Kind of puts things in perspective.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Follow the Money
Do we really think that the government even if they do "take over the health care insurance business" is going to operate the health care insurance system themselves?
Hardly. Do not be surprised if the government side of the insurance business will be run by the insurance industry itself, or at least one or two of the major players.
As was explained to me many years ago by a friend, contrary to the idea that businesses want no regulation or less regulation, the ugly fact is that businesses WANT regulation because that levels the playing field and they know exactly what the competition can and cannot do. This knowledge then reduces their risk of operating their business and that is why contrary to their protests, they actually want it.
So then, if this national health care thing comes to pass, be ready to see the stock price of some of the players move higher.
Would not be at all surprised to find that behind those closed mahogany doors such conversations along these lines has already been had and the template agreed upon.
Hardly. Do not be surprised if the government side of the insurance business will be run by the insurance industry itself, or at least one or two of the major players.
As was explained to me many years ago by a friend, contrary to the idea that businesses want no regulation or less regulation, the ugly fact is that businesses WANT regulation because that levels the playing field and they know exactly what the competition can and cannot do. This knowledge then reduces their risk of operating their business and that is why contrary to their protests, they actually want it.
So then, if this national health care thing comes to pass, be ready to see the stock price of some of the players move higher.
Would not be at all surprised to find that behind those closed mahogany doors such conversations along these lines has already been had and the template agreed upon.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Overheard at the Grocery Store
"Keep working and stay out of debt. People like me want you young people to be in debt because then we can get you and an army of people like you to work for us for the rest of your lives for practically nothing."
~ Wisdom imparted to a young man by a grey-haired senior citizen, who had earlier remarked to the younger man that he, too, in his younger day, had sacked groceries, and that was one of the reasons that he did not have to sack groceries anymore, and was thereafter asked by that youngster bagging the groceries if there was anything he could do in the current economy to protect himself.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Fingerpainting
Consumers spent more on costly "durable" manufactured goods — such as cars and appliances. Such spending rose 2.1 percent. [Emphasis added] They also boosted spending last month on "nondurables," including food and clothes, and on services...
~ Reuters
It is specious to talk about how much more $ people are spending and using that as reason to try and say that people are actually purchasing more actual goods.
Do you not know that there has been a decline in the amount of goods that a dollar will purchase, i.e., inflation. For example, take a look at the price of that candy bar that you are eating right now. If you paid 80 cents a year ago, but you paid 82 cents today, based on the above kind of pseudo-analysis by this newspaper writer who is toeing the company line, they would say that YOUR consumer spending has risen 2.1% and use that to support the Obama bandwagon fantasy that you have bought 2.1% more candy bars than you did last year.
What falsehood and finger-painting there is going on nowadays. And they want us all to celebrate???
Monday, November 23, 2009
Perspective
"If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.
The firearm death rate in Washington , DC is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means you are about 25 percent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US , than you are in Iraq .
Conclusion: "The US should pull out of Washington"
~ contributed by Monte as mentioned in the Australian Shooter Magazine
The firearm death rate in Washington , DC is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means you are about 25 percent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US , than you are in Iraq .
Conclusion: "The US should pull out of Washington"
~ contributed by Monte as mentioned in the Australian Shooter Magazine
Friday, November 20, 2009
Losing Touch (With America)
On a cold and blustery day, Art Koenig goes to his mailbox and retrieves the latest propaganda flyer sent to him by his Representative, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith. In a staunchly Republican state, these flyers have come sporadically in the past, but in the last several months as the republican machine struggles to regain and assert its own brand of government intrusion and control, Mr. Koenig notes that both his physical and his e-mailbox are getting more than their fair share of such political messages from the likes of Smith and Senator Cornyn.
All of the flyers and email blasts excoriate the Democrats for their big government plans and take them to task for trying to take over the country. To Mr. Koenig, however, these fulminations against those evil Democrats and Liberals are disingenuous and he thinks under his breath that it takes not too bright a spark in the shed to see that there is something "off" about the messages that he and others like him are getting from the "Republican Machine".
He wonders if other people see it too, and as he trudges back into his house, he cries for his county and laments privately as he realizes that he grew up at a time when America was at its greatest and that it is now being destroyed from within by the collectivists, and the feel-gooders and that it is all happening exactly as Kruchev said it would happen - without there being a shot fired.
As he walks back inside, Mr. Koenig takes a closer look at the flyer from Smith and sees that it proudly displays on its cover the Constitution of the United States of America upon which has been overprinted the standard publisher's teaser headlines indicating the content. Three of those teasers "Defending the Constitution"; "Fighting for Limited Government", and "Speaking Out" immediately draw his eye.
As Koenig sits down to his dinner table to read, he shakes his head as he recalls that ALL of his Texas Republican delegation, comprising Congressman Smith and Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, voted to sell out their constituents and that all three of them an a host of other Republicans helped pull the trigger on the first cannon salvo of TARP that has now become a shot heard around the world, and has which set the stage for all the other heavy artillery that has been unleashed against the American People.
As Mr. Koenig opens the flyer he sees that Mr Smith's propaganda machine tells us that Smith opposed the Stimulus Bill because it would waste taxpayers dollars and increase inflation (with no mention of his support for the thing that started it all - the TARP).The flyer also tells up that Smith is a vocal advocate of limited government. Then, elsewhere in the flyer Koenig sees that Mr .Smith also believes that: health care in America is too expensive, that too many families do not have health care insurance, that he wants to have legislation that allows families to keep their health insurance regardless of a change of loss of a job, and that he wants to improve Medicare and Medicaid.
Here now comes the rub, because as mentioned above Smith voted FOR the TARP (which will waste taxpayer money and increase inflation) and cannot now be said to be a proponent of limited government. In addition, all of these things that Smith supports are collectivist ideas and are brought to you courtesy of .... Big Government.
Do Smith and the others that inhabit the oxygen deficient atmosphere of Washington, not realize that NONE of these things that they are "for" are functions of the Federal Government to provide.
Where, for example does it say that the Federal Government is allowed to make sure that people have enough food, or health care, or movie tickets? Not to put too fine a point on things, no matter how much a Congressman, or a citizen, thinks that these things would be "good" and that the Federal Government should provide them, the Constitution of the United States of America, for a very good reason, does not grant the Congress the right to legislate or regulate concerning these things.
Thus it is that the Congress and the governments in general (Federal, State, AND Local) have ALL lost touch with the American People - and have lost touch with the Constitution, the document that specifies how the national government is to be constituted and what it can and cannot do.
As Koenig closes the flyer and adds it to his library section chronicling the fall of America, he feels alone. Indeed, as he writes items for his electronic newsletter he often wonders if anybody cares - after all, is there really any reason to worry when they can still get their triple grande super latte or as long as they can get "theirs" from the government?
On his way to work though he sees his neighbor Mary, and on stopping to talk they fall into a discussion wherein she tells him that she often wonders what happened to the Republican Party and that she and her husband feel that the Republicans have deserted her.
Hearing that, he knows that he is not alone and wonders if the Republican Machine will ever catch on to the fact that there are millions like him and Mary, who given a change to vote Democrat or Democrat-Lite, will either go full Democrat so as to "get ours", or will simply sit out and wait for the diseased beast of the Republican Party to fall and die, whereupon we will be able to erect a new animal that is in touch with us the American People.
All of the flyers and email blasts excoriate the Democrats for their big government plans and take them to task for trying to take over the country. To Mr. Koenig, however, these fulminations against those evil Democrats and Liberals are disingenuous and he thinks under his breath that it takes not too bright a spark in the shed to see that there is something "off" about the messages that he and others like him are getting from the "Republican Machine".
He wonders if other people see it too, and as he trudges back into his house, he cries for his county and laments privately as he realizes that he grew up at a time when America was at its greatest and that it is now being destroyed from within by the collectivists, and the feel-gooders and that it is all happening exactly as Kruchev said it would happen - without there being a shot fired.
As he walks back inside, Mr. Koenig takes a closer look at the flyer from Smith and sees that it proudly displays on its cover the Constitution of the United States of America upon which has been overprinted the standard publisher's teaser headlines indicating the content. Three of those teasers "Defending the Constitution"; "Fighting for Limited Government", and "Speaking Out" immediately draw his eye.
As Koenig sits down to his dinner table to read, he shakes his head as he recalls that ALL of his Texas Republican delegation, comprising Congressman Smith and Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, voted to sell out their constituents and that all three of them an a host of other Republicans helped pull the trigger on the first cannon salvo of TARP that has now become a shot heard around the world, and has which set the stage for all the other heavy artillery that has been unleashed against the American People.
As Mr. Koenig opens the flyer he sees that Mr Smith's propaganda machine tells us that Smith opposed the Stimulus Bill because it would waste taxpayers dollars and increase inflation (with no mention of his support for the thing that started it all - the TARP).The flyer also tells up that Smith is a vocal advocate of limited government. Then, elsewhere in the flyer Koenig sees that Mr .Smith also believes that: health care in America is too expensive, that too many families do not have health care insurance, that he wants to have legislation that allows families to keep their health insurance regardless of a change of loss of a job, and that he wants to improve Medicare and Medicaid.
Here now comes the rub, because as mentioned above Smith voted FOR the TARP (which will waste taxpayer money and increase inflation) and cannot now be said to be a proponent of limited government. In addition, all of these things that Smith supports are collectivist ideas and are brought to you courtesy of .... Big Government.
Do Smith and the others that inhabit the oxygen deficient atmosphere of Washington, not realize that NONE of these things that they are "for" are functions of the Federal Government to provide.
Where, for example does it say that the Federal Government is allowed to make sure that people have enough food, or health care, or movie tickets? Not to put too fine a point on things, no matter how much a Congressman, or a citizen, thinks that these things would be "good" and that the Federal Government should provide them, the Constitution of the United States of America, for a very good reason, does not grant the Congress the right to legislate or regulate concerning these things.
Thus it is that the Congress and the governments in general (Federal, State, AND Local) have ALL lost touch with the American People - and have lost touch with the Constitution, the document that specifies how the national government is to be constituted and what it can and cannot do.
As Koenig closes the flyer and adds it to his library section chronicling the fall of America, he feels alone. Indeed, as he writes items for his electronic newsletter he often wonders if anybody cares - after all, is there really any reason to worry when they can still get their triple grande super latte or as long as they can get "theirs" from the government?
On his way to work though he sees his neighbor Mary, and on stopping to talk they fall into a discussion wherein she tells him that she often wonders what happened to the Republican Party and that she and her husband feel that the Republicans have deserted her.
Hearing that, he knows that he is not alone and wonders if the Republican Machine will ever catch on to the fact that there are millions like him and Mary, who given a change to vote Democrat or Democrat-Lite, will either go full Democrat so as to "get ours", or will simply sit out and wait for the diseased beast of the Republican Party to fall and die, whereupon we will be able to erect a new animal that is in touch with us the American People.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Ant and the Grasshopper
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away..
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome.
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush,President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident,and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses taking the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
~ from tom
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away..
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome.
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush,President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident,and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses taking the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
~ from tom
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Just Doesn't Make Sense
Let me see if I understand all this...
If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.
If you cross the Iranian border illegally, you are detained indefinitely.
If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.
If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally, you will be jailed.
If you cross the Chinese border illegally, you may never be heard from again.
If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally, you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.
If you cross the Cuban border illegally, you will be thrown into political prison to rot.
If you cross the U.S. border illegally, you get:
A job
A drivers license
A social security card
Welfare
Food stamps
Credit cards
Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house
Free education
Free health care
A lobbyist in Washington
And in many instances you can vote.
If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.
If you cross the Iranian border illegally, you are detained indefinitely.
If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.
If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally, you will be jailed.
If you cross the Chinese border illegally, you may never be heard from again.
If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally, you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.
If you cross the Cuban border illegally, you will be thrown into political prison to rot.
If you cross the U.S. border illegally, you get:
A job
A drivers license
A social security card
Welfare
Food stamps
Credit cards
Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house
Free education
Free health care
A lobbyist in Washington
And in many instances you can vote.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Man on the Street
Overheard on the street -
Hey, do you know what's wrong with letting the government be your Daddy?
........... Daddy gets to spank you.
Hey, do you know what's wrong with letting the government be your Daddy?
........... Daddy gets to spank you.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
How THEY Get You to Pay Twice
Developer named for $1.5B Riverwalk project near St. Louis
The St. Charles, Mo., City Council has selected Riverwalk Development to develop a $1.5 billion, 300-acre project along the Missouri River. The project will include hotels, shops, a marina, condos and a pedestrian walkway. Riverwalk Development will request public subsidies to help fund the project's bridges and pathways. The project will also require dredging sand in a canal.
~ From American City Business Journals/St. Louis
This is how they hit you twice. Every dollar spent by the government has to first be taken from somebody else and thus it is not the government that is funding any project - but the citizens, and this audacious move to now ask for public "subsidies" for even more money is appalling. The public has already given at the office.
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