Here and There

Sorry for the lack of posts. As some may realize I am commuting between my Home in PA and a worksite in the Czech Republic. I spend more time there than here rotating every couple of weeks back to the U.S. for a short time and I return.

I could qualify for citizenship here in the lovely Brno.

The travel takes a lot out of me and the work here well; let’s just say it’s not anything like working on aircraft and getting dirty on a flight line like in the good ole days just a few years ago.

The flying to-n-fro and living in hotels (although the same one) has eaten away at my desire to write. I don’t know what it is, but the feeling is just not there most of the times. But I won’t give it up, I’ll just post at the reduced rate.

Now all this living abroad has now made me an expert on living and life in Europe. Let me tell you, there is no better way to learn the culture than to live in it for an extended period. None of that arm chair analysis, I am talking man on the street or trolley, tram, train and diesel fueled automobile.

More to come in future posts on the differences in lifestyles and life expectations between us Americans and the Europeans. And there is a lot of difference and we should all hope we don’t go any more in this direction.

Here is a start:

Behold my latest trip here and the air fare. This is what my company paid for a round trip (Economy by the way) between Philly and Prague. Note the actual Air Fare is a mere $226.00 U.S. Dollars.

Oh yeah, dear reader, that big whopping $620.70 is all the taxes heaped onto this international ticket. Those Taxes have only recently gone up to accommodate this new “Carbon Trading” scheme that has been enacted here in the EU Zone. All aircraft flying into and landing in the EU Zone are now required to pay this Carbon Offset tax and it only this year went into effect on flights originating in North America (the U.S. Air Carriers all ganged together and sued the EU but of course lost).

This adds another $31 dollars minimum to a flight from the U.S. Now I don’t pay this tax, my company does but when you look at all the taxes how in the hell are you going to try and spur any kind of tourism to either continent with taxes that make a trip like this outrageous in cost.

Look at that up there, the airline flight is a mere $226.00 and we are not talking some cut rate airline, this is a British Airways flight. These guys actually earn that money: they feed you and keep you in booze the whole flight. They prowl the aisles with water and juice all during the flight not like a U.S. Airline I know that will go without nameless here ( Delta) who feeds you and then they disappear until its almost time to land. And I mean disappear; they must have some secret under-the-floor retreat they all hide in because they go away leaving water a juice out for you to serve yourself. But not BA, those crews actually serve the whole time you are with them.

Anyway, I don’t see how one can trigger tourism when you pile on the taxes and meanwhile the aircraft manufacturers are going out of their way to build more and more fuel efficient aircraft yet they get hammered on the carbon output on a flat rate not at all based on how little impact their new engines are on the environment. The government fools here don’t understand the market side approach that would incentivize the reduction of carbon output. But no, it’s all done it that socialist way where everyone shares in the misery.

In other news: There is no Global Warming!! What you say, look at this chart:

I stole the chart from Weasel Zippers and they got it from this article right here. From the UK Daily Mail no less!!

Yeah it appears that there has been NO warming over the last 15 years which means that there has been no so called “Greenhouse” effect from all the Carbon Dioxide accumulating up there in the stratosphere. The article further states that a mini-Ice Age just may be a coming our way too.

Wow, where did I hear that before? I remember now, when I was back in the early ‘70’s and they had just got DDT black listed to save Bald Eagle. You remember that whole Rachel Carson think where she determined that the Bald Eagle has suddenly developed thin egg shells triggered by the ingestion of this evil toxin (even though Bald Eagles in Alaska had the same problem of thin egg shells but the use of DDT was not wide spread up there at the time) . So to save the symbol of the country we had to ditch the one chemical responsible for the saving of literally millions of lives by its use of killing mesquites.

But I drift; back to the “Ice Age” that was all the rage back in the ‘70’s. Yeah, it was even a time cover story.

This is the April 8th 1977 cover of Time, but the hype started years before. In June of 1974 time ran its first article about the coming ice age (“Another Ice Age?”) and Newsweek followed with a story its own on the same subject (“The Cooling World”) in their April 28th 1975 issue. Oh the humanity.

What was old is new again, just think Time and Newsweek both can save themselves some money and republish both those stories and not pay a real journalist to actually you know fact check or anything just like their Political coverage!!

I wonder where all that Carbon Tax money is really going? Do you think they are really going to use it to plant trees or to suck CO2 out of the sky and sequester it down deep inside ole Mother Gia?

No, I think they are using it to line their pockets the rat bastards. This whole Global Warming/Climate Change/Carbon Dioxide is one big scam designed to take money away from those of us that have it and turn it over to politicians who will do with it as they please.

What a load of crap.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Obama's War on Oil

How important is the Oil Industry to the national economy? Let’s look at a few facts.

First off Oil as it turns out is a very useful base product. From a single barrel of oil (42 gallons) you not only get gasoline (19.36 gals) which we all put into our cars but they also refine Diesel fuel and Jet fuel. This accounts for only about 33 of the 42 gallons in the standard barrel of oil.

Graphic above taken from the U. S. Energy Information Administraion (http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/)

That remaining 9 gallons of oil is used to make many, many items. They are called “petrochemicals” a byproduct of distilling oil further is the production of ethylene and propylene. These are the backbone of the huge petrochemical industry.

Ethylene and propylene are used to produce plastics. Plastics in many forms have literally revolutionized our lives. Used in everything from cookware to blood bags, from computers to carpeting. There is virtually noting that does not benefit from the many forms of plastic.

The petrochemical industry employs more than 7 million people in this country this is over and above the 2 million jobs directly related to oil and gas production (these are the oil and gas field jobs, and those employed in the first tier refineries).
Plastics includes: bottles, laminated table/counter tops and flooring,, appliances, toys and medical equipment (including artificial joints, prosthesis as well as the tubing and surgical equipment). More than 1 million people work in the plastics industries and increases as a component of the national GDP by more than 2% per year.

Derivative oil based products include asphalts, dyes, waxes, lubricants and the base for paints and of course tires (car and truck) which are all “artificial” rubber.

Cosmetics include all the dyes, colorants and aromatics which are re-applied to other plastic or derivative (in the case of color agents of paint).

All of these industries are included in that 7 million job count. All of these products are directly affected by the price of the barrel of Oil. The pain of high oil goes beyond the gas pump that we all feel.

Begging to curry favor with the far left the Obama Administration has embarked on a considered effort if not to destroy the Oil Industry at least to hobble it to the point of near non-existence. The Administration is vested in high energy prices as a way to make Wind and Solar (supposed “Green” energy) more attractive.

The Administration has worked hard to restrict access to both oil and natural gas fields where many new jobs would be created. At the same time, drawing oil locally or at least in this hemisphere would reduce our multi-billion dollar to Middle Eastern nations for their oil. Witness the near total ban on re-opening drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and all the effort this Administration has expanded in trying to keep oil drilling a thing of the past in that region. All to the detriment of the many tens of thousands that depend on those jobs.

At the same time the EPA is on the way to adopting regulations that would restrict the development of new oil and gas fields, new and improved refinery plants which all would spur new jobs and reduce the cost of the raw material to the many industries that we rely on, not just the gas for our cars.

All of these initiatives pushed by the Administration (High energy prices, restricted access to the raw resources itself and the overreaching EPA regulations) is a concerted effort to cripple the oil and gas industries. With little or no regard to how the public feels or to its needs. No one can deny that high energy prices ripple into the fabric of our society.

That barrel of Oil is used many times in our integrated economy so that the high price must be factored into the ultimate cost of items purchased by the consumer many times. Not just in the transportation of the finished product to market, in many cases the actual manufacturing of the product is done in plants or with methods that rely on oil or petrochemicals.

There is no questioning that we are an oil economy. The fact that the Obama Administration is at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Semolina (albeit a low yield, low intensity) he is also at war with the Oil and Natural Gas resources within this country.

We are blessed with enough of both to make the country completely independent of foreign oil. If only the envorowinnies would let us.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Class Warfare – Haves versus the Have-More

It’s on full bore there in Wisconsin. The Haves are besieged by the Have-Mores’ who are led by Democrat Cowards. The Haves or the Voters put in office this last November a full team of Republicans. In one election cycle the Voters replaced the Majorities in both the State General Assembly and the State Senate. And they were not done there either oh by the way, replacing their Governor with a Republican, flipping one Congressional seat from “D” to “R” and a long standing Senator (Russ Feingold). This was complete repudiation of the left leaning and took the state from a stalwart Blue to flaming Red in one fell swoop.

But this is not interpreted by the Have-Mores as an indictment of their policies and priorities. Oh no, that election had nothing to do with what they want and they want More! So the Public Employee Unions are out in full force demanding More and More. They even have that Human Eating Machine and Communist Pig Michael Moore out stumping for them.

Watch the video at your own peril as his rant is beyound what a normal American would think is right and may subject you to projectile vomiting!




The Have-Mores are demanding more of the wealth that the Have’s just don’t want to give up to those that are actually living better than they are since the average Public Union employee has an overall compensation package that is superior to the average person in Wisconsin enjoys. In fact, the average is higher than even the National average. But they want even more!

They have flooded the TV airwaves and Radio stations with attack ads complaining about those evil Republicans and the agenda to end the reign of the Have-Mores and especially Collective Bargaining. They call it a “right” but in fact it is a privilege and the way it is used in Public Employee Unions it is actually a money laundry scheme. Whereas the Union members surrender a portion of their wages to the Union leadership who siphon some of it off to compensate themselves richly for their services and then take a majority of what is left of those Dues and spend it buying DemocRat politicians. Once they get a political rat bought paid for and in Office they use that person to ‘negotiate’ new benefits and compensation to those Union members that are much better than the private sector. This includes a lavish Pension plans, way more than what the average person in American can expect ( A Bureau of Labor Statistics report in December found the average state-local government worker earns more than $40.10 an hour in salary and benefits, or almost 50 percent more than the $27.88 an hour earned by the average private worker). They get a better Health Insurance Plan completely paid for by the Public not the Union or its members. All the while the Union does not make payments to the Pension Trusts funds with those dues. The result, the Unions Pensions plans all around the country are way underfunded.

Even now in the heat of this battle the DemocRat Politicians are taking their orders from the Unions.

And that is the next battle ground. Who pays for all those pensioners that will not get any money when what little the Unions have left buying politicians run out? They want to keep as many DemocRat politicians on their payroll as possible to ensure they keep getting public payouts from higher taxes and bailouts.

Enough is enough. The Republicians in Wisconsin should hold their ground and not compromise on this issue, they will never get their financial house in order if they don't get the Unions working for them instead of the other way around.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Profiles in Courage – Wisconsin Senate Fleebaggers

Fleebagging from Wisconsin

Meet: Tim Carpenter (D – Coward)

District: I represent WI – 3 and the 4th Bar Stool from the left in the Tilted Kilt Pub

Time in Service: This is my 3ard Term as a State Senator however I spent 18 years in the State Assembly and now 10 days of service in Exile.

Time to run to Illinois: 1 hour 25 minutes, no one knows US 41 like I do!

Escape Route: I shot down US41 from Milwaukee to just outside Zion and once across the state line I leisurely drove across to Rockford stopping in Harvard to hit the potty and press the flesh.

Personal Message: Happy to serve the 3ard District even if from a Bar Room stool in the Tilted Kilt.

Stay tuned for more Profiles in Courage, next episode - Fleebagging from Indiana!





/snark OFF

I was once elected to public office and served 7 years as an elected official of my community. Never, ever did I cut and run like the 14 Democrat cowards from Wisconsin or the many in Indiana. I faced hugely unpopular votes but stood before the crowded meeting room and expressed my thoughts and then voted. I did not run from the responsibility entrusted to me, I took the heat and moved my community forward. To compare anything that these guys do as being "Democratic" or as part of our "Democracy" is to slander all the good works performed by true leaders in governments all around the country.

These Girlie Men are Cowards. Ture Cowards.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Cho-cho’s and Bull Crap

During the State of the Union PresBO spouted off about wanting more High Speed Rail lines built into the country. Not sure why, these are fundamentally wrong for the United States except for moving heavy freight, which happens right now on many sets of tracks. How many of those can one turn into a high speed passenger service? None.

This has come up again lately, the Vice-Dunce Biden rode his ole rail line back up to Philly yesterday to hold a presser on the federal government’s desire to pour $53 Billion dollars into more high speed rail lines. Who are they kidding, that kind of money won’t cover the cost overrun on a job of this scale.

Look I don’t care how these guys are selling it; profitable rail service does not work here in the US. Observe the map below: Yeah, that about tells the story. This country is way too big for affordable rail service. Just look at how much money we as taxpayers loose every year on AMTRACK ($5 Billion last year). They lose more than $20 bucks a passenger and on some routes it would be cheaper to run the train with no one on it at all since the conductor/ticket puncher would not be required. And this is not the Acella, word is that monetary loss is much higher on that service. The only reason AMTRACK stays open is the simple fact that it goes to Washington DC.

The sad fact is that the administration is clutching at straws for Job Creation. They aren’t cutting it. This whole idea is as flawed as the idea of renewable energy from the wind or solar. It would be better to burn wood at least you can grow that back and burn some more.

Much like the building of Wind Mills for electric production, most of the steel will come from off shore. Those large props that are used to capture the wind on those windmills come from Germany or Holland. They are not made here. Those large transmission gear assemblies that are used to steer the rotating props to the electric generator, yep made off shore. Even the generator for the most part comes from off shore.

The truth is we don’t have this technology here anymore. It is all imported.

Do you think it will be any different for building a Rail system? I don’t. The Steel Industry long ago fled this country and most of the steel used in rail lines today, even on AMTRAC come from Korea. The Passenger Cars, those fancy ones on the Acella line that hauls Bidens big ass around on come from Germany (Siemens AG). The only part of a massive Rail system that will be U.S. built may be just the locomotive. A GE locomotive would be getting my vote seeing as how they are in bed with the PresBO.

Not until the US congress straps on some Balls and passes a Buy America provision for any project that uses Taxpayer money there will be no Job creation. This should have been a stipulation of the many Stimulus projects. Instead, at the urging of the Administration the congress passed a Union worker provision. Proving once again it is who you sleep with that counts.

Sorry, Green Jobs, FAIL. Renewable energy, FAIL. Public Employee Unions, FAIL. Ownership of GM, FAIL. High Speed rail, FAIL.

This crew has no clue, all those Harvard, Yale and all the Ivy League schooling and they are still lost. Maybe, just maybe they should go out and get a real job to see what it is really like, own and operate a business to see just how jobs are created in this country. Not dreamed of on the black board in the cloistered halls of academia.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Congress Making Sausage : Buring Trash

Many years ago I served my little community here as a Township Supervisor. Supervisors are elected officials and tasked with “running” the day to day activity of each of the many political subdivisions known here as Townships. Most of the people in the state of PA live in one of three classes of Townships. There are also Cities (there are only 3 in the whole state by the way) and Boro’s or Broughs as well.

My county alone (Montgomery) has 62 such subdivisions of various sizes and shapes. Within each the Supervisors are charged with hiring and firing of the Municipal staff, organizing and monitoring the various departments such as the Road Crew, Police, Administrative staff and the Sewer Plant if you are lucky enough to have one of those.

It is a daunting task and very underappreciated by the residents who go about their lives not realizing that 5 members of their community decide on virtually everything that makes their little community different from the next one down the road. Issues like Zoning, Subdivision and Land Development, construction standards for their roads, sidewalks and street light placement to tasking of the Police to patrol one area over another. There are standing committees that help with some of this; we had a Sewer Board, a Planning Commission for land development issues, Parks and Open Space committee, a Recreation committee and an Environmental Advisory Board.

One of the interesting aspects is that the make-up of the Board is by lay citizens from within the community. Our Board was made up of 5 unique individuals. One was a truck driver/mechanic, another was a retired State Trooper, another was a Butcher and yet another owned and operated a junkyard. Consensus building was sometimes a struggle, getting an idea sold across the diverse backgrounds of all the Supervisors were a challenge. An example was one effort I championed was to buy and install for our office staff (there were 9 Administrative staffers) a modern office computer system complete with laser printers and an actual office network. We had the money and the need. The staff was using clunker IBM workstations on an arcnet. It took some work, comparing different computers to models of trucks to convince the truck driver or likening an Ethernet to the turnpike and other roads for the Trooper to understand. It was but only item in what were a universe of needs that we addressed.

Another interesting aspect was everything a person in that position gets exposed to. I never knew anything about how a Municipal Sewer system worked but today, I can tell you the difference between an Circular Anaerobic digestion system and an Oxidation ditch system. The same with how roads are built and maintained or how a tract of farm land is turned into a single family housing development. It was always a learning experience and then of course applying some decision making skills.

To gain some structured knowledge and to help spread the experience around the Association that represented Township Supervisors all across the state of PA held training courses and seminars that we could attend. Many of the seminars related the changing of environmental laws or federal laws that are passed and then flowed down onto the Townships for us to figure out how to implement (like curb cuts into sidewalks after the ADA was passed). Some of the seminars were designed to teach the newbie how a road is built and how to go out and buy those large trucks that push the snow around in the winter or how to conduct a negotiate a contract with your Police union or even how to hold an effective meeting.

They were all helpful and I attended as many as I could. One I remember well and recent news items have pushed that one lesson to the fore.

It was a seminar on making Law. Yes folks, we as Township Supervisors are tasked with making laws. It was a necessary evil I assure you and none were done lightly. From the training seminal was one important lesson, which was has stuck with me. It was a discussion on consistent application of the law. The concept that all valid laws have to apply to all persons falling under its jurisdiction in exactly the same way. There can be no equivocation, no shade of grey, no waiver or exemptions. Laws that sustain challenge contain no ambiguity and are applied the same way in each happenstance. Laws are struck down if they are judged “capricious or arbitrary”.
Let us examine this a bit more:

Legal Dictionary:
Ar-bi-trary
1: depending on individual discretion and not fixed by standards, rules or law; founded on or subject to personal whims, prejudices, etc; having only relative application or relevance; not absolute

Ca-pri-cious
1; governed or characterized by impulse or whim; lacking a rational basis; not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law

Why has this struck me at this time? Well it was this: Waivers for Favors: Big Labor’s Obamacare escape hatch

This is an article by Michelle Malkin on waivers granted by the department of HHS to companies and Unions requesting exemption from the Patient Protection and the Affordable Health Care Act (PPAHCA) commonly known as Obamacare. It’s a huge number; almost 1 million Union members are exempt from Obamacare (list here) despite their hard work lobbying to get it passed.

There are almost 800 companies (story here) with active waivers granting exemption to more than 2 million people.

HHS reports that 50 applicants have been denied and no one knows how one group or plan is approved for exemption and another is denied. Do they grant them based on who has contributed money to their favorite Democrat cause? Is approval contingent on how “friendly” you are to the Administration?

You see, this is the problem when you invite exemption from a law you worked so very hard to get passed. Once you start exempting people, especially without that exemption process being spelled out in the same law, you get questions about the Law itself. How much of a “whim” is the law? How capricious is the law? It is applied in an arbitrary fashion? How consistent is it against the population it is to govern?

By virtue of the fact that the exemption process is a secret and not public, that so many are being exempted out and especially their own supporters want out this bill should be junked. It is capricious or arbitrary and not enforceable on the rest of us. It should be repealed or struck down altogether.

Once during my 7-years as a Township Supervisor I had to vote on a law banning the open burning of trash in the backyards of homes here in the Swamp area. Sounds like an easy piece of legislation to draft and vote on, makes sense in this modern age all that health and clean air stuff. But you would not believe the blow back. So many people came in asking what the hell were we thinking, banning the burning of trash! The meeting room was filled the next regularly scheduled meeting night, standing room only in fact (more 70 people came out). This was a big deal, we normally only get 4 or 5 folks out when we raised taxes or jacked up the sewer fee. Hell, when we laid off a Police Officer we only got three people in there to complain. What the hell were we thinking, banning the burning of trash!

They all wanted exemptions. They all wanted to keep their burn barrels. They wanted no part in the mandatory curb side service mandated by state law (the State recycling law forced municipalities that reached a certain population density to go to the curb with their trash).

We said no. I said no. If the law applied to one of us, it was going to apply to us all. And so it was, and is today here in the Swamp.

That one law may have been why I was a one term Supervisor. You take a stand and you take your lumps. We can only hope this will be true of PresBO as well.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

China Relations: "Will You Kiss Me?"

So, the President of China is in town. No doubt looking over the collateral for those massive 890 BILLION dollars of notes they hold on us.

Our PresBO is holding a "working" private dinner with the US Banker and I hope he stays to the completion of the meal.

This brings this very funny SNL Skit to mind. Still appropriate after more than a year, funny how the items important to PresBO and the Left is still on their agenda today. Too bad for the Left as the Chinese can completely ignore us as it is we that owe them and they could if they want collapse our economy. So we have to play nice.

Or at least buy them Dinner and a Movie! Enjoy the video, it is so funny.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Height of Hypocrisy Part 2: MSM and Tucson Shooting

Ok, I’ve tried to avoid this as long as I can. I have the full body condom on to protect me from all the crap flying around and there is plenty to go around folks.

First: whatever happened to the ole axiom of “Look before you Leap”? No, none of that folks, let’s just start shooting off at the mouth regarding why a lunatic unleashed himself at a political rally. And when the facts start coming out, despite all evidence to the contrary stay with your story line and prove the other old axiom “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” So there is no doubt that the MSM (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc., and this smacked ass Paul Krugman) are fools.

The true hypocrisy is the raw number of examples of Left Wing loonies that have either spoken violence on their political opponents or have actually done violence (great summary here). But the MSM blames Sarah Palin? What is up with that?

Ok, they think Sarah is the most dangerous person (man or woman) on the right so they have to destroy her. And boy oh boy are they really working overtime to do that. They are not even slowing down to connect the dots. They think all of us out here are just as deranged as they are to see connections between this loner nut job and Sarah Palin’s target map of vulnerable Democrat congressional races.

Opos, not this map, this is the map put out by the Democrats of vulnerable Republicans, but you get the idea, you know crosshairs and a bullseye have the same meaning.

Hyppo’s!

Second, why is that Paul Krugman guy not in jail for his part of the Enron business? Oh no, they give him a Pulitzer prize and I guess his crap don’t stink. That prize I guess, is like a “Get-out-of-Jail-Free” card which allows you to say anything without fear of retribution by your peers. Oh well, that whole “Peer Review” think is all a big scam anyway after the ClimateGate affair. So, you help run a company into the ground, loose tens of thousands of people their lives fortune and you get a Pulitzer Prize. Same as that Nobel Prize, which has now been degraded to do nothing or lie about what do do and you get the Peace Prize. What a joke.

Lastly, the only thing that makes sense here is what I call the “rope-a-dope”: what is going on that they don’t want you to notice? Yeah, while we are all wagging about this nonsense no one is watching the store. So what else is happening that we really should be paying attention to?

Let’s have a look at headlines that we missed while the Left had its collective head up its Ass (and all of us on the Right just stood around pointing and laughing at them):

- Barrel of oil is over $90 bucks a pop and the Gallon of gas at the pump is over $3.00: what no outcry, by the MSM? No nashing of teeth by those Lefty Elitist that want to nationalize the oil companies? When will they start their bitching, when gas gets to $5.00 a gallon?

- Jobless Claims go up. That little dip in the unemployment rate was just a blip. Yeah, keep telling us things are getting better we live out here where we see this stuff first hand.

- Foreclosures still going up, more on the horizon. Yeah, hand in hand with high unemployment is the fact that housing construction is a major job producer but with the foreclosures at depression era levels, you have those record jobless rates.

- Half of all states now are suing to STOP Obamacare. Yeah, with the changes in State Houses in November last in places like Oklahoma, Ohio, Maine and Wisconsin joining in the lawsuits looking to end the this monstrosity!

- Tastykake in financial trouble – say it ain’t so. The Keystone States beloved sugary snacks may go the way of the DoDo. Yes, the Tasty Baking Company that puts out the best baby cakes known to mankind are swimming in red ink. All thanks to going Green. And I am not talking Eagles Green either folks, I am talking they drank the cool aide and converter their massive plant to a “Green” plant and you guessed it folks, it’s not working out. They are losing money hand over fist. Can’t a diabetic get a break here!! When I go off the sugar wagon I don’t want to settle for anything but the best.

Ok, that is plenty for now. Get back to watching the Republic go to hell in the handbasket!!

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Height of Hypocrisy Part 1: The Two Faces of Nancy

Height of Hypocrisy Part 1: The Two faces of Nancy

That would be Nancy Pelosi the old and last Speaker of the House. Here she spews on about how the Republicans plans to repeal the Obama-Care Bill would do “violence to the public debt and deficit”. (Story - Video below)

She also claimed that reducing the deficit was always a priority while she was speaker “It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go” she is quoted as saying in her last official presser as Speaker (story here).

Here is video:

Oh yeah, the Democrats were watching out for the deficit and keeping their spending under control – NOT! They were spending money faster than you can actually burn money in fire pits!!

And none of it was our money, all of it borrowed!

Here is a smattering of their efforts during the “Nancy Years”:

National debt on 4 January 2007 was a mere $8,670,596,242,973.04 (that’s 8.6 trillion dollars)

National debt on 22 December 2010 (last day of the 111 congress):$13,858,529,371,601.09 (or 13.8 trillion)

Increase during the Pelosi term: 5.2 trillion

And as far as “Pay-as-you-Go” is concerned here is a quote from Paul Ryan (Republican member of the House Budget Committee) the Democrats under Speaker Nancy Pelosi “have violated pay-as-you-go rules by nearly $1 trillion dollars” over the past three years. And this was in May of 2010, plenty of time for the Democrats to spend into oblivion.

At the end of fiscal year 2010 the budget was busted by $1.6 trillion dollars.
Yeah, she was watching out for us while she was running the “Peoples House”. She was watching our money go down the drain.

And the final insult may well be how she spent her last weekend as the House Speaker, she was on vacation in a $10,000 a day resort.

Your tax dollars at work.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Hiding from the Truth with Tough Talk

Hiding from the Truth with Tough Talk – the Sunday talk show circuit was filled with Democrats bitching, whining, complaining and decrying the legislative agenda that the newly installed Republicans plan, first and foremost is the repeal of the Obama-Care act.

The talking heads all reading from the same set of talking points pushed forth the idea that the “people” want no going back to redress laws already passed, that they would look badly on the waste of time if the Republicans spend too much time “witch” hunting and that the “peoples” agenda was now jobs and that is what the new majority should focus on instead. The Senate Democrat leadership even sent the House a letter admonishing them not to go down the path of trying to repeal Obama-care.

This is all political theatre, posturing and pandering writ large. Now everyone knows that Bills do not become law unless they are passed in both houses of congress and signed by the President. So, knowing that the Senate will in no way bring up a Bill repealing Obama-care means this is never going to see the light of day, the House efforts to repeal Obama-care will fail.

So, why the exercise?

I don’t know why the Democrats are hanging on so tightly to something that is so horribly ugly. To say that Obama-care is not popular is an understatement and it has not even kicked-in yet. We are not yet to the point where hospital services, drugs and materials are being rationed and that is on the way folks, you can be sure. Just ask anyone under the care of the Indian Health Service. They know it first hand and live by the idea that you don’t get sick after June because that last fiscal quarter there is no more money to pay for all those services. No matter how important.

I guess the Democrats don’t want to lose their handhold on that Social Utopia they all want for us here in the U.S.A.

Meanwhile the Republicans I think are simply trying to put the Dem’s on the record – again. Getting House members to vote puts them in the position of having to take sides. Only those in protected congressional districts can vote against repeal without worry of voter retribution. The others who have to actually work to keep their jobs will have to pick a side. How many will that be?

But a Bill once passed by one House does not die unless it is voted down by the other House and I think this Bill will sit there on the Books of the 112th Congress waiting for opportunity. Who knows if there will be a power shift in the Senate, attrition or retirement of a few key Democrats and that house changes hands and right there sitting waiting for a real leader will be this repeal Bill. One could only hope.

The truly amazing thing here is that the Democrats have completely forgotten that the elections back a mere 2 months ago were all about stopping this maniacal agenda they are on. The voter’s message any way you measure it was for exactly what the Republicans are doing. How is it they don’t see that?

I guess being a Liberal in these days and age is what it would be like to be in a persistent vegetative state. A political coma as it were.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

A lot of the reason that my posts here have tapered down to near once a week is that I have been traveling a lot over to Europe. It seems like every other week I am on my way to either the Czech Republic or to Norway for a week or so then I return.

So, having logged more than 70,000 miles since July (all in coach/economy) I have some recent experience going through the security apparatuses on both sides of the Atlantic.

First off there is a huge difference between what we are put through here in the US and what they do to you in Europe. Even though the rules regarding “Probable cause” and “Search and Seizures” are radically different the two sides of the pond they seem more sensitive in Europe than here in the US. And that goes for Germany too, by the way.

Also, they don’t make you take off your shoes over there, only here in the US. Now what burns me is that the shoe bomber originated over in Europe so you would think that we (the US) would make people originating over there and flying into the US have their shoes checked? At least I would given the “attack” came from the Easter side of the Atlantic.

Same with the underwear bomber.

Another thing, they do not automatically pat you down, if you go through the magnetometer and it alarms you can expect to get the hands on inspection. And yes they do the random “secondary” inspection where you are taken into a room and they swab your carry-on and parts of your cloths. I have had that done to me.

By and large, when you see armed men (and I mean the kind with Automatic Weapons on slings) standing around out on the front curb, hanging out in the lobby and wondering around the terminal you maybe think about your situation. Do they profile, I am sure they do but they are not hung up on being Politically Correct like we are here and doing that is does not have the negative connotations like it does here in the US.

Now, I believe there are a couple of things that we should do to get away from the TSA handling all of the traveling public like we are guilty or we are criminals first.

First, Profile. Yeah put everyone through the metal detector and then pull out the most obvious people for the strip search and bore scope procedure. And I mean that, put a camera up their ass and then cat scan them. If they survive the radiation with nothing to hide, than they can enjoy the privilege of flying in this country.

Second, seal off the Borders. This is huge sore point but we need to keep everyone out of this country that does not want to come in through an official entry point. And yes, we should have millions and millions of Mexican’s in this country as long as they are willing to let us know who they are. We need them here but not as an illegal. I say give them a kind of Social Security Number and vest them in our society legally. Not as citizens but as temporary workers. Throw into jail any Company Owner that hires people under the table, and I don’t mean one of those country club jails, throw them in with the wretched folk and that will be the last time they hire illegal’s.

Make the ugliest war on our enemies as we possibly can. Ignore the Geneva Convention, ignore the UN and especially ignore the PC crowd on the left and wage war so ugly and nasty that no one wants to mess with us. This whole problem with Islamic Extremists comes from the limp noodle Jimmy Carter response to the invasion of sovereign US Territory back in 1979. Had he simply nuked that place or invaded with a “Take No Prisoners” orders than I really do think these asshats would be bugging someone else. The way we fight them today is viewed by them as weakness, they taunt us with our restraint and we lose fine Men and Woman trying to placate the weasels on the left that think we might actually “offend” someone when we make war. I say bring back napalm , flame throwers and tactical nukes and kill as many of them as possible in the most inhumane way and they will leave us alone.

I am just saying.

Here is by far the best parity of the current TSA boondoggle.


Well I am off, I have in the next three weeks round trips to Orlando the Czech Republic and New Mexico and only one of those trips am I really looking forward to.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Stray Voltage - #3

October Moon

I am packing today a shipment off to the Czech Republic for my next trip over there next week. Something like 300 network patch cables, DVI video lines and serial cables along with video and LAN switches that we need for the prototype installation. We get to hook everything up next week and then in following weeks we will go back and do software installation and testing (debug). I will fly there at least 4 more times before the end of the year.

Of course all that flying has triggered Airline reward levels, I went to Silver on one and I am now Gold level on another. I do try to stay on one more than the other but I do most of the domestic legs on one airline (Delta by the way) and the international flights on the other (US Air). I am hoping for an upgrade but I never hold my breath. The 8+ hour flights in Economy are pure hell.

Vote

I will be out of town for Election Day so I vote today. I have to take a half day off work and motor to the far end of the County I live in, find parking in what is one of the highest crime areas in our County and then walk over to and into the County Courthouse. The voter services counter therein assures me I can cast an absentee ballot.

I am generally against absentee voting or mail in voting but when you have to present yourself in person to an “Election Official” (not a Party Hack) I feel better that my vote will actually be counted and not stolen in some way. Like not checking ID's.

Having once run for elected office, I have waited for the tally of votes that are conducted by people who are involved sometimes not because of their desire to do good things for their community but for Party reasons. The great idea of fair elections in this country is a myth. There are so many ways to steel an election. Mail in Ballots and absentee voting are ripe for corporation as is the registration process. Run for elected office sometime and you will see every pitfall in the process.

NPR

Boy did they step into a large cow pile! Now, to be fair I am one that does listen to a lot of NPR programming. I am a fan of the both Morning Edition and All Things Considered and the Click and Clack show (officially known as Car Talk) and a Home Gardening show that is produced locally on the Philly NPR station (WHYY). Another locally produced show that I like is Fresh Air with Terry Gross. No one interviews better than Terry, no one is prepared for the subject in a segment like Terry and she has a nice voice too. Never seen her nor do I care to.

I do have a problem with NPR.

It leans way left folks, way left. I am not against that because knowing it allows me to filter it out. But, taking our tax money to operate is a different matter. If their programming was so popular it could and should stand on its own in the free marketplace.

By taking public money they have a responsibility to be middle of the road, nether left or right. And this is where the Bullshit hits the fan, the CEO of NPR when she made her public statement on the Firing of Juan Williams stated that journalistic standards had been violated. Well then, why are they not out firing more people? There are plenty of examples of NPR Commentators, Reporters and Analysis violating the most basic of journalistic ethos’s. Just the Facts! But no, they only wanted Juan out because he was on Fox News.

I do hope the threats of defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are not simply rhetoric thrown out in the heat of the moment, the whole idea of Publicly Funded TV and Radio needs to be aired out and debated. At the very least the minimum “journalistic standards” that are a joke right now at NPR and PBS can be established which gives the FCC something real to regulate for a change.

Dumping on the Volt

That would be the Chevrolet Volt. This is the Obama mandated People-Mobile, the “Green” Car. Where do I start! The reviews I have read all pan the car as having very little utility. It is a 2-person vehicle even though there are 4-doors it has only a little more room than the Toyota Prius which is the front runner in the class although more for Lefty-Prestige more than anything. It will cost somewhere around $40,000 bucks which is a small fortune. The Federal Government has a tax credit that you get if you buy one to the tune of $7,000 bucks which reduces the original ownership costs down into the range where it competes with the Nissan Leaf which will debut this year as well.

Originally the Volt was to be an all electric with the onboard gas engine was to be used to re-charge the battery. The projected MPG for the Volt in this configuration was to be 240 miles. Which would have been great.

But, let’s not dance the streets too soon. It seems the gas engine will be linked to the drive wheels and be used not just to charge the battery but also as secondary dirve for the car itself. And the MPG in this configuration? A whopping 37mpg!!

Yeah that’s right, my Daughters 2005 Chevy Malibu gets better mileage than that.

This is a crying shame, all the emphasis on “Green”, going electric and not using evil Gasoline. But what do you expect from a Government Owned and operated corporation. Just remember if you buy one of these things that what you got was built by a corporation and works who think this is “close enough for government work”.

Enemies List

Yeah our President has one. PresBO does not mince words when he complains about people who oppose his proposals for “Change” to our country. They are his enemies, plain and simple. And here recently he has tried to enlist Hispanics into that mindset as well. In comments he made on Univision, which is a Spanish language TV network, PressBO actually told Hispanics to punish their “enemies” and reward their “friends” with their votes on the 2^nd of November.

Funny how he can call fellow Americans “enemies” but not call the Taliban or al Quida.

Rewriting History in Real Time

That is what PresBO has been trying to do and now Nancy Pelosi (Wicked Witch of the West) trying to do. In recent coments Nancy has made she claims that the "ditch" was so deep that they have had to "save and create" so many more jobs to make up for what was lost during the past Administration. Too bad we have proof, the job loss started when she took over running things in the House.

Graph stolen from John Lott's Website (called John Lott's website).

Too bad for us this woman will keep her job in congress. She as much as PresBO are responsible for the huge turn Left this country has taken.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Land of the Sheep, Home of the Compliant

Letter to America's Health Insurance Plans Trade Group:

"there will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases." Kathleen Sebelius, Commissar for Health and Human Services

Here is yet another example of the thugs at work in our current form of government. Instead of a Republic we have this mutated form of a socialist-democratic-communist conclave. A group of America hating central planners who's only experience seems to be in academia, who are trying to think for all of us out here in the "workers' paradise".

How many more examples are needed for the general public to wake up to what these people are doing to our country, and the MSM does nothing but sit on the sidelines or worse in the case of at least MSMBC, they are helping them. MSMBC = Pravda!!

The real shame is that they are doing this right in front of our eyes. PresBO has appointed his shadow government in the form of Czars to help pull the strings without the consent of the Governed and completely usurping the Congress. That whole gaggle in the capitol building is now irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. PresBO only needs them in name only.

Where will it end? I hope we can end the coop this November. It's too bad it has gone this far because some of this stuff is just too hard to back out. We will be stuck with it for better or worse.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Paying the Freight

My daily read over at Capre Diem and I found two items that I knew in my heart but had not statistics to nail to. The good Professor Perry has a rich graphic on the sky rocketing College tuition problem and actual figures on what costs the government mandates when you employ someone and its effects on small business.

Tuition Bubble:

As a debtor to a huge college loan (the same as my first house in fact), I had always felt that the Student Loan Guarantee program actually hurts this country more than helps. The reason is simple supply and demand violated by government meddling. First, if someone can't afford tuition they don't go to school or they go where they can afford. Under the "normal" rules of supply and demand, the school that priced itself out of the market (by high salaries or by handing out scholarships to moron athletes) they would suffer and have to do something. You know, make themselves more competitive. If someone steps in and mucks with this very delicate system like, let's say guarantee's the loans for anyone that wants' to go to school, no matter what the costs! Well then there is no motivation on the school to hold down those costs. The result:

Yeah, look at that curve; it's like the space shuttle climbing into orbit. Just can't wait for the crash!! It frosts my shorts that the average semester costs to go to an average school here today, is more than what it costs for a whole degree back only 20 years ago. And as long as the government continues to guarantee the loans that line will continue to climb up or until a crash occurs. Can't happen soon enough as far as I am concerned, especially now that the Executive branch convinced the Congress to take over that market completely, they can steer these loans to only those people they want and into fields they think the country requires. Can anyone say, Central Planning? Yep

Employment Pain:

The good Professor Perry points us to a Wall Street Journal story about what it costs to actually create a job today, what with all the mandates pressed down from that holy pedestal of Congress and the Administration. They detail a 33% surcharge to employ anyone in this country all attributable to government program requirements. That's a whopping high number. In a salary of $44,000.00 it costs the employer a total of $74,000.00 once all the taxes, fee's and surcharges are added into the mix. And this includes all sorts of stuff like Unemployment, Social Security, Medicare and all other sorts of rules and regulations. It's worth the read and makes you wonder who in his right mind will spend that kind of money in overhead to hire someone for what amounts to be a minimum wage job.

The sad part is that the Democrats and PresBO are not done with their work and continue to whittle away at our once dynamic business and industrial base. One job at a time.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Stray Voltage – Part 2

More stray thoughts to contemplate if you have the time.

Government Motors – the Volt

I heard today that a Camel is a horse designed by a committee, well the Volt is the Green Car designed by the ruling Political Class!! It has virtually no redeeming value except to slow down the flushing action occurring in the once great state of Michigan. A state run by Democrats and Unions I'd like to point out. The Volt at a mere $41K is way more expensive than the Nissan Leaf ($33K) but less than half as much as the Tesla all electric car (at $100,000 bucks) so it fills a vital niche. Of course don't go factoring in all the subsidies and bailout money that GM required to stay on its feet long enough to put this beast out. Those costs factored in and this is one expensive vehicle. Rumor is that GM will only make 10,000 of them and considers this as a kind of prototype-production run. They have a lot of work to do, the range is horrible, the cost is way out of line and of course the styling and its interior layout leads a lot to be desired. But what do you expect from the Motor Company run mainly by Government Bureaucrats and Union leaders. We only have ourselves to blame for giving government this kind of power.

Social Security

Almost no one is talking about this, but I found this interesting article in the New York Times of all places. I don't know when the last time it is that they complained about the Social Security issues facing the nation but my guess is that it has been a long time. They had an interest in getting Democrats elected and bringing up Social Security during the election process would have complicated that effort. Now with the die case towards the Republicans taking over congress or at the very least control of the House, the Social Security problem becomes their problem and it is now time to beat on them with it. Had they been on board 4 or 5 years ago when Bush wanted to privatize a portion of total as a test case we could be looking at maybe a real definitive way to save this benefit for future generations. But instead, the liberals running the MSM helped bury the issue and now we have it rotting out under us. Who will be getting benefits payments remains to be seen. This is one program that is in dire straits. I don't know that it can be saved.

Working for the Man – The Leftist Man

Some cross-posting between different Blogs regarding a Washington Post article about the Bush Tax Cuts, that article Five Myths about the Bush Tax Cuts. Bruce McQuain takes it apart point by point here. The smartest point to be made is in the Legal Insurrection posting by William A. Jacobson and I'll quote "These Democratic talking points reflect the fundamental disconnect: It is not your money. I think the American people understand that point. The government works for us, not the other way around. You either believe it, or you don't. The Democrat Party doesn't."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Two Americas in Congress

There's a "dual standard, one for most members and one for African-Americans," said one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on the condition of anonymity. This is in response to ethics charges being brought up against Charlie Rangle and Maxine Waters. Couldn't happen to two more deserving members of the house except maybe that ass-bandit Barney Frank or that Winer guy from New York (you would think the two of them would hook up or something eh). Oh hell, there are a bunch of them that need to be drowned in that swamp Nancy Pelosi promised to drain. I guess that's a hard job with so many of her fellow Dem's clogging the drain.

Read more: Here

That's all for now!!

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Votes for Felons NOT the Military

Anyone remember all the trouble with counting absentee ballots from deployed military during the 2000 election. This seems to have triggered numerous campaigns to strengthen the Liberal/Democrat Party hold on voting in this country which includes the George Soros funded project to elect Secretaries of State who would be sympathetic to Democrat candidates. Also, several laws were passed to help get the Vote from deployed military counted. One of these laws was a law sponsored by Texas Republican John Cornyn that required states to mail out military ballots 45 days before an election in order to ensure they would be received in and counted back in the home district.

Now it seems the Obama Justice Department has other priorities, Felon's need to vote before the Military. This story by the washington times shows how PresBO and his puppet Attorney General (Erick "America is a Coward" Holder) are intentionally sabotaging the vote of the military. Here are a few snippets:

"..the Department seems to be encouraging states to apply for waivers so they won't have to follow that law. More than 17,000 Americans serving overseas were denied the vote in 2008 – but, presumable because military personnel are thought to lean conservative, the liberal Obama administration is in no hurry to correct the situation."

And..

"The Justice Department is so unenthusiastic about military voting that its website still lists the old requirement for a shorter 30-day military voting window, rather than the current 45 days. On the other hand, the Justice Department has no legislative mandate whatsoever to involve itself with helping felons to vote, but its website devotes a large section – 2,314 words – to advising felons how to regain their voting privileges."

Go read the full article, it is frightening.

Yeah, get those hardened criminals the rights that the Men and Women in Uniform are fighting to protect and deprive them of that same right. What are they going to do next, Voting Rights for the Dead! Let us not hold our breath!

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Blog Fodder – News You Can Not Use!

Here are some headlines that defy the usual effort to ignore. I can hardly believe what passes for Journalism these days.

Larry Hagman, Dallas's Evil Oil Baron, Goes Green!

Oh yeah this is good, you see the "Evil Oil Baron" was a TV act and who in his right mind takes advice on going Green, or Red or even Black from a person who's only qualification is simply memorizing lines out of a script. How can anyone take this "Green" movement serious when they dig up hacks like this guy to pedal their agenda? Makes sense however, the whole Global Warming/Climate Change was a huge made up story just like the JR Ewing character.

Mechanical Problem Hampers BP Effort to Shut Off Well

I thought that was the problem some 90 days ago that started this whole mess? Good grief wouldn't you think the smart money here is to simply put a huge pipe on this and run it back to shore and right into a refinery. If all that black gold wants out, give is somewhere useful for it to go. End it already!!

Politicians who tell you democracies can't slash spending are lying.

Yeah, they simply made cuts to the DOD budget thereby double-dipping in their mind, cutting spending and weakening the country at the same time. Lying, what did they find that $100 million in budget cuts that PresBO wanted out of the Federal Budget last year. Remember they held a huge photo-op showing the PresBO and his cabinet pouring over reams of documents looking for cuts to the budget. No one that is a democrat is serious about cutting federal spending because the three largest drivers are sacred cows, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Lynwood Prison Lesbians Gangs Want Lindsay Lohan

Oh this is rich. Don't those prison lesbians know Lindsay is bisexual? Hell, she might give as good as she gets if they do get their hands on her.

House Democrats hit boiling point over perceived lack of White House support.

Oh this is nice; all those commie's not getting along. I guess the House Democrats are getting tired of carrying the water for the Marxist in Chief since he has such short coat tails they get nothing in exchange for dragging the country into the Socialist Utopia. Either that or they finally run out of stuff to complain about!

Democrat Bart Stupak Accuses Pro-Life Groups of 'Politicizing' Abortion Issue to Undermine Health Care Reform

Hey Bart, what do you call trading your vote for a Presidential Promise not to fund abortions with federal money? Is that not the very definition of "Politicizing"? Of course Bart got punked by the PresBO because his little presidential Executive Order was not worth the paper it was printed on. Nothing like selling your soul to someone worse than the Devil himself.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Courage in America

The PresBO administration is quick to sic lawyers on problems here in today's America. The best coordinated response to the Gulf Oil Leak was to send the US Attorney General down there with a team of Lawyers to make sure things were going smoothly I am sure. Now they have filed suit against the state of Arizona to strike down a new law that is patterned after the federal law that he will not enforce. And then there is this festering pustule:

Eric Holder, United States Attorney General on race in America, "is a country of cowards."

Below is King Samir Shabazz, the New Black Panther member that stood outside of a polling place on election day with a club in his hand to prevent white people from voting.

Here is more:

"I hate white people. All of them. Every last iota of a cracker I hate him, because we're still in this condition."

"No wonder we're not free. Your enemy cannot make you free, fool. You want freedom? You're gonna have to kill some crackers. You're gonna have to kill some of they [sic] babies."

"I can't wait for the day that they're all dead. I won't be completely happy until I see our people free and Whitey dead."

Yeah, and he gets a pass. Let a white guy stand in front of a polling place with a baton calling out in a similar manner about Blacks or Hispanics and watch how quickly that guy is put in jail. But the black radical gets a pass.

That's called "courage" by the Attorney General, Eric Holder. Real courage would have been to arrest this man and put him in prison for a very long time. But no, the AG dropped all charges on him and set him and his cohorts free.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Hoist on one’s own petard

A central theme of the PresBO administration seems to be "Leave No Good Contributor Go Unpunished".

Health care companies gave money in huge amounts to Democrats and BO himself. With this the Dem's promptly tossed out the Free Market system and set about the ruin of the world's best health care system. I am sure in its wake hundreds of companies who make these contributions will go out of business to be replaced by the federally run program.

Only Trial Lawyers contributed more to Democrats and BO than Wall Street et al, Bankers included. BO promptly demonized bankers and Wall Street as the bane of our society. Declaring that making too much money was a bad thing famously saying "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money". Well, except for his friends and fellow Democrats like Al (Manbearpig) Gore and his global scheme/lie or Franklin Raines who plundered Fannie Mae.

Now we see BO and his administration eating BP for lunch. Hearing him in a vacuum you would think BP was single handed killing the planet. And has is no trouble declaring war on BP but not on Terror. His greatest visible response so far was to send a pack of Lawyers down to the Gulf to wage his war on BP. And that is how Liberals or Lefties see things; there are no "enemies" in their eyes just potential victim for which the DOJ Lawyers are there to represent. (The concept of war being a foreign concept to the left.)

BP's greatest sin was giving handsomely to the BO campaign (reportedly over $900 thousand dollars worth). And who knows how much BP gave to the Democrat party, millions no doubt. And what good will did all this money buy? So far not any.

This should be a lesson to any capitalist organization, if you think your contribution to a democrat candidate or to the party itself will be used to help you or your industry, think again. You might as well use all these dollars as toilet paper or maybe simply burn it while you still can have open fires, carbon itself to be outlawed by this very regime.

Oh, and there is one more – Lt. General Stanley McChrystal openly bragged about having voted for BO.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

An Empty Suit

An oil well blows out and starts to spew an undetermined amount of raw oil into the ocean. The well owner informs the Federal Government as required with estimates on both the amount of oil being lost but also what they were going to do to stop the outpouring of raw oil. This last being measured in Weeks.

The immediate Federal officials (local Coast Guard personnel) notified their Chain of Command what they were hearing from the Oil Company. Issues of this nature are above their pay grade. Soon the gusher is presented to this countries Chief Executive and he takes the news and hands-off the issue to his political operatives. Let them 'game' the issue to see how best to take advantage of this bad situation. Not wanting to let a good catastrophe go by without some exploitation. Then he checks-out to play a round of gold or two or four. Oh and to host a state dinner or two, or to throw a party or four or five. You know, Paul McCartney is in town only so often and you have to grab him when you can.

Ok granted, this countries Chief Executive job is pretty hard and I don't begrudge the man for taking a break or even two. But for a man who believed in the absolute ability of the Federal Government to solve even mundane problems, he has done a very poor job of leading that government to the "rescue" in this situation. A wholly inadequate response and on top of that his political team has returned with more of a strategy than his technical team has. I mean it is more than 65 days and the whole in the world is still bleeding oil into the Gulf.

A shameful response. And these people will be doing our health care.

BT: Jimmy T sends.