Super Committee Fails, Democrats Declare Victory

Well, no surprise on this one.

Leaders of the Super Committee have declared that they are at an impasse, and no deal will happen on the required defecit reduction prior to the Thanksgiving deadline.

Republicans stuck to their stance that the majority of the deficit reductions must come from spending cuts.

Democrats wouldn't budge, the deficit reductions must come from tax increases on 'the rich'.

As I've said before, this was doomed before it even started, and it was doomed by design.

Democrats are jumping for joy in victory, even if you don't see it publicly. The automatic spending cuts that their failure will trigger will fall mainly on the Pentagon, devestating our military - exactly what they wanted.

Republicans in the Senate and House are already working on alternative legislation to keep the automatic cuts in Defense from happening. It will pass the House and might even pass the Senate - there are some Democrats in states with heavy Defense industries that might actually stand up for their constituents.

However, Obama has already come out and publicly declared he will veto any attempt to stop or modify the automatic cuts.

What is sad is that this whole exercise happened at all. It was a sham, at least from the Democrat side. They get to claim they came to the negotiating table, and Republicans obstructed their efforts to reach a bi-partisan compromise. That's absolute horseshit, but they will certainly be claiming it, and the mainstream media will be helping them to do so. A wonderful by-product for them is they get to see our armed forces cut off at the knees.

Here is how this disaster gets averted - Republicans win both houses of Congress and the White House in November, and roll back the automatic cuts (along with Obamacare and a dozen other disasters His Highness has managed to shackle us with).

NASCAR's Perfect Day

This is how a championship should be decided.

Last race of the season. The two contenders running first and second for the last 50 laps, the guy who finishes in front of the other wins not only the race, but the season long championship.

It is not decided by parts failure, gas mileage, or someone else's wreck. It is decided by two drivers who drove their hearts out, in brilliantly prepared machines.

The two of them end up tied in the points for the championship, it is awarded on a non-controversial tie-breaker. Very cool.

I really wanted Carl Edwards to win. Ford. Roush. Nice guy. Didn't happen.

I don't mind Tony Stewart winning. Owns his own car and team. Speaks his mind. Hell of a race car driver. Not Jimmy Johnson.

I cannot remember another championship in any form of sport that had a more perfect finish.

Hey RNC - Back Off!

My recently departed mother made a few contributions to her local Republican electoral candidates in her home town. As the manager of her estate, I now see the results of these small donations in the mailbox.

Her name was added to the Republican National Committee's database of donors, and apparently passed along to several other Republican related organizations. OK, I can understand that.

What I don't approve of, and am pissed off at the RNC about, is the heavy handed nature of their constant badgering her for more money.

In the past few months, I have received a dozen or more mailings addressed to her from the RNC. Here are descriptions of some of the more interesting ones:


'Appointment Confirmation - Immediate Response Requested'

"Dear Ms. xxxxx. You know that your membership in the RNC is LAPSED. You have received notice after notice asking you to renew, but you have not. ... Ms. xxxxx, you have had many opportunities to renew your support for the RNC during the past few months. But I am not giving up on you. ...."

signed by the Chairman of the RNC, Reince Priebus


'PAST DUE'

A bill shaped letter addressed to my mother, with the words PAST DUE stamped in large red letters on the outside. Inside, something that appears to be a bill, titled "Republican National Committee, 2011 Septemter Statement".


'2011 GOP Presidential Straw Poll'

A two sided flyer, 2/3 of which is dedicated to how much are you going to dontate to the RNC in order to register for the straw poll.


'2012 Presidential Leadership Survey'

A four page foldout, made to look like a survey form. "This DOCUMENT IS REGISTERED to the individual named below, and must be accounted for." If you wish to participate in this 'survey' you get to choose how much your donation will be.


In addition, mailings from other conservative or Republican sounding organizations keep showing up, all asking for money.

I have tried to contact the RNC three times through their website, to get her name removed from their database. First, because she's no longer with us. Second, I don't want them to waste money sending stuff that will not be answered. And third, I am really pissed off at their pushy tactics towards their donors.

Mr. Priebus - I am a dedicated conservative Republican. However, the RNC will not get a single dime from me as long as you are leading the RNC, and while the RNC is using these kinds of bullshit strongarm demands to try and gain donations. Instead, if I choose to donate it will be directly to the candidate(s) of my choice. Trust me, sir - you are not helping to energize the Repubican voters this way.

Prime Example of Why We Need Tax Reform

During a town hall meeting recenly, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) cited GE as an example of why we need serious reform to our tax code. He stunned the crowd with the following details:

GE's reported income for last year was $14,000,000,000. Through the use of loopholes in the tax code, deductions provided for by law, and preferential treatment from the government in the form of tax credits, GE paid no taxes on that income.

Everything GE did was apparently legal. GE's management performed their jobs by maximizing the company's profit and shareholder returns. They did nothing wrong.

Why isn't the Obama Administration attacking GE as a 'rich' tax evader? Why isn't His Highness referring to them in every speech he makes about his desire for wealth redistribution? It's simple - GE's upper management has made a very smart decision to suck up to Obama and his agenda. His policies have no bigger corporate cheerleader than GE. As a result, GE avoids criticism of its 'rich' status, no one is attacking their lack of paying taxes, and it continues to benefit from billions of dollars in government contracts. Smart business.

If GE had paid taxes of, say, 20% on their profits last year, that would have been almost $3,000,000,000 added to the Treasury.

BTW - GE's tax return, if it had been filed on actual paper, would have been 57,000 pages long!

United Perversion of Benetton

Benetton, an Italian clothing company I have no interest in, has a long history of trying to generate interest in their products by producing controversial ads. However, their latest campaign hits a new low mark for disgusting.

Multiple digital hacked images of world leaders kissing each other. Sick, stupid, and it has no purpose other than to get the company in the news. On that count, its working.

Anyone who has read this blog knows what I think of our current President. No matter what my thoughts about the man himself, this is an intolerable insult to the Office.

I call for an immediate and complete boycott of all things Benetton. I will have no personal effect on this, since I have never, and never will, purchase any of their product.

Very Concerned About 2012

The closer we get to the elections of 2012, the more apprehensive I get about what will happen. A few months ago, it seemed a lock that no matter who the Republicans nominated, they would wax the floor with Obama. Republican control of both houses of Congress seemed assured.

Now, not so much, for four main reasons.

First, the Republican nomination process, although still far from decided, has left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people. A few missteps, combined with a rabid determination by the mainstream media to destroy anyone that poses a threat to Obama has minimized the potential candidates.

Cain had no chance, no matter what the poles stated. Even before the manufactured sexual harrassment crap, the initial excitement of his freshness was wearing off. No matter his message, he simply doesn't have the credentials to hold the office, and that was becomming apparent. Cain should have a future in a Republican Administration - he's a hell of a lot more knowledgable about the realities of finance than most of the idiots occupying Obama's cabinet, that's for sure.

Perry came on with a flash, but his debate performances have been bad - no doubt about it. Will Republicans be so put off by his lack of polish that they ignore the fact he's the most qualified candidate? Time will tell. You would think that an electorate that has seen how much you can count on a slickster behind a teleprompter would be smarter than that. Perry has run the most successful state in the Union for a dozen years. Texas is the envy of almost every other state, and a whole hell of a lot of people have moved here to benefit from that. Is he perfect - Of course not. But he's a lot better than the other Republican candidates, and light years ahead of the moron currently in the White House.

Romney is the default candidate. He will be the nominee if no one else is left standing. He's no one's first choice. The good things about him are he is very presentable, and he is a completely known quantity. The bad things are he is not a conservative by any definition of the word. If he is indeed the nominee, it will be difficult for Republicans to generate excitement over it. Also, as bad as it is to realize this, his Faith will be an issue in the general election to a sizable number of voters.

Gingrich is showing more lives than a cat. He is a puzzle. Sometimes, he is one of the most brillian political minds in our country's history. Other times, he can't get his shoe out of his own mouth. Resurgent in the poles after having his candidacy declared dead more than once, he is bound to step in it again before the convention. He will not be the nominee. If for some reason he is, Democrats will tear him apart during the general election process on his character issues - deserved or not.

Everyone else is just jockeying for the political payoff their endorsement for one candidate will bring them. (Except Ron Paul, whose ego just likes to see him make an ass of himself every 4 years.)

It is too late for anyone else to successfully enter the race. What we've got to choose from is what we've got. The biggest key to the White House next year is going to be whether the supporters of the losing candidates fall in behind the winner, and make him their candidate. If they get pissed off at their guy/gal not being the chosen one and take their toys home, the election is lost.

What Republicans MUST realize, and must be made to realize by all the candidates even after the choice is made, is that getting Obama out of the White House is the overriding mission. No matter who the Republican is, that person will be a marked improvement. 4 more years of His Highness is not something our country can survive - it is that important to return him to private life!!!!

Second, the Democrat spin machine is already moving into high gear. We are flooded with reports of economic recovery, better jobs outlook, and Obama's success in ending two wars. There is no recovery - if we keep going the way we are being led, there iwll be no recovery. The jobs situation is not better - just because the number of NEW unemployed people dropped below 400,000 last month does not mean the economy is adding jobs. Folks, that means that about 400,000 people are losing their jobs each month - according to the government's own figures. Those figures are monkeyed with constantly, with the goal to get the overall unemployed rate under 9.00%. Almost every month you see a revision to the number of lost jobs released a few days after the 'official' release - and the figure is always revised upwards. The first, better, figure is what the media reports. The Obama Administration is trying every dirty trick they can to keep that number down - counting phantom jobs, counting part time jobs, underreporting jobless claims, etc. They know that no President has eve been reelected with an unemployement rate this high.

This spin is going to increase as we progress thorugh early 2012 and into campaign season. If you listen to the mainstream media next summer, you will think that the country's situation is great. It's a lie, a coordinated lie intended to fool the public into believing Obama's policies are beginning to work, and if we just give him 4 more years, we'll be back stronger than we ever have been.

Third - about half of the country is directly benefiting from Obama's policies. They love the message that His Higness spits out - the rich should provide you everything you need. Never mind that is impossible, even if every penny the rich ever have is redistributed. Never mind that if the rich are robbed to the point where they aren't rich, where will the money come from then? Never mind that the left is trying its best to create an entitlement state, where each citizen or non-citizen depends upon the government handouts.

If you have a President who tells you that he will give you whatever you need, and some rich person you don't know is going to pay for it all, you'd be pretty happy with that President, wouldn't you? Of course you would, at least until you start to realize that it was all a line of bullshit - and even then you'd believe his lies about what's causing the delays in their checks.

You also have a good number of brain dead people who voted for Obama in 2008 because he was black, or because they thought it was cool, who will do so again.

Fourth - The conservative wave that swept through Congress in 2010 has done what it could to stop Obama. Unfortunately, pretty much all they could do was stop him, because Dems still had the Senate, and he still has the veto pen. Republicans have been unable to fix anything, because the Senate refuses to any legislation passed by the Republican controlled House to become law.

Democrats are already portraying Republicans as the party of NO. The guys who just stand in the way and don't accomplish anything. Never mind that it is all they've been able to do.

What happened in 2010 is unlikely to reoccur in 2012. It is by no means a given that Republicans will gain control of the Senate, and some Democrats are even now predicting they will regain the House.

It is essential for Republicans to maintain the House, and gain the Senate if they have any possibility of reversing what Obama has done to us. If they only have one side of Congress, we will continue in virtual gridlock. If they have both sides of Congress, but lose the White House, Obama will veto any attempt to roll back his destruction.

As important as the sweeping change of 2010 was, 2012 is a whole lot more critical to the survival of our country. What seemed like a certain victory just a few months ago seems a little less certain each day we get closer to November 2012.

They Just Couldn't Help Themselves

The left wing goobers over at the LA Times can't report a single thing without trying to put a liberal slant on it ...

In a report on the formation of a huge iceberg in Antarctica, they make the follwing statements:

"The formation of an iceberg is called calving, and although it's a fairly regular event - probably unrelated to global warming - scientists are awaiting this one with considerable anticipation. Icebergs this big calve off only about once every 10 years."

They take two scientific facts - the formation of an iceberg - icebergs this size are born about every 10 years - and manages to intertwine a reference to global warming.

Global warming, the man-made variety that is supposedly ending our planet, has reportedly been around for how many years? A couple of decades? I can say with a pretty large amount of certainty that there were large icebergs formed before 1990 ...

The new 'berg is a massive amount of ice about to break off the Pine Island Glacier, on the western edge of Antarctica. When it finally breaks free, it will measure about 308 square miles in surface area.

The Pine Island Glacier has been producing large 'bergs for much longer than man has been on Earth. And yet, somehow, these weasels find a way to interject a political agenda into a simple factual report.

This Isn't A Surprise, II

As expected, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving Obamacare. As I undersatand it, the chosen case is the one put forth by Virginia, challenging the constitutionality of the law. A Federal Appeals Court ruled in favor of Virginia, which was immediately appealed by Obama's DoJ.

The case is to be heard in the March time frame. A decision is expected in June/July. The court has set aside a whopping 5.5 hours for arguments - which is a very small time period, but is actually lengthy in comparison to other Supreme Court cases. 1.5 hours of that is dedicated to arguments over whether finding one part of the law unconstitutional would void the entire law. Personally, I think putting an arbitrary time limit on what can be presented is bullshit, given the enormity of the issue. I mean, one sixth of our economy and our very way of life hangs in the balance, and these folks can't even put in a full day on it?

Heavy lobbying is going on by both sides currently. The left wants Clarence Thomas to recuse himself, because of hiw wife's ties to a lobbying group. The right wants Elena Kagan to recuse herself, since she was the White House's lawyer while Obamacare was being drafted and passed, and was seen publicly cheering when it passed. Either of these two recusing themselves will decide the case before it is even heard. If they both recuse themselves, the balance of power is unaffected.

When all is said and done, the issue, as I've said before, will likely come down the vote of one judge - one who is such a loose cannon no one can predict where he's going to land on any given issue. It is also likely to come down what the Court decides is the definition of 'tax'.

The Obama Administration furiously fought against any mention of Obamacare, specifically the individual mandate, being a tax, while the law was being being shoved through Congress. As soon as it passed, their tact changed - suddenly it could be called a tax, because that would give the Administration the argument that because it is a tax, then Congress has the power to levy it. Nowhere in the Obamacare bill is the word 'tax' mentioned. There are penalties and fines discussed, but not TAX.

Either side who thinks this is a slam dunk decision for their stance is engaging in some very wishful thinking. I know what this decision should be, but I don't have any idea if that decision will be made.

I also don't know what will happen in the aftermath. If the ruling goes against Obama, will he and Dem leadership in Congress abide by it, or will they just ignore it? If the law is ruled unconstitutional, does that instantly invalidate the law, or does Congress have to go back and specifically rescind it? If the ruling favors Obama, Republicans options are very limited. The only thing they can do is hope that they win both houses of Congress and the White House, in order to craft legislation repealing Obamacare. If they don't win all three, they will have to try to cut pieces of Obamacare off by cutting funding here and there - which will ultimately fail if Obama sits there with the veto pen.

An Open Letter to National Charities

I am addressing this open letter to all National Charities, especially those that use compensated, professional fund raisers.

"If you have a professional solicitor placing calls for you to try and encourage donations, be warned - YOU'RE NOT GETTING A PENNY FROM ME!

Recently, a profesional solicitor placed 6 calls to my residence over a 48 hour period, two of which were after 9:00pm. The number was not blocked, but there was no ID. Normally, I do not answer calls like this, I let them hit VM. Of course, these folks didn't leave any message. After 4 calls, I tried to call the number - just a busy signal. On the 5th call, I picked it up, because I was tired of my phone ringing. The person correctly identified himself as a professional fund raiser for the National Kidney Foundation. I told him I couldn't help him, and asked to be put on the do not call list. Before I could get 'call list' out of my mouth, he had hung up on me.

The 6th call I answered, and ripped into the lady. I explained the previous call and what happened, demanded to be put on the do not call list. She said she would, but offered no apology or explanation.

I have not received another call from these people, so either they entered a note in their system on my phone number, or they did indeed put me on 'the list'.

I have three points to make.

First, I will not pay a professional fundraiser anything. I give to the charities of my choice directly, without paying an unknown percentage to some middleman's phone bank.

Second, if a charity is using a rude, pushy pro to try and drum up donations, you are barking up the wrong tree. Not only will you not get anything from that call, the person receiving the call is very likely to NEVER give your charity anything in the future.

Third (and completely unrelated to the phone call, but I'm going to mention it here anyway), if I see in the news that your President, officers, or employees are making large salaries, don't expect me to give you anything. I see no reason to give my money to an organization that pays its head people in multi-6 digit salaries.

In these days of tight budgets, lousy economy, and millions of unemployed, charities are scrambling to get donations. If you are pissing off the people you are asking to give you money, trust me - you are not helping yourselves!"

Veterans Day Message From Your C-inC

During his comments commemorating Veterans Day from Arlington National Cemetary, His Highness let slip this little goodie:

"Over the next 5 years, over one million service members will be transitioning back to civilian life."

The mainstream media will be harping about this, how all the folks who have been fighting for our country won't be at war anymore. Peace, we're abandoning Iraq and Afghanistan, the whole world will love us, we don't need a military.

There's a more serious message there for our military members. Whether he meant to slip it in, or it was just a Freudian slip, I don't know ...

If the Dems are successful at destroying the Pentagon's budget, many folks who are employed (either full time or part time) by the military will be out of a job. The sad fact is many soldiers returning from combat will be told thank you, there's no place for you now, you are now unemployed. Members of the Guard and Reserves who count on their part time service as part of their income will find that their positions have been eliminated. The drawdowns have already started, and the big budget axe hasn't even fallen yet.

Not to mention all the civilian employees of the military, and the thousands upon thousands of people who work in the defense industry who are going to find themselves without a job.

Update - The Army has announced the elimination of 8700 civilian jobs by the end of FY 2012, mandated by budget cuts. It is hoped that most of these can be accomplished through early retirements and normal attrition. The cuts will affect installations in 37 states.

The Army is also facing a mandated reduction in force (RIF) of 27,000 soldiers by 2015.

Update - An estimated 1,500,000 people will be put out of work over the next 10 years due to budget cuts in the Defense Department, according to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. These comprise 800,000 military members, 200,00 civilian employees of the Defense Department, and about 400,000 workes in the Defense industry.

Democrats and the Sham of Super Committee

Democrats on the Congressional deficit reduction Super Committee have left the negotiating table, and are refusing to speak with Republicans on the committee.

Why?

Two reasons, both of which I have written about before.

First, and foremost, Democrats want this as a campaign issue. Even before Super Committee meetings began, Democrat leadership in the House and Senate publicly scolded their Republican opponents for being inflexible, and unwilling to negotiate. In an almost daily diatribe, all we heard in the mainstream press was some Dem talking head complaining that Republicans would not talke about increasing revenue, that all they wanted was to punish the poor and reward the rich. What bullshit!

Democrats want to be able to harp on this throughout the 2012 campaign to get Obama reelected, and they sincerely hope to retake control of the House and retain the Senate. Aided by the media, they will try very hard to convince the undecided voters that Republicans are the bad guys, the reason we are in this mess, and the only reason we can't get out of the mess.

Second, Democrats are salivating at the idea of the mandatory cuts that will take place, by law, if the Super Committee is unsuccessful. Every liberal's wet dream is to see our military castrated. The mandatory cuts would eviscerate the Pentagon's budget, and devestate our military capability for a decade or more.

So, Democrats never had any intention of being serious about the Super Committee, except in their intention to twist it and sabotage it for political gain.

Disgusting.

Update - Even as Republicans on the committee are making honest efforts at compromise (offering tax reforms and some hikes), Democrats continue to blow smoke up our asses. Their latest attempt - they want to count 'anticipated savings' from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the largest portion of the spending cuts that will be required to meet the committee's target. Those 'savings' will not be saved (in other words, NOT SPENT), instead being made available for spending elsewhere. Somehow, according to Democrats, that equates to spending cuts.

Practicing for the Zombie Apocalypse

The amount of crap being sold and scarfed up by idiots preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse amazes me. T-shirts, Zombie killing kits, study guides ... It is difficult to tell what is tongue-in-cheek and what is serious. In any case, its just F***ing stupid.

At the local shoot em up range a couple of weeks ago, two young men were occupying the lanes next to me. They had on black tactical gear, combat style boots, and black T-shirts proudly stating they were with the Zombie Extermination Squad, Inc. I spied a hiked up four wheel drive truck, all black, in the parking lot with the same nomenclature spread across the windshield. Rather than using normal targets, these guys had posters with zombies and hostages printed on them. Each of them had a couple of tactically configured M-4s. Laser sights, red dots, 30 round mags - you'd have thought they were contractors preparing to go to Afghanistan.

I hope they were trying to sight those weapons in, because they had no idea where their rounds were going. At 50 yards, they were lucky to hit the target stand, much less the zombie. Zombies of the world are safe from these two! They're watching me put up 5 shot groupings in a 3/4 inch target dot at the same range. 'Holy S**t dude, how are you doing that?'

These guys have a running dialog with anyone who is unlucky enough to get within voice range, extolling the virtues of preparing for the coming zombie invastion. Yes, it must be real, because the government (CDC) came out with an official statement saying it is going to happen. Here, go to our website, and we'll give you all the information you need to survive. Listening to them, I had no idea if they were serious, just having fun, or tyring to peddle their crap.

And no ... I did not visit their web site.

How crazy is this - or better yet, how many people are trying to make money off of it? Here is a VERY small sample of zombie target manufacturers, as advertised in main stream shooting magazines. Very ghoulish (pardon the pun) ...

Zombie Ammo

Zombie Industries

BTW - I certainly do not endorse the 'products' protrayed by these companies, am merely illustrating the absurdity ...