Romney Gives Unemployed Woman Cash on Rope line - ABC News

In the frenzy of politicking and primary voting  a little noticed gesture occurred that may well become Mitt Romney’s defining moment.  I won’t waste time on the background (follow the link and read for yourself http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/romney-gives-unemployed-woman-cash-on-ropeline/) except to say that a financially troubled woman approached Romney on a rope line to briefly plead her case and ask for help. He paused long enough to open his wallet and hand her some cash.  Subsequently the SC Treasurer Loftis arranged to have her lights turned back on.

Some may see this as a true kindness and how beneficent and compassionate Romney can be, some may chose to ignore it, but I must seize upon it to say that this significantly portrays what is wrong in America and why I don’t believe Romney is the solution to the problem.

I’m no fan of “Slick Mitt”.  I didn’t like him last election cycle and I like him no better now, but I have said (and I intend to abide by it ) I will support whomever receives the Republican nomination because I insist that we elect “anybody but Obama”.  We’ve had three years of ballooning debt and deficit as well as an inability to stop federal spending and over regulation in all aspects of our lives.  Taxpayers can no longer afford to support social benefit after social benefit while we struggle to make ends meet in our own homes and business’.

So what does the man who may very well be the alternative to Obama do when confronted with someone who has no job and is in need of assistance do?  He hands her cash.  I wouldn’t want him to stop what he’s doing, take a moment to think about this person as an individual and say, “ I have to go right now, but I want you to go with this person (hand her off to someone on his staff or even his wife) who will take the time to sit down with you, see what kind of work you normally do and figure out what we can do to assist you with a loan to get you through until we can help you locate work that will get you out of this bind and help get you back on your feet.”  That is a gesture that would have given him my vote of support FOR Mitt Romney as a candidate rather than as a vote for “Anybody but Obama”.

As a nation have we forgotten how to fish and how to teach people to fish and feed themselves?  Is the answer to every plea a handout or a hand up.  Do we truly believe the answer to every problem is just throwing money at it or do we believe that people can help themselves with the help of others who can show them the way.

I don’t resent that Romney is wealthy or how he acquired that wealth.  I’m happy for him and pleased that he figured out how to make a bundle from guiding foundering business’ into profitability (and yes sometimes to succeed you have to cut the fat).  What I am disappointed in is his inability to apply that principle to that one person standing on the rope line who reached out for help.  He could have had a defining moment.  He chose instead to throw money at it.

 

 

Romney Gives Unemployed Woman Cash on Rope line - ABC News

If You Attended

If you attended the Meet & Greet the NLRB held today (at taxpayer expense) to meet appointees made during the pro forma session of congress then shame on you. It is exactly for this reason that people get so riled up. You should be dressing down the President, initiating impeachment proceedings against him and in general “Your Job” not swilling wine with illegal appointments. The President initiated a military action against another sovereign nation without your vote (a direct violation of our Constitution) and now he has made recess appointments while congress was still in session another direct violation of our constitution and still you do nothing. You are frankly in direct danger of losing your jobs if you do not stand up for the Constitutional rights of the citizens of your state and this nation.

You concede too much authority to the Executive branch and you should be ashamed.

What U Don’t Know That U Need 2 No

 

Ads are hitting the airwaves stating that Congress wants to cut Medicare payments to hospitals.  Medicare was a gift.  There was nothing in the original SS legislation that applied any of your earnings to medical care.  That was a gift from another Congress in another time.  Why do I call it a gift?  Because those who passed it at the time knew it wasn’t and couldn’t be supported by earnings contributions that were already overextended.  They did it for electability. 

I understand that and retirees should too.  What you also need to understand is that Medicare could be manageable.  It could be feasible for us to support Medicare IF (and that’s a big if) we did not have to support every whiner in the world with Medicaid.  That’s where the little ditty of an ad veers off course.  At the end of the ad Medicaid rears it’s ugly head. 

In America we support non earners (those who don’t or can’t work) with an income.  Then we give them food stamps so they can eat.   Then we give them subsidized housing so they don’t have to live in boxes.  Then we not only meet their basic medical needs we provide them with medical care that many wage earning taxpayers cannot afford.

If that’s not enough we also give these benefits to anyone who comes into this nation  legally or illegally until they get on their feet.  Unfortunately the system is too big and no one can actually keep track of who truly deserves help and who doesn’t.  It is a common practice for illegals to work off the books or for low wages and still be supplemented with all these gifts.  Where does the money come from?  IT CAME FROM THE FUNDS YOU PAID INTO SS UNTIL THAT WAS ALL GONE THEN IT WAS BORROWED.

Those who support taking care of our elderly as I do get disgusted when Medicaid is lumped in with Medicare.  But remember Medicare is a gift.  You never paid for it.  All you paid for was a Social Security check every month when you reached retirement.

BUT (and this is a big but) that’s not the only thing that is bleeding dry the funds we could be funneling into Medicare to care for the twilight years of our elderly.  Get on the SSI bandwagon.  Do you think anything was paid into any fund to support anyone with a disability?  No.  Do you think anything was paid into any fund to support survivor benefits? No.  Please do the math.  There is no way that a man who dies at thirty years old has paid enough into his social security account to provide  $400 a month for  his 2 and 4 year old until they turn 18.  It’s a gift from some distant congress who wanted to get re-elected. 

What is going unspoken in these ads is that Medicaid doesn’t stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting any support so they lump it in with Medicare because it’s a big lobby.

We can support our seniors.  We can’t support every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants a free ride.  Hospitals and Doctors and insurance companies cannot tote the load.  The Republic is broke and has about reached it’s borrowing limit.  Stop Medicaid.  Stop disability payments and Seniors stop allowing advertisers to lump you in with a corrupt system.

Lift the maximum earnings limit and get rid of the Medicaid freeloaders and seniors won’t have to worry about benefits being cut. 

The Slippery Situation that is Greece

 

Eurozone On the Edge of Disaster | TheBlaze.com

For those of you who have investments in the stock market (no one I know) this is the top story for several days that is actually eclipsing OWS in the MS media.  Interestingly enough this sparks my interest not because I am a Euro groupie (those Americans who think everything in Europe is better, smarter, more urbane or just generally uber-cool) but because I find myself actually applauding the Prime Minister George Papandreou for choosing to offer a referendum on the EU bailout for the citizens of Greece to vote on.  What a novel idea…Actually allowing citizens to vote on an issue and then for government to actually abide by that vote.

It used to work that way in America.  When you voted for a Representative you knew that person would actually go to the seat of government and reflect the opinion of the majority (those who elected him) in his vote.  Not anymore. Now we speak clearly through our votes, our chosen representatives go to DC where they drink the water, get brainwashed or for whatever reason ignore the wishes of their constituency and vote with the herd.

Everyone assumes such a referendum would lead to Greece thumbing their nose at the EU by refusing the austerity measures attached to a bailout of their country.  Those who believe themselves to be in the know could be surprised  there might actually be a majority of Greeks who would want the EU interference.  It’s not likely, but it has become apparent in this country that the one squeaky wheel that is getting all the grease does not necessarily reflect the sentiments of the other three smooth rolling wheels.

Personally I think it would be a great idea for Greece to vote against the austerity measures.  They would then 1) Choose to default on their debts and probably bring about the eventual demise of the European Union and it’s price fixed monetary unit the Euro, 2) Choose to sell their Geek souls to some wealthy nation such as China whose strings would (in time) prove to be many times worse than austerity, or 3) Choose the Icelandic Effect which says if you knuckle under, cut back and pay your bills you can actually come out a stronger; better nation.

Whatever happened it would be the choice of the voting citizens of Greece that made the decision.  That is a basic principal of Democracy a word according to Wikipedia (…which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (Kratos) "power"…)  means rule of the people.

The rule of the people is being largely ignored in our Republic.  Our elected representatives are sitting idly by allowing the Executive branch of our government to operate totally unchecked thereby placing us under the rule not '”Of the People” but by the Executive pen of one man.

How simple it would be to pass a law revoking the use of Executive Order.  I wonder why they aren’t doing that?

Atlas is Shrugging

 

Gibson CEO Says Feds Told Him Problems Could be Avoided with Madagascar Outsourcing | TheBlaze.com

Doesn’t this bother anybody?  An American company that employs American workers is being persecuted and told that if they would just do it the Fed way their problems will go away.  This administration has done every crooked underhanded thing they can think of to put American business’ out of business. They are pumping money out left and right to unions and banks and Dem contributors, they have rammed through laws and instituted policies that place undue burdens on states and are killing business’.  They have pursued avenues that have resulted in American citizens dying while refusing to enforce American law because they believe it to be unfair.  They have deliberately pursued policies that are shutting down American business’ and causing more American’s to be unemployed while encouraging people who are in this country illegally to stay here and compete with unemployed citizens for the sparse amount of jobs that exist.  They have killed communities, jobs and whole industries to save a fish.

If you haven’t seen the light by now, then you need to read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.  This book is not only a play by play description of the anti capitalism that is happening in our nation at this very moment I believe it is a script for the Obama Administration right down to words they speak.  When Napolitano makes a statement about what FEMA will do for the Irene victims reference is made to the Federal Family. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=57520  Well read pages 662 through 664 of Atlas Shrugged and you will see exactly what I’m talking about.

This cannot continue and for those of you who think you are immune to the bias and discrimination of this administration I want you to think about this. When GM & Chrysler were bailed out they denied the shareholders the right to go through bankruptcy and have a chance to recoup their investments.  In the government takeover dealerships were closed without an obvious consistency other than they were republicans or conservative. No one did anything. Judges could be considered complicit in bypassing bankruptcy laws all in the name of “saving jobs and the industry”. No one did anything to stop them. Well you survivors who have been supporting these corrupt actions word is your next. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/14/chrysler-dealers-closing-_n_203460.html

In 2009 California’s Central Valley was turned into a dust bowl because of a fish http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/dead-and-dying-californias-central-valley-dust-bowl/ The story is not any better in 2011 http://hotair.com/archives/2011/01/13/video-federal-policies-failing-the-central-valley/

This administration took our strategic oil reserves and put them on the auction block for the world. http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/06/24/1296681/obama-europe-tap-oil-reserve.html  Doesn’t it bother you that our tax dollars paid for that oil and it was intended for us in the event of an emergency and not other countries?

Doesn’t it bother you that we and NATO actively support Libyan rebels in driving Gaddafi out just so Europe could potentially have the oil?  http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/881881-race-oil-has-begun  Doesn’t it bother you that this was done at a time when we can ill afford to participate in another “Kinetic” exercise?

Doesn’t it bother you to think that if these are the things we know about, what is going on behind our backs that never makes it to the surface

I know.  You’re a good little democrat.  You’re a progressive, a  socialist, a communist.  You belong to a union.  Your safe.  They’ll never touch you.  They just go after the republicans, conservatives, Christians, Jews and tea parties.    Well guess again.  They stopped you in San Francisco http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/08/13/bart-board-member-speaks-out-against-phone-jamming-during-planned-protest/  they will stop you again.

Let me tell you what you are.  You are non-essential.  You are merely a means to an end and I really don’t think you’re going to like your place in the N.W.O.

So what can be done?  Demand that things drastically change.  No more executive orders.  No more Czars.  No more departmental mandates.  No more bureaucratic boards making policy.  No more free rides. No more union heads directing government or policy. Repeal the Lacey Act, Dodd-Frank, the Health Care Act and other business killing legislation.  Demand a FLAT Tax. Demand enforcement of our laws especially by the Executive branch that is charged with enforcing our laws. Demand that judicial appointments be scrutinized and rejected for any hint of bias or social engineering.  Demand that corrupt politicians be expelled and prevented from receiving ANY taxpayer funded benefit.  Demand that no organization receive taxpayer funding.  The list is endless, but you know what is right and what is wrong and you know that NO taxpayer dollars should ever go to anything that could possibly be considered partisan. 

Our Constitution gave us rights and we need to demand that our representation protect those right through adherence to our Constitution.  If ANY branch oversteps it’s Constitutional bounds it should be stopped cold and ejected without a legal battle. Atlas is shrugging and the Liberal/Progressive/Socialist/Communist union has memorized the script.  If you intend to survive you’d better read it so you can recognize the cues when they’re given.  The powers that be underestimated you.  They believed their superior educations and intellects would trump your common sense and moral sensibility.  They counted on you being dumb and surprise, surprise…you’re not.

Gibson CEO Says Feds Told Him Problems Could be Avoided with Madagascar Outsourcing | TheBlaze.com

I’m Not Green Obscene, But I Do Care

 

As the EPA tries to bypass Congress (not that they’d act on anything anyway) to impose Cap ‘N Tax on the energy industry.  While POTUS tries to force green vehicles on us and uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the global “green machine.”  I have to make an observation.  Water.  Potable water is one of our most precious resources.  In times of drought it becomes even more precious..

I’m not “Green Obscene”, but I do care about our environment.  From the time fifty years ago that a teacher pointed out to me that natural resources are not finite.  Unless they are managed properly eventually everything God gave us will run out.

I’m sitting right in the middle of a major drought (not the first I’ve experienced in my life and certainly not the last) where rivers and lakes are drying up and wildlife and livestock are struggling for hydration and the potential for fire is frightening.  Most years it’s very dry where I live come June, July and August so it has long been my practice not to water my grass.  I’ve got this “survival of the fittest” attitude when it comes to grass.  If it want sto survive badly enough it will put down deeper roots and that will benefit it even when there is no drought.  But this year I realized that wasting water on ornamentals was a pretty bad idea.  I made the decision to allow those ornamentals to perish in the drought and heat.  I could not justify wasting water on pretty flowers and attractive trees.

I determined instead to let nature take it’s course and replace those ornamentals next year with edibles.  I don’t have a problem with watering my garden.  We eat that food which in turn provides us with a good deal of hydration. So decision made I am determined to replace every ornamental in the yard with something edible.  I won’t cut down existing shade trees that were here when I got here, but they are all full growth and I am applying my SOTF theory to them. 

Decision made I’ve been mentally plotting next years plantings.  I do this mostly when I’m going from one place to another in my car.  I ruminate.  As I was making and an early morning grocery store run my ruminations were interrupted by the Social Security office’s sprinkler system showering my windshield.  I glanced over to see that most of the water they were applying to their grass was hitting the street.  “Call and have them adjust the sprinklers”, you say.  I could, but that only solves the one problem.  I began to notice on my occasional forays into town that there’s a whole lot of watering going on at all local, state and federal buildings.  You can’t stop them.  They don’t want the grounds of their buildings to appear blighted.  They will water regardless.  But how about if we actually put our tax dollars to good use for a change? 

I think all new construction  for any government building should require that only edibles be planted.  Berry bushes, fruit and citrus trees and even vegetables.  They could plan raised beds into their construction that would offer seating for people eating lunches or taking breaks or just those that have to wait in long lines at DMV’s and court houses.  Governments often contract to yard services for maintenance on their grounds.  Why not allow community groups to plant and service these gardens and turn the produce over to food banks.  If this were as successful as I think it could be a lot of the harvest could be used to supplement our federal cafeterias and lunch rooms.

I like this idea a lot, but more than anything I truly hope that anyone reading this realizes it’s time to stop wasting our water and start putting it to good use.  Don’t water your grass, don’t wash your car until the rains come and plant something you can eat.  Garden plants are really very attractive and a little goes a long way.

They Might Have Been Giants

 

Today the House of Representatives had the opportunity to walk erect with heads held high.  They might have been giants.  They could have listened to the people, heeded the voices they heard and walked in the footsteps of history to claim their place in the sun.

Instead they thought they knew best.  They believed they were smarter and more clever than the people who chose them.  They thought they could defeat the evil trolls and their leader the Deceiver, but they failed to understand that without the will of the people, victory (even if won) would always be hollow.

The people knew they could not win against the trolls and the Deceiver.  Those who have no principles have no enemies except principles.  Those principles must be the bedrock on which decisions are made. To stray from those principles even with the best of intentions always ends in loss.  It is like doing battle with a dragon who says,  “If you lay down your sword, we can talk about this”, but as soon as you lay that sword down the dragon consumes you in fire.

Our forefather’s knew that they had to stand on their principles.  They had little else to stand on.  They rose to the challenge.  They stood against a tyrannical empire and they emerged beaten but free.  Free to be fair and just and honorable.  They went into battle as David's and emerged as Goliaths.  Giants among men who would still be remembered by those who held true to their principles 235 years later.  Last November the People gave the House a directive,  “Stop the spending, represent us as we want to be represented and we will be loyal, support and cover your six”. 

Today the House made it’s choice.  They chose to attempt to out maneuver  the trolls and their leader rather than heed the People.  They were amazed when it didn’t work. 

There were 22 giants and 218 that might have been giants.