How to Attack the Oil Mess? Here is your list Mr. President

From the Heritage Foundation, this common sense "to do" list: The To Do List!

1. Waive the Jones Act: According to one Dutch newspaper, European firms could complete the oil spill cleanup by themselves in just four months, and three months if they work with the United States, which is much faster than the estimated nine months it would take the Obama administration to go at it alone. The major stumbling block is a protectionist piece of legislation called the Jones Act, which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. But, in an emergency, this law can be temporarily waived, as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff did after Katrina. Each day European and Asian allies are prevented from helping us speed up the cleanup is another day that Gulf fishing and tourism jobs die. For more information on this, click here.

2. Accept International Assistance: At least thirty countries and international organizations have offered equipment and experts so far. According to reports this week, the White House has finally decided to accept help from twelve of these nations. The Obama administration should make clear why they are refusing the other eighteen-plus offers. In a statement, the State Department said it is still working out the particulars of the assistance it has accepted. This should be done swiftly as months have already been wasted.

Take Sweden, for example. According to Heritage expert James Carafano: “After offering assistance shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Sweden received a request for information about their specialized assets from the State Department on May 7. Swedish officials answered the inquiry the same day, saying that some assets, such as booms, could be sent within days and that it would take a couple of weeks to send ships. There are three brand new Swedish Coast Guard vessels built for dealing with a major oil spill cleanup. Each has a capacity to collect nearly 50 tons of oil per hour from the surface of the sea and can hold 1,000 tons of spilled oil in their tanks. But according to the State Department’s recently released chart on international offers of assistance, the Swedish equipment and ships are still ‘under consideration.’ So months later, the booms sit unused and brand new Swedish ships still sit idle in port, thousands of miles from the Gulf. The delay in accepting offers of assistance is unacceptable.” For more information, click here or here.

3. Lift the Moratorium: The Obama administration’s over-expansive ban on offshore energy development is killing jobs when they are needed most. A panel of engineering experts told The New Orleans Times-Picayune that they only supported a six-month ban on new drilling in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. Those same experts were consulted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before he issued his May 27 report recommending a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. A letter from these experts reads: “A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation’s economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill. We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do.”

And just how many innocent jobs is Obama’s oil ban killing? An earlier Times-Picayune report estimated the moratorium could cost Louisiana 7,590 jobs and $2.97 billion in revenue directly related to the oil industry. For more information on this, click here.

4. Release the S.S. A-Whale: The S.S. A-Whale skimmer is a converted oil tanker capable of cleaning 500,000 barrels of oil a day from the Gulf waters. Currently, the largest skimmer being used in the clean-up efforts can handle 4,000 barrels a day, and the entire fleet our government has authorized for BP has only gathered 600,000 barrels, total in the 70 days since the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The ship embarked from Norfolk, VA, this week toward the Gulf, hoping to get federal approval to begin assisting the clean-up, but is facing bureaucratic resistance.

As a foreign-flagged ship, the S.S. A-Whale needs a waiver from the Jones Act, but even outside that three-mile limitation, the U.S. Coast Guard and the EPA have to approve its operation due to the nature of its operation, which separates the oil from the water and then releases water back into the Gulf, with a minor amount of oil residue. The government should not place perfection over the need for speed, especially facing the threat of an active hurricane season. For more information on this, click here.

5. Remove State and Local Roadblocks: Local governments are not getting the assistance they need to help in the cleanup. For example, nearly two months ago, officials from Escambia County, Fla., requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola’s beaches. County officials still haven’t heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee explains why: “Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.”

State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better. Local governments should be given the tools they need to aid in the disaster relief. For more information on this, click here.

6. Allow Sand Berm Dredging: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently prevented the state of Louisiana from dredging to build protective sand berms. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser immediately sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the work continue. He said, “Once again, our government resource agencies, which are intended to protect us, are now leaving us vulnerable to the destruction of our coastline and marshes by the impending oil. Furthermore, with the threat of hurricanes or tropical storms, we are being put at an increased risk for devastation to our area from the intrusion of oil.” For more information on this, click here.

7. Waive or Suspend EPA Regulations: Because more water than oil is collected in skimming operations (85% to 90% is water according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen), operators need to discharge the filtered water back into the Gulf so they can continue to collect oil. The discharged water is vastly cleaner than when it was skimmed, but not sufficiently pure according to normal EPA regulations. If the water has to be kept in the vessel and taken back to shore for purification, it vastly multiples the resources and time needed, requiring cleanup ships to make extra round trips, transporting seven times as much water as the oil they collect. We already have insufficient cleanup ships (as the Coast Guard officially determined); they need to be cleaning up oil, not transporting water. For more information, click here.

8. Temporarily Loosen Coast Guard Inspections: In early June, sixteen barges that were vacuuming oil out of the Gulf were ordered to halt work. The Coast Guard had the clean-up vessels sit idle as they were inspected for fire extinguishers and life vests. Maritime safety is clearly a priority, but speed is of the essence in the Gulf waters. The U.S. Coast Guard should either temporarily loosen its inspection procedures or implement a process that allows inspections to occur as the ships operate. For more information, click here.

9. Stop Coast Guard Budget Cuts: Now is not the time to be cutting Coast Guard capabilities, but that is exactly what President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are doing. Rather than rebuilding and modernizing the Coast Guard as is necessary, they are cutting back assets needed to respond to catastrophic disasters. In particular, the National Strike Force, specifically organized to respond to oil spills and other hazardous materials disasters, is being cut. Overall, President Obama has told the Coast Guard to shed nearly 1,000 personnel, five cutters, and several helicopters and aircraft. Congress and the Administration should double the U.S. Coast Guard’s active and reserve end strength over the next decade and significantly accelerate Coast Guard modernization, but for the time being, they should halt all budgetary cuts. For more information, click here.

10. Halt Climate Change Legislation: President Obama has placed his focus to the oil spill on oil demand rather than oil in our water. Regardless of political views, now is not the time to be taking advantage of this crisis to further an unrelated piece of legislation that will kill jobs and, in the President’s own words, cause energy prices to “skyrocket.” Less than 5% of our nation’s electricity needs are met by petroleum. Pushing solar and wind alternatives is in no way related to the disaster in the Gulf. It’s time for President Obama to focus on the direct actions he can take in the Gulf rather than the indirect harm he can cause in Congress. As Heritage expert David Kreutzer opines: “Fix the leak first, and then we’ll talk.” A crisis should not be a terrible thing to waste, as Rahm Emanuel said, but a problem to be solved. For more information, click

Any questions?

Biden compares GOP to Nazis: my, how precious!

No, that is not Veep Biden, I was too lazy to go find one of him. But he has sent out an urgent funding letter to the Obama faithful pleading with them to open their wallets to blunt GOP "Blitzkrieg" tactics, read it all here.

Okay, it's politics and just like love, all is fair. But as Christian's know; just because you can do a thing does not mean that you should do a thing.

If you don't understand that, I suggest reading the New Testament of the Bible.

Tell me it's not true! Oil spill visits get partisan

As reported here in the Politico, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill first hand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Scalise is from Louisiana; so he can't take other congressmen to see what is happening in HIS state?

About two weeks ago, Scalise requested to be able to use his Members Representational Allowance – a fund typically reserved for office expenses and travel back to the district – to go to the Gulf with a group of about 10 other lawmakers.


He sought permission from the House Administration committee, which regulates office account spending and would have to approve the trip. After a few weeks, Scalise was ping-ponged between several committees. Eventually, John Lawrence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) chief of staff, told Scalise’s chief that “it was unlikely that the request would be granted” by the House Administration Committee.

And there you go: raw knuckle politics right in the middle of a disastor. Not only can government not fix it, government doesn't even want to.

Kagen promises to uphold the law

The most unqualified candidate ever for the Supreme Court had this to say here on her first day of confirmation testimony: Speaking on the first day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kagan said the court must ensure that "our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals."

"But the court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people," she said, adding that her past work in government public service has shown her that, in her words, "no one has a monopoly on truth and wisdom."

"I will make no pledges this week other than this one -- that if confirmed, I will remember and abide by all these lessons," she said. "I will listen hard, to every party before the court and to each of my colleagues."

Didn't hear a word about upholding the Constitution. Please take note.

Angry Content: be forewarned

Today the FDA informed us US citizens of this monumental development in the history of civilization: airline food fails to meet health standards: read it all here.

My reaction to this? Who gives a rat's rear end? The article goes into the details of how, Violations include roaches, mice, unsanitary conditions and no place for employees to wash their hands.

When was the last time you were on an airline flight that you got anything other than a diet coke and peanuts in a little (.5 oz) package? That's vending machine food.

This is YOUR government, working overtime to insert itself into YOUR life. Enjoy all you Obama disciples.

So, what is sacred? Can the State invade a church? Can the State detain the clergy of a church? Can freedom of religion be suppressed on the grounds of a search warrant? Can the State open a grave looking for "evidence"?

These are questions we had better start thinking about, read more here.

In a split 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution that local governments cannot take that right away. Read it all here.

Writing for the court in a case involving restrictive laws in Chicago and one of its suburbs, Justice Samuel Alito said that the Second Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the states."

Two years ago, the court declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess guns, at least for purposes of self-defense in the home.

That ruling applied only to federal laws. It struck down a ban on handguns and a trigger lock requirement for other guns in the District of Columbia, a federal city with a unique legal standing. At the same time, the court was careful not to cast doubt on other regulations of firearms here.

Gun rights proponents almost immediately filed a federal lawsuit challenging gun control laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Ill, where handguns have been banned for nearly 30 years. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says those laws appear to be the last two remaining outright bans.

Lower federal courts upheld the two laws, noting that judges on those benches were bound by Supreme Court precedent and that it would be up to the high court justices to ultimately rule on the true reach of the Second Amendment.

The Supreme Court already has said that most of the guarantees in the Bill of Rights serve as a check on state and local, as well as federal, laws.

Monday's decision did not explicitly strike down the Chicago area laws, ordering a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling. But it left little doubt that they would eventually fall.

Is it: Can't secure the border? Or, Won't secure the border?

Here is another salvo in the war between the state of Arizona and the Whitehouse. Polls suggest the Whitehouse is miserably losing this war.

Watch it here.

A Deadly Force: not incompetent

Much has been written by the right about how unprepared, how incompetent, how dumb President Obama must be to be doing the things he is doing.

We write this because we view him through the lens of being American. Obama is not American, he is socialist. That is his cause and when you look through HIS lens here is what you see:

A must read. May be unstoppable. Sad.

Wayne Allyn Root was a classmate of Obama's at Columbia ~ both graduated in '83.
Root is a Libertarian and strong contender for the Libertarian nominee for the 2010 election.
Here is the link to his Bio:
http://www.rootforamerica.com/home/bio.php

Here is the link to the article below:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/obama-s-agenda--overwhelm-the-system-95716764.html

*WAYNE ALLYN ROOT: Overwhelm the system*
Barack Obama is no fool. He is not incompetent. To the contrary, he
is brilliant. He knows exactly what he's doing. He is purposely
overwhelming the U.S. economy to create
systemic failure, economic crisis and social chaos -- thereby
destroying capitalism and our country from within.
Barack Obama is my college classmate ( Columbia University , class of
'83). Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Columbia University . They
outlined a plan to socialize America by overwhelming the system with
government spending and entitlement demands. Add up the clues below.
Taken individually they're alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a
brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to turn the United States into a
socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs
government for survival ... and can be counted on to always vote for
bigger government. Why not? They have no responsibility to pay for it.

-- Universal health care. The health care bill had very little to do
with health care. It had everything to do with unionizing millions of
hospital and health care workers, as well as adding 15,000 to 20,000 new
IRS agents (who will join government employee unions). Obama doesn't
care that giving free health care to 30 million Americans will add
trillions to the national debt. What he does care about is that it
cements the dependence of those 30 million voters to Democrats and big
government. Who but a socialist revolutionary would pass this reckless
spending bill in the middle of a depression?

-- Cap and trade. Like health care legislation having nothing to do with
health care, cap and trade has nothing to do with global warming. It has
everything to do with redistribution of income, government control of
the economy and a criminal payoff to Obama's biggest contributors. Those
powerful and wealthy unions and contributors (like GE, which owns NBC,
MSNBC and CNBC) can then be counted on to support everything Obama
wants. They will kick-back hundreds of millions of dollars in
contributions to Obama and the Democratic Party to keep them in power.
The bonus is that all the new taxes on Americans with bigger cars,
bigger homes and businesses helps Obama "spread the wealth around."

-- Make Puerto Rico a state. Why? Who's asking for a 51st state? Who's
asking for millions of new welfare recipients and government entitlement
addicts in the middle of a depression? Certainly not American taxpayers.
But this has been Obama's plan all along. His goal is to add two new
Democrat senators, five Democrat congressman and a million loyal
Democratic voters who are dependent on big government.
-- Legalize 12 million illegal immigrants. Just giving these 12 million
potential new citizens free health care alone could overwhelm the system
and bankrupt America . But it adds 12 million reliable new Democrat
voters who can be counted on to support big government. Add another few
trillion dollars in welfare, aid to dependent children, food stamps,
free medical, education, tax credits for the poor, and eventually Social
Security.

-- Stimulus and bailouts. Where did all that money go? It went to
Democrat contributors, organizations (ACORN), and unions -- including
billions of dollars to save or create jobs of government employees
across the country. It went to save GM and Chrysler so that their
employees could keep paying union dues. It went to AIG so that Goldman
Sachs could be bailed out (after giving Obama almost $1 million in
contributions). A staggering $125 billion went to teachers (thereby
protecting their union dues). All those public employees will vote
loyally Democrat to protect their bloated salaries and pensions that are
bankrupting America . The country goes broke, future g ene rations face a
bleak future, but Obama, the Democrat Party, government, and the unions
grow more powerful. The ends justify the means.

-- Raise taxes on small business owners, high-income earners, and job
creators. Put the entire burden on only the top 20 percent of taxpayers,
redistribute the income, punish success, and reward those who did
nothing to deserve it (except vote for Obama). Reagan wanted to
dramatically cut taxes in order to starve the government. Obama wants to
dramatically raise taxes to starve his political opposition.

With the acts outlined above, Obama and his regime have created a vast
and rapidly expanding constituency of voters dependent on big
government; a vast privileged class of public employees who work for big
government; and a government dedicated to destroying capitalism and
installing themselves as socialist rulers by overwhelming the system.

Add it up and you've got the perfect Marxist scheme -- all devised by my
Columbia University college classmate Barack Obama using the Cloward and Piven Plan.

Glenn Beck has been preaching on this for 3 years. Do we have the guts to stop this in November?

If not, here is our future.

Hat Tip: Wilma R

Economic growth anemic at best..........

Economic growth in the first quarter was finally revised to a tepid 2.7% reports the AP.

The real disappoint comes here, "Economists anticipate even slower growth ahead as companies bring their stockpiles more in line with sales. Factory output has climbed this year. But it was driven more by businesses replenishing their warehouses after the recession and less by consumer demand.

"The economy is growing, but still at a disappointingly slow pace," said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities. Take away businesses restocking their inventories and "you still have a lukewarm recovery," he said."

Now add this to a previous story about massive tax increases coming out way next year and it is hard to believe that we will not see a crushing double-dip recession.

Strap in and get prepared

Playing Chicken with American Blood in Afganistan

This man is now in charge in Afganistan. But Afganistan is not going so well as reported here. The Afganie government is too corrupt to be a responsible partner and the Afganie people are afraid to help the US soldiers because they hear official Washington tell them that as of July 2011 we are gone. So, given that the Taliban will remain and that the Taliban brutally kill collaborators, why should they help? Would you?

But what is the currency in this miserable game of chicken where Obama won't reassure the Afganies for fear of setting his base on fire? That currency is American blood. While Obama and the Afgan government try to see who can piss on the other the most, American soldiers are dying and shedding their blood on a part of the world we don't care a lick about.

Yet again, another worthless war fought with our most precious treasure, American blood.

US Labor Dept helping illegals: are you surprised?

From Fox News here, Republican lawmakers are expressing shock over a Labor Department ad campaign that offers government assistance to illegal immigrants who think they're getting shortchanged for their work -- and at least one of them is planning to write to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis for an explanation.

But the Labor Department stood by the campaign, saying in a written statement to FoxNews.com that "through Democratic and Republican administrations, the Department of Labor has consistently held that the country's minimum wage and overtime law protects workers regardless of their immigration status."

And through Democratic and Republican administrations, this issue has been ducked and the American people have been lied to. And no administration has taken a hard stance toward sealing our borders.

And who will run Medicare? Time to Worry.......

Controversy is mounting over Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid -- and for good reason. Berwick's writings reveal that he would make radical changes -- seniors beware. You can read it all here.

Berwick laid out his "Triple Aim" plan in an article he co-authored in Health Affairs (May-June 2008), advocating widespread government use of the "medical home" model. The Congressional Budget Office says that's a version of HMO-style medicine, with a primary-care provider to oversee your access to costly services such as visits to specialists and diagnostic tests. But in Berwick's plan, many -- perhaps most -- primary-care providers would not be physicians.

In his Triple Aim plan, Berwick laments that US health care is "designed to focus on the acute needs of individual patients." He argues for a different focus, social justice.

I hope you read that last part very very closely! Your specific medical needs will not be the primary concern of the medical professional who sees you. Your needs will be weighed against the greater needs of society.

How does that make you feel?

The Scary Things that Polls Uncover......

The nation appears to be stuck at +10% unemployment. A key mortgage anti-foreclosure program seems to be worthless, deficit spending is out of control. Ordinary people speak of economic collapse and some of revolution. So what does a poll tell us about this President, his administration, and the Federal government in general? See it all here.

1. Sixty-two percent of adults in the survey feel the country is on the wrong track, the highest level since before the 2008 election.

2. Just one-third think the economy will get better over the next year, a 7-point drop from a month ago and the low point of Mr. Obama's tenure.

3. For the first time, more people disapprove of Mr. Obama's job performance than approve. And 57% of voters would prefer to elect a new person to Congress than re-elect their local representatives, the highest share in 18 years.


4. Support for Mr. Obama and his party is declining among centrist, independent voters. But, more ominous for the president, some in his base also are souring, with 17% of Democrats disapproving of Mr. Obama's job performance, the highest level of his presidency.

5. Approval for Mr. Obama has dropped among Hispanics, too, along with small-town residents, white women and seniors.

6. African-Americans remain the firmest part of Mr. Obama's base, with 91% approving of his job performance.

So what to make of these poll results? Essentially, all African-Americans are wildely supportive of this president. For the rest of the population less than half show approval?

What has Obama done that so appeals to African-Americans? The great supply of jobs? The plentiful wages they receive? The strengthening of America around the world? Obama's decisive leadership in the midst of chaos? The fact that his skin is black?

I don't know the answer, but the statistics of this one poll surely beg some interesting questions.

Judge throws cold water on oil drill ban.......

Not surprisingly, the oil development industry has rushed to find a judge who will exert a little logic and block the Obama moratorium on all new offshore drilling. As reported here, [a] New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Drilling services shares jumped on the news.

The ban was a stupid political move but aimed to appease his liber enviro-wacko base. But most of all, it made no sense and was going to inflict very real economic harm on the region and on the country's strategic ability to supply itself with oil.

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar said in a statement that he will issue a new order on deepwater offshore oil drilling.

“We see clear evidence every day, as oil spills from BP’s well, of the need for a pause on deepwater drilling,” Salazar said. “Based on this ever-growing evidence, I will issue a new order in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate, and within our authorities.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that “continuing to drill at these depths without knowing what happened does not make any sense.”

Actually Robert, shutting down a whole industry vital to American strategic interests makes no sense if you don't really know what happened!

Thomas Sowell: Is Tryanny around the corner?

Franco was the tyrannical ruler of Spain many years ago. Is Barack Obama the first Tyrannical ruler of America?

Read this stunning analysis from Thomas Sowell.

When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.

In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.

Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.

[w]ithout constitutional government, freedom cannot endure. There will always be a "crisis" — which, as the president's chief of staff has said, cannot be allowed to "go to waste" as an opportunity to expand the government's power.

And there we are: are we going to be Constitutional or not?

The Single Biggest Threat to America

As Memorial Day fades into the depths of our memory and fireworks stands herald the coming of the 4th of July (and what day is that?), listen and watch this short video on the biggest threat to America, Dennis Prager nails the answer.

If you have been watching Glenn Beck for the last year or so, he is struggling mightily with this task of teaching us about America & American values.

Hat Tip: Sarah H.

Keeping Score in the Gulf Oil Spill

With THE speech from the Oval Office and the kangaroo trials in Congress this week, there is no doubt who the politicans are painting as the face of evil in the Gulf oil disastor. And a disastor it is, and obviously it is BP's well that caused all the problems and by gosh it is on their backs to get it plugged, get everything cleaned up, and compensate those who have lost jobs and money and maybe businesses as a result of BP's mess. No one argues that BP is front and center to be blamed for this; even BP agrees!!

But that is not enough for the political class in Washington. Being as worthless as they are, they have to make a lot of noise to try and hide their worthless selves.

So, let's looks at how they stack on job one to get the leak plugged and everything made right.

Department of Justice: right out of the box Eric Holder threatens criminal charges. So, no surprise, it is hard to get substantive information out of BP. They are lawyered up and won't say boo without legal council. Way to go DOJ!

Obama: "Plug the damn hole" is the extent of his technical contribution. But he was Johnny on the spot using his Chicago thuggery to extort $20B our of BP. All other oil companies take notice: is this a crisis that is going to lead to nationalization of oil companies? Never let a crisis go to waste they say........

Obama & Congress: why haven't they suspended the Jones Act? This would allow non-American flagged ships with non-American (union) crews to help out with the situation. Fifteen foreign countries have tried to help according to this report. So what is wrong with you clowns? If you really wanted to do something constructive, you could! Obviously you don't.

Even the Coast Guard, the face of Homeland Security in the Gulf has been hapless. Yesterday holding barges in part to check on PFD's and Fire Extinguisher certs,

So who is actually moving heaven and earth to make something happen? Well, BP,

The rest of you clowns are sucking wind!

A Real Backbone in Arizona......

Here is a short version of this story.

Obama to Arizona: we are going to sue your butts for that illegal immigration law you are trying to enact.

Gov. Brewer: go ahead punk, make my day!!

Obama says Republicans hurt the jobless: really?

True to ideological form, Obama declares the Republicans are hurting jobless folks because they are blocking yet ANOTHER extension of jobless benefits as reported here.

Let's examine this from two directions: Obama's and the Jobless.

Obama believes all good things come from the Government, so of course he views the blocking of another extension as a frustration of the good liberals and progressives assign to government.

The vast majority of the jobless see it totally differently: jobs provide paychecks, they provide benefits, but most of all jobs can help in providing purpose and self-esteem to those who see work as the honorable means to an end.

The Republicans have proposed numerous initiatives that would get the economy up and moving at a pace fast enough to create real private sector jobs to lower unemployment. This is what the vast majority of jobless folks want.

Mr. President, the people vote soon, to let you know what they think of your policies and lack of leadership for this great Nation of ours.

Making excuses at the highest level: President "Snakebit"?

For the first time since his inauguration, it appears that President Obama's detractors and supporters united on one theme; his first Oval Office speech, seen here, about the oil spill in the Gulf was a dud. Comments range from how unspecific it was, how lofty and vapid, to the lies that were told and the apparent shakedown of BP by the WhiteHouse.

But off on her own, Peggy Noonan in the WSJ opines that maybe Obama is "snakebit" an American phrase for "unlucky".

Really? Obama unlucky? Let's try another version of Americanese about luck: the harder you work the luckier you get.

Even before day 1 of his term, the Obama administration has been the absolute manifestation of all the leftist, socialist dreams of American Progressives since their founding in the 1800's. Whether it was manipulation of the TARP process, Stimulus I, ObamaCare, Cap & Tax, Net Neutrality, apologies galore overseas, this elitist "world leader" has worked overtime to transform a country of liberty and freedom with his rigid vision of Stateism, Socialism, and Redistribution.

That is the lens through which he sees the world: Stateism, Socialism, and Redistribution. The first corollary is "do not let a crisis go to waste". Whether it is failing GM or an oil spill, look for the crack to plunge in the socialist dagger.

That Americans more than ever now sense that no action of this president leverages the great historical power and spirit of America is not a matter of this president being "snakebit". It is a matter of him being who he is---which means he cannot be whom he is not: a great American Leader.

Oil Spills, Oil Taxes, and Politicians....toxic mix

Every President, every Congress, every individual politician will seek to use daily events to advance their particular agenda. This is the national sport we call Politics.

Given that this WILL happen, the question for voters, patriots, and citizens of this country is whether such antics are in the best interest of this country or not.

Given that the Obama Administration, the Pelosi House, and the Reid Senate are cut from leftist, liberal, and socialist cloth, we have seen that every legislative agenda they propose does nothing more than to push this country of liberty and freedom closer to being a socialist, west-European state (and look at how that is turning out for Europe).

Predictably, the President's June 15 Oil Spill Speech turned into a prop for advancing his Climate-Change-Hoax Cap and Trade massive tax against the oil based economy.

This will not create new "green jobs", it will raise energy prices, will expand the size of government, and take more of our freedoms and liberties away.

We must oppose this as vigorously as we did Obamacare!

Watch this one: Roe vs. Obamacare

Most legal challanges to Obamacare are taking the route that Govenment cannot mandate that indivuals buy a particular product, such as healthcare insurance. Predictably, the supporters of Obamacare, rely on New Deal–era precedents that define the Commerce Clause broadly — so broadly, in fact, that Speaker Nancy Pelosi described Congress’s power to regulate health care as “essentially unlimited.”

As noted
here, there is another issue that has been overlooked in all of this.

Strong words. But what Pelosi seems to forget is that every congressional power is limited — by the rest of the Constitution. Therefore, even assuming Congress has the power to regulate health care, it cannot do so in a way that violates fundamental constitutional rights. Congress could not, for example, deny Americans their First Amendment right “peaceably to assemble” even though public assemblies spread germs and, thus, presumably burden the health-care system.

Privacy, like speech and assembly, is a fundamental constitutional right, according to Roe.

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Court described Roe as a rule of “personal autonomy” that protects all “intimate and personal choices . . . central to personal dignity” in matters “fundamentally affecting a person.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has argued that abortion restrictions violate the constitutional principle that the law cannot treat a woman “as less than a full adult human responsible for her own choices.” Consistent with these broad principles, courts have held that the right to privacy includes, for example, the right to refuse medical treatment — even life-saving treatment — and the right to access acupuncture services.

Because the right to privacy is deemed fundamental, any statute that threatens that right is subject to “strict scrutiny” by the courts. It is difficult to see how the individual mandate would survive such scrutiny. After all, if the right to privacy guarantees our liberty to make “intimate,” “personal” decisions relating to “health,” “dignity,” and “autonomy,” does it not also protect our right not to buy health insurance?

This lawsuit, filed in Mississippi, may have more "legs" than all the others. Stay tuned in.

Listen: that is the sound of European dominos falling

That fellow in the picture is General Franco, dictator of Spain until 1975. A new dictator may be in Spain's future according to this article.

Americans should pay close attention to what is happening in the European union to Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Not just that those countries are being wracked by debt and their public sector unions who will not consent to austarity measurers.

Note in the article that all the discussion about what is happening to these countries comes from the head of the European Union, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso set out an ‘apocalyptic’ vision in which crisis-hit countries in southern Europe could fall victim to military coups or popular uprisings as interest rates soar and public services collapse because their governments run out of money.

Mr. Barroso was not elected by any citizen of any country in the European Union. Yet, he is discussing very vividly their future.

Could some "one world" president in the future be talking about us this way? November is a good time to start making sure that does not happen.

The Silent Service

When you hear the term "silent service", many people think of the submarine service. Others maybe the Secret Service.

There is another brotherhood of Silence Service. These are the top snipers of all times. Snipers are not just marksmen of great repute. They are also hunters, they are also athletes who endure much to achieve their objectives. Here are some of the greatest snipers of all times, source here.

Top 10 Snipers in History

‘It was night and low visibility, but I saw a guy with an AK-47 lit up by the porch light in a doorway about 400 meters away. I watched him through the sights. He looked like just another Iraqi. I hit him low in the stomach and dropped him.’ – Specialist James Wilks, 25, from Fort Worth, Texas. Concealment is key to becoming a great sniper. Highly trained marksmen who can shoot accurately from incredible distances with specialized training in high-precision rifles. In addition, they are trained in camouflage, field craft, infiltration, reconnaissance and observation, making them perhaps the most feared military presence in a war. Below is my list of top ten snipers in history and some of the greatest shots ever fired.



#10 - Thomas Plunkett -died in 1851

Was an Irish soldier in the British 95th Rifles. What makes him on of the greats is that he shot a very impressive French general, Auguste-Marie-François Colbert.

During the battle at Cacabelos during Monroes retreat in 1809, Plunkett, using a Baker Rifle, shot the French general at a range of about 600 meters. Giving the incredible inaccuracy of rifles in the early 19th century, this was either a very impressive feat, or one hell of a fluke. Well Plunkett not wanting his army buddies to think he was a bit lucky decided to take the shot again before returning to his line. So he reloaded his gun and took aim once again this time at the trumpet major who had come to the generals aid. When this shot also hit its intended target, proving that Plunkett is just one badass marksman, he looked back to his line to see the impressed faces of the others in the 95th Rifles.


Just for comparison the British soldiers were all armed with ‘Brown Bess muskets’ and trained to shoot into a body of men at 50 meters. Plunkett did 12 times that distance. Twice.


#9 - Sgt Grace 4th Georgia Infantry

The date was May 9th 1864, when Sgt Grace, a Confederate sniper, achieved what was considered to be an incredible shot at the time, and what is definitely the most ironic demise of a target in history. It was during the battle of Spotsylvania when Grace took aim with his British Whitworth Rifle. His target was General John Sedgwick (pictured above) and the distance was 1,000 yards. An extremely long distance for the time. During the beginning of the skirmish, the confederate sharpshooters were causing Sedgwick’s men to duck for cover. Sedgwick refused to duck and was quoted saying “What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn’t hit Elephants at this distance.” His men persisted in taking cover. He Repeated “They couldn’t hit elephants at this distance” Seconds Later Grace’s shot hits Sedgwick just under his left eye.


I swear you couldn’t write it. Sedgwick was the highest ranking Union casualty in the civil war and upon hearing his death Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant repeatedly asked “Is he really dead”.


#8 - Charles ‘Chuck’ Mawhinney 1949-

103 Confirmed Kills

Was an avid hunter as a kid and joined the Marines in 1967. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during Vietnam and holds the record for number of confirmed kills for Marine snipers, exceeding that of legendary Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock. In just 16 months he killed 103 enemies and another 216 kills were listed as probable’s by the military, only because it was too risky at the time to search the bodies for documents. When he left the Marines he told no-one of his of his role during the conflict and only a few fellow Marines knew of his assignments. It was nearly 20 years before somebody wrote a book detailing his amazing skills as a sniper. Mawhinney came out of anonymity because of this and became a lecturer in sniper schools. He was once quoted saying “it was the ultimate hunting trip: a man hunting another man who was hunting me. Don’t talk to me about hunting lions or elephants; they don’t fight back with rifles and scopes. I just loved it. I ate it up.”



A routinely deadly shot from distances between 300 – 800 yards, Mawhinney had confirmed kills of over 1000 yards, making him one of the greatest snipers of the Vietnam war.


#7 - Rob Furlong

A former corporal of the Canadian Forces, he holds the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill in history at 1.51 miles or 2,430 metres. That’s the length of about 26 football pitches.

This amazing feat occurred in 2002, when he was involved in Operation Anaconda. His Sniper Team consisted of 2 Corporals and 3 Master Corporals. When a three man Al-Qaeda weapons team moved into a mountainside position he took aim. Furlong was armed with a .50-caliber McMillan Brothers Tac-50 Rifle and loaded with A-MAX very low drag bullets. He fired and missed. His second shot hit the enemies knapsack on his back. He had already fired his third shot by the time the second hit, but now the enemy knew he was under attack. The airtime for each bullet was about 3 seconds due to the immense distance, enough time for an enemy to take cover. However the dumbfounded militant realised what was happening just in time to take the third shot in the chest.


#6 - Vasily Zaytsev March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991

242 Confirmed Kills

Zaytsev is probably the best known Sniper in history thanks to the movie ‘Enemy At The Gates’. It is a great film and I wish I could say it was all true. However the truth only goes as far as the battle of Stalingrad. There was no Nazi Counter-Sniper Specialist in real life. Well not to the extent of the film. Here’s the truth. Zaytsev was born in Yeleninskoye and grew up in the Ural Mountains. His surname means ‘hare‘. Before Stalingrad, he served as a clerk in the Soviet Navy But after reading about the conflict in the city he volunteered for the front line. he served in the 1047th Rifle Regiment. Zaytsev ran a sniper school in the Metiz factory.
The cadets he trained were called Zaichata, meaning ‘Leverets’ (Baby Hares). This was the start of the sniper movement in the 62nd army. It is estimated that the snipers he trained killed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers


Zaytsev himself made 242 confirmed kills between October 1942 and January 1943, but the real number is probably closer to 500. I know I said there was no counter-sniper, but there was Erwin Kónig. Was alleged to be a highly skilled Wehrmacht sniper. Zaytsev claimed in his memoirs that the duel took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad. Details of what actually happened are sketchy, but by the end of the three day period Zaytsev had killed the sniper and claimed his scope to be his most prized trophy. For him to make this his most prized trophy means that this person he killed must have been almost as good as Zaytsev himself.


#5 - Lyudmila Pavlichenko July 12, 1916 – October 10, 1974

309 Confirmed Kills

In June 1941, Pavlichenko was 24 and Nazi Germany were invading the Soviet Union. She was among the first volunteers and asked to join the infantry. she was assigned to the Red Armies 25th infantry Division. From there she became one of 2000 female snipers of the soviet.

Her first 2 kills were made near Belyayevka using a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope. The first action she saw was during the conflict in Odessa. She was there for 2 and a half months and notched 187 kills. When they were forced to relocate, she spent the next 8 months fighting in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. There she recorded 257 kills and for this feat she was cited by the Southern Army Council. Pavlichenkos’ total confirmed kills during WW2 was 309. 36 of those were enemy snipers.


#4 - Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow March 9, 1891 – August 5, 1952

378 Confirmed kills
300+ Captures

Three times awarded the military medal and twice seriously wounded, he was an expert marksman and scout, credited with 378 German kills and capturing 300+ more. He was an Ojibwa warrior with the Canadians in battles like those at mount sorrel. As if killing nearly 400 Germans wasn’t enough, he was also awarded medals for running messages through very heavy enemy fire, for directing a crucial relief effort when his commanding officer was incapacitated and for running through enemy fire to get more ammo when his unit was running low.


Though a hero among his fellow soldier, he was virtually forgotten once he returned home to Canada. Regardless he was one of the most affective snipers of world war 1.


#3 - Adelbert F. Waldron March 14, 1933 – October 18, 1995

109 confirmed kills

He holds the record for the highest number of confirmed kills for any American sniper in history. However it is not just his impressive kill record that makes him one of the best, but also his incredible accuracy.

This excerpt from ‘Inside the Crosshairs: Snipers in Vietnam’ by Col. Michael Lee Lanning, describes just what I’m talking about:

“One afternoon he was riding along the Mekong River on a Tango boat when an enemy sniper on shore pecked away at the boat. While everyone else on board strained to find the antagonist, who was firing from the shoreline over 900 meters away, Sergeant Waldron took up his sniper rifle and picked off the Vietcong out of the top of a coconut tree with one shot (this from a moving platform). Such was the capability of our best sniper.” Nuff Said.

If there was a scale of difficulty for shots like these, it would be next to impossible to beat. well lets try to do that anyway.


Here’s ‘white feather’….

#2 - Carlos Norman Hathcock II May 20, 1942 – February 23, 1999

Nicknamed ‘Lông Trung du Kich’ (‘White Feather Sniper’)

93 Confirmed kills

Hathcock has one of the most impressive mission records of any sniper in the Marine corps. Lets forget about the dozens of shooting championships he won, during the Vietnam war he amassed 93 confirmed kills. The Vietnam army put a $30,000 bounty on his life for killing so many of their men. Rewards put on U.S. snipers by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) typically amounted to….say $8.

It was Hathcock who fired the most famous shot in sniper history. He fired a round, over a very long distance, which went through the scope of an enemy sniper, hit him in the eye, and killed him. Hathcock and Roland Burke his spotter were stalking the enemy sniper, (which had already killed several Marines) which they believed was sent to kill him specifically. When Hathcock saw a flash of light reflecting off the enemies scope he fired at it in a split second pulling off one of the most precise shots in history. Hathcock reasoned that the only way that this was possible, would have been if both snipers were aiming at each others scopes at the same time, and he fired first. However, although the distance was never confirmed, Hathcock knew that because of the flight time, it would have been easy for both snipers to kill each other. The white feather was synonymous with Hathcock (He kept one in his hat) and he removed it only once for a mission. Keep in mind that he volunteered for this mission, but he had to crawl over 1500 yards of enemy territory to shoot an NVA commanding general. Information wasn’t sent until he was on-route. (He volunteered for a mission he knew nothing about) It took 4 days and 3 nights without sleep of inch-by-inch crawling. One enemy soldier almost stepped on him as he laid camouflaged in a meadow. At another point he was nearly bitten by a viper, he didn’t flinch. He finally got into position and waited for the general. When he arrived Hathcock was ready. He fired one round and hit the general through the chest killing him. The soldiers started a search for the sniper and Hathcock had to crawl back to avoid detection. They never caught him. Nerves of steel.


#1 - Simo Häyhä December 17, 1905 – April 1, 2002

Nicknamed ‘The White Death’

705 confirmed kills (505 with rifle, 200 with submachine gun)

Was a Finnish soldier who, using an iron sighted bolt action rifle, amassed the highest recorded confirmed kills as a sniper in any war…ever!!

Häyhä was born in the municipality of Rautjärvi near the present-day border of Finland and Russia, and started his military service in 1925. His duties as a sniper began during the ‘winter war’ (1939-1940) between Russia and Finland. During the conflict Häyhä endured freezing temperatures up to -40 degrees Celsius. In less than 100 days he was credited with 505 confirmed kills, 542 if including unconfirmed kills, however the unofficial frontline figures from the battlefield places the number of sniper kills at over 800. Besides his sniper kills he was also credited with 200 from a Suomi KP/31 Submachine gun, topping off his total confirmed kills at 705.

How Häyhä did all this was amazing. He was basically on his own all day, in the snow, shooting Russians, for 3 months straight. Of course when the Russians caught wind that a shit load of soldiers were being killed, they thought ‘well this is war, there’s bound to be casualties’. But when the generals were told that it was one man with a rifle they decided to take a bit of action. first they sent in a counter-sniper. When his body was returned they decided to send in a team of counter-snipers. When they didn’t come back at all they sent in a whole goddamn battalion. They took casualties and couldn’t find him. Eventually they ordered an artillery strike, but to no avail. You see Häyhä was clever, and this was his neck of the woods. He dressed completely in white camouflage. He used a smaller rifle to suit his smaller frame (being 5ft3) increasing his accuracy. he used an iron sight to present the smallest possible target (a scoped sight would require the sniper to raise his head for sighting). He compacted the snow in front of the barrel, so as not to disturb it when he shot thus revealing his position. He also kept snow in his mouth so his breath did not condense and reveal where his was. Eventually however his was shot in the jaw by a stray bullet during combat on March 6 1940. He was picked up by his own soldiers who said half his head was missing. He didn’t die however and regained consciousness on the 13th, the day peace was declared.


Once again total kills…. 505 sniper + 200 submachine = 705 total Confirmed Kills…all in less that 100 days.

Gulf Oil Slush Fund.......never ever waste a crisis!

As British Petroleum continues the business of plugging a destroyed oil well in the Gulf and helping Gulf coast communities to cope with oil coming ashore under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, a whole new political drama is about to unfold.

Tonight, Tuesday, June 15, President Obama will propose on national TV that BP set up an escrow fund, to be administered by an indepenedent panel, to pay for compensation to "victims" of the oil spill in the Gulf. Read it all here at the WSJ.,<\a>">here at the WSJ. Senate Democrats have graciously advised BP to start its payments to the fund at $20 billion.

BP has more than 600 claims personnel working to pay fishermen and others that have suffered economic damage. It has vowed to pay all "legitimate" claims and has worked through 20,000 of 42,000 submitted so far, at a cost of $53 million. BP has also promised it will not limit its payments to the Oil Pollution Act's $75 million cap on these damages, and last month it announced it would hire an independent mediator to review claims. Any claimant denied payment has the right to sue for redress under the law, which means BP has an incentive to get these payouts right.

Here is the bottom line for such a political agenda: Democrats are vowing this fund will be tightly crafted and used only for oil-spill payments. But only last week Democrats on Capitol Hill wanted to siphon money out of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund—established in 1986 and funded by oil taxes to help clean-up spills—to pay for their extension of unemployment benefits. The history of such government funds is that they are always raided for politically favored purposes.

Remember, this is the White House that says, never let a crisis go to waste. True to form again!

Good (your) Money after Bad.........

After nearly a Trillion in 2009 Stimulus money that did nothing except prop up State and Local government spending, now President Obama is pleading that $50Billion more is needed saying the money is needed to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.

So, while the private economy has had to make brutal cut-backs to survive, public sector employees should be spared that same reality. Is that what he is pleading? Read it all here.

Sure, this is what he is pleading: after all, Obama is the consumate Stateist and Socialist. Government is good and should be judged by its intentions, not by its results. And so despite spending us another Trillion into debt with no results, the story is not to judge the outcomes but rather appauld the altruistic intentions to make things better.

This is not America; this is the Socialists universe of Utopia where they receive accolades and applause for being so "compassionate". Not our derision for being so incompetant.

The Overton Window

Some may have heard that Glenn Beck has written a new work of fiction called the Overton Window. But how many know what the Overton Window is?

The Overton window is a concept in political theory, named after its originator, Joseph P. Overton (4 January 1960 - 30 June 2003)[1], former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.[2] It describes a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, in a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue (see the Wikipedia here.).

A little more specifically, this means that At any given moment the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, with “acceptable” defined as something a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office.

Now, what is someone like Barack Obama wants to push a policy that might be viewed as most citizens as "extreme"? Well, what he and his supporters do is to move the Overton Window to a point where the new policy is not seen as extreme.

Let's consider an example: Let us suppose that Barack Obama wants to institute reparations for all African American citizens of $10million as compensation for the pain and suffering of their slave ancestors. Now, the country as a whole would probably view this as "too extreme". In order to make this proposal sound reasonable, he and his supporters would have to shift the Overton Window to a point which makes the proposal seem reasonable. They might highlight the plight of slaves in documentaries. They might have community organizing activities to try and shame those who do not support the proposal. They might try to stage violent outburst against African Americans who speak out for the proposal.

Over time these activities would have the effect of making the proposal for massive reparations not seem so extreme. Eventually the Window could shift enough that the proposal would become law with a majority of support in the nation.

That is the concept of the Overton Window.

Are we ready for the aftermath of a Terrorist Attack?

Peggy Noonan takes a look at the Department of Justice (DOJ)under Eric Holder and concludes here that we are not prepared.

Huh? When I think about possible resources that might be brought to bear after a terrorist attack, more lawyers from DOJ is not even on my list. Who is she kidding?

Here are my top 10 reasons why we are not prepared for a Terrorist Attack, Economic Collapse, or any other TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) event:

1. We have no personal plans to deal with this
2. Lack of transportation will styme us
3. A Grid-down situation will paralyze us
4. Most of us keep little cash on hand when ATM's, creditcards don't work
5. Most of us have no foodstocks on hand
6. Most of us have no water sources available other than the kitchen tap
7. Many of us are not prepared to defend ourselves, family, or property
8. Most of us have not stored any of the necessities of life
9. We are not mentally prepared for a TEOTWAWKI environment
10. We are paralyzed by sudden, new situations

If any of these apply to you, I would start working down the list to eliminate these items from my personal vulnerability list.

Plan on Keeping your Healthcare Plan? Nope!

As the graph from this article at Invester's Daily shows, it isn't too likely you are going to keep your plan no matter how much you like it.

So what does that mean? Well, your plan will be replaced with a Government approved plan. Either through your employer or through your own efforts. And your new Government approved plan will have all the socialist promises that Barack made to the country last year. Along with the new costs required to make those promises. Of, did he tell you your premium was going to go down? Are you employed? Then your premium is only headed one way: up!

So sorry, you know how it is. Liberals demand to be judged on their good intentions, no matter how those turn out. Unpopular consequences are always someone else's fault. Like,,,,,,,,Bush!!

A Story of Voters

A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing on the sidewalk in front of her home. Next to her was a basket containing a number of tiny creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.

Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her. Out of the lead car stepped a tall, grinning man.

"Hi there little girl, I'm President Obama. What do you have in the basket?" he asked.

"Kittens," little Suzy said.

"How old are they?" asked Obama.

Suzy replied, "They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."

"And what kind of kittens are they?"

"Democrats," answered Suzy with a smile.

Obama was delighted. As soon as he returned to his car, he called his PR chief and told him about the little girl and the kittens.

Recognizing the perfect photo op, the two men agreed that the president should return the next day; and in front of the assembled media, have the girl talk about her discerning kittens.

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS," when another motorcade pulled up, this time followed by vans from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.

Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up, then Obama got out of his limo and walked over to little Suzy.

"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."

"Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Republicans."

Taken by surprise, the president stammered, "But... but... yesterday, you told me they were DEMOCRATS."

Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know. But today, they have their eyes open"

Watch NY: a glimpse at our future?

New York state has been plagued by the stupidest governors in history. Of course, they did just take the office; they were elected........by the people.

Never mind: New York may be days from near total shutdown. What could that mean? Read it all here.

In part, "No one knows the full ramifications of a government shutdown," said Paterson. "It would create unimaginable chaos around the state and the greater metropolitan areas."

Such chaos includes closing all state parks, motor vehicles offices, courts, and even the lottery. Public assistance payments would not be made and unemployment payments might also be held up.

Read any account of TEOTWAWKI (The End of The World as We Know It) and it pretty much reads like this. What happens when "all the checks quit coming". These of course are the checks which prop up the unproductive classes with our money.

Sources said the next emergency bill from Paterson will have up to $350 million in cuts to human services and mental health. But Republicans, who could become Paterson's new allies in the budget battle, aren't satisfied with that.

They want $750 million in new cuts like:


*Delaying the 10 percent welfare grant increases

*Withholding welfare from those who don't comply with employment requirements

*Reducing the personal needs allowance of people in drug and alcohol programs

Wow! That's strong stuff! All those people getting those checks will be very mad.

And that my friends is how TEOTWAWKI starts.

Prepare.

Nope,,,,we won't defend our borders......

Oh no, to the contrary. In fact, the executive branch will send in the FBI to investigate another part of the executive branch in order to show Mexico that we are apologizing for even trying to secure our border against known smugglers.

Read it all here.

Notice how fast this administration can move to apologize for America? But see how slow they move on a real emergency that affect Americans, the oil spill in the Gulf?

Is one part of this their agenda? Is the other part just an annoyance?

Do we need a Balanced Budget Amendment? No!

There has been a lot of talk over the years about a Balanced Budget Amendment, for example, this article from the Heritage Foundation.

But as others point out, current Amendment proposals do not have the power or teeth to really solve the problems, see here for example.

Specifically, any budget resolution, Paygo, or Amendment that seeks to control spending bill, by bill, by department, whatever, probably will not work for two reasons;

1. Politicians will find a way around the limitations: heck, many lawmakers openly admit "we don't care about the Constitution".

2. You are trying to limit the spending of an organism whose nature is to grow. And it is already so big that snipping bits and pieces of spending here and there make no real progress against the whole.

What I believe we need is a truly radical solution: The Constitutional Federal Government Amendment.

The Constitutional Federal Government Amendment would simply say two things:

1. The Federal Government cannot spend money on those things not delegated to it by the original Constitution of the United States and Amendments thereto.

2. The Federal Government cannot raise taxes from the people of the country beyond those needed to fund its Constitutionally delegated responsibilities.

The point is, we need radical surgery to stop the hemorrhaging of spending that is sucking the vitality out of this country.

And we have the instructions on how to do that: it's called the Constitution of the United States of America.

On the Edge: will we tip over?????

Americans watch the union led riots in Greece and wonder could that debt-fueled anarchy come here? In this insightful NRO article, Michael Franc catalogs the things that are making more and more Americans uneasy; and they should be!

Some have been sounding the alarm about our government’s mounting debt for decades. In the past, they were generally dismissed as alarmists crying wolf.

A clear majority of Americans now expect our military might to fade over the next two decades, polls show.

By a three-to-one margin, they believe their children will inherit a country on a downward trajectory.

Nearly half say it is no longer possible for a person to work hard and become rich.

As President Obama said at Carnegie Mellon University this week, there is a growing “sense that the American dream might slowly be slipping away.”

If you are near your 50's you have seen this before: it was called the Jimmy Carter years. That story ended well as Ronald Reagan pulled us out of that malaise with his conservative agenda that put American back to work and back in the business of being a beacon of Freedom and Liberty and Economic Prosperity for the world to admire (or hate).

Is there such a white knight in shining armor on our horizon? If there is, you will not find that person in the old-line political parties. They are still locked in a fight with each other for power and prestige. They are not fighting for the Constitution or America.

Caught on video: Violent Tea Party Member...watch!

Watch it all here.

Hat Tip: Dean Lobs and Nan M

How many lawyers does it take to plug an oil leak?

In the news today, we read that President Obama is looking for some ASS to kick, here for example.

Never fear, he found the right tool, the Justice Department and its swarm of lawyers.......AS IF we need more lawyers here on the Gulf Coast. If you gave each lawyer a bucket and shovel, we could have this cleaned up in no time.

So what is Eric Holder and Company going to contribute to solving the mess? Read it all here.

The Obama administration has launched a criminal investigation and may prosecute BP and others for their roles in the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig disaster.

Very predictable but Stupid on several accounts;

1. Shall we throw the only folks who can stop this in jail?

2. Accidents will happen, so we are going to treat oil execs like we treat Doctors? Every accident is a crime?

3. Do you think that will make other oil companies risk averse?

4. Doesn't this expand the victim mentality of our culture?

President Obama, if you want some ass to kick, please try your own!

Friendly Reminder...........

Hat Tip: Susan R

Take Heed: 2011 will be a Rough Patch

Economic performance which to some folks shows a glimmer of hope right now (despite the horrible May jobs report), is likely to fall off the tracks into a double dip recession for 2011.

How do we know this? Simple, behavorial response to tax policy. Here is what is coming in your future. Read it all here.

On or about Jan. 1, 2011, federal, state and local tax rates are scheduled to rise quite sharply. President George W. Bush's tax cuts expire on that date, meaning that the highest federal personal income tax rate will go 39.6% from 35%, the highest federal dividend tax rate pops up to 39.6% from 15%, the capital gains tax rate to 20% from 15%, and the estate tax rate to 55% from zero. Lots and lots of other changes will also occur as a result of the sunset provision in the Bush tax cuts.

Tax rates have been and will be raised on income earned from off-shore investments. Payroll taxes are already scheduled to rise in 2013 and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) will be digging deeper and deeper into middle-income taxpayers. And there's always the celebrated tax increase on Cadillac health care plans. State and local tax rates are also going up in 2011 as they did in 2010. Tax rate increases next year are everywhere.

This will change people's behavior. For example, According to a 2004 U.S. Treasury report, "high income taxpayers accelerated the receipt of wages and year-end bonuses from 1993 to 1992—over $15 billion—in order to avoid the effects of the anticipated increase in the top rate from 31% to 39.6%. At the end of 1993, taxpayers shifted wages and bonuses yet again to avoid the increase in Medicare taxes that went into effect beginning 1994."

So, what is happening in 2010 and what will happen in 2011?

..... if people know tax rates will be higher next year than they are this year, what will those people do this year? They will shift production and income out of next year into this year to the extent possible. As a result, income this year has already been inflated above where it otherwise should be and next year, 2011, income will be lower than it otherwise should be.

Translation: the feeble gains for 2010 are due to income shifting into this year in anticipation of the tax laws of next year (and sham Census worker hiring).

Watch and prepare for an awful 2011!