For those of you who truly believe that the gods of government can spend your money more effectively than you yourself, please read the following from The Courier News Online…
Like someone who skips a credit card payment, the state would save money now but owe more in the long run — perhaps $30 billion more, according to Republicans.
The Democratic plan calls for reducing state contributions to the pension systems for teachers, university employees and state workers. The state would pay about $2 billion less over the next two years than the law requires.
The move wouldn’t have any impact on retirees’ monthly checks. Democratic supporters claim it wouldn’t even hurt the pension systems’ long-term solvency because the plan includes provisions to control pension costs over the next 40 years.
What it would do is free up money that could be used to pay for schools, health care and other government services.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says that’s a trade he can live with if it closes a $1.2 billion deficit without raising taxes, cutting services or opening new casinos.
“What’s the point of a budget? It’s not just to make the numbers work,” he said. “The budget has to work for people. It has to help people live better.”……Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, said Democrats still were tinkering with the numbers to come up with money for programs that would win more member support.
Let’s get this straight, Mr. Blagojevich’s plan is to have the state of Illinois not pay it’s legally mandated requirements to the state pension funds. He will then use the money he saved to pay for other programs. Possibly accruing an even higher debt in the future…sounds oddly familiar to me.
But let’s look at this a little differently. Let us say I have a mortgage. And my monthly bill has just come due. I decide I am not going to pay my bill this month, and even next month for that matter. Oh boy, since I didn’t send in my required payment, I now have actually saved money. ‘Saved’ money by not paying my mortgage payment. ‘Saved’ money by not paying a bill. What a financial god I truly am. Now I can used that extra money I ‘saved’ by not paying my bills, to buy that new HDTV I’ve been wanting. Wow, a win-win situation for me as I see it…if I’m an idiot.
Obviously there is no savings, only additional debt. The ‘saved’ money is still owed, but now also borrowed upon to pay for other bills and some new ‘compassionate’ programs. Mr. Blagojevich knows this. So why would he, and the state legislature for that matter, engage in such irresponsible behavior?
In the end, I believe it is because it is not their money in the first place. They did not exert a drop of energy to earn it. It comes to them, seemingly, like manna from the gods. And heaven knows there is always more where that came from.
Crossposted @ Sticks and Stones
Said Glen @ 4:09 pm Comments (1) | Permalink
Col. David H. Hackworth, the United States Army’s legendary, highly decorated guerrilla fighter and lifelong champion of the doughboy and dogface, ground-pounder and grunt, died May 4, 2005, on a Wednesday, in Mexico. He was 74 years old. The cause of death was a form of cancer now appearing with increasing frequency among Vietnam veterans exposed to the defoliants called Agents Orange and Blue.
There are two groups of people who “support the troops” in Iraq and Afghanistan: There are the people who stick the ribbon magnets on their SUVs and talk about “supporting our troops” while staying a safe distance away from the fight (or maybe simultaneously declaring they don’t support the war), and then there are the people who work to make sure that our soldiers are well-trained, well-equipped and well-led-people, unafraid to tell the truth, no matter who gets upset about it.
We lost a great man in the latter group with the death of Col. David Hackworth, a champion of the common soldier who died of cancer at age 74 on May 4.
“He was perhaps the finest soldier of his generation,” observed the novelist and war correspondent Nicholas Proffit, who described Col. Hackworth’s combat autobiography, About Face, a national best-seller, as “a passionate cry from the heart of a man who never stopped loving the Army, even when it stopped loving him back.”
“Hack never lost his focus,” said Roger Charles, president of Soldiers for the Truth. “That focus was on the young kids that our country sends to bleed and die on our behalf. Everything he did in his retirement was to try to give them a better chance to win and to come home. That’s one hell of a legacy.”
Hack wrote several incredible books, you can see them all here.
Hackworth will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, May 31. His legacy is the group “Soldiers For The Truth,” (www.sftt.org), a group devoted to military reform that has become the main conduit for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to tell people back home the real story of what’s happening at the front. His 1989 autobiography, “About Face,” will be read for years to come by all who are seeking the nuts and bolts of leadership. And most of all, his example of speaking out in favor of common sense when it comes to defending the nation will be remembered by all who know the difference between saying you support the troops and actually doing so.
God bless him and his family.
Soldiers For The Truth is now working on legal action to compel the Pentagon to recognize Agent Blue alongside the better known Agent Orange as a killer and to help veterans exposed to it during the Vietnam War. Memorial contributions can be sent to Soldiers For The Truth either by internet or by mail to, P.O. Box 54365, Irvine, California, 92619-4365.
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Said Cao @ 3:01 am Comments (4) | Permalink
Image: LindaSog.com
Important update: John Kerry signed his 180, now all he needs to do is set it free so we can see the records. We are altering the “Sign the 180″ blogburst to the “FREE the 180 blogburst” and we’re going to keep hammering on it!
We’re going to make this post a fun poetry meme. Link to me with your poetry meme! SET KERRY’s 180 FREE!
Here’s a sample from Polipundit’s friend, Tom:
Free your ‘180′, John Kerry!
You said you’d release it, when queried…
We will never forget!
Your word is your debt!
Forever, you can’t keep it buried!
And here’s my little poetry meme:
Mr. Kerry, you gave us your word
Which thousands of Americans heard
On meet the press tv
Won’t you set free
The records that you have incurred?
Set that 180 free John Kerry
Before the nation gets even more scarey
You never can tell
What righwingers from hell
Can do if you don’t answer our query.
Get a new countdown clock for your blog! Get that old one off! Go here.
Join the blogbursts to help FREE Kerry’s 180 every Tuesday!
We’ve formed a blogburst group and here are the bloggers who are contributing so far. If you want to join the blogroll for Free Kerry’s 180, click here to email me, include the url for your blog. The blogburst is every Tuesday, so don’t forget to blog about it. All you have to do is encourage Kerry to set his 180 FREE, I’ll send you the code for the blogroll.
The more people we have, the merrier!
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Said Cao @ 2:55 am Comments (21) | Permalink
On this, the day we celebrate and acknowledge the sacrifices and effort given by the men and women of our country in the pursuit of freedom, there still looms the omnipresent discussion of fascism.
All over the internet, I read more and more debate about the United States and it relationship with fascism. Unfortunately, after reading many threads, I wonder if many of these writers, readers and people commenting, really understand the argument they make. Many make reference to Hitler and Mussolini as great examples of fascism, but few try to explain or define fascism.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines Fascism as:
Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: ‘fa-”shi-z&m also ‘fa-”si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Additionally, one of the most often referenced writings is from Laurence W. Britt. He studied these 7 regimes: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia. Analysis of these regimes revealed 14 common threads:
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism..
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.
Do these ring as warning signs for the United States? Is America slowly becoming a fascist state?
If you believe that these or a portion of these 14 common threads your answers will differ. Whether a country is fascist or evolving toward fascism, is largely dependent on the perspective of the person asking the question.
America has its roots deep in a tradition of being nationalistic and patriotic; the embracing of business, from small independent business owners to large global corporations and fundamentally capitalism is the foundation of our economy; yes, obviously given the past 100 years, and the various conflicts, we have a supreme military that we are not hesitant to deploy.
In short, we are fundamentally a capitalist society, in my opinion overregulated, free-market economy, that others try to emulate.
I obviously do not believe that America has become a fascist state. However, the question still needs asking, with the liberation of Iraq, have we started down a path that crosses the line that separates a fascist country from non-fascist? Is this a fundamental change in the DNA of our country? Do we need to keep Fascism in our sites as something to avoid?
Footnote:
Fascism Anyone? by Laurence W. Britt
The Danger of American Fascism
Cross posted from TodaysDemocracy.com
Said Dean Reese @ 3:08 pm Comments (3) | Permalink
As we observe Memorial Day this year, I would like to draw attention to some heroes that you may never have heard of or were reported in passing by the MSM. I would also like to personally thank each and every member of our armed forces for their service, sacrifice and dedication to preserving the freedom that we enjoy today. I pray that peace be granted to those who have fallen in course of their duty, comfort be given to those they have left behind, and let this nation remain humble so that no citizen ever forget the debt we owe them.
Patrick Donoghue of the Philadelphia Inquirer had a great column up Friday about remembering our heroes; the link is at the end of his suggestion.
On Memorial Day we honor the men and women who paid the ultimate price for being an American. Each deserves to be remembered, to be kept alive, for just a little longer. There are hundreds of thousands of them, and even the millions of us who are indebted cannot possibly say all of their names. But we can pick just one - from a history book, a news report, war memorial or grave marker - and say it aloud on Memorial Day. We can give it weight, relevance, life. We can say it while we’re at the beach, at a barbecue, driving a car, or working around the yard. That one name may get us thinking about the freedoms we exercise but do not always cherish. And it may remind us that in this life, no hour can ever be too precious, no day too mundane. Source
These are some of the names that I will say aloud on this Memorial Day and their stories.
Some outside the Pacific Northwest may know the story of Sgt. Rafael Petralta. Sgt. Peralta was a Marine and as such participated in the assault on Fallujah back in November of 2004. As his team moved in to a house to clear it, Petralta was mortally wounded and the two Marines behind him were wounded as well. As he lay wounded and dying, a terrorist rolled a fragmentation grenade into the room near him and his fellow wounded Marines. Without a moment’s hesitation Petralta dove on the grenade smothering the blast with his body and saving the Marines behind his position from injury and possible death. From interviews with others in his squad, this type of selfless act was the very definition of Rafael Peralta’s life. God Bless.
The only Medal of Honor to be awarded for action in the Iraq War so far was given to Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith. On April 4th Sgt. Smith and his 15 combat engineers were tasked with setting up a roadblock just outside Saddam International Airport (now Baghdad International Airport) on the road to Baghdad. As he was deploying his men to fulfill their mission Iraqi troops moved in to oppose them. Shortly after 10am the engagement began and Sgt. Smith and his men found that they were faced around 100 Iraqi soldiers. As the firefight scaled up, Smith jumped on one of the unit’s M113 armored troop carriers and began firing at the advancing Iraqis with its 50 caliber machine gun. He slowed the Iraqi troops enough so that other members of his team could clear a tower that allowed the enemy to fire directly down into the courtyard occupied by his men. Sadly Sgt. Smith was killed by enemy fire just as the attack was repulsed. President Bush presented Sgt. Smith widow with the Medal of Honor on the one year anniversary of his bravery and death. God Bless.
During the Battle of Fallujah, the Marines of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, India Company paid a heavy price for their success against the terrorists of Iraq. During fierce action that dominated the battle this unit lost three great Marines, 2nd Lt. J.P. Blecksmith, Lance Cpl. Antoine Smith and Cpl Shane Kielion. Both men were killed as India moved into the city as the “tip of the spear”. Lt. Blecksmith was killed while hunting a sniper with the squad and Lance Cpl. Smith and Cpl. Kielion were killed in house to house fighting. God Bless.
Sadly less then a month ago we lost a local hero here in Phoenix, Arizona. On May 7th, 2005 Sgt. Michael A. Marzano was killed defending a hospital outside of Hadithah, Iraq by a suicide vehicle bearing an improvised explosive device. Sgt. Marzano was a member of the Marine Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. Sgt. Marzano had already completed a term of service as an active Marine and was discharged in May of 2003. He felt so compelled to help his country that he joined the Marine Reserves and volunteered for a tour in Iraq. Sgt. Marzano had been in Iraq since March of this year and was serving as a member of the 3-25 Weapons Company, working as part of the Mobile Assault Platoon (MAP) 7 responding to acts of terrorism and providing back up to Iraqi forces. God Bless.
While Memorial Day is meant to honor our military dead, I want to point out another group of soldiers that while they have not given their lives, the sacrifice that they have made should not be overlooked. I am talking about the soldiers that want to return to active combat duty even after losing a limb in warfare. The men profiled in the piece I have linked to have worked their way back to where they are being granted their request to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan and fight alongside the men and women they left after being wounded. If anyone ever doubted the resolve of the American Military they need look no farther then these soldier to see what our men and women are capable of. God Bless and Good Luck.
As you enjoy the holiday wherever you are, please remember that that the freedom that we enjoy and that some abuse is bought and paid for by the blood, sweat, and tears of brave men and women such as the ones listed above. Those are some of the names I will be saying aloud this Memorial Day. Below I have listed some of the charities that I either have donated to or worked with that help our men and women in the military. If you feel the call, please help any or all of them in whatever form you choose. Thank you and God Bless the United States. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day everyone.
Cool Our Troops
Any Soldier
America Supports You
Fisher House
Packages From Home
The USO
Cross-posted at Ravings of a Mad Tech
Said the_mad_tech @ 3:31 am Comments (4) | Permalink
The group of people who get this week’s Desi Award for Extreme Absurdity include…
Said Duncan Avatar @ 9:21 pm Comments (3) | Permalink
We’re living in a wacky, wacky world and while that might sound like the title of an uproarishly funny movie, the fact is that our world today is perhaps a more dangerous place than it ever was during the cold war. Europe is being taken over by Muslim extremists who profess one goal: world domination of Islam. In fifty years, Muslim immigrants will outnumber Norwegians; Swedes are not even permitted to wear symbols of their country out of concern to hurting an immigrant’s feelings and incurring a spontaneous and violent response from extremists. In fifty years, the Muslim population in France will increase by 30 to 40%.
Island America is far from safe. People with violent intent are being aided and abetted by the so-called “social conscience” groups like the ACLU and CCR. Left-wing “I’m okay, you’re okay” groups insist that terrorists in US detention centers be released, and this week alone has been one salvo after another against common sense. Christians – or perhaps more appropriately “non-Muslims” are forbidden by DoD regulations from touching the Koran without wearing white gloves. Now recall, these are the books provided to the prisoners BY THE U. S. GOVERNMENT in the first place, and the prisoners are murdering cut-throats who, if not locked up, would be blowing up innocent people with explosives. The lesson here is that there should be more “confirmed kills” and far fewer “prisoners of war” in future conflicts.
Offered the opportunity to demonstrate against the concept of terror, a recent Muslim demonstration against terror fizzled out. Why? Because, most Muslims indeed do support terror. And who are their targets, assisted by leftist organizations? The United States of America. All is not well in River City, and the sooner we become aware of that, the better. Meanwhile, our politicians pander for votes from the very people who are dedicated to our destruction, and they do it with a smile and an outstretched hand. I think they call it baksheesh.
But you have to give the Jihadists a lot of credit. They know that the USA cannot be destroyed from without, so they’re all about destroying it from within. And, Americans are helping them to do it. It is time for a wake-up call because as sure as I’m typing this, people like Michael Ratner and Garry Trudeau, for all their leftist rhetoric, will also be dealt with by the Jihadis – in their own good time. It is hard to imagine that those who gave up their lives for America in Vietnam, Korea, World War II, and World War I would even recognize our country as it has evolved. Where are the Americans who fiercely loved their country, more than they loved the concept of rights for murdering terrorists? Well, something to think about on the day before Memorial Day.
Mustang sends . . .
Said Mustang @ 6:23 pm Comments (3) | Permalink
This week we witnessed a moment of compromise between our two governmental parties. There had been loggerheads over a rule called the filibuster. Fourteen senators, seven Democrat, seven Republican, brokered a deal of compromise to get the wheels of legislature moving again. Neither of the party leaders, Bill Frist or Harry Reid, were very pleased with the outcome. As with all compromises a party has to lose something in order to forge ahead. Both left that day cursing the “moderates” that had thrust this upon them. Progress had prevailed when both were looking for a showdown.
The first judicial nominee went through without problems then, instead of moving to the next judge in line, they switched direction to the UN nomination, John Bolton. Now the entire deal has proven to be for naught. Again, the Democratic Party threatens to filibuster in previously unheard of arenas. Again, the Republican Party threatens to enact the nuclear option against this sort of filibuster. Again, those that want congress to actually do something for a change shake their head in bewilderment.
Is this two party system so inclined to fight against each other that they will obstruct all progress in order to gain an advantage on the other party? Where does government stop and party begin? Is there any way to quell this tide of party fighting? Should we?
>> Read more
Said Jeremy Bol @ 3:49 pm Comments (4) | Permalink
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS OUR BRAVE FALLEN. Your ultimate sacrifice for our freedom will never be forgotten.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS THEIR FAMILIES. Your sorrow is a badge of honor that our nation will never forget.
Tomorrow is officially Memorial Day, but there’s lots to celebrate and honor this whole weekend long. I’ve already seen far too many moving Memorial Day pages in the b’sphere and on the web this weekend to list them all. I do, however, want to give special mention to this post. It approaches this year’s commemorative in a slightly different way. Bergbikr at once praises visually the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and also shares from personal experience about one of the unsung heroes on the home front of that most tremulous of times. This was truly our greatest generation.
Please visit the post, which gives nod to a fellow who was just a regular guy doing his part, as were so many others during that uncommon time. This is not to diminish the sacrifice for those fallen heroes, but to elevate all honorable Americans who have worked in service of our country, in ways great and small, to further the cause of Liberty and to defend Freedom.
Said The MaryHunter @ 10:52 am Comments (2) | Permalink
There are few things I enjoy more than a good argument. One, however, is ripping shallowly thought out responses to my posts.
Here are a couple comments left @ Sticks and Stones on my last post titled ‘The Neo-Lib’ found here and here.
And, of course, my replies.
Wow, sounds like you got that crap straight from Limbaugh.
Don’t think, just spew.
Daedalus (@ http://www.washingtonrox.blogspot.com/)
and,
I’d comment here that there are many sorts of Democrats as there are Republicans, but obviously you are one of the people who sees your truth as the only truth, so why bother?
It’s a weird version of democracy you believe in–where everyone has a right to their opinions(sic), as long as it matches yours!
Library Lady (@ http://www.libraryladymom.blog-city.com/)
C’mon guys, how ’bout an argument against any of the points? I am well aware of the mental derangement of your party that only allows you to deal in emotional retort, but for one friggin’ minute just argue the point! Is it not true that most that call themselves Democrats have no idea what their party now represents? Go ask your parents what a ‘Democrat’ is. See if it in any way parallels the Dean/Moore/Springer party it is today.
It seems the Left has gotten so used to attacking the messenger that they simply ignore the message altogether…or maybe it is something else completely.
Maybe you have become so ‘invested’ in your political side of the fence that you can not now even admit when those on your side spout such inanities. Kind of sounds like another group making the news as of late. I won’t here say that group is Muslims…that would be intolerant. Whoops, too late.
Ah, but I will not fall into the same trap you so obviously are ensnared in yourselves .
Daedalus said, ’sounds like you got that crap straight from Limbaugh’. I do listen to Mr. Limbaugh on occasion. That is obviously an insult in his estimation, it is not in mine. I also will tune into Air America and listen in awe to the great philosopher/culturist Jerry Springer. Who in your estimation, Mr. Daedalus, holds more credibility and honor? Answer at your own peril.
Library Lady writes, ‘I’d comment here that there are many sorts of Democrats as there are Republicans’. So true. But where in the post did it say there were not? In fact, where was the word ‘Republican’ at all? Your investment slip is showing.
And she writes, ‘but obviously you are one of the people who sees your truth as the only truth, so why bother?’ How is that ‘obvious’? None of the points on the post were my ‘truths’. Far from it. Please, if you would like to argue the validity of any of them, feel free. But they are not mine. Maybe what frightens you most is they just may be yours. Or not yours at all, but now you are either stuck with them or will actually have to take the time and pain of introspection. My truths…no, but are they yours?
And lastly, ‘It’s a weird version of democracy you believe in–where everyone has a right to their opinons(sic), as long as it matches yours!’ Again, how does this point have anything to do with the post? Here’s how, it doesn’t. Do I want people to believe as I do? Sure. Or I wouldn’t have an opinion, and definitely not a blog. But Ms. Library deep down I bet you’re pretty much the same. I bet you believe your ideas and thoughts on issues are the right ones. That your world view is one that would be to the betterment of the planet and mankind. Here we are no different. But I draw the line at ‘as long as it matches yours!’. Which party attacks those who question gay marriage as haters? Attacks the teaching of theories other than evolution in schools? Maligns pro-lifers as zealots, red staters as bible thumping morons, minority Bush appointees as ‘Uncle Toms’?
And I will take offense to your ‘weird version of democracy’ dig. How is asking Dems to get informed a ‘weird version of democracy’? Or is truth a danger to democracy? Better yet, is truth a danger to the Democratic Party?
Crossposted in part @ Sticks and Stones
Said Glen @ 7:42 am Comments (3) | Permalink
And what makes Newsweek’s Koran report even worse is the fact that British police captured an al Qaeda training manual several years ago that instructs detainees to make false charges against their captors. That means Newsweek published a story based on unsubstantiated charges made by America’s enemies who have been told to make false accusations if captured. So is Newsweek following Al Qaeda’s training manual, too?
While a Japanese edition of Newsweek dated Feb. 2 published a cover story featuring an American flag in a trash can under the headline, “The day America died,” and the international edition featured a photo of President Bush with the headline, “America Leads … But Is Anyone Following?,” the cover story in the foreign editions, titled, “Dream on, America,” about what Newsweek characterized as “the world’s rejection of the American way of life,” did not run in the U.S. edition of the magazine.
Click on the picture above for the instructions of how to cancel a subscription to Newsweek if you’re so inclined.
Japanese cover with headlines translated to English. (Image: RickAdams.org.)
“It’s one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a ‘dead,’ ‘rotting’ country overseas,” writes Gaijinbiker at the Riding Sun. “But it’s quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers. If Newsweek really think America is dead, and our flag belongs in the trash, why won’t it tell us?”
Footnote: Not to be outdone, the loyal lefty soldiers of DEZINFORMATSIA are writing on different forums that Newsweek doesn’t even publish a Japanese edition and the bloggers are making the whole thing up about that American Flag in the trashcan cover. Oh really? Here’s a link to the actual web site of the Japanese edition Newsweek doesn’t publish. PUHLEEZE.
Cross posted at Patriots for Bush and Cao’s Blog
Said Cao @ 6:23 am Comments (7) | Permalink
We’re slouching toward Memorial Day here at the House and yardwork has occupied most of my weekend. Sue is a radical green - gardner that is. By radical, I mean she’s the Ward Churchill of cucumbers, the Nancy Pelosi of Tomatos, and the Barbara Boxer of radishes.
Here’s me yesterday:
ME: Can’t we just like, you know, buy the frickin’ food at the grocery store? What’s the point of all this work? My back hurts like hell, I’ve got blisters on my hands from the damn shovel, and I think I feel my heart palpitating.
SUE: Just think how delicious it will taste!
ME: I’m thinking of the hospital bill if I get a heart attack!
SUE: (Laughs) I love you!
What man can resist the cold, unemotional logic of a woman?
Said Rick Moran @ 5:37 am Comments (2) | Permalink
John McCrarey of Long Time Gone stepped down last week. I guess he has too much on his plate. His blog entries have been very mysterious. I’m praying for him, whatever happens. God bless him and his family.
We would like to extend a hearty and healthy welcome to Gribbit of Gribbit’s word, one of the leaders of Stop the ACLU, and Dan of Schadenfreude, who brought to my attention this piece; incredibly well-researched The Case For WMD and much of what has been found and the evidence that has mounted to date. Very impressive work, Dan.
I won an award this week! But Rick objected, because he thought he should have won it. I actually think that although they didn’t spell it out, they didn’t mean the banner at the top of the blog, they meant the banners in rotation at Blog Explosion. Actually I have many banners in rotation at a lot of blog surfers so I can understand how they’re annoyed by it. I don’t see my ads very much; they must have it pegged so you don’t have your banners wasted on yourself when you’re surfing.
But since I can’t type that much, I don’t have a lot more to add than those two things.
Oh and TMH got his first troll!
I just have to thank everyone who’s been helping out at my place this past week. I know it may seem tiresome but I’m still in the same boat.
That’s it for the kickoff for this week’s AAB!
Said Cao @ 3:56 am Comments (0) | Permalink
One thing that I have noticed is that many of my liberal friends always go back to days of yesteryear to bring to light the many “successes” of the Democratic party. Since the majority of these freeze frames in history were before my time, and since I am a product of the public school system, I have no choice but to journey through the anals of American history and try to weed out propaganda from fact. First up in the three part series is the man that has been credited with saving the US from The Great Depression, Mr. FDR himself.
First off, you must understand how FDR is looked at today by the MSM and our public school teachers. PBS describes some of his efforts as such:
“Together with his “brain trust,” a group of university scholars and liberal theorists, Roosevelt sought the best course of action for the struggling nation. A desperate Congress gave him carte blanche and rubber-stamped his proposals in order to expedite the reforms. During the first 100 days of his presidency, a never-ending stream of bills was passed, to relieve poverty, reduce unemployment, and speed economic recovery. “
In the eyes of the left the man could do no wrong, but wait just a second what were the actual results of these efforts?
Poverty:
First off, when a nation is in poverty the number one thing that it needs is food and clothing right? Not to say that it is up to the federal government to provide this but The Depression was a time of crsis. Most people were down on their luck, and shortly after the emergence of the American Agriculture Administration (AAA), their studies found that the country was not producing enough food to supply the minimum diet needed to sustain life to it’s citizens. So FDR in his infinite wisdom fixed this right? Not really…in fact he proposed to pay farmers to cut back on their supply or to produce nothing at all. The idea was:
“to balance supply and demand for farm commodities so that prices would support a decent purchasing power for farmers. This concept, outlined in the AAA, was known as “parity.”"
So once this was administered there was already a stock hold that was going to put a delay in the economic swing, so what does FDR do with this overage of crops? Why what else, he ordered six million pigs and ten million acres of cotton destroyed, what a guy. Sorry American people but FDR had to look busy. As Thomas Woods puts it:
“FDR’s agricultural policies were in a class of genius all their own. Convinced that falling prices were hindering economic recovery, FDR decided that prices were now to be raised by any means necessary. Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace, as thoroughgoing a Soviet dupe as this country has ever seen, described the wholesale destruction of crops and livestock in which he and FDR engaged in order to boost farm prices as “a cleaning up of the wreckage from the old days of unbalanced production” (as Tindall and Shi quote him, approvingly).”
Llike a precursor to the platform of the years to come, President Roosevelt believed that raising prices and taxes were the best means of piecing together a failing economy despite the fact that Americans could not even afford groceries with the prices being the way that they were.
Reducing Unemployment:
Franklin Roosevelt must not have taken a basic economics class in school, because anyone should be able to link employment to a company’s ability to employ. His agricultural overhaul was an example that he believed that forcing companies to raise their prices was the best way to get money flowing into the economy, not taking into consideration that less people could afford to spend money, hence less revenue, and ultimately more employers not being able to afford as many employees. The labor laws of The New Deal as well as the new financial burden that employers were faced with from Socail Security only added to the unemployment problem by eliminating 1.2 million people from the workforce, this according to economists Richard Vedder and Lowell Galloway. Also those people who were fortunate enough to still have jobs were hesitant in spending their money since there was no relief in sight, and Roosevelt did not appear to be making things better. Yet another blow to employment was FDR being in bed with the unions via the National Labor Relations Act, the fact is that the unions want only certain people in the unions promising higher wages in return for union dues. Once again, less money in the pocket of the worker while excluding those who refuse to play ball.
“Real gross domestic product per adult, which was 39 percent below trend at the trough of the Depression in 1933, remained 27 percent below trend in 1939,” the authors write. And “Similarly, private hours worked were 27 percent below trend in1933 and remained 21 percent below trend in 1939.” -August 2004 Journal of Political Economy
Speedy Economic Recovery:
FDR like many Democrats today just never got it. You do not boost your economy overnight. Nor does an economy prosper as a capitalist economy while you are raising taxes on your workers, strengthening unions, and creating financial burdens on employers. We the American people are what determines our economy, the more money we have in our pockets the more money we are likely to spend. Even though your high school history teacher told you that Roosevelt’s New Deal ended The Great Depression in reality he prolonged it, because in essence instead of relieving buisnesses and employees of their hardships he created more.
In short, it was capitalism that finally ended the Great Depression, not FDR’s hair-brained cartel, wage-increasing, unionizing, and welfare state expanding policies. -Thomas DiLorenzo
In closing I leave you with the definition of socialism to ponder.
Socialism:
1.Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
2.The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.
Well that’s it for part one, tune in next week for part two and LBJ.
Cross Posted at The Lesser of Two Evils
Said Morg173 @ 5:25 pm Comments (4) | Permalink
I’m sure it will be surprising to many, but I have a few friends and unfortunately even a family member or two, who would self-describe themselves as Democrats. Reread that last sentence and emphasize ‘self-describe themselves as Democrats’. I add this because I believe most have no idea what the term Democrat actually implies in modern day America. What the essence of that creature is, what it believes, what it fights for. So I have taken the burden, yea the grave responsibility, upon my broad and ample shoulders to open your and their eyes to the reality of what the term ‘Democrat’ in 21st century America truly signifies. Enjoy.
-You must fight harder to protect the lives of child rapists, multiple murderers, channel catfish, and chickens than the lives of innocent human babies and helpless adults.
-You must actually root for American losses in combat and reputation throughout the globe.
-You must hold a blind eye to the negative, life impacting effects of the welfare state. These non-existent effects include such things as actually hurting those it originally had attempted to help, out of wedlock births and fatherless children, teen pregnancy, immigration, generational unemployment, lack of motivation, and the loss of real world work experience.
-You must walk lock step with the economy busting theory of redistribution of wealth while all the while denying you are a socialist.
-You must dread the unquestioned looming Christian theocracy all the while embracing the life affirming prospect of an Islamic theocracy.
-You must nostalgically long for a more European America. Ignoring, of course, the sagging economies and unemployment, falling standards of living , declining productivity, anti-Semitism, and spiritual malaise.
-You must unearth trifling insults to Women’s Rights here at home while ignoring female genital mutilation, honor killings, sex slave trade, and women’s lack of basic freedoms elsewhere.
-You must hate Bush. Find no merit in any single one of his programs. Believe every appointment he has made, whether judge, department secretary, or diplomat, is an idiot and incapable of doing his/her job. You must believe every move he makes is to enrich ‘his oil buddies’ or ‘friends on Wall Street’. You must believe he is not only a complete bumbling fool, but also a Machiavellian evil genius…Oh yeah, while at the very same time being a pawn of the malevolent super villain Karl Rove.
-You must sincerely believe the government can and will spend your money more effectively than you yourself ever could. Ignoring such things as Boston’s Big Dig, Chicago’s Millennium Park Cloud Gate Sculpture, falling student test scores, the Amtrak money pit, and government redundancy to name just a few.
-You believe in freedom of speech so long as that speech does not include Fox News, on campus Right wing ideals, anti-Darwinism, prayer, the hint of victimization of gays/women/minorities/Muslims/etc., talk radio, pro-American history in the classroom, or any possible differences between the sexes.
-You must have an ambiguous feeling toward Democracy. Denying it at times (see here and here) and screaming about it’s demise at others.
-You must condone anti-social behavior under the pretense of tolerance while still wondering at the loss and utter lack of social discourse.
-You must believe that the best way to secure the future and safety of your children and/or grandchildren is to cede our country’s autonomy and military power to the anti-American whims of the U.N.
-You must back unions on any issue at any cost even if this costs you money, insults your common sense, or costs your children a good education.
-You must believe that we Americans are the cause of 9/11, not jihadist Muslim fundamentalists.
-You must believe that most all heterosexual sex is rape.
-You must believe every person is a victim. The trick is in uncovering one’s victimhood and finding a way to force others to pay for it.
-You must wear your compassion like a medal and be willing to demand the government institute your humane caring on others through threat of fine or jail.
If you see yourself in any of these examples, more power to you. Here is Howard Dean’s web site. Join up. But if you are like many ‘Democrats’, and really had no idea your party now stands for these inane ideas and stances, do something about it. Get informed. Get angry. And for God’s sakes take back your damned party.
Posted for Cracker by GBlagg
Crossposted @ Sticks and Stones
Said Glen @ 11:09 am Comments (1) | Permalink
