Roads & Bridges

Stop me if you have heard this before:

We still have too many ports that aren’t equipped for today’s world commerce.  We’ve still got too many rail lines that are too slow and clogged up.  We’ve still got too many roads that are in disrepair, too many bridges that aren’t safe,” – President Rinse and Repeat

That’s right folks, our roads and bridges are still in need of repair, despite the 2009, $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act! Don’t those words sound great together? Who could possibly be against Reinvesting in America’s Recovery? And putting Americans back to work at the same time?? It’s a win – win.  Why we were going to invest that $800 billion in rebuilding America’s infrastructure, improving deteriorating schools, and beginning the transition to green energy. What noble and heart warming causes, that only evil, backwater, troglodytes, (ie; conservatives) could possibly oppose. But alas, here we are again today, 4 years later almost to the day, and the cause continues. WE NEED TO SPEND MORE MONEY! We need to reinvest in America, don’t you know, and those obstructionist, heartless  Republicans are standing in the way.

Let’s call him President Rinse and Repeat. It seems to work pretty well, so why try and fix something that’s not broken? As long as we have roads and bridges that are in need of repair, the Democrats can get away with just about anything.

 

You Can’t Fix Stupid – Gay Marriage Cont.

And at this point, there is a whole lot of stupid walking around. I find it hard to believe that with gas prices nearing $4/gal., unemployment persistently high, GDP persistently sluggish, record debt, record deficits, higher taxes, increased food stamp dependency, and record number of people on disability, that gay marriage seems to be the most pressing issue. But according to liberals and the media, and again I apologize for the redundancy, gay marriage is paramount to all other concerns. And it isn’t even about equality, of course don’t tell your stupid liberal friend that, because they are bound to become unglued and call you an extremist, and when that happens you know darn well that racist word isn’t far behind. Every single human being in America has equal rights in terms of marriage – we are all free to marry a member of the opposite sex, whom is not closely related and of the age of consent. Love is not required, never has been. Therefore, every living being in this country is on equal terms. Expanding on that, none of us has the right to marry a member of the same sex, with the exception of nine states (can you see where I might be going with this?), nor do we have the right to marry a close relative, or a minor, so again equal terms. Expanding even further, legal rights really aren’t even in question here in that through wills and living wills (thank you Amazona), same sex couples can bequeath personal property to their partner, extend visiting rights and/or POA’s, so the only unsettled issue would then be the tax considerations extended to them on behalf of the IRS, which really would be a minor issue to resolve. What this issue really boils down to is the redefinition of a word and ultimate acceptance. Attitudes are certainly shifting on this issue as evidenced by recent elections at the various states, and this is of course where the issue belongs. If liberals were so confident in the shifting political winds on this issue, they wouldn’t be relying on nine robed justices to impose this mandate for them, but I believe that confidence is not as strong as they would have you believe. Equally wrong in my opinion, is their insistence to offend the hundreds of millions of people of Faith worldwide, who hold dear the timeless and rich tradition of the institution of marriage.

Enough of gay marriage – again hard to believe that this issue has risen to this level. In two other news items, which should be of much more import, unless you listen to the media of course, Kathleen Sebelius today has admitted that health care premiums will in fact rise. This announcement will only surprise the media and brain dead liberals, again sorry for the redundancy, as many conservatives have mentioned this since day one despite the persistent lies from the POTUS. And Janet Napolitano has stated that a pathway to legalizing illegal immigrants should come before securing the border, an effort of which has almost completely dropped off her radar. The cost of illegal immigration, the rising costs of entitlement dependency, the rising costs of SS and Medicare with no sensible reform in sight, and the legacy costs of public unions pensions, which is bankrupting our cities and states, is what our national dialogue should be centered around. Instead, we discuss ad nauseum, an issue of relatively minor concern that is quite frankly intellectually beneath us. Sadly though, you can’t fix stupid.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  A libertarian in favor of gay marriage notes his problem

…I have a feeling that if the push to end DOMA and Prop 8 were primarily the work of Reason or the Ayn Rand Institute, certain traditionalist conservatives would be at least slightly more amenable to it. This would be because the implicit threat of future civil-rights lawsuits against, say, churches that refuse to marry gays would be a moot point. No Cato Institute senior fellow wants to file suit against the Catholic Church for exercising its First Amendment rights. Social conservatives know this; they trust libertarians enough even if they don’t agree with them.

Continue reading

Are We There Yet? – Open Thread

Another Sunday, another good day for an open thread. A few days back I posited a query to all liberals seeing if they are finally at a point where they might be growing disenchanted with The One They Have All been Waiting For. Evidently, we aren’t there yet, because not one of them is ready to criticize anything about their benevolent leader. Hard to believe though considering that there is so much material for which to do so. Starting with the sequester scare, followed by Obama’s recent pledge of hundreds of millions to Syrians and Palestinians. Now how can cutting a few hundred million dollars from some government agencies result in having to shut down White House tours, and vaccinations for children, yet somehow we found the money to help Syrian refugees. You would think liberals and the media would question that.

I am also always amazed at the false perceptions so many liberals have of conservatives. A notion implanted in their minds by the educational system and the media. My effort going forward will be to dispel those notions. I have begun a personal dialogue with Mitch who is a little older than I first believed and has a better sense of humor than I would have given him credit for. I don’t know how much political common ground we have but that will be discovered in the weeks ahead. I do hope that we can just have civil conversations, regardless of our disagreements, and I am happy that that has been the case thus far. I think Mitch is surprised to learn that I am just a normal human being rather than the false notion of conservatives he has construed in his mind. I think if conservatives can begin to reeducate the numerous misinformed liberals that have bought into the medias and democrats false ideals of who we are, we can begin to bring back some semblance of normalcy and civility. I have told Mitch that we here at the blog would welcome more liberal posters who could articulate their positions rationally and without lashing out at some false notion, but that far too often, all we get are hyper emotional rants.

This entire country needs to learn how to dial down the rhetoric. Do I think that we are in a really bad place in terms of debt, spending, restriction of liberties, and the soon to be calamity of Obama care? Yes to all the above. But it will require determined, measured, and well articulated positions on the conservative approach to convince those who are ingrained with false ideals, rather than just name calling.

Can You Name The Party?

A case of corruption in Bell, California today reached is conclusion with the conviction of 5 ex city employees, including the mayor, who used the city treasury to enrich themselves beyond all reasonable measures. Funny thing though, in most if not all, main stream media reporting, their party affiliation is not identified:

(Reuters) – Five former elected officials from the scandal-plagued California city of Bell were convicted on Wednesday of misusing municipal funds by collecting exorbitant salaries in a case that drew national attention as a symbol of public corruption.

Now I can guarantee you that had these folks been Republicans, that fact would have led each story in the head line. Fact is though these ex officials are all Democrats, so it’s just another case of media malpractice which continues to misinform and mislead the low information voter. Because of this malpractice, we have so many liberal heads full of garbage as to what constitutes conservatism, that it may take decades to actually cut through and penetrate the bone deep ignorance of so many, but that will have to begin with a press that is willing to be objective rather than hyper partisan and emotionally charged. I am not holding out any hope. As it is, this story will just fade away, and little concern will be expressed by those liberals who profess to care so much for the middle class, who in this case were completely taken advantage of. Waiting for condemnation and outrage from our resident liberals.

 

Are We There Yet?

Well again there are quite a few issues to address and I have trouble landing on just one, so consider this an open thread on a few issues du jour that are on my radar.

1. Immigration Reform – The brilliant Harry Reid announced today that immigration reform would be landing on the Senate Floor in the next work session possibly in April, meaning once again that Democrats will attempt to rush something through, as they did with the stimulus and the health care bill, which as we all know hasn’t turned out real well. Aside from that, it seems to me that entitlement reform and tax reform should take a much higher precedence than immigration reform. The main reason we continue to operate from continuing resolution to continuing resolution is because of Harry Reid’s gross irresponsibility in not passing a budget. This allows the Democrats of course to move from crisis to crisis and blame republicans for obstructionism. It’s insanity. But so is this entire government at the present time. Tax reform and entitlement reform are desperately needed.

2. Eric Holder should resign. Period. – This is a direct quote from our illustrious Attorney General:

“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions become so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if we do prosecute — if we do bring a criminal charge — it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy,”

So perceived economic concerns now take precedent over adjudicating corporate crime. The Attorney General is responsible to uphold the laws of the country, not to evaluate economic impact. I have said before that the only regulation our federal government needs to effectively regulate the free market, is a fair and responsible Justice Dept. We now know that we don’t have one.

3. If anyone had any questions about cronyism within the Obama regime, this should remove all doubt. Close friend, Chicago elite, and former 2008 campaign bundler, Penny Pritzker is reported to be on the verge of being appointed to head up the Commerce Dept. Her qualifications? Being well connected, and raking in millions after over seeing the failure of Superior Bank in Chicago of which she ran. This appointment would be unconscionable and should raise HUGE red flags with every one. Of all the disappointing appointments Obama has made, this one would certainly be the icing on the cake.

Just an aside – the title “Are We There Yet” is a question directed to many Obama supporters wondering if they have finally come to the realization that what Obama promised with his soaring rhetoric, is far removed the results he is producing.If not, I wonder when that time comes for them.

There are many other issues of extreme import, so feel free to discuss what’s on your mind as well.

The TMZ Approach To Politics

Well, I guess it had to come to this, much to my displeasure, but I can’t blame them:

One way to attract younger votes, the report states, is having Republican leaders spend more time going on “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and MTV, and giving interviews to publications like People and Us Weekly.

We as a society should be embarrassed at the level we have sunk to. Rather than strictly being a mechanism of government that follows the Constitution and perpetuates those doctrines of governance that have created the most economically successful country in the world and the most advanced in terms of human rights and cultural diversity, we have allowed our nature of politics to devolve into a swamp of  mindless celebrity idol worship and gossip. And because of that, we are rapidly spiraling downwards into a banana republic and destroying what was the most successful experiment in human government ever.

On the positive side, it looks as though the GOP is finally growing a pair and willing to campaign in traditionally blue areas and take the fight to the liberals. As Mark has repeatedly, and rightly advocated, we need to take the fight to them and expose them for the failures they are, for the petulant children they are, for the pandering fools they are, for the racists they are, and for the hypocrites they are. That being said, I hope we do that in an intelligent, articulate, self assured, and confident way, and that means that Sarah Palin may have to stay home. Sorry Conservatives, but in my opinion she is a walking cliche. While I do personally respect her for her courage to engage in the battle and for her few success’s in governance, she did resign for all the wrong reasons, and is incapable of elevating the debate above a bumper sticker approach and perpetuates the TMZ mentality. Her holding up a big gulp at CPAC is a good example.

We need more Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and Rand Paul types to fight the battle for us, and deliver something as brilliant as Marco Rubio did at CPAC:

“The answer is simple. Because I am privileged. I am privileged to be a citizen of the single greatest society in all of human history. There’s never been a nation like the United States, ever. It begins with the principles of our founding documents, principles that recognize that our rights come from God, not from our government — principles that recognize that because all of us are equal in the eyes of our creator, all life is sacred at every stage of life. These principles embody the commitment to individual liberty which has made us the freest people in history. They also made possible our free-enterprise economy, which has made us the most prosperous people in history. The result is an America where — which is the only place in the world where it doesn’t matter who your parents were or where you came from. You can be anything you are willing to work hard to be. The result is the only economy in the world where poor people with a better idea and a strong work ethic can compete and succeed against rich people in the marketplace and competition. And the result is the most reliable defender of freedom in the history of the world.” Read the full transcript here.

I urge all conservatives to start to elevate the debate, but at the same time, get in the face of every petulant childish liberal you know and ridicule them if needed on the failed policies they support, the division they have created, and the mockery they have made of this country.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  A new Hill poll shows that people solidly back the GOP budget proposals until they find out they are GOP proposals.  Which means the people simply don’t trust us – which is understandable, as we’ve been untrustworthy (so have the Democrats, but at least they talk a game about caring about the people – plus Obama remains personally popular).   Lesson:  we get a messenger that the people can trust, and we’ll beat the Democrats like a drum.

Rand Paul for President

Every now and then you hear someone articulate the American message so clear, so understandable and so simple that you realize how that message ever gets lost. Reagan was someone who was able to deliver that message consistently, and now I believe we have found another. Rand Paul just seems to be someone who lives and breathes the American ideal, and he time and time again articulates that ideal in a completely unambiguous way, and that is why he is my current favorite for 2016.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered. I don’t think we need to name any names, do we? Our party is encumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom. The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we’re going to have a Republican party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP. We must have a message that is broad, our vision must be broad, and that vision must be based on freedom.

There are millions of Americans, young and old, native and immigrant, black, white and brown, who simply seek to live free, to practice a religion, free to choose where their kids go to school, free to choose their own health care, free to keep the fruits of their labor, free to live without government constantly being on their back. I will stand for them. I will stand for you. I will stand for our prosperity and our freedom, and I ask everyone who values liberty to stand with me. Thank you. God bless America.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan – what Pat Caddell said at CPAC:

Caddell predicted that the Republican Party, unless it became the anti-establishment, anti-Washington party, would become extinct, like the 19th century Whig Party. “These people [in the consulting-lobbying-establishment complex] are doing business for themselves. They are a part of the Washington establishment. These people don’t want to have change.”

100% correct.

We’re All Whackos!

And let’s not forget extremists! That is at least according to Sen. John McCain who thinks that civility and decorum in the Senate is much more important than adherence to the Constitution and an effective, fiscally responsible government. According to McCain, those who have the temerity to challenge the regimes overtures of drone strikes on Americans, on American soil, and filibustering a nomination is extreme, and his girlfriend Lindsey Graham has called the notion ridiculous and not worthy of an answer. Meanwhile, we learn that over 89.3 million people are no longer in the work force, up from 89 million just last January, however 296,000 non farm jobs were added, bringing the unemployment rate down to 7.7% which will be hailed as a great triumph by liberals everywhere. How we lose more people in the workforce than we add, and still have an unemployment rate tick down is beyond me. But the smoke and mirrors of this regime seem to never end.

Our current federal government is riddled with self interested, big government, career politicians who have lost all sense of responsible, Constitutional government, and seem much more interested in the weekend cocktail party than representing their constituents. We have BIG, BIG problems in this country folks, and we don’t have very many politicians interested in resolving them.

The Brain Damage Of The Left – Open Thread

Currently, there is such a target rich environment of liberalism gone awry and just good old fashion Democratic incompetence that it has become difficult to zero in on just one issue to write about, so I thought I would compile a hodgepodge of liberal haughtiness if you will in a fun weekend thread. So here goes – first up;

– The impoverished school children of Alabama score a huge victory much to the chagrin of state Democrats who were hoping to keep them as subjects of the oppressive teachers unions.

– Despite VP Joe Biden’s recent insistence to buy a shotgun and randomly squeeze off a few a rounds for protection – the Colorado State government is seeking to ban the weapon.

– Harry Reid has called on reporters to do their duty, and just report the Democratic talking points

– Either not knowing the best path forward, or actually asking his advance team, otherwise known as the liberal mainstream media, for advice, President Obama asked a reporter yesterday “What do you want me to do”

– The Obama recovery is in full swing – yesterday it was reported that personal incomes realized the most dramatic decline in 20 years. Important to note here that despite the drop in personal income, President Obama just ended a vigorous campaign trying to convince Americans that a 2.4% reduction in Government spending would result in something just short of an apocalypse.

– And speaking of the sequester apocalypse, the President is now backing away from that claim, saying; and I quote: “This is not going to be an apocalypse I think, as some people said”. This despite the fact that just two days ago, he said this: “If Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness, it will eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research,” Obama warned in a speech at the White House”.

– And not to be outdone by the White House, Democratic Representative Maxine Waters claimed that the sequester would result in the loss of 170,000 jobs – WOW!

– And last, but certainly not least – a three year Democratic witch hunt on Gov. Scott Walker has come to a quiet end with no charges being filed, and no crimes committed. This of course was cause for State Democrat communications director Graeme Zielinski to compare Walker with notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

A head spinning week of liberal brain damage to be sure. Can’t wait for next week.

Sequestration Stance

The anticipated cuts, or more accurately, the slow down in growth rates of federal government spending as a result of the Obama endorsed Sequestration HAS to happen, and if the GOP folds, they will hasten their own demise. Despite the doomsday rhetoric of President Gloom, a 2.4% cut in spending will hardly make planes fall out of the sky, and will be a needed lessen in fiscal restraint that the federal government, and Obama ironically imposed on themselves in 2011. It’s important to note that even after the $85 billion in cuts, the federal government will still be spending more in FY2013 than they did in FY2012, yet Obama and the Democrats will have us believe that the federal government is so lean, so efficient, that the only choice they have will be to lay off first responders and allow children to go hungry – which should also tell you a lot Obama’s priorities. First of all, he doesn’t acknowledge that most first responders are paid for by their local municipalities and not by the federal government, and rather than scale back the Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Energy, or the Dept. of Labor just to name a few of the incredibly bloated federal bureaucracies, he will choose to release prisoners, and let children go without Head Start Programs. Is it possible to have a more divisive, more bitter, more incompetent President, with more contempt for America? I don’t think so. Think about this – wages have been stagnant, if not in decline since 2008, gas prices have nearly doubled, taxes have gone up, GDP has been revised to .1% in Q4 2012 and not expected to be much better in Q1 2013, grocery prices are increasing as a result of fuel prices, unemployment is 8% and really 10%+ if you’re actually counting and business investment in new facilities and employment is on hold. So Obama expects all of us to make do with less, but despite almost doubling federal expenditures in the last 4 years, he wants us to believe that any slight reduction will result in chaos and force him to cut children off. As I said, the sequestration cuts MUST happen but with spineless leaders like McConnell and Boehner, I am not holding out much hope.

One last item to note, our resident liberals have been awfully quiet on threads related to spending, unemployment, and the overall economy, but bring up gay marriage and they are out in force. Just exactly how Obama wants them to be – distracted by issues of little consequence.