Archive for the ‘Opinion Piece’ Category

THIS IS TRULY AN OUTRAGE….

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Man and bike with sidecar

My name is d’ Lynn . I’m a disabled Vietnam vet. I don’t look too bad for a beat-up old fart, do I? And that’s my ride. She’s looking pretty good looking also, especially when you consider that she’ll turn twenty this summer. That’s right, it’s a 1990 with a 1990 sidecar. I can’t ride a solo bike, ergo the sidecar rig. It’s my sole means of transportation – rain or shine, snow or wind, and this summer also marks a milestone in both of our lives, as I will finally be able to pay her off. Twenty years old? What? Why did it take so long? You weren’t paying attention, were you? It’s right at the beginning of this paragraph. I am a disabled vet, which means I receive a veterans administration disability pension, which also means “I’m broke!” Just one step ahead of being homeless every month, and that’s not an idle statement or an”Oh, whoa is me” dire complaint. There’s a point to this, so hang in there a minute or two and read on.

There’s a 25-year-old illegal immigrant woman living in Florida , with eight kids. Yes, eight “anchor babies” and she receives just shy of $1,500 per month per kid, plus medical, plus food stamps. Oh, wait. I’ve been informed that I shouldn’t call them Food Stamps anymore. That’s not PC. It’s all called “Social Assistance” now. You do the math on that yourself. I’d say that she was schooled early in how to make it in the system. Twenty-five years old, eight kids . . . . . yep, she started early.

You can whip out the calculator if you want, but this women who never has paid a dime in taxes of any kind, (and still doesn’t – she’s ‘illegal,’ remember?) is here in this country illegally. She hasn’t paid one one cent in medical for all the “anchor babies,” makes more in one month, legally, than I receive in over a year and a half in disability payments and I can’t even get food stamps! Oops, I mean “Social Assistance.”

Technically I am eligible for “Social Assistance.” I was told it would be a walk through – a gimme – being disabled. No problem, and in the very next breath I was also informed that under the law the amount I received in “Social Assistance” would be deducted from my disability pension.

Let’s say I take a great photograph. It was just luck, a one of a kind accidental, in the right place at the right time shot. My local newspaper offers me fifty bucks to use the photo in a featured story. (I live in a small town and fifty bucks is all they could afford.) I have to report that fifty dollars to the VA as earned income, which will immediately be deducted from my next month’s disability check. If I don’t report it I’m in violation of federal law and technically they can stop my disability pension and prosecute me under a federal felony. Pretty cool, eh? For fifty bucks.

I see no point in dealing with two federal bureaucracies, so I don’t bother. What’s the point?

She’s here illegally and with just one kid would make over twice what I receive per month. She has eight and she’s not a stand-out case. She’s not alone. That’s the way the system works. Millions of illegal immigrants know this, know how the system works and know how to use it. (Haven’t you seen the pamphlet? It’s handed out all along our borders, “The Illegal Immigrants’ Guide to Keeping America Just The Way It Is.”) and that’s just the way it works.

Did you know that the federal government provides a “refugee” in this country with a monthly “stipend” of $1,890, plus $580 a month in “Social Assistance?” That’s $2,470 a month, tax-free. That’s two and a half times what I’m allowed to receive as a disabled vet. And just what did they do to earn this? All you have to do is show up on our collective doorstep, raise your right hand and swear that you’re a refugee and, bingo, receive $30,000 a year, tax-free. That’s more than someone making $15 an hour, and they have to pay taxes to boot!

Now, in defense of the Veterans Administration, they are doing what they can with what they’ve got. This is precious little compared to what they should have to get the job done. At least this country has a VA. It’s the Senate that keeps passing laws, rules and guidelines, cutting their budget, denying requests for more staff and computer systems to handle the massive work flow. Their hands are tied by the very government that’s supposed to give them what they need to get the job done, by the government you voted into office. Don’t scream at the VA. I have. It’s misguided anger.

The point to this “story?” Just why are you paying such high taxes to support this incredibly screwed-up government? Why? And I’m not proposing you stop paying your taxes. That’s wrong. There are good programs and reasons to pay your taxes and support our government. What am I proposing? It’s quite simple. Vote.

The government, our government, is broken and we as the voters serve as the maintenance crew. We fix it . . . . . by voting.

If your state Senator has been in office more then two terms, vote ‘em out at the next election. If your state representative has been in office more then two terms, vote ‘em out of office. We put term limits on just about every publicly-elected official in the country except the House and Senate. Why? Believe me, they know this and love it! Ahhh – the power!

I don’t care how much you believe your Senator or Representative is doing a good job. They’re not! Look at the government you have, that we have. How can you state they are doing what you want as the voter that put them there? How?

Vote them out of office. Do it.

Change the course of this country’s history by what you are granted and guaranteed under the law. Vote! And if you have the guts, the anger, the outrage, start a petition in your state for a state-wide initiative to be placed on your next state ballot. Limiting the terms of office for your state senators and state representatives to your federal government to two terms.

The federal government will never pass such a law, but you can. You can get it done. You can force it. You can make it a law.

This is the first step in “getting it right.” Just vote. It’s simple. It’s easy, dammit!

This first step will send a very clear message. It’ll work. It’ill put “us” back in control of “them.” As it should be. As it was intended in the first place.

Are you an American? Born and raised? Then vote!

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YES, “We noticed.”

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Preface: This came in by email as most of the things on the site. I have not checked on the accuracy of the statement as to the author. I publish this because it does reflect the feeling of a portion of Americans at this time.

Update: I was checking my server logs and found a Google search looking for information on if Sherry Hackett was still alive. There was an Urban Legends link so I followed it. The information given included that there was a statement that Mrs. Hackett had passed in 2007 and that the actual source of the list was from a lady living in Florida.

Sherry Hackett, wife of the late Buddy Hackett, is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. I would think that many other Democrats share her position…

This was written by Sherry Hackett, Buddy Hackett’s widow.

“WE NOTICED”

President Obama:
Today I read of your administrations’ plan to re-define September 11 as a National Service Day. Sir, it’s time we had a talk.

During your campaign, Americans watched as you made mockery of our tradition of standing and crossing your heart when the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken. You, out of four people on the stage, were the only one not honoring our tradition.

YES, “We noticed.”

During one of your many speeches, Americans heard you say that you intended to visit all 57 states. We all know that Islam, not America has 57 states.

YES, “We noticed.”

When President Bush leaned over at Ground Zero and gently placed a flower on the memorial, while you nonchalantly tossed your flower onto the pile without leaning over.

YES, “We noticed.”

Every time you apologized to other countries for America ‘s position on an issue we have wondered why you don’t share our pride in this great country.. When you have heard foreign leaders berate our country and our beliefs, you have not defended us. In fact, you insulted the British Crown beyond belief.

YES, “We noticed.”

When your pastor of 20 years, “God-damned America ” and said that 9/11 was ” America ‘s chickens coming home to roost” and you denied having heard recriminations of that nature, we wondered how that could be. You later disassociated yourself from that church and Pastor Wright because it was politically expedient to do so.

YES, “We noticed.”

When you announced that you would transform America , we wondered why. With all her faults, America is the greatest country on earth. Sir, KEEP THIS IN MIND, “if not for America and the people who built her, you wouldn’t be sitting in the White House now.” Prior to your election to the highest office in this Country, you were a senator from Illinois and from what we can glean from the records available, not a very remarkable one.

YES, “We noticed.”

All through your campaign and even now, you have surrounded yourself with individuals who are basically unqualified for the positions for which you appointed them. Worse than that, the majority of them are people who, like you, bear no special allegiance, respect, or affection for this country and her traditions.

YES, “We noticed.”

You are 14 months into your term and every morning millions of Americans wake up to a new horror heaped on us by you. You seek to saddle working Americans with a health care/insurance reform package that, along with cap and trade, will bankrupt this nation.

YES, “We noticed.”

We seek, by protesting, to let our representatives know that we are not in favor of these crippling expenditures and we are labeled “un-American”,”racist”, “mob”. We wonder how we are supposed to let you know how frustrated we are. You have attempted to make our protests seem isolated and insignificant. Until your appointment, Americans had the right to speak out.

YES, “We noticed.”

On September 11, 2001 there were no Republicans or Democrats, only Americans. And we all grieved together and helped each other in whatever way we could. The attack on 9/11 was carried out because we are Americans.

And YES, “We noticed.”

There were many of us who prayed that as a black president you could help unite this nation. In six months you have done more to destroy this nation than the attack on 9/11. You have failed us.

YES, “We noticed.”

September 11 is a day of remembrance for all Americans. You propose to make 9/11 a “National Service Day”. While we know that you don’t share our reverence for 9/11, we pray that history will report your proposal as what it is, a disgrace.

YES, “We noticed.”

You have made a mockery of our Constitution and the office that you hold. You have embarrassed and slighted us in foreign visits and policy.

YES, “We noticed.”

We have noticed all these things. We will deal with you. When Americans come together again, it will be to remove you from office.

And allow me to add another Yes, “I noticed”.
Unlike President Bush, who ALWAYS looked the Marine in the eye as he saluted with respect when disembarking from his aircraft –You on the other hand look straight ahead, making no eye contact with the United States Marine. Your disdain for our military is both evident and insulting to all who served and are serving our once great nation. The same nation you are hell bent on destroying.
Semper Fi,
Neal
Take notice.

If you agree with this, please send a link to this page on. If not, rethink your position.

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Humbling America

Friday, April 9th, 2010
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by Gene Lalor

In a forthright and unsettling piece on CNS.com, Ben Shapiro writes of “Obama’s Plan to Humble America” in which he compares the president’s machinations with “gargantuan” domestic expenditures coupled with equally expensive wars to LBJ’s vain efforts to provide America with “Guns and Butter.”

The guns were intended to win the war in Viet Nam, or at least not lose that war, the guns. At the same time Johnson wanted to effect his Great Society programs, the butter. The end result of that juggling was that we kept the welfare and other domestic programs and ignominiously lost the war due to half-hearted commitment.

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According to Shapiro, our current president is on the same social welfare/wars path with one notable twist: Obama knows where he and the country are headed and is planning for failure: “First, Obama wants to weaken us on the home front by ‘spreading the wealth around’ in the name of equality. Second, Obama wants to use that aggravated economic weakness to undermine America’s foreign policy standing around the world.”

book 'Project President'

That’s a strong charge to make and it’s what makes Shapiro’s article unsettling.

As big and as boorish an oaf that LBJ was, no one to my knowledge has ever suggested that he anticipated much less planned the loss in ‘Nam; it was an unintended consequence of America’s finite resources. The nation simply couldn’t afford both the butter and the guns without huge tax increases which Johnson proposed and in the end there weren’t enough guns, nor much Democrat desire to provide them.

Essentially, Shapiro is saying that Barack Hussein Obama doesn’t like our country, even despises the inequities he sees on the homefront and the “brutishness” of our foreign policy stances and he’s striving to cut us down to the size he envisions for the United States.

That would explain his maniacal tax and spend schemes at home and his penchant for traversing the planet and apologizing for the nation at every stop he makes. Antagonizing proven allies, Israel and Britain, and a necessary ally, Afghanistan, are other surefire techniques to undercut America’s supremacy and influence.

His intended domestic consequence is not only to spread the wealth but to create class warfare of some sort with his constant badmouthing of businesses and industry. At the same time, he’s creating an image of weakness and indecision overseas.

Both policies can only have negative outcomes for the people of the United States.

Despite its many glaring flaws, capitalism is the financial and social foundation not only of our success and wealth as a nation but of the character of the American people: confident, brash, industrious combined with generosity, religious faith, and courage, all former hallmarks of the collective American psyche.

To undermine the capitalistic foundation of our society is to undermine the very bases that made America great and enabled it to fight and help win what were basically European wars in the twentieth century at very high human and economic costs.

energy illustration

If Obama is allowed to continue on this deadend road to perdition and financial ruin, if Obama gets his way and converts America into a second rate power, the international perception of our weakness and indecisiveness combined with a crippled and bankrupt economy can only mean the next time we’re needed somewhere on the globe, we’ll be too weak and broke to help anyone.

As Shapiro concludes his article, “Unlike LBJ, Obama acts not out of ignorance, but insidiousness. Like LBJ in 1968, he must be made to pay the price:” http://bit.ly/bnQ946

The only problem with that truth is that America will already have paid a steeper price. We will have been humbled beyond redemption.

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Corporate America

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

There are many problems with society today. The economy is in poor condition and may not improve soon enough for many, myself included. As I see it, much of the problem is with the corporate mentality.

A business needs capital to grow and prosper. The major corporations depend on selling stock, shares in the company, as a major source of the needed operating capital. This plan is good. It can raise the capital that the company needs to expand their operations and grow the business. It can supply a steady source of income for the investors if the company is well managed and produces the desired results.

There were many great advances in our society that were funded in this way. The railroads, production and distribution of electricity, and the telephone system are all examples of industries built through investments of private funds.

The problem that I see with this is that Corporate America has lost sight of the real purpose of the stock market. Instead of issuing stock to raise capital for a specific purpose, using the capital for that purpose, and then retiring the stock corporations look to their public offering to raise capital and depending on how much they raise they then make plans on how to use the money.

When a corporation issues stock they have a duty to the stock holders to perform and to make money. Many corporations make decisions based on how much money can be made in the short run instead of taking the long view and building a lasting economic base. Much of this is due to the speculation in the stock market. If a company does not produce immediate results on a significant scale their stock will not sell well.

There are many ventures that are started specifically with the hope of bringing them to the point that they can make and IPO. Many of these ventures do not fulfill a specific need. Their only reason for existence is to make enough of a splash to attract investment capital. The person or group that pulls this off successfully will reap great financial benefits at the cost of society.

I believe that the free enterprise system is the best social and economic system. I think that it is time to return to fiscal responsibility and follow the basic tenets under which this country was founded. Speculation should not be a driving force of our economy. The corporations need to recognize that they have the responsibility to be good citizens as well as being profitable. If this means that the margin profit is a bit lower so be it.

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From Candy to Coffee

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

There was a trend started long ago by the candy companies. The candy companies had some fixed price points that they need to hit. When the costs of doing business began to rise they needed to keep their expenses in line with their costs, but they couldn’t really charge six cents for a nickel candy bar. They chose to make the candy bar a little smaller so that they could maintain their profit margin at their fixed price point.

There currently a trend for many manufacturers to try the same trick. These more recent examples are not trying to maintain a fixed price structure. The first of these that I noticed was the coffee makers. The one pound coffee can now comes with 12 or 13 ounces of coffee. I recently picked up a three pound size can at the supermarket. The three pound size now has two pounds and one ounce of coffee.

I have watched the traditional half gallon of Ice Cream go to one and three quarters quarts and now down to one and a half quarts. My most recent shock was to buy a five pound bag of sugar. I thought that the bag looked a little smaller than it should so I checked. My five pounds of sugar had eroded to four pounds. I am sure that there are many other examples of this trend. While the philosophy is probably the same as with the candy manufacturers, the situation is completely different.

This trend is probably designed to prevent sticker shock. When costs increase the expense must be passed down the line. But I think that this trend is the wrong approach. I am not fooled by paying the same amount for a lesser quantity. That is still a price increase.

In these days with thought given to resource usage and depletion, and with landfills that are full beyond capacity, is this a waste that we can afford? Each of these units of manufacture require nearly the same expense for packaging. Therefore, the smaller the quantity of product the higher percentage we are paying for packaging and handling. We not only get a bit less of the product that we purchase, but a greater percentage of the purchase price must pay for the container and the handling.

I would much prefer to pay a bit more for a good measure than to have the prices remain the same but get less of a product. If the manufacturers want to provide an extra sku for a smaller quantity so that people do not have to purchase the larger quantities they should be allowed to do that, but not at the expense of giving a good measure of their product for those that would use it. It is proportionally less expensive and less wasteful to package larger quantities of a product.

I think that this is a trend that needs to come to a halt! Have you noticed this trend? How do you feel when you notice that your traditional buying quantities for a product have been cut?

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The First Speech

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

I just wanted to share something that I noticed about Obama’s speech.  I didn’t feel that much of what he was talking about was the best idea for our future, and I didn’t feel that he was following through with his promises to unite and rebuild the integrity of our government.  But the one thing I noticed more than anything else is that I think he didn’t believe in what he was saying.

If you watch his speech, you will notice that he never looked into the camera, to speak to the public directly.  He consistently directed his gaze to the press, the people he knows support him and his ideas 100%. He only looked into the camera once, and he looked somewhat terrified, and quickly looked away.

Speech diagnosis experts will tell you that his failure to look into the camera shows that he either does not believe that what he is saying will really work, or he is lying. Obama is a professional speaker, he knows that it is important to look at the people you are speaking to, to let them know that you have confidence in what you are saying, and his failure to do so, as a professional speaker, convinces me that something is wrong, and he knows it.

His ability to speak made me listen to his speech and, maybe, began to make me think about what he was suggesting but, his failure to show that he believed what he was saying, proved to me that he knows that there is simply a political game going on.

Sent to me by Michael Kilgus

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