A Pledge to be an Obstructionist

Well here we go with another Washington DC battle and people doing dumb things.

No I’m not talking about the Debt Ceiling debacle and the “Do Nothing Blame the Other Guy” Congress, but I’m sure I’ll have words later for them. No, I’m talking about the story of bomb threats against Grover Norquist from the other day.

It seems some moron has decided that blaming Mr. Norquist and his Pledge of “No new taxes” has taken some blame for the gridlock in Washington over the Debt Ceiling and other legislation.

The notion of having members of Congress sign pledges is getting ridiculous, not saying Norquist idea doesn’t have merit, but he himself is giving his pledge a loophole.

Norquist has been quoted as saying that “letting the Bush Tax Cuts (shouldn’t they be the Obama tax cuts by now?) rise in 2013, if part of the debt deal, wouldn’t be considered a new tax” is rather thin. A tax is a tax, regardless of when it happens.

You only have to listen to the Con-opinionators across the media, for they have said any tax increase is considered a new tax. But I guess the difference depends on who sits in the White House at the time.

Oh, sorry, the Bush Tax Cuts rise then they will be considered the Obama Tax Cuts.

For those same Con-opinionators were all for all the Surplus checks, not putting the wars on the books, and even the Medicare plan, all of which were not given the thought as to how to be paid for. Pres “W” was smart not letting the wars on the books until 2007-2008, for he wouldn’t have to deal with the price.

The only difference between “W’s” surplus and “O’s” surplus is that “W” sent those checks to you to spend as “O” went all nostalgic FDR. Either way, taxpayers had/have to pay for both sets of surplus.

But just as we saw during the “Obamacare” debate and the Paul Ryan budget debate, violent constituents, no matter their make or political thought, were free to give verbal barrages to the Congressperson. Yes, and there were fools that smashed windows, sent derogatory fax and emails, but disagreement is no reason for volatile action.

As for Norquist and the bomb threat, it was a viable threat, as any threat should be. But after reading about the incident over at www.thehill.com I couldn’t help but read some of the reader comments. http://thehill.com/homenews/news/173273-bomb-threat-at-office-of-anti-tax-activist-norquist

Here are some goodies:

“violent liberal war loving extremists.
The libtards want to raise taxes so they can go into Iran and Somalia and Yemen.
They love shutting our gulf oil riggs down so we have to buy from dictators.
Libs love the TSA and all the groping going on.
They love the warrantless wiretapps and illegal searches.
Liberals will never win another election after piglosi and obomba”
BY LIBTARDS ARE PUTRID on 07/25/2011 at 13:03

Since when did Liberals like warrantless wiretaps? As well as going into Iran, Somalia and Yemen

“And Rove planted a bug in an opponents office way back when with a short life battery…sure believe this and cheese on the moon.”
BY ROBMAN2 on 07/25/2011 at 12:55

Um, Rove planted a bug in his own office and then called the News & Police while campaigning for office in Texas.

“Probably some desperate Tea Party senior, who has come to realize that default means he/she won't be getting a Social Security check after August 2.”BY CARL1 on 07/25/2011 at 13:17

Well many polls show that Tea Party members don’t want to see Social Security changes since many are collecting or about to collect, but I truly don’t think this is the case.

But just these little bit of examples show how so many will blame the other for the current state of discourse and delusion we’ve succumbed too. Not to mention many need to use Spell-check more often.

Here’s a better idea for a Pledge, how about pledge that all in Congress sign to do their jobs to the end and wait till a deal, any deal, is complete before heading to the nearest microphone for a sound bite.

Seriously, look at all that is going on and Congress, along with the White House, adjourns with nothing accomplished to find a camera to spew their hardship of no deal.

Meanwhile, both parties have offered nothing towards any conclusion to fixing the Debt Ceiling debacle. Republicans cry that the Democratic plan is weak with smoke and mirrors, but the Republican plans have had the same results of the plans they are panning.

Look, both parties are weighing heavily on the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to conclude, saving a $1 trillion in cost. House Majority leader Eric Cantor made the gaffe the other by admitting so.

During an interview with MSNBC’s Larry Kudlow, Cantor was babbling about how Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s plan is wrapped around the 2 wars end. Kudlow asked “doesn’t the baseline for CUT, CAP and BALANCE, plan count on it as well. Cantor’s sad answer “but but but, absolutely it is.”

That was a “gotcha” moment brought on by Cantor himself, and only Cantor can blame himself for it.

The end result is that by August 2, something does need done. Sure Pres “O” has the power to see who gets paid, but let’s see Congress, their Lobbyist aides, White House, and political staff lose their paychecks first for a change. Instead of 4,000 FAA workers and the loss of a weekly $200 million in ticket tax revenue that the country needs.

Oh wait, forgot the Airlines have taken that tax and added another 10% to the cost.

Heck someone might as well make a buck and stiff the public while Congress has the hands up their collective ass.

Dr. Ludwig, I declare you are a fool

There’s always some “specialist” of some sort that writes an elaborate research paper that seems to get many people into hysterics. By hysterics I mean rage or laughter or possibly both.

The latest comes from Dr. David Ludwig, the Director of Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, concerning childhood obesity and what he feels could help the issue.

Personally, I think Dr. Ludwig’s research paper is more to validate his obnoxious title to steer away from the fact that he needs to get out into the World more often.

Dr. Ludwig has come up with the greatest of informational nugget to help fight Childhood Obesity, that being taking the severely obese away from their parents and place them in Foster Care until the parents decide to change the lifestyle of the home.

How much funding did Massachusetts or even the Federal government give this crackpot?

Childhood obesity is not some new disease it has been around for decades, yet now “Specialists” have given a divine name to make it seem severe.
There’s no doubt, obesity of any sort is severe, no matter the age of the person, with diagnosis of Diabetes, Heart disease, Asthma and so on. But there’s more than just the home at cause, there’s society to take a larger degree to blame as well.

We live in a society that over the past 3 decades has become more about convenience then necessity as well as high regards on image and appearance.

Today’s societal convenience has not always been the norm. Today McDonald’s every 3 miles, home pizza delivery in 30 minutes, Convenience stores open 24 hours so we can grab a Hot Dog and beer for the road, Big Box stores, SKYPE, Webcams, texting, Virtual gaming, etc it’s easy to say we are becoming the true life version of the movie WALL-E.

Today, there are many factors that have caused Obesity and if the good Dr. Ludwig was smarter that the piece of paper on his wall he prides in, he would look at the food manufacturers and preparations of today compared to that over the last 30 years.

Dairy farmers use steroids on their cows to get one more gallon out of them. Just look at the frozen chicken breast in your freezer, it wouldn’t shock me if there was more listed then just Chicken on the Nutritional fact label.

Nutritional labels are listed with preservatives and crap no one outside of a Dietician could understand. Really a nutrition label on water!! IT’S WATER!

Dear Dr Ludwig, apparently you haven’t been paying much attention to the news to understand that 95% of the States are in serious debt and are cutting budgets across the board. The foster care programs and even the human services departments are already overburdened.

For instance, Florida just cut 43% of the budget for its Healthy Families Florida program, which provided home visits to expecting families and newborns.

As of September 2010, there were approximately 423,773 children in US Foster care. Close to a half million children in foster care for various reasons, all in need of a home and Dr. Ludwig wants to add more, for a short term, into an already underfunded and over loaded system. Estimates ranges around 1.25 million under the age of 18 are considered obese and who knows the percentage that would be considered severely obese.

But who is to say a foster home is a safer place. Over the past few months, Media has been reporting of Maltreatment in foster homes has risen significantly since 2001. In 2009, 49 States reported a total of 1,676 fatalities according to the Administration for Children & Families.

I am not saying all foster parents are abusive; some like Congresswomen Michelle Bachmann are legitimate good souls who open their homes to care for foster children. But there are those that are crazy and with pending cuts, it puts more strain on Health Services to keep up with visitations.

Dr. Ludwig is basically calling the parents of severely obese children child abusers. But what about the parents that care for the severely under-weight child? Are they not child abusers as well?

Society is not helping in the battle of childhood obesity and childhood eating disorders; it’s more the cause then the cure.

Appearance and image have become such a commercialized sector, that you can’t get away from the ads on TV, radio and print. You gotta look like this to succeed has destroyed many people young lives.

Childhood bulimia, anorexia and binge eating is a fact, for both boys and girls.

It’s no lie that peer pressure when one is growing is significant to a young person’s psyche. The awkward life of puberty and just trying to fit into the World can make a pre-teen loss control and take drastic measures to look like some celebrity or to wear the latest fashions. No one likes to be picked on or the butt of jokes, but that’s part of society’s ill.

Yet, no one concerns themselves with skinny, instead only look at the obese as an issue.

Society’s ills have transformed many households, as parents would rather have their child inside the house afterschool at all times and not outside playing where they have a chance of have their picture on the back of a milk carton or being bullied on video for all to view on YouTube.

Dr. Ludwig needs to recant his work and bring a larger picture into view, much of which I have described and making a notion of simply temporarily removing a child from their parents.

The dangling carrot of changing everything in your house and you get your kid back is just plain wrong.

"There's a special dept of Idiots in the White House"

A good Republican friend told me some time ago that, “the first 2 years of a presidency is just living off what the previous president had done.”

So with that statement is Pres "O" about to complete the pros and cons from Pres "W's" term?

If so, then the latest Quinnipiac poll gives truth to the statement.Of those polled by Quinnipiac, 54% believe Pres “W” is responsible for the current condition of our economy and only 27% blame Pres “O.”

Now among the much beloved and needy Independent voter, those polled pointed their fingers to a 49% that Pres “W” is to blame, which gives Pres “O” some breathing room amongst the Independent masses.

Now, everyone knows I hate polls and these poll percentages aren’t much to look at when over the past year or so that this is a continuous theme from the polling block. Everyone still points to Pres “W” and the past Republican held Congress, a hold the Republicans haven’t held for some time.

One would figure with all the Con-Opinionators working the airwaves, poll percentages should be shifting in the other direction by now. Or maybe it’s that people are realizing that “Change” doesn’t happen overnight and that not one political party alone is at fault.

Many taxpayers are starting to become very irate with Congress more than the White House. Many are tired of obstructionism or a do nothing Congress, namely Republicans. For instance, the current Debt Ceiling debacle, yes debacle, it stopped being a debate a week ago.

But factual numbers do not lie when one looks at the how Partisan the Debt Ceiling voting has been over the past decade. It wasn’t until 2003 when the Republicans heavily voted for raising the Debt Ceiling and the shift to a Democratic Debt Ceiling rise didn’t happen until 2008.

If the Debt Ceiling debacle is not completed, 48% of those surveyed are going to blame Republicans for the aftermath. What aftermath?

The Debt Ceiling has nothing to do with future spending, it’s today’s money! Just like you have to pay your monthly bills, so does our Government and with half the Revenue coming in for what’s due in August, well, we’re screwed.

Just look at the Stock Market the other day. Moody’s S&P released a statement stating they will seriously drop the United States Triple A credit rating, causing trading to slow to almost nothing and everyone should know by now what it means when the Stock market becomes stagnant. That’s right, Recession! Oh wait, we're still in the current Recession. Hmm what comes after Recession?

A drop in credit ratings means higher Interest Rates, which means one way or another taxes are going to go up for everyone. Which means the Republicans will continue to fight for the higher income and corporate brackets with the same stale motto “these are the people creating jobs.” Yet, with higher interest rates, jobs will not be created.

Even GOP Presidential candidates can’t even keep themselves straight on the Debt Ceiling. Tim Pawlenty in one interview on 7/15 went from saying “I wish they wouldn’t raise it” to “They’re gonna have to raise the Debt Ceiling” all within 30 seconds. WTF? Timmy, know wonder you're at the bottom of the pile for contenders.

Pres “O” made the frustrating statement of “this may bring down my presidency.” And you know he may have a point.

Pres “O” is offering $4 Trillion in spending cuts, entitlement changes, and taxes. Pretty close to everything the Republicans have been barking about for over 2 years. The Republicans backed away from the deal and now want $2 Trillion in spending cuts only.

Is there not some middle ground to be had? Or is it more important to box themselves in, both Democrat and Republican, with their ideas. Congress needs to face the fact, get the job done or they’ll be unemployed with the majority of the US come Nov 2012.

Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell pretty much summed up the Congressional Republican thought when stating back in Nov 2010 and everyday since; “our #1 priority is defeating Pres Obama from now till Nov 2012.”

Of course, that statement is in opposition to Speaker Boehner’s words when announcing their “Pledge to America” that the Economy and Jobs were the #1 priority.

It’s as if their obstructionism is more of vengeance to defeat Pres “O,” even if it means bringing down the nation. Their lack of doing anything for the Economy or Jobs is sufficient enough in their failing mantras and rhetoric.

To borrow a quote from Jim Belushi in the 1987 movie Real Men:
“I dunno Bob, I think there's a special department of idiots in the White House who do that”

Well I have to say that’s true, however there’s a larger group of idiots in Washington DC as well, and they work in Congress.

The $40 Million Dollar Taxpayer Boll Weevil?

"The American taxpayer come on down, you're the next contestant on Congressional PliNKo!"

Don’t you feel like you are watching a game show with how Congress, the White House and the Media are playing the American taxpayer concerning the debate over the Debt Ceiling?

Congress and the White House have had since November 2010 elections to figure out the Debt Ceiling, that’s 8 months of ZERO accomplishment except seeing themselves pandering to the cameras and pointing crooked fingers at the other.

So now we’ve come to last minute theatrics, with the GOP walking into the White House over the past weekend with a large $4 trillion spending cut list, only to stomp out the door like a bunch of whiney pimply faced pre-teens straight to the nearest camera to whine.

How does that make those that voted for the GOP feel to see their leadership act like that?

But the best part is that the GOP blinked first in the debate when Speaker Boehner announced he’d take half to get the deal done. That has to infuriate the political base to see Boehner downsize their intentions.

It’s easy to say Boehner is feeling the heat within his own party, for everyone seems to be coming forward with their own ideas and negotiation skills. The GOP is tearing apart from the inside, eating their own, and I called it when I first started blogging 18 months ago.

Now Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has come out and said “let Obama raise the ceiling.” How he was able to walk out of the building without an angry mob chasing him?

Then again, it’s McConnell that has been saying time and time again that the #1 priority is defeating Pres “O” and making him a one term president, which explains the lack of any production out of Congress over the Debt Ceiling.

Pres “O” was correct in letting people know that they may not receive their Social Security checks in August, just as the Speaker Boehner stated our Military may not receive their paychecks in August as well. Using the American citizens as pawns is not new in politics, Jefferson and Adams played the same game in their famous battles.

Republicans keep the mantra of not taxing the highest income or business because “they are the job creators” yet unemployment numbers are showing they are doing the opposite. Big business is making a profit by having less overhead and overworking their employees. It’s not a new concept, it’s just not talked about in the Media.

We've been told these "job creators" need all the cuts possible to create jobs for the past 10 years and still we've never been below 6% unemployment and they still want more.

GOP and their Tea Party brethren keep talking of less government, which is fine and makes for a great rallying cry, yet that’s where their words end. No one talks of how the Unemployment rate really only reflects the Private sector and sits at 9.2% and if we add in the Public sector, my how that number jumps to 15%!

The Public worker just doesn’t go away after being terminated, no they collect Unemployment or Social Security benefits like the rest of the nation. Bringing more stress to the States and the Stock Market.

Every month the speculators come up with some random number for job creation and when the monthly job reports comes out, the Stock Market stands quiet to listen. Poor numbers bring down the Market and a good number raises the economic bar.

The best quote to come from Speaker Boehner has got to be “We need new taxpayers” which means there is less Revenue coming in with Unemployment sitting so high. Yet, his own Party members such as Jim DeMint and Jon Kyl say “there is no Revenue problem, we have plenty of Revenue,” if that’s the case then why all the hoopla about the Debt Ceiling? Shouldn’t we be able to pay the debt then?

Fact: There is a Revenue problem. Too many tax breaks for everyone and corporations, so many voluntarily or forcibly taking early retirement to collect Social Security, terminated and of course not to mention the rebuilding and health care for our Military. It all adds up and something has got to give or someone has got to give.

We have to raise the retirement age to collect on Social Security, it’s the starting point. Currently for one to collect full Social Security they can be no less than 65 years of age. Raise it! People are living longer and many are healthier, so bring it up to 70, maybe even 72. But age is not the only correction in need, for there are many collecting Social Security benefits due to loss of child and/or parent. As much as it pains one to think of it, this has got to change in one form or another.

Secondly, Congress must pass a reform in Medicare. Something as simple as going after Hospitals and Doctors for useless testing and paying them correctly for services rendered and not just a regular payout. Think of all the waste and theft there is just on Medicare alone and the savings can easily reach at least $3 billion yearly

Thirdly, tax loopholes must be brought to a stop. We can debate about taxing those that make $1 million or more all day long but it will only solve the miniscule amount of debt. FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly has even come to terms with such a tax hike, calling for a National 1% consumer tax, yet no one is attacking him for the suggestion. Wonder why they are silent over at FOX and Bill’s tax notion?

Finally, and this needs done regardless and that’s for Speaker Boehner to introduce the “Balance Budget” Amendment on the floor for debate. The one thing California did right in the last few years was introduce such a bill with an attachment that reads “a budget must be approved and signed on time and must be balanced, no smoke and mirrors. If it is not and/or sent back to Legislature to be corrected, then Legislation then will not be paid for their time (paraphrase).”

Think about that, create a bogus balanced budget and get caught doing so means you have to work without pay and no reimbursements for travel and whatnot! This must be adopted by our Federal Government.

There’s no doubt about it, no matter what gets cut or raised, Americans will have a gripe. But to keep this Nation solvent, Congress and the White House must act now. No dog and ponies allowed, do the job they were voted upon to do, after all they are our employees on the Hill, let’s not let them forget that.

For if we do let them forget, we won’t be paying $40 million yearly for Boll Weevil eradication, no we’ll be paying double.

What the hell is a Boll Weevil anyway other than the mascot for the University of Arkansas!

The injustice of American Media sensationalism

To paraphrase quote one of my favorite movies The Big Chill; “Never write anything longer than what the average person can read during the average crap.”

Today, we have more ways to find (mis)information on the news, whether it be Political, Celebrity, Sports, etc. Some of the trades are straight and some stretch the term “Yellow Journalism” to the edge.

Yellow journalism has come a long way since the Spanish American War and the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine off the coast of Cuba. If it weren’t for biased opinion sprinkled with a little bit of fact, the U.S. would’ve never declared war and Teddy Roosevelt may not have become an American Icon that would later become President.

There is no doubt that today’s media has become more “Yellow” then ever before. Americans would rather take the words of a partisan talker in the likes of Hannity or Shultz then actually read or listen to other outlets.
After all, your local news will only give you enough dissected saturated info they can fit into a 45 second spot then actually exists. Newspapers and trade magazines are a dying breed because about 90% of the public is too busy too want to sit and read the story. We would rather have someone read us the story than actually read it ourselves.

Media personalities have become the Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose of the news, a bedtime story nation. Making villains of those with opposite beliefs and making heroes of those they believe fight the good cause.
Yet, years later, those villains are then hired by the Media outlets and those heroes fall off their trusty steeds and onto their swords.

Case in point, the 90’s when those that attempted to impeach Pres Clinton for lying about a sexual affair he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Social Moral driven conservatives in the Republican Party went after Pres. Clinton and many were considered heroes amongst their constituents. Shortly thereafter, many fell to their own hidden closet of affairs.

Then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was having an affair with his 3rd mistress in his chambers during the Impeachment hearings. Years later, Newt would state his infidelity had to do with his passion and overworked Congressional schedule.

Democrats are not angels either. In 2008 New York Governor Eliot Spitzer ran rampant thru NY going after prostitution rings only to be found to be a “John” himself and resigning in disgrace.

Today, Eliot Spitzer has a cushy commentating job with CNN and Newt Ginginch is running for President of the United States.
We’ve become such a misinformed nation, or should I say misinformed partisan news nation.

Over the past 2 decades we’ve been told how much the Democrats are anti-military and want to do away with defense funding, yet in 2010 the “Tea Party” members of Congress (those that ran under GOP funding) want twice as much defense spending cuts then the Democrats, but you’ll never hear that on those Con-Opinionating talk shows.

But it’s not even politics that we are misinformed upon. Take the Casey Anthony trials that have been plastered on every Media outlet the past 2 months. Media has sensationalized this trial, why?

A good friend of mine made the best comment when I asked if the trial was just that, Media sensationalism. To paraphrase him “if it were some 40 year old, 500lb woman, Media would only mention the trial in passing, but since she is a hot 20 something year old, the Media grabbed hold and rammed the story into our everyday lives .”

It’s a great point; Media has blown other stories to focus on Casey Anthony. I would say 97% of America said she was guilty and when heard the words “Not guilty” everyone freaked. We look past the notion that the Prosecution was horrible and for every move they made the Defense was 2 steps ahead.

Go back to the O.J. Simpson murder trials, as the Prosecution once again was pathetic in their job. It didn’t hurt that then Officer Mark Furman completely screwed the Prosecution over by tainting evidence. And what ever happened to Officer Furman, well he is now a successful novelist whom is a regular on the Sean Hannity radio show as a Police Investigation Expert.

Many have heard of the battle between Glenn Beck and Van Jones.

Van Jones signed a “9/11 Truth” petition shortly after 9/11 happened, and when he joined Pres. Obama’s council, Glenn Beck attacked Van Jones for his signature amongst Jones’ other misgivings.

Yet, Beck and others ignore someone like Alex Jones, who is one of the US’s biggest conspiracy theorists, and his own “9/11 Truth” movement. Alex Jones believes it too was an inside job, in line with the Michael Moore, yet Beck and others only attack Moore. Why? Simple, never “eat your own.”

9/11 is sacred, never speak ill of the day and many were reminded of such when the US Navy Seals finally brought judgment to Osama bin Laden a few months back.

Many Americans celebrated (I was one) the death of OBL but there were others who believed that he should have been captured and brought to trial and could not understand the celebration of one person’s death.

It’s easy to understand and I am sure those that are the most hardened of Bible readers gave a sigh of relief knowing OBL was gone. Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendanhall however became a goat by many when expressing his opinion on Social Media’s Twitter.

Mendenhall, he of religious belief, had a hard time understanding the jubilation of the death of OBL, but that was not the comment Media focused on. It was his open thought of the “9/11 Truth” notion that (paraphrase) “how can an airliner bring down such a large building in the World Trade Center?” It was that thought for which he was castrated in the Media, by both Left and Right.

We are so full of opinion, actually, full of our own opinion that it is next to impossible to listen and understand the opinion of others. And for those that can’t fathom their own opinion, they take those words of their favorite Media source, from Beck to Shultz to Limbaugh to Olbermann and take it as Gospel truth and regurgitate it as if it were their own.

We don’t have factual journalists anymore, just people pretending to be knowledgeable of the events and just waiting for their moment to be able to call the current or future President “a dick” on live television.

Now was that fact or just an opinion?