Category: GOP / DEM

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Romneys Headaches

You almost have Ap mitt romney leaked tapes dm 120918 wblogto feel sorry for the guy.

I also find the timing of the release of this videos  very interesting… Now the media is picking up on the comments and blowing them way out of proportion. 

I don’t necessarily agree with the guy on all points but I sure as hell believe that he’s entitled to say stuff privately without being recorded and having those recordings posted all over the internet.

Thus far he’s said that “47% of the population is going to vote for Obama because they’re dependent on government.” 

You know that’s probably about right 47% of the population is going to vote for Obama without a doubt…

Just look at the 2008 election,

52.9% of the voters voted for Obama, 45.7% of voters voted for McCain. That’s actually a pretty close split between the Democratic and Republican parties.

If you go back to 2004 Bush 50.7% Kerry 48.3%

2000 election 47.9% Bush, 48.4% Gore… Yes! That’s not a typo! That’s what Wikipedia says…

Bush won because of the electoral college. By sheer votes of The People, Al Gore should have been President.

This opens a whole other discussion about the electoral college and why I think it should be disbanded.

However that discussion will have to wait.

The point I’m making here is that the past 3 Presidential elections have been won or lost by a pretty narrow percentage of the peoples vote. The 2008 election had the highest voter turn out of the previous 3 Presidential elections 63% No matter what you may think of President Obama, you have to admit that his candidacy energized the voter base, and that’s a good thing.

Romney is in trouble for saying it, and then qualifying his 47% comment with the following;

“… who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”

I don’t agree about the no income tax part… But in general I think he’s making a valid observation. I have personal knowledge of a specific group of people in this country who perceive themselves as victims and entitled all the time no matter what!

The people who are dependent on government, NO MATTER THE REASON will vote for President Obama.

It’s obviously in their best interest.

Romney is right, there is nothing he can do or say that will win these people over, short of becoming a democrat and making the same promises the democratic party does.

Why is this such a big deal?

For god sake we have a candidate that spoke the truth as he sees it.  He’s taking the heat and he’s not backing down from his position.

Isn’t that what we want? Leadership?

We don’t have to hang on the Presidents every word, we don’t’ have to agree with every position, We need a President that speaks his mind, has conviction, and who is strong enough not to wither in the heat of battle.

We do need a President that when faced with facts that contradict his opinion is capable of gracefully accepting the new information, incorporating then new data and moving forward.

The problem is, so many of the entrenched politicians in Washington and in the various state government for that matter are fat, dumb and happy. They’re safely ensconced in the halls of power and know it’s not in their best interest to rock the boat, so they don’t. Business as usual in Washington is the way of things.

In this election we need not only a President who is a LEADER we also need politicians in Washington to be leaders. If our politicians aren’t going to lead, then they need to follow. A strong President who’s direct and upfront might be just what we need to make Washington work for a change.

I loved this comment from Jim Messina, Obama for America campaign manager,  “It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”

I seem to recall that in 2008 Election President Obama disdainfully dismissed the “Flyover States” however I can’t find the reference now so I could be incorrect.

We all have our likes, dislikes, opinions and preconceived notions.

Saying that half the country isn’t going to vote for you is not writing those people off. It’s a statement of opinion and doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve written this people off. In fact, it could mean that you’re going to be more sensitive to their situation. Although I don’t think we haven’t seen too much of that kind of thinking about the “Flyover States” from the Obama administration.

Romney is also taking heat about comments that he made about Palestine

He’s quoted as saying Palestine is “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel and are uninterested in peace.”

Again… from the observable evidence… this is a true statement.

After all, you don’t keep randomly lobbing RPGs and other explosives into residential neighborhoods if you’re really interested in peace.

Lets give the guy credit where credit is due. 

He’s demonstrating the kind of leadership that a President should, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the statements. At least Romney has a set of balls.

Anybody heard about the new digs Obama is, or has purchased in Hawaii? I thought he & Michelle were going to move back to their Chicago digs after his term in office. After all Chicago is a gun free crime free paradise.

Yeah a little snarky but It’s my blog…

 

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While I’m not meaning to defend the wealthy… I have to ask.

Lately, there have been tonFeng shui wealths of politicians and Über Liberals doing a lot of talking about the Wealthy.

I really don’t get it on a number of levels.

1) Why is it wrong to single out certain Other groups for special treatment or discussion but not the wealthy?

2) Why do politicians or the general populace think it’s OK to levy higher taxes on this small group?  (Sounds like discrimination to me. You’d never get away with it if instead of wealthy you said Muslims, or Mexicans. )

3) What happened to that concept of “Equally distributing the burden“? Why is it apparently OK to force the wealthy to pay more?

Politician

Don’t get me wrong, the wealthy have done nothing to warrant my love or concern. Like most Americans I’ve suffered, and continue to suffer at their hands.

Here are some examples the Politicians and Occupy Whatever cite. You’ll get no argument from me about the abuses. Although most politicians avoid the H1B1 issue. Democratic politicians usually won’t comment on Offshoring but some Republicans and the Teaparty will.

Offshoring / Downsizing / H1B1 Abuses (It’s bullshit to import someone from India or offshore when you’ve got unemployed American workers with the same training and who speak, read, write the language well & who understand the culture. The ONLY difference between the H1B1 Visa worker / Offshore workers, and the American worker is that the H1B1 worker will work like a slave, kiss ass, suck cock, and generally do ANYTHING to bolster his bosses ego to stay in this country or keep their jobs. Including but not limited to implementing “Solutions” that are wrong on their face, just because they’re too scared of deportation or being fired to point out that the proposed “Solution” isn’t going to work. I can’t count how many millions I’ve personally seen wasted this way)

Oil prices (Lets be real here… The wind blowing from the West doesn’t justify a speculative panic that drives up crude prices.)

Banking abuses / Bad Mortgages / Housing implosion

Pension / 401k devaluation

However, as abusive of the system and people as the wealthy are, (THIS INCLUDES HOLLYWOOD ACTORS AND The KARDASHIANS), it’s still no reason to single them out for special taxation.

Let’s look at the pure math of the situation.

If I make $95,000 and I pay 20% in taxes then I pay $19,000

If a wealthy person makes $250,000 and pays 20% in taxes they pay $50,000 

SO obviously the wealthy are already paying more into the system.

Isn’t it unfair to say the wealthy have to pay 40%? Isn’t that just pure greed on the part of the politicians?

Stairliftsuk

I know that the poor would pitch a bitch fit if THEY were called upon to pay higher taxes. This would be especially true if someone constructed a case that went something like this.

The poor are more of a burden on the society. They require more government services, offices, and assistance. The poor also require a disproportionate level of emergency medical care per capita. Therefore the tax on all people below the poverty line will be 25% in an effort to cover their disproportionate burden on the society at large.

Of course you could make the same case for the elderly paying higher taxes too.

Can you even imagine? There’d be riots in the streets. The elderly from the old folks homes would be tossing molotov cocktails from their motorized chairs and golf carts.

“Harold… Harold… stop the cart! I just tossed my catheter bag at that Bentley! We’ve got to go back those things are $15 a piece.”

“Aww screw it Betty just hang the hose at the side of the cart, you can piss on Beverly Hills as we head back to the home! Now throw the burning bottle at the Kardashian house!”

We see the obvious wrongness of disproportionately taxing the poor or the elderly.

Why is it that we choose not to see that same unfairness in disproportionately taxing the wealthy? (I could however get behind a “SPECIAL” tax on the big mouths in the entertainment industry.)

There are those that would rightly point out, the wealthy often use all kinds of tricks to avoid paying their full measure of taxes.

While this is entirely true, I have to ask how many of us look for those same exact loopholes and deductions? The difference is the wealthy simply have better accountants and lawyers.

I’ve long wanted a simple flat tax. I think that would stop the wealthy, politicians, industry, & everyone else from playing games.

IRS1

Here’s my wish list for tax reform.

15% flat tax across the board right off the top for everyone! No exceptions!

No more IRS filing, No more April 15th, No more IRS at all.

I’ve thought that if we eliminated the IRS and stopped changing tax laws yearly the country could save a fortune in office supplies alone. We’d also save money because Congress wouldn’t be debating new tax codes and would get on with other business.

There would of course be corporations who might require additional assistance calculating their tax burden but I suspect that the Government Accounting Office could handle those audits.

If you’re unemployed, you get to raid your 401k or pension with NO penalties and tax free. Raiding your retirement is NEVER a good idea, but if it keeps you from becoming a burden or loosing your house you shouldn’t be penalized for doing it.

We should make sure that our Government felt the pinch of a poor economy just as keenly as the people.

Since the politicians salaries are funded from tax dollars, their salaries should be indexed to the GDP, Government Debt, and Stock Market.

As it is now, they get paid either way. Why not change their pay structure to give them some incentive?

Make it something like As the GDP and stock markets fall, and Debt increases the salaries for our politicians decline proportionately. Hopefully something like that would focus our politicians attention on actually tending to the country instead of grandstanding and not working together.

If you wrote the equation as simply as possible you could have the politicians seeing their salaries increase and decrease directly coupled to the financial heartbeat of the country.

It’s possible that the politicians could even see negative cash-flow, meaning that in addition to the FLAT tax they and everyone else pay, politicians could conceivably have to write a check and pay for the privilege of really crappy governance.

I bet, we’d see fewer dishonest politicians and more that were genuinely interested in the country doing well under this kind of pay schedule.

Caption

I know that my wish list will never be fulfilled. I also realize that some of my ideas aren’t possible and are too simplistic.

I do think that every single one of us, rich, poor, or middle class realizes it’s time for some serious changes to the way our government collects and uses money.

I don’t think that setting a special tax rate for a specific group of people is the right or fair way to go.

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Where’s MY Obama Money?

American healthcare

Couldn’t help myself.

When President Obama was first elected there was this little lady being interviewed on television, she was talking about all the good things that were going to happen for her since Obama was elected. One of the things she kept talking about was how she was going to get a new cell phone and a better apartment ’cause of Obama Money that would be coming to her.

When she was asked where that money actually came from she said she didn’t care, ’cause it was Obama money and Obama was going to make everything alright for her.

Myself and 300 coworkers layoffs were a direct result of President Obama and Congress having a pissing contest in late 2010 and early 2011.

Clearly BOTH sides forget that they are there to represent the PEOPLE not partisan interests.

Here we are in the election cycle again. The only thing that has changed, especially for people like me is that our unemployment is running out, we’re paying obscene prices for COBRA coverage ($600) a month and despite the media spin… things are improving at a snails pace.

WHERES MY OBAMACARE?

Guess what?

As usual, since I’m an American worker that has scrabbled and climbed to the middle class, contributed to the economy, paid my bills, didn’t use my house as a piggy bank, and have been responsible for myself and my shit.

I’m actually NOT ELIGIBLE for Obamacare… and won’t be until long after I’m destitute, homeless, masturbating under a bridge, and a burden on society. Which will happen a lot sooner than later paying out COBRA.

In general even in my 50s I don’t use $7200 of medical care per year. I’m extremely thankful for this. So why am I paying $600 a month to maintain COBRA? An even more interesting question is why does the Obama system make it illegal to not pay for insurance?

Between prescriptions, the occasional MD, Dentist, and Optometrist visit I’d say that if I were paying cash maybe I’d spend $3500 per year.

This is EXACTLY why so many employed folks CHOOSE to forego insurance. I went without insurance for YEARS… I paid out of pocket for services rendered…

And you know what???

Because it was a simple cash transaction I got pretty steep discounts and the same or better care BECAUSE the insurance companies weren’t involved. During those times… the Doc would say you need an antibiotic and hand me a bag full of physician samples. Great! no pharmacy bill.

I’ve been in an emergency room exactly once in my life. That was because I had a broken bone. I’ve been to urgent care twice. If there’s any way I can see my Doctor, I’ll call him drive to his office and wait. I’d rather have him look at me than some stranger anyway. 

So folks not having insurance are taking a risk but they do that every fucking day just driving on the freeways, especially now!

7 grand in my yearly budget would be a whole lot better than paying for coverage that I’m not fully utilizing. I’d imagine that the average American family could do a lot with 7K per year.

7 grand is 4 months of unemployment. Honestly, I’d rather have the cash.

So tell me again why we’re all paying so much?

OH Yeah! it’s to cover all the people who have no insurance, low incomes, and who regularly clog emergency rooms with non-emergency situations because they KNOW they will be seen by a doctor even if they refuse to pay their bill.

The disparity isn’t stacked in favor of the rich and middle class it’s stacked in favor of the poor.

So now here comes Obamacare <insert imperial fanfare here>. It does nothing for me. Insurance costs won’t be lower. My care will probably be degraded, and I’ll most likely end up paying out of packet to see the Doctor I want to see instead of some non-english speaking supposed doctor with whom I have nothing in common and whose instructions for my care, I can’t understand anyway.

The thing that annoys me probably most… is this wonderful debacle will put the country in even more debt and effectively lower the quality of care for everyone. Because after all mediocrity and socialism walk hand in hand don’t they?

I don’t shop a K-Mart for… well anything. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be forced into a K-Mart situation in health care. “We can do that required brain surgery for $500, but for $1500 we’ll sterilize the instruments.”

The liberal elite can’t understand why the middle class is pissed off!

It’s easier for them to call us selfish, and greedy rather than to take all their supposed intellect and actually understand the position they’re placing us in.

 

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while…

I’m pretty conservative, albeit some of my previous posts may not reflect that.

Strip

I frankly can’t listen to more than about 30 seconds of OutQ on SiriusXM.I’ve also begun to weary of the Ultra Liberal gay “mainstream” media.

As I’ve previously stated It’s rare that I agree with Joe My God, or Dan Savage… As to Perez Hilton… All I can say is NO!

These bloggers don’t reflect the rest of us. By that I mean the GLBT folks who aren’t into all things GAY. 

There are a lot of other folks that live their lives, do their jobs, and build homes with their significant others without being all about entitlement, or the Democratic party.

They’re the people that don’t feel it’s appropriate to submit to the jack-booted tactics that so many of the GLBT brethren use to keep them, and the straight world at large “in line”… which in this case means silent.

I started wondering who speaks for those of folks that choose to live out of the Urban Meccas of so called gay culture, and who don’t like the concept of an entitlement rich society. Or who may not agree with the likes of the HRC or GLAAD.

I’ve decided that perhaps I could be a voice on the more conservative side of the equation.

To that end let me throw the following ideas at you.

The Republican Party is not, by definition SATAN.

Members of the Republican Party are not always capitalist pigs bent on the destruction of the planet.

Religion is not always automatically bad.

Guns are not evil… they are tools, nothing more. The 2nd amendment must be protected, and responsible gun ownership should be encouraged and as simple as putting a credit card on a gun shop counter.

Someone who doesn’t financially support, or who may in fact speak poorly of the HRC,  EQCA, GLAAD or whatever other organization isn’t a traitor to the cause or an “Uncle Tom”

Not all of us can be artists, rock stars, actors, or “wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice”. It’s not a sin to work hard to derive, and enjoy nice cars, homes, or other material goods from that labor.

The wealthy, should not be expected to suffer disproportionate and unfair tax increases that specifically target them.

War is not always wrong… (the current wars notwithstanding)

Ever increasing Taxes are not the answer to all problems.

Expensive Social programs designed exclusively for “The Poor” are inherently unfair.

It’s not a crime or racist to desire securing our country’s borders. (It’s irrelevant that 200 years ago this land was settled by people of X ethnic origin. By that logic the peoples of the Lakota nation should have the Great Plains and Midwest returned to them. Currently, the United States is owned and occupied by its CITIZENS, deal with it!)

A national healthcare system that increases our national debt by trillions of dollars is nothing short of irresponsible. Fighting such a system is, ultimately in the best interest of the nation.Desiring to institute a single national language is NOT racist

President Obama… Is NOT the second coming, nor are he and his programs in the best interest of this country at this time. (President Obama is not however solely responsible for the problems our country faces.)

Environmental protection should be factored into any equation, however Human needs (food, clothing, power) should always be considered first. Carbon credits are nothing more than a method to collect additional taxes and will force corporations to manufacture their goods in unregulated third world nations. This is bad for our national economy and ultimately bad for the world at large.

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In yet another spectacular failure of the American Education System…

Anderson Cooper interviews a supporter of Pastor Charles Worley.

Pastor Worley has recently come to national attention because of a sermon he delivered, in which he suggested that the Gays should be put in concentration camps to die off.

The good pastor and his church have taken a lot of heat for his sermon.

This young lady, I respect because she at least had the gumption to stand up for her pastor, her church, and her beliefs.

Sadly it appears that she hadn’t really thought out her game plan and she was obviously no match for Anderson.

A friend sent me this link

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/05/24/ac-intv-church-member-defends-pastor.cnn

After watching the video I almost felt sorry for her.

However, my brain was hurting so badly by that point all I could think is, “She’s obviously a poster child for the failure of the American education system.”

Then I thought, “This is why we must teach human reproduction in school, cause this lady obviously doesn’t understand how babies are made.”

In fairness she does apparently come from an area of our country where fundamentalist Christians manage to block almost any social or scientific progress. Unless of course the scientific progress is in proving that God exists, or improved lung cancer treatments. I do hope she knows you can’t get pregnant from a toilet seat.

Anderson was nice to her too. He really didn’t rip her up as much as he could have. I guess thats one of the things I like most about Mr. Cooper, he adjusts his style to the intellect level of the interviewee.

Unfortunately… for Anderson to have reduced himself to her level would have required a Doctor and a Lobotomy.

Lets review;

1) Gay People are usually born to straight parents…

2) Putting all the gay men in one camp and all the lesbians in another camp would simply create one hell of a party! All these people wouldn’t have to work anymore and they could devote all that free time to working on their tans, literature, science, architecture, and of course… the next haute couture and hairstyling products for the straight people.

Mr Cooper did make one minor tactical error. It’s not his fault.

How could he have known about the time warp that exists in the Carolinas?

The folks living  there are still trying to get over the North having won the Civil War. They’ve only just begun to work through the complexities of World Wars 1 & 2. This poor lady probably didn’t realize that gay people were exterminated right along with Jewish people. That’s IF she even knew what a concentration camp was…

I’m sure that she’s never met a gay person. <wink, wink, nudge, nudge> At the risk of invoking a stereotype… I KNOW she’s never met a gay person! Clearly her hair dresser is straight!

The friend who sent me the clip said “You can’t fix stupid”

My response was “Sure you can… You give everyone IQ tests and the really dumb ones you put into two camps, all the men in one camp and all the women in another.  Then you make sure the fences are electrified and wait for the stupid people to die off. OH Wait!!! I’ve heard this plan before somewhere!“