Wednesday, December 31, 2014

December, 2014, Part 1, Politicians Say The Darndest Things: Political Campaign MIsquotes, Democratic Racism Quotes, and Who Needs Statistics

It’s the end of another year so I thought it might be a good idea to go back over the past twelve months and pull out some of the darndest quotes from members of the political class and their supporters. While the myth is that really smart people get involved with government and political office, in reality, based on the quotes of politicians we have brought to light over the past few years, the exact opposite is reality: we are currently served by a set of people that are shallow, selfish, and obviously incapable of having the mentality capacity or will to resolve the major issues facing the country. If they did have those attributes, one would have thought that the major issues facing us all, e.g. poor schools, leaky borders, high health care costs, etc. would have been resolved long ago.

To find previous reference to silly, inane, and stupid political quotes in this blog, just enter the phrase, “politicians say the darndest things,” in the search box above. As you will see, 2014 is not the only year that politicians have been putting their foot in their mouths and showing how incapable they are when it comes to governing and problem resolution.

1) Quote: “…or you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law, serving as the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Because if Democrats lose the majority, Chuck Grassley will be the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Senate candidate from Iowa, Bruce Braley.

Comments: Bruce Braley ran for Senator from Iowa this past November. You know, Iowa, a big farming state with a lot of farmers and farming interests. Given that reality, one would have thought that a candidate would be a little sensitive to not insult farmers, especially in light of extolling lawyers at farmers’ expense. 

But that is exactly what he did. He told a group of lawyers at an Iowan fundraiser that current Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was just “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school.” Braley added that, unlike Grassley, he was not a simple farmer and was far more worldly because he “went to law school’ and ‘practiced law.’” Needless to say, Mr. Braley is not going to Washington when the new Congress meets next month.

2) Quote: “I'm very excited to be here to support your next senator from Iowa, our friend Bruce Bailey." Michelle Obama, campaigning for the aforementioned Bruce Braley.

Comments: The obvious flub here is that Ms. Obama was campaigning for a candidate named Bruce Bailey, not the real candidate, Bruce Braley. She compounded the error since after introducing Braley incorrectly, she continued to mispronounce his name seven times in total, according to CNN.

One would have thought that the first Lady could at least get the poor man’s name correct since the whole reason she was in Iowa was to campaign for him.

But for Ms. Obama, that was not the only screw-up in her campaign efforts for Democrats last November. She introduced incumbent Colorado Senator Mark Udall as a “fifth-generation Coloradoan.” Which sounds nice on the surface, but was actually a more accurate distribution and reality of Udall’s opponent, Cory Gardner. Gardner was truly a fifth-generation Coloradoan, while Udall was born in Arizona.

3) Quote: "I'm not going to compromise a Constitutional right provided here in Kentucky in order to curry favor on one or (an)other side or members of the media." Alison Grimes, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky, refusing to say who she voted for President in 2008 and 2012.

Comments: During an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal editorial board, Grimes “Did you vote for President Obama in 2008 and 2012?” If she had just said yes, assuming that she did not vote for McCain or Romney, the issue would have probably died out in a few days. She is a Democrat, obviously she probably voted for Obama.

Instead, she hedged and she hawed and made an issue out of nothing and eventually lost to the Republican incumbent. Seems idiotic that by not confessing to whom she voted for she would have thought she would have distanced herself from Obama in the November election. 

4) Quote: “I may be a white boy, but I can jump.” Vice President Joe Biden, at an event during Black History Month when Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson challenged him to a basketball game.

Comment: Difficult to take someone seriously, whose boss is trying to smooth racial divisions in this country, when you are dealing in crude stereotypes, “white boy” and “white boys can’t jump.” If a Republican had something like that, he or she would probably have been eviscerated in the press and by Democrats for fomenting racial stereotypes. Biden says it, and nothing happens except for the fact that he continues to speak quotes that have nothing to do with resolving any issue in this country.

5) Quote: "Where are you going to get people to work to clean out hotel rooms or do our landscaping?" Ms. Alex Sink, failed Florida Democratic candidate for Florida governor in 2010.

Comment: Again, if a Republican had something like this the press and Democrats would have killed him or her. But Ms. Sink does show her contempt and low regard for illegal Hispanic immigrants when in her mind they are only good for cleaning up our hotel rooms and watering our shrubs, implying that they would not be able to move into higher paying better jobs and that we needed them in this country to do the jobs Americans would not do. Racist or condescending or both, really bad for any political candidate to be so pompous.

6) Quote: Illegal immigrants “pick our fruit and make our beds.” President Barack Obama

Comment: Maybe Alex Sink got her prejudices from the leader of her party, President Obama. During a speech President Obama gave justifying his right to use Executive Orders to grant amnesty, he actually said illegal immigrants “pick our fruit and make our beds.” As with Ms.Sink, the President asserts these types of people are never going to be anything else than fruit pickers, hotel cleaners, and weed pullers. Talk about elitsit, pompous and condescending.

7) Quote: “Make no mistake, my policies are on the ballot this fall.” President Obama when speaking about the November elections.

Comments: By associating every Democrat running for office in November with the President’s policies, mostly failed policies, he ensured that the Republicans would take control of all of Congress and sweep through state governments across the country. By selfishly making the elections all about him and his failed policies, ranging from Obama Care to anemic economic growth and policies to a bumbling foreign relations performance, his narcissism failed his party dramatically. 

For someone who is supposed to be the consummate political animal, her certainly came up small when insisting it was all about him.

8) Quote: “Frankly, it is irritating that anybody would be distracted by which statistics are accurate.” U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill

Comments: A recent study estimated that one in five women attending an American university is likely to be sexually assaulted during her college years. If true, this is a very serious problem since even one unwanted sexual assault is one too many. This study resulted in Senator McCaskill getting involved and trying to do something about his one in five ratio.

However, a subsequent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one that had a better construct and much larger sample size, estimated that the true ratio was closer to 50 to 1, not 5 to 1. Again, any sexual assault is not to be taken lightly. But there is a big difference if the chance of sexual assault is ten times less likely than originally thought.

The real insanity of McCaskill’s quote is that like most politicians, why should she let reality enter into any political decision or action? Statistics were good and appropriate when it supported her position, 5 to 1, but should be ignored when it does not support her position and actions, 50 to 1. 

That will do it for today but we will continue our 2014 review of stupid political quotes tomorrow. Today we learned that a Senate candidate will lose an election if he insults his core constituency, that Michelle Obama does not really prepare for campaign rallies before going to them, the Vice President, the President, and a Florida politician continue to deal with and believe in racial stereotypes, and a U.S. Senator uses statistics only when it supports her position. 

And these are supposed to be the leaders of this country? Pathetic leadership, pathetic management skills, pathetic view of others.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w




Tuesday, December 30, 2014

December, 2014, Part 2, Will The Center Hold: Common Core, Suing The Feds, and Gun Control Rebellion

On a semi-regular basis, we check in with a continuing theme in this blog that we call: “Will the center hold?” Never in my life have I seen a political class so out of control and consequently, we are witnessing a backlash against this overreaching and intrusive political class. 

Which raises a question: are we getting to a point that one day soon we may see Washington enact a law or create a regulation and the rest of the country simply ignores it? What happens when the country tells Washington to go pound sand on something and refuses to support it? Will the center hold or does the country splinter into who know what?

Most of this backlash and pushback is against the un-Constitutional overreach of the Washington political class. Those in Washington have been pushing a variety of issues and actions that do not sit well with large parts of the country. These issues include, but are not limited to, gun control, Common Core education standards, Michelle Obama’s healthy eating/school lunch legislation, Federal government land grabs, NSA spying on innocent citizens, IRS harassment, etc.

Over the past two days, we updated where state and local governments and individual citizens are rebelling against this overreaching and increasingly repressive set of politicians. When reviewing these updates keep in mind the overall question: will the center hold once the rest of the country actually starts to ignore Washington dictates?

Today is the second of two posts to address the “will the center hold” question, the first was posted yesterday.

1) Regarding the push back against Common Core education standards, the Heritage Foundation did a story on their website on December 20, 2014 about how it is being resisted across the country. It was written by Edwin Feulner and was originally published in the Washington Examiner.

Mr. Feulner discusses the reality that parents, teachers, students and lawmakers have become increasingly vocal in their resistance of the Federally developed and implemented Common Core standards and are starting to take action to get out from under those standards. As an example, he cites Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal who once backed Common Core, stating in 2012 that he expected Common Core to “raise expectations for every child.” 

However, two short years later, Jindal decided to pull Louisiana out of the program. He believes that the states and the country were lied to and sold a bad program, likening it “bait and switch.” scam. 

According to this writer, nineteen states have made significant efforts to push back against Common Core. Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Louisiana have exited the standards altogether already, and others appear poised to do likewise. Why the rebellion, beyond the obvious reason that where Common Core has already been implemented, learning has degraded? Consider a quote from education researcher Lindsey Burke: 

“Adopting Common Core national standards and tests surrenders control of the content taught in local schools to distant national organizations and bureaucrats in Washington. It is the antithesis of reform that would put control of education in the hands of those closest to students: local school leaders and parents.”

Another Federal, mandated, dictatorial program that is not going anywhere if the trend of dumping Common Core continues to spread, leaving the country again poorer and without a solution.

2) No state has pushed back more against Washington’s overreach than Texas. Consider the push back tally that was recently reported by the www.youngcons.com website:
  • Texas is one of 24 states that are suing the Obama administration and the Federal government for his illegal and un-Constitutional orders on immigration.
  • The latest four states to join the effort are Arkansas, Michigan, North Dakota and Oklahoma.
  • Texas has now sued the Federal government 27 times since Obama came into office six years ago. 
  • President George W. Bush was sued three times in eight years by Texas during his eight years in office.
The article goes on to tally the “wins” and losses” in this suing the Federal government game by Texas. And while keeping the Federal government in line is definitely the right thing to do, one would have hoped it could have been done by following current laws on the books and the Constitution by the Washington political class rather than diverting taxpayer wealth into lawyers’ pockets and lawsuits.

3) Sometimes out of control government actions are not confined to Washington’s efforts to control our lives. The Maryland state government recently enacted a law a law banning “assault weapons” and magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. New gun buyers in Maryland must also submit their fingerprints and undergo mandatory gun training. Failure to comply with the law can result in a three-year prison sentence and/or a $5,000 fine.

In response to these attacks on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, 21 other states have come together in a law suit to abolish the new, restrictive gun control laws in Maryland and make sure that they are not implemented elsewhere. While the law which was immediately challenged and upheld by a Federal judge, it is now being reviewed in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

4) Staying with the protection of Second Amendment rights by an overreaching political class, consider some facts that were included in a November 12, 2014 article in the Reason magazine’s Hit and Run blog that was written by J.D. Tuccille:
  • Tens of thousands of Connecticut gun owners became potential felons rather than comply with that state's new gun registration law. 
  • New York's similar gun registration law resulted in such low compliance when it went into effect that government officials refused to reveal how many people have and have not abided by the law. This secrecy resulted in the New York State Committee on Open Government saying the secrecy “thumbs its nose at the law” itself.
  • Large numbers of Washington state’s residents are not happy about i594, a law that requires background check requirements on even private transactions, and planned a rally in mass disobedience December, 2014. Research shows that the Washington rally did occur and was well attended by over 5,000 Second Amendment rights supporters. 
More examples of citizens rising up to resist politicians violating the Constitution and freedom and liberties. 

Common Core rejection, record number of lawsuits against the Federal government and this Presidential administration, non-violent civil disobedience, and a whole host of other resistance efforts to overreaching politicians continues to raise the issue: what happens if the Washington political class issues a law or regulation and the rest of the country simply ignores it? Will the center hold? More excitement sure to come as the Obama administration strives to create any kind of legacy for this failed presidency, an effort sure to be resisted by the rest of America and Americans.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w






Monday, December 29, 2014

Part 1, Will The Center Hold?, December, 2014: Nullifying Common Core, Gun Control, Tasteless Lunches and More Federal Government Dictates

On a semi-regular basis, we check in with a continuing theme in this blog that we call: “Will the center hold?” Never in my life have I seen a political class so out of control and consequently, we are witnessing a backlash against this overreaching and intrusive political class. 

Which raises a question: are we getting to a point that one day soon we may see Washington enact a law or create a regulation and the rest of the country simply ignores it? What happens when the country tells Washington to go pound sand on something and refuses to support it? Will the center hold or does the country splinter into who know what?

Most of this backlash and pushback is against the un-Constitutional overreach of the Washington political class. Those in Washington have been pushing a variety of issues and actions that do not sit well with large parts of the country. These issues include, but are not limited to, gun control, Common Core education standards, Michelle Obama’s healthy eating/school lunch legislation, Federal government land grabs, NSA spying on innocent citizens, IRS harassment, etc.

For the next few days we will update where state and local governments and individual citizens are rebelling against this overreaching and increasingly repressive set of politicians. When reviewing these updates keep in mind the overall question: will the center hold once the rest of the country actually starts to ignore Washington dictates?

1) The Education Action Group website reported on December 23, 2014 that Arkansas is the latest state, on the growing list of states, that is considering a repeal of Common Core national standards.

The Arkansas News recently reported that state senator Gary Stubblefield is considering filing legislation to repeal Common Core. His reason for wanting to get out of the Common Core disaster is similar to what we have reported on in other states: “This one size fits all, I just don’t buy that, because there’s just too much difference in different school districts in different states. I just think there’s a better way to do it.”

He recently recounted what he is hearing from a lot of teachers: “They [teachers] think it’s a waste of time. They spend more time trying to learn how to give a test than they actually do teaching.”

Last month we reported on how the governor of Maine wanted to also get out of the Common Core strait jacket since he noticed how far kids in Massachusetts had fallen below their education attainment trend line after living through Common Core processes. Also, the state of Maryland has also seen a degradation in their kids’ learning progress under Common Core:















Seems like the senator from Arkansas has also seen the light for kids in his state.

2) The Conservative Tribune website did a nice summary job in their website article from December 12, 2014 which highlighted the progress and action states were involved with to push back on an overreaching Federal government and Washington political class:
  • The article focused on two broad fronts that states are using to pushback, namely state nullification of Federal law and the pending Article V Convention of States effort. 
  • The article claims that around twelve states are directly defying the Federal government in the area of gun control and Second Amendment rights, usually be declaring that Federal gun control laws are null and void within their state borders.
  • These states that are trying to nullify Federal gun control efforts range from north to south and from east to west across the country: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas, among others.
  • In some of these states it is now against the law for any state or Federal agent that attempts to enforce Federal gun control laws.
  • At least four states are also working on nullifying Obama Care including Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, and South Carolina.
  • This effort is above and beyond the decision by more than two thirds of the state to not build and operate Obama care website health care exchanges in their states.
  • Nine states have already rejected Common Core standards and at least thirty states have different legislative efforts underway to address changes to their Common Core changes.
  • Regarding the Convention of the States front, approximately half of all states have already submitted, or are in the process of submitting, an official application calling for the convention.
  • Organizers from around the country have already held meetings to establish ground rules for a convention.
  • Most supporters of a Convention of States are focusing on forcing Congress to balance an out of control Federal budget and instituting term limits for Washington politicians. 
As I said above never in my life have I seen such a rebellion on so many fronts against the Washington government bureaucracy and political class.

3) I recently came across a Townhall website article written by Kurt Schlichter entitled, “Nothing Succeeds Like Liberal Secession: Blue America Without Red America Would Be A Basket Case.” He writes a fictional story of how the country became so polarized that it eventually split into two separate countries.

Obviously fiction, since it runs out to the year 2019, but its theme is consistent with what we are talking about here. In his view, the center does not hold and the country divides along political lines because of many of the concepts we have talked about here. It is very well written and is a very interesting take on what could happen if the center does not hold.

I wanted to reprint the entire article in this blog, it is quite long and entailed, but never received reprint permission from Townhall. Thus, I am providing the link directly to the article on their website for your review and contemplation:


4) State and local government are pushing back on the Federal government not only on Common Core but on the new Federal government school lunch guidelines that were championed by Michelle Obama. As we have discussed many times in this blog, the new guidelines have resulted in many disasters in school districts across the country.

These disasters include kids not getting enough to eat, untasty food be thrown out by the ton, school budgets being hit with drastic cuts in revenue as kids and families refuse to pay for tasteless food as a result of the new guidelines, and learning and school athletic performance suffering because kids are no longer getting enough calories at lunch.

According to a recent article on the Education Action Group website, school districts across Wyoming are just the latest school districts turning their back on the Federal school lunch guidelines.

According to Jeremy Smith, business manager for Wyoming’s Sheridan County District One, his school has dropped out of the so-called National School Lunch Program: “because there were just too many complaints. Universally, it was, ‘We are starving. We are hungry. This isn’t enough food for us.’ But we couldn’t blame them, because I looked at that school lunch and said, ‘I wouldn’t eat it either.’” 

His school district saw a 20% upward spike in cafeteria sales this school year after it dropped the Federal rules championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. The district raised prices to provide larger portions of food to their growing kids and focused on offering “locally sourced produce and beef.”

Dennis Decker, the school district‘s food service director, told NPR in an interview that, “A one-size-fits-all program doesn’t work everywhere. And I also think that food is a little too personal to make a law. You can tell someone they can’t speed, but I don’t [think] you can tell everybody what they have to eat every day.” Wow, another American who realizes that top down, bureaucratic dictates from Washington make little sense when they hit the real world.

The article goes on to report that seven Wyoming school district
have dropped out of the Federal school lunch program. And you know the program must be bad since they are forgoing Federal grant money to provide the low calorie, tasteless food. 

That will do it for today. Pushing back on lunch standards and education standards, gun control, Obama Care and more. Will the center hold or do we end up two separate countries as Mr. Schlichter foresees? In the meantime, consider joining our effort to impose term limits on Washington politicians, the very people that are causing the center to shake and rattle, and maybe make it roll:


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w









More rebelling tomorrow.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

An Open Letter To Harry Reid: Congratulations On Your New Job, Senate MINORITY Leader

Senator Harry Reid:

Just wanted to wish you a happy holiday season and wish you luck in your new role as Minority Senate Leader in 2015. I found it interesting that you seem to have convinced yourself that the rollout of Obama Care was what changed your role from Majority Senate leader to Minority Senate leader this past November. According to recent reporting in the New York Times, you said: “We never recovered from the [Obama Care] rollout because the election became one that was directed toward the president. We couldn’t overcome that. I should have seen it coming.”

Unfortunately, Senator, I think you are missing the boat on this one. But before we explore my theory, let’s do some math:
  • In the past eight years, a Democrat has been sitting in the White House for six of those eight years.
  • In the past years, Democrats controlled the House Of Representatives for four out of those eight years.
  • In the past eight years, Democrats controlled the Senate for every one of those eight years and you controlled the Democrats in the Senate for those eight years.
  • Thus, for the past eight years, Democrats controlled one of these three government institutions 75% of the time.
Obviously the state of the country and the mood of its citizens owe a lot to the political party that controlled the Federal government for 75% of the time, especially considering that the same political party that controlled 100% of the Federal government for two years in a row. Obviously, that dominant political party was yours, the Democrats.

So back to the original theory. Do you really think that the botched rollout of Obama Care was the Democrats undoing and your relegation to Senate Minority leader? Maybe that was not the only reason. 

Maybe the fact that over 15 million Americans are still unemployed or underemployed had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that average household incomes have declined steadily over the past eight years, despite the recession ending years ago, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that minority unemployment rates are still sky high, despite five years of (weak) economic recovery, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the country has experienced the worst post recession recovery in the history of the nation had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government has dug itself an $18 TRILLION national debt hole had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government suffered its first ever credit downgrade had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that about six million Americans lost their current health insurance coverage as a result of Obama Care, a law that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that millions of Americans are now paying higher health insurance premiums and higher deductibles as a result of Obama Care, a law that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that Americans never saw that $2,500 annual reduction in their health insurance costs as a result of Obama Care, a law that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats, as promised by the President had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Obama Care law, that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats and was unconstitutionally changed almost two dozen times, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Obama Care law, that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats, has resulted in millions of Americans working less hours or being forced into part time status had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that Jonathan Gruber, a major developer of the Obama Care legislation, a law that was passed entirely on the votes of Democrats, publicly spoke out on how he thought that Americans were too stupid to figure out how bad the law would be had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government spent well over $800 billion on an economic stimulus package, a package that accomplished very little for the vast majority of Americans or the economy, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that many, if not all, of the economic stimulus programs, e.g. Cash For Clunkers, Solyndra, dozens of other Democratic crony energy enterprises, were unmitigated disasters and wastes of taxpayer wealth had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government had record setting annual budget deficits for the past six years had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government left about two dozen Americans to fend for themselves when the terrorist Benghazi siege got underway, a siege that left four brave Americans dead, and then lied about the cause of the disaster, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the White House, members of Congress and the IRS conspired to deny First Amendment rights to groups and individuals who had contrary opinions on issues had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government is now spying on most electronic communications of most Americans, in a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government still wastes billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on idiotic government programs, projects, and grants had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government’s major programs, e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Obama Phones, welfare, are still infested and infected with waste, inefficiencies and outright criminal fraud, wasting hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer wealth every year, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that Democrats in Congress have often called ordinary American citizens racists, Klan members, terrorists, and in one case, a California Congresswoman wished that some citizens would go to hell for simply have a difference of opinion on issues, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government really did not have a plan to deal with the Ebola outbreak when it hit our shores, despite having years, billions in funding, and a dedicated Center For Disease Control to be prepared, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government got the country illegally and unconstitutionally involved in the Libyan civil war, with the resultant Benghazi murders, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the Federal government dramatically underestimated the impact of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the rise of one of the most horrific evil entities in history, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that six years into this current Presidency and public schools are still doing a terrible job educating our kids had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that six years into this current Presidency and we still do not have a national energy strategy and plan had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that six years into this current Presidency and we still have not secured our borders had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that veterans across the country are not getting the proper medical care that they were promised had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

Maybe the fact that since you became Senate Majority leader North Korea and Iran are eight years closer to becoming nuclear weapons players owners had something to do with the Democrats' election disaster.

Maybe the fact that the House of Representatives passed over three hundred pieces of legislation, many of which were sponsored by House Democrats or approved by House Democrats, that you refused to bring up for discussion, debate, or vote in the Senate, rendering this past session of Congress as one of the least productive in history, had something to do with the Democrats’ election disaster.

As you can see Senator Reid, there were a few more factors and drivers involved in the November election disaster results for Democrats beyond a botched rollout of a website. A website process, by the way, that did not work despite years of planning and almost a billion dollars of expense. 

The fact that you are so oblivious to the dozens of other factors that are so crystal clear to most Americans means you are 1) that far out of touch with reality or 2) you are in denial of how poorly you and the five hundred or so other Washington politicians have led this country over the past eight years. 

Enjoy your new life as Minority Senate Leader, you earned it.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w








Thursday, December 25, 2014

Help Break The Cycle Of Hate - "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

For two reasons, I wanted to revisit a previous post in this blog that has been one of our most popular. First, during this holiday season, a season that should be one of peace and joy, we are mourning the loss of two New York City police officers who were assassinated on the streets of Brooklyn last weekend. Second, I believe this action is symptomatic of a larger disease in this country, a disease of hate.

This disease has a carrier, or carriers, namely the American political class. Never in my life have I seen such hate and venom directed at political opponents as I do now from those in office or those trying to put people in office. These co-called leaders are anything but that: they are panderers to their political handlers and allies, there are shallow, hate spewing individuals whose hate eventually gets translated into violence.

This post reprinted below was done as a result of the Connecticut school shootings. Its theme was that maybe we needed more hate control in this country before more gun control. The same concepts apply today, maybe we need more hate control today before we go down the road of empty political slogans. An old saying goes something like this: “never mistake slogans for solutions.”

Politicians and race baiters give us nothing more than slogans that satisfy their needs and egos but are not solutions. As you read the following plea for hate control, ask yourself if you yourself are ready to stand up in the face of hate and in the process hopefully help to control hate. Or are you satisfied simply to follow the follies and slogans of today’s politicians? Those are truly two opposite paths.

The original post can be accessed at the following link:


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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

How About More Hate Control Before More Gun Control, Part 1 - Maybe Hatred Is The Real Root Cause Of Mass Shootings 

Be forewarned: there is some bad language and implied bad language in the following so please pass if this might offend you. These are not my words but actually the words of our politicians and their supporters.

Today is the first of a four part series regarding the Newtown, Connecticut shooting where innocent kids and teachers were needlessly slaughtered be a deranged young man. Let me state a few facts up front:
  • I was tremendously saddened by this senseless act of violence. 
  • I do not know how a young man can become so separated from compassion and reality and have so little respect for life that he would kill innocent children and teachers. 
  • I am not a psychologist and have no understanding from a psychology/scientific perspective of the root causes which trigger a young man to execute this type of terror, and neither do 99.9% of the people with an opinion on this matter and 100% of those in the Washington political class. 
  • I am not a member of the NRA and have never fired a gun, never mind owning one. 
  • I am a fervent defender of the U.S. Constitution including the Second Amendment.
Today I want to consider a concept that I have not seen discussed in the media and certainly not by those in politics that want to strip law abiding, common sense citizens of their right to bear arms. The concept involves the idea that maybe we should do a little hate control BEFORE we recklessly and senselessly go off on a gun control tangent, a tangent that will likely increase crime and gun play, not reduce it (more on this latter concept tomorrow).

Let’s be honest, there is a lot of hate and venom circulating in the country today. Much of it is fomented by the political class as they foolishly try to incite their supporters and degrade their opponents in the most dehumanizing and disrespective ways possible. 

The more you dehumanize others, the easier it is to see them as less worthy of their opinion and their life. Maybe if we started respecting each other a little more, taking some of the hate and venom out of our politics, thought processes, and speech, incidents like the shootings in Newtown, in south Chicago, in the ghettos of Detroit, etc. might be become a little less frequent if we respected each other a little more.

This increase in respect and humanizing of other human beings should start with our so-called leaders, However, as we have pointed out many times in this blog, these so-called leaders are a big cause of the problem, not the solution. They have had a busy, and disgraceful past couple of years degrading and abusing the opinions, lives, rights, and very existence of the citizens they are supposed to be serving:
  • Democrat Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi called citizen opponents to Obama Care unpatriotic for simply having a difference of opinion with many politicians in Washington. 
  • Democrat Charles Rangel slandered millions of Americans who opposed Obama Care by calling them racists for simply having an honest difference of opinion with many politicians in Washington. 
  • Democrat Shelia Jordan Lee slandered millions of Americans who opposed Obama Care by associating them with the Ku Klux Klan. 
  • Union boss and Democratic supporter Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. stated that his union was at war with the Republicans and Tea Party citizens and that these people "need to be taken out." 
  • Democratic Congressmen Mike Doyle and Henry Waxman and Vice President Joe Biden slandered American citizens opposed to unfettered and destructive government spending and debt by calling them terrorists (those people that bomb and kill innocent civilians). 
  • When ordinary Americans objected to the building of a Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center property because of the sad memories of 9-11, Democrat Nancy Pelosi said THEY should be investigated for simply having a passionate opinion on the mosque. 
  • Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Walters said all Tea Party American citizens can go to hell simply for having a difference of opinion with her.
When you viciously and unfoundedly associate ordinary citizens with racism, call them terrorists, question their patriotism, when you wish they would go to hell, and then threaten to take them out/exterminate them, you have dehumanized them in the eyes of your political supporters, making it easy to imagine them actually going away permanently. 

Maybe this type of hate and venom and dehumanizing goes through the head of a young man when he decides to go off and actually follows the advice that those people “need to be taken out.” When your so-called leaders call for this type of behavior and language, it can’t be wrong, can it?

But our political class, and their direct supporters, also direct their hate and venomous words towards other politicians:
  • The campaign manager of Democrat’s Gerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign called his Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, a whore. 
  • White House czar Van Jones publicly called all Republicans a**h****s. 
  • Democrat Alan Grayson called all Republicans knuckle dragging Neanderthals. 
  • TV host Montel Williams publicly hoped that Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachman would commit suicide by decapitating herself. 
  • Ed Schultz, an on air commentator for the Democratic leaning MSNBC news channel, called Laura Ingraham of Fox News a slut. 
  • HBO TV host Bill Maher, a major donor to Obama’s 2012 Presidential Super PAC (a $1 million donor), said on air that Republican Sarah Palin “would f*** Rick Perry if he was black.” 
  • Bill Maher called Republican Sarah Palin a disgusting and derogatory name that I will not repeat here. 
  • Playboy magazine’s online website offered a detailed analysis on why and how each of ten Republican women in politics should be hate raped. 
  • Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen likened Republican critics of Obamacare to the Nazis and their propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. 
  • A rap artist gave a Minnesota concert that was billed as the “F*** Michelle Bachman” concert (spelling out the entire f-word), a Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota. 
  • A Democratic operative insulted Ann Romney, and millions of other American women, by slandering and demeaning her as a stay at home mother. 
  • Martin Bashier of MSNBC News showed a video of Mitt Romney’s campaign bus that was interspersed with video clips of buses blowing up in balls of fire, explicitly wishing that the Romney bus also blow up and those inside die a fiery death.
When you label others as sluts and whores and suggest they should be raped or be killed, either by themselves or a fiery bus explosion, you set another stage for dehumanization. If you political opponents are just sluts and whores, no big deal if they go away, right? 

I maintain that this type of disgusting, hateful behavior is an influence in our society and not an influence for good. It infects the undertone of how we view others. It reduces the amount of respect we have for others, making it easier to abuse others, possibly violently.

It usually does not cause someone to go off and actually start killing others but it certainly cannot help. It also cuts short the ability to listen to each other and appreciate the diversity of opinion each brings to a potential solution of a problem.

If I have allowed the political class and their ardent supporters to frame you as a racist or a slut or a terrorist, I am unlikely to consider any good you can bring to my life or to a solution of a problem. If I think it is a good thing that you self decapitate or die in a bus explosion, you will probably not get my attention when it comes to working towards a better society.

As a result of this hateful divisiveness the political class has driven into our society, we despise others that have a different opinion from ours. Major issues, such a failing public schools, a lost war on drugs, skyrocketing national debt, high health care costs, illegal immigration, etc., never get resolved. The hate prevents us from listening to each other, from calibrating our view of the world with others’ views of the world. 

And possibly in the case of Newtown, we go beyond not listening and we start shooting. Not because guns are legal but because we have allowed the political class to desensitize us to each other as human beings.

But it is not only politicians that spew the hate and venom, hate and venom that others take to heart, hate and venom that their children take and internalize. Consider just some recent examples that have appeared in the news:

- Consider the hateful speech and intentions of Professor Richard Parncutt of the University of Graz regarding other human beings that are global warming deniers, those daring to have a different opinion than his: “In this article I am going to suggest that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for influential GW [global warming] deniers... They [global warming deniers] are already causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of future people. We could be speaking of billions, but I am making a conservative estimate… With high probability it will cause hundreds of millions of deaths. For this reason I propose that the death penalty is appropriate for influential GW deniers.”

Different opinion, therefore you should die. I wonder what he would do to people like me, given our opinions on global warming; should we die also or just suffer some horrible disease since we are not influential enough:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2012/11/wishing-al-gore-would-shut-up-why-i-am.html

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2012/11/wishing-al-gore-would-shut-up-why-i-am_10.html

As an aside, in 2009, the CIA opened up a new division, The Center on Climate Change and National Security. The purpose of this group was to examine the impact of global warming from a national security perspective. A few months ago, with little fanfare, they disbanded the organization. Is the CIA also worthy of Professor Parncutt’s death penalty or was it just common sense that this global warming organization was not longer viable or needed?

- Pulitzer nominated newspaper columnist Donald Kaul recently wrote an article for the Des Moines Register where he called for the killing of gun owners and “dragging legislators who disagree with gun control behind pickup trucks until they get the message.” Don’t agree with my opinion? Thus, we should have more killing and more torture for those that dare to have a difference of opinion. How does this stop the cycle of hate that starts with the political class?

- Erik Loomis, PhD, assistant professor of history at the University of Rhode Island decided he needed to get into the hate and venom game also when he recently stated on Twitter that he wanted the death of National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre, branding the gun rights group he heads as a terrorist organization:
"[I] want Wayne LaPierre's head on a stick." A little hateful, a little violent?

- Karen Lewis, head of the Chicago Teachers’ Union recently had some violent rhetoric of her own to share: “Do not think for a minute that the wealthy are ever going to allow you to legislate their riches away from them. Please understand that. However, we are in a moment where the wealth disparity in this country is very reminiscent of the robber baron ages. The labor leaders of that time, though, were ready to kill. They were. They were just – off with their heads. They were seriously talking about that.”

And this person is associated with educating young minds and kids. Don’t like someone or are jealous of their wealth, that in all probability was garnered via honest hard work and sweat, than just off with their heads. 

I maintain that you cannot have such hate and disrespect and venomous speech floating around and it not have a negative impact on how we treat each other, how it dehumanizes others. I am not saying the Newtown shooting was directly caused because of this poisonous environment but it certainly did not help. Was the shooter seated around his dinner table through the years when slurs and demeaning things were said about others, how others that were different from him were worthy of being “taken out.“

And it certainly does not allow us to sit down and go face-to-face with others to leverage everyone’s knowledge and skills to confront all of our problems from school shootings to high debt, high illiteracy levels, failing public education, a failing health care system etc. 

But if we solved all of our problems, on what issues would our politicians run on? And that, my friends, is the root cause of most of our problems, from school shootings to the lack of a national energy problem, our shameless politicians need the hate and venom to frame and finance their continual reelection effort.

So tonight, when you are sitting around the table with your family, how about a little more hate control and a lot more respect for others in front of our kids. Again, it couldn’t hurt.

And tomorrow if you should come across someone who thinks other human beings need to be taken out, killed, dragged behind a truck or hate raped simply for having a difference of opinion, may I suggest you walk away? Engaging in such a discussion with these types of people just spreads and intensifies the hate and gets yourself muddy, as the old saying goes: “Never mud wrestle with a pig because you both get dirty and the pig likes it.” Walk away, stay clean, and let the hate spewer stew in his own mud. Help break the cycle of hate.

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Hate killed those two New York City police officers this past weekend, hate that in at least some part was started and propagated by the American political class and their allies in the race industry. Stating today, may I suggest we all start living the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and not today's news hounds and their latest slogans: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w




Wednesday, December 24, 2014

December, 2014, Part 3, I Am A Global Warming Doubter and A Believer In Science: Greatest Scientific Fraud In History, Exporting U.S. Coal and India's Appetite for More Coal

Several years ago we decided to look into the popular craze at that time that the world was warming and global warming was going to wipe out humanity. Rather than just assume that global warming advocates like Al Gore were correct, we wanted to look at ALL of the science, ALL of the climate data, and All of the realities of global warming.

And to be perfectly honest, we were tired of Al Gore, Barack Obama and other global warming advocates yelling at global warming doubters like myself, calling us racists, homophobes, flat earth believers, etc. In order to have a mature, adult conversation about global warming, we felt it was necessary to treat those with a different opinion with respect not derision and that to get to an adult solution, all of the science should be included in the debate.

Over the years, however, we have put together a very strong case that man made global warming and its rebranded marketing theme, climate change, were indeed mostly a false position, a travesty of science. Those who believed in global warming ignored or failed to consider scientific findings and research that was contrary to their views. 

They were found to have suppressed or changed raw data and findings that did not support their global warming positions. In short, they were the ones that had shortchanged the scientific method, not the doubters.

To review our past reviews of the global warming fallacy, type in the phrase, “I am a global warming doubter” in the search box above. Over the next few days we will continue to look at the latest climate data and realities and again prove that being a global warming doubter is a position that is strongly supported by science and not Al Gore hysterics.

This is our third and final update to the global warming doubter series this month. The first post this month can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-2014-part-1-i-am-global.html

Let’ see what science, data, and reality we can find today to reinforce our position that it is scientifically possible to be a global warming doubter.

1) In a recent interview for NewsMax TV, John Casey, a former White House space program advisor and current president of the Space and Science Research Corporation, asserted that about $30 billion dollars spent the past 30 years to make a “weak scientific theory,” the theory of man-made global warming or climate change, into something valid is “the greatest scientific fraud in history.”

He also pointed out, as we have many times, that the United Nations’ climate forecasting models have been a “miserable failure’ at accurately predicting future temperature levels. Casey, who is the author of “Dark Winter: How the Sun is Causing a 30 Year Cold Spell,” believes that significant changes in temperature was caused by changes in the activity of the sun, not by mankind‘s use of carbon based energy sources. He claims that the forecasting models he uses, which are based on solar cycles, are over 90% accurate.

The interview can be accessed at: 


Seems like Mr. Casey might be able to provide some valuable insight to an adult, mature, and science-based conversation about whether or not man made global warming and climate change is a reality or a myth.

2) President Obama seems hell bent on killing off the American coal industry in a vain and futile attempt to make a dent in mankind’s use of carbon based fuels. We say futile because many, many different sources, both inside and outside of government, have shown that any carbon reduction in this country will be overwhelmed by increased use of carbon energy sources in China, India, and elsewhere.

If he is successful, then American consumers will see a spike in energy costs and the economy will suffer some serious job losses, all for no purpose. But what is especially infuriating, as reported by Associated Press reporter Dina Cappiello on December 8, 2014, is that as Obama tries to shut down the domestic coal industry, he is allowing the U.S. to export massive amount of carbon based energy resources to be used in other countries.

According to the article, the U.S. is exporting record levels of dirty fuels, even as it reduces the pollution supposedly responsible for global warming domestically. An Associated Press analysis of government data found that U.S. exports of gasoline and diesel resulted in the release of about roughly 1 billion tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere elsewhere in the world from 2008 through 2013. During the same period, the U.S. reduced its carbon pollution by less than half a billion tons. 

The U.S. reduction in carbon pollution is “a false image," said Onel Masardule of the Indigenous People's Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative, a Peru-based environmental group that recently studied the Guna and climate change. "In reality, the U.S. is still contaminating."

As we have always proven, any reduction in carbon footprint in this country will be overwhelmed by carbon increases around the world. And even worse, according to Associated Press reporting and analysis, we are prime culprits in the increasing use of carbon based fuels around the world.

3) We have often talked about the reality that no matter how many coal plants Obama shuts down in the U.S., coal usage in other countries, often using U.S. exported coal, will easily wipe out any carbon reduction that closing a few U.S. coal plants attain. This point was driven home by a November 25, 2014 article written by Sean Hackbarth for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website.

The article focused on the reality that coal usage in India is likely to continue its upward surge in the near future, adding more and more carbon to the air as the U.S. reduces its carbon footprint even less. Specifically, the article repeats a quote from Piyush Goyal, India’s power minister, that ran in the new York Times: “India’s development imperatives cannot be sacrificed at the altar of potential climate changes many years in the future. The West will have to recognize we have the needs of the poor.”

In other words, India has no plans to give up coal as a major provider of energy in the country anytime soon. 

In fact, Mr. Goyal has promised to double India’s use of coal, going from 565 million tons last year to more than a billion tons by 2019. To feed this increase, and he is issuing coal mining licenses as quickly as possible. This increase, if it happens, would come on the heels of India increasing its coal plant energy generation by 73% in just the past five years.

This is how quickly India’s use of coal has grown over the years:











The article also points out that on a per person basis, the average Indian citizen uses about 7% of what an average American uses. As the Indian economy grows and matures, that usage level is sure to increase, making it near impossible to economically replace energy generation from coal with any kind of other renewable sources. 

So as we have always said, even if there is man made global warming and climate change going on, shutting down a few American coal plants, causing a spike in both domestic electricity rates and unemployment, will be like spitting into a hurricane when countries like India and China have no intentions of curtailing their coal usage anytime soon. Given the low regard that our current President is held in capitals around the world, it is unlikely that he will be able to force, cajole, or negotiate climate pacts that actually reduce the overall world consumption of fossil fuels, especially coal. 

That will do it for this month’s update on global warming doubting and how that position is more and more being supported by science, realities, and data. To continue to call us doubters by the names and slurs that Al Gore and other political types insist on using vs. the real science we have cited in the many posts in this blog is not being productive in any sense. And not being productive is what today’s politicians do best.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w