Author: Cluster

Public Unions Must Go

Cluster18 Comments

Public unions are bankrupting our municipalities and they honestly don’t seem to care. The teachers union in Chicago are some of the highest paid teachers in the country at an average of $76,000 a year before benefits, and they just walked out on a a nearly 16% pay increase over 4 years, choosing to go on strike and leaving kids and parents in a bind. They don’t give a damn about educating our children, and I hope Rahm Emmanuel sticks to his position. If he doesn’t, Chicago and many other municipalities will wind up like San Bernardino, CA, which has had to declare bankruptcy largely due to a bloated government wherein an estimated 71% of the city’s budget goes toward servicing the public union pension. This is insane, and the entire nation needs to follow Gov. Scott Walker’s lead for the sake of the tax payer, because we can not count on Obama or the Democrats to take a responsible position on this issue. They have already abandoned FDR’s position on this issue.

And in keeping with the public union assault on tax payers, private unions are also on the march.  The Democrat line that Obama saved GM is a lie, which most rational people have known for a long time, and now the general public is starting to realize. Aside from the private bond holders, and the non union Delphi employees getting screwed, the bail out only served to support the UAW wages and pensions. We also now learn that tax payers were losing $47,000 on every Chevy Volt sold, which is now out of production completely, and  GM still owes tax payers an estimated $42 billion, so if this is what the Democrats and Obama consider to be “saving” GM, I would prefer that they stop saving any more industries.

We have to rein in union demands, both public and private, and that begins with voting their aiders and abettors out of office come November.

Time To Spell This Out For The Liberals – Again

Cluster92 Comments

Since I have read many recent posts from our resident liberals who are obviously clueless, apologies for the redundancy, as to what caused the collapse in 2008, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit that. Many of the liberals are of course still in the blame Bush, blame republican mode and pointing to, and ridiculing the absence of Bush at the RNC convention as further proof of that. The first thing I want to point out is that Bush is a very private man which is in complete contrast to the media hound that Clinton is. Furthermore, when he told us that he was retired, he meant it, another concept liberals have trouble understanding so the only surprise to conservatives would be if in fact he did show up. Secondly, the GOP has a very young and deep bench, so I am sure Bush had no desire to take time away from them, again unlike Clinton but of course the DNC bench is pretty thin anyway.

Now onto the cause of the collapse, which of course was the housing bubble. It is estimated that 1 in 7 jobs are connected with housing industry, so it was no surprise that the collapse of that industry sent shocks wave across the entire country and adversely impacted nearly every other industry. Liberals want desperately to blame Bush and deregulation for the collapse, but unfortunately for them, Bush did not enact one piece of financial deregulation legislation during his eight year term. Not one. The last piece of financial deregulation was enacted in 1999 under President Bill Clinton. Furthermore, Bush started ringing the alarm bells on the GSE’s as early as 2001, and then again in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and finally in 2008. Now to be fair, those warnings were ignored by Republicans and Democrats alike in all of those years, but most recently were mocked by Rep. Barney Framk and Rep. Maxine Waters when she stated that “there is nothing wrong with Fannie and Freddie” in September of 2008:

Maxine Waters: Through nearly a dozen hearings, we were frankly trying to fix something that wasn’t broke.  Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and particularly at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Franklin Raines.  

Now the question is, why were the GSE’s so over leveraged? Well it was because of a misguided Washington DC policy that said that everyone, including the poor should have a shot at the American Dream and at home ownership. So banks were encouraged, in fact even threatened with Fed support, if they didn’t lower their mortgage standards and start giving more loans to more home buyers. Now, knowing that much of this paper was worthless, the banks started bundling these securities and started selling them to anyone who would buy them in an effort to rid themselves of the toxic assets. And the game continued, fueled even more by rising home values and higher valued loans, in addition to HELOC’s to home owners who saw their equity grow rapidly.  When the house of cards fell, no pun intended, all that money evaporated and the economy is still suffering. Now there is no question that financial sector greed played a role, but the real culprit is the federal government, so the real question you need to ask your self is – is handing out millions of mortgages to people who have little means to pay them back, a liberal policy? Or a conservative policy? As Walter Cronkite would say, “And that’s the way it is”.

The DNC – Unforced Errors Edition

Cluster10 Comments

Well, the convention is over and it was a spectacle to be sure. Along with buttons that read “Once you vote black, you never go back”, we were witness to the following dysfunction:

– Delegates booing the forced inclusion of God back into the platform along with recognition of Jerusalem, which not only enraged the Jews but the Palestinians as well.

– DWS lying through her teeth which did not please Israel

– Health Sec. Kathleen Sebelius stating that prior to Obamacare, being a woman was a pre existing condition and that motherhood was a liability. I am sure that warms the hearts of many great mothers out there.

– Sandra Fluke stating that prior to forcing religious institutions to pay for abortifacients, women were lost in the wilderness of an oppressive society.

– Gov. Jennifer Granholm auditioning for Glee

– Joe Biden forgetting to speak in the past tense with respect to his father.

– And Mr. Obama hitting the replay button on his 2008 nomination speech absent the Greek columns and reverberation.

The convention truly did have all the elements of an NBC mini series complete with the maniacal red headed step sister, the crazy uncle, the drunk aunt, and the arrogant cousin, which was all set up by the MSNBC crew who began the morning celebrating alcohol from a bar. They really have coined a new definition for the term political “party”.

DNC Convention – Day II

Cluster86 Comments

Well so far, the Democrats have voted against God, against Israel, but in support of  tax payer funded abortion at any time for any reason. In fact, they even support aborting the child after pregnancy, so the question is for Democrats – at what age is it not ok to kill your child?

Feel free to discuss.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  Well, I guess someone got a call from Flyover Country because the Donk’s decided they had to re-insert God and Jerusalem in to the platform…trouble is, it seems that at least half the assembled Democrats didn’t want to re-insert the language. Hot Air has it all.

These people are pathetic – growing more and more alienated from the American mainstream and yet remaining mostly too cowardly to admit it.

UPDATE II, by Mark Noonan:  I could barely stomach Michelle’s speech last night so I’m going to spare myself the Clinton speech.  At any rate, I can nutshell his speech:

My fellow Americans, please forget what Obama has done the past four years and try to pretend you are re-electing me.  I know I had zero to do with the prosperity you remember from the 90’s, but I so slickly took credit for it in those pre-New Media days that most of you have forgotten that I fought tooth and nail against the policies which made the 90’s work.  So, vote for Barack because he’ll continue what I did – and I don’t mean the womanizing.  Heck, I also don’t mean the taking-credit-for-the-work-of-others, either, because Obama hasn’t the wit to allow Republicans to govern and then grab all the credit.  But Obama will continue….well…humm…he’ll at least continue the lies and the feel-good, poll-tested political bullsh** you all remember so well from me.

God bless you all.

DNC Convention – Open Thread

Cluster74 Comments

I am watching MSNBC and they are all a flutter that Romney has raised more than $100 million in each of the last three months, (which should tell them something) and bemoaning the fact that Obama will be outspent. It sounds like they are already setting the stage for the excuses when he loses.

How do you think the convention is going? Be civil.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  Donks make a video claiming that government is the only thing we all belong to…Team Obama, in a panic, immediately disowns the video.  These people are just sad…both in what they believe and how cowardly they are about their beliefs.

A Romney Presidency

Cluster53 Comments

Provided the lies and distortions of the Obama regime and the liberal media don’t win out as they did in 2008,  we can all look forward to an actual adult administration and a Romney Presidency. So what can we expect? Well to begin with, we can expect a return to decency, where success is applauded, America is not apologized for, and people are once again judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. We can expect a return to work for welfare, allowing states to enforce the federal immigration law, and a repeal of the presidential “dream act” decree. And speaking of repeal, I think we can expect a repeal of Obamacare provided that conservatives win the Senate, which is crucial.  I hope we can also expect a reform of medicare and serious conversation about, if not a reform of the antiquated tax code, which is desperately needed to lower the tax burden on the middle class and eliminate the tax shelters and loop holes for those in the upper income brackets, all of which originate from lobbyists and special interests. Keep the tax code simple and easy to enforce. I think, or at least hope that we can also expect a lower corporate tax rate which will encourage corporations to come back to America and once again employ with the confidence that the tax and regulatory environment will not be too burdensome. And lastly I hope that Romney will allow those corporations to repatriate their off shore funds with a one time tax holiday, which should inject nearly $2 trillion into the economy and would be the best stimulus ever.

Add to this a concerted effort to develop our natural energy resources, and we can expect much lower annual deficits, if not a balanced budget within a few years. Consumer confidence would explode and government dependency would decrease as people found gainful employment and the dignity of providing for themselves. America would once again be that shining city in the hill.

What In The Hell Is Wrong With Liberals!

Cluster37 Comments

Liberals of all varieties have gone completely off the rails as of late. From Ellen Barkin, to Samuel Jackson, to elected representatives Nina Turner and Harry Reid, to the entire MSNBC network, liberals have lost their minds. They have become the most deceitful, hateful and vitriolic people on the planet, and I hope the American voter is taking notice. Contrast that with people like Romney, Ryan, & Rubio who are stand up gentleman and choose to argue on policy not personality. Folks, it is time that conservatives bring back civility, common sense, and American exceptionalism. Even though these words were spoken more than 30 years ago, they ring truer today than ever before. The great American that spoke this wisdom that we should heed today was Ronald Wilson Reagan:

“If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among among us has the capacity to govern someone else.” … “It is not my intention to do away with government, it is rather to make it work”

I implore everyone, especially the liberals, to watch and absorb this message. This is the type of leader we need now, and the type of leader that I pray and hope Romney will be, because the democratic party and the progressives have not only failed on that front but more importantly they are abdicating their responsibilities of governance.

The False Narrative

Cluster55 Comments

One of the biggest obstacles conservatives must overcome is the false narrative being pushed by the DNC and the Obama regime with a lot of help from their sycophants in the media. So “what we have here, is a failure to communicate”, on behalf of the RNC and I am hoping that this week we can turn that around. The false premises that are being pushed out there include, but not limited to:

– Medicare – Obama wants us all to believe that Medicare “as we know it will end” under Romney’s plan, and will unnecessarily hurt seniors, which is just completely false. Romney’s plan to give people under 55 a choice to remain on the current program or choose another option, does not effect seniors one bit, and actually strengthens Medicare for future generations. Obama’s plan to do nothing ensures it’s bankruptcy.

– Abortion – The party with the extreme position on abortion is the democrats. They currently support federal funding, partial birth, and live birth abortion, and essentially the right to kill the unborn without question at anytime. This position is far out of the mainstream, and voters need to know this. Conservatives support life with the rape/incest exception, which is optional, and that position is actually the real pro choice position.

– Racism – Honestly the political party that harbors racists, are the democrats. Most of them simply believe that people of a darker skin color are victims of this society solely because of their pigmentation, and that without government help, they are incapable of living a productive life. This mindset is deplorable and offensive. They also believe apparently that they need to be the protectors of our first black President, because obviously he is unable to withstand criticism of most any kind, due once again to the color of his skin.

– War on Women – Once again, the political party that is waging war against women is the democrats. How offensive is it for most women to know that Obama and Sandra Fluke believe that women are incapable of providing for their own contraception needs? How hypocritical is it for liberal feminists to say “keep your hands off my body” but then expect us to pay for their abortion and healthcare needs? How denigrating is it to believe that a pregnancy is an obstacle in a woman’s life? The fact is, women are incredibly strong and more than capable of determining, and paying for, their way through life without anyones help.

Since Obama can not run on his economic performance, the DNC is hoping to push the false narrative on these social issues to win the election. Let’s not let that happen. In 2012, Conservatives need to take a page from Obama back from 2008:

“I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face.”
— Barack Hussein Obama, addressing Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)

Get in their face indeed.

GTFO 2012!

The Pretender

Cluster63 Comments

I have never before in my lifetime seen such divisiveness emanating from a Presidential campaign then what we are currently seeing from the Obama camp. I am offended by it and digusted by it. Romney nailed it the other day when he said Obama is hoping to tear people apart and cobble together 51%, which is quite a departure from his unity, hope and change message of just 4 years ago. Nearly everyday he, or his surrogates, are out on the stump or in the media personally attacking either the rich, people of Faith, big corporations, the republican congress, white people, or any other person, or group du jour. How anyone can get behind this campaign and vote for this fraud is beyond me.

Now of course liberals will whine and moan about the birthers, and to be fair, there was a faction on the right that went a little over the top even for me. But that IS a legitimate issue that Obama could have put to rest real quickly, instead Obama chose to play it out and allow the issue to become even a bigger issue so that he had a wedge issue he could rally his base around. Just another cause to divide people with and it certainly did divide us. In fact this country is more polarized today than at anytime I can ever remember. And it shouldn’t be. We have some serious issues to confront and it will take serious people to resolve them and one thing I have learned about Obama, is that he is anything but serious. He refuses to reconsider his policies despite obvious and proven failures. He is prepared to double down on another stimulus, is prepared to throw away more money at the green industry which isn’t even close to a mass produceable platform, is still trying to slow down fracking despite the demonstrable success in North Dakota, is still denying the Keystone Pipeline, is still standing behind the Dodd Frank Act which Is strangling the credit that use to be easily accessible by small business, and is still wanting to raise taxes which by his own previous admissions is not the right thing to do in a recession.

On the social side, if anyone has an extreme position on abortion that should be reconsidered and is outside the main stream, it is the democrats. They still support federal funding for abortion and partial birth abortion, which according to most polls is opposed by the vast majority of Americans. In fact, Obama still hasn’t backed away from his support for a live birth abortion. I wonder why the media hasn’t called him out on that? Just kidding, I think we all know the answer to that. Folks, these are serious times and we need a President that will be serious. Not a President that prefers to golf, campaign and hang out with Hollywood.

Conservative Thought

Cluster198 Comments

Recently on the other thread one of our resident liberals tried to define one of our regular conservative posters as typifying conservative thought. Ironically this liberal has never been able to define conservatism despite many calls from conservatives for him to do just that, so allow me to define what conservatism is to me on just four issues. Of course this is just me, I do not speak for any other conservative poster here but I would like to hear from the other conservatives on their thoughts, as well as the liberals. so here goes:

Government – I would like to see a more limited and a more constitutional federal government, with as many programs as possible pushed down to the state level, this would include Medicare, Medicaid, education,  etc.  In fact I would be open to discussing the possibility of having nearly every entitlement program administered at the state level. I would also like to means test social security and Medicare. Means testing would mean less benefits for the rich, allowing more aid for the poor, and if that aid were administered at the state level, it would be more efficient and effective. I would then like to evaluate every federal program and determine first the need, then the size and scope. In my opinion, we could eliminate many programs altogether and then trim every other department by a minimum of 10% without sacrificing a thing.

Economy – I am firm believer in competition. Competition improves people, product and service every time and brings prices down. Government stifles competition so naturally I would like to see as little government involvement as possible in the private sector. Obviously some industries need more regulation than others, but the best and most effective regulation government can exact, is the justice department. As long as the government ensures that everyone plays by the rules, the private markets will work just fine.

Abortion – life begins at conception, period. Therefore abortion is manslaughter, however, I do agree that this detestable practice should be made available in the event of rape, incest, or provable physical harm to the mother. Aside from that, I wish our society would stop glorifying this practice as a “choice” and start stigmatizing it, and educating both men and women on the numerous ways to prevent it. It is not a choice.

Gay Marriage – I fully support civil unions with all the legal rights therein, and not only for same sex couples, but for many other unions as well. I believe marriage should be reserved for the time honored tradition of the one man and one woman union. This is a union that is universal, and pre dates nearly all other institutions including many governments, so it should be left alone. Besides, marriage is not a right.

So this is just where I stand on these four issues. I invite everyone to comment on my positions, and include their own on not just these topics but others as well. Have fun.