Obama Afghan Speech

The Associated Press: Text of President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan

Overall a decent speech (I guess considering he drones on incessently most of the time), though blaming the previous administration is idiotic considering Obama’s waffling and delay in even making a decision about troops to Afghanistan. Sure Bush screwed up some, but Wonderboy hasn’t exactly done anything great either so…yeah.

To sum up the speech: 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and then start withdrawing in some 18 months or thereabouts. That’s all I really need to know, the rest is short shrift.

As an aside: The cynic in me notes a political ploy: trying to bring home troops from Iraq and Afghanistan before the 2012 elections. I honestly doubt that is going to happen even with SOFA in Iraq, but I could very well be wrong on that. And if it does happen will it be at the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan failing.

Futher summing up:

• “Legitimizing” Afghan President Karzai again after weeks of basically doing the opposite. Kinda like with Honduras’ new President that Chavez and his Bolivarian buddies are having cows about now that their man Zelaya has no legal recourse under any Honduran law to regain power.
• “we must rebuild our strength here at home,” Then stop taxing the citizenry to death, bailing out corporations, imposing socialist healthcare w/ prison sentences, trying to impose unions on the citizenry via CardCheck, crushing American businesses under the now questionable science of global warming via cap-and-trade and high taxes, destroying manufacturing, etc.
• “our prosperity provides a foundation for our power.” See above.
• “The nation I’m most interested in building is our own.” That’s the people’s job to do, not the government.
• I bet the Corps of Cadets was bored out of their collective skulls. They look bored. Polite, mind you, but never the less bored.

War Tax

The Point: Democrats Call for War Tax — Sphere News, Opinion and Analysis

Even though a War Tax is as likely to become reality as a cat discovering the secret to creating cold fusion, this does highlight the corrupt D.C. politicians and their mentality that the U.S. public are their play things, to be exploited, robbed, abused and tossed aside without consequence. Heaven for fend that they actually live with a budget let alone balance the budget and end pork barrel projects as a start to responsible fiscal governance.

Just another example of why all the pigs need to be thrown out in 2010.

Newsbits

Religious Leaders Unite Against Abortion and Same-Sex Unions – NYTimes.com

Just more hypocritical pandering, in my view. You can have your religion and your morality, but you have no right to use either to the detriment of others in a social system such as the United States that strives to give equal rights and protections to all Americans. You can’t demand to inject your religious beliefs into secular government but then cry foul when the secular government will no longer allow you to hide or justify your discriminatory behavior on religious grounds, especially given the history of oppression, repression, discrimination, and hatred espoused by some Christian sects. It just looks like a bunch of religious leaders trying to use scare tactics to mobilize people to their agenda. So I say to them what I say to the lefty neo-socialists: Go away. You’re not wanted. Americans are tired of extremism and extremists using our government to impose their agendas. Let people just live their lives without your holier than thou selves getting in the way.

Afghanistan and Obama

News from the future: 20 November 2020 Obama finally makes a decision to send troops to Afghanistan. j/k Though you’ve got to wonder if Obama knows the actual meaning of a “couple of weeks” when coming to a decision, given it’s been what, months now?

Obama below 50% in Polls

Gallup: Obama’s Approval Rating Has Slipped Below 50% – The Two-Way – Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR

This was inevitable given his bungling on numerous fronts, but most especially the economy and the fake “stimulus” bill and the even more fake “jobs created or saved” numbers.

The Associated Press: Dem slams Ariz. gov’s absence as session falters

“Why is she calling a special session and then leaving if they don’t have an agreement?” said House Minority Leader David Lujan, D-Phoenix, on Thursday. “Clearly everything wasn’t worked out.”

Exactly. And this lady thinks she’s going to get selected  as the GOP nominee for Governor next year? Ha! Arizonans are tired of obstructionists of all political stripes in this state. If a governor calls a special session, it is only reasonable to expect said governor to be available during the session, not else where.

DOA: Reid’s version of ObamaCare

CBO: Senate health plan to cost $849 billion – Health care reform- msnbc.com

All I see is more garbage from one of the top pigs in the Senate. Cut Medicare, raise taxes on everything and everyone else who strives for a decent life. Yeah, that’ll fix health care. /sarcasm Morons.

Senate Democrats Unveil Health Bill for 31 Million People – NYTimes.com

The so called health care plan still has too many unacceptable provisions:

1. Taxing “Cadillac” plans.
2. Increasing Medicare payroll tax.
3. Increased individual tax that are not indexed for inflation.
4. Cutting Medicare.
5. Increase tax on big Pharma. Sounds good, except that the Obama administration cut a deal with Big Pharma to protect them from foreign competition and generics. So guess what? That’s right, you get to pay more for medicine as the drug companies simply pass the cost of the tax on to the people.
6. Going after health plan executives individual compensation. May sound good except it sets the dangerous precent of the government interfering in compensation. Consider that this sets the precedent that the government can mandate how much any money any individual in this nation can make. Do you really want to live in a de facto communist “economic” system? This is just another step towards the idiotic socialist notion of redistribution of wealth.
7. Taxing medical device manufacturers.
8. Tax increase on cosmetic surgery. Does this also apply to cosmetic surgery related to accident recovery such as burn victims, breast cancer survivor reconstructive surgeries and war veterans disfigured by battlefield injuries?
9. “Opt out” for states. Should this not be “opt in” instead? Let it prove itself with one or two states first and then spread from there. Oh wait, they can’t do that because they know it will not work. It’s not about health care reform, it’s about power.
10.  Mandatory requirement to buy insurance or be penalized (i.e. fined and jailed). I will oppose this. I do no bow to threats by anyone, especially the government. Besides how can you reconcile point 9 and 10 and still have equality under the law? Simple: you don’t. So either the entire system dies out as every state withdraws or the Federal Government imposes the mandate on the states. I’ll let you guess which way our little neo-socialists in Congress will go.

You can read it, all 2,000+ pages, for yourself if you like: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Just another scam, America. Don’t fall for it.

Newbits

The Administration has decided to try captured terrorists in New York as criminal cases. Don’t see how the logic of someone caught on the battlefield can be tried in a civilian court. But then, this administration is clueless (or willfully ignorant) about many things, such as thinking terrorism does not exists; it’s just man-made disasters. /sarcasm

GOP Ending Abortion Coverage

Where were these wing nuts complaints for the past decade? It’s called being hypocritical.

Besides true Republicans (at least Constitutional ones) know the Federal Government has no business interfering in such a personal issue whether they agree with it or not. I can’t say I’m surprised though that the corrupt leadership of the GOP is suddenly now concerned after the truth came out while religious conservative continue their war to impose their beliefs on everyone else.

They are just as bad as the equally corrupt Democrats when it comes to their dictatorial statist ideologies. That’s why I kind of like the term Republocrat to describe both of these corrupted entities.

Grocery Striker Averted…for now

The Associated Press: Arizona grocery strike averted with tentative deal

Any one who strikes in a right to work state like Arizona during a recession are idiots. Not that the businesses are saints, but I suspect the union bosses seemed to realize a sizable number of their membership did not want to strike and were more reasonable with their demands. In the end neither the businesses or the union bosses really care about the workers. It’s about their respective profits.

Pelosi: “Very Fair” to Imprison For Not Buying Heath Insurance

Ah the twisted logic of the fruitloop, Nancy Pelosi:

Stone: Do you think it’s fair to send people to jail who don’t buy health insurance?

Pelosi: … The legislation is very fair in this respect.

Well, that is if she has even has a smidgen of logic, in the first place. Ironically those who  end up in Pelosi’s Gulag will get “free” (read: tax payer paid) health care. She’s obviously deranged as is any who support the idea that not buying insurance makes you a criminal on par with drunk drivers, tax cheats, fraudsters, etc.

I wonder how “very fair” she and her insane ilk will think it is when they’re run out of officer? Trust me when I say there are many who will defy ObamaCare just on this insane provision alone should the pigs on the Hill somehow pass it. I doubt it will pass legal or Constitutional scrutiny if it were to pass anyway.

If nothing else I’m glad to see a number of people (sans Pelosi and her crew) starting to take seriously this issue of imprisonment for not obeying an illegal and unconstitutional government order to buy a government approved product. And they seem to be getting what the “health care” plan is really about: power and control.

Pigs On The Hill: Toss ‘em in the trough

The Kick Them All Out Project  I’m in general agreement with this group: throw the pigs out!

VoteAllIncumbentsOut.org – Vote All Incumbents Out

Pelosi bill: Jail for no insurance – The Hill’s Pundits Blog

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation reported that the House version of the healthcare bill specifies that those who don’t buy health insurance and do not pay the fine of about 2.5 percent of their income for failing to do so can face a penalty of up to five years in prison!

The bill describes the penalties as follows:

• Section 7203 — misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 — felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

As noted later in the article, the Federal Government has no constitutional authority to impose mandatory insurance or penalties. I bet there are hundreds of lawyers just salivating at the chance to take this bill on should it become law. People may hate lawyers but we’ll need them to stop these insane ideas in the courts. Besides no one fears the lepers of the IRS anymore. No, people hate them with a vengeance that will be unleashed if they even think of trying to enforce this.

But then Ms Pelosi and her ilk haven’t a clue about what is constitutional or not as evidenced by:

CNSNews.com – When Asked Where the Constitution Authorizes Congress to Order Americans To Buy Health Insurance, Pelosi Says: ‘Are You Serious?’

CNSNews.com: “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?”

Pelosi: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”

CNSNews.com: “Yes, yes I am.”

Pelosi then shook her head before taking a question from another reporter. Her press spokesman, Nadeam Elshami, then told CNSNews.com that asking the speaker of the House where the Constitution authorized Congress to mandated that individual Americans buy health insurance as not a “serious question.”

A question is a question Madam Speaker. But then I already knew she was a complete ignoramus and arrogant to boot. She’s part of the pigs in Congress who think they are above the law, sneer at the Constitution, dismiss the Bill of Rights as irrelevant and meaningless, and believes any who question her and her fellow whack jobs are nothing more than “mobs” and un-American.

Of course she trotted out the overly used and abused Commerce Clause. The Commerce Clause is in regards to interstate (between states) commerce, not intrastate (within state) commerce. After all her precious bill specifically prohibits interstate commerce with regards to health care. Another point is that the Commerce Clause refers to economic activity (e.g. commerce) so can not be applied to economic inactivity, hence you can not mandate purchasing or goods and/or services. So yeah, unconstitutional no matter how you look at it. Ordering Americans to buy good and services with their own money or face punitive taxation and imprisonment? Not constitutional, let alone setting a dangerous precedent of tyrannical government control. What happens the next time a car company gets into trouble? According to Pelosi and the Pigs on the Hill thinking it’s simple: the government simply orders people to buy cars from that company or go to prison whether they want it or can afford it.

House Passes ObamaCare 220-215

House Passes Sweeping Healthcare Overhaul – NYTimes.com

Now let it die in the Senate (Or have the individual state’s kill it through nullification like Arizona is planning. It’s better than resorting to seccession.), take the names of the fools who voted for it and throw them out of office in 2010. Fair warning I won’t obey it should it some how pass in the senate and become law.  So they can take their taxes and socialized medicine and stick it up the collective asses.

I won’t comment on other Arizona representatives because those aren’t the district I live in so it’s up to those citizens to decide whether their Representative did the right thing to not. Not so for me in AZ District 4. Of course the asshat Pastor (D-AZ4) voted for it because he’s a useless Obamazombie more interested in buttkissing his DNC masters and selling out the country to illegals than doing what’s best for the nation and his constituents in Arizona by, oh i don’t know, REPRESENTING them. He’s just made me a into an enemy of  any policy he supports, not just an opponent, an enemy. There’s nothing he can do or propose that will ever get me back on his side on any issue, even on one I agree with hom on. He has proven he is incapable of making decisions in the best interest of the people.

I’m fed up with these arrogant pieces of shit thinking they can continue destroying this country with their corruption, rape, and pillaging of the citizens of this nation.

No more! No mas!

Honestly, for the first time in my life I’m actually considering becoming a  U.S. ex-pat. I just can’t stand to see the country I grew up in and love crumble and fall apart around me as the corrupt pigs in all levels of government reap huge profit at the expense of everyone else. Worse, I don’t see anyone even really trying to stop them. So what’s the point of staying in a nation where apparently so many want to throw away their livelihoods and freedoms away for a bunch of arrogant, loud mouthed greedy pigs who don’t give a shit about any one but themselves. All I know is that if ObamaCare becomes law, I will leave America as soon as I can for it won’t be the great nation I grew up and live in. It’ll be nothing but a socialist statist wasteland, a mere slip of a shadow of its former self.

AZ Election Results

Official results won’t be until Friday but here are some of the obvious and expected results.

In Phoenix, Sal DiCiccio won a runoff with Dana Kennedy for District 6 and Bill Gates won District 3 for City Council seats. Congratulations to both. Now help get our city’s budget under control.

Budget overrides passed in Mesa, Scottsdale Unified, and Paradise Valley school districts. Higley defeated their override.

Unfortunately for me Osborn overrides were approved, much to my disgust. At least Phoenix Union’s override was defeated. I wouldn’t mind so much if the schools were half decent and not so extremely hostile to the residents who don’t have children and businesses of the district. That and the kids seem to be dumber than stumps when you ask them a simple question.

The problem is we have so many ignorant people in the city that  are convinced throwing money on a failing system will some how fix it. It won’t. They’re going to continue to drive away tax paying property owners with the constant budget overrides. Get a budget and stay on that budget. Period. If you can’t afford it, then cut the useless programs that have the least benefit to the kids like bilingual education for K-6. How about larger class sizes until the tax base improves when the economy gets better. I was in large class sizes and went on to become an engineer so I don’t buy into the class size equate success crap being tossed around by lazy school officials.

Honestly, the system needs to change. It’s unsustainable and driving away businesses, jobs, and residents with each new increase or extension of taxes for which people see no gain. Perhaps a tuition system needs to be put into place or a pay-go plan that seem to be the love of so many politicians now. But perhaps most importantly we need administrators and teachers who will do their jobs and hold themselves, parents, and kids accountable for their failures. Get the basics fixed first for a solid educational foundation and everything else will naturally build upon that.

Politics and Health “Care”

Fair warning that I’m pretty pissed at the garbage going on in our country and I make my displeasure pretty clear in this post.

Well as wel all know the Tuesday elections came and went. Not surprisingly the GOP ousted two Democrats, largely due to their corruption and/or inability to govern. The elimination of corrupt or ineffective officials I applaud. I’m also pleased to see the Conservative Party candidate lost in New York. The Conservative Party’s hardline agenda is not what this country needs and pushing further to the right will only guarantee their failure in the future, as was the case in NY when they effectively forced out a moderate.

But then you have clueless asshats in the GOP trying to say moderates are the problem, so obviously the Republican Party is on the continuing path to failure. Maybe if these idiots would adopt moderate views, the American people wouldn’t view the party in general with such contempt.

Steele to GOP-ers Who Support Health Care, Stimulus: ‘We’ll Come After You’ | TPM LiveWire

And it’s stupid statements like this that continue to destroy America. Morons like Steele, Palin, Pelosi, Reid and their ilk think they can take over their political parties and cram their views on the moderate public. They simply don’t friggin’ get it that Americans are tired of the crap both parties are slinging. Americans don’t want Christian right-wing nutbags forcing their religious social agenda on them anymore than they want the neo-socialist agenda of the looney leftwingers. They just don’t get that Americans are tired of being screwed over by corrupt government officials who don’t care one bit about this country beyond how they can dominate it and profit for themselves and their associates.

America is moderate whether the conservative or liberals like it or not. They better get used to that fact as it seems the American people have finally woken up and realized just how manipulative and corrupt our government has become. Will it amount to anything? I don’t know, but I do know people are pissed and spoiling for a fight against those who think they have the right to interfere with people’s lives, bailing out companies with the American people’s money, tax them without consultation, attack their constitutional rights, chase away jobs, refuse to enforce “inconvenient” laws like immigration, and trying to impose sweeping legislation that will cripple their ability to have a high standard of living and quality of life let alone pursue that quality.

Pelosi pushing for a vote on health care reform on Saturday. Fortunately whether it passes or not it’s likely to die on two separate fronts: the Senate and the State’s now starting to invoke nullification measures that should they pass guarantee the federal laws become useless paper tigers.

Not surprisingly Obama Announces Endorsements for Health Care Bill – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com. That was a given. But I bet his showing up had more to with propagandizing than anything else given the Health-care protest at Capitol draws thousands – washingtonpost.com. He’s so full of himself it’s pathetic. He sees someone dare express a differing opinion and he has to grandstand. Whiner. Go do something like make an actual decision on Afghanistan.

Provisions of the so called health care bill (H.R. 3692) that are unacceptable to me:

• Create a new government insurance plan. Government funded means government control. You don’t let the foc guard the henhouse or a bakrobber guard a bank, right?
• Create government funded coops. If the government insurance plan is so wonderful, why the need for coops? Obviously a scam to take over 1/6 the U.S. economy.
• Adult up to age 27 can stay on their parent plan. No, they’re adults. They need to act like it and take responsibility for themselves not burden their parents. This one smells like a pathetic ploy to buy off the youth vote. Th same youth who will ultimately be screwed over the most when they inherit a destroyed medical systems rife with greed, graft, corruption, and over billing in a decade or so on top of unbearable taxes from all the other tax and spend programs being pushed by Obama.
• Individuals required to obtain healthcare coverage or taxed 2.5% penalty tax. I’m not property so F-off. Should this legislation become law I will defy it just on that principle alone.
• Employers required to pay 72.5% of premium for individuals and 65% families. Why? This one stinks on several counts: screwing over families, screwing over businesses, setting the stage to allow companies to interfere in personal lives under the juxtaposition of lowering their health costs, and ultimately driving everyone into a government system as companies decide they can’t afford to pay anymore. I won’t even get into the loss in jobs that will likely occur. Especially given the payroll tax on those not providing insurance i smuch less than the cost of those who follow the requirements.
• Imposing punative taxes on the wealthy ($500,000+/yr individuals, $1 million+/yr on couples). You do something innovative and become successful the Obama government is going to punish you.
• Imposing 2.5% tax on medical devices. You know things like diagnostic equipment, surgical instruments, catheters, pacemakers, etc. Things that make it possible to get quality treatment. Things that make can make people productive citizens where otherwise they would not be. Basically punishing people because they get ill or injured while crippling the medical professionals capabilties to give quality care. Better start saving for your “medical vacation” if this passes, because you won’t be getting quality treatment in the United States afterwards. I hear Bangkok is good and affordable. Maybe Costa Rica too.
• Expand Medicaid coverage, which sounds good and normally I’d support. The problem is that Medicaid is already going bankrupt so adding more people will only hasten its demise further screwing over the American people, particularly the elderly.
• Reduce Medicare Advantage program. Another screwing over of the elderly who can afford better than simple Medicare.
• Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. With whom? Big Pharma had been essentially given monopoly over the U.S. by the Obama administration earlier this year with guarantees to stop foreign or generic drugs. Monopolies don’t negotiate. They’ll do just enough to buy off their pet legislators and try to dupe the American people with false advertising into thinking everything is fine. That or try to blame…wait for it…wait for it….you got it…the insurance industry.

I’m certain that lying, useless, waste of space Respresentative from AZ-4 will vote for it. And I hope he gets his ass handed to him in the 2010 elections for being such a sellout. If nothing else I’m certain this dumbass bill will guarantee Arizona’s nullification efforts will be successful and leave the Feds unable to do anything about it.

On the flip side the G.O.P.’s pathetic offering was only mildly more tolerable in that it doesn’t resort to ordering people that have to have insurance or be taxed in addition not taxing everything in existence. It’s problem was that would do practically nothing to get more people insured, wouldn’t stop denials, and would limit malpractice awards even when such awards and punitive damages are genuinely warranted. Basically they allow the status quo to continue. That is equally unacceptable as Pelosi and Obama’s extreme neo-socialist plans.

And in closing, if you believe that unemployment is only 9.9% as the Fed is likely to claim tomorrow, consider this: the Fed claims about 500,000 new unemployment claims a week. Those numbers don’t jive when you do the math. That’s not even going into the people currently unemployed or dropped off the roles, just new claims. That’s probably why the Legislature passed legislation Extending Jobless Benefits and Home Credits – NYTimes.com.

But let’s be even more honest here. The real unemployment rate which counts all unemployed not just those on the government roles at something like 17% per the Bureau of Labor statistics. You don’t see the MSM going on about that do you? You can even check it youself: Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization (Note that on several occasions the database came back with an error, fyi, supposedly to update the information. Maybe that 17% will change, but I’ll be highly suspicious if it does change drastically.)