We knew it was going to happen. Well, I did anyway. When TARP was introduced and passed and money started rolling out to companies like AIG, GM, and CitiBank I knew there were gonna be consequences. The CEO’s of these companies begged congress for this money, they NEEDED it to keep their failing businesses afloat. So congress obliged and now there are MORE strings attached. Um…DUH!!
Obama’s “pay czar”, Kenneth Feinberg, is capping bonuses at $500,000 for the top 25 employees at AIG, GM, GMAC and CitiBank. And boy are people up in arms!! “Ohhhhh the humanity!!!!!!!” Boo-freaking-hoo, I say. I understand that paying your best employees obscene bonuses is the best way to keep them around and hire more talent. But lets be real for a minute, if your top employees were doing their freaking jobs you wouldn’t have needed a multibillion dollar bailout from the government.
The essence of the caps go against every fiber of my being, but if you’re going to lay in bed with the devil you better be prepared to face the consequences. The government wants more of the bonuses to be tied into stock and other long term money incentives. Fine with me. Tie their bonuses to the actual performance of the company and make them EARN it. Most of these executives spent years and years in school, worked their way up from the bottom of the ladder and finally ended up in a job where they’re making millions of dollars every year for keeping a company sub-par?? C’mon!! This isn’t a freaking union, there’s no equal pay in the corporate exec world. You make what you earn. If your company is failing to the point that you NEED a government intervention then you should be lucky to even have a job, let alone a freaking BONUS.
So anyone who is even remotely upset about the bonus capping, shut it, they earned it. All of it.
I’ve been hearing of this “event” for days, weeks even. And every time I do, I roll my eyes. What is the purpose of this forum? According to Obama its a way to take a proactive approach to creating more jobs in our country. And that’s all well and good, because lets face it, as a fellow “funemployed” American, I’d like to increase my chances to landing a job. Unfortunately those who are attending are, at best, possibly capable of creating jobs, but what they lack in ability to create jobs, they more than make up for in their ability to donate money to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. That kind of left sitting bias is a bit concerning when you figure unemployed Americans are not looking for a political party leader to talk about jobs, they want him to do something or move out of the way so someone else can.
According to FoxNews:
Several attendees are labor leaders whose political action committees contributed impressive amounts to Obama’s war chest, including one group that gave nearly $29.5 million.
Anna Burger of Change to Win, who is invited to attend the forum, is secretary treasurer of Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education, or SEIU COPE, a political action committee that gave $29,442,016 to Obama between February 2008 and September 2009. Burger gave Obama $750 in personal contributions.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten will also be at the summit. The AFT, along with the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education, gave Obama $1,997,375 in October 2008. And the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, which donated $673,309 to Obama from February to October 2008, will also be represented at the forum.
So, Obama is going to be gaining advice from those who spent a lot of money to put him in office. Fantastic. That’s almost like me dangling a sandwich in front of a starving man and telling him that he’ll get it if he tells me I’m pretty. I’m going to get what I want, and so is he. Everyone is happy, and nothing is produced as a result.
Obama said he’s willing to take into account any and all suggestions from anyone and everyone. He’s not going to cast aside ideas at this critical stage. He WANTS to create jobs. (All paraphrased because I was writing this as he was speaking at said forum.) Obama said he doesn’t want to take a “wait and see” approach to job creation. Really? Well, he NEEDED $800 billion in stimulus money to create jobs and prevent unemployment from “maxing out” at 8%. Then we heard, “well…all the stimulus money hasn’t really taken effect yet, lets wait and see what happens.” Then what do you know?? 10.2% unemployment. Suddenly its urgent?!?! (Or perhaps he needed another excuse to hang out with his friends, you know, away from the golf course)
And by “act” I assure you Obama means that he’s going to veto the Health Care Reform bill and cut taxes across the board, and especially for businesses. He’s going to include more free market ideas into his plans and create an environment for entrepreneurs to start businesses and business owners to grow and expand and create jobs. Are you laughing yet? Yeah…me too.
Reality is, this “forum” is doing nothing right now but make it look like Obama’s doing something and making sure his friends are happy. I hope for America’s sake that SOMETHING comes out of this summit/forum. I really do. Unfortunately, I also fear that if anything does happen, its not going to be good for the country or job creation.
This story from the Wall Street Journal is near and dear to my heart, not only figuratively but quite literally. The news broke yesterday that a government task force has announced new federal guidelines for breast cancer screening. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force decided to not continue with their recommendation for yearly mammograms for women 40 and older. They threw those guidelines right out the window. What did they do? Well make sure your jaw won’t hit a sharp object when it drops and keep reading.
Instead of recommending that more women get yearly mammograms, they want less. The new guidelines say that ONLY women age 50 or older and younger than 75 without special risk factors need to get yearly mammograms. Apparently your grandma isn’t worth screening, she’s going to be dead soon anyway, why prolong it? If you’re head isn’t spinning yet, just wait.
Their reasoning behind it? Oh this is a classic case of cost/benefit analysis but only if you live in Bizarro World.
The task force concedes that the benefits of early detection are the same for all women. But according to its review, because there are fewer cases of breast cancer in younger women, it takes 1,904 screenings of women in their 40s to save one life and only 1,339 screenings to do the same among women in their 50s. It therefore concludes that the tests for the first group aren’t valuable, while also noting that screening younger women results in more false positives that lead to unnecessary (but only in retrospect) follow-up tests or biopsies.
WHAT?? ONE LIFE? Well guess what, ONE LIFE could be my mother or your sister, or wife or daughter. Two years ago, my mother, who at the time was 47, had her yearly mammogram. The test results came back and the oncologist said, “There’s a cell cluster, it could be cancer, but we need to do a biopsy to be sure.” The lump was too small for my mom to detect on her own and the only way it would have been spotted was during a mammogram. My mother was terrified! When the test results came back, my dad and I went with her to hear what the doctor had to say. Thankfully, it wasn’t cancer, but it was a cluster of cells that often times indicate that a person has a higher likelihood to developing breast cancer (DCIS). They had removed all the cells in the biopsy and then gave my mother a prescription for tamoxifen, a drug which cuts the risk of breast cancer in half for high risk patients. I understand that now my mother falls into the “at-risk” group. But she didn’t before that day.
Well, what about Grandma? Well, listen, according to this super awesome panel of non-experts in the area of breast cancer notes that the benefits of screening:
“occur only several years after the actual screening test, whereas the percentage of women who survive long enough to benefit decreases with age.” It adds that “women of this age are at much greater risk for dying of other conditions that would not be affected by breast cancer screening.”
Um. Let me compose myself. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? They actually say that since granny lived long enough without breast cancer, that they’re going to worry about other conditions. Who gets to pick and choose? My grandma is a very vivacious 73, and you mean to tell me that in two years she’s not worth the yearly screening? That giving her a yearly mammogram just skews the cost/benefit analysis so far off that frankly, her life isn’t worth it? A mother of 8, grandmother of 25 and great-grandmother of 5, isn’t worth the cost of yearly screening. Get used to it folks. This is just the beginning.
Fact of the matter is this, the government is already over stepping their role and now they’re taking even more liberty to tell us, “Meh…you’re just not worth the money, sorry, here’s some pain killers. Good luck.” I know its extreme, but its just a sign of things to come. And if you think THIS is scary, you just wait to see what happens if they pass that preposterous health care bill. How much is your life worth? Well according to the government, its roughly $125, the cost of yearly screening.
In case you missed it, which you probably have since there are bigger things happening in the news, the Obama Administration is cracking down on immigration. The news broke last week that a maintenance company in Minneapolis, ABM, had fired 1,200 illegal workers after the feds started to audit their company. The Administration is now going after more businesses across the country who hire illegal workers and laying the law down. I’m sure you’re thinking, “FINALLY! They’re doing something about all the illegal workers in this country.” But you’d be wrong.
Those 1,200 illegal workers that were fired from that Minnesota company weren’t taken into custody, they weren’t deported, they were allowed to leave and return to their homes, IN MINNESOTA!! The company from which they were fired is still under investigation and will more than likely be slapped with a fine or some sort of penalty.
If you remember the Swift meatpacking plant raid last year, you’ll recall that agents rushed in, all the illegal workers at that company were rounded up and put on buses and within a few weeks, were out of the country and back in Mexico. With the firing of the 1,200 illegal immigrants from ABM last week, the rules are different. The investigation started in June of this year, employees without proper documentation were give 30 days to get their paperwork in order. Then the union was given a 3 month extension, which ended in October. About 10 of the employees that would be fired actually qualify for a “U-Visa”, visas given to victims of criminal activity, everyone else is still undocumented and have no way to stay in the country legally.
There is still no word on what is happening to the 1,200 illegal immigrants who have been fired. As far as I can tell, they’re still in the country, and still in Minnesota, still in their homes and now, unemployed. That’s only 1,200 people, from one company, in one city, in one state. There are 600 other businesses being audited by immigration agents across the country. What is the Obama Administration’s plan for all the others? If they’re not going to be deported, they’re going to find work at another place that’s willing to hire undocumented workers. I honestly can say, I liked the tactics used at the Swift Meatpacking plant better, raid, gather, deport, done. Unfortunately, common sense and the Obama Administration don’t get along.
Last Thursday, the country watched in shock as news broke of a shooting at Fort Hood, an Army base in Texas. The nation crowded around their TVs, radios, and computers as the number of dead and injured climbed, and speculation began about who or what was behind it. Was this an act of international terrorism or an isolated incident? Was there one gunman involved or three or more, as some witnesses were insisting? While there were so many questions, there was one thing I’m pretty sure most everyone could agree on: our soldiers are some of the greatest people in this country and we’ll do whatever it takes to see to it that they are taken care of.
Words of sympathy, bulletins about donating blood, and prayers were offered almost immediately. Former President Bush issued a statement and every Congressman or Senator who appeared on the news that afternoon, Republican or Democrat, offered their condolences. President Obama stepped up to the microphone to speak and the country watched, ready for him to unite us with his words, to comfort us, to reassure us, and vow to find out who messed with our precious military and not let them get away with it under any circumstance. Instead, we got a “shout-out.”
Instead of addressing the situation at hand and essentially being a team player, the President took the opportunity to do what he does best, make it all about him. He started by thanking a round of people for something that had little or nothing to do with Fort Hood. You’d think he’d just won a Grammy (though when you’re given frivolous Nobel Peace prizes, I guess it’s hard not to develop that mentality). And then he gave a “shout-out” to some guy, who as best I can tell, had little or nothing to do with the tragedy at Fort Hood and all to do with health care for Native Americans.
After making his “shout-out,” he adjusted his tone from his habitual cocky to a nearly suitable level of somber and read a prepared statement about how sorry he was and so on and so forth. It was like watching a rough rehearsal of a television show on which a shooting would happen at the nation’s largest Army base and the actor who plays the President would be required to speak. The European press even took notice. Toby Harnden of the Telegraph described it best,
When the television networks cut to the President, viewers listened to him spend more than two surreal minutes talking to a gathering of Native Americans about their ‘extraordinary’ and ‘extremely productive’ conference, pausing to give a cheery ’shout out’ to a man named Dr Joe Medicine Crow. Only then did he briefly and mechanically address what had happened in Texas. On Friday, when most of the basic facts were available, Mr Obama tried again. It was scarcely any better. He began by offering ‘an update on the tragedy that took place’ – as if it was an earthquake and not a terrorist attack from an enemy within – and ended with a promise for more ‘updates in the coming days and weeks.’ Completely missing was the eloquence that Mr Obama employs when talking about himself. Absent too was any sense that the President empathised with the families and comrades of those murdered.
Meanwhile, President Bush issued a statement almost immediately after the news broke,
“I was saddened to learn of the tragic incident at Fort Hood. Laura and I are keeping the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”
But he took his sympathy a step further and did something no one expected of him. He made a quiet weekend visit to Fort Hood to visit the wounded soldiers and their families. Yes, while President Obama’s weekend saw him going for some R&R at Camp David, former President Bush went beyond his call of duty and offered some comfort to those who are suffering. I suppose you could argue the former President lives just about half an hour from Fort Hood while the current President resides all the way up in the White House, but if I recall, distance wasn’t a problem when Obama needed to secure the Olympics for his old pals in Chicago.
Another day, another sign that Obama’s self-interest trumps all. Thinking back to previous years, when President Bush showed so much emotion as he did everything from vowing to hunt down whomever caused the events of September 11, 2001, to the time he broke down as he presented the Medal of Honor to Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor, who was killed in Iraq, I wonder if there is ever a day when President Obama will be able to make me feel as safe or as comforted or as patriotic as President Bush did? Or will he continue his journey to becoming one of the most heartless Presidents this country has ever seen? Though I don’t agree with him on much of anything, even former President Clinton managed to shed a tear after the bombing of a United States Embassy in Kenya, in 1998. As Pat at And So It Goes In Shreveport says,
“…Obama would do well to show the American people that he cares about them, whether he does or not.”
I remember talking to a friend, shortly before the 2008 presidential election. She shockingly told me she planned to vote for Barack Obama. “Why?” I asked. I’ve known this person for years and she has always been pretty conservative on a majority of issues; why on earth could she possibly want to vote for the man who would become the most radical, left-wing president this country has ever seen?
Her response? “Health care. I’m tired of paying so much for my kids’ health insurance. No one seems to understand that we have a right to health care and it’s being taken away from us.” I wasn’t sure whether I wanted laugh in her face or re-read the Declaration of Independence and make sure I hadn’t missed the part that promised free medication and surgery for all, but I digress.
The truth of the matter is, health care is not a right. And it’s as simple as going back to the Declaration of Independence and reading the line about our right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The pursuit of happiness. What does that mean? It means that every individual who is an American citizen, was created equal and has the right to pursue what will make their life better, whether it be education, health care, or a trip to the mall to buy a new purse.
True, many modern politicians want to pervert that right by providing more for their constituents, whether it be in the form of health care or some other type of handout. Some do it for their own pockets, some do it to stay in power and some do it because they are simply afraid to deny health care to a sick person, because on the surface, that makes them look pretty despicable. But the fact of the matter is, that by forcing a government-run health care plan on people, the government is hindering our rights, instead of providing them.
In order for us to pursue our own happiness (so long as we’re not taking away the rights, life and liberties of others), no option in any circumstance should be made off-limits. If government is controlling our health care system, there is suddenly a huge list of do’s and don’t’s. Doctors are limited, patients are limited and our opportunity to pursue much of anything is taken away. Congress is not made up of health care and business experts, so why in the world would we ever give them the power to control our medical future? In the most sensitive time of life or death for you and your family, do you really want a group of mostly corrupt, greedy public officials whose, for the most part, medical expertise doesn’t go beyond dissecting a frog in their high school biology class, making your decisions for you?
And look at the costs of what Congress has proposed. Let’s face it, the government isn’t sitting around with dollar bills hanging out of their wallets, looking for something to spend it on. That money is going to come from your hard-earned paycheck, putting even more restrictions on your life.
Many will say that this is an over-simplified argument. Simple as it may be, it trumps every other single argument anyone tries to make. Our country was built on a few simple rules and this entire health care debate that has been going on, not just this year, but for dozens of years before, focuses on taking that away. We didn’t become the best, strongest, richest and most powerful nation by limiting ourselves, why should we start now?
There are ways to use our Founding Father-given rights, rights “endowed by [our] Creator,” to build the best damn health care system in the world, but the first thing we have to do is take government out of it and let the free markets take over. I’ve never been a big Ron Paul fan, but I think he says it better than any other politician I’ve seen in recent months and not shockingly, he is an actual medical doctor:
“I want everybody to have maximum care at the best price and that’s why I want the government out of it completely. There is no authority for the government to be in medicine…if you want good health are at the best rate, at the cheapest price possible, you have to have a market phenomenon. [Democrats] base it on a false assumption of understanding of human rights and personal liberty. They say you have a right to it. Well, I dont have a right to medical care, I dont have a right to a job, I don’t have a right to an automobile, I dont have a right to a house. I have a right to my life and my liberty and to keep the fruits of my labor. That’s where you get production and that’s where you have the best distribution and the wealthiest situation in the world: the market.”
Personally, I don’t exactly know how to improve our health care system. I’ve talked to my doctor, I’ve talked to friends and relatives who are doctors and I have some general ideas. I’m not a health care expert and I’m not a business expert. But I am an American citizen who believes in the principle on which this country was founded. I believe in the free market and I believe in taking big government out of our lives and our hospitals, and letting competition prevail as it has for decades.
It seems like every day there’s a new H1N1 story in news. Either there are shortages, mishaps, people standing in lines for hours, doctors turning people away from their clinics, people having bad reactions to the vaccine, etc. Now we get news that amongst all the tomfoolery, there’s going to be a hefty batch of vaccines headed to our favorite little bunch of misfits at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are so many problems with this vaccine its difficult to even know where to begin. But one thing is clear, its the governments first duty to protect its citizens, right?!?
First of all, we’re sending a bunch of vaccines to the detainees in Cuba. Ok, I get it, we need to prevent prisoners from getting sick and dying, because there’s some clause in the Geneva Convention about it, fantastic! But lets be realistic here, there isn’t enough vaccines to give to every American, but we’re going to take from what we have and give it to non-American alleged terrorists? Um…Hey Obama, that’s not how its supposed to work! But what do I know, I’m just a regular American, with no criminal history, wait…even the criminals in our country aren’t getting the vaccine! They’re exposed to the same risk as the Gitmo crew, confined quarters, limited access to proper health care, etc. So when I read articles like the one from the AMA, about how difficult things are becoming for doctors, I probably shouldn’t think anything of it because hey, at least those guys down in Cuba are getting properly vaccinated. To be fair, a majority of the doses are going to military personnel first (mandatory vaccines), then the prisoners will be briefed on the vaccine and can choose to get it or not.
Well sure, that’s all well and good, but there are stories breaking every day about mishaps with the vaccine in the States. Just today, I saw a story about nurses being so overwhelmed that they’re accidentally giving the wrong students the H1N1 vaccine. As many as 3 students have received the vaccine without parental permission. One child, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, had a terrible reaction to the vaccine which landed the 6 year old with epilepsy in the hospital. Her teacher sent the wrong student down to the nurse and the nurse never asked the girl’s name to verify she was injecting the right person. Nikiyah’s mother said she didn’t send in the permission slip because she was waiting to hear back from her family doctor to make sure the vaccine would not interfere with her daughters epilepsy medication. The terrible mistake was made even more fishy when the nurse who mistakenly injected her daughter requested that her mother sign a consent form, after her daughter had received the injection.
So, not only are we having a shortage of the vaccine because of prisoners at Gitmo, mistakes in administering them, but we have to take into account that its also the regular flu season. The companies that are producing the vaccine for seasonal flu, are the same ones producing the H1N1 vaccine and doing both at the same time are producing less of each product. The U.S. government has ordered 250 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine, the week of Oct 14-Oct 21, 5.4 million doses were shipped. Well that’s just fantastic! By the time we get all 250 million doses the flu season will be over. But once again, good work on being prepared! At this rate, an estimated 5 million doses a week, it’ll take roughly 50 weeks for all the doses to be delivered. (That’s obviously not taking into account the amount that we have already received)
The Obama administration has already declared H1N1 a national emergency, yet, it kinda seems like there isn’t much of an emergency at all. At least not by the way they’re reacting to the shortages and the insanity at the clinics. But at least we have it in writing that they declared it a crisis, so when all of this goes down hill, we certainly can’t blame the epidemic on Obama and crew, because lets face it guys, H1N1 started under the Bush Administration, Obama simply inherited this crisis.
Of course we all know about the war raging between conservatives and leftists over health care reform. But recently we’ve been hearing about new battles from within the Democrat Party in congress. Both houses are having some major issues, and if this keeps up, those coveted 60 votes in the senate and 218 in the house may be a bit short. But I wouldn’t bet all my money on that horse…or donkey just yet. Those Democrats are tricky, but apparently a few in congress are willing to stand up and challenge their leaders.
The first problem the senate Democrats have is trying to get their plans right, some are looking for an “opt-out” version of the health care bill, so states won’t have to deal with a public plan. While others are only willing to vote on a bill with a full fledged public option. Senator Burris (D-IL) is one such democrat. He is unwilling to budge on his stance that a public option is the only option. He stated earlier this week that the “opt-out” version falls short of what is truly needed for real health care reform. Stating on CSPAN: “opt-out provision represents a “watered-down public option” and a “weakening position” that will allow insurance companies to get around the tough rules of a nationally run plan.” Burris doesn’t seem to be too big of a threat, yet. Reid hasn’t called him personally and Obama hasn’t invited him to the White House for a stern talking to.
If that wasn’t enough for Senator Harry Reid to deal with, he has to deal with Joe Lieberman (I-CONN). He said that he would support a Republican filibuster of Reid’s health care bill. Lieberman said, “We’re trying to do too much at once. To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.” Lieberman caucuses with the Democrats, but is against any bill that contains a public option, even one that contains an “opt-out” saying that, “it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which the taxpayers will be on the line.” Lieberman has even said he told Reid that he’d vote against cloture. So, good luck with that one Harry!
Then we have the issues in the House. Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) is bumping heads with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get the provisions taken out of the house health care bill that allow money to go toward paying for abortions. He’s said that he wants a vote on the house floor to take the language out, and if he doesn’t get it, he and 39 other representatives will vote “no” on the motion to bring the bill to the floor. Stupak is holding firm in his stance, yet hopes to reach an agreement with Democrat leadership. He said, “”I’m comfortable with where I’m at. This is who I am. It’s reflective of my district. If it costs me my seat, so be it.” I don’t know many Democrats who are so willing to put their seat on the line for the sake of standing up for their beliefs, I have to admit, I’m impressed.
Pelosi has a lot on her plate. Especially given that Nancy Pelosi cannot get a consensus bill out of committee to save her soul. Apparently the issue with that is the liberals want to be the ones to set the fees paid to doctors, hospitals and other providers treating patients with government plans but the moderates want there to be some negotiations to take place with the providers. There are also issues with dealing with the abortion language and insurance for illegal immigrants.
Its going to be tough for the Democrats to overcome their differences before taking on the Republicans in what will be one of the biggest legislative battles this year, or next year, you know, whenever they get this thing done. To be honest with you all, I hope they never get their heads out of their asses when it comes to health care, because nothing good can come of another government entitlement program. NOTHING.
Remember when President Obama said that he will be saving and/or creating 80 billion jobs? Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit, but he did say the $787 Billion stimulus package passed in February would be creating 3.5 million jobs and unemployment would top out at 8%. Oh the good old days! Oh, oh! Remember when Obama said, benefits of the plan would “accelerate greatly throughout the summer and the fall.” Well lets take a look at this, its mid-October and we’re sitting 9.8% unemployment and that number has really been calculated at roughly 16% if you include part-time employees who want to be full-time and the unemployed who have given up looking. And most forecasters are expecting unemployment to rise past 10%. So, where are the jobs?
Well if you’re in the infrastructure business, you’re in luck! If you can make roads and fix bridges, then the government has a (short-term) job for you! But if you happen to work in a major metropolitan area, like Chicago, you’re probably out of a job or you’re looking at severe furloughs. If you’re a teacher in Hawaii, you’re looking at a 4 day work week starting next week. States and county governments all across our country are cutting jobs as quickly as words fall out of President Obama’s mouth. Remember when Obama said that 600,000 jobs were created or saved this summer, but instead over a million were lost? Remember when Joe Biden said, “We miscalculated how bad the economy was”? Oh and we can’t forget that the Democrats in congress are talking about a SECOND stimulus package to, you know, create more jobs.
Of course, anyone who has a taken even a high school level economics class can tell you people are going to keep losing jobs when the government is taxing the hell out of small businesses and the wealthy. Why? Those are the people who are providing jobs for Americans, those are the people with the means to provide a place for employment. When the government starts taking more of their money, they, like everyone else who’s short on money, need to start making some cuts. Well they’re going to start cutting back on trivial things, but eventually they’ll get to the point where the trivial, ie: office supplies, lunch at meetings, etc, isn’t enough to make ends meet, they then start cutting their workforce, either by hours or by people. Either way, the average worker loses. When they lose their job, they lose their health insurance, their homes, their cars, and the only option is for them to go to the government until they can get on their feet again. So natuarally one can see why jobs in the federal sector are on the rise, they need more bureaucrats and the like to manage all the “businesses” the government needs to run in order to provide for the people that they’re putting out of work.
Now if you’re looking for a job, like so many Americans are, don’t worry, Obama is going to be saving or creating 3.5 million jobs. It may take until 2010, but if the ONE has said it, it must be true, right? Not so much. If this Administration doesn’t get on the ball with the creation of REAL jobs, not temporary road construction jobs and seasonal work, there’s going to be a whole workforce out there, a majority of them voted for Obama, with nothing but time on their hands, and what do people do when they have time on their hands? They read and watch television, eventually they’re going to put the pieces together and get angry like the rest of us, and honestly, I hope I see that happening. Instead of trying to push Obamacare through congress, accepting unearned peace prizes, and making 3 speeches a week to raise money for the DNC, perhaps Obama and congress can spend a little more time worrying about the REAL Americans out there that are hurting and looking for work. After all, the American economy is in shambles and the dollar is close to extinct, but apparently that’s not really an issue. The only way to make sure this country stays great is to support the American worker that has made it so. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is making sure we are not great and its becoming quite clear, they do not care about jobs for the American people, just as long as there are a few businesses still open for looting.
You may or may not have noticed that much of the general metro Atlanta area was basically underwater over the last few weeks; don’t worry, I don’t think President Obama noticed either. But during that time, a lot happened in the rest of the world and while I wasn’t busy fighting old ladies for the last pack of bottled water at Publix, I was watching the news, taking notes on the last few weeks’ hot topics and I have a few things I’d like to say about them.
1. We’ll start with the United Nations. Particularly Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. After watching the world’s kooks and dictators take stage – you know, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama, among others – it was refreshing to see a leader take the stand and, well, lead. Not only did Netanyahu speak with the passion of someone who truly cares about his country, he spoke with substance. He denounced Ahmadinejad for denouncing the Holocaust and condemned the United Nations for allowing such a person a platform. He was tough, he was firm and he was proud. He did not apologize for Israel and he did not back down from his message. More importantly, he actually had a message. What’s a country gotta do to get a leader like that? Kind of makes me miss President Bush.
2. It didn’t take long for word of Sarah Palin’s yet-to-be-released book, “Going Rogue” to spread across the internet and become the number one best-seller on popular book-selling websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The book is being ordered in numbers so large that it’s already pushed past popular authors such as Dan Brown, Mitch Albom and a book by the late Ted Kennedy. Oh yeah, and it doesn’t actually come out until mid-November. So why is this important? In my opinion, it only furthers the idea that the former governor and her ideals (small government, conservative values) still have a strong presence in this country. She’s popular with a large segment of the population and almost a year after leaving the national scene, that popularity hasn’t died down at all. Rush Limbaugh recently said that liberals and the media would let us know who they feared, who the true voice of the right is, and I can’t think of a bigger sign than the treatment of Palin. I don’t care what anyone says, name another political figure, republican, democrat or anyone in between, who is still making that kind of impression? Go on, I’m waiting. The truth is Sarah Palin represents what so many Americans believe in and want in a leader and I don’t think she’s going anywhere, anytime soon.
3. This person is probably the most irrelevant on my entire list and I’ve yet to figure out what exactly he’s contributed to our common good, so this shouldn’t take long. Michael Moore has released a “documentary” about how capitalism is not good. Not much to say other than does no one else realize the irony here? The man directed three of the six highest grossing “documentaries” of all time! Where exactly has capitalism failed him?? Why do we let people who are walking balls of hypocrisy shape and mold our ideology?
4.This wasn’t so much political but it immediately screamed “bigger picture.” Director Roman Polanksi, who drugged and raped a thirteen year old girl over thirty years ago and then fled the country, was arrested a few weeks ago, upon entering Switzerland for a film festival. Good, right? This is a black and white issue – no gray area. The man broke the law, took away a little girl’s innocence and he should pay for what he did, right? Not so fast. At least, not if you live in or around Hollywood. Fellow directors, actors, and actresses took to their soap boxes and came up with every reason under the sun as to why Polanski didn’t deserve this. From the old “but it’s been so long” excuse to my favorite, Whoopi Goldberg’s “it wasn’t rape-rape” (what does that even mean)? They were signing petitions and calling into radio shows and letting the world know that Hollywood is so far out of touch with the rest of the country, that they believe being a creative and accomplished person puts you above the law and general civility. Why is it we worship these people again? Why do they get any credibility when it comes to elections or major decisions that affect our families?
5. Now, back to our leader or lack thereof, Barack Obama. With the unemployment rate rising like crazy, a giant health care debate dominating Congress and the Senate, and another crisis or two brewing in the Middle East, you’d think the man would have better things to do than see to it that his good ol’ hometown of Chicago gets the Olympics, right? Wrong. Not long after that whole United Nations ordeal, our President, his wife, and Oprah Winfrey set off for Europe to convince International Olympic Committee that Chicago is not nearly as bad as it seems on the news with all that corruption and crime and stuff, and that allowing the city to host the 2016 Olympics would be a fabulous idea. Fortunately, the IOC had other plans and Brazil was the “lucky” recipient of the Olympic games. Given the President’s lack of interest in promoting United States relations with the rest of the world 99.9% of the time (see: the constant bad-mouthing and apologizing on foreign soil), I really think we need to look into just why, exactly, the President was so intent on helping out the great city of Chicago. It couldn’t have anything to do with him owing any favors to any number of Chicago’s most famous thugs and crooks (aka their politicians), could it? Nah, if I recall correctly, the friends the President keeps aren’t important; at least that’s what the media kept telling us during that goofy 2008 election cycle!
6. Finally, this is just an observation I’ve had, living in what is probably the town that was affected most by the Great Atlanta Floods of ‘09 (or whatever nonsense the local media has been breathlessly calling it). We have, last I heard, over 137 roads and bridges that need to be rebuilt and/or fixed, and in some cases, that’s not going to happen until next year. Admittedly, it’s slightly annoying and wastes a lot of gas to drive way out of my way to get anywhere and I imagine many people feel the same. I assume the hold-up is that there is simply not enough man-power and funds to fix every little back road that got washed away, but there’s something that sticks in the back of my mind. Remember when the POTUS said all that stuff about stimulus money going to fix roads and bridges and give people jobs? Every time I drive by one of those big fancy “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” signs, I remember. Those signs, at least in my town, are placed at intersections and on sides of highways that haven’t seen the slighest bit of work since they were placed there several months ago. So, my question is, where’s all that money? Where are all those workers the money was supposed to create jobs for? Can’t that money be taken away from some of the previously allotted projects and be redisbursed in areas where the flood damage is so bad that people’s cars are sinking into the road? I mean, I’m not a rocket scientist but the President spent so much time talking about damaged roads and bridges back in the day, and how that was the key to fixing unemployment, yet here I sit in a town with over 100 broken roads and bridges and a ridiculously high unemployment rate. Something just doesn’t add up.
