All the News That's Fit to be Tied

I have an axe to grind, but unlike the New York Times, I freely admit it.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Let ‘em Fight or Bring ‘em Home

A military commander should never say its more important win the hearts of the locals than it is to kill the enemy. To say so publically for the enemy’s ears is to make the people and the soldiers on the ground fodder for a merciless enemy who kill the locals and kill our troops when they try to protect them. You wouldn’t expect such a pronouncement from General Stanley McChrystal, the former father of special ops singled out by George W. Bush for selection to the Joint Chiefs, unless of course the strategy is to reveal to the American people what will happen if we continue along the current path. Perhaps it is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan unless we want to “kill the enemy” and “break his things.” Let’s leave nation-building to the non-military and let them convince people who live in mud huts and shacks that they would better off if they had heat and hot water and a Wal-Mart down the road. As a soldier it is perfectly appropriate to help an old lady, give candy to little kids and help a farmer with his goats, but it not appropriate to say to the enemy I won’t hurt you and give him an opportunity to kill you. The American people support the destruction of al Qaeda and the crushing of the Taliban, but they do not support using our troops as unarmed peace corp. volunteers fighting an enemy whose religion and hatred permits them to kill with no mercy. It’s not fair to the troops and their families and to the good name of our country. Let ‘em fight or bring ‘em home.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

What's Good for the Goose...

You remember that old saying don't you? Well, it doesn't apply in Massachusetts where the state senate has passed a bill revision that would permit the state's Democratic governor to appoint a replacement for Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. It was just five years ago that the now-deceased Kennedy asked the state legislature to pass a bill requiring a special election to fill an open U.S. Senate seat when Kennedy thought that John Kerry would defeat Bush and wanted to prevent then Republican governor Mitt Romney from replacing Kerry (D) with a Republican. The bill goes to the Massachusetts House this week and if passed Deval Patrick (D) is expected to sign it. Unfortunately this is the way the game is played, but to be so arrogant and brazen is disgusting and the ultimate form of hypocrisy.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Crush the ACORN

ACORN may be new to some people but I have been paying attention to this cadre of anti-capitalist criminals since the early 1980’s. As the editor of my college newspaper I recall some articles about ACORN organizers trying to establish their credibility to provide housing for the poor. They were the boots on the ground in the effort to prevent redlining and force banks to provide loans to people who were not qualified. This coupled with the Community Redevelopment Act and the development of Mortgage-backed Securities by quasi-public Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac is what laid the groundwork for the real estate collapse and the near- disintegration of the banking system. It’s hard to say exactly when their voting registration activities began, but there is little doubt that they are in serious trouble with election officials and law enforcement in at least 14 states. They did not even attempt to disguise their obviously illegal behavior in voter registration procedures. In addition, in the last few years they have also been engaged in breaking into foreclosed homes and helping supposedly homeless people become squatters. They have been getting federal and state taxpayer money for years both directly and through front-groups who are members of the ACORN organization. The latest series of videos about ACORN are just the latest in this group’s disdain for our country and our laws. They should be stripped of all taxpayer money. Every federal and state agency should excise the funding for this criminal enterprise from their budgets.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Obama Medicine Show Tries Subterfuge

It is the fashion these days to dismiss objections to healthcare legislation by saying there is no bill yet, such and such is not in the final bill, and this or that will be changed, amended or fixed. However, supporters of the legislation overlook one important fact. If any of the previous versions of the proposed bill would have been passed as the President has been requesting since January there would be a public option, there would be the equivalent of death panels, there would be healthcare for illegal aliens and there would be federal financing of abortion. It is only after several failed attempts in the House and the Senate to get a bills to the floor, months of town hall meetings, an August recess in which half the Congress refused to meet with its constituents to discuss healthcare, and more than fifty public speeches by the President to garner support for his plan, that we have reached the point where new legislation must be forged in order to have anything that is remotely passable in the Congress. That is the true state of affairs and any attempt by supporters to paint a different picture is spitting in the wind when it is blowing in your direction.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Mr. President: You don't have to campaign anymore

The President's Joint-Session speeech was a disappointment for me and it should have been a disappointment for him, but I am now convinced he's not smart enough to even know it. Does he really think that he can just repeat himself over and over and expect us to hear something different just because he wills it. American has rejected the idea of rationed care ala Canada and Great Britan. Americans have proved over and over again that they are willing to pay more to get more. You can list the pros and cons of healthcare until the cows come. For most of us it's really simple. After you do all the analysis the fact remains that government subsidized healthcare is the least efficient and cost effective of all the available alternatives. And while he is focusing (his word) on healthcare the Wall Streeters, banks and insurance companies are making a fortune, our enemies are going nuclear and we are headed for third world status. Mr. President: You don't have to campaign anymore. The election is over. You won. Start acting like a President instead of a snake-oil salesman.

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Obama Medicine Show Rolls On

As the Congress comes back to work after getting the big "what for" from their constituents over healthcare the President is planning to continue his public relations effort to move Americans to his point of view, which as we know is to have a single payer plan. The basic reason we reject single payer is because where it is used Healthcare is rationed for those who need it and free for those who don't. That is just how single payer works. It is true that Americans spend more on healthcare, but we get more. We don't wait weeks, months and years for treatment and most treatments are covered. There are exceptions of course, but unfortunately sex change operations for convicted felons and cosmetic surgery for mal-adjusted inmates are covered, while radical treatments for cancer are not. Our system is not without problems. However the big question is if Obama wants single payer (government run healthcare) why is the plan about providing health insurance instead of providing medical care. It seems to me that the bill is just a big payoff to the insurance companies who will get 35 to 50 million new customers who will be forced to buy insurance. It is clear that Obama is likely to back off single payer and choose instead to support health coops with trigger mechanisms. However, in the final analysis it will be the same thing. His plans will drive medical care costs through the roof and people will be begging for the government to take it over. The regulations in the bill are all designed to push us into single-payer. Don't be fooled by the carnival barkers and the shills in the crowd. They are always there when the Obama Traveling Medicine Show comes to town.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Van Jones Lights Out

President Obama's Green Czar resigned just after Midnight last night and like a thief in the night did it when no one was looking. Unfortunately he still works for the White House Council on Environmental Quality so we are not yet free of his impulses to punish us for our lack of vision.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Geithner-Rangel Gambit

If there's anybody in Congress who should not be writing tax law it is New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, unless you want to make the argument that those who are clever at cheating the IRS will make the best laws to stop the rest of us from doing it. If there's anybody in the Banking industry who should not be running the IRS it's Tim Geithner. He didn't even know his own income was taxable and he is going to make judgments about your income. Rangel should be impeached and Geithner should be fired.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Hippies in the White House?

Their hair is short, the tie-died shirts and the bongs are now hidden, but make no mistake the 60's generation now occupies the White House. The make love, not war philosophy now dominates our policy and government-run healthcare, open borders and the destruction of our intelligence apparatus are on the table.