"Make a Hole Make it Wide"
That's right, Big Poppa is back and that's only because my double wide butt got turned away at the Arizona border for having a legal driver's license and a bottle of Arizona Tea. So grab a tall frosty one, because Big Poppa's got the "Fast 4" for this blog.
Fast 4:
1. Elena Kagan softball picture worth a headache?
So if your daughter plays softball one can than have the belief that she's a lesbian. Or your unmarried successful daughter might be a lesbian as well.
On May 13th, the Wall Street Journal released a photo from 1993 of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan playing softball. Immediately some people linked that photo to her being a lesbian.
Fox's Greta Van Strussen asked former Gov. Sarah Palin about the photo. I can't believe I'm agreeing with Gov. Palin on this, but as she stated on 5/14 show, ".. that picture means nothing. I played softball when I was a teenager and I'm normal. Let's talk judicial thought instead." Exactly Governor.
The American Family Association reasoning for calling Ms. Kagan a lesbian is simply "because she's a successful 50 something single woman." Really? That's all it takes to declare someone as a lesbian. Wow! Ok, then here's a shot at the AFA's theory, would they say the same for former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice? Like that of Ms. Kagan, very little is known of Ms. Rice's personal life.
I am not calling Ms. Rice a lesbian, I have respect for her and her accomplishments, but if you go by AFA terminology then she must be. I think Mr. Rice did a excellent job for our country and she's a sports fan! She has even gone on record stating she would love to be commissioner of the National Football League.
Ok, so Ms. Kagan does not have the judicial background. Well here is today's history lesson, neither did Justice Rehnquist, as well as Warren, White, Goldberg, Powell, and Fortas. Last I checked, Rehnquist served from 1986 to 2005. 36% of our Supreme Court justices lacked judicial experience.
Also as Kagan's Princeton History thesis is titled "To the Final Conflict: Socialism in New York City, 1900-1933," you have to remember it's a history paper.
No different then John Robert's Harvard History thesis titled
"Marxism and Bolshevism: Theory and Practice” and “Old and New Liberalism: The British Liberal Party's Approach to the Social Problem"
Does that make Roberts a Marxist? No more than Kagan is a Socialist.
2. President Obama recruits LeBron James
Cleveland's hopes of a NBA Championship in over 45 years came to an end last week when "King" LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers got bounced out of the NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics. Now there is word that President Obama wants to talk LeBron James into playing for his beloved Chicago Bulls. Does anyone really care?
Lebron James is the coveted trophy to get now in Free Agency, from Coast to Coast the teams that can afford him are going to make a play, even Cleveland wants to keep him and they can afford it the most.
But listening to the local sports talkers, they are making a big deal over President Obama's wishes. OK, everyone knows our 44th president is a sports fanatic, just like Pres. "W" loves his Texas Rangers baseball and University of Texas Longhorn football. Like most people, Obama likes to kick back after a stressfull day and watch ESPN and maybe have a beer (hint: Obama, I'm waiting for my beer invite).
But is it news, that Obama wants him to play for his beloved Chicago Bulls? No. I want Drew Brees under center for the Steelers and Derek Jeter to play shortstop for the Pirates, but so do many other Pittsburgh sports fans. Is that news? No.
ESPN has taken much liberty in the fact Obama is a sports fan, but then again they already started their "Bret Favre" retirement clock two minutes after this year's Super Bowl. Another story people just don't care about.
3. Eric Cantor of Virginia come on down...
So House Minority Whip Eric Cantor wants to turn his party's responsibilities into an "American Idol-esque" roadshow, called YouCut. My understanding of the gameplan, each week they'll post 5 government funded programs, explain their purpose (good or bad), how much it costs taxpayers and then have America vote on which one to get rid off. Cantor and House Republicans will give that progam an "up or down vote."
Now Cantor gave some examples such as: $260 million dollar presidential election fund and $2.5 billion in welfare. And the total savings of the 5 programs over 5 years is .16% of the budget
I can see getting rid of the $260 million dollar presidential election fund. My accountant asks me every year if I want to give to it, which I respond "not a chance." I've never given to that fund and never plan to. But that number of $260 million is over a five year span according to Cantor's website. But it's a start.
I am more curious about the $2.6 billion spent on Community Development Block Grants. Created to help improve economic development in lower income communites, much of this fund is dispersed to higher income communities as well. So why not fix this program so the moneyy goes to the right places as it was intended to do.
Why not fix the programs and have them work as they are intended to do and get rid of the archaic ones that have no meaning?
I spoke to a few people about YouCut, some laughed and some questioned it. But many responded "isn't this why we vote people into federal office to do? Why are we doing half their job and not getting paid for it?"
Not to mention, you gotta vote by "text." Text charges will apply depending on your plan. I guess people would've responded better if the story was released on the "Game Show" network by Bob Barker.
4. Rick Perry's rental crib
Speaking of game shows, I read that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been renting a posh-crib for $10,0000/monthly while the governor's mansion is being renovated after fire back in 2007. Oh and the Texas state budget is already $11 billion short this coming year and the following year, plus all those new History books they have to buy.
Gov. Perry has been telling state departments to cut their budgets by 5%, which is perfectly fine, but now they are about to ask state workers to take furloughs to help with the budget. If I was a Texan (thankfully I am not), I'd be telling Gov. Perry it's time to relocate and save some cash.
According to records, Gov Perry's rental-crib is on the market for $1.85 million, with that you get three acres of land and over 6,500 square feet of living space.
The Governor's Mansion, ownened and operated by Texas taxpayers is over 9,900 sq ft, but unfortunatly only 2,750 of that is useable since the rest is dedicated to historic relics and those pesky tourists. By comparison, www.zillow.com lists the White House at a steal for a cool $277 million with 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 3 elevators. (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1600-Pennsylvania-Ave-NW-Washington-DC-20006/84074482_zpid/)
Texans are picking up the tab and everything from the maintenance on the heated pool to lawn care. Gov Perry's campaign fund pays for the food and drinks, through the "Mansion Fund." However, there are now a team of Ethnics lawyers looking into whether Gov Perry is violating campaign finance laws since they list receipts as "Mansion Expenditures" without listing what is what or even who got paid what.
That's an argument that many brought up concerning donations by unnamed persons during President Obama's 2008 campaign. People wanted to know who was who. So will these people say the same for Gov Perry? It was only last year that Gov Perry stood in front of a Texas Tea Party rally demanding federal spending accountability. I say Gov Perry, where's your state spending accountability for your tax payers?
Chew on those nugggets for a bit. The peanut bowl was empty on #3 and I gotta write my farwell card to Pa Senator Arlen Specter.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37343.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7720820/Elena-Kagan-outed-as-lesbian-by-Wall-Street-Journal-softball-picture.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5189274
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/05/cantor_lets_activists_vote_on.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_re_us/us_texas_governor_temporary_mansion
You really need to lay off the YouCut thing before I push you off your oversized barstool. You make fun of it, yet it engages the country in the political process. Yes, we elect those people to Congress. WE elect THEM to be our voice in government. Isn't this then what they are doing by allowing the people a chance to participate in the process. If the people are saying, "I want the government to reform welfare," wouldn't they be more inclined to actually listen to the suggestion and work on reform rather than partisan bickering and shut downs?
ReplyDeleteWe have, as I have mentioned to you previously, become politically lazy as a country. People go to the polls, vote, then sit back and wait for the next election. They take no part in holding those in office responsible for their actions nor do they actively participate with those they've elected to make sure that it is their best interest that is being represented in government. This allows the voters that sent these people to Congress to do a job for them and their state, to voice their opposition to excessive government spending. It also sends a message to the others that are sitting in that chamber that the people are now actively engaged, being informed of areas of wasteful spending, and weighing in on what is essential to the running of government and what is not.
You obviously again forgot to read carefully the entire program. You DO NOT have to text your vote in. You can simply go to the website as I do and vote for the area you feel should be cut. You also are using the past weeks cuts as an example. This week, those programs on the chopping block are Mohair subsidies, Federal pay raises, Federal purchasing of land, UNESCO, and the Byrd Scholarship program.
We're not doing their job, we're doing OUR job by taking an active step in preventing the fiscal collapse of our country. Perhaps these spending cuts brought to the floor by YouCut will awaken those in Congress who think the American people are ignorant to what their money is actually spent on. Perhaps, by being involved, we may actually be able to show Congress that we're not their lapdogs and regardless of party or affiliation, we've had enough of careless spending. When you're in debt you don't spend more. You tighten the purse strings. If that means no Federal pay raises then that's what that means. If that means you don't get extra money for cutting your sheeps hair then hey, too bad. If that means that the Federal government doesn't get to go out and buy up more land, oh well. If we continue on this path we're doomed. So instead of mocking the idea, perhaps you should rethink it. It's not a bad one. It keeps the public involved, informs them, and makes those elected more personally responsible for the mess we're in.
Um, let'd see, when I typed in YouCut on google, it gave me Cantor's website and the programs I listed were there! Now maybe they switched the day after I posted. Timing is everything.And I believe I really wasn't knocking the programs he listed. I believe the Pres Campaign deal is a joke and always was. And I stated I didnt really knew about the HUD block grant, but by going by Cantor's description if money was intended to help in lower income areas, but money was being funneled to the higher areas as well, umm that sounds more like the program needs corrected or revamped.
ReplyDeleteThey tried tightening the purse in the '90s and worked pretty darn well, except for that closing down government for awhile during the summer. But it worked. It's when senators/representatives think they are bigger then they are, is when we get in trouble. Conservatives were awesome in the 90s, but little by little their leadership fell apart, soon the social conservatives took over the fiscal conservatives. Rick Santorum said it best "Now I need to be a complete conservative, I was a social conservative when I came in and never a fiscal one" back in April 2010. They took federal gov into social areas like Terry Schaivo when asked to stay away.
If you really wanna make a difference, start pushing for term limits on these characters that get elected. Obviously the primaries had some meaning:
Pa- Sestak beat Specter.
Critz beat Burns in Murtha's old stomping ground. There's more to be told on this one
Kentucky- Rand Paul had a big win in the Republican primary, and I don't care if the Tea Oarty backed him, it was a statement.
But I found it interesting that both the Democrats in Kentucky got higher turnout.
Utah- Incumbent Bennet barely came in 3rd
Arizona- McCain is fighting for his political life and as of 12:30 Wed, was ahead by 12 points.
You are drinking too much. You vote straight from the website that you sent me earlier. No texting needed. I don't think that YOU CUT is actually meant to do their work, but makes one helluva awareness campaign to show the public all of the wasteful spending. You make fun of the .16% of the budget it would save. Sure in these few programs. Now keep adding the millions in waste in every federal program out there.
ReplyDeleteI have first hand experience working with CDBG (served on a city council of a rural mid-Missouri city)and it is a good program, helping fund many projects. I would hate to see it go away. It clearly is meant to fund projects in lower income communities (& only 2 at any one time), so I don't know why more prosperous communities were selected unless they fudged.
This is coming up for a vote later this week. This garnered the most votes from the first YOUCUT vote by the taxpayers-274,000 or so- hopefully, this bill will not be passed.
ReplyDeleteNew Non-Reformed Welfare Program
$2.5 billion in savings
The program was recently created to incentivize states to increase their welfare caseloads without requiring able-bodied adults to work, get job training, or otherwise prepare to move off of taxpayer assistance. Reforming the welfare program was one of the great achievements of the mid 1990s, saving taxpayers billions of dollars and ending the cycle of dependency on welfare. This new program, created in 2009 is a backdoor way to undo those reforms. The program currently costs approximately $2.5 billion a year. (Also proposed as part of the RSC Sunset Caucus.) Click here to learn more about this program.