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.

Mom's eMail Strikes Again

As those of you who follow my blog already know, my 87 year old mother is a never ending source of interesting emails, some of which I have shared with you. Today, she struck again with the following open letter to America's entitlement population from a common worker.

Joe, the average worker says

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their lazy butts, doing drugs, while I work. . . .

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? Something has to change in this country -- and soon!!!!!

Guess we could title that program - Urine or you're out

The New "New Deal"

With only days remaining until BHO, becomes the Supreme Leader of the "Free" world, he has unveiled his own version of a stimulus package designed to spend our way out of trouble. In a major economic speech at George Mason University on Thursday, he made it clear government is the only white knight out there to save the day.

But at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the cycle that is crippling our economy...

The more than $775 Billion package will be loaded with options including tax cuts to appease the Republicans, green jobs that would have 75% of federal buildings and 2 million American homes (where will John Q public get the money to bring his home into compliance????) magically retrofitted or rebuilt to be environmentally friendly (remember ETHANOL?) , and "shovel ready" infrastructure projects that have mayors and governors getting in line with their hands out for money for museums, water parks and sporting venues (PORK).

This stimulus package will likely only be the FIRST of the Democratic Bailouts, and the cost that has been touted publicly is at the lower end of the estimate to allow it to G--R--O--W as it passes through the legislative process (or leave room for future salvos "if at first you don't suceed...."). This is drawing flack from Obama's own party. Tom Harken has voiced the need for more spending and less tax cuts. Harry Reid has said that he "doesn't work for Barack Obama" (RIIIIIGHT!) Outcries have also been heard from the likes of Barney Frank (king of the subprime mortgages), Carl Levin (socialist) and John Kerry (self-aggrandizing snob who has to weigh in on everything lest he lapse into deserved obscurity). Don't be fooled, however, this flack is needed to give the public perception of disharmony so that when a package is finally formulated, it will be looked at as a truly bipartisan package in a true Kumbaya moment with all credit to the Messiah.

The more important flack issue, to me, is the lack of flack from the Republican legislators. The likes of Leader Boehner ("I am excited to see the tax cuts" OMG you are falling for it from the outset!), Mitch McConnell and Tom Coburn (Obama has been "straight up" with them). I recall a Department Chairman that I once worked under who was notorious for having consensus building meetings with his faculty, allowing everyone to vent their feelings. He listened intently and then did whatever he wanted to do in the first place. When called to account for what he did, he always said, "You can't say that I didn't ask you." I fear that this is how Obama will govern....Beware the smooth wordsmithing and cool demeanor.

From February 2008 until February 2009 when Obama hopes to have crafted his own Bailout package we have been throwing money at the economy with reckless abandon and blame that falls on both sides of the aisle. Since February, 2008 we have spent $168B on the Bush stimulus package, $200B on the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bailout, $122.8 B for AIG (poor babies), $700B for the TARP mortgage and banking bailout (with $17.4B carved out for the auto industry and by extension the autoworkers union) and not to be undone, the biggest effort to date......>$775B in the yet to be drafted Obama plan for a GRAND TOTAL of >$1.9TRILLION (sorry there are too many zeroes to reckon with!) that will have been spent on bailing out varied and sundry things. With more pigs lining up at the trough in hope of catching some of the money to be thrown around.

Nancy Pelosi has proposed a deadline of President's day in February for getting this package crafted, drafted and sent to the new President for signature and enactment. She has also boldly stated that if there is no package by this time there will be NO RECESS!! I guess she has no Spring book tour this year....or did she learn her lesson from the #dontgo whipping she took in August 2008?????

Today on Meet the Depressed, David Gregory had a relatively one-sided round table discussion on the bailout. There were some very telling comments coming from former House Majority Whip Rep. David Bonoir who is a member of the Obama economic transition team. When asked about how to deal with the Bush tax cuts, he totally avoided that question. He did, however, say that we

"have to get hold of this inequality in wages and economy." He went on to say that in the past 20 years the top 10% of the wage earners took 90% of the income gains and this is "skewed the wrong way."

When asked where we need to end up, Bonoir indicated that we

"need to give people the opportunity to bargain collectively at the table. At 7% unionization in this country, you are not going to get the dispersion you need." He added, "We were successful in this country after the Second World War. The most profitable time for this country were the three decades after World War II because unionization was at 35%......The Employee Freedom of Choice Act ( think Card Check) is an important part of legislation supported by President-Elect Obama and Biden, Congress and 60% of the American people...This will help to share in the benefits and bounties of the country."

Later in the show, Bonoir predicted that the Stimulus package will pass and it would probably pass even without Republican support.

Come on Republicans, grow a pair and stand up for what WE believe in. Get vocal and EXPLAIN why the government can't fix this.

I close with a quote that many of you will agree with, but the source may be surprising.

We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure.....During the period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities - not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself.

Jimmy Carter, in his farewell address.

My Little Website is a Microcosm of the Economy

As a guilty pleasure I collect antiques and quirky collectibles. As most collectors know, one's collection can sometimes overrun your life and there comes a time when the collection needs to be thinned. As a result I have a booth at a local antique mall and I also have an online shop at Ruby Lane.com. I am an aucton and estate sale junkie and this is relaxation therapy for me. But when I come home with things that I love, I also have to have an outlet for the extra things that find their way into my home.

When I first started my online shop 5 years ago, my clientele was primarily domestic with only occasional international sales. As the years have passed, the frequency of international sales has gradually inched up, but in the early part of 2008, with $4 per gallon gas and a weakened dollar, I noticed that I was constantly running to the post office with international sales and my domestic sales were sliding downward. Overall my sales were the same, but the balance of international and domestic sales was changing.

Within the last 8 weeks, however, with both the foreign and US stock markets becoming volatile, I have noticed a decline in overall sales, both domestic and foreign. October was one of the worst months ever for my online shop. This mirrors the climate of uncertainty in our country right now and the tendency to pull back and not spend on anything that is not essential.

I hate to think that this will only worsen under an Obama presidency. As his threshold for a tax increase now looms at $120,000 and below and is probably falling, an increased tax burden as well as the price increases that will be passed on to the public by increased corporate taxation will only make it less likely that the public will be willing to spend money on frivilous or luxury purchases like antiques and collectibles.

While my online shop and antique mall booth are hobbies and not my livelihood, I hate to think that I may need to pull up stakes and quit because I am no longer making enough money to turn it back into my little business to purchase more inventory. If my little nickle and dime operation is hurting, think of the small mom and pop enterprises who will be choked out in such an economic climate. These individuals may employ a small number of other employees and if they fail, there are increased numbers of unemployed individuals looking for new jobs. In such a climate, larger companies are also constricting their rolls through attrition and not filling openings as they occur. This downward spiral of increasing prices, increasing unemployment, and increased taxes on everything imaginable cannot improve the economy and anyone, including BHO, who thinks otherwise is a fool.

What I would love to see is a flat tax with no loopholes. Each employed person or married couple would write a single check out to the government on April 15 or have it deducted from each paycheck...easy breezy and simple. Each wage earner would be able to keep more of their own income. People would have more expendable income and that would spur spending and productivity. If the corporate tax rate was lowered so that more of our companies would stay in the USA this would provide jobs for more Americans. If we invest in all kinds of alternate energy projects including nuclear, clean coal, drilling for natural gas and oil both offshore and in ANWAR, we can make ourselves energy independent and spur job creation in the field of green jobs. Why is this so hard to envision??? What candidate might be more likely to accomplish some of these objectives???

Neither of the present candidates is a perfect fit for my ideal, but one is closer by far and this is where I am putting my vote on Tuesday. I would rather work very hard but be able to disburse my money in ways that I deem appropriate, including my tithe and charitable giving, than to work hard only to see my money taken and "spread around" to people who don't work and feel entitled. In fact, if there is no incentive to be productive, and there is forced charity, why would I want to be productive at all??

Think twice people before you pull that lever on Tuesday, because your very life depends on it. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR BECAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT.

Bailout Schmailout

It is not enough that a $700B bailout package for purchasing toxic mortgage paper was first voted down and then revamped, bloated with pork and then rammed down our throat in the guise of "dire straits". No sooner did this bill pass, than the concept was "tweaked" so that monies from it MIGHT be diverted in order for the government to buy stakes in troubled banks to shore them up and unclog the credit market.

Now we find out that this atrocious stimulus package may not be used even in these ways. Though the monies have not been dispersed, everyone wants a piece of the pie, and banks are planning, dreaming and scheming about how it will be used, like I do when I buy a lottery ticket!! Proposed plans for this money include mergers and acquisitions, raises, CEO perks and bonuses or just plain squirreling the money away for a rainy day. (Like I wish I could if I had any!) In addition, lurking on the fringes and licking their chops are the insurance companies and the automakers who already have been given substantial amounts ($25B) of low interest loans to bolster them. Who the heck are we bailing out by this scheme with OUR money??

Is blood shooting out of your eyes yet??? Well get ready, because in spite of the proclaimed purpose for the bailout, there is apparently nothing in the legislation that REQUIRES that this money be used in any particular way.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating. "Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets," Kashkari said.

Can you hear me SCREAMING??? What happened to this plea for this legislation to be passed immediately for the good of the overall economy??? Thankfully, real $$ (is that an oxymoron?) have not yet been doled out, though allocation is underway. And now members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are sounding righteous indignation about this law and its potential implementation. Senators Richard Shelby (R) who opposed the bailout, Charles Schumer (D) and Chris Dodd (D) (who did not) are all asking why the turn of events and demanding explanations, though the reasons for their concern may not all be the same (go figure). It appears that the inmates are running the asylum (on our dime).

If there was ever a more cogent argument for term limits, I think this is it. Since Congress has such an abysmal approval record, my gut reaction is to vote them all out and start over with people like Joe the Plumber, who did NOT get a sweetheart mortgage deal from CountryWide (but probably did have his HELOC frozen by them), who doesn't get perks from Freddie and Fannie (and would not have his campaign subsidized by them), and who isn't in cahoots Franklin Raines. Jamie Gorelick, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, William Ayers, Father Pfleger, Rev. Wright, Louis Farrakhan ....to name just a chosen FEW.

We are in desperate need of a smaller government with fewer entitlements, handouts and departments (translation: rat holes down which billions of dollars can disappear). Our government bureaucracy has become so bloated that it is imploding on itself and Barack Obama is licking his chops at the idea that we will further "INVEST" (translation: take away the taxpayer's dollars) in this black hole of a government we now have. While I am not one to buy into whacko conspiracy theories, I am thinking that the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Orchestrated Crisis (just Google it!!) has finally played itself out and we are primed for a sweeping socialist takeover that has been carefully and quietly planned and implemented over several decades of gradual and insidious infiltration of all aspects of our lives. Yes, we do need change, but not THAT kind of change.

I am going to the True Value hardware and see if there are any pitchforks left. Let them eat cake!!!