The shooting in Tucson, Arizona, yesterday, of Gabrielle Giffords and others at a "Congress on the Corner" event she held is a terrible and indefensible act. The man who did the shooting, Jared Loughner, is apparently some kind of a nut. I haven't seen anything he's written -- and he did have MySpace page -- but many commentators have reported a kind of rambling gibberish about the government trying to control us all through grammar or whatever. (And I'm sure there are a few in Washington who wish it was that easy.)
I hope Rep. Giffords comes out of this all right. If you know anything about brain geography, it seems that while the injury didn't affect any areas of the brain that control motor functions -- like breathing or muscular activity -- she might lose a lot of her memories, maybe some verbal skills, things like that. According to news reports, the doctor-surgeon who attended her is, coincidentally, one of the best of in the world. So here's hoping he will do whatever is possible to minimize the damage.
And Giffords wasn't the only one assaulted. Others were killed, including a nine-year-old girl who went with a neighbor to the event to see how our government works. The accompanying neighbor was shot four times. A federal judge was killed. Two elderly ladies were killed. This isn't how our government is supposed to work.
In a totally irresponsible statement, Sheriff Dupnik of Tucson came on TV shortly after the shooting and noted that this tragic event was all the fault of the "political vitriol" broadcast by certain radio personalities and TV channels. Sheriff Dupnik's remarks are a better example of ratcheting up the vitriol than anything people like Rush Limbaugh or commentators on Fox could come up with.
Dupnik claims that what he calls "radical" political speech drives unstable individuals to do crazy and violent things -- overlooking his own quite apparent knee-jerk bias in assuming that anyone who owns a gun is a right-wing nut-job on the prowl for democrat politicians. His unfounded leap to this conclusion indicates more than a little instability on Dupnik's part, and perhaps an inclination to be unduly influenced by the vitriolic rhetoric spewed by Huffington Post and the New York Times. He seems to be fanning the flames of violent political confrontation more than the radio personalities he's accusing.
Don't want to focus on Dupnik and the other looney-toons who latch onto unfounded conclusions based on unfounded stereotypes. I'll take that up in more detail later.
I just hope Rep Giffords recovers, and that the dems don't exploit this truly horrible event to promote things like gun control, or to further insulate legislators with layers of security. After all, there are reps and senators who would appear to be much more attractive targets for political violence than Giffords, and no one from the Tea Party or even the militias have assaulted them. We've had shouting matches at Town Halls, a lot of truly passionate rhetoric from both sides, and the result was -- a big political shift in the last election.
That's how American government is supposed to work.
Save the Republic.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Where is Mitt Romney?
Watching Fox on an early Saturday morning, and they had Mike Huckabee on. Naturally, start pestering him about running for president. Then they showed a poll taken just this week that shows Mitt Romney remains a frontrunner for Republican candidate for president next year.
No offense, but why?
Where is Mitt Romney? What has he been doing while the nation muddles through a socialist catastrophe, deep recession, collapse of the housing market, etc etc. Where is Mitt Romney? Where does he stand on these issues? I haven't seen him out front anywhere urging anyone on, including Scott Thompson, who's also from Taxachusetts. Didn't see him at any Tea Parties.
Here's what I know about Mitt Romney: His father was governor of Michigan when I was a little kid. The only reason I know that is because my mom was from Michigan and noted who he was during the pageantry of political conventions and whatnot on TV.
Mitt Romney himself was governor of Taxachusetts when that state launched its own socialized medicine plan.
I'm afraid to me, that's not a recommendation.
I don't know Mitt Romney, but he strikes me as a kinda too-slick and polished 8"x10" kind of politician. That is, just sort of a "typical" Republican under the pre-Tea Party rules. That is, a "stupid" Republican. The dems go wild and wreak havoc, and people like Mitt Romney come along and help clean up. Without really making any big, unsettling changes. Without really fixing anything. They just do what they can to make things work -- even bad and destructive things that should be done away with entirely.
I can't imagine Mitt Romney embroiled in a fight to repeal national socialism. I mean socialized medicine.
I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He just wouldn't be my first choice for president. Honest to Buddha, I think the congressional dems would eat him for lunch.
I guess he's just too Ivy League for me. I'd be more inclined to support the people who have been willing to fill the trenches through all the current crises, who kept writing bills and submitting them, even when Pazzo Pelosi crapped all over them and the Comrade pretended they didn't exist.
And where has Mitt Romney been through all this? I just don't know.
To me, he just kinda looks like some kind of johnny-come-lately, sitting down to a feast after everyone else has set the table. And if Romney's not willing to tarnish whatever reputation he believes he has by associating with all those stump-toothed hillbillies and ignorant crackers who just swept the House and, for God's sake, read the Constitution out loud in front of everybody and on TV, I don't think I'd want to associate with him.
Don't really mean to lambaste the man, but this country has needed all the help it could get for the last couple years and ... where is Mitt Romney?
Save the Republic.
No offense, but why?
Where is Mitt Romney? What has he been doing while the nation muddles through a socialist catastrophe, deep recession, collapse of the housing market, etc etc. Where is Mitt Romney? Where does he stand on these issues? I haven't seen him out front anywhere urging anyone on, including Scott Thompson, who's also from Taxachusetts. Didn't see him at any Tea Parties.
Here's what I know about Mitt Romney: His father was governor of Michigan when I was a little kid. The only reason I know that is because my mom was from Michigan and noted who he was during the pageantry of political conventions and whatnot on TV.
Mitt Romney himself was governor of Taxachusetts when that state launched its own socialized medicine plan.
I'm afraid to me, that's not a recommendation.
I don't know Mitt Romney, but he strikes me as a kinda too-slick and polished 8"x10" kind of politician. That is, just sort of a "typical" Republican under the pre-Tea Party rules. That is, a "stupid" Republican. The dems go wild and wreak havoc, and people like Mitt Romney come along and help clean up. Without really making any big, unsettling changes. Without really fixing anything. They just do what they can to make things work -- even bad and destructive things that should be done away with entirely.
I can't imagine Mitt Romney embroiled in a fight to repeal national socialism. I mean socialized medicine.
I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He just wouldn't be my first choice for president. Honest to Buddha, I think the congressional dems would eat him for lunch.
I guess he's just too Ivy League for me. I'd be more inclined to support the people who have been willing to fill the trenches through all the current crises, who kept writing bills and submitting them, even when Pazzo Pelosi crapped all over them and the Comrade pretended they didn't exist.
And where has Mitt Romney been through all this? I just don't know.
To me, he just kinda looks like some kind of johnny-come-lately, sitting down to a feast after everyone else has set the table. And if Romney's not willing to tarnish whatever reputation he believes he has by associating with all those stump-toothed hillbillies and ignorant crackers who just swept the House and, for God's sake, read the Constitution out loud in front of everybody and on TV, I don't think I'd want to associate with him.
Don't really mean to lambaste the man, but this country has needed all the help it could get for the last couple years and ... where is Mitt Romney?
Save the Republic.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Is the Constitution a threat?
Been listening to the news on and off all day. I guess they did read the Constitution in the House of Reps today -- but cut out reference to the 3/5ths and other clauses regarding "persons held to service or labor." I don't know. Slavery was part of our history and it was repealed (that magic word!). It's kinda like censoring Mark Twain.
I'm really kind of surprised that so many liberal-socialists were so incensed about reading the Constitution. Some were positively furious about it. I suppose like holding up a crucifix in front of a vampire, or brandishing silver bullets with a werewolf in the room. Ezra Klein, who works for the Washington Post, seemed to see the whole thing as absurd. After all, who gives a shit about the Constitution? Apparently Mr. Klein is a graduate of the Pazzo Pelosi Academy of jurisprudence.
What's even worse is the self-proclaimed liberal "scholars," who look at the Constitution as a nice document that was meant to be superseded. After all, the Founding Fathers didn't really know much about government, did they? Why, the Constitution is standing in the way of "progress."
Progress to what, you know? A forward motion by itself doesn't imply a worthwhile destination. That is to say, you can "progress" into a brick wall or a pile of manure. Just because you're busy-busy-busy and doing things doesn't mean you're doing worthwhile things. And I must say, I've been rather appalled at how stupid and just plain ignorant the liberals are as they try to argue against conservative principles. I mean, really, I hope they keep on talking, because the more the more the say, the more obvious becomes their addle-brained, knee-jerk, pig-headed stupidity.
By the way, Reps Anthony Weiner (the weiner) and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (also a weiner) have been all over TV whining and yelping and exposing their lack of rationality. All they say is, "We need...." I need a couple million myself. But it's rather silly to actually believe that "I should have...." and/or "Other people should give me....." I think Weiner and Wasserman-Schultz are breathing examples of the failure of public education in the USA.
Let's see, we already have the Twit Sisters (Maine senators), so perhaps Weiner and Wasserman-Schultz should become the Doubletalk Twins. How's that? They both talk A LOT, and very fast, and the more they talk, the less sense they make.
Heard from Paul Ryan no less than three times today talking about how the CBO's report on socialized medicine is "smoke and mirrors." Steve King, another Rep, noted that the bill could only work if doctors accepted a 21% cut in the pay they get for Medicare patients. Won't happen. Doctors would probably find something else to do. And Paul Ryan has come up with a sort of total deficit of $701 BILLION to pay for socialized medicine over 10 years, I believe. Over 20 years, it's more than a trillion.
But go ahead, Weiner, Wasserman-Schultz, McGovern, Hastings, Slaughter, Pelosi, Comrade, keep on insisting that socialized medicine will cut costs overall.
Nobody believes them anymore, or ever really did. Which is why they had to bribe so many senators to get that bill through. It just goes to show you, when you exclude your circle of friends to other people who only agree with you -- or worse, who only suck up to you in hopes of gaining favors -- you tend to lose all sense of perspective and the general "narrative thread" about real life on the planet.
Somehow, I think the 112th congress is going to be just a whole lot of fun.
Save the Republic.
I'm really kind of surprised that so many liberal-socialists were so incensed about reading the Constitution. Some were positively furious about it. I suppose like holding up a crucifix in front of a vampire, or brandishing silver bullets with a werewolf in the room. Ezra Klein, who works for the Washington Post, seemed to see the whole thing as absurd. After all, who gives a shit about the Constitution? Apparently Mr. Klein is a graduate of the Pazzo Pelosi Academy of jurisprudence.
What's even worse is the self-proclaimed liberal "scholars," who look at the Constitution as a nice document that was meant to be superseded. After all, the Founding Fathers didn't really know much about government, did they? Why, the Constitution is standing in the way of "progress."
Progress to what, you know? A forward motion by itself doesn't imply a worthwhile destination. That is to say, you can "progress" into a brick wall or a pile of manure. Just because you're busy-busy-busy and doing things doesn't mean you're doing worthwhile things. And I must say, I've been rather appalled at how stupid and just plain ignorant the liberals are as they try to argue against conservative principles. I mean, really, I hope they keep on talking, because the more the more the say, the more obvious becomes their addle-brained, knee-jerk, pig-headed stupidity.
By the way, Reps Anthony Weiner (the weiner) and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (also a weiner) have been all over TV whining and yelping and exposing their lack of rationality. All they say is, "We need...." I need a couple million myself. But it's rather silly to actually believe that "I should have...." and/or "Other people should give me....." I think Weiner and Wasserman-Schultz are breathing examples of the failure of public education in the USA.
Let's see, we already have the Twit Sisters (Maine senators), so perhaps Weiner and Wasserman-Schultz should become the Doubletalk Twins. How's that? They both talk A LOT, and very fast, and the more they talk, the less sense they make.
Heard from Paul Ryan no less than three times today talking about how the CBO's report on socialized medicine is "smoke and mirrors." Steve King, another Rep, noted that the bill could only work if doctors accepted a 21% cut in the pay they get for Medicare patients. Won't happen. Doctors would probably find something else to do. And Paul Ryan has come up with a sort of total deficit of $701 BILLION to pay for socialized medicine over 10 years, I believe. Over 20 years, it's more than a trillion.
But go ahead, Weiner, Wasserman-Schultz, McGovern, Hastings, Slaughter, Pelosi, Comrade, keep on insisting that socialized medicine will cut costs overall.
Nobody believes them anymore, or ever really did. Which is why they had to bribe so many senators to get that bill through. It just goes to show you, when you exclude your circle of friends to other people who only agree with you -- or worse, who only suck up to you in hopes of gaining favors -- you tend to lose all sense of perspective and the general "narrative thread" about real life on the planet.
Somehow, I think the 112th congress is going to be just a whole lot of fun.
Save the Republic.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Pathetic clowns
Turned on C-Span this morning, thinking I might the reading ot the Constitution on the House floor. Instead, I get a Rules Committee hearing on repealing socialized medicine.
Some guy who looks like a pig, named McGovern, from Taxachusetts, talked for 10 minutes about the doughnut hole. Then Alcee Hastings, from Florida, and really reminiscent of Colonel Sanders, or some stereotypical Col. Huffnpuff from the deep south... all he needed was a white suit and string tie. Anyway, he gets on reads a list of millions and millions of dollars that's already been spent via socialized medicine.
Ol' Alcee then looks up and says, "I'm glad you had cameras installed. I want the public to hear this."
I heard it, Alcee, and nearly threw up trying to keep track of those millions of my tax dollars going for pretty much bullshit. I kinda like those cameras, too. I thought I was pretty jaded about political fraud and corruption, but you've blown my friggin' mind on this one.
Alcee also thinks it's entirely laughable that the Republicans want to make it a rule that any proposed legislation has to cite the power granted to them by the Constitution to do it. He doesn't seem to recognize any limitations on government at all. So quite obviously he subscribes to the Santa Claus theory of government all the way around.
Saw just the end of Louise Slaughter -- yes, the one who hired the comic to "testify in character" about the border laws -- was complaining about not having hearings on the repeal. Then a Republican legislator -- can't think of her name, but she's from North Carolina -- presented a detailed list of the ONE SINGLE hearing given to the socialized medicine bill that was passed -- with no amendments. That was interesting.
Piggy McGovern from Taxachusetts kept talking about "process." How hypocritical the Republicans are for not having hearings and allowing amendments on the repeal. Rep. King (R cmte member) asked, "What kind of amendments would you want on a repeal?" Good question, no? I mean, are you going to amend it before you nullify it? Too little too late or what?
And the Dems just keep fist-thumping on the CBO report that supposedly "proved" that socialized medicine would cut expenses in the USA. That report is already an obsolete roll of toilet paper. Much of the calculations and future projections were based on an annual economic growth rate in the USA of 4.5% to 5%. That's already blown to hell. Didn't come close to that last year, and probably won't this year. So the CBO report only indicates that it was based on pie-in-the-sky assumptions in the first place.
So a couple interesting approaches. The Dems whining and pewling and playing pathetic -- and at the same time listing millions and millions and millions of dollars already expended on their behalf. And this before socialized medicine is fully implemented.
Anyway, I may write more, but I've got one or two other things to do.
Save the Republic!
Some guy who looks like a pig, named McGovern, from Taxachusetts, talked for 10 minutes about the doughnut hole. Then Alcee Hastings, from Florida, and really reminiscent of Colonel Sanders, or some stereotypical Col. Huffnpuff from the deep south... all he needed was a white suit and string tie. Anyway, he gets on reads a list of millions and millions of dollars that's already been spent via socialized medicine.
Ol' Alcee then looks up and says, "I'm glad you had cameras installed. I want the public to hear this."
I heard it, Alcee, and nearly threw up trying to keep track of those millions of my tax dollars going for pretty much bullshit. I kinda like those cameras, too. I thought I was pretty jaded about political fraud and corruption, but you've blown my friggin' mind on this one.
Alcee also thinks it's entirely laughable that the Republicans want to make it a rule that any proposed legislation has to cite the power granted to them by the Constitution to do it. He doesn't seem to recognize any limitations on government at all. So quite obviously he subscribes to the Santa Claus theory of government all the way around.
Saw just the end of Louise Slaughter -- yes, the one who hired the comic to "testify in character" about the border laws -- was complaining about not having hearings on the repeal. Then a Republican legislator -- can't think of her name, but she's from North Carolina -- presented a detailed list of the ONE SINGLE hearing given to the socialized medicine bill that was passed -- with no amendments. That was interesting.
Piggy McGovern from Taxachusetts kept talking about "process." How hypocritical the Republicans are for not having hearings and allowing amendments on the repeal. Rep. King (R cmte member) asked, "What kind of amendments would you want on a repeal?" Good question, no? I mean, are you going to amend it before you nullify it? Too little too late or what?
And the Dems just keep fist-thumping on the CBO report that supposedly "proved" that socialized medicine would cut expenses in the USA. That report is already an obsolete roll of toilet paper. Much of the calculations and future projections were based on an annual economic growth rate in the USA of 4.5% to 5%. That's already blown to hell. Didn't come close to that last year, and probably won't this year. So the CBO report only indicates that it was based on pie-in-the-sky assumptions in the first place.
So a couple interesting approaches. The Dems whining and pewling and playing pathetic -- and at the same time listing millions and millions and millions of dollars already expended on their behalf. And this before socialized medicine is fully implemented.
Anyway, I may write more, but I've got one or two other things to do.
Save the Republic!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Hey, and slam the door behind you....
Well it's only about 8:00 am and I've already had a good laugh. Good day anyway because today the 112th Congress -- the Republicans -- are being sworn in.
Anyway, on TV they showed clips of Pazzo Pelosi's last press conference as Speaker of the House, and it was a doozy. She said something like, "Our watch-word has always been deficit reduction. We had pay-as-you-go. Now let's see what the Republicans will do."
God, my sides hurt. I'm shooting coffee out my nose. "Our watch-word has always been deficit reduction." She lives in an alternate universe, kinda like the world of 1984, the novel, where everything means the opposite of what you say. Or like 'Arbeit mach frei." That was a slogan hanging over the gateway to Auschwitz. It means "Work makes you free." Yeah, so does poison gas.
Anyway, it seems that at the end of 2006, the budget deficit was already a whopping $8 TRILLION due to the Republicans patting each other on the back -- and 9/11 and Katrina. And it took 222 years to pile up that much debt. However, since Pazzo took the gavel in 2007, the deficit has grown to $14 TRILLION. That's about -- what? -- an 80% increase?
If Pazzo and the merry marxists have been "paying as they go," exactly where the hell did they go that cost such an inconceivable amount of money? They should be halfway to Zeta Reticuli by now. The only results I see is that they sucked the very life out of the United States. Ripped us all off. Left us with nothing.
God, I hate those vile wretches. It's just too bad we didn't get to vote for another president in November.
More positively, we'll probably all get to see John Boehner cry again. David Letterman made some tasteless joke about that. I'm sure David Letterman never cries. He doesn't care enough about anything to cry about it. The best he can do is snide. I'm pretty sure he hates himself. Stopped watching him a long time ago, while he still had the late, late show or whatever. He was just more bitter than funny anymore.
At any rate, I remember a few days after 9/11, they had this Day of Mourning event at the National Cathedral. Bunch of speakers, hymns, etc. etc. Very sad. The cameras occasionally panned the audience -- all of congress just about, the Clintons, the Bushes. Denny Hastert, who was then Speaker of the House, had an aisle seat. Can't remember who was speaking, but the camera swung over Denny Hastert, who was absolutely blubbering in grief and sorrow. Kinda made me think he was something more than an anonymity.
I like John Boehner, and I like it that he cares so much about "The American Dream." He'll probably do all he can to take care of it.
Wouldn't it be nice if we had a president who did?
Save the Republic.
Anyway, on TV they showed clips of Pazzo Pelosi's last press conference as Speaker of the House, and it was a doozy. She said something like, "Our watch-word has always been deficit reduction. We had pay-as-you-go. Now let's see what the Republicans will do."
God, my sides hurt. I'm shooting coffee out my nose. "Our watch-word has always been deficit reduction." She lives in an alternate universe, kinda like the world of 1984, the novel, where everything means the opposite of what you say. Or like 'Arbeit mach frei." That was a slogan hanging over the gateway to Auschwitz. It means "Work makes you free." Yeah, so does poison gas.
Anyway, it seems that at the end of 2006, the budget deficit was already a whopping $8 TRILLION due to the Republicans patting each other on the back -- and 9/11 and Katrina. And it took 222 years to pile up that much debt. However, since Pazzo took the gavel in 2007, the deficit has grown to $14 TRILLION. That's about -- what? -- an 80% increase?
If Pazzo and the merry marxists have been "paying as they go," exactly where the hell did they go that cost such an inconceivable amount of money? They should be halfway to Zeta Reticuli by now. The only results I see is that they sucked the very life out of the United States. Ripped us all off. Left us with nothing.
God, I hate those vile wretches. It's just too bad we didn't get to vote for another president in November.
More positively, we'll probably all get to see John Boehner cry again. David Letterman made some tasteless joke about that. I'm sure David Letterman never cries. He doesn't care enough about anything to cry about it. The best he can do is snide. I'm pretty sure he hates himself. Stopped watching him a long time ago, while he still had the late, late show or whatever. He was just more bitter than funny anymore.
At any rate, I remember a few days after 9/11, they had this Day of Mourning event at the National Cathedral. Bunch of speakers, hymns, etc. etc. Very sad. The cameras occasionally panned the audience -- all of congress just about, the Clintons, the Bushes. Denny Hastert, who was then Speaker of the House, had an aisle seat. Can't remember who was speaking, but the camera swung over Denny Hastert, who was absolutely blubbering in grief and sorrow. Kinda made me think he was something more than an anonymity.
I like John Boehner, and I like it that he cares so much about "The American Dream." He'll probably do all he can to take care of it.
Wouldn't it be nice if we had a president who did?
Save the Republic.
Monday, January 3, 2011
No one is indispensable
Watching TV news and apparently a big problem with cleaning up after the blizzard in New York City was an informal "slowdown" among unionized sanitation workers. It seems the mayor had planned to lay off 100 supervisors, but since the slowdown, he's reduced that number to 50.
One of the realy major problems with unions is that they don't know when to quit. They sometimes have this very overblown vision of themselves as absolutely indispensable. No. I don't think so. Not with unemployment rates hovering around 10%.
Anyone remember the air traffic controllers strike under Reagan? They threatened to go on strike. Reagan suggested they go ahead. They did. Thy thought they'd shut down air traffic all across the country. After all, they were highly-trained and experienced in a very stressful and critical job. But they were replaced without too much trouble or disruption.
From my personal experience, I knew of a third-generation, family-owned custom manufacturing company that had been unionized for several decades. Most employees were long-term. Everyone got along.
Then the industry changed. The company was forced to switch over to digital systems, but retrained staff rather than laying people off. The owner felt a commitment to his employees, who had been loyal to him. Should add that the digital equipment was absolutely necessary for this company to remain competitive, and its migration to digital was actually relatively late in the industry. The thing is, for this type of manufacturing, the company had to be compatible with its customers, who were doing everything digital as well. If the company couldn't handle the digital link-up, customers went somewhere else.
So the next time the union contract came up for negotiation, the union demanded big raises across the board. They reasoned, the owner had just spent at least $250,000.00 for the digital equipment. So he could afford pay increases, too.
The owner shut down. He had no choice and simply didn't want the headache. He didn't sell the company -- which had been struggling, particularly under the burden of trying to make some return on investment on the digital equipment. He shut the doors, sold the assets, and moved on. I don't know what happened to his 60 employees.
The thing is, no one is indispensable, not even quarterbacks. And I've been in New York during garbage strikes. It isn't pretty, but the option isn't to get the trash picked up or not. The option is exactly who's going to pick up the trash, union members or somebody else.
No matter what your bosses tell you, union members, this ain't the time to start kicking up dust. Believe me, for every one of you, there's probably a couple hundred unemployed who'd love your job -- even with less pay and benefits than you have right now.
Save the Republic... and your jobs.
One of the realy major problems with unions is that they don't know when to quit. They sometimes have this very overblown vision of themselves as absolutely indispensable. No. I don't think so. Not with unemployment rates hovering around 10%.
Anyone remember the air traffic controllers strike under Reagan? They threatened to go on strike. Reagan suggested they go ahead. They did. Thy thought they'd shut down air traffic all across the country. After all, they were highly-trained and experienced in a very stressful and critical job. But they were replaced without too much trouble or disruption.
From my personal experience, I knew of a third-generation, family-owned custom manufacturing company that had been unionized for several decades. Most employees were long-term. Everyone got along.
Then the industry changed. The company was forced to switch over to digital systems, but retrained staff rather than laying people off. The owner felt a commitment to his employees, who had been loyal to him. Should add that the digital equipment was absolutely necessary for this company to remain competitive, and its migration to digital was actually relatively late in the industry. The thing is, for this type of manufacturing, the company had to be compatible with its customers, who were doing everything digital as well. If the company couldn't handle the digital link-up, customers went somewhere else.
So the next time the union contract came up for negotiation, the union demanded big raises across the board. They reasoned, the owner had just spent at least $250,000.00 for the digital equipment. So he could afford pay increases, too.
The owner shut down. He had no choice and simply didn't want the headache. He didn't sell the company -- which had been struggling, particularly under the burden of trying to make some return on investment on the digital equipment. He shut the doors, sold the assets, and moved on. I don't know what happened to his 60 employees.
The thing is, no one is indispensable, not even quarterbacks. And I've been in New York during garbage strikes. It isn't pretty, but the option isn't to get the trash picked up or not. The option is exactly who's going to pick up the trash, union members or somebody else.
No matter what your bosses tell you, union members, this ain't the time to start kicking up dust. Believe me, for every one of you, there's probably a couple hundred unemployed who'd love your job -- even with less pay and benefits than you have right now.
Save the Republic... and your jobs.
Evil or stupid party?
When I was in a third party, we had a joke about the evil party and the stupid party, which apparently Alan Simpson had also heard. It went something like the evil party enacts all kinds of vile legislation and the stupid party somehow makes it work.
I'm hoping the stupid party -- the Republicans -- have wised up. And I think they have. How far they can actually get with true reform is another matter.
Take, for example, the issue of the debt ceiling, which really isn't an issue right now. It's just the evil party trying to scare the pants off people.
At any rate, on one of the network Sunday morning political shows, Austan Goolsby (my gosh, what were his parents thinking when they stuck him with than moniker? I couldn't make up anything sillier) said it would be "catastrophic" for the Republicans to take away the evil party's credit card by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Apparently debt is the only thing the evil party is capable of producing in volume. So Goolsby is saying, in effect, if the Republicans refuse to spend even more money, the nation will go down in flames.
"Hey, Dad! Look! We made this gigantic mess. Ha ha! Try to clean that up! I even broke all the neighbor kid's toys! Boy did I screw up things for you! Now you fix it. Just try!"
Is that about the gist of it, Mr. Ghoulsby?
I just hope the Republicans refuse to play the game. I hope the Republicans simply deduct whatever funds are necessary to pay interest rates from other areas. Like:
* Whatever dividends the USA earns on its holdings in Government Motors
* Revenues drawn from oil leases (oh heck! I forgot. The Comrade canceled all that.)
* Funds channeled from the EPA, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Commerce, IRS, and the 40,000 other useless and wasteful boondoggle agencies in the executive branch
* Direct Medicare to refuse to pay for Scooters and Jazzies and apply the funds more appropriately
* Donate no money whatsoever to socialized medicine
* Demand return of the TARP money to the USA; whatever funds have been returned are apparently resting comfortably in a slush fund in the Federal Reserve Bank. But since the Fed doesn't have to account for what money it does or doesn't have, that's only conjecture. Actually, the money's probably in somebody's private account in the Cayman Islands.
* Keep whatever has not yet been allocated from the 2009 "Stimulus Package."
* Cut Madame Comrade's staff of 30 or 40 people -- those who track her social activities. No other First Lady has required so many ladies-in-waiting. It's like the joke about how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?
* Apparently some savings already have been realized with John Boehner refusing Pelosi's two Air Stream jets.
* De-fund the counting of cow farts
* Stop building parkways for turtles and salamanders
* My personal opinion is that Eric Holder's salary has been a complete waste so far. What has this man done since he's been in the Dept. of Justice?
* What the hell is Janet Napolitano doing in Afghanistan? One comedian highlighted the irony that she might be showing Afghanis how to control their border. Bring her home. Save the money.
* Stop sending money to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
* Cancel the green projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions and Global Warming. Seems fair to say that that was never anything more than a load of crap.
* Restructure and privatize Social Security and Medicare. "Reform" won't work. They need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. Social Security is basically a Ponzi scheme that can't work, given current demographics.
* Rein in the FCC. They, like everyone else in the executive branch, is messing in things that are just none of their business.
I could go on. The main idea is -- CUT! Clearly about 85% of all federal government operations are nothing more than a waste of time and taxpayer money. It would seem a lot simpler to pick out the functions that the nation really needs and just tell everyone else's useless brothers-in-law and college pals to find real jobs.
But I hope the Republicans don't buy into Ghoulsby's silly crap.
As a matter of fact, it might be a good thing to default on our loans. No one will ever lend to the USA again. OMG!! Then what would the evil party do?
Enough for now.
Save the Republic.
I'm hoping the stupid party -- the Republicans -- have wised up. And I think they have. How far they can actually get with true reform is another matter.
Take, for example, the issue of the debt ceiling, which really isn't an issue right now. It's just the evil party trying to scare the pants off people.
At any rate, on one of the network Sunday morning political shows, Austan Goolsby (my gosh, what were his parents thinking when they stuck him with than moniker? I couldn't make up anything sillier) said it would be "catastrophic" for the Republicans to take away the evil party's credit card by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Apparently debt is the only thing the evil party is capable of producing in volume. So Goolsby is saying, in effect, if the Republicans refuse to spend even more money, the nation will go down in flames.
"Hey, Dad! Look! We made this gigantic mess. Ha ha! Try to clean that up! I even broke all the neighbor kid's toys! Boy did I screw up things for you! Now you fix it. Just try!"
Is that about the gist of it, Mr. Ghoulsby?
I just hope the Republicans refuse to play the game. I hope the Republicans simply deduct whatever funds are necessary to pay interest rates from other areas. Like:
* Whatever dividends the USA earns on its holdings in Government Motors
* Revenues drawn from oil leases (oh heck! I forgot. The Comrade canceled all that.)
* Funds channeled from the EPA, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Commerce, IRS, and the 40,000 other useless and wasteful boondoggle agencies in the executive branch
* Direct Medicare to refuse to pay for Scooters and Jazzies and apply the funds more appropriately
* Donate no money whatsoever to socialized medicine
* Demand return of the TARP money to the USA; whatever funds have been returned are apparently resting comfortably in a slush fund in the Federal Reserve Bank. But since the Fed doesn't have to account for what money it does or doesn't have, that's only conjecture. Actually, the money's probably in somebody's private account in the Cayman Islands.
* Keep whatever has not yet been allocated from the 2009 "Stimulus Package."
* Cut Madame Comrade's staff of 30 or 40 people -- those who track her social activities. No other First Lady has required so many ladies-in-waiting. It's like the joke about how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?
* Apparently some savings already have been realized with John Boehner refusing Pelosi's two Air Stream jets.
* De-fund the counting of cow farts
* Stop building parkways for turtles and salamanders
* My personal opinion is that Eric Holder's salary has been a complete waste so far. What has this man done since he's been in the Dept. of Justice?
* What the hell is Janet Napolitano doing in Afghanistan? One comedian highlighted the irony that she might be showing Afghanis how to control their border. Bring her home. Save the money.
* Stop sending money to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
* Cancel the green projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions and Global Warming. Seems fair to say that that was never anything more than a load of crap.
* Restructure and privatize Social Security and Medicare. "Reform" won't work. They need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. Social Security is basically a Ponzi scheme that can't work, given current demographics.
* Rein in the FCC. They, like everyone else in the executive branch, is messing in things that are just none of their business.
I could go on. The main idea is -- CUT! Clearly about 85% of all federal government operations are nothing more than a waste of time and taxpayer money. It would seem a lot simpler to pick out the functions that the nation really needs and just tell everyone else's useless brothers-in-law and college pals to find real jobs.
But I hope the Republicans don't buy into Ghoulsby's silly crap.
As a matter of fact, it might be a good thing to default on our loans. No one will ever lend to the USA again. OMG!! Then what would the evil party do?
Enough for now.
Save the Republic.
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