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Now Updated Through The October 2012 Issue
Knight v. Runner ~ 2012 Legislative Year in Review: page 6.
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Published in the August 2012
Political Observer print edition.
Willy Wonka
Warned Us About
Generation Want-Get
--------------------------
This newfangled Top-Two election format is stupid, stupid, stupid, and ought to be called what it really is: The Democratic and Republican Politicians’ Full Election Act.
In California's 80 seat Assembly, 78 contests this November will feature either a D vs. R, a D vs. D, an R vs. R, or, in two cases, a D with no opposing candidate.
Approved by voters in June 2010 as Prop 14 – a stunt sold by the Establishment as a cost-saving measure – this initiative was not put on the ballot by a citizen signature-gathering effort.
Top-Two was placed on the ballot by the
The People never asked for it.
The voter registration trend for at least a decade has been steadily moving away from the two Establishment parties toward what pundits refer to as “Third Parties,” with the fastest growth in registration in no party at all, or, “No Party Preference.”
Realizing which way the political winds have been blowing, Democrats and Republicans took action insuring their self-preservation.
According to registration statistics provided by the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder’s Office, Buck McKeon’s 25th District had 213,977 registered voters in February 2003; 173,208 either a D or R – 81%.
Despite the district’s registration total increasing by 53,000 – 24% – by May 2012, registration with either the Democratic or Republican Party shrank to 75% of total registered voters.
The trend is clear, and with not only congress, but politicians and government in general being held in record-low esteem by The People, the current climate is ripe for electoral upsets.
Under the old system, when each party held a primary in June with their winner representing that party in November’s general, an upset was always a possibility.
Under Top-Two, with “Third Parties” having far fewer registered voters, it is a certainty their candidates will never receive enough votes to finish in first or second, thereby eliminating them from November’s ballot, and real choice for The People in the voting booth.
The Government is not an
Employment Agency
Fixing public education seems as uncomplicated as understanding the concept of putting the horse before the cart. Rule #1: The highest paid person on campus shall be a teacher, not any administrator – principal, dean, vice-president, superintendent – and the superintendent shall make no more than $1 less than the highest paid teacher in the district.
When administrators, vice-presidents and superintendents start their whining and complaining like spoiled children who can’t get what they want, they need to be told it’s high time they got off the gub-mnt’ teet themselves, hit the road and go test the waters in the private sector if they believe they are being under-compensated for their talents.
Rule #2: Regarding elementary school, the first day of school is for testing – reading, writing and arithmetic. Below average students shall be temporarily segregated and then assigned a teacher at a ratio of three-students-to-one-teacher, under whose tutelage they shall remain until they are able to pass the tests within a pre-determined time-frame.
Rule #3: To determine regular class size, ask the teachers, “How many?” As in, what is a reasonable teacher-to-student-ratio? If they answer ten-to-one, then give it to them. Along with any and all supplies, tools, or instruments necessary to successfully carry out their responsibility.
Rule #4: Money to hire enough teachers to meet a ten-to-one ratio and provide all necessary tools and supplies shall be realized by the firing of all non-essential personnel – most everybody else.
Other than teachers and those directly associated with learning – librarian and staff, for instance, to name just one example – March 15 notices will be sent out notifying non-essential employees that they are non-essential and their job is being outsourced to the private sector.
The good news for non-essential public servants serving the public in the public school district is there will be a job waiting for them in the private sector; their former job with the government –now outsourced.
This alone ought to save taxpayers a bundle both short-term and long, particularly concerning financing
I Should Have Gotten a
Job with the Gub-mnt’
The genesis of the
Runner, currently a Board of Equalization (BOE) member, described himself as a “taxpayer advocate” on his ballot statement for BOE.
“Taxpayer Advocate” may be construed as a slick play on words, an inside joke among public servants, whereby Mr. Runner is advocating for as many taxpayers paying taxes as possible paying as much tax as they can afford because the financial integrity of the pension formula he voted into law depends upon it.
Taxpayer advocate. Get it?
In the legislative analysis of SB400, CalPERS – the public servant retirement system – claimed at the time that it intended to finance what they acknowledged at the time as the “enhanced benefits” provided by SB400 through “assets the system has generated over the past several years due to the superior performance of the stock market.”
Note: “assets the system has generated.” As in, already generated. As in, the money is in the bank.
The Political Observer received a “Runner Report” e-mail on August 2 from current State Senator Sharon Runner, wife of George. Mrs. Runner’s report leads with a dire warning about
Mrs. Runner’s reports states, “The future debt load is staggering! Our [S]tate is in serious financial trouble. There are many changes that need to be made in order to make our [S]tate financially sound, and at the top of that list must be pension reform.”
Below her comments is a chart showing money supposed to go to the general fund, but is instead re-directed – stolen – to cover
The chart’s red ink begins in Fiscal 2001/02, two years after SB400 was signed into law. That year SB400 cost taxpayers almost $400 million.
The financial bleeding accelerates toward FY 2011/12 where taxpayers saw $2.1 billion stolen from general fund revenue re-directed toward the public servant pension fund.
Mrs. Runner’s assessment doesn’t jive with a Stanford University Institute for Economic Policy Research report released in December 2011 where it is reported California's public servant pension fund’s unfunded liabilities increased by 20 percent to reach a combined unfunded liability for the State’s three funds of $290.6 billion. This scenario is based upon a 6.2% return on investments.
CalPERS recently reported a 1% (one percent) return on its investments for last fiscal year. This falls far short of CalPERS’ annual target of 7.5% as promised when SB400 was passed in 1999.
Expect the financial hemorrhaging to not only continue, but to accelerate, a scenario one politician – Assemblyman Kevin DeLeon (D)-Los Angeles – aptly referred to as a “looming retirement tsunami.”
Using low-risk or risk-free discount rates, the combined unfunded liability will balloon to $497.9 billion – half a trillion dollars – or 17 percent more than calculated in 2010, according to the Stanford University report.
For
Remember this next time you get poor service and a bad attitude from a public servant.
And if California politicians do not address pension reform soon then the need to increase the amount of money stolen from the general fund to cover public servant pensions will continue to reduce non-pension spending – education and social services.
Read about
In the next Runner Report, perhaps Mrs. Runner could have her husband explain why he thought SB400 was such a good idea at the time.
Tragic how government tells The People, when it comes to public servant pension obligations, a contract is a contract.
Yet, government tells current private sector workers under 55 contributing to social security that the deal they signed-up for 35 years ago may soon no longer be valid and they’ll have to work until they’re 70 or 75, because there isn’t enough money.
I, Me, Mine
“All through the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
All through the night I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.”
-- Written and sung by George Harrison. Performed by The Beatles.
The Baby Boom Generation is followed by Generation X, then Generation Y, and then, Generation Next.
And now, as on display at a recent Lancaster City Council meeting, the latest generation: Generation Want-Get.
Generation Want-Get came as skaters on this occasion, and along with their mothers, made clear their demand they be given a skate park. In a stunning display of cognitive dissonance, one mother explained that her son and his friends are good kids, but without the ability to skateboard, they may turn to causing trouble.
Someone should inform the lady that good kids don’t turn to trouble-making whenever they don’t get what they want, just as poverty does not cause crime.
If this isn’t the case, then how to explain the lack of a crime-spree across our nation during the Great Depression? And how then to explain the crooks on Wall Street and in the banking and financial markets, if poverty causes crime?
Smell My Finger
I know of a lady that allowed her “perfect and special” specimen of a 14-year-old son use the neighbor’s travel trailer two doors down from her home as target practice when throwing water balloons one hot summer day a few years back. When the balloons hit their target and exploded, they stuck to the trailer’s aluminum side.
It was a few weeks until the man realized one side of his trailer had been bombarded by water balloons. As he pulled off the balloon fragments, heated and melded onto the side under the AV’s intense summer sun, paint came with it, exposing sheet metal to the elements. Come the rains, absent a touch-up paint job, rust is sure to set in. He wasn’t too pleased.
This spoiled, smart-mouth, brat responsible for damaging his neighbor’s property had a ping pong table in his backyard. Imagine if neighbor kids had thrown water balloons on it, ruining the playing surface. I’m sure psycho-mom would have marched over to the neighbor’s house, banged on the door, and then demand her precious prince’s ping pong table be replaced, now! Or there’s going to be a problem.
Our nation is in serious trouble on so many fronts.
editor@tavpo.com
Veruca Salt: Gooses! Geeses!
I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter.
Mr. Salt: It will, sweetheart.
Veruca: At least a hundred a day.
Mr.Salt: Anything you say.
Veruca: And by the way…
Mr. Salt: What?
Veruca: I want a feast.
Mr. Salt: You ate before you came to the factory.
Veruca: I want a bean feast!
Mr. Salt: Oh, one of those.
Veruca: Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts,
So good you could go nuts.
Mr. Salt: You can have all those things when you get home.
Veruca: No, now!!
I want a ball!
I want a party!
Pink macaroons and a million balloons,
And performing baboons and ...
Give it to me!
Rrhh rhhh!
Now!
I want the world,
I want the whole world.
I want to lock it all up in my pocket,
It's my bar of chocolate.
Give it to me!
Now!
I want today!
I want tomorrow!
I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair,
And I don't want to share 'em!
I want a party with room fulls of laughter,
Ten thousand tons of ice cream.
And if I don't get the things I am after,
I'm going to scream!
I want the works.
I want the whole works.
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises,
Of all shapes and sizes.
And now!
Don't care how,
I want it now!
Don't care how,
I want it now!
Oompa Loompas:
Oompa Loompa doompadee doo.
I've got another puzzle for you.
Oompa Loompa doompadah dee.
If you are wise you will listen to me.
Who do you blame when your kid is a brat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese cat?
Blaming the kids is a lion of shame.
You know exactly who's to blame:
The mother and the father!
Oompa Loompa doompadee dah
If you're not spoiled then you will go far.
You will live in happiness too.
Like the Oompa Loompa doompadee do.
“What do you get from a glut of TV?
A pain in the neck and an IQ of three!”
-- Oompa Loompa on Mike Teevee
I Fought The Law...
and I Won
------
STEVE BIERFELDT
Campaign for
We often forget that the power wielded by government exists only because there are those willing to carry out its orders.
The “Government” is not an Artificial Intelligence that exists in a science fiction movie. Rather it comprises real people who have the choice to either follow or refuse an order.
In wake of the 1832 Supreme Court case, Worcester v. Georgia, presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, President Andrew Jackson is famously rumored to have stated, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”
Knowing the Supreme Court had no army, police or agents to enforce their decisions, the implication was clear.
A law passed by Congress, signed by the President, and upheld by the courts will never be carried out or enforced unless there are men with badges and with guns willing to comply. It is important we remember this when we reflect on laws that are passed, directives that are issued and agencies that infringe on our civil liberties.
Just one such example of such an agency is the Transportation Security Administration or TSA.
Campaign for
In my responsibilities as Director of Development I often find myself tasked with carrying this money.
On one occasion, things got interesting: www.thestatevsyou.blogspot.com/2009/06/cnn-news-piece.html
As I always do when transporting money from Campaign for Liberty events, I place the funds in a thin metal cash box similar to that found at a raffle or church bazaar, with the box then placed in my carry-on bag.
After working my way through the numerous levels of checkpoints, I finally came to the baggage screening. I handed my ticket and my license to the initial TSA agent and proceeded to the screening.
After I had walked through the metal detector and handed my ticket to the attendant for further verification, I waited for my items to come out of the machine. The screening attendant motioned for assistance and an additional TSA attendant soon came over.
This individual ordered me off to the side and proceeded to search through my bag. As he looked through my belongings, he eventually took out the moneybox and informed me he needed to look through it.
I asked him if I was being detained or if I was free to go. Upon his second demand to search it, I asked if the box was being detained. Never did he provide a direct answer to my question, and likewise never did I offer my consent to a search.
He began to grow hostile and told me he was sick of the back and forth. He ordered me into a side room next to the security checkpoint. Not wanting to inform Congressman Ron Paul and Campaign for
As I was being led into this room off the concourse, I thought of situations that often begin this way and far too often do not end well for the lone individual questioning the government’s presumed authority.
As the agent settled in I quickly took out my mobile phone, highlighted the proper setting, slipped the phone upright in my front jacket pocket, and began recording the conversation.
The full recording can be heard here: www.aclu.org/national-security/audio-recording-aclu-client-steve-bierfeldts-detention-and-interrogation-tsa
It has often been said that, “The Camera is the New Gun.” Such words ring true. In an age where agents of the government create more regulations and wield more power, it can often seem hopeless for individuals to do anything to challenge an authority that does not follow its own laws.
However, a simple video camera or audio recorder can often have a far-reaching effect. In this case, it changed the policy of the federal government. Some important things to remember when dealing with anyone in law enforcement:
Be Prepared
Some have asked me if I planned the situation, wanting to be caught and wanting to cause a scene. In reality I was tired from the weekend, trying to respond to old emails via my cell phone, and gritting my teeth as I had another few hours of air travel ahead of me. The last thing on my mind was a desire to argue with the government.
However, carrying a pocket Constitution and having the presence of mind to record a conversation are things everyone can do. Without question the inquiry most often made is, “What program did you use to record that?”
The application was called “iTalk” and is a free application you can download to your iPhone. Determine if your mobile phone can record audio and if possible video. If it cannot, download or buy the software.
The tool it will provide against government abuse will be worth it.
Know the Law
While I do not have a tremendous knowledge of the law, in my interaction with TSA and subsequently the
I knew full well that I did not have to tell the TSA where I worked, and despite the TSA’s lies or ignorance of the law themselves, I also knew I did not have to tell the police either.
Don't just talk about Constitutional liberties and what they mean. Study them and incorporate that knowledge into interactions in your daily life.
Keep Your Cool
Despite the TSA’s and police department's claim that I was “being difficult” or “acting like a child,” only one of us ever raised his voice, used offensive language, or threatened physical action.
One slip up and the government’s whole story changes. Now the TSA is justified because you swore at them, called them names, or insulted their job. Don’t give them the slightest opportunity.
In any interaction with any type of law enforcement, remain calm and respectful. You may find out that the officer knows the law also, and will let you leave. If not, you'll be taking the high road (and hopefully remembering to record the conversation).
With the recording now going, I entered the room and watched the TSA agent sit down and begin filling out paperwork. He asked me what I did for a living and in return I asked him if that was relevant.
Upon being told it was, I asked if I was legally required to answer. He was not pleased and amidst a fury of expletives stated that while I was not required to tell him, I would be required to tell a police officer. (I knew full well I wasn't, though decided not to tempt the situation.)
What then occurred was a 30-minute interrogation at which any given time a half dozen individuals were crowded in the small office. At first a police officer entered and informed me that I did indeed have to tell the TSA where I worked. Upon my asking for clarification he backed off his initial statement.
When a second police officer entered, the interrogation continued. Amid threats of involvement with the FBI and DEA, I saw firsthand the strong-arm tactics that unfortunately some in law enforcement use.
The questioning went back and forth between myself, TSA, police officers, and random individuals entering and leaving. Consistently I kept my responses simple, yet polite, and asked questions in return.
“Am I legally required to answer that?... Does the law state I have to tell you that information?... Can you please tell me what my rights are concerning that inquiry?...” As I continued, I was either yelled at or accused of refusing to comply.
At one point I was informed, “If you have nothing to hide, just answer the question.” I cringed as I listened to the argument used by those who give preeminence to the state over the individual.
This line of training had apparently been bred into in these agents and was unfortunately well engrained in whatever type of training they had received.
Though it is easy to look back on the situation and claim that it was under control the whole time, I was still in a situation I would have preferred to avoid. I was in a small, enclosed room with no windows and a locked door.
A half dozen government agents, some of them carrying loaded firearms, surrounded me. And I was cursed at, berated, and threatened with arrest.
Anything can happen in that situation. Someone slips, someone falls, someone gets nervous, and suddenly you're in a situation where you not only risk the word of six people against yourself, you risk possible physical harm.
After a half hour of back and forth, these “authorities” informed me I would be taken down to the station and asked me if I needed to be handcuffed, to which I politely declined.
Upon my further statement that I was looking for guidance and did not fully understand the law, I was told, “We’re gonna help you understand the law.”
One can only wonder what they meant by that. Thankfully I did not need to find out.
I was actually led out of the interrogation room and about 10 yards down the concourse, a plain-clothes official stopped the parade of government employees. He called them back and upon looking at the money stated matter-of-factly that they were contributions to “Campaign for
(The fact there were numerous checks that were actually written out to “Campaign for
After one of the police officers asked for my contact information and phone number in order to follow up (I graciously declined to give it to him), I was on my way within a matter of minutes.
Upon my return home I began to speak with individuals well versed in legal matters and decided to push forward against the government abuse that had taken place. Judge Andrew Napolitano featured a piece on his show, “Freedom Watch” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMB6L487LHM) and I spoke with legal experts on both the left and the right.
I determined the American Civil Liberties Union was the most professional in this matter as they shared my goal to push for principle and a change in policy over financial compensation.
The suit was filed in response to the violation of my Constitutional rights and soon Bierfeldt v. Napolitano, (www.aclu.org/national-security/bierfeldt-v-napolitano-tsas-rule-56-statement) a suit against the Department of Homeland Security and its Secretary Janet Napolitano (no relation to the judge), was underway.
Curiously, only a week before the government's response was required, the TSA stated they would be altering their policy for flight security. Their screening process would be limited to searches for the purpose of safety only and their illegal searches and detainments of the past could not continue.
With this change in policy the ACLU voluntarily dismissed the suit, pending TSA's compliance. No longer can the TSA harass passengers for carrying cash. Suspiciousness searches unrelated to airline safety should be a thing of the past.
With an adherence to the Constitution, the latest technology, and a tremendous amount of support from Campaign for
We had fought the law, and we had won.
--------------------------------------
This column originally appeared at the Campaign For Liberty website, and has been republished in the Political Observer with permission.
The Campaign For Liberty promotes and defends the great American principles of individual
Visit us on the Web at:
www.CampaignForLiberty.com
Steve Bierfeldt is the Director of Development for Campaign for
Published in the January 2013
Political Observer print edition.
More Innocent People Are Killed Around
The World Each Year by the
Government Under the Guise of Foreign
Policy Than Are Americans Murdered
by Crazed, Lone Gunmen in the
Hysterical Cries for Gun Control Abound,
Yet No Plea For Government Control
MLK Day of Service: Joke’s On You!
------------------------------------------------------
According to Amy Jingle
--------------------------------
By Amy Jingle,
Political Observer Columnist Concerned
with Covering Social & Political Affairs
--------------------------------------------------
Warning: Your 21st Century
Feelings May Be Offended!
------------------------------------
Reader Discretion Advised; Content Written
for Rational, Thinking Adults Only
-----------------------------------------------------------
CORRECTION: This version corrects the print edition version where Amy Jingle incorrectly identified the Constitutional Amendment no longer denying women the Right to vote as the 18th Amendment.
The 19th Amendment removed the federal government’s prohibition against women voting. The 18th Amendment banned alcohol.
Amy Jingle places 100% of the blame on the editor, Thomas Fitzgerald, for not doing his job properly by not catching the mistake before going to press.
The editor regrets his error.
One thing President Obama has going for him – and any president for that matter – is he’s not the Congress.
Perhaps author P.J. O’Rourke best describes the average American’s opinion of the Congress with the title of his 2003 book, “Parliament of Whores.”
This is why during his time in the District of Criminals (D.C.), former Texas Congressman Ron Paul was often referred to by some as “The Parson in the Whorehouse.”
The Congress earns and deserves every ounce of contempt coming their way.
As the publisher of The Political Observer told Lee Rogers, the Democrat who challenged “Buck” McKeon this last November to represent California’s 25th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, a few days before the election, if he wins he needs to promise when returning to the district to be sure to wipe his feet before stepping off the airplane in Los Angeles so not to bring back any of Washington D.C.’s foul-footstep pollution.
Disdain for Congress – and gub-mnt’in general – is healthy and as American as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.
For the most part Congress is comprised of a collection of power-hungry, control-freaks, each member thinking they know what’s best for the rest of us.
There’s only about a dime’s difference between the two parties these days when it comes to spending. One party – the Republicans – despite what they claim, want government to grow, spending more and more each year, but at an ever-so-slightly slower clip then their political brethren across the aisle – the so-called Tax and Spend Democrats.
Neither side is serious about reducing spending. Talk of spending cuts is a gimmick because in reality, thanks to Baseline Budgeting, what pols in
Assault vs. Defensive Position Rifle
There is no such thing as an “assault weapon.”
Semi-automatic rifles like the M-16 or AK47 are not discarded and replaced by soldiers with a “defensive position rifle” when they return to camp after the successful completion of an assault mission.
What pundits refer to as an “assault rifle” works perfectly well and does just fine defending the perimeter from a foxhole too.
CNN’s Piers Morgan is repugnant, and a first-class idiot who ought to hop on the next plane to
The answer to dealing with psychopathic, lone nut killers is somebody shooting them dead before they kill more; not ducking, covering, dialing 911 and waiting for the police to arrive, who, once on scene have as a top priority officer safety, not saving your bacon.
After the
This is what men have been reduced to in this country: defenseless and helpless.
This is the result when We, The People, agree to submit to the government’s un-Constitutional insistence to voluntarily disarm themselves; we become victims.
Had someone in the theatre beside the shooter been armed, good chance lives may have been saved.
People screaming for federal restrictions on firearms and ammunition purchases ought to remember the
The
Chew on that.
Yet, no call for government control.
If Pat Robertson is correct God strikes sinful nations with natural disasters like deadly hurricanes, then the perhaps the same may be said of lone nut shooters being comeuppance for America’s support for the U.S. government’s wicked and evil foreign policy.
Christian nation, my left foot. Never know it by examining the foreign policy of the government supported by our so-called Christian nation.
U.S. foreign policy is a Christian as liquid water is dry.
2nd Amendment & Gun Control
Gun control is defined as a bullet hitting the target with each squeeze of the trigger. One round, one kill, as they say in the U.S. Army infantry.
And the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights isn’t there to ensure hunters hunt, target shooters target shoot, or for defending one’s home against criminals.
Honest and worthy endeavors all, though they may be.
The 2nd Amendment is put in place because the drafters of the Constitution understood man; that over the course of human events, history bears witness that man’s greatest enemy has been, and remains to this day, and will forever be, his fellow man.
The Founders were wise enough to know bad men commit the most harm against their fellow man not when operating as private gangs, but as agents of the government.
Government, George Washington tried to warn, is force, not reason.
When agents of the government knock at the front door, they’re not there to negotiate. It’s a matter of opening the door….or else!
There is a sliding scale of probability for things not ending well for the person upon whose door said government agents knock, that applies to every government agency, whatever the government agency, whether federal, State or local, from dog catcher to law enforcement.
Except for two.
The only two government agencies whose agents can say, “Hello, we’re from the government, and we’re here to help you,” and mean it, 100% of the time, are the fine people at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and the Fire Department.
It’s the difference between gub-mnt’ and gov-ern-ment.
It’s no mistake the Amendment ensuring man’s natural Right to keep and bear arms is the second of ten Amendments in what is known as the Bill of Rights. Chronologically speaking, placing it number two speaks volumes.
The Founders knew The People being armed is more important than not quartering troops in private homes in times of peace absent the consent of the property owner, and if in a time of war, then, only in manner prescribed by law.
More important than the Right of The People to be secure in their person, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…by the government.
More important than Due Process, and the Right not to be a witness against oneself.
More important than a Right to trial by an impartial Jury.
Things less important to the Founders than the Right to keep and bear arms are found each month at the bottom of pages three through ten in each copy of The Political Observer print edition.
According to the Bill of Rights, only the Separation of Church and State, speaking one’s mind, and the Right of The People to peaceably and publicly gather and tell their government exactly what they think of it receive higher prioritization than ensuring the Right to own guns.
And newspapers. A Free press is also guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.
Wise men, our Founders. Flawed. But wise.
The purpose of 2nd Amendment is to ensure a
A well-armed population is comprised of Citizens, while members of a disarmed population are subjects, like in
There is nothing wrong and everything right with Free people having their government out-gunned; ultimately it’s the only way to ensure they remain Free.
Happy Anniversary?
This year – 2013 – Americans may “celebrate” the 100 year anniversary of the twin demons of disaster working non-stop against the pursuit of happiness by the common man: the Federal Reserve and the federal income tax.
Bastard children both, neither deserving to survive another day, let alone another century.
MLK Day of Service: Joke's On You!
Sickening seeing so many good, thoughtful, and otherwise thinking people duped into participating in the fraud known as a “Day of Service” each year on MLK Day.
The irony is not lost on the wise.
MLK Day has been transformed from honoring a great Civil Rights leader into a day of work. On what other holiday are people encouraged to work…for free?
Dr. King, a great American, was about Justice, not free labor.
The only proper way to honor Dr. Martin Luther King on his birthday is to conscientiously and peacefully disobey an un-Just law.
A Day of Service smacks of slavery; of a “joke's on you,” situation, I’m convinced.
Corporate Personhood:
Turn Your Head and Cough For Me
The law states a corporation is a person, possessing the same Rights as any individual.
I wasn’t aware a corporation can become pregnant and either elect to get an abortion – kill the baby – or birth a child, or vote, or get a drivers’ license, or develop diabetes, or go to jail, or die of thirst, or get hungry.
If a corporation is a person then someone needs to contact Guinness Book of World Records to make them aware the oldest person in the world doesn’t have arms, legs, a face, and internal organs, and has a life expectancy of hundreds of years, or possibly longer.
Move over 115 year-old Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, born in 1898, known currently as the world’s oldest living person. Jim Beam, born in 1795 has you beat by over 100 years.
Yet, at more than 200 years-old, Mr. Beam doesn’t look a day over 30. You, on the other hand, Mr. Kimura, show your age.
Four More Years? Ugh!
It’s a legitimate toss-up between George Bush Jr. and Obama on who is the worst president in
The only positive to come from Obama’s re-election is 2016 will be wide open, not about re-elect Mitt and his VP, Bat Boy – the only rationale supporting the contention Obama was the lesser of two evils – and gives the GOP a few years breathing room to get its act together.
Political observers, and any American paying attention, knew Romney would be toast come Election Day.
During the GOP primary season Romney was visiting with people at a restaurant in
Ha, ha...chuckle, chuckle.
Not funny to someone not a millionaire, out of work and desperately looking for a job. Describing Romney as out-of-touch with the average American is an understatement.
The Republicans deserved to have their clock cleaned by the Democrats for nominating Richie Rich in this economy.
The future of the GOP lies with the party telling the social conservatives and corporate-types within its ranks to cool their heels with their Taliban-light approach to governing, and all things corporate are good, philosophy.
It’s a loser message and is killing my Republican Party, and if the GOP isn’t careful, within 20 years, it could go the way of the Whigs - extinct.
Closing Thoughts
Democrats like these men may support increased domestic spending, but at least they concern themselves with investing American tax dollars here at home, not war-fighting and nation building abroad.
Hard not to respect that despite any disagreement I have with them on the role government should play in society.
Government has responsibilities and meeting these responsibilities requires revenue gained through some form of taxation. Every rational American can agree to this.
But what we have in 2013 is a central government out of control. A beast needing to be slayed.
Alexander Hamilton, if he could come back today, would agree with this, most likely, and
He died while Treasury Secretary, killed in
I doubt Jefferson lost any sleep after hearing the news of his political nemesis' demise. Politics being the rough business it is.
The appropriate analogy to the Alexander Hamilton-Aaron Burr situation today is Vice President Joe Biden killing Treasury Secretary “Tiny” Tim Geithner in a pistol duel.
The 19th Amendment did not give women the Right to vote; in fact, it didn’t give them anything.
The 19th Amendment ensured they would no longer be denied that Right; a Right denied over 130 years by…wait for it…......................the government.
Given the Right to vote, versus, no longer denied the Right to vote.
Big difference. Think about it.
Lastly, no Human Being is “illegal.”
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Amy Jingle.
Amy Jingle.
The views expressed in this column are those of Amy Jingle, not The Political Observer.
Published in the December 2012
Political Observer print edition.
225 Years Ago Political
Compromise Got Us Slavery;
162 Years Ago, The Compromise of 1850;
Today, It Beckons Austerity
&
A Consortium of Thoughts & Observations
~ Not Without Remedies Proposed
& Solutions Offered ~
On Society’s Numerous
According to Amy Jingle
By Amy Jingle
Including The Trifecta of Stupidity:
The 16th, 17th & 18th Amendments
&
Generation Want-Get:
~ A Lady I Know ~
-------------------------------------------------
On questions of probity, history teaches us mankind is better served and protected when political compromise is avoided.
Our nation’s founding governing document is a seriously flawed document precisely because of political compromise.
Our Constitution legislates some of God’s children as three-fifths of a human being, relegated to property under law; livestock status similar to mule or cattle.
In retrospect, after Seceding from the British Empire, perhaps the North should have been unwilling to compromise in the forming of “a more perfect union,” instead telling the South to go pound sand, while holding true to the motto “No Union with Slaveholders!” and founded the
Then, “unofficially,” look the other way as Abolitionists infiltrate and work underground in the South aiding and abetting runaway slaves, undermining the wretched, vile institution at every opportunity.
All this, of course, while “officially” greeting the South’s diplomatic protestations with the level of indignation commensurate when one government learns its citizens would dare meddle in the affairs of another sovereign nation.
Promising to do everything in its power to put a stop to it, the North then should have passed laws against such subversive activities by its citizens – laws the government would have no intention of enforcing; similar to how the federal government ignores enforcing many of its immigration laws today.
But, in the spirit of compromise, we got slavery. And the several federal Fugitive Slave Acts to follow. Today, politicians tell us, in the spirit of compromise, we must accept Austerity.
The Social Security
Contemporary political wisdom claims compromise is needed to save the Social Security. Nothing is farther from the truth. On Social Security there must be no compromise. The age of retirement must not be raised and there must be no reduction in benefits.
Today’s Social Security recipients already get the short end of the stick by the federal government’s bogus method of calculating the inflation, and deserve an annual cost of living (COLA) increase mirroring the increase in the cost of life’s necessities – food, healthcare, housing, medicine, utilities and gasoline, for examples.
Instead, the Social Security COLA is linked to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as calculated by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The COLA for Social Security recipients for 2013 is 1.7%.
This CPI-W is calculated by observing price changes covering a broad variety of consumer goods in urban areas. Retired people on a fixed income are concerned with the cost of groceries, keeping warm in the winter, and affording their prescription drugs wherever they reside; they aren’t interested in nor affected by the year over year falling prices of a 50” flat screen plasma TV.
To learn more about the inflation, visit www.ShadowStats.com. For more on the Social Security COLA, visit www.ssa.gov/cola
According to an April 2012 press release by the Social Security Trustees, although the program is receiving less money than it is sending out – since 2011 – the Social Security is technically solvent until 2033, the first year funds will be exhausted.
Where’s the money? According to the Social Security Administration, the surplus revenue has been used by the government for other purposes, calling the money owed back a “Trust Fund.”
How much is owed the Social Security? Just over $2.7 trillion has been pilfered by the Congress.
So the politicians rob The People to pay Paul then tell those of us contributing to Social Security for decades and nearing retirement the program is broke and heading for a fiscal cliff so we all need to share in the pain and accept that adjustments must be made.
Millionaires telling The People they need to accept some pain. Yes, millionaires.
Concerning lawmakers in both houses of Congress – 535 seats – all but 22 members have a net worth of at least $1 million. This is according to a special report recently published by the Washington Post on the 25 wealthiest and the 25 least wealthy members.
Since most all lawmakers in the Congress are millionaires, they won’t be the slightest bit negatively affected by the austerity they’re planning on imposing upon the rest of us.
Every time Congressman “Buck” McKeon attempts to sell austerity to constituents, explaining everything, including the Social Security, must be on the table, retirees and those nearing retirement should respond by asking McKeon, “What’s your net worth?”
Learn who the 25 wealthiest and the 25 least wealthy members of Congress are at
Social Security is an easy fix. The Congress created the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed is fond of creating the digital money absent the congressional approval for their friends on the Wall Street and their friends in the foreign banks around the world – $16 trillion (with a “T”) of which has been made public.
The Congress need only pass, and the president need only sign into law, a Bill directing the Fed to digitally create and deposit into the Social Security the $2.7 trillion necessary to replace what the thieves in past Congresses stole.
The title of the Bill can be “Replacing The Money The Congress Stole From The Social Security Trust Fund Act of 2013.” This plan gives the federal government until 2032 – 20 years – to develop a plan keeping the Social Security solvent beyond that point – and keep its promise to program participants.
A government not keeping its promises to its citizens cannot expect a loyal and obedient citizenry in return.
In addition to “compromise,” another word We, The People, should not tolerate from politicians in the District of Criminals (D.C.) is “Austerity.” Americans should not accept talk of domestic austerity while our government wastes over $3 billion a week – over $150 billion each year – prosecuting a war and nation building in
Before politicians expect us to accept austerity at home they ought to question the value in spending nearly $1 trillion a year maintaining our Empire abroad.
How can any politician ask any American to accept domestic spending cuts while we provide for the defense of other nations while also endowing governments around the globe with foreign aid?
Loyalty to The
Dormant for 150 years, talk of Ceding from the
It is perfectly within a State’s Right to Secede being the federal government was created as a compact among the States, by the States, for the States, and not the other way around.
But Ceding from the Union isn’t the answer to
A better way for all 50 States in the Union to wrest power out the hands and restrain the reach of the central government in D.C. and restore control over their State’s Sovereignty is by repealing the 17th Amendment.
The 16th, 17th and 18th Amendments represent the trifecta of stupidity - a period in American history the nation lost its collective mind. The 18th – alcohol Prohibition – was repealed by the 21st Amendment. It would benefit our nation to revisit and repeal both the 16th and 17th Amendments as well.
One – 16th Amendment – is the destroyer of
The concept of a limited federal government is called Federalism, not to be confused with the name of one of the first two political parties in American politics – the Federalists. The Federalists were opposed by the Anti-Federalists.
Anti-Federalists believed in Federalism – a central government with limited and concisely defined powers, its actions checked and balanced by States’ Rights through Nullification and Interposition as guaranteed under the 10th Amendment. Think Thomas Jefferson.
The Federalists wanted a political system with a strong central government with broad reaching general powers and dominion and control over the States. Think Alexander Hamilton and central banking.
Learn more about the Secessionist movement by visiting the White House on-line at: www.Petitions.WhiteHouse.gov.
Interposition
This doctrine is the principle that any individual State in the
On this note, it is good to see The People of
Drugs are bad, but the ‘War on Drugs’ is worse.
The vote in
Under the Fugitive Slave Act, any official – federal marshal to deputy sheriff – not arresting a Black after being presented nothing more than a claimant’s sworn testimony of “ownership” became liable to a $1,000 fine.
Citizens aiding or abetting a runaway slave by providing food or shelter were subject to arrest. The penalty for a conviction was set at six months jail and a $1,000 fine.
Today, each individual sworn deputy in the sheriff’s department should prepare and ask themselves now, if they were a deputy in 1855 instead of 2012, would they arrest a runaway slave?
Would you arrest an American providing sanctuary to a runaway slave? Would you aid and abet and assist a federal marshal in their effort to the same?
If not, then keep this in mind when The People of California vote to regulate, control and tax marijuana like alcohol, either in 2014 or 2016 – which is going to happen – and the federal government tells you to ignore State law, and submit and obey to federal law and the central government.
Readers remember: the drug war was initiated by the Congress, an institution with a consistent track record and long history of sending one bad idea after another to the president for him sign into law.
But we’re supposed to believe when it comes to legislating drug laws the Congress got it right with the Controlled Substances Act.
Learn about the failures of the ‘War on Drugs’ – instituted under President Nixon – by visiting Law Enforcement Against Prohibition at www.leap.cc.
For more, see This Month in American History on page 9 in each Political Observer print edition.
Payroll Withholding
Payroll withholding – instituted by the federal government during WWII – has morphed into a moral crime against the working poor. Big deal a refund is received come February, people need to eat and pay bills today. And every person has a Natural Right to the fruits of their labor to begin with.
The tax code needs to be overhauled from the bottom, up, because it is the morally Just thing to do. Since every person has a Right to life, and living requires money, and the 16th Amendment isn’t going to be repealed anytime soon, not one dime of income tax should be withheld – or owed – from any person’s income until that person’s income, regardless their annual income, has reached a minimum level – perhaps $50,000.
How’s that for political compromise?
Any person getting up everyday and meeting their obligation, whatever their occupation – but especially low-wage-earners (working poor) – think Wal-Mart employees or the hardworking waitress at the Diner – have earned, and deserve, dignity.
It is a slap in the face to the working poor each time the government confiscates a percentage of their paycheck. Disgusting hearing politicians whine about 47 % of Americans paying no income tax. The proper response is, “Good. We’re almost halfway there.”
The Gay Marriage
The Religious Right’s claim to support so-called traditional marriage reveals their suffering from a severe case of cognitive dissonance – as does their professed worshiping and love for the Prince of Peace while simultaneously going bonkers whenever U.S. war machines fly overhead at a sporting event near the end of the national anthem.
Just like Jesus would do.
Because if there is one thing we all know about Jesus, he loves war. And Jesus loves nationalism and jingoism too. Ask Him. He’s standing next to you as you read this.
What the Religious Right want is their definition of marriage – based on the parts of the Bible with which they agree – forced upon the rest of us by codification into civil law. This is the antithesis of
Polygamy is Biblical, yet traditional marriage types remain silent on the federal government’s making trouble for Free people – consenting adults – exercising their 1st Amendment Right to live the polygamist lifestyle in accordance with their faith and religious dictates.
For too many on the Religious Right today, Freedom means the ability to participate in any peaceful activity meeting their personal approval, while those peaceful activities not meeting their personal approval are outlawed.
Just like Jesus recommends.
The mistake the gays are making with marriage is the same mistake the Religious Right is making – wanting government-sanctioning of their lifestyle – when the appropriate course of action in a truly Free society is to get the government out the marriage business entirely, something it entered into primarily to keep certain separate races from marrying.
Whether gay or straight, those wishing to be married ought to have whatever ceremony they want, wherever they want – on a sandy sea shore, a backyard Gazebo – say whatever vows they wish, and, Wham-O! Married!
No involvement from the government is needed because it’s none of the government’s business.
For those gays wanting a church ceremony, churches should be Free to choose to conduct or not conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies. While the Catholic Church is sure to choose not to conduct man-man and woman-woman weddings, the Unitarian Universalists will – because they currently are.
Either way, no need to pay a visit to the county department of something or another, pull out the check book and register with the gub-mnt’.
Couples wishing to conclude property agreements or other arrangements need only hire an attorney and sign a civil contract, as two people not married would do if desirous of the same legal arrangement.
Gays getting married deprives no person neither their life nor
One Set of Rules For Us…
In Lancaster it isn’t unusual for the mayor and council members to banter on and on endlessly about their participation in a potato race at the AV Fairground, or yuck it up about their performance and personal competition against other city “officials” in a go-cart race on The BLVD, or share any number of experiences not germane to city business.
Worse yet is suffering through politicians using their position as a platform to boast and blabber on and on about how proud they are of a family member; information nobody is interested in hearing.
At
Only the politicians are allowed to waste time deviating from the agenda to back-slap, glad-hand, self-adulate, and rib one another over trivial matters.
Before addressing the
And to ensure a timely meeting takes place, a speaker’s three minutes begins when their name is called, not when they reach the podium. Too bad for the disabled, the old, and the slow, who better sit in the front row so they don’t lose any speaking time walking to the microphone.
Before being granted permission to speak, citizens must first endure listening to the city clerk read verbatim the strictly enforced rules and regulations governing speakers.
Over time, with practice, the city clerk is now delivering the dissertation-length admonition in a little more than one minute and change.
Consistency – and common decency – demand the
To lighten things up, maybe the city clerk can sing the rules while city manager Mark Bozigian plays the accompanying melody on an accordion. Keeping with the circus atmosphere, perhaps the mayor can require each member of the council to wear a cone-shaped, glittered-ridden, children’s birthday party hat during the city clerk’s reading of her admonition. Picture it in your mind.
Here’s the city clerk’s spiel delivered each and every city council meeting before the “authorities” allow The People the distinct privilege and high honor of addressing the
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the time for you to address the city council on any items that are not on the agenda. You’ll find speaker cards at the back of the council chambers. We ask that you fill them out completely and concisely as possible so that if the city council, city manager and city staff need to get in touch with you they will have your information. As much as we appreciate your request to make comments before your three minutes begin, please understand your time begins when your name is announced. Individual speakers are limited to three minutes each. When you approach the podium, you’ll see three lights; the green lights comes on when your time begins, the yellow light comes on when you have 30 seconds remaining, and the red light comes on when your time is up. We ask that you be considerate of the allotted time to allow other speakers to have their three minutes as well. Following this procedure will allow for a smooth and timely process for the meeting and we do appreciate your cooperation. State law prohibits the city council from taking action on items not on the agenda and your matter will be referred to the city manager. Thank you.”
Compare this to Palmdale. When non-agendized public comment begins, Mayor Jim Ledford simply and informally announces now is the time for any person wishing to address the council to merely step forward and state their name for the record before speaking.
That’s it. About five seconds. No speaker card required.
And once every person wanting to speak has spoken, the mayor is known to extend public comment, allowing those wanting to double dip an opportunity to address their government a second time.
There’s good reason The Political Observer never uses the adjectives “official” or “authority” or “leader” to describe our elected representatives and public servants; it only encourages them.
The contrast in atmosphere between Lancaster and Palmdale city council meetings is both tragic and amusing.
Generation Want-Get
~ A Lady I Know ~
My husband and I know a neighbor lady raising a teenage boy without a man in the house. What a nightmare situation.
We spend a fair amount of time there as my husband performs minor household and property repairs while her 16 year-old lies on the couch watching TV, or sits at the computer.
My husband offered on several occasions to take the little tike by his side and teach him how to use tools and perform basic household repairs – self-sufficiency – but mom always plays defense attorney, making the excuse her son doesn’t have time to spare, needing his rest instead.
Over this past summer my husband replaced a kitchen faucet, installed a washing machine, unclogged a few drains, weather-stripped a door, replaced broken sprinklers, general yard maintenance, and many other tasks once performed by teenagers, or the man of the house.
How bad is it? Each and every week, the evening before trash pick-up day, this mother takes three trash cans to the curb.
The next day, after the barrels have been emptied, mom and her son pull into their driveway after school and I watch as the boy walks empty-handed into the house while mother returns the trash cans to the backyard.
The mom and I sit at her kitchen table and together sip tea and talk. She usually complains how her son doesn’t clean-up the mess he makes in the kitchen, doesn’t help with dishes, doesn’t take out the trash or sweep the porch, or pick-up after the dog, or feed the dog, or give the dog fresh water without being asked, or make his bed, or vents about his leaving piles of dirty clothes on the floor.
The boy, who does his homework in front of the television also – a study habit recommended by 4 out of 5 universities – often, when asked by his mother how his homework is coming along often responds, “It’s none of your concern,” or, “It doesn’t concern you.”
“I can’t get him to stop watching TV,” she once exclaimed.
After explaining his TV habits – whenever he is awake mostly – after a little basic math, together we calculated the boy sits in front of the television at least 65 hours each week – a minimum of 260 hours of rot-brain television watching every month. More during school vacations.
The 21st Century American Man:
Man-Child-Woman-Boy
My husband finds no humor in the situation, like I do, sometimes, and instead describes it as tragic, not only for the boy, once he becomes an adult, but also for the nation, and explains what is happening in the house down the street – a teenage boy without a man in the house who walks all over his mother – is occurring with regularity around the country.
Since we are all products of our environment, and change only comes from within, he refers to young men being raised like the neighbor kid, once they become an adult, as, “Man-Child-Woman-Boy.”
Man
They are man, anatomically speaking.
Child
They are a child in so far as being dependent; these are the type of men who don’t want a wife, or a woman, in their life, but instead want someone who cleans-up after, and for them – another mother to replace the one they no longer live with.
And they want their way with everything, just like mother always gave it to them.
Woman
They are woman because their initial impulse is to react emotionally to situations.
Here, I defend my husband and remind the reader that pointing out, that generally speaking, initially, women emotionally react to situations – my being one of them – is not meant as a disparaging remark, nor is synonymous with an inability to think, not does it imply out of control.
It means, for most women, often times, naturally, simply, our initial reaction to a situation often is an emotional one; compassion, empathy, anger, or sadness first, and then we think about it.
Boy
They are boy-like with their pop culture, hero worship. Talk to a Man-Child-Woman-Boy about something important – the economy, war and peace, the Petro-Dollar – and their eyes glass over, fits of uncontrolled yawning usually follows.
Bring up trivial matters – a music group or a sports team – and Man-Child-Woman-Boy becomes energized; the spark of life returns to his eyes.
A recent TIME magazine cover is off by at least a decade in the age of the male subject on the cover, and TIME misnamed their essay too.
Instead of a small boy, TIME should have used a 17-year-old. And a more accurate title, instead of, “ARE YOU MOM ENOUGH? Why attachment parenting drives some mothers to extremes” would be, “RAISING A MAN-CHILD-WOMAN-BOY / Laying the foundation for the building of the helpless and emotionally distraught 21st Century American male.”
With a 17-year-old subject, instead of standing on a chair to obtain the most comfortable angle for docking and milking like a five-year-old, the teen would be standing on bended knees on the floor, being nearly six feet tall at this age.
He would wear his ball cap backwards instead of forward – so not to interfere with feeding – and have a video game controller draped over his shoulder, with a TV remote control in one hand, while texting with a cell phone in the other.
His clothing will have words on it, displaying his personal pop culture preferences – free human billboard advertising for the artist or brand name.
In the Spirit of MAD Magazine’s Alfred E. Neumann, the word bubble over the young man’s head would read, WHAT, ME WORK? Can you picture it?
Can you draw it? If so, do so, and e-mail it to the editor: editor@tavpo.com.
With my harping, maybe I can convince him to publish the best one. But the editor hasn’t any money, so don’t expect a cash prize. But you will get your name published in the paper alongside your artwork.
If a photograph, male subject must be at least 18 – unless it is a photo of an actual mother actually breast feeding her actual 17-year-old MAN-CHILD-WOMAN-BOY son.
Never know. It’s certainly possible these days. Look around.
Thanks for reading.
In Sincerely & Admiration,
Amy Jingle.
Amy Jingle.
The views expressed in this column are those of Amy Jingle, not The Political Observer.
Published in the September 2012
Political Observer print edition.
Cats, Food Stamps & Section 8
---------------------------------------
Why is it after NFL and NCAA college football games the head coach of each team often receives a police escort down the 50 yard line to midfield for the complimentary post-game handshake?
Is a football coach’s personal safety in jeopardy during his exchange of post-game pleasantries?
Blue Dot Food Stamp Program
One solution toward eliminating food stamp recipients from living high on the hog buying food they don’t need to meet their nutritional needs is simple. Implement a Blue Dot program.
Only foods deemed a basic staple qualify for purchase with food stamps and shall be identified with a large blue dot on the shelf tag beside the price.
Bread, cereal, milk, orange juice, peanut butter and jelly, rice, beans, fruits and vegetables, and meats, for instance, would be Blue Dot food stamp items.
Ice cream sandwiches and frozen treats, specialty drink mixes, potato chips, popcorn, candy and soda and the like would not.
Have welfare recipients swipe their food stamp card before items get scanned and when a non-Blue Dot item is identified, that particular transaction is denied.
Generation Want-Get Part II
‘You Don’t Work, You Don’t Eat.’ When applied to teenagers around the home, this dictum builds better adults, but sadly the philosophy is becoming one of a by-gone era.
While in line waiting to pay at the grocery store I observed a young man – about 16 or 17 – along with his mother, in the check-out line in front of me.
The teenage boy, who could afford to lose a few pounds around the gut, was wearing a black t-shirt picturing the face of Baphomet colored in bronze.
Emblazoned across the shirt were the words, “Welcome to Hell.” His shirt reminded me of one I saw another teenager wearing not long ago which read, “Crime Beats Flipping Burgers.”
As satan’s little helper stood there, catatonic, hands in pockets, with a blank look on his face staring into nothingness, I watched as his mother took all items out the shopping cart by herself.
After watching the kid’s mother pay for the food with an EBT card, the kicker was observing this indolent teen standing and watching his mother leaning, pushing and struggling to maneuver and steer the heavy cart away from check-out, never once having it cross his mind he should help.
After mom got the cart pointed in the right direction, the sluggardly teen walked alongside his mother as she pushed the cart out the store.
Just a guess, but I’d bet this mother not only loaded the groceries into the trunk while her lazy kid stood and watched, but also unloaded the car and put away the groceries by herself once they got home.
Free Gub-mnt’ Money
Those on the gub-mnt’ teet thinking they’re doing everybody a favor through public-financed philanthropy should think again. One example of an organization doing good works with taxpayer money is AV YouthBuild.
When the organization’s representatives speak before the Palmdale city council the accolades gush forth. Hearing local politicians sign their praises is revolting.
Instead of our politicians pandering to a community member using “free” money given to them by the federal Department of Labor they should suggest to the representative he instead look into the camera and say a big ‘Thank you!’ to those laboring in the private sector providing the tax dollars the federal government is giving to him.
The entitlement mentality is not limited to any one political persuasion, or to a particular race.
I know a white man who touts himself as being a staunch conservative and strict constitutionalist who abhors welfare and non-essential government spending.
Yet, hypocritically, this person, whose hobby is flying remote controlled model aircraft and miniature hot air balloons, has no compunction in the least against applying for and receiving a $6,000 federal grant to experiment with cameras mounted on his flying toys.
This man can rail for hours against welfare programs and social spending but sees no problem with the federal government taxing others to subsidize his recreational activities.
Rent an Apartment
Section 8 Housing must be abolished on principle, not based on the level of fraud involved in the program. Under the rules a family of four making up to $40,000 a year qualifies for subsidized housing.
That’s more money than a lot of hardworking people make.
Why should a single person earning $20,000 a year or a family living on $30,000 have their income taxed to subsidize the rent of a family making $40,000 a year? The Section 8 family needs to understand that most people would like to live in a house but can’t afford it and are forced to settle for an apartment instead. It’s called living within one’s means.
So not to pick on Section 8 recipients – note, not the poor because $40,000 annual income is not poor – the argument can be flipped and the question posed to the property owner.
Where is the Justice in taxing the income of people paying their own way in life to subsidize your mortgage because you want to help others?
Section 8 property owners need to get their grubby hands out the taxpayers’ pocket and help people on their own dime.
The Genius of the Electoral College
I marvel at the media’s reporting on presidential political polling conducted on a nationwide basis. Who cares what percentage of likely voters across the nation prefers which candidate for president?
It doesn’t matter because we don’t vote as one nation, we vote as individual States.
Thankfully, our nation enjoys the Electoral College; a brilliant stroke of genius among many others designed to maintain the focus on State Sovereignty and pre-eminence over the national central government and the
The Electoral College is a safeguard against democracy, which is a dangerous system. Democracy is nothing more than tyranny by majority. Democracy is two wolves and one sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
Here in
Johnson is on the ballot on 47 States with legal challenges pending in three –
Despite this fact, the Mainstream Media – the sounding board for the Republican and Democratic Parties – is making sure Johnson gets little to no serious coverage – he’s being Ron Paul’d, a la’ 2008.
Voters should ask themselves a simple question: What are the Mainstream Media and Democratic and Republican Parties afraid of?
Then answer it by cutting out the middleman – the media – and visiting www.garyjohnson2012.com.
The Government’s Ten Year Plan
It’s disheartening to hear our congressman, Buck McKeon, complain about Sequestration after voting for it one year earlier. Sequestration, like any budget plan, is a sham.
Budgeting for many government programs have a base-line – a legislated mandatory minimum rate of growth in funding year after year.
No plan presented by Obama/Biden or Romney/Ryan actually cuts spending; they only reduce the rate of growth in spending.
When McKeon warns of a $500 billion “cut” to defense spending due to Sequestration, he means to say $500 billion over ten years, or, only $50 billion a year from a “defense” budget of over $650 billion per annum. Hardly draconian.
One way to save at least $3 billion a week – $150 billion each year or triple Sequestration defense cuts – is end our fruitless war in
Bin Laden is dead and the Taliban are not currently in power. The president should declare victory and bring the troops home.
How can any American ask a G.I. to be the last G.I. to die in
Socialism Ain’t All Bad
There’s a time and place for most everything, including socialism, in some forms. Even the most strident conservative Republican has a strain of Socialism running through his veins and is easy to prove.
Next time a conservative Republican says any form of socialism is always bad reply by suggesting if their house were ever to catch fire they holler at neighbors for help and grab a garden hose to put out the blaze instead of calling the Fire Department.
The Only Good Cat…
I hate cats. My dog hates cats. Cats are wretched, vile, hideous, disgusting creatures with filthy, bacteria-laden paws. Cats have no respect, nor, apparently, do some cat owners.
Rural property owners needing pest and rodent control I can understand having a cat or two, but living in suburban
Cat owners allowing their cats to roam the neighborhood fail to understand their cats use other peoples’ property as a cat box.
I have a mind toward keeping a sharp eye out learning which cat in my neighborhood belongs to which home, then, one peaceful weekend afternoon put my dog on her leash and amble on over to the cat owner’s property, let myself into their backyard through a side gate, and have my dog use their backyard as a toilet.
If they be home and see me through a window, I’ll offer a friendly smile and neighborly wave hello with the hand and act like everything is perfectly normal.
Our representatives on the
