Pain at the pump

Like the weather, everybody talks about it. The daily news makes a point of informing us of the national average price of gasoline and the daily fluctuations in the price of crude oil. When we fill up our cars, we wince at the final receipt, but we do it anyway because we have to get to work (at least those of us who still have jobs). But, like the weather, no one seems to do anything about it.

The other night I went to the gas station to fill up because it was supposed to rain the next day and I didn't want to stand in the rain in the morning filling my car with gasoline. I also wanted to take advantage of a small decrease in the pump price before it went up another 15 cents overnight. So, I pulled up to the pump, fished out my credit card and approached the pump. As I moved to the pump, my eyes went to the previous transaction still displayed on it. The total purchase was $3.00 and the amount of gasoline dispensed was 0.77 gallons. I looked again, because frankly, I thought I had misread the display. Then I realized the painful reality of the situation. I was looking at the widow's mite of gasoline transactions. Someone had put their last dollar into the gas tank and didn't even get a gallon of gas for their trouble.

Had I been there when the transaction happened, I know that I would gladly have filled their tank as I have done this before when panhandled at a gas station....but I wasn't there and I thought sadly of the plight of the person who was there before me. With a highly fuel efficient car, they could likely only have gone 20-25 miles, on a motorcycle, perhaps 45-50 miles, but someone who can only afford to put 0.77 gallons of gas in their car likely drives a beater that is not fuel efficient and may be relegated to a much shorter drive.

Our President has said that people should buy more fuel efficient cars, but if one can only afford to buy gasoline 1 gallon at a time, it is not very likely that they can pony up $40K for an electric car or a hybrid vehicle. Besides, even if they could afford the $40K electric car, I have never seen a charging station anywhere. Personally my commute one way is 27 miles, so even with an electric car I might not be able to get home even if I charged my car fully everyday....not very practical in the very large country in which we live. The reaction of the President to the high price of fuel is to appoint a committee to look into speculation.....Big woo. Let's face it, the President is sabotaging our country at every turn in order to advance his green agenda and is crippling us. The best thing we can do for our country is to work diligently against the re-election of this President and the rest of the progressive incumbents in the House and Senate.

Christmas Wish List to Congress

A tip of the hat to The Water Cooler for this great post!

A Christmas Wish List from the American Taxpayer
All We Want for Christmas is…

Support and respect for our troops in harm’s way
Military tribunals for war criminals
J-O-B-S
Common sense, practical domestic policy
Respectable, consistent foreign policy
Intellectual honesty about the child in the womb of every pregnant woman
Sound environmental policy that doesn’t use fear to force an agenda
Respect for life at all stages from the developing child to the elderly
Respect for and adherence to the U.S. Constitution
Firing of radical Czars—starting with “unsafe” Kevin Jennings
Economic recovery that doesn’t involve government takeover
Health care reform that doesn’t involve fiscal and moral bankruptcy
Protection of our conscientious rights
Transparency, transparency, transparency
A responsible and humble governing body in the U.S.
An end to corruption, bullying & closed door deals
Our employees to uphold their oath of office
Respect for what “We the People” have to say
NEW FACES in certain congressional seats next year


“Government is not reason, it is not eloquent—it is a force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” - George Washington

Are You Stimulated Yet??

Since all politics is local, it is time to ask if you are seeing the effects of the stimulus monies doled out 6 months ago. At the time of the stimulus, several state governors elected NOT to accept some of the stimulus money because of the future financial burden that acceptance would create for the state. As I recall, these people, including Sarah Palin, were roundly ridiculed for their stance. The big strings were poo-pooed by proponents of the stimulus. These were the same proponents of Cash for Clunkers, Single Payer health care, bail outs for car companies and all the other Obama proposals that create greater dependance on the government.

As people are beginning to address the impact of the stiumlus bill, it was interesting to read in The St. Louis Business Journal that Missouri will "miss out" on $133 Million for unemployment. Why??? It is because of those big strings.... and I applaud the actions of the Missouri legislature in having the foresight and also the guts to look into the future and effectively say, "Thanks but no thanks."

In May 2009, a bill was passed by the Missouri legislature that extended unemployment benefits to Missourians who lost their jobs due to family issues such as death, illness, spousal abuse, and also extended the duration of benefits to those in training programs from 26 weeks to 52 weeks, with this extension being covered by monies from the Stimulus Bill. This will not happen, however, as the US Department of Labor has determined that this legislation does not qualify for the state to receive $133 M from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AKA Porkulus Bill).

The big strings that nixed this enhancement to the Missouri unemployment law are that stimulus funded programs like this MUST CONTINE AFTER THE STIMULUS FUNDING EXPIRES IN 2 YEARS. The Missouri legislature realized that once the funding was gone, the expanded unemployment funding would have to be borne by Missouri taxpayers and businesses.
At the risk of not getting the stimulus monies, the legislators put a provision in the legislation that required that these benefits be renewed next year rather than making them permanent. So, POOF...all gone....typical of the non-stimulating "my way or the highway" position of the Obamacracy.

So Missouri is not very stimulating today in spite of the fact that there are many people in the state who would benefit from the good this stimulus money could do. To date, 71,298 Missourians have filed initial unemployment claims and the state unemployment rate is 9.3%.

Play it Again, Sam--Once More With Feeling

Back in October, 2008, before "The One" was ever elected, I published a post that took a position against the TARP Bailout. The TARP failure started the Whack-A-Mole frenzy in throwing money at anything that fails or looks like it is failing. The responsibility for TARP rests with then-President Bush, the Democrat-controlled Congress, and the pusillanimous responses of several Republican dinosaurs, including turncoat Arlen Specter, John McCain and his lapdog Lindsey Graham, and the wussy-sisters Snowe and Collins from the great Northeast. The first salvo of the "Dire-Emergency-Hurry-Up-and-Pass-the-Bill-or-the-World-Will-End" legislation was fired. At that point we were just seeing the tip of the impending iceberg careening toward us and, like the Titanic, there was a great deal of denial that the iceberg was even there.

In that blog post, I hesitantly mentioned the Cloward-Piven Strategy and noted that the climate in the country looked like a prime target for the picking. Now in looking back, I regret that I was not more forceful in calling out our government and not being more willing to look like a whack job in illustrating how we were walking right down the path to socialism. My post was at least 10 days prior to the election but my blog had only been in existence for a couple of months, so I am sure that it was not seen by many people (or maybe no one). Now that my blog is more "mature" I am hoping that more people will see it and perhaps, now that more water has gone under the bridge, it will be clearer to readers that we are in dire straits in this country and every concerned citizen MUST become familiar with the Cloward-Piven Strategy in order to see what has been escalating since November 5, 2008.

The Cloward-Piven Strategy was first put forth in the 1960's and the roots of the strategy have been burrowing for more than 40 years.

First proposed in 1966 and named after sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.

Now the Cloward-Piven vine is rapidly propagating like Kudzu in the south. Wrapping its tentacles and runners everywhere--banks, car companies, mortgages, health care, energy, the census, volunteerism and even our identities--to eventually engulf and destroy everything it touches. In an unprecedented political move, candidate Barack Obama did the unthinkable. He told us EXACTLY what he was going to do and then DID IT. He said that he would involve community organizers in framing his administration, that he would transform the entire country, that we needed a citizen ARMY that is the equivalent of the military, etc. We now have a battalion of Czars who are accountable to no one except the president and who are empowered to oversee all aspects of our lives. These Czars are some of the most left-leaning individuals in our country and they have a clear agenda of destroying capitalism.



No one paid any attention. The lemmings thought that his words were just campaign blather and elected him. Now we must live with buyer's remorse until we can rid ourselves of the cancer that is metastasizing all over our nation.

It is time for EVERY concerned citizen to wake up and smell the coffee before we are covered by political kudzu. The August recess is a prime time for all of us to access our legislators when they return to their districts and must face our wrath. We are being systematically stripped of our freedoms, rights and identity to be "CHANGED" to passive automatons looking to the government for everything. Soon "Give us this day our daily bread" will no longer have a theological perspective.

I. O. U.

At the top of my blog there is a ticker that perpetually updates the national debt and each individual's personal share of that debt. It has been spinning there since just after the election. When I first put it up there, "my" share of the national debt was $198,000. On July 23, as I was posting I noticed that it my share had risen to $202,000. Just two days later, my share is now $203,000. Just 6 months into the Obama administration and without Crap and Tax and Health Care Control---yes, just from the bailouts and Porkulus, my share of the national debt has risen $5000. At that rate of nearly $1000 a month, and looking at the way the administration is rushing to push through every massive spending bill, by the end of the first term (and we can only hope the last) in office, EACH of us could owe an additional $48,000 to the debt. According to census information for 2006, the median family income in the US was $58,407. This would mean that at the end of the first Obama term, the average family would have to work 5 years for each member of the family to pay the debt our country owes. Obama's economic plan is truly generational theft.

This rate of spending is truly unsustainable and those that support this should soon be UNELECTABLE......and the sooner Washington gets that message the better off we will be.

Good Old American Ingenuity!

Last week, I wrote about Don Davis, the president of Centrue Bank in St. Louis who picked up his ball and went home after legislation passed the US House of Representatives limiting the salaries of bank executives whose banks were recipients of TARP monies (either willingly or under duress as the FDIC was encouraging banks, even those like Centrue with strong balance sheets to take TARP money to increase their capital). This afternoon Fox News reports that Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM will be stepping down immediately at the request of the Administration.

A White House official told FOX Business that Wagoner was asked by the Administration to step down as a precondition for the company to continue to get help with its restructuring.

The idea that our government can cherry pick the businesses that survive, the salaries that executives can make, and the conditions under which people can continue in their positions is, frankly, frightening! While the two aforementioned individuals also had something to do with government bailouts, it is not a far stretch to imagine that this kind of meddlesome behavior could extend to companies and people who have not been bailed out. They may simply have rubbed someone the wrong way or said the wrong thing to the wrong person. They may have espoused the wrong philosophy. They may have unknowingly made an enemy who is now exacting a twisted revenge. In the case of Wagoner, it may be that he is on the wrong side of the UAW to whom Obama owes a great debt of gratitude for his election and perhaps Wagoner has seen fit to call BS on the UAW and its monstrous pension, legacy healthcare and wasteful pay for no work clauses in the union contracts.

"This does not surprise me... Rick has seen good and bad times and it seems that a fresh face is needed,” said Mike Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 652 in Lansing, Mich. "There are a lot of smart, capable people inside GM and this will not muck up anything moving forward."

Or could it be that Obama is playing good cop, bad cop with the UAW so that by removing Wagoner they can also justify strong arming the UAW into concessions under the same threats.

A source told FOX Business that the Obama Administration is likely to set a hard deadline for GM and Chrysler to meet their restructuring goals, which include getting bondholders and the United Auto Workers union to agree to major concessions. If they don’t meet those goals by the deadline, the source said, the auto makers would likely be allowed to enter into bankruptcy protection.

So it is with some degree of pride that I read in the St. Louis Business Journal on Friday March 27, 2009, that Don Davis is giving the middle finger salute to the Administration and TARP and has already lined up a couple of partners, $10million dollars in capital, and is looking to buy a bank! He and his partners have joined forces and pooled their own money and are looking for a small bank in which they can take an ownership interest and......BEGIN LENDING!!!

"The time is perfect to buy or merge with a small bank," Davis said. "So many good people can't get capital right now. I have capital. We can raise another $5 million easily, and once you get $15 million, you can get $20 million." He said the money he and his partners have raised can be an alternative to government bailout money for a bank in need of capital.

"The advantage to buying a bank, instead of starting one....is that you can get into the business immediately. The regulators are not in the mood to hand out new bank charters. Davis' plan to buy a small bank is smart because small banks are more likely to have fewer problem loans. Dan Hogan, a banking consultant, said Davis and his partners are doing what good capitalists do----they adapt! "If you change the rules of the game, a capitalist will learn the new rules and win the game--unless you keep changing the rules."

Perhaps Rick Wagoner can do the same and like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, rally entrepreneurial individuals to take Saturn back as its own quality brand in the USA while GM goes bankrupt under its own weight and the weight of the UAW. Capitalism and American ingenuity is still alive in spite of the fact that TARP monies have put Chris Dodd and Barney Frank in charge of your bank and a tax cheat in charge of the IRS.

Where Does It All End???

Thanks to Ed Barnett, Wichita Falls, Texas for this open letter to the IRS that appeared in the February 6, 2009 Letters to the Editor in the Wichita Falls, Texas Times Record News. His point is one felt by all of us and we should get ready for more, thanks to BHO and his robber band.

Dear IRS,

I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost.

I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog licence tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting licence tax, fishing licence tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage
surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle licence registration tax, capitol gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can’t recall but I have run out of space and money.

When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle (sic) and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.

P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Ed Barnett
Wichita Falls

I Expect You to Obey

For several days, I have come home to find calls on my Caller ID from Wash DC (area code 202). Since I am sure that my Senators and Representatives are not calling me to ask my opinion about the Budget, Stimulus plans or the like, I have made a mental note and refreshed the Caller ID. They do not leave a message, so I am sure that if it was something important like Representative Clay asking me what I think about his Pro-Life voting record or Senator McCaskill wanting to know how she should vote on the next great bailout, that they would leave a message for me to get right back to them. So while I was curious, I was not THAT curious.

This morning, while I was getting ready to run some typical Saturday errands, the phone rang with another call from Wash DC and I decided to take it. It was from the Republican National Congressional Committee. A bright, polite and engaging young man proceeded to ask me what I wanted from them in the next Congressional election......I don't know if he was ready for what came next. OK, if you want my wish list of the perfect legislator, let me count the ways....
1. A REAL conservative---not a squishy RINO.
2. Someone who will restore the tenets of conservative policy.
3. Someone who wants tax cuts for all people and businesses.
4. Someone who favors smaller government.
5. Someone who favors lower government spending.
6. Someone who will fight against nationalized health care and the spread of entitlements.
7. Someone who will follow the precepts of the Constitution and not modify them to suit their needs.
8. Someone who will unflinchingly defend my Second Amendment Rights.
9. Someone who will close our borders and deal definitively with illegal immigration.
.....and as I drew a breath so that I could continue, he jumped right in and agreed with everything that I said and told me that was what the Republicans are going to do this election cycle. They were going to find and support real conservatives who would restore the trust of conservative Americans everywhere!

Since in the past I had given money to this cause, and because the need is dire right now, the young man wondered if I would like to increase my level of giving by a full $50-$100 over what I had done in the past? My response.... "Well, I'd love to do that, but since the Republicans frittered away a golden opportunity and the trust of their base, and started the ball rolling down this debt mountain that is now increasing at a mind numbing rate, I just don't have that kind of money anymore. In fact, I can't even begin to match the amount that I gave you in the past. How about this, I'll give you $25 and if you PROVE that you will do what the conservative base demands, then I'll give you more??? My contributions will be based on performance. I will keep my eye on who you get, what they have in their platforms and how the rest of the guys in Washington act in the coming days and months and you will get money on that basis. What do you think?"

Well, he agreed that we are all in this together, that my $25 contribution was welcome (was better than nothing at all) and that the RNC would have to earn back the trust of their constituents. He thanked me and sent me to the supervisor who would confirm my address and information.

The supervisor was another bright, polished and intelligent young man who politely confirmed my information and then asked if I wanted to make my contribution on a debit or credit card. He also had to bear the brunt of my irritation, because I let him know that I had spent the past three years on a self imposed debt reduction program and, having succeeded in ridding myself of all of my consumer debt except my mortgage and one car loan that is a 0% loan, I would not be using either of these methods. If they would send me a statement, I would be pleased to write a check and if not, they weren't getting my money. I then told him that this was what I expected from the future candidates who would be selected and supported and it was what I expected from the current representatives and senators who are presently in Washington. This is how I am supposed to conduct my personal finances and our government should do no less. My parting salvo was to share with the supervisor that I felt that my contributions to the NRA got me more results than my prior contributions to the RNC and its PAC's.

This weekend there were tea parties all over the country protesting the unbridled spending of the taxpayer's money. In St. Louis, the tea party attracted a large (800-1000 strong) gathering of participants of all ages and colors. Elderly people on fixed incomes mingled with young suburbanites, families of home schoolers and conservatives of color. The undercurrent of resistance is becoming more and more apparent and it is time that those who are representing us know that we expect them to fish or cut bait. They are on probation right now and their job is hanging in the balance.

So when the political fundraising organizations call, answer the phone! Don't dodge them. They want something so give them a piece of your mind and whether or not you give them money is totally up to you!!

A New Economic Proposal from Common Sense America

Some of the things that circulate around on the internet contain the simplest and most common sense ideas...This is could be one of those....

A NEW ECONOMIC PROPOSAL FOR THE GOVERNMENT

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall Street, and the media, normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his Board of Directors gives him a big bonus!

Our government should not be immune from similar risks.. Therefore:
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218, and the Senate from 100 to 50. The support staff for the lost congressional members would also be gone. Also, reduce the remaining support staff by 25%. This would be accomplished over 8 years...2 steps/2 elections, and of course this would require some redistricting.

Some yearly monetary gains would include:
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for legislators (267 members x 165,200)
$97,175,000 for elimination of their legislative staff (estimate $1.3 M in staff per each member of the House, and $3 M in staff per each member of the Senate) per year.
$240,294 for the 25% reduction in the remaining staff.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel earmarks each year. (Those members whose jobs are gone.) Current estimates for total government pork barrel spending is at $15B per year.

The remaining legislators would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might be even easier to keep track of what your representatives are doing. Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country!

Congress did not hesitate to head home for their holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have 3 senators (McCain, Clinton and Obama) that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. This alone supports a reduction in senators and congress.

Summary of opportunity:
$44,108,400 reduction of Congress members.
$282,100,000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 for elimination of the reduced senate staff.
$56,675,000 for 25% reduction of remaining house member staff.
$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of remaining senate staff.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings.....just to start!

Big business makes these types of cuts all the time.

If Congress were required to serve 20,25 or 30 years (like all of us at our jobs) in order to collect retirement benefits, there is no telling how much we would save. Now they can get full retirement benefits after serving only ONE term.

If you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, you just need to sit back and let the good times roll, HOWEVER, if you are NOT happy, then you know what to do......

How To Wrap Your Head Around Our Government's Spending

Since I have had the Federal Debt widget running at the top of my blog (less than one month!), MY portion of the debt has grown to $198,000! As the Porkulus funds are "Spread Around" these numbers will escalate dramatically. The numbers being bandied about with Porkulus, TARP,TARP II, Automotive Bailout, Banking CRISIS Bailout, and the threat that this is "just the beginning" are numbers that are incomprehensible to most common folk. Of course, this may be the goal...make things so "out there" that people just cave because they can't wrap their heads around the concept.

With that in mind it is no wonder that there is a growing resentment bubbling under the surface and beginning to rise to the top, where common people are saying ENOUGH! Rick Santelli's rant at the Chicago Board of Trade was one salvo in the call for some kind of revolution against the nationalization of OUR tax dollars to give to people and causes that have no right to them. This little video is an attempt at pointing you to the enormity of the financial problem the Obama administraton has just put on the backs of generations of taxpayers.

Now that you have that accomplished, get active, put your mouth in action and spread the word. Go to www.Americanissuesproject.org and see how you can join the groundswell of voices letting our government that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

On February 27, 2009, there are going to be "Chicago" Tea Parties in cities all over the country sponsored by a coordinated Netroots consortium of conservative activist groups. If you want to add your voice to this effort, visit this site and RSVP to the Party! It is unfortunate that it takes the British press to actually pick up this idea and publicize it...

Thought for the Day

"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." ---Samuel Adams

Keep this thought in front of your eyes as we, as the minority opposition, work our way through the next two years. While many people are rightfully irate as the Porkulus package has been stuffed down our throats, to be followed by a soup course of Auto Bail Out Deux, and a dessert of TARP II and III, followed by what will likely be a second helping of Porkulus to follow, we have to be tireless in our opposition to programs that are irresponsible and reprehensible. So keep it up and keep the pressure on whenever and wherever the chance arises.

Americans Will Rise to the Challenge without Stimulus

With the Federal legislative reconciliation committee working overtime to get the Spendulus bill ready for presentation with an apple in its mouth, American's are becoming increasingly distrustful of the package and the RAMifications of its passage. At set of 13 mini speeches that served as a press conference on Monday, President Obama blew off a question about TARP II and teased the presser scheduled for the next day by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Like the Monday night press conference, it failed to live up to its billing and Geithner was left looking like a fool without a real plan for spending $1 Trillion ADDITIONAL tax dollars.

So, do we REALLY need a SPENDULUS plan??? No, we need a STIMULUS plan.

A grassroots, netroots conservative plan has been wending its way through the blogosphere for the past week and it sounds like a better plan than anything that has been offered by any government source. The plan is simple and provides targeted, immediate stimulation of the economy with obvious immediate chances for job creation. The plan is best known at the TCOT Plan. It doesn't take thousands of pages to outline, in fact it can be put on one sheet of paper. The plan, pure and simple asks government to immediately cut the federal withholding tax in half for all taxpaying individuals and corporations and maintain this cut for the rest of 2009. With the addition of money in the pockets of individuals and corporations, people could spend more, do more, give more to charities, and afford additional education. Employees would cost less to employ, and as a result of increased spending, demand for goods and services would also increase, thus creating or re-creating lost jobs.

Since it was posted on Friday, hundreds of ordinary Americans have left comments on the internet on how this plan would impact them vs. how the Spendulus plan would impact them. Overwhelmingly, the responses are enthusiastic in support of this sort of stimulus and most of the responses suggest very common sense uses of the money to pay down debt, pay down mortgages, pay for health related issues like dental work, pay for tuition to go back to or continue in schooling and buy or maintain cars. Many people also suggested that savings was a priority once debts were reduced or eliminated. Sounds like common sense to me. Small business owners all felt that reinvestment to grow and expand would be a priority for them with increased money in their pocket. Many people also mentioned increasing support of church and charitable organizations that would result with more money in their pocket.

Tomorrow night, February 12, 2009, TCOT has challenged conservatives all over the nation to host small house parties and invite your guests to compare the TCOT Plan with the government's Spendulus plan and then talk about what you would do with the additional money in your wallet with each plan. TCOT is planning to feed this information live to media outlets during the evening time period. If you can host a house party, let them know and plan to participate in helping to take down the Obama Spendulus bill. This is the same tactic that got BHO elected with grassroots small groups working to empower ordinary people. Well, lets give them a taste of their own neighborhood organizing.

Yesterday, on our local FM Talk station, during AM drive time, a woman caller called the station and identified herself as the wife of a local small businessman who had a small printing business that he had helped to build over the past 20 years. She indicated that the business was in jeopardy now due to economic conditions. The host finally asked her to disclose the name of her husband's business and then asked the listening audience to think of them if they were looking for a company to do printing. That was the end of the topic......until today.

This morning, the same woman sent an email to the host thanking him for the gesture yesterday and letting him know that they received several orders for printing jobs yesterday as a result of the radio recognition AND a local wholesaler of printing ink GAVE them ink to help them out. THIS IS HOW AMERICA RISES TO MEET CHALLENGES.

IT'S COMING!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!

It creeps, it lumbers, it expands and it is going to engulf us all! It's the massive Porkulus package and all of its appendages such as TARP II and TARP the Sequel!!! Brought to you by Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter and Susan Collins!! Please be sure to thank them.

The way has been set for the massive and growing Porkulus bill to wind its way back into the reconciliation process where it is likely that the little that has been trimmed in the Senate will be added back with more. Then the Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, who cheats on his taxes and crafted the useless TARP I, rolled out more of the same today to the sound of the Dow falling like a rock. Obviously the trust our financial institutions have in Porkulus , TARP II and TARP the Sequel is not well placed.

The #TCOT Plan: A Common Sense Alternative Approach to Stimulate the Economy

Yesterday evening I posted an article about the #TCOT Plan and asked all of my readers to take the #TCOT Challenge. The #TCOT Plan is simple and would immediately infuse money into the economy in the hands of those who will spend it to increase sales and thus create demand again. This increased demand will then increase the number of jobs needed to meet that demand and decrease the number of unemployed workers in all areas of the job market.

The #TCOT Plan would immediately cut in half the amount of federal income tax withheld on each paycheck for the rest of 2009. It would also cut the corporate income tax in half for the same period. There you have it---instant infusion of capital into the economy for immediate use by all.

The #TCOT Challenge asks each person to look at their paycheck and see how much a 50% reduction in their federal withholding would put back into their pocket. Once you see how much you would receive per pay period, go to the comments area and LEAVE A COMMENT FOR YOUR LEGISLATORS telling them what you would do with this extra money AND whether you would prefer this plan or their bloated Stimulus package which would divert your money into some puny tax breaks that you might or might not qualify for, and a LOT of spending on projects that would either create jobs in the future or create one time jobs for projects that, once finished, are ......well..... over.

The goal of the #TCOT Challenge is to have 1000 responses by MONDAY MORNING!! Responses have been trickling in since these links went live yesterday evening, but there needs to be a tsunami of responses TODAY!! This means that you have to tell ALL of your friends and neighbors to give this a few minutes of effort TODAY. Even if your friends and neighbors are not politically engaged they are affected by the economy and , THEY WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE STIMULUS PACKAGE. The comments will be given to Senators Jim DeMint (R) and John Thune (R) to read from the floor of the Senate during debate tomorrow to show how REAL PEOPLE would use equivalent amount of money to the Stimulus package in jump starting the sagging economy.

If you can't muster the effort to take the #TCOT Challenge and stand up to those who are irresponsibly wasting your tax dollars, then BEND OVER AND GRAB YOUR ANKLES, because they are getting ready to have their way with all of us.

Kill Bill ---Time to drop the F-Bomb

Gird your loins---it is time to Kill the Bill with the F-bomb. It is time for the ordinary Joe and Jane to step up to the plate and become more vocal than ever in contacting all of the Senators and asking them to STOP the Spend-U-Lose bill in any form it morphs into. The fate of the Spend-U-Lose package rests with that august legislative body of our country known as the Senate. With the $820 Billion (really $1 Trillion plus if you count the interest on this "loan" from you and me) House version being touted as "simply a bad bill," but passed against the votes of 11 dissenting Democrat representatives as well as ALL of the Republicans, the Senate has the responsibility to "make it work," or fix it so that the legislature can go home for a President's day holiday (they work so hard!!!). So, rising to the occasion, the past few days have resulted in a laundry list of amendments to the house version of the bill, each pompously "debated" by senators on both sides of the aisle and then voted up when they are sponsored by Democrats and down when they are offered by the Republicans (not unexpectedly).

If you have never watched your legislature in action brought you you by the cameras of C-span, it is something you should do. You will see the pomposity, arrogance and stupidity of the people YOU have sent to Washington to represent you and spend your money. From committee hearings to floor debate it will both amaze and apall you! Since our legislature usually works banker's hours and makes sure that they never miss meals, I rarely get a chance to watch this circus played out...(I have a job that makes sure that I am in early, out late and I usually eat at my desk while I work)...but when I do, it never fails to amaze and reinforce the fact that the majority of our elected officials are worthless uses of skin.

The latest Rasmussen poll done this week reported that ONLY 37% of the population supports this messy, bloated Spend-U-Lose package. The more we the people see about this bill, the more it stinks to high heaven. Even the Democrats know that this thing stinks, because they have resorted to the used car salesman hard sell rhetoric..."This will only last for the next 2 hours, or if you don't buy this cream puff (read lemon) now, it probably won't be here tomorrow.." and if we fall for it, we do not have a buyer's remorse clause in the contract. The Dems have even have put out a call for poor Ted Kennedy, who was last seen having a seizure on Inauguration Day, to come back to cast a vote for this piece of crap.

So last night with the prediction of a Compromise bill coming down the pike and a Senate forced to "work" through the evening, I curled up to watch an episode of "Your Dollars At Work" brought to you by Harry Reid and the cast of 100! Just moments after I tuned in, the announcement was made by Sir Harry, with ruffles and flourishes, that a wonderful compromise had been crafted by a bipartisan group of sincere and gracious Senators with only the most lofty intentions in mind. This group of Heroes with supernatural powers had risen above the flotsam and jetsam of the legislative pollution to bring you this compromise bill that is $7 BILLION DOLLARS BIGGER THAN THE ORIGINAL HOUSE VERSION!!!! These wonderful ladies and gentlemen were:

• Susan Collins (R) Maine
  
• Arlen Specter (R) Pennsylvania
• Ben Nelson (D) Nebraska
• Joe Lieberman (I) Connecticut
  

Olympia Snowe (R) Maine is also expected to go along with the Compromise bill.

While the details of this bill were not there for discussion last evening, each of the crafters got some time to talk about their part in and support of this bill, and it didn't sound very different from the stinky bill that we already have come to know and hate. Details may be forthcoming over the weekend because the Senators will have to work today (WAHHHHH, WAHHH, WAHHH) and "debate" this some more.

Rebuttals against the compromise were given by selected loyal opposition with the lead off coming from Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky as the Minority Leader. John McCain (R) Arizona gave an empassioned speech that, had he given in October and also stood against the first TARP bill, might have given him the election. John Thune (R) South Dakota gave a thoughtful and reasoned speech that fleshed out some of the points that McCain made. The most striking of the points made by these speakers is that this was NOT a Bipartisan effort when only 2 (maybe 3) turncoat Republicans will support the compromise.

Then the Senate went back to work and added a bunch of amendments to the original Spend-U-Lose package and voted against some very good amendments that would remove parts of the bill and relegate them to appropriations procedures in the future. The most laughable of these was an amendment sponsored by Senator David Vitter (R) Louisiana which would remove the $40 Billion in this package that would go to ACORN. Senator Vitter cited the role of ACORN in the sub-prime mortgage debacle that started this ball rolling and the role of ACORN in election fraud through the years. Senator Richard Durbin (D) Illinois rose and delivered the most pompous, arrogant and transparent response. He turned toward Senator Vitter and ceremoniously railed against this amendment calling on the old chestnut of Hurricane Katrina and making it seem that ACORN had single handedly saved New Orleans. How anyone can stand there and say such stupid things is WAY beyond my ability to comprehend. Then the amendment was voted down, so ACORN is still alive and well in the SPEND-U-LOSE bill.

While all of this was being played out in Washington, Joe Biden, the gaffe machine, was at a Democrat retreat where he told the attendees that there is a 30% chance that this Spend-U-Lose package WILL NOT WORK. He also warned that if it doesn't work, those who support it will be nailed as responsible in the next round of national elections. So, if this is a huge gamble for the political futures of the Democrats and squishy Republicans (not to mention WE THE PEOPLE), what's the rush? Why not step back and work this out in a way that will be best for those who provide ONGOING jobs as opposed to one time jobs that, when done, disappear? Why not strip ALL of the fat from this bill and look at the presentation of SIGNIFICANT tax cuts for small business and ordinary people who are the ones that create jobs and are being hurt by the current economic climate. Why not think about something very novel that will put money into the hands of working men and women instead of the arts, ACORN and STD testing? This is a high stakes game that is being played with unprecedented amounts of OUR money and to hear this should make EVERYONE say WHOA!!! Is this the "gird your loins" challenge that he warned of???????

So back to the task at hand. A grassroots plan has been proposed that would infuse tons of money into the hands of taxpayers right away. You want responsible, targeted, timely and transparent, this grassroots plan is exactly that. EVERY resonsible moderate Democrat and EVERY Republican should stand against the current and compromise crappy plans that are lumbering through the legislature. It is time for the F-bomb...stop this Spend-U-Lose bill with a filibuster. Voters are watching their every move and will not forget who put us in this uncomfortable position. There is still time to bombard the Senate phone lines, emails and Fax lines to let them know that Biden was right...We WILL hold them ALL responsible for CONTINUED irresponsible spending and use of our tax dollars at the voting booth in 2010 and beyond. And when they get this wrong, Biden and Obama will be at the top of the S***list as the leaders of the pack.

Debate on the Compromise will start at noon EST and you can watch it live on C-Span or stream it live on http://www.c-span.com. Then, when your head is about to explode and blood is shooting out of your eyes (should take less than 30 minutes), pick up your phone, Fax, email or pitchfork and storm the Senate with your outrage and indignation!! If you behaved as irresponsibly at YOUR job, you would get fired. Well, ladies and gentlemen, in case you forgot, WE ARE THEIR BOSS!!

If I have to spoon feed you, Senate Contact information can be found here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Denny's is a Genius!!

Millions of people watched the Super Bowl last Sunday and whether you were into the game or just came along to watch the commercials, there is no doubt that you heard that today, February 3, 2009 from 6A-2P, Denny's was giving away a FREE Grand Slam breakfast to everyone who came in. This is the way to stimulate the economy---to hell with the Stim U Lose package!

My husband and I set out at 7 AM today to grab a little of the freebie breakfast and headed out to the Denny's down the street--you know the one that I pass each morning on the way to work. You know the one that would have 6 cars on the parking lot on a Tuesday at 7 AM. The lot was full to capacity and people were starting to park in places that really weren't designed for parking. We decided to go to another Denny's farther away that was located in a corporate complex, thinking perhaps it would be less well known. No luck and same thing!! So, needing to go to work, we did the honorable "spread the wealth" thing and went to a little neighborhood Mom and Pop diner and had breakfast there. By 8:30 AM, my husband was passing the first Denny's we visited and now there was a line of people spilling out the doors....and that was with a temperature of only 9 degrees outside!!!

So how does this help the economy??? Let me count the ways...
1. Millions of people dined at Denny's today who would not have done so otherwise...maybe they will come back again some time soon.
2. There were millions of cups of coffee, tea, soda, milk and juice and extra side dishes SOLD to go with those free beakfast meals.
3. The millions of diners who got free food, would, I hope, leave liberal tips for the servers who worked today during this incredible rush.
4. And lastly, those of us who could not stand around all day waiting for breakfast, but were up for dining out, went to neighborhood restaurants and spent money thus spreading the wealth around!

Tonight on the way home from work, I passed our local Denny's. At 7PM there were 10 cars on the lot! If you feed them, they will come!

Keeping the List!!

Tonight, the US House of Representatives passed HR 1, the Obama Pigs at the Trough Reinvestment Act. AKA American Reinvestment and Recovery Act or simply the Stimulus Package. The vote was 244 YEA and 188 NAY votes.

We all knew that the Democrats had enough votes to push this bill through, but thanks to a groundswell of populist clamor from a variety of netroots organizations including TCOT's Operation Melt the Phones. The 188 NAY votes were composed of ALL of the Republican representatives and 11 defecting Democrats. To see how YOUR representative voted, look here.

Please THANK your representative for upholding conservative principles of smaller government and fiscal responsibility. If your representative was a defecting Democrat, magnify your thanks 10-fold for their courage to buck the system.

And don't forget.....the Senate will be voting on this Obamanation of a bill next week, so keep those phone lines burning hot!! If we could do the same in the Senate, we could scuttle this bill---Maybe miracles really do happen. Call your Senator early and often, tell your friends to do the same, Twitter your senator, email them, pray---whatever it takes.

And don't forget to write your Thank you notes like your mom taught you.

Makin' a List and Checkin' it Twice

Conservatives are not letting it go unnoticed when Republicans cave in to Obama and his merry band of thugs.

Yesterday Tim Geithner, the tax evading Treasury secretary, was passed by the Senate by a vote of 60-34. In the 60 votes approving him were 10 Republicans. These Senators should be put on notice that this is an unacceptable vote.

Is your Senator on this list??? If so, call them and let them know in no uncertain terms that their vote was an unacceptable capitulation. Common folks like you and I will NEVER be rewarded for tax evasion.
1. Corker (R-TN)
2. Cornyn (R-TX)
3. Crapo (R-ID)
4. Ensign (R-NV)
5. Graham (R-SC)
6. Gregg (R-NH)
7. Hatch (R-UT)
8. Shelby (R-AL)
9. Snowe (R-ME)
10. Voinovich (R-OH)

Then keep the heat on them as another scoundrel in the person of Eric Holder (pardon the terrorists) will be coming up for vote for Attorney General in the next few days.

Doesn't Anyone Else See a Problem Here???

While I would like to believe that the stimulus package that is being proposed will bring an end to the recession and make things OK again, this is not CHANGE that I can BELIEVE IN. I, like most ordinary Americans, live on a budget that has to be balanced or I am in trouble. I cannot spend my way out of debt and if I spend more than I make, someone will be calling me or sending me letters reminding me that if I don't pay up.....well, it ain't gonna be pretty. After all, isn't spending beyond what we can afford what got us where we are in the first place??? So how can continuing along a poisonous path provide a cure??

The huge stimulus package that is being proposed seems like a case of Emperor's New Clothes, with a high sounding promise of "investment" (read entitlement) and "job creation" (in government jobs), however the devil is in the details. This is a wolf in sheep's clothing! Our stimulus package contains layer upon layer of pork dripping in grease and gravy. This bill is huge...1588 pages and $850Billion of OUR money. Can anyone really wrap their head around all of that. If you would like to TRY to read this package, you can see it in all its glory here.

The Treasury is now being headed by a tax cheat who was heralded as being "too important not to be approved" because he is "the only person who can understand the TARP!!" This package, just like the TARP, is being pushed through on the premise that "something" must be done NOW!! This, in spite, of the fact that the CBO has reported that most of the stimulus money will not be spent immediately. The government wouldn't be able to spend at least one-fourth of a proposed $825 billion economic stimulus plan until after 2010, according to a report by the CBO....Hardly the IMMEDIATE, BOLD, TARGETED stimulus "they" said we need.

The TARP package, which started this whole bailout mess, was supposed to be needed immediately (or the world would end), was not used for the purpose originally intended(those toxic assets are still there and credit is still locked up), had no oversight (banks were told to use it for lending, but they used it for almost everything else except lending) and has had NO positive effect on the economy (jobs in the private sector are being lost by the tens of thousands every day, but not in the bloated government sector where catharsis is needed!). We since have given money to the Big 3 auto companies, Freddie and Fannie are getting back in line for more because the first handout wasn't sufficient and NOW we are planning to throw nearly 1 TRILLION DOLLARS (that we don't have) at the problem. DOESN'T ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM HERE?????

Today President Obama met with the Republicans of both Houses of Congress to try to sell them on support for the Stimulus Package. With his fancy words he left some of them singing "Kumbaya" and HOPING for CHANGE. He has indicated that he would pull the portion of the stimulus package for family planning after San Fran Nan Pelosi let it be known that fewer mouths to feed would benefit the economy. The cautionary tale is that for all the salivating over this bone thrown to the conservatives, this was likely manufactured and put out there for the sole purpose of being taken back under the guise of bipartisan spirit. The Congressional Republicans would be well warned that WE THE PEOPLE are watching carefully what they do. We are making a list, checking it twice and will be using this list at the polls in 2010 and beyond.

President Obama knows that he can pass this Stimulus package WITHOUT REPUBLICAN SUPPORT, but he DOES NOT KNOW IF IT WILL WORK. So let him pass it on his own and all by himself......then when it is shown to be the piece of &%$@ that it really is and fails miserably, he and his band of merry thugs can take ALL the credit for the failure rather than "spreading it around."

It President Obama would like to stimulate the economy WITH cooperation by Conservatives, he would do well to look at jettisoning the IRS and instituting either a FLAT tax or a FAIR tax. A program that Tim Geithner would probably like, too!

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

As we look at the economic chaos in this country and prepare to throw more and more money from the taxpayers without regard to where it will come from and how it will be repaid, it is sad to see how we foolishly replicate the mistakes of past history ad nauseum. The old saw of "history repeats itself" is so very true. I am reminded of parents who tell their children "don't make the same mistakes that I made," and are then met with eye rolling and "Whatever..." It is hard for a parent to watch their children make mistakes that are totally avoidable...not even big mistakes, just life lessons that cause pain or unhappiness when we want things to be good for them.

And so, it is with interest that I found this quotation from Marcus Tullius Cicero. It provides advice that is so very appropriate for the situation we find ourselves in today.

"The budget should be balanced,
the Treasury should be refilled,
public debt should be reduced,
the arrogance of officialdom
should be tempered and controlled,
and the assistance to foreign lands
should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.
People must again learn to work,
instead of living on public assistance."

Cicero 63 BC

And, unless it has been purged from our history books in a revisionist attempt to doctor history, we should remember what happened to Rome when they ignored this advice. So, why are we rolling our eyes and saying "Whatever.."