Fiscal Insanity

Our national debt is now over 15 trillion dollars. That means that every man, woman, and child in this country (either legally or illegally) is in debt to the tune of 48,000 dollars.

In spite of all the lip service Obama and Congress gives this incredible situation, spending by the Federal Government continues to increase unchecked. Remember all the grand statements about the debt ceiling deal last summer, how Obama and the Dems said that if we just go ahead and raise the limit to 15 trillion, give or take a couple hundred billion, that real debt reform and spending cuts would be enacted. He got the higher ceiling. No reform has happened.

Obama is about to formally ask Congress to once again raise the debt ceiling by another trillion or so - because we've already reached the ceiling increase agreed to last summer. Imagine that - Washington managed to put us further in debt by well over a trillion dollars in 6 months!

Current projections have us adding a trillion to the national debt EVERY YEAR from this point forward. No plan or proposal currently under evaluation will stop this.

Remember those automatic cuts that fell into place when the Super Committee failed? Over a trillion in automatic cuts, half of which come out of the Pentagon? Obama has plans for that money. He has already stated that money will be available for spending elsewhere - on his pet social programs. Those aren't cuts, they aren't payments to draw down the debt - he's just stealing it to buy more votes.

The nation's debt has exceeded its GNP. As a country, we owe more than we produce. If the country was an individual, it would meet the definition of bankrupt.

This is not sustainable. It cannot continue. There is no magic RESET button that some future President can push to make it all go away. This is a very real, serious problem, and the majority of politicians from both parties are hell bent on ignoring it. Pushing the can down the road for future generations to deal with. They don't want to address it because they are know that every cut will piss off a voting block. The few politicians who try to sound the alarm are branded right wing extremists, racists, obstructionists, Tea Party members ...

Update - Obama officially asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling by another 1.2 Trillion dollars. If Congress votes against the request, Obama has said he would veto and push it through anyway. I'm not sure how the President can veto legislation that is voted down and not sent to him for signature, but apparently He thinks His power is all encompassing ...

Scandal!!! Outrage!!! Oh, the Horror ...

Whataburger, for those of you not fortunate enough to be in the right portion of the country, is home to one of the best hamburgers made by a large chain outlet.

One of the best aspects of a trip to Whataburger was a crisp order of fries, accompanied by their patented formula of ketchup. As close to Heaven as a french fry can get ...

As a trial, Whataburger has rolled out a new ketchup formula, Spicy. My understanding is it will be offered as an option, if public response is strong enough.

I hereby activate the Occupy Whataburger movement. All Whataburger ketchup lovers are hereby instructed to camp out at local Whataburgers, and demand confirmation that the original Whataburger ketchup will continue to be available! Stop a potential catastrophe before it occurs!



Actually, the Spicy ketchup has a hint of jalapeno in it, and it's pretty darned good)

Another Edict From His Lord Highness Obama

President Obama is once again bypassing the will of the people (as represented by our elected officials in Congress) in order to further his far left wing kook agenda.

Meet Richard Cordray. Get to know him, for he will have a large impact on your life.

Richard Cordray will be a 'recess appointment' by Obama to become his 'Consumer Watchdog'. By using the political mechanism of the recess appointment, Obama bypasses the normal confirmation process that is undertaken by the Senate. So, Congress isn't going to get to ask this man any questions. He will not have to explain what his positions are, what his background is, what his plans for this newly created position will be.

Obama is appointing one of his buddies to a position created by a Democrat controlled Congress (Frank/Dodd Consumer Financial Protection Board) with a huge amount of power, without anyone else, including Congress, having any say in the matter. Obama is establishing Cordray's objectives, his reach, his powers, and no one else has any say in the matter.

Senate Republicans voted in December, every single one of them, to block the nomination due to the radical nature of Cordray and the far reaching powers he will receive. Quite a few Senate Democrats likewise have expressed reservations about the man and the position. There is no way he would have been confirmed for the position by the Senate.

Knowing this, Obama pulls an end run around Congress. This sounds like the behavior of a dictator, not a President. It really is no surprise.

Introducing Cordray as his appointee at a press rally in Ohio, Obama said "I refuse to take No for an answer ... I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them (Congress)". Thumbing his nose at Congress in an unprecedented power grab, Obama actually brags about what he has done, and in essence says that he will do whatever he wants, no matter what Congress has to say about it.

I'm sorry Obama, but you were elected President, not Dictator.

Later in the day, Obama's henchmen announced he would use the same tactic to appoint three union lackies to the National Labor Relations Board, bypassing Congress on this move as well. All three of these folks would never have passed Senate confirmation.

Cordray was the Attorney General for Ohio for 2 years (2009-2011), before being voted out of office. Before that, he held lower political positions in the state of Ohio. He is a lawyer by trade, and successful enough to have argued 6 cases before the Supreme Court, most of which were against business. His bio has no inidication of any experience in finance, or banking, or business.

This man is supposed to be the watchdog over all financial institutions in the United States. I don't see anything in his background that even remotely qualifies him to hold that position.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Bill Clinton and George Bush made use of recess appointments, in fact both of them made quite a few more than Obama has so far. However, I don't remember any of them being controversial, and they certainly weren't done as an open challenge to Congress.)

Update - The Federal Government is seeking a new employee for Cordray/Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Commission. This employee will be the 'Invitation Coordinator'. The only task this person will have is to review the appearance invitations coming IN for members of the Commission. They are anticipating an overwhelming public demand for people on this commission to appear at events across the country. I don't know what the requirements are for the position, but it pays $103,000, plus full insurance and retirement benefits and 5 weeks of paid vacation per year. Wow - can I get a job sitting at a desk opening envelopes for six figures?

Un-f**king believable ...

What do you want to bet that it is filled by some Democrat bigwig's relative, or a campaign contributor's wife?

Update - Obama's DoJ issued a 23 page legal opinion paper to the public, affirming that Obama's appointments were legal. No surprise there, anyone who expected differently is smoking stuff stronger than what His Highness himself uses. The opinion changes nothing - those who support Obama continue to support him, and those who don't, don't.

Just another outrageous example of how the United States Department of Justice is just acting as a political arm of Obama's White House.

Good Old Fashioned Hockey

So, for my first post of the New Year, how about some good, wholesome, family fun?

A compilation courtesy of our friends at Hockeyfights.com.

A couple of observations - you see a lot of Boston Bruins in this, a pretty accurate portrayal of them as the dirtiest team in the NHL.

Aaron Downey has the only lights out punch in the bunch. That's pretty much the highlight of his 3 minute Dallas Stars career.

I find it ironic that the NHL, like the NFL, is trying to cut down on hits to the head and the resulting concussions - and yet they still allow fighting to go on unchecked. Sure, the combatants get 5 for fighting, but you don't see any further punishment for being one of the two legitimate participants in a stand up fight.

Taxpayer Funded Help For Busted Illegals

Obama's DHS, through its ICE component, has launched a 24/7 hotline intended to provide advice and information for illegal immigrants who are busted by local authorities. ICE agents will man the phones 24/7, providing service to illegals in several different languages. They will take information from the caller, and then send that information to a local ICE office for what they term 'immediate action'. What that action might be, other than going down and harrassing the local authorities and trying to prevent them from doing their jobs, is not explained.

Here's the official press announcement:

http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSICE-23b1e1

So, the Obama Administration once again extends the hand of friendship to illegal immigrants in the hope of buying their votes, all paid for by you and me.

(And before anyone quips 'illegals can't vote', well, that's bullshit. Illegal immigrant votes are one of the biggest reasons Obama, his DoJ, and Democrats in general are so opposed to strengthening voter fraud laws, such as requiring a photo ID to be able to vote.)

As a Natural Born American Citizen, and a taxpayer who is paying for this service, can I call these people for help if the local authorities give me a hard time? Might be worth a call, just to hear how they decline the opportunity to assist me.

Republicans and Iowa - What Does It Mean To The Winner?

Republicans and talking heads are all going crazy with the wildly fluctuating poll numbers heading into the Iowa primary next week. Each time a poll is released, there is a new front runner. Romney, then Gingrich, then Paul, then back to Romney, Santorum on the rise, Perry on the rise ... on and on.

It's as if Iowa is the 2012 election itself.

The only reason the results in Iowa are important is that it is the first state to hold a primary.

How important are the results? Does victory in Iowa give the winner the Republican nomination? Does defeat kill a campaign?

Victory ... No. The winner of the Republican primary in Iowa has gone on to secure the Republican nomination 4 out of the last 6 times there was not an incumbent Republican President. In 2008, Mike Huckabee won with 34% of the vote. Mitt Romeny was second, Fred Thompson (remember him?) was third. John McCain, the eventual nominee was fourth with just 13% of the vote.

Defeat ... depends on who it is, and how strong a showing in defeat they have. Iowa can weed out the bottom feeders, stop campaigns that have no hope before they go any further. For strong candidates, a defeat in Iowa will not cause them to get out of the race. There is no way any of the top 4 vote getters will give up (and no way Ron Paul will give up even if he receives 0 votes - he's such a loon).

I believe that Gingrich is done for. His flash in the pan stardom mirrors that of Herman Cain - initial interest, until his 'issues' start to come out and folks get to know more about him. Newt is sometimes brilliant, sometimes an absolute dunce. There are good reasons he was pretty much run out of politics in the 90s.

Romney just keeps plodding along. Polling numbers don't vary much, he's pretty much a known quantity. A few new items are popping to the surface now that are going to come into play on down the road, giving hope to his rivals of taking him down a few points. Romney is the middle of the road candidate - moderates like him, because he is not conservative. Conservatives don't like him for that very reason. If Romney ends up being the nominee, as looks likely, there is a very real danger of a vast number of conservative Republicans choosing not to vote in November - which will hand victory to Obama, just as it did in 2008.

Ron Paul is dangerous. His high poll numbers in Iowa are going to give his ego a boost and keep him in this thing longer, continuing to screw up the Republicans. He will ultimately drop out as a Republican, tell all his followers that no one who gets the nomination is worthy of voting for, and quite likely end up as running on a third party ticket. If he does that, Obama will win the election, because all the votes Paul sucks off will come from Republican ranks, thereby diluting Republican/conservative voting strength. Remember Ross Perot? Thanks to him we got 8 years of Bill Clinton.

Santorum and Bachman have no realistic chance at the nomination. I think they both know it, and are just waiting for a true frontrunner to emerge so they can drop out and endorse. It is too early for them to do so, because chances are good that they might choose the wrong bandwagon to jump on to, embarrass themselves, and guarantee they won't have any part in an upcoming Republican Administration.

Rick Perry, I think, is still going to be a force to reckon with as we move forward. He will do well to finish fourth in Iowa. He will be off the bottom of the board in New Hampshire. He may be middle of the pack in South Carolina. If his campaign can survive those early tests and get him by the first wave of dropouts, I think he has a very good chance of rising again to challenge Romney. That is, of course, if he doesn't keep shooting himself in the foot (or mouth, as the case may be).

A spoiler could be Donald Trump. His continued threats to run as an independent will have the same effect as if Paul runs on a third party ticket. He won't steal as many votes away from the Republican nominee, but every one he does take will come from the Republican side. You can be sure that if Trump runs, it won't be for political gain or cause, it will just be him stroking his own ego.

A Democrat dream would be for Romney to win the nomination, and both Paul and Trump to run on third party tickets. That would give Obama a landslide victory.

Republicans just have to realize that we do not have a strong, Reagan-like candidate to go up against Obama. Republican candidates have to realize this, and keep their egos from killing our chances. Stop with the negativity, stop with the personal attacks, get the hell out of the race if you have no chance. As voters, we have to understand that, and rally behind whoever the nominee is, for the one and only priority that we have to focus on is getting Obama out of office.

SOPA - Why You Should Be Very Afraid

SOPA - the Stop Online Piracy Act, was introduced into the US House of Representatives this past October. HR 3261 is sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). It's stated purpose is to allow law enforcement to go after those who pirate intellectual property, such as movies or music, and post them to the internet.

Laws exist to do this already. SOPA is a vast expansion, and like most big government projects, it goes way too far.

Instead of going after those who do the piracy, it goes after web sites and hosting services that the piracy moves through. Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

In actuality, what it can mean is that services like YouTube will go away. If they try to stay around, they will be responsible for making sure that each and every submission in no way violates any copyright. YouTube will have to research each and every video sent to it to make sure that someone in the chain, from the moment the video was created to the moment it was uploaded to YouTube itself, doesn't hold a copyright on the video or anything in the video. If YouTube is found in violation, in some way having missed some little piece of copyright material, whether the copyright is visible in the material or not, YouTube can be shut down by the Department of Justice, and its owners/operators sued or even jailed.

YouTube will not be able to operate under this. Likewise, Facebook goes bye bye. Google - if a search result pulls up something that is copyrighted, they are targets, no matter if they had anything to do with the material or not. Paypal could be shut down if they funnel funds to anyone who violates a copyright online, even if they have no knowledge of such a violation.

The bill requires anyone who has anything to do with the internet to become 'thought police' - in essence censors who will have to spend the time and effort to examine everything and decide whether to block the material or not, simply to defend themselves.

Supporters of this bill are the owners of intellectual property that is often the target of copyright infringement - movies and music mainly. Hollywood loves this bill.

Detractors are anyone who uses the internet to communicate, to research, to speak out, and to play.

SOPA will not accomplish what its stated goal is. It will not stop piracy - it can't. Most of the sources of pirated material is off shore - China, Indonesia, Mexico, etc. Any country outside of the US is outside of the reach of this legislation.

In addition, web sites that currently stream pirated material are on the move constantly. They change names, switch ISPs, move to other IP addresses frequently, in order to thwart authorities from prosecuting them. The wheels of justice are too slow to keep up with the real criminals. SOPA will not change that. What SOPA will do is provide well known, established, non-moving targets to the DoJ to attack - like YouTube.

This bill is internet censorship under the guise of commercial protection. It takes a legitimate concern, piracy, and blows it way out of proportion, giving the Federal Government powers that reach far beyond the stated purpose.

The list of potential targets for investigation is so large that a politically motivated DoJ (such as the one we have now) can easily pick and choose who they go after. SOPA can become a political weapon. Do you really think that Eric Holder would go after MoveOn.org, instead of Drudgereport? Can you say 'Fairness Doctrine' on steroids?

If SOPA passes and is signed into law, this Blog, and tens of thousands of others used to express free speech will go away, or be severely curtailed. This Blog would become text only, with no links, photos, or embedded content whatsoever. I couldn't post a photo, unless I knew exactly who produced it and had their explicit permission to reproduce it. I couldn't link to a YouTube video, because I would have no way of guaranteeing that no one along the chain had any claim to a copyright. What would be the point then?

If you enjoy the internet as it is, or count on it for your daily life, contact your Representatives and Senators, and express your outrage that Congress is considering this. The House Judiciary Committee has already held two 'public' hearings on the bill, one in November and one just before the Holiday break a couple of weeks ago. Didn't hear anything about those hearings or what was said in them, did you? Just like most of what the Federal Government is doing these days, they are trying to pass it quickly, without the public realizing what is going on. Once it is law, then it is too late to do anything about it. The Committee is supposed to hold more hearings on the bill after the Holiday recess is over.

Don't get me wrong - I am not a supporter of those who pirate music or movies. I am a supporter of modifying current laws where necessary to go after those who do the pirating, not this overkill approach that will have consequences far beyond the stated purpose.

Here is the text of HR 3261, if you are interested:


http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3261:


Update - I am almost embarrassed to say this, but I apparently have the same thoughts on this as the Obama Administration. Obama's spokesman has come out and stated that they are concerned with the scope of SOPA and its unintended affects, and that they will be working with Congress to modify the legislation to refine the language to limit what it can do. Logical, and I hope they follow through.

Obama's Two Faced Arrogance On Display

A 17 day Hawaiian vacation, completely paid for by the US taxpayer. 17 days off, burning through our money. 17 days seen on the evening news wallowing around in the surf, while millions of people wallow around in debt and unemployment. A vacation so important that the Missus Big O had to go a bit early, costing us even more money (two jets, two staffs, two sets of security. etc.).

And this man has the unmitigated gall to say he represents the little man against the rich?

If Obama was a white Republican and did this, the mainstream media would be roasting him alive. As it is, even some of his media buddies are questioning the 'wisdom' of this vacation...



I guess we should be thankful. At 4.1 million for 17 days, this is actually the smallest amount of our money he has wasted on a per day basis since he's been in office!



Not receiving nearly as much publicity as Obama's vacation, Nancy Pelosi is spending time in Hawaii over the Christmas break, in a $10,000 a night hotel suite. I have not seen any report detailing how much of her expenses are at taxpayer's expense. We are fortunate that she is not still Speaker of the House, or we'd be footing every penny for the trip, including her own US Air Force luxury jetliner and security details. If John Boehner did this, what would the media's reaction be to it?

Can someone tell me what law, what Constitutional provision states that the President and his family, his staff, and anyone else he wants to invite, get all expense paid vacations provided by the taxpayer? What statute declares the POTUS can take that vacation anywhere he/she wants, no matter what the expense, and for whatever length of time they want to?

Update - Keeps getting better. Missus O was spotted wearing a $2000 designer sun dress to church at MCAS Kaneohe Bay this past Sunday. No word on whether she, the taxpayers, or some wealthy one percenter Democrat 'donated' it to her. Way to inspire the downtrodden masses!

Your United States Navy - In Action

The Obama era interpretation of the classic 'Welcome home, Sailor' kiss.

Photo credit, unbelievably, US Navy.

BTW - this was not a spur of the moment thing - it was staged specifically for the cameras.

What The Hell Is A Kardashian?

Can someone tell me what the hell a Kardashian is? I keep hearing references to females with this last name, and I simply don't understand what they are.

As far as I can tell, they don't do anything, but they're famous? They don't sing, don't act, don't produce anything, so why are they famous?

Here in the Dallas area, we've been dumped into Kardashian-mania, I guess. The Mavericks hired Lamar Odom for their team from the Lakers, and he's married to one of them? I admit to not understanding why shots of this creature in the crowd dominates Maverick broadcasts now. This woman dominated local TV news coverage yesterday, because she set up a table in front of Dallas City Hall to sign autographs. Huh? What has she done to warrant 2000 people standing in line to get her autograph? (I will grant you that it was done for charity, and the event collected several thousand toys for kids - and that is a good thing - but why would anyone want this woman's picture?)

These women dominate the tabloids, both in print and broadcast so much that there has to be at least a dozen of them. I confess to not knowing how many there are, or what their names are - and I proudly state that I don't care.

WTF does it say about our society when people who do nothing but use up oxygen are held in such high esteem by so many airheads? (And no, I'm not talking about Obama, even though that statement is just as true about him!)

Mr. Holder, You Owe Me An Apology

Our esteemed Attorney General, the highest law enforcement official in the United States, has told the world that criticism of him and boss Obama is all driven by racism. According to him, if you disagree with the Big O, you are a racist.

Mr. Holder, I disagree with almost everything you and your boss have done since taking control. Your policies, declarations, and actions have done horrendous harm to my country, and it is clear that you intend to continue your destructive goals. Now, do I hold those opinions because the two of you are black? Hell no. As I've stated in my writings before, I don't care what color you are, I would have the same opinions if you were purple, green, white, or pink polka-dot.

Mr. Holder, I do not consider myself a racist. I take offense at you calling me one. Your accusation is racist hate speech.

I demand an apology.

Government Waste - Why Do We Continue To Put Up With This?

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) just released his now yearly report on the horrendous waste of our tax dollars going on in Washington. He details 100 of the worst offenders, and it will make your blood boil. Thank you, Senator, for continuing to show us what a bunch of crooks we've got running this country.

Why in the world do we continue to allow the Federal Government continue to raise our taxes, now worse than ever, when this is what they do with our money?

If you take the time to read through it, you'll find a preponderence of items listed originated with the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation - two organizations that should be wiped from the face of the Earth!

Warning - don't read this if you are easily upset ...

http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=b69a6ebd-7ebe-41b7-bb03-c25a5e194365

Here are a few gems:

- $740,000 given to Montana State University to study how wild sheep can be used to control weeds.

- $132,000 granted to redesign a show website for PBS, Jonathan Bird's Blue World.

- $499,000 given to the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Society for no reason anyone can identify.

- $80,000 to upgrade a street median in Washington DC.

- $339,000 awarded by the National Science Foundation to study weaving in Iceland.

- $5,180,000 to fund the construction of a Steamboat Overlook Interpretive Center in Louisiana.

- $923,000 awarded by the National Science Foudnation to study how robots can be used to help pre-schoolers learn to read.

- $592,000 from the National Institute of Health to study why monkeys throw their shit.

- $25,000 to transcibe a 6 hour love ballad for the Maldives Islands.

- $198,000 to UC Riverside to study whether using social media makes persons happy or not, awarded by the National Science Foundation.

- $18,800,000 for 160 grants nationwide for theaters to promote performing arts.

- $606,000 to Columbia University to study online dating.

- $160,000 for 16 professors to spend 5 weeks in Rome this past summer, apparently on vacation.

- $425,000 for a study on how to tell Indian (country of India) local level officials how to govern better.

- $52,000 for the USAF Academy to construct a pagan 'Stonehenge-like' outdoor worship location for cadets who worship the earth.

- $500,000 from the National Science Foundation for the creation of plays that explain scientific principles for children.

- $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to study how political information is disseminated on the internet.

- $610,000 to study the well being of people in other countries.

- $300,000 from the National Science Foundation to create a dance program explaining the origins of matter.

- $170,000 to study hookah pipe smoking habit changes in students.

- $182,000 to create an iPhone app to advertise Tennessee produce.

- $8,300,000 for a program to preserve covered bridges.

- $126,000 to study political campaign websites.

- $765,000 from the National Science Foundation to study how students use social networking.

- $492,000 from the National Science Foundation to study whether information in tweets is trustworthy.

And a whole lot more ...