for art. At least how art was taught. I had a revelation, it Las Vegas (of ALL places). I dragged Frau to Wynn’s art exhibit. Paid a stiff entry price. (I thin 20$ a head). Got a forerunner of an ipod and an a walk through some painting by the Old Masters. I saw some paintings that knock my socks off.

I’m still no art fan. But, you have to admit these old birds could grab you by te ear lobe and  make you listen.

It was the eyes that seemed like they were looking at you.

Sigh, less gooferment; more old masters?

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POLITICS: The phony drug war

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
You can't make this stuff up.

You can't make this stuff up.


POLITICAL: Hiroshima … never again?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima

*** begin quote ***

On Monday[10], August 6, 1945, the nuclear weapon Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima by the crew of the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000-140,000.[11] Approximately 69% of the city’s buildings were completely destroyed, and 6.6% severely damaged.

*** end quote ***

As an American who wasn’t alive when this happened, I won’t judge the people who did this. I’m sure they have met the Maker and received their eternal reward. I will say I am shocked and appalled by it.

Government, gooferment, the meme that kills.

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POLITICAL: Or are you just as ignorant as you sound?

Sunday, August 3, 2008

A COMMENT THAT WAS A DRIVE BY

*** begin quote ***

A new comment on the post #3602 “POLITICAL: Obama’s Prayer: The Intended Audience” is waiting for your approval https://reinkefaceslife.com/2008/07/31/political-obamas-prayer-the-intended-audience/

Author : no (IP: 172.162.117.177 , ACA275B1.ipt.aol.com) E-mail : no@no.com
URL :
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=172.162.117.177
Comment:
You do realize that Obama isn’t muslim, right? Or are you just as ignorant as you sound?

*** end quote ***

I love “drive by” anonymous comments.

I’ll take a stab at this one.

I don’t KNOW anything about O other than he’s running for President.

  • His religion, if any, is doubt. Muslin, Wright wacko, or something else — who knows?
  • He’s flip floped on the war — only Ron Paul was going to get us out of Iraq!

  • He’s pro-abortion. Sorry, it abhorrent, and I don’t want to pay for it.

  • His tax policy is right out of the Socialist playbook.

I think his qualifications are non-existent and imho he’s an empty suit.

Guess I AM as ignorant as I sound.

(I love softballs!)

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POLITICAL: Obama’s Prayer: The Intended Audience

Thursday, July 31, 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/07/obamas_prayer_the_real_audienc_1.html

July 30, 2008
Obama’s Prayer: The Intended Audience
By Helen Cadogan
Helen Cadogan is the owner of iEdit.

Editor’s note: Publication of this article is suspended. Ma’ariv has backed away from the published story and YA has indicated differences with the published account.

*** begin quote ***

Barack Obama wanted the world to know that he can pray like a Christian. Thus, he penned a ‘note to God’ on stationery from the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, and he generously gave a copy to the “international media even before he put in the Kotel, a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel.” Thus says the Ma’ariv spokesman in defense of his newspaper, which may be the subject of a criminal investigation for publishing the ‘note to God’ which Obama gave to the paper. For, interestingly, not only Ma’ariv was a recipient of Obama’s generosity, so was Yediot Ahoronot (YA), the most popular Israeli daily. YA also obtained the ‘note to God’ from Obama but declined to print it, ironically, “to respect Obama’s privacy.”

*** and ***

If Ma’ariv had the note from Obama right after it was written, it could have published it at anytime. However, had Ma’ariv done so, then Obama would have been justly accused of politicizing one of the most sacred places of Judaism, the Western Wall. How, then, is he supposed to avoid such a charge? The logical answer would be to have a supporter temporarily retrieve the note (notice I don’t call it a prayer, which is a private matter), take it to a newspaper, which would then publish it, with this added cachet that vindicates Obama of spiritual crassness — claim it was stolen.

Who was the intended audience for this little passion play? Every speech act has an intended audience, and prayer, a very personal speech act, also has its own. In the normal course of events, God is the intended audience. However, given that Obama released his note for publication immediately after writing it, then God may not be the intended audience. Rather, Obama’s intended audience may be of this world: America’s voting Jews, Christians, and Muslims. To reach them, Obama would have to engage in a tricky balancing act purposed to let each group know that he believes as it does.

*** end quote ***

Wow!

I’m no fan of either political party, either politician, nor any of the gang!

This is something one would expect in a Tom Clancy novel.

It does HOWEVER have the ring of truth to it. Manipulation by politicians, and their helpful lackies in the media, have made me suspicious of EVERYTHING they do.

I have no problem with a black Muslim President. I do have a problem with politicians that hide their stipes and denty their associations until AFTER they are elected. It seems that time after time, we learn AFTER the fact, that we’ve been had.

Bush Senior read my lips. Clinton’s middle class tax cut. Bush Junior’s humbel foreign policy.

Nope, I dislike them both, but O may have set a new bottom if this is true.

What media outlet will dig for the truth?

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POLITICAL: No taxes of any kind on small businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

Monday, July 28, 2008

http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/07/28/
how-to-jumpstart-the-economy-tax-free-small-businesses/

http://tinyurl.com/622bky

How to Jumpstart the Economy – Tax Free Small Businesses
Mark Cuban
Jul 28th 2008 10:13AM

*** begin quote ***

In today’s climate, its politically expedient to volunteer taxpayer money as a solution to all problems. That’s wrong. Instead, we should open the door to our country’s Intellectual capital and the entrepreneurial energy that separates us from the rest of the world. Make it easy for entrepreneurs to do what entrepreneurs do, and great things happen. Voters and politicians alike seem to have forgotten what has made this country an economic powerhouse.

*** end quote ***

Good idea. But, it accepts the premise that taxation is a “good idea”.

First, “companies” don’t pay taxes; real people do. Tax a “company” and they either mark up their products to cover it or go out of business. So, why should the taxpayer, you an me, put up with this fiction and the discontinuities it introduces. Take for example, any tax on the oil companies. It has a multiple whammy. The oil company raises the price of gas to cover the tax. And, every company, that uses gas, pays more and marks up their prices to cover it. So, it’s a extra whammy!

Second, the politicians have created this crazy world where money has no value. They allow the Fed to print all the money they need to waste in Washington and then are surprised when inflation robs the American people of 97% of its purchasing power in thirty or forty years.

Third, the distinction between employees and contractors is another joke. Benefits tied to employment are tax deductible to the employer but not to the employee. What a joke!

And on and on.

Expecting politicians to do anything ignores their “rules of engagement” — feather their own nest, reward heir friends, and punish their enemies!

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POLITICAL: Media “Objectivity”?

Friday, July 25, 2008
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.
html?id=6e9f4a42-9540-4d99
-aba2-25adc276c25d

http://tinyurl.com/6eptr5

The New Republic
End of the Affair by
Barack Obama and the press break up.
Post Date Thursday, July 24, 2008

Referring to New York Times chief political correspondent Adam Nagourney

*** begin quote ***

Later that afternoon, Nagourney got permission from Times editors to e-mail Sargent a response to the Obama memo. But the episode still grates. “I’ve never had an experience like this, with this campaign or others,” Nagourney tells me. “I thought they crossed the line. If you have a problem with a story I write, call me first. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. But they never called. They attacked me like I’m a political opponent.”

*** end quote ***

The implication being that if one is not a “political opponent”, one is a “political ally”?

Gee, I thought reporters were supposed to at least pretent to be impartial.

I have no dog in this fight. I don’t care for EITHER candidate, but this is “humorous” at best!

Maybe that’s why the NYT is on the rocks financially?

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POLITICAL: Smaller Government?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

http://bostontea.us

barlow logo

Program of the Boston Tea Party
Adopted in Convention, August 21st, 2006

1. The Boston Tea Party calls for a complete and unconditional withdrawal of US troops from, and a cessation of US military operations against or within, Iraq.

2. The Boston Tea Party supports repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act.

3. The Boston Tea Party calls for an end to the federal prohibition of marijuana and hemp.

4. The Boston Tea Party calls for the immediate repeal of the REAL ID Act and any and all National ID plans.

5. The Boston Tea Party calls for legislation adopting an annual, regularized increase in the personal exemption to the federal income tax of $1,000 or more, and the additional application of said personal exemption to all FICA/Social Security taxes paid by employees and employers.

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POLITICAL: Saint Francis!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69693

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Major U.S. city officially condemns Catholic Church
Instructs members to defy ‘Holy Office of Inquisition’
Posted: July 15, 2008
8:48 pm Eastern

*** begin quote ***

A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church’s moral teachings on homosexuality as “insulting to all San Franciscans,” “hateful,” “defamatory,” “insensitive” and “ignorant” will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution’s prohibition of government hostility toward religion.

Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican of being a “foreign country” meddling with and attempting to “negatively influence (San Francisco’s) existing and established customs.”

*** end quote ***

I guess San Francisco is going to change its name from Saint Francis!

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