Hypocrits

Have you all read this news article?

Foxnews:

WASHINGTON -- Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, President Barack Obama warned the nation's mayors Friday that he will "call them out" if they waste the money from his massive economic stimulus plan.

"We have asked for the unprecedented trust of the American people to deal boldly with the greatest economic crisis we have seen in decades -- and the privilege of investing unprecedented amounts of their hard-earned money to address this crisis," Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House.

"With that comes an unprecedented obligation to do so wisely, free from politics and personal agendas," the president said. "On this I will not compromise or tolerate any shortcut."
The $787 billion economic plan passed by Congress and signed by Obama will inject a sudden boost of cash into infrastructure, education, energy and health care.

Now the political focus shifts to how all that taxpayer money will be spent on meaningful, job-creating projects.

Obama has staked his reputation on it.

He said Friday that legislation will allow the country "to watch the taxpayers' money with more rigor and transparency than ever."

The White House released excerpts of Obama's comments shortly before he spoke in the East Room.

"If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it," Obama said.

"But I want everyone here to be on notice that if a local government does the same -- I will call them out on it as well, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it," he said.

The president did not specify how, exactly, he would call out one of his administration's own agencies or a local government.

I don't often re-post an entire news article. However in this case I thought it was best to put it here instead of by link.

Looking strictly at what the President is trying to do this seems like a very good idea. On the sheer basis of it I would agree.

But when you look at all the spending on pet projects that the President allowed congress to add to the stimulus package it smells to high heaven to me.

Don't you think this is just a little hypocritical? Tell the state and local governments that he will be watching and call out those that propose spending that is wasteful all the while allowing those in the House and Senate a free pass.

I don't think so Mr. President. Is this what you call change? Is this what you call transparency? I guess that transparency only applies to state and local government not to those on Capital Hill.

You want to do this Mr. President I am okay with it, in fact, I am for it. But you need to start by going through the stimulus package and naming all those in the House and Senate who added waste full spending to the bill. Spending like neighborhood stabilization and all those other little pet congressional projects that are in that 1100 page piece of legislation.

Call out your old friends in the congress Mr. President, then you can call out those in state and local government that are wasting the taxpayers money.

Here is an idea

I happened to see the conversation Greta Van Susteren had with Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on the Fox news website this morning. Senator Kyl and Greta were lamenting the fact that no one had the chance to read the Stimulus package bill prior to voting on it.

Well ain’t that just a damn shame. Like this is the first time I have heard that complaint from a member of the Senate or the House. It has been brought up before and by members on both sides of the isle, democrat and republican.

My question is, and it is a rather simple one, why haven’t you clowns done anything about it?

You know that the House and Senate setup their own rules on how legislation is expected to be handled. All it takes is a vote by the members of that chamber to amend to rules. Why not go for it? Bring up a change in the rules in the House and the Senate that says no legislation will be voted on without first having three days to allow all members to read the bill. We want bi-partisan politics, well this seems like something each side can get behind. Each committee could enact a similar rule for their respective committees. Problem solved. If you don’t read the bill now it is the fault of the senator or house member.

Yes, this would slow down the legislative process. Well to quote a phrase used by the Blue Collar comedian Ron White, the legislative branch of government is already moving at half the speed of smell. What the hell is more of a slow down going to hurt? Besides, it will take away an excuse for all these legislators because they can’t say they didn’t have time to read the darn thing.

Let us just suppose that members of the House and Senate are not behind a change in the rules like this. What happens then? The answer is simple…DO NOT VOTE FOR THE BILL. There ya go. If the leadership cannot get the proposed legislation to its members in time to allow said members to read it then just don’t vote for it. I don’t mean abstain. I mean vote no. I don’t mean vote present. I mean vote NO.

We send these men and women to Washington to be our elected representatives. How can they in good conscience vote for a bill that they haven’t even read? How can WE THE PEOPLE allow our elected representatives to behave in a manner like this? We send them there to read the bills and cast a vote for us. Now we see again where these elected people are not doing what we expect them to do.

Just once I would like to see a press conference where a Senator or Congressman steps up to the microphone and says, “I didn’t vote for this bill because the leadership did not get it to me to allow sufficient time for me to read it.” Lay the blame square on the shoulders of those in leadership of the House and Senate. I don’t care what party they belong to.

It is high time we started holding our elected representatives accountable for what they do in Washington. But it is also high time we start holding ourselves accountable for allowing this to go on as long as it has.

Fairness Doctrine

There has been a lot of talk recently about the federal government and/or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) re-instituting something called the fairness doctrine.

What this basically says is that radio, TV and other media outlets have to provide a both sides of an issue equal time during interviews and debate over these issues.

No at first look that seems enticing to me. That would make all the liberal leaning media provide a more fair and balanced approach to the news. May be we could get away from the slanted news all news outlets seem to use.

But at the same time, this idea flies in the face of one of the most basic freedoms in our Constitution, that of free speech.

I must admit that on the surface a fairness doctrine for all the news outlets looks pretty good. Then all the news outlets from Fox news to CNN have to give both sides of an issue a chance to have equal time. That would mean that WE THE PEOPLE would get a more balanced product from the news.

But as you did into it you come to realize that this would be a huge intrusion into the free speech rights of all Americans.

Now I may not like the way a news outlet presents its news. I may not like the way the news is skewed to one political side or the other. But you the listener always have the option of changing the channel or turning the TV or radio off. I have news outlets I never watch due to the obvious slant they put on their news. That is my right. That news outlet has just as much right to present the news in any manner they chose consistent with journalistic ethics.

Ultimately whether a news outlet continues to present the news with a certain political slant depends upon how many viewers they get. The number of viewers determines the advertising rates and thus income to the company.

If you don’t like CNN…don’t watch. If you don’t like Rush Limbaugh…don’t listen. But I don’t need the federal government telling me, a private citizen, what kind of news I am allowed to watch and/or how fair they have to be. If I don’t like it…I won’t watch/listen to it. The decision is mine not Uncle Sam’s.

Not to mention now there is a move within the legislature and the FCC to apply this fairness doctrine to the internet. I always thought that www stood for the “world wide web”. What gives us the right to tell the rest of the world how they have to run their websites and its content?

I want everyone to take notice of who is behind this movement to bring the fairness doctrine back to life. It is the democrat party folks. They are the ones that are trying to silence you and me. If they go through with the plan, then the sites where I post this blog will have to find people to submit content from the opposing view point. Even if there are no people submitting such content.

In short the so called “Fairness Doctrine” is only fair to incumbent politicians. They will be allowed to control to news content and to offset those that may speak against them within the public sphere. The Fairness Doctrine is NOT fair to WE THE PEOPLE.

Keep your eyes open people. They will try and package this thing in a way that tries to hide what they are up to. Make sure your elected officials know that you are opposed to any kind of fairness doctrine in news reporting.

Politics As Usual

Why is it that WE THE PEOPLE expect something different when all we have is the same ole band of degenerates in public office?

Now we have the new Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, being caught in a potential perjury scandal. Sorry folks, life long politician equates to life long liar. It is just that simple, or at least it seems to be.

In case you are a parallel universe and have not kept up with such reports, here is a quick overview of what we currently know.

First of all you have the now former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who was allegedly trying to sell President Obama's vacant senate seat to the highest bidder. Then we add the former Governor's brother, Robert Blagojevich, who apparently was the point man in all this mess. Robert apparently called Mr. Burris and asked for campaign finance assistance. The dollar figured being bandied about in the media is $10,000. Mr. Burris declined to help due to the fact that he was seeking the vacant senate seat. Smart move by Mr. Burris don't ya think.

Rod Blagojevich was indited by the State Senate of Illinois for his actions related to the federal investigation. The actions then shifted to the State House in Illinois where Rod Blagojevich was put on trial for impeachment. One of those who testified against the governor was Mr. Burris, who had just taken the oath and had been seated as the junior senator from Illinois.

Now here is where things get a little hazy.

While being questioned by the State House's Impeachment Committee, Mr. Burris did not say anything about having contact with Robert Blagojevich prior to his appointment as President Obama's successor. Then on February 5th an affidavit sent to the Illinois State House democrat leadership where Mr. Burris admitted that he did have three phone conversations with the former governor's brother. This sets us up for the old familiar political game of they said, I said. The Illinois GOP (that is Republicans for those that don't know) has stated that this amounts to perjury by Senator Burris and that he needs to resign. Mr. Burris states that he simply answered the questions he was asked and that no one ever asked him about his contact with Robert Blagojevich. In short, he was never given the opportunity to come forth with the information about the contact he had with the governor's brother.

Senator Burris has stated that he has no intention of resigning from the senate. For that matter why should he? He fits right in with the rest of the group. I always thought that our elected officials and those appointed to serve in the government were held to a different standard. Apparently the standard they are held to is different. It is a lower standard.

Mr. Burris, don't you think that the Illinois House Impeachment panel might have wanted to hear about the governor's brother contacting you about campaign fundraising help? Are we to believe that you never had the opportunity to put forth that information during the impeachment process? Transcripts of Mr. Burris' impeachment committee testimony clearly shows that he was directly asked about speaking to Robert Blagojevich. Now I am pretty dense Mr. Burris, but wouldn't a phone call be contact. Or are we using the Clinton defense; "it depends on what your definition of contact is"?

Let us be real Senator. The only reason that you submitted the affidavit to the Illinois House was you were told by Robert Blagojevich's lawyer that it is possible that at least one of the phone conversations you had might have been taped. This is nothing more than a politicians attempt to cover thine own ass.

Some people may not like those of from the republican party. But one thing you must admit. If this were a newly appointed republican senator, would he be allowed to stay in office? The answer is no.

If William Jefferson were a republican he would have been run out of office. If Charles Rangle were a republican he would have been removed from office. But I guess Mr. Burris does just fit right in with those in the House and Senate. Particularly those with ties to the democrat party.

Its time to clean house people.

Is California the start?

If you have not paid much attention the State of California is at the edge of the cliff and is ready to take a dive into the abyss.

According to reports the state faces a deficit of over $42 billion. The state has had to stop some public service type projects and delay paying tax refunds due to the latest crisis.

After a 30 hour session trying to pass legislation that will cut into the deficit the state senate is still one vote shy of having the required 2/3 majority to pass. The senate needs the votes of 3 republicans and apparently, they are not willing to cooperate.

What is the sticking point? Well it seems along with deep budget cuts there is also a rather hefty tax increase. This is something that the Republicans in the senate see as a deal breaker.

On strict principals I must side with these republicans. But given the fact that I may get an IOU for my tax refund in the coming weeks may be I should rethink that position. Nah.

Both the federal government and those at the state level have avoided this issue for far too long. The issue of spending more than you are taking in. Now that the overall economy is on the rocks everyone is feeling the pinch...and it hurts like hell.

WE THE PEOPLE have allowed our elected officials to take us down this path. We should have been in near revolt over some of the spending that has been allowed to be passed by state legislatures and that of the federal government. But we sat idly by and did nothing. We let the spending on frivolous research projects, projects for the arts and yes...even education go unchecked and unquestioned. WE THE PEOPLE have allowed the frivolous spending that is in the current stimulus package to go through congress with out so much as a whimper.

Question...how many of you even contacted your elected Representatives in the House or Senate and let them know how you feel about the stimulus package? All of the polls said that only about 1/3 of the population favored the thing. The phones in the capital should have been ringing off the hook. The capital email servers should have been shutdown due to the high volume of incoming emails. As far as I heard, none of that happened. So once again we sit back and do absolutely nothing. Oh we will whine and complain when our taxes are raised. We will complain about the pork spending that congress does. But we will not stop and say a darned word. To make matters worse we re-elect these people to office and then act surprised when all we see is more of the same.

During the presidential campaign then candidate Obama said that he would not allow pork spending. Well Mr. President, look at the bill you are about to sign and tell me what you see.

Now to top it all off someone else has come forward to ask for their piece of the stimulus money. Guess who? The United Nations. Are you kidding me? This is the nation that pours more money into third world countries than any other. An earthquake hits...we send money. A flood happens...the American people are there. Yes I said the American people...that would be WE THE PEOPLE. It is not through the federal government only that money is sent to these places that are hard hit. It is from the Red Cross and other like organizations where WE THE PEOPLE give our hard earned dollars to help people. Now the UN wants 0.7% of the total stimulus package. That is over $5 billion taxpayer dollars to go to another of the most bureaucratic and wasteful, not to mention corrupt, organizations out there. Hey...can I give the answer to the UN for us. You can kiss our ass. You are never there to help us so you can take your request for $5 billion and put it where the sun don't shine.

Look, I am getting side tracked here.

We have went down this road of social spending for far too long. I am all for giving help to those that are in need. There was a time a few years ago where I collected unemployment for over a year and where if it weren't for my church I don't think we would have made it. But there were LIMITS. We can't just give out money for welfare and other things on an endless bases. We can help yes. But in the end that means that those receiving help must also help themselves. Right now we make it too easy to sit back and relax on the backs of those of us who are working and paying taxes. I can't speak for all the taxpayers but my back hurts.

It is time we started forcing those elected in Washington and in state governments to do what each of us has to do...live within our means. You can't spend it if you ain't go it.

Yes, this is going to hurt...really bad. But in the end our children will be much better off. We might see a little relief ourselves.

Get Back Our Trust

Well the grill is fired up in the chambers of the House Financial Services Committee meeting. The latest "meat" to be grilled are CEO's of the banking industry. Rep. Barney Frank has told these CEO's that they must work hard to gain back the public trust.

I have a better idea. Hey Rep. Frank...how about you and the other members of the House work to try and get back the public trust?

I just cannot believe that an organization that has an approval rating of 31.7% (that is the current average) is out to tell anyone to go earn back the public trust. The public lost its trust in the congress when Bush was president. They used to chide Bush about his approval ratings when the approval rating for congress was 10 points below that for Bush.

Get real Mr. Frank. As far as I am concerned we would do better having the other Barney in the House of Representatives. By the other "Barney" I am referring to that purple dinosaur. Come to think of it, there is a resemblance and you never see the two of them together.

No one in the House or Senate seems to be the least bit worried that their approval ratings are below that of Barry Bonds. No one in the House or the Senate seems to be willing to do a damn thing to try and gain back the trust and respect of WE THE PEOPLE. This is part of what makes me wonder why WE THE PEOPLE re-elect these relics to office.

Hey Mr. Frank. I realize that you don't read into the New Testament a lot. But there is a valuable lesson for you there if you take the time to read it. You might want to pass this along to the others in the House cause I don't think most of them read the Bible much either. Look at Luke 6:41-42 or Matthew 7:3-5. Then get the plank out of your own eye before you try and get the speck out of someone else's.

Now I know that didn't stick so let us try it this way. Get the public confidence and trust in Congress back Mr. Frank. Then you can tell others to do the same.

Oh hell no!!

Wait, did I hear Obama correctly? The government is the only ones who can get us out of these economic tough times? Oh hell no.

I have tried to stay very positive about President Obama. I have been impressed with some of his Executive Orders since taking office. But those were not law, there were merely orders to his administration on how they will conduct business.

I haven't even said much when some of those Executive Orders and promises were not followed. Lobbyists have been selected for high positions and he signed two bills without posting them on the White House website as promised. Some of this stuff takes time, I understand that.

But now we get into the area where the President and I totally disagree. Government are NOT the ones to get us out of this economic down turn. Industry and business will get us out of it Mr. Obama.

Even if the entire $800 billion were to be put in the country infrastructure, this would not guarantee us a way out. Once that money was spend we would either have to spend more (which will probably happen) or all those that went to work on roads and bridges would be laid off. The ones who would get rich on this deal are those that run the contract companies that get the contracts.

But as we all know most of that $800 something billion is going towards pork barrel spending that will do NOTHING to jump start this or any economy. Most of it will just make WE THE PEOPLE more dependent on the government instead of themselves. That will mean more people taking government handouts and less people working and paying taxes.

Don't you get it...it will make the situation WORSE not better.

I know some of the social program funds are needed. The extension of the Unemployment Benefits for one. But even this is putting the money into the pockets of the people, not into the pockets of those in government or those that are contractors.

Once again our elected folks in Washington looked the other way as nearly 50% of WE THE PEOPLE were against the stimulus.

A friend sent me an email. The title was "What Form of Government Do We Have?" I am going to post the link to the video at the end of this little rant. But for now, answer the question. What form of government do we have? Well, its obviously not a dictatorship. Its not a Monarchy.

Most people say its a democracy and that answer is dead wrong.

Watch the video and decide for yourself where we are and where we are headed.

http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/

Liar, Liar Pants On Fire

If I were to make a list of every time a politician had back peddled on a statement made in public I would have a blog that would go on for pages. So let us just concentrate on the latest shall we.

Jim Cooper (D-TN) said in a recent interview that he got some quiet encouragement from the Obama Administration to vote against the stimulus bill that passed in the House last week. If you are living in a cave and haven't heard of this bill it has nearly 1 trillion dollars of of tax breaks and government spending aimed at stimulating the US economy into a recovery. To say that some of the spending is "pork" or "earmarks" would be putting it mildly. There was even $2 million in the bill originally for contraception. That was finally pulled when Speaker Polosi got hammered on it. But there is still a mess of spending in this bill that will do nothing to stimulate a damn thing.

But I digress. The main point here is that Mr. Cooper stated during an interview with Liberadio on Monday that he had received encouragement from the Obama Administration to vote against the stimulus package. Mr. Cooper was one of eleven democrats to vote against the measure. Yet yesterday Mr. Cooper came out and told us that was not what he said. He now states that he was encouraged by talks with the Obama administration over the stimulus bill.

Oh please!! How many of us actually believe that Mr. Cooper knew exactly what he was saying during that radio interview and is only changing his mind now that the proverbial shit has hit the proverbial fan. Now he wants us to believe that he was misunderstood. I bet it will be a cold day in hell before Mr. Cooper does another interview with any media outlet, liberal or conservative.

Why can't these people just tell the damned truth. Yeah, I was given encouragement to vote against the bill. Now if the Obama administration wants to go out there and say it never happened they can. But what kind of credibility does Mr. Cooper have when the story changes that much in two days?

Politicians live and die by their ability to give speeches and interviews. Let's be real here. President Obama won an election by preaching exactly what WE THE PEOPLE wanted in Washington...change. He never said what change nor did he lay out any programs. His message was simply change. I am not knocking it. That is the way politics works. I have said this before and I will say it again, the only way that there will ever be meaningful change in Washington is if WE THE PEOPLE do it by voting incumbents out of office. Obama may actually want meaningful change and has shown some of that in his Executive Orders. The only problem is he still has to deal with the "old guard" in both the House and the Senate.

Why would WE THE PEOPLE vote for a President who promises change and give him or her the same old ragtag band of people to deal with in the Congress?

So now we have Mr. Cooper back tracking on his statement and looking like a complete idiot. Tell it like it is Mr. Cooper, the wheels have come off the stimulus package. Even President Obama has admitted that it needs a lot of work that alone is justification to stand by your original statement.

Now tomorrow I will write a blog that says that this is not what I actually said. I will whine and cry about how my comments were taken out of context or that the true meaning was just completely misunderstood or just plain missed by us feeble minded people.

Hey it works for these assholes...why not for us?

Score Another One for Obama

I have said in this blog previously that I am a less government kinda guy. I do not like government intrusion into the private sector. I believe that the federal government causes more problems than it fixes.

Let me also say, in case anyone missed it, that I am not for all these bailouts. If these business's are going to fail because of their own mismanagement, let them fail. If the services that these business's provide is vital, someone will come in and pick up the pieces. If the services that were provided by the company are no longer needed, then the company was doomed to fail and all you are doing is throwing money at something and delaying the inevitable.

But now that the money has been given to these banks and auto makers you can bet your fanny that I am very interested in how that money is spent.

Enter President Obama. I saw an article on Foxnews this morning. Below is the title of the article and the link.

Obama to Limit Executive Pay for Bailout Recipients
Administration plans to limit pay to $500,000 a year for executives of bailed-out companies in a new get-tough approach to bankers and Wall Street.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/03/obama-plans-cap-executive-pay-government-assisted-financial-institutions/

There are going to be people, some are referenced in the article, that will not like the idea of this kind of government intervention in private business. These people feel that the government should in no way be able to place restrictions on the compensation given to company executives.

Normally I would agree with this sediment. But once these companies accept money from the TARP fund, those companies have agreed to government intervention. The government can continue this intervention until such time that the company pays the taxpayer back all the monies it received from said taxpayers. Don't like it...don't take the money. It is that simple.

The article does point out that some companies might decide not to accept the TARP money and would then subsequently close their doors. Well, you know what, they make their decisions and they must face the consequences. Most of these executives sat back and watched their companies going south without a care in the world. Why should they care? Look at the bonuses some of these folks got. Look at the golden parachutes. Many ran their company to the brink of bankruptcy and then got millions once they left the company.

How does one apply for a job like that? I want a job where I can fail miserably, still get paid, and then get millions when I am fired.

In the job I am in your are paid based on your performance. And if you perform poorly and get fired you get a kick in the ass when you leave. You may get two weeks pay but you are not getting any kind of golden parachute.

In addition, its not like these company executives have shown that they know how to spend money wisely anyway. Once the TARP money was received some of the companies held great parties for their executives at spas and resorts. Others bought that new corporate jet they just couldn't do without. If you can do that then you can do without the TARP money in my book.

So way to go President Obama. I still don't agree with the current stimulus package before the senate, but I have to give you kudos for sticking it to those companies that take government money.

I just hope it all makes a difference.

Sorry

He comes another one. Now Tom Daschle, Obama's selection for Health and Human Services Secretary, is now the latest to be caught with a tax issue.

Doesn't it seem funny that people who wrote the current tax law are having such a problem following the damned thing. Kind of makes you wonder what chance WE THE PEOPLE have and following it.

What is even worse is how you and I would be treated by the IRS and the federal government if we had a tax problem. My daughter and her husband are currently having a federal tax issue and let me tell you that the treatment they are receiving a vastly different from that of the two tax cheats in President Obama's cabinet. Some how with us just saying we're sorry don't exactly end the problem.

Now I in no way think that this is strictly a problem with those in the democrat party. It has become apparent that all those elected folks in Washington are a pack of lying, conniving, cheating, despicable example of the human race. What is worse to me is that the rest of the liars and cheaters are going to be the ones to confirm these liars and cheaters. This may just be a case for the opinion that the patients are running the hospital.

One must wonder if Mr. Daschle would have found the error in his tax returns had he not be selected for this cabinet position. How long would this little error have gone unnoticed? I think the IRS needs to rethink its procedures a bit.

I think it is high time that every member of the House and Senate. Every member of the current administration, regardless of party affiliation be subjected to an IRS audit. With as many of them that seem to be found cheating the government on their taxes I think that would be a great idea. The audit should go back as far as we are allowed, by law, to go. Hey...include those that were part of the previous administration. It all works for me. Just let us see how many of our honest, hard working politicians are honest.

The best one yet though was the Treasury Secretary that said it was because he used Turbo Tax. Do any of you truly believe that this man actually used Turbo Tax to do his returns? I don't. If I were the creators/owners of Turbo Tax I think I would be working on finding out if our friend Mr. Geithner actually used the tax preparation software and if he don't have a license for the stuff I would sue his ass.

At least Daschle just came out and said he made a mistake. Mr. Geithner has to blame it on a computer program that no one, with his background, would ever use.

Now lets add a little insult to injury with this tax issue. I will still have to file California state tax for 2008. Since I have been having Mississippi tax withheld the state of California made me pay quarterly tax payments. Smokin and I made those payments on time for 2008. Now we get told that if we have a refund coming from California that we will get an I.O.U. Now wait a minute...if I would have been late sending in my quarterly payment I would have been in violation of California State law and would have been held accountable for penalty and interest. Yet Arnold and Company, LLC, can give me an IOU and there is no penalty and there is no interest? Oh hell no. I don't mind the IOU. I don't even mind that the State of California got to use my money interest free for a year. But when I forget to render payment and I am hit with interest and penalty and when you don't give me a refund all I get is sorry that is some bullshit.

What would have happened to Smokin and I had we sent in an IOU for a quarterly tax payment. I don't think that California would have been the least bit amused. But if end up owing taxes to California I may just send them an IOU in the mail. I don't plan on ever stepping foot in that state again so what the hell.