Occupy Arrests Up Just A Tad

As of 31 Jan 2012:

Occupy “Something” arrests:

6,455

Tea Party Arrests:

ZERO

Just a little food for thought. And maybe a little ammunition when discussing theses matters with your liberal friends.

Click here for updates. Warning, this site linked is a progressive site, supporting the Occupy movement. Thus, you will be hard pressed to find the arrests of the folks carrying out other crimes other than the refusal to move. If you want to get a feel for the level of crimes being committed by some of the people associated with the Occupy movement, click here. I did do some quick cross-referencing and found that the progressive site kind of, sort of, well, forgot to mention some of the more violent incidents, like the assaults and the vandalism. I’m just sayin’

Something to Consider

From time to time I use a link from Doug Ross’s Director Blue for the basis of a blog post. When I do this, I do my best to ensure that he gets credit for a hat tip (h/t). I also spend time reading the stuff he posts.

Today I ran across a post that is a must read for all of you out there. In this post he describes what he thinks is the “Most Audacious Armed Robbery in History.” And while the title of his post might just a bit over the top, what he has to say and the points that he makes are certainly NOT over the top.

The very finally point that he makes in his post is something that you all should seriously contemplate. If you are not a supporter of Mitt Romney (and I am not), Newt Gingrich (leaning a little), Rick Santorum (I do like), or Ron Paul (A little too crazy on foreign policy), you need to consider the alternative if Obama gets another four years. During this primary season, support your candidate with everything you have. But once the primaries are done and the GOP nominee has been selected, DON’T sit on your butts in protest come November just because the candidate might not be your first (or even second) choice. At the risk of repeating myself: Consider the alternative.

California Does it Again

Many on the left is very fond of using the term fascist for those of us who believe in conservative principles like a free market to determine what will sell and what won’t.

Recent news out of California might have a few folks relooking this.

For those who need a refresher the term fascist, when correctly applied, describes an economic structure that is controlled by a heavily centralized government. Private businesses are allowed to operate, but only under government mandated goals such as prices, profit levels, and production numbers. Because of this centralized decision making, the end consumer is also impacted as products they might want are either not available, available at inflated prices, or quality is poor due to companies cutting corners to continue to be profitable.

Last week, the California Air Resources Board passed emission standards that will require every seventh car sold in the state to be electric or zero emission.

…the new state policy mandates that a mix of 1.4 million zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles be on the road by 2025, nearly triple the number begin driven today. Problem is, this increases the cost of these vehicles and limits consumer choices to those they don’t want to make. (Source: Investor.com) (h/t Director Blue)

So here we have a government dictating what can be sold to consumers, the free market be danged. Add to the mix that the California government, especially those in appointed position (unanswerable to the public), is a collection of progressives and liberal agenda-driven folks.

Please tell me again who the Fascists are.

More Taxes to Fund Cali High Speed Rail

There was a time when California alone was something like the 10th largest economy in the world. Abundant and educated workforce, friendly business climate, few places better to live, and other factors all combined to make the California economy vibrant and growing.

This is no longer the case. Heavy taxation for start ups and for heavy industry. A regulatory environment that makes it nearly impossible to get a business up and running or to expand. A state budget that is threaten to collapse under the weight of state employee salaries, benefits, and retirement programs which need higher taxes to pay for. All of these are driving businesses away from the once Golden State.

Now Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown has floated the idea of using the California Cap and Trade law to fund the controversial High-Speed Rail system.

Gov. Jerry Brown told a Los Angeles TV station today that the state’s proposed high speed rail system will cost much less than $100 billion, and will be partly funded by new taxes on major air pollution emitters.

The governor told ABC 7’s :Eyewitness Newsmakers” program that environmental impact fees paid by industries that emit large amount of greenhouse gases will help fund the big train project. California has a “cap and trade” law that will collect fees if businesses do not reduce emissions, the governor said. (Source: Contra Costa Times) (h/t: Soylent Green)

My question to Gov. Brown: How do you expect to pay for this huge project when many of these businesses that you are going to collect from are either considering leaving or have already done so?

Is Gov. Moonbeam going to tax the energy companies that are going to have to be built to produce the electricity to run these trains? Or is he expecting that solar panels and wind farms are going to be built from LA to La Vegas, covering the Mojave Desert? I wonder how the environmentalists are going to like that one.

I also bet these liberals think the only impact of these taxes is going to be on the companies. If they really think the higher costs of doing business in California isn't going to be passed onto the consumer of those products, well they have their progressive little heads buried in the California beach sand..

That is one thing I have noticed about liberals, they tend not to see the forest through the trees.

Tell me dear readers; who’da thought that a democrat would use more taxes to pay for a project that no one wants, no one needs, and no one is going to use?

Super Bowl Ad

Found this video at one of the sites I occasionally drift through from time to time. This Budweiser commercial aired during the 2002 Super Bowl, which was the first Super Bowl after the 9-11 attacks.

The commercial is called “Respect”. Watch it to the end. The write up on the other web site said it would give you goose bumps. It hit me harder than that.

Sarah Takes On GOP Establishment

I have not yet decided whom I am going to support in the primaries and probably won’t until forced to do so but please take a gander at this link.

Over at Legal Insurrection, Prof. Jacobson has reprinted an excerpt of an article where Sarah Palin takes the GOP establishment to task over their repeated attempts, especially since South Carolina, to smash Newt Gingrich.

Keep in mind that I am fully aware the Newt has warts, some of them pretty serious. But I do like that he is unafraid to take on the media and Obama in the most basic of terms (his terms BTW). I also do admire that he is not afraid to dream big dreams for America. In a way, that is much like Reagan. Reagan had a dream of defeating Communism in his time. He did it! Why can’t Newt dream also?

Obama Unveils

From the State of the Union address.

“The executive branch also needs to change. Too often, it’s inefficient, outdated and remote. That’s why I’ve asked Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs the of the American people.”

With that one utterance, I truly feel the veil has been dropped. President Obama has completely revealed himself to be a power-hungry far-left zealot.

This is the change that he promised. It wasn’t to make America great again, it was to remake America into his far-left, Sal Alinsky buttered view. The first step in making this happen is to make the other two branches of the government irrelevant. His is already well underway with this task with his “recess” appointments and unprecedented power given to various agencies.

While government inefficiency is a mainstay of nearly every politician’s stated goal to cure, it is most often under the umbrella of reducing the size of the government, not consolidating the power under one branch or another.

Obama’s power grab could not have been more obvious and is the most recently and scary attempt to basically become a dictator.

How this has not become front page news is beyond me. The press sure didn’t have a hard time pointing out President George Bush’s supposed unconstitutional acts.

Combined Green Effort

I am what you might call a responsible environmentalist. I do believe that we should use the resources on earth in a manner that is efficient, but does not interfere with growth and progress. I am also a fan of letting the free-market dictate how and when various kinds of environmental and energy programs are used and implemented.

I like recycling. We are huge recyclers in the PACNW Righty household. We fill up the huge bin completely every two weeks. We recycle so well that the trash can is normally only half full on pick up days.

SIDENOTE: A couple of my more liberal neighbors (Obama stickers on their Prius) don’t recycle at all. When I ask them about it they say it takes too much effort to separate out the recycles from the trash. I have even offered to show them my methods, but it is too much of a bother for them. I wonder who has a smaller carbon foot print. Me and my recycling? Or them and their Prius? Considering the energy it takes to make aluminum and paper from scratch I think I might have a leg up on them, so to speak.

When I see something like the efforts made in this linked article, I must applaud these folks on their efforts. Seems that a dairy farmer north of Seattle has developed, with the help of the state and the local Tulalip Tribe, a method of capturing waste and turning it into usable energy. Not only that, he is also using expired food products to feed his milk cows, further reducing waste in the landfill.

What an awesome idea. Even better, groups that could be at the opposite end of the spectrum, environment-wise, came together and worked out a solution that benefits all parties. The farmer gets to keep his farm and make a little extra money on the side, the Tulalip Tribe sees a better salmon fishery, and the greenies get to see energy produced from a renewable resource.

Win, Win. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Google "Bombs" Santorum

Republican nomination hopeful Rick Santorum has had his share of difficulties trying to gain traction during the initial series of primaries. Probably the most publicized issue was hubbub raised, mostly by liberals, over Santorum and his wife’s handling of the stillborn death of their child back in the mid ‘90’s. Of course, you knew the left would raise this issue, and try to paint Santorum as some sort of kook.

Even less publicized were the efforts of Google and gay rights activist Dan Savage. According to the article where I got this information, several news outlets, including MSNBC, ABC, and CNN, had an opportunity to call Savage on the carpet for his behavior towards Santorum. None of them did.

A few years ago Savage ran a contest for people to come up with the vilest definition for “Santorum.” Needless to say, what came up was pretty disgusting. As for Google, what they have done, really takes the cake. When doing a search for Santorum on Google the results of Savage’s contest come up as the top return. He is a screen capture.

Screen Capture Taken 27 Jan 2012

I blocked out the worst of it because it isn’t fit for print. If you must read it, do your own search because the “winning” definition is right there for you to see.

By Any Means Necessary

In case you haven't already seen it, Michelle Malkin has a run down of recent voter fraud cases that have popped up all over the nation. Of course, there has minimal cover from the lame stream media. Can't let anything interfere with the election of the Chosen One. One thing to note on all of these highlighted cases is that each and every one was either done by a leftist organization or democrat offical.

Recently I posted my concerns about the possibility that Obama might try something funky to stay in office as long as possible. One point that I did not make but is never the less something that we should all be worried about is the chance that Obama could win the election by any means necessary. For many of Obama's supporters, it is not the sanctity of the election that matters to them, only the end results. I really don't think it would bother them one wit if Obama won due to fraud.

Like the man they support, they are willing to destory the Constitution and throw elections laws out the window to achieve what they desire. they know there is no way they can win through legal means so now they are starting to lay the foundation for voter fraud not seen since the days of Tammany Hall or the Daley Machine in Chicago.

Volts: Folks Don't Want 'em, Neither Do the Dealers

President Obama and his Green Crew have hitched their wagon to the heavily subsidized Chevy Volt to satisfy the far left environmental extremists in the party. He is also hoping the Volt takes off so that he can justify his continued assault on US energy producers (elimination of the coal industry and no permits for the Keystone pipeline).

It hasn’t quite worked out how they thought it would. General Government Motors had predicted hot sales for the electric hybrid, thinking 10,000 would be a reasonable goal. For 2011 only about 7,600 Volts were sold, not even coming close to the goal.

And now it seems that even the dealers don’t want them. This is from The Foundry:

Automotive News gives an example this morning in the New York City market where last month, GM allocated 104 Volts to 14 dealerships in the area and dealers took just 31 of them, the lowest take rate for any Chevy model in that market last month. The group of dealers orders more than 90% of the other vehicles they were eligible to take…

In Clovis, Calif., Brett Hedrick, dealer principal at Hedrick’s Chevrolet, sold ten Volts last year. But in December and January he turned down all six Volts allocated to under GM’s “turn-and-earn” system, which distributes vehicles based on past sales volumes and inventory levels. GM’s “thinking we need six more Volts is just crazy,’ Hedrick said to Automotive News. “We’ve never sold more than two in a month.” Hedrick says he usually takes just about every vehicle that GM allocates to him. (Source: The Foundry) (h/t: Doug over at Director Blue)

I wonder how long it will be before Obama requires dealership to take possession of all the Volts GM allocates. Does anyone think that the current administration won’t force GM to put together some sort of policy that dealers must take the allocations of the Volts? And I am sure that shortly after this policy is put into place, GM will then begin to publicize the number of Volts sent to dealerships, rather than actual cars sold, as the stats used to show Volt “success.”

Sales Up, Prices Down

The foreclosure bubble has hit the local market.

Home sales actually increased from this month last year by about 2,000. But the values continue to tumble. The culprit? Foreclosures. The number of foreclosed homes sold this past month were up 73% from last year.

Bottom line is that people are looking for deals. Banks have a large collection of foreclosed homes they need to get rid of. Put the two of them together and you will see an uptick in sales but a decrease in values as banks unload homes in their inventory.

El Presidente Obama

Ran across an interesting article on whether this election could be our last if President Obama should win a second term. Please read the article and then read my post. I also recommend you bookmark this site.

Over the past three years as I have watched President Obama with an obviously critical eye, a nagging feeling has been scratching at the back of my mind.

Would President Obama either try to make the 2012 elections null and void if he lost or, if he won, would he takes steps to ensure that he never had to step down, ala FDR (his hero BTW)?

President for Life?

Before you all start sending me tinfoil for my conspiracy hat, please hear me out.

Same-Sex Marriage Debate Heats Up in PACNW

Out here in the state of Washington our current Governor, Christine Gregoire has decided not to run for a third term. Early on in her time as governor she was a typical tax and spend liberal, boosted by a majority in the state legislature. While at one time, the state did have a surplus, the tax and spend policies of controlling democrat party have put our state’s finances in jeopardy with billions in shortfalls over the past couple of years.

Gregoire has done a decent job of trying to balance the state budget as constitutionally required, but there have been occasions where I thought she could have done more to make deeper cuts. For example, she has asked for a 20% cut in senior citizen programs, but has only asked for a 4% cut in the Department of Ecology. She also proposed a nearly 10% cut in programs for developmentally disabled programs, but has requested full funding for state employee salary increases. Nothing like kowtowing to those who get you elected.

Just recently Gregoire has come out in support of gay marriage, despite the fact that Washington State enjoys probably the most liberal policy regarding domestic partnerships in the nation, short of the actual marriage certificate. Her stated support has heated up the debate in the state legislature that is seriously considering a bill that would allow same-sex marriages. Just the other day, State Senator Mary Haugen, who is a democrat in a conservative-leaning district, has decided to be the 25th Senator to support same-sex marriage. Makes me wonder if the Washington state Republican Party apparatus is going to consider running a candidate against her. While the district has conservative leanings, it has reelected her time and time again. Maybe it is time for the folks of her district to rethink their support.

Winter Hits PACNW Hard

Been a rough couple of days here in the PACNW. First off, we got slammed with about 10 inches of snow on Wednesday. School and business closings were the norm across the western half of the state. Then it began to rain, very lightly. By Thursday AM, everything was coated with a layer of ice about a half an inch thick. That is when the real fun began. It didn’t take long for the tress and branches to start falling and taking out power lines. Some places looked like a war zone. With the state motto being “The Evergreen State” you can imagine the number of trees that line the roads around here. Some of those trees fell across the highways, causing all kinds of havoc.

We lost power at about 8 AM Thursday AM. In fact, more than 250,000 folks across the area, from Seattle and points north down into Olympia and many of the smaller communities in the region. When I drove home from the class I have been attending the past month, there wasn’t a light on for 20 miles, unless power by a generator. It was eerie driving through my little town and not seeing a light anywhere.

While the power was out, we of course lost heat. The temp inside the house dropped to 51 degrees at the lowest point. We slept in longjohns and sweatpants with tons of covers. Fortunately we did have hot water since we have gas at the house. But because we have a newer stove that automatically shuts off the gas, we had to break out the camp cookstove heat up the meals.

Bus Driver Punched

This is the reason why I would never consider driving a bus. I read about an incident in the area at least once a week or so. Really sad how far this country has deteriorated.

High Speed Rail Too High Costs

As you are aware I have not been a fan of the current administrations push for a linked network of a High Speed Rail (HSR) systems across the USA. I have outlined many of the issues (Click on the High Speed Rail category to review if you wish) over the past year.

One of the most significant issues is where is the funding going to come from. Currently there are no provisions in the federal budget for a dedicated slice of the federal pie, nor are there any plans in place, other than to put it the general fund, to earmark or set aside a funding line for the HSR.

In the past, when MAJOR construction projects were funded, special taxes were put into place that went directly to the construction and care of said projects. When the Interstate Highway system was to be built, Congress passed a national gas tax to fund the construction.  Since trying to fund the HSR system through the general fund would a daunting task at best due to the very nature of the general fund, the funding of the HSR system would have to come about through a special tax of fee. And since the country is in no mood for higher taxes, this is most likely a non-starter.

Part of the goal for those who support the construction of the HSR system was to bring in private funding in some manner. This too is not going to happen. In a catch-22, private funding is going to be in short supply as long as there are no matching federal and state dollars. And as long as the country is in no mood for higher taxes (fees?), the ability of the governments involved to get the dollars flowing is going to be severely curtailed.

And let us not forget about cost overruns. Already there are projections that could triple the costs of the California segment of the HSR system. The current plan for the California HSR segment is for it to be built in phases over a considerable period of time (20-25 years). The first segment is a stretch between Fresno and Bakersfield. Already cost estimates have increased more 50%, from $7 billion to $10-13 billion. This is one a section that is going to pretty much straight and level, with relatively small costs in real estate acquisitions. The sections leading into the LA Basin and the Bay Area are going to be considerably more when real estate costs and construction costs are factored in.

If you are in anyway familiar with the geography of these two areas, you know that the costs to build these segments are going to be higher than through California’s Central Valley. Other than a few rivers and stream, building the rail line will most consist of laying track on flat and level grounds. Not so the case getting into the Basin or the Bay Area. To the south is the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains forms a barrier between the San Joaquin valley and the LA basin. The lowest point of crossing is the “Grapevine” at just over 4,000 feet. To get over or through these mountains is going to up the cost per mile considerably. And while the mountains ringing the Bay Area aren’t as daunting, the waters of San Francisco Bay pose their own problems, which will raise costs also.

In this day and age of ever increasing national and state debts, asking the American taxpayer to fork out trillions to build a HSR system might very well be a bridge too far.

Megan Kelly Slaps Down Newsweek

Very Nice: Megan Kelly takes Newsweek and Andrew Sullivan to the woodshed for their headline on the cover of Newsweek: Why Are Obama’s Critics So Dumb. I especially love the part about why didn’t Newsweek use a “real journalist.” That had to have Sullivan’s knickers in a knot.

Video via The Blaze.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

Or rather robbing the American taxpayer to pay our Chinese (and others) debt holders.

This little piece of news goes beyond disturbing. Seems that the Treasury Department is going to dip into the federal pension funds to help pay off the debt.

Sure wish I had a taxpayer fed  pool of money that I could use to get my debt paid off. But considering Obama and his crew think of taxpayer money as theirs and not belonging to the people of the United States of America, it is not surprising this move doesn’t bother them too terribly much. It just amazes (well, maybe not!) me that these people think the supply of money is limitless. I sure when questioned about in the next day or two, Obama and his crew will blame Bush.

Snow Photos

It has been snowing the PACNW. We have about eight inches on the ground with continued snowfall for the rest of the day. We aren’t going to be snowed in like Patrice and her crew over at Rural Revolution, but travel around my area is difficult to say the least.

Here are a few photos from the neighborhood.

The backyard

Looking across the street

Our teenage boys are going to have to dig us out.

Cat Leap Fail

This is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen.

I wish no harm to cats, but I am not a fan of the beasts.

Cats don’t have owners, they have staff.

Obama Kills Keystone Pipeline

Our jobs killing president is at it again. I have seen a few projections around the Internet (not necessarily the best purveyor of facts) that put the Keystone pipeline jobs creation in the thousands with billions in revenue (taxes) and payroll.

The First Dude has no trouble throwing taxpayer money at companies that are destined to fail (Think Solyndra), but won’t approve a private venture that is sure to make money for the companies that build it, own it, and the people who build it and later work on it, plus the certain tax revenuw increase that would be sure to follow. But he has said that private business is the enemy.

Romney Pays 15%, I Don't (Like the 48 Percenters)

Just last night Mitt Romney (not my favorite candidate) revealed that he pays about 15% taxes on dividends he earns.

“The last ten years, my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past, rather than ordinary income or rather than earned income,” Romney said. “I got a little bit of income from my book but I gave all of that way. And then I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much.” (Source: CNN)

It didn’t take the White House long to get their mitts on this (non) story.

At the White House, [Jay] Carney told reporters that President Barack Obama believes that wealthy Americans “should not pay a lower effective tax rate than middle-class Americans.”

“Everybody who’s working hard ought to pay their fair share, and that includes millionaires who might be paying an effective tax rate of 15% when folks making $50,000 or $75,000 or $100,000 a year are paying much more,” Carney said, adding that Obama “thinks we ought to fix that.” (Source: CNN)

Over the past several years, even while earning close to $75,000 a year, our effective tax rate on earned income (my salary plus my wife’s) was close to nothing. After filing our tax return, we would get nearly all of it back. Of course we have two children, plus a mortgage interest deduction that went along ways to decreasing our tax burden. We all know the statistics about how much the top 5% of earners pay vs. the lower 48% (a lot vs. nearly nothing) so I won’t rehash here, but when Obama and his acolytes say we need to get millionaires to pay their fair share, it sounds like Romney is already doing just that. He is paying 15% and I was paying a lot less than that.

Left on the Civility War Path Again

In case you were unaware, the anniversary of the shooting in Tucson, AZ which claimed the lives of six people and wounded many others, including Rep Giffords was yesterday. To mark that occasion, the chairman of the DNC, Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz decided now would be a good time to blame the Tea Party for the shootings.

“We need to make sure that we tone down things, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords – who is doing really well, by the way – [was shot],” Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair said during a “politics and Eggs” forum this morning. “The discourse in America, the discourse in Congress in particular … has really changed, I’ll tell you. I hesitate to place blame, but I have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and lack of civility with the growth of the Tea Party movement.”

She goes on to say:

“You had town hall meetings that [the Tea Party] tried to take over, and you saw some their conduct at those town hall meetings,” Wasserman-Schultz said today. “When they come and disagree with you, you’re not just wrong, you’re the enemy.” (Source: Washington Examiner)

This really takes some gall for a person who completely blanketed the Republican party as racist just a few months ago over the Voter ID laws currently being discussed and debated in various states across the nation.

Of course there was no mention of the rhetoric of the Occupy movement that she and her democrat colleagues were so willing to support. No mention of the Bush-Hitler signs. No mention of the movies that depicted the assassination of President Bush. No mention of the rapes, assaults, vandalism, death threats, breaking and entering, and various other lawless acts.

I dare any liberal or media member (one in the same) to find any evidence of actual of perceived violence that has occurred at a Tea Party event. I would also like to point out that the big Tea Party gatherings that occurred across the US before the 2010 elections were pretty mellow affairs (does using mellow date me?). Many gathering venues were actually cleaner after the Tea Party members left than when they arrived. Can the Occupy protesters claim the same? If I recall, the Tea Parties cleaned up after a gather of anti-tea party protesters who had left the Washington DC WW II memorial a mess. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

Meanwhile, the New York Times double-downed on Wasserman-Schultz’ comments in a recent editorial. The author tried to give the appearance of not being biased, but that only lasted for a paragraph or two.

It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republican and particularly the most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge. Many on the right have exploited the arguments of division, reaping political power by demonizing immigrants, or welfare recipients, or bureaucrats. They seem to have persuaded many Americans that the government is not just misguided, but the enemy of the people. (Source: New York Times) (h/t: Big Journalism)

So, the Republicans and Tea Partiers have history of violent rhetoric? What about the left? Is no one going to hold their feet to the fire for the violent protests conducted by occupy participants or the rhetoric stated on signs that were so common at the “gatherings?”

That the whirlwind has touched down mot forcefully in Arizona, which Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik described after the shooting as the capital of “the anger, the hatred and the bigotry that goes on in the country.” Anti-immigrants sentiment in the state, firmly opposed by Ms. Giffords, has reached the point where Latino studies program that advocate ethnic solidarity have actually been made illegal. (Source: New York Times) (h/t: Big Journalism)

Of course, the editorial didn’t bother to mention that Dupnik will more than likely lose his job over the very heated rhetoric the linked article goes after. And the author says that the reason for the ending of the Latino Studies program was because people in Arizona are basically racist and bigots. How come he didn’t bother to mention that the program has been determined illegal by a court of law? How come he didn’t mention the court decided the course promoted the overthrow of the US government, promoted resentment towards another race, was designed only for Latinos, and advocated ethnic solidarity instead of people as individuals? And did he bother to report on the bigotry and racism that greeted an Arizona school official who visited after a Hispanic civil right activist told these Latino Studies students that “Republicans hate Latinos?” Of course you are most likely aware that a White Persons Study program would be attacked immediately as racist and bigoted. I wonder as white men (and women) become a minority over the next several decades will we be allowed to have a course that studies white history and contributions (good and bad) like blacks and Latinos have now.

Its gun laws are among the most lenient, allowing even a disturbed man like Mr. Longhner to buy a pistol and carry it concealed without a special permit. That was before the Tucson rampage. Now, having seen firsthand the horror of political violence, Arizona should lead the nation in quieting the violence of intolerance, demanding an end to the temptations of bloodshed, and imposing sensible controls. (Source: New York Times) (h/t: Big Journalism)

And no editorial or column about conservative rhetoric would be complete without a screed against gun rights. And I wonder what type of “sensible controls” Mr. Columnist would propose. It has already been made fairly clear that very few gun control laws anywhere in the nation would have prevent Longhner from obtaining the weapons he used that tragic day one year ago. At least he didn’t call it an assault or automatic weapon like others.

The events of 10 Jan 2010 were beyond pale. Six people lost their lives and many others had their lives change irrevocably. Why can’t the press and other liberals just mark the day as a date that deserves respect and tribute for those who died and were wounded and just leave it at that?

Never let a crisis go to waste.

Some Things to Think About

Some interesting tidbits picked up today through a friend.

Nearly every president since the turn of the previous century has had people on their staff that had business experience. While some of the progressive democrats had as little as 30% of their staff with business experience it pales in comparison to how much business experience can be found within the Obama Administration. Warp your hands around this figure: 8%. That’s right people; only 8% of Obama advisors have any sort of private sector business experience.

And we expect these people to lead us out of our economic troubles?

To further point out just how inept Obama is when it comes to picking out people to provide him with economic advice take a look below

Franklin Raines was a Chairman of Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregularities in Fannie Mae’s accounting activities. Raines left with a “golden parachute” valued at $240 million in benefits. The government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear.

Raines now works for President Obama as his Chief Economic Advisor.

What A Difference

What a difference a few decades means.  So true, and the change is actually more rapid than indicated at the link. I remember get the thirde degree from my folks when my grades fell off and I was in grade school in the early '70's.

Is California Getting Smart?

Very interesting state of affairs in California. California has long lived up to its nickname, The Golden State, with golden-type welfare benefits, state-employee retirement and benefit plans, and a secondary education subsidized like no other.

The economy, which has hit California very hard with the nation’s second highest unemployment rate, has been extremely slow to recover. This means tax revenue have fallen well short of needs and projections.

It now looks like Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown has finally realize the state government can no longer afford to carry everyone who desires to be on welfare.

The friend who sent me this link is doing his retirement travels. He started in Washington, then down along the Oregon coast to California. He noted that once they crossed the Cal-Ore state line, the increase in homelessness was noticeable. While much of that can be attributed to the economic times, it should also be pointed out that with the great welfare benefits the state doles out, it is a mecca for those who wish to live off of taxpayer money. It looks like those days might be over.

This is very interesting. A friend of mine has pointed out what really should be obvious.

The democrat party has become the Lawyers’ Party

Barack Obama is a lawyer.
Michelle Obama is a lawyer
Hillary Clinton is a lawyer
Bill Clinton is a lawyer
John Edwards is a lawyer

Every democrat nominee since 1984 went to law school (although Gore did not graduate). Every democrat presidential nominees since 1976, except for Lloyd Bentsen, went to law school.

Look at the leaders of the democrat party in Congress:

Harry Reid is a lawyer.

Nancy Pelosi is a lawyer.

The Republican Party is different.

Something to Think About

A friend of mine sent me this. As he said in his email this should be required reading for everyone as the elections approach at the end of this year. This was in response to President Obama threats during the debt ceiling and budget crisis that went on this past November.

Did you notice who President Obama threatened when he wasn’t getting his way on raising the debt ceiling?

He threatened to not pay: Social Security Retirees, Military retirees, Social Security disability and Federal Retirees.

Now… Let this sink in really good:

He did not threaten to stop payments to illegal aliens.

He did not threaten to take frivolous benefits such as internet access away from violent inmates.

He did not offer to fire some of the thousands of unnecessary federal employees that he hired.

He did offer to cut down on his or his wife’s frivolous gallivanting around.

He did not threaten to not pay the senators and representatives or any of their staff.

He did not threaten to take benefits away from welfare recipients.

He did not threaten to not pay foreign aid.

He did not threaten to cut back on anything that involves his base voters!!!

Olbermann Out of His Current (TV) Job?

After a while, you would think that a person would begin to think that the common denominator was the individual staring back at you from the mirror. When you have the number of opportunities laid in your lap, yet you can’t seen to stay for more than a few years, maybe the problem isn’t those who you work for, but maybe it is you.

Over the years, Keith Olbermann has left under less than desirable conditions posts at a larger Los Angeles TV station, ESPN, MSNBC, and now possibly Current TV.

Other than his departure from the Los Angeles TV station each departure has been rather acrimonious due to his petulant and childish behavior.

Several years ago, not long after I had been promoted, I was assigned to supervise an individual who had a reputation as a difficult person to work with. During the course of my initial get-to-know and expectations meeting, this individual brought up the subject of his past supervisors. There was a common thread. Nearly all of them sucked, according to this young man. One was too demanding, another was a jerk, and still another was an @$$hole. Of course, my new charge did not realize that I had reviewed his records (like any good supervisor). I had also contacted a few of his previous supervisors and spoken with them to get the scoop.

Almost without fail, each previous supervisor that I spoke with did not think real highly of this individual. He was combative, unfriendly towards co-workers, and his weather forecasting skills were not strong enough to make of for his other shortcomings. His records backed up these comments. His job performance ratings were sub-par on nearly all of his reports. When it came time to do his performance report, he once again received weak ratings and a couple of negative comments from me.

A few years later, while visiting the work section he was assigned to (I had been promoted again and moved elsewhere within the organization), I overheard him ranting away about past supervisors. He was now including me in his tirades.

I had had enough. I called him into my office (with his supervisors OK). I didn’t read him the riot-act, but rather calmly sat him down and reviewed his career with him. I pointed out that at each and every turn where he felt he had a jerk for a supervisor, the rating given were poor to weak, with each containing a negative comment or two. I also pointed out that each of the previous supervisors were as different, personality-wise, as grains of snow (I knew a goodly portion of them). And then I pointed out that there was one common thread throughout his entire career. That was the man looking back at him in the mirror each day. The last thing that I ever said to him was he could continue to blame everyone else for his troubles or he could decide the man in the mirror was going to change. As I was moved to a completely different branch and then later moved overseas, I never saw him again although I asked about him from colleagues who had more recently worked with him.

Had he changed? The reports that I received were that he had mellowed somewhat. Can I take credit? Not really. All I could do was point out the obvious. It was up to him to make the changes.

Liberal Civility Rises Again

For most of my politically active life I have always been pounded by the democrats, progressives, and the main stream media that conservatives and Republicans are heartless and cruel, not caring one iota for the “little people.” According to the democrats, they were the only party for those who were oppressed by “the man.” They and they alone are the party of the little people, the working class, the down-trodden.

But how can this be so when there are so many examples of just how heartless and out of touch they truly are?

The primary example of this supposed culture of caring is how they court and keep the black vote. The word racist has been used so many times in recent years that it has come to the point where the word has almost no meaning. Plus, while I am sure most in the democrat party are very much aware of their own party’s racist past (Civil Right legislation opposition, several key democrats were KKK members), the main stream media has thus far refused to report on this racist past. They have even gone as far as to lend their (MSM’s) incredible reach to further the fallacy that conservatives are the racists.

Eric Holder: The Dark Cloud

Over the past few months as the Republican race has heated up and candidates came and went, there has been an uneasiness floating around in the dark recesses of my mind. For a while, I thought much of the disquiet had to do with the fact that we Republicans and Conservatives can’t seem to settle on a candidate. While we kept chasing the flavor of the month (Perry, Cain, Bachmann, et al), the Obama White had to certainly feel both comfort and concern.

Comfort: If I were Obama I’d look at the seeming dysfunction within the Republican Party and rub my hands with mild glee. It has to feel somewhat encouraging to Obama and his crew that we can’t seem to settle on a candidate.

Concern: Somewhere within the apparatus that is the Obama White House there has to be one individual with a level head that looks at the back and forth going on in the Republican nomination process and says to him/herself “This might not be all wine and roses.” Unlike what the mainstream press did with Obama back in 2007/8, our candidate is going to be thoroughly vetted by the same press that swooned over a certain first-dude born in Hawaii. Once the nomination process has run its course and focus switches to denying Obama another four years, there will be little “surprise” news that could derail the Republican nominee, allowing whoever it is to fire away on all cylinders.

Getting back to the main point here, I soon decided that the dark cloud that I could see on the horizon was not the nomination process and the rumble and tumble going on there. What brought clarity for me was the recent spat of suits brought by the Eric Holder Justice Department against cities, towns, and states that were implementing some form of voter identification. Recently Mr. Holder stated that these voter ID laws are taking America back to the days of Jim Crow and “the same disparities, divisions and problems” that affected America prior to the 1965 passage of the Voter Rights Act.

Keep in mind that Obama recently hailed from Chicago and that region has a notorious reputation for bending, to the point of breaking, election laws. After all the term “vote early and vote often” has its roots in Chicago. Any laws on the books that could suppress repeat voting and voting by non-existent and dead persons and is not the “Chicago way.” Based on many recent polls that are not very favorable for his re-election, Obama is going to need all the help he can get in 2012 if he wants to continue to occupy the White House and send Michelle on lavish vacation to the far-flung reaches of the global.

Holder has already proven that he will do anything to maintain his place at the Justice department, including “not remembering” any memos, e-mails, talk, scuttlebutt, rumors, and just plain old news on “Fast and Furious.” I have no doubts that Holder will do everything in his power to redact any laws that will prevent dead people and Mickey Mouse from voting several times over.

Obama has also proven over again that his feeling towards the rule of law and the Constitution are nothing more than lines in a speech.

If Obama wins re-election at the end of this year, I would not be surprised that it happens with many shenanigans at various locations around the nation. Remember, all he has to do is carry certain districts in certain key states to win the Electoral College totals. I think we can safely assume big states like California and New York are already in the bag. Take those and he has a quarter of the electors needed for victory. But in a few others states where the vote could be closer like Illinois, Pennsylvania, and even Texas all that has to happen is districts near the larger cities like Pittsburg, Houston, and Chicago vote early and often in favor of Obama and the tide could change. This might actually be a first. A presidential nominee who is not above 45% approval gaining re-election.

So the dark cloud remains on the horizon and feels menacing.

Any means necessary.

BTW: To all of those who'll call me a racist for putting dark cloud and Eirc Holder in the same sentence I'll say it now just so I don't have to in the comments section. Shut the heck up!

2012!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year from PACNW Righty and his family!!!

May the New Year bring you much happiness and success no matter how you measure it.

And we are one year closer to ending the nightmare.