I hate to say I told you so but on June 27th, 2011 I posted an article on “gas fracking”, a growing, efficient, and cost effective drilling and fracturing technique to release the gigantic reserves of natural gas trapped in shale rock. The U.S. has more shale gas reserves than anyone on earth, including the Mid-East, which gives us a chance to reach our, heretofore, seemingly unreachable goal of energy independence.
My Prediction Came True
In that post I said that this administration will attempt to slow or eliminate this chance because they are hell-bent on so- called “green” energy and are against the continued use of oil and gas. The fact is natural gas is actually more “green” than many of the so-called green energy options!
Well, just as I predicted the Obama-appointed leadership of the EPA just released a report that “fracking” many have contaminated drinking water in Pavillion, Wyoming. It may make for a good and scary headline but does not hold up to scientific scrutiny. It is neither definitive nor applicable to anywhere else but Pavillion.
The Facts
1. The EPA acknowledged that the “dangerous” chemical in the drinking water was 2-butoxyethyl phosphate a chemical not associated with fracking fluids. In fact, it is a fire retardant associated with plastic components used in drinking water wells.
2. The “pollution” was actually found in deep water monitoring wells drilled by the EPA which were located near the natural gas reservoir not the actual drinking water wells.
3. The EPA admitted that drilling chemicals detected in monitoring wells may be from old wells that were drilled many years before fracking was ever developed.
4. The fracking activity in Pavillion takes place in unusually shallow wells (1,000-1500 ft.). Most fracking occurs at 10,000 ft., far below drinking water wells. Even the EPA acknowledges this. This certainly questions the relevance of the Wyoming findings.
Why the “Greens” Are Upset
I’m not saying that our drinking water should not be protected. I think we all can agree on that. What I am saying is that this EPA’s credibility is open to inspection. It is dominated by people from this administration bent on raising the prices and limiting production of carbon-based fuels. Natural gas has a much smaller carbon footprint than coal and oil, and shale gas can price wind and solar out of the market. Solar companies are going out of business in droves. The “greens” are terrified by the specter of natural gas becoming the preferred alternative fuel even though it would mean freedom from relying on foreign sources of energy and is the best option for our economy and the job market.
This attack on our only hope for energy self-sufficiency won’t stop until we make a change in who is living in the White House after 2012. One of many reasons this election is so important!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
How to Convince Obama to Quit
Recently, the Wall Street Journal had an op Ed column written by two moderate Democratic pollsters who were not very happy that the extreme left wing of the party is firmly in control, and the pollsters did not like the direction the Left is taking the country. They advocated that Obama should step down and be a one term President and pass the gauntlet to Hillary Clinton. They then proceeded to elaborate on Obama’s failed Presidency.
Of course, the premise of the article was not very feasible in the first place, but the idea that you can convince a bona fide narcissist to step-down because he is a failure, is totally wrong. The way to do it is exactly the opposite of that point of view. This was clearly illustrated this morning on the “Morning Joe” program, which I occasionally watch to get my conservative blood flowing and pressure up for the day.
Jon Meacham, an uber-liberal “historian” of sorts and author, and Mike Barnicle, a former liberal columnist for the Boston Post, were in a discussion trying to rationalize why Obama has been so ineffective thus far. “I cannot understand it, he is so eloquent, so smart and convincing”, bemoaned Meacham, “it must be that the job is not commensurate with his great gifts”. If that doesn’t get you to switch off MSNBC what will? Eloquent? Maybe, as long as he has a teleprompter, but in a debate on his feet with no notes, a resounding NO! Why, Hillary whipped his back-side in almost every debate in the 2008 Democratic primary, and who can’t beat John McCain in any debate?
So smart? Based on what? They don’t even want to tell us his grades. He was virtually kicked out of Occidental College in California and hardly anyone knew him at Columbia or Harvard. In fact, we still can’t figure out how he got into those Universities. Convincing? The polls show that less independents and young people will note for him again, 75% of the country thinks we are on the wrong track, and 66% think he is doing a poor job. Convincing?
While the Republican primary candidates have to take an anal exam on their religion, we still really don’t know Obama’s religion. He actually went to a Christian church this past Sunday, the first time since last Easter. His early education in Indonesia was in a Muslim school and we know that for almost 20 years he went to a church that promoted “black liberation theology”. Do we know his religion? I know that Perry is Protestant, Gingrich is Catholic, and Romney is Mormon, and the liberal media is concerned about this but Obama gets a free pass.
Then Meacham said, “He is stuck in an 18th century constitutional government structure and that’s why he cannot get anything done.” Well, that doesn’t seem to have bothered all of the Presidents before him! Meacham thinks we or our governments are not good enough for Obama’s great gifts, he needs to be in a world job. The world needs him. Well, you get the idea. That’s how you tell a narcissist to quit. You tell him he’s too smart for us, that his skills are best suited for a bigger job than President of the United States. How about those really productive jobs; like a University President, or Head of the UN, or the nominating committee for Nobel Prizes. Maybe, just go back to the old neighborhood with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, and be a community organizer; but I understand you weren’t very good at that, either.
Of course, the premise of the article was not very feasible in the first place, but the idea that you can convince a bona fide narcissist to step-down because he is a failure, is totally wrong. The way to do it is exactly the opposite of that point of view. This was clearly illustrated this morning on the “Morning Joe” program, which I occasionally watch to get my conservative blood flowing and pressure up for the day.
Jon Meacham, an uber-liberal “historian” of sorts and author, and Mike Barnicle, a former liberal columnist for the Boston Post, were in a discussion trying to rationalize why Obama has been so ineffective thus far. “I cannot understand it, he is so eloquent, so smart and convincing”, bemoaned Meacham, “it must be that the job is not commensurate with his great gifts”. If that doesn’t get you to switch off MSNBC what will? Eloquent? Maybe, as long as he has a teleprompter, but in a debate on his feet with no notes, a resounding NO! Why, Hillary whipped his back-side in almost every debate in the 2008 Democratic primary, and who can’t beat John McCain in any debate?
So smart? Based on what? They don’t even want to tell us his grades. He was virtually kicked out of Occidental College in California and hardly anyone knew him at Columbia or Harvard. In fact, we still can’t figure out how he got into those Universities. Convincing? The polls show that less independents and young people will note for him again, 75% of the country thinks we are on the wrong track, and 66% think he is doing a poor job. Convincing?
While the Republican primary candidates have to take an anal exam on their religion, we still really don’t know Obama’s religion. He actually went to a Christian church this past Sunday, the first time since last Easter. His early education in Indonesia was in a Muslim school and we know that for almost 20 years he went to a church that promoted “black liberation theology”. Do we know his religion? I know that Perry is Protestant, Gingrich is Catholic, and Romney is Mormon, and the liberal media is concerned about this but Obama gets a free pass.
Then Meacham said, “He is stuck in an 18th century constitutional government structure and that’s why he cannot get anything done.” Well, that doesn’t seem to have bothered all of the Presidents before him! Meacham thinks we or our governments are not good enough for Obama’s great gifts, he needs to be in a world job. The world needs him. Well, you get the idea. That’s how you tell a narcissist to quit. You tell him he’s too smart for us, that his skills are best suited for a bigger job than President of the United States. How about those really productive jobs; like a University President, or Head of the UN, or the nominating committee for Nobel Prizes. Maybe, just go back to the old neighborhood with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, and be a community organizer; but I understand you weren’t very good at that, either.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Letter to the WSJ Editor That Didn’t Make It
Last Saturday, Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) entitled, “Clean Energy is Winning”. It was full of mistruths and half-truths which many in the public would not appreciate. I could not let him get away with this, so I wrote a letter to the editor refuting his points. Well, as of today it did not publish. Here is his letter and my retort.
His letter:
Regarding your editorial: A Better Idea for Green Jobs: (op-ed. Oct.15): Here are the facts. Employment in the U.S. solar industry has doubled in the last two years. Solar energy now employs more than 100,000 Americans, tens of thousands more that in coal mining. The wind industry employs 85,000. According to the Brookings Institutions, the clean economy now employs 2.7 million Americans, more than the fossil-fuel industry.
By comparison, Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron, which made $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, actually reduced their U.S. work forces by a combined 11,200 workers.
Despite rhetorical attacks, clean energy is winning. New wind projects are selling their power for as little as three cents per kilowatt-hour, cheaper than natural gas. America is currently a net exporter of solar technology. We have a renewable energy technology trade surplus with China. From 2007 to 2010, America constructed nearly 32,000 new megawatts of wind, solar and biomass electricity. That is more than three times the amount of new coal during that time. Yet the only clean-energy company that conservatives seem to be able to talk about is Solyndra.
Clean energy employs millions of Americans and provides power to millions more. Most Americans want to see their nation dominate a sector estimated to be worth $12 trillion over the next two decades.
Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass)
My letter to the Editor:
Representative Ed Markey’s (D. Mass) letter in response to your editorial “A Better Idea for Green Jobs”, Oct. 15th once again illustrates how liberal Democrats will provide you with “facts” to make a point but don’t put the “facts” in perspective. The premise of his letter, “Clean Energy Is Winning in the U.S.”, is an extremely misleading thesis and far from the truth. The fact that the solar energy industry employs more than 100,000 Americans, slightly more than coal mining, he says, is nothing to brag about since with this administration many coal companies have been forced to shut down and new ones haven’t started as a conscious result of government regulations which makes it too expensive. He also asserts that 2.7 million people work in the “clean economy” more than what he calls the fossil-fuel industry. This is ridiculous, since more than 9 million are employed in the oil and gas industry alone. Also, he forgot to tell you that if you drive a school bus with a hybrid engine you are counted, by this administration, as working in the green energy industry. He also boosts that America is a net exporter of solar technology with a trade surplus with China. The reason is, there is no market in the U.S. because energy costs are among the lowest in the world, so solar is not competitive. Also, Mr. Markey, we will be soon hearing about many more fiascos’ like Solyandra, and if you would vote for more U.S. oil development and encourage shale-gas production, we would generate more than 1 million jobs almost instantly. You may think “clean energy” is winning, but we are losing because you are in the House of Representatives.
George Ahearn, Ph.D.
Naples, Florida
His letter:
Regarding your editorial: A Better Idea for Green Jobs: (op-ed. Oct.15): Here are the facts. Employment in the U.S. solar industry has doubled in the last two years. Solar energy now employs more than 100,000 Americans, tens of thousands more that in coal mining. The wind industry employs 85,000. According to the Brookings Institutions, the clean economy now employs 2.7 million Americans, more than the fossil-fuel industry.
By comparison, Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron, which made $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, actually reduced their U.S. work forces by a combined 11,200 workers.
Despite rhetorical attacks, clean energy is winning. New wind projects are selling their power for as little as three cents per kilowatt-hour, cheaper than natural gas. America is currently a net exporter of solar technology. We have a renewable energy technology trade surplus with China. From 2007 to 2010, America constructed nearly 32,000 new megawatts of wind, solar and biomass electricity. That is more than three times the amount of new coal during that time. Yet the only clean-energy company that conservatives seem to be able to talk about is Solyndra.
Clean energy employs millions of Americans and provides power to millions more. Most Americans want to see their nation dominate a sector estimated to be worth $12 trillion over the next two decades.
Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass)
My letter to the Editor:
Representative Ed Markey’s (D. Mass) letter in response to your editorial “A Better Idea for Green Jobs”, Oct. 15th once again illustrates how liberal Democrats will provide you with “facts” to make a point but don’t put the “facts” in perspective. The premise of his letter, “Clean Energy Is Winning in the U.S.”, is an extremely misleading thesis and far from the truth. The fact that the solar energy industry employs more than 100,000 Americans, slightly more than coal mining, he says, is nothing to brag about since with this administration many coal companies have been forced to shut down and new ones haven’t started as a conscious result of government regulations which makes it too expensive. He also asserts that 2.7 million people work in the “clean economy” more than what he calls the fossil-fuel industry. This is ridiculous, since more than 9 million are employed in the oil and gas industry alone. Also, he forgot to tell you that if you drive a school bus with a hybrid engine you are counted, by this administration, as working in the green energy industry. He also boosts that America is a net exporter of solar technology with a trade surplus with China. The reason is, there is no market in the U.S. because energy costs are among the lowest in the world, so solar is not competitive. Also, Mr. Markey, we will be soon hearing about many more fiascos’ like Solyandra, and if you would vote for more U.S. oil development and encourage shale-gas production, we would generate more than 1 million jobs almost instantly. You may think “clean energy” is winning, but we are losing because you are in the House of Representatives.
George Ahearn, Ph.D.
Naples, Florida
Sunday, October 2, 2011
America’s Becoming a Robin Hood Republic
I heard something on the radio which really illustrates what is happening to this country, and it is quite disturbing. Apparently, Governor Cuomo of New York was a guest on the Today Show this past week and they showed a clip of his visit to a 2nd grade class in Jamaica, Queens , which is predominately an African-American neighborhood. Cuomo asked a young girl, probably a 7 year old, what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said “President”. Then he asked what would you do as President? “I would have the rich people give me their money so I could give it to the people who need it”, she said. Then Cuomo said, “What if the rich people didn’t want to give you their money?” The little girl answered, “Well then, they’re just greedy”.
I’m sure she will get an “A” from her teacher for that answer. Probably because the teacher believes that and the little girl likely heard her parents talking like that. Unless this little girl read “Robin Hood”, and I don’t think that’s required reading in the 2nd grade, where would she get that kind of a value system? When I was seven, I wanted to be a doctor, a fireman, or a baseball player, so I could make money and be successful. I knew that I had the freedom to be anything I wanted to be. I had the desire to improve myself, and the opportunity in this great country to achieve my dream, even though my family was far from rich. In addition, I had a support system, my parents, my teachers, and my friends encouraged me. That was the American culture we lived in, and that was the value system most of us had.
Is this the kind of culture we are building today? It certainly doesn’t look like America anymore and I’m beginning to be glad I’m 76, because I don’t want to live in that kind of America. I was not born in a Banana Republic, or Russia, or Sweden, where we have a state controlled government, a police state, or socialism, where the economies are stifled and you can predict what your future will be because you cannot control your destiny.
President Obama is a role model for kids, particularly black children, therefore everything he says influences their value system. This is what they hear from him….. It’s only fair to spread the money around and I get to decide what is fair, I pick the winners and the losers, I give you money and I decide who needs it.
This is tyranny, this is slavery, this is Un-American, and history tells us this will eventually end in failure and tragedy. America is a great country and no one can change us by force. The only way we can be defeated is from within. And unfortunately, we elected a President who brought in people , like him, who don’t really know or understand this country. Crony capitalism is not a substitute for a free market and fair competition. We must remove these people from our government, or else this successful 250 year experiment in democracy cannot be saved and the damage will be irreversible.
You can’t be complacent about this, it’s too important!
I’m sure she will get an “A” from her teacher for that answer. Probably because the teacher believes that and the little girl likely heard her parents talking like that. Unless this little girl read “Robin Hood”, and I don’t think that’s required reading in the 2nd grade, where would she get that kind of a value system? When I was seven, I wanted to be a doctor, a fireman, or a baseball player, so I could make money and be successful. I knew that I had the freedom to be anything I wanted to be. I had the desire to improve myself, and the opportunity in this great country to achieve my dream, even though my family was far from rich. In addition, I had a support system, my parents, my teachers, and my friends encouraged me. That was the American culture we lived in, and that was the value system most of us had.
Is this the kind of culture we are building today? It certainly doesn’t look like America anymore and I’m beginning to be glad I’m 76, because I don’t want to live in that kind of America. I was not born in a Banana Republic, or Russia, or Sweden, where we have a state controlled government, a police state, or socialism, where the economies are stifled and you can predict what your future will be because you cannot control your destiny.
President Obama is a role model for kids, particularly black children, therefore everything he says influences their value system. This is what they hear from him….. It’s only fair to spread the money around and I get to decide what is fair, I pick the winners and the losers, I give you money and I decide who needs it.
This is tyranny, this is slavery, this is Un-American, and history tells us this will eventually end in failure and tragedy. America is a great country and no one can change us by force. The only way we can be defeated is from within. And unfortunately, we elected a President who brought in people , like him, who don’t really know or understand this country. Crony capitalism is not a substitute for a free market and fair competition. We must remove these people from our government, or else this successful 250 year experiment in democracy cannot be saved and the damage will be irreversible.
You can’t be complacent about this, it’s too important!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Now We Know the Problem – It’s Us!
Just yesterday President Obama finally gave us his scholarly analysis of the cause of our economic problems. I was eagerly waiting for this, since many economists have had conflicting views. In a radio interview in Orlando, Florida he said, “Well, we just got soft and complacent over the last two decades, and it just caught up with us”. Wow, is that deep! So we are the problem, we just got lazy and soft in the last 20 years. Boy, I’m glad it’s not him and his policies that kept this recession going.
I wonder where he’s been living for the last 20 years. Africa? Indonesia? South Chicago? What happened during those great Clinton years when we actually had a budget surplus? Those first seven years of the Bush administration, as the market boomed and corporate profits and growth was something never seen before in the free world. I guess we got soft, started giving loans to poor people just to bring them up to the status of rich people, and started thinking we could actually eradicate poverty.
We’re just too lazy to implement his economic plans, let’s get out there and get a job, “take off your bedroom slippers”, and get out there. Why should I, Mr. President? You keep giving me unemployment money and more food-stamps. And thanks for controlling those energy markets, so we can use those subsidized sources of energy, rather than that dirty oil and gas. Maybe you can manipulate the markets, so that the price of oil and gas increases and then I can change to solar, and windmills. But what’s going to happen when we can’t afford those subsidies? Like that Solandra company that was making solar panels for $6.00/ft and selling them for $3.00/ft in order to compete in the world market. I guess they were going to make it up on volume, except that the loan money you gave them ran out.
Anyway, I am glad Mr. President that you can do no wrong and the problem is us. The lazy American worker, who just built the greatest economy the world has even seen, and all of a sudden got soft, just before you got elected. What a coincidence, just your luck. I for one, hopes that your luck runs out in November, 2012.
I wonder where he’s been living for the last 20 years. Africa? Indonesia? South Chicago? What happened during those great Clinton years when we actually had a budget surplus? Those first seven years of the Bush administration, as the market boomed and corporate profits and growth was something never seen before in the free world. I guess we got soft, started giving loans to poor people just to bring them up to the status of rich people, and started thinking we could actually eradicate poverty.
We’re just too lazy to implement his economic plans, let’s get out there and get a job, “take off your bedroom slippers”, and get out there. Why should I, Mr. President? You keep giving me unemployment money and more food-stamps. And thanks for controlling those energy markets, so we can use those subsidized sources of energy, rather than that dirty oil and gas. Maybe you can manipulate the markets, so that the price of oil and gas increases and then I can change to solar, and windmills. But what’s going to happen when we can’t afford those subsidies? Like that Solandra company that was making solar panels for $6.00/ft and selling them for $3.00/ft in order to compete in the world market. I guess they were going to make it up on volume, except that the loan money you gave them ran out.
Anyway, I am glad Mr. President that you can do no wrong and the problem is us. The lazy American worker, who just built the greatest economy the world has even seen, and all of a sudden got soft, just before you got elected. What a coincidence, just your luck. I for one, hopes that your luck runs out in November, 2012.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Elevating Our Guilt Rather Than Our Triumphs
Most of you who actually read some of the posts I write probably think that all I do is pick on President Obama. The problem is that there is such a fertile field here, that every time I look it’s another stupid or rather insensitive thing he does.
Since AOL purchased the leftist Huffington Post (for an outlandish price), I get daily news items on my computer which I would not normally read on purpose. Today they featured an article showing our President and his wife hanging a rather controversial Norman Rockwell painting, illustrating a dark period in our history, in the West Wing adjacent to the Oval Office. It shows a little black girl being escorted to her elementary school in the South accompanied by federal marshals with graffiti splattered on a wall showing the word “nigger”. The painting was made in 1963 and is titled “A Problem We Have to Live With”. It apparently was on the cover of Time Magazine in the 60’s during the civil rights integration crisis.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/ruby-bridges-visits-the-w_n_904710.html
Maybe the Huffington Post and Mr. Obama should instead recognize the multi-million dollar memorial to Martin Luther King soon to be unveiled in our Nation’s capital which celebrates our triumph over bigotry and shows how far we have come on the race issue. Mr. Obama and his wife have certainly benefited from the affirmative action we have implemented over the last 50 years which allowed them to go to schools “unescorted” or be admitted to Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard even though their grades may not have warranted it.
If we think that the White House should be a place to hang pictures about some dark periods in our history why don’t we hang paintings of dead bodies lying in the battlefields of the Civil War, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or perhaps a painting of our current unemployment lines, or conditions in the ghettos of some of our major cities where drugs and all sorts of crime occur every day and call that a “Problem We Have to Live With”.
This event got me thinking and just hit me the wrong way, I really feel for that little black girl in the painting, but like the exceptional country we are, we acted to address and rectify this injustice. So, if you think I sound like a racist, well you’re entitled to your opinion, but I think Obama’s decision to hang that picture in the White House was insulting and racist to the American people. If you disagree, I’d like to hear your perspective.
Since AOL purchased the leftist Huffington Post (for an outlandish price), I get daily news items on my computer which I would not normally read on purpose. Today they featured an article showing our President and his wife hanging a rather controversial Norman Rockwell painting, illustrating a dark period in our history, in the West Wing adjacent to the Oval Office. It shows a little black girl being escorted to her elementary school in the South accompanied by federal marshals with graffiti splattered on a wall showing the word “nigger”. The painting was made in 1963 and is titled “A Problem We Have to Live With”. It apparently was on the cover of Time Magazine in the 60’s during the civil rights integration crisis.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/ruby-bridges-visits-the-w_n_904710.html
Maybe the Huffington Post and Mr. Obama should instead recognize the multi-million dollar memorial to Martin Luther King soon to be unveiled in our Nation’s capital which celebrates our triumph over bigotry and shows how far we have come on the race issue. Mr. Obama and his wife have certainly benefited from the affirmative action we have implemented over the last 50 years which allowed them to go to schools “unescorted” or be admitted to Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard even though their grades may not have warranted it.
If we think that the White House should be a place to hang pictures about some dark periods in our history why don’t we hang paintings of dead bodies lying in the battlefields of the Civil War, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or perhaps a painting of our current unemployment lines, or conditions in the ghettos of some of our major cities where drugs and all sorts of crime occur every day and call that a “Problem We Have to Live With”.
This event got me thinking and just hit me the wrong way, I really feel for that little black girl in the painting, but like the exceptional country we are, we acted to address and rectify this injustice. So, if you think I sound like a racist, well you’re entitled to your opinion, but I think Obama’s decision to hang that picture in the White House was insulting and racist to the American people. If you disagree, I’d like to hear your perspective.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
More Dirt On The Chrysler Deal - Part 2
“With that list of dealerships being closed down, a weird thing happened in Arkansas , North Louisiana, and Southern Missouri . It seems that Bill Clinton's former White House Chief of Staff, Mack McClarty, owns a chain of dealerships in that region, partnered with a fellow by the name of Robert Johnson, Johnson happens to be founder of Black Entertainment Television and was a huge Obama supporter.
These guys own a half dozen Chrysler stores under the company title of RLJ-McClarty-Landers. Interestingly, none of their dealerships were ordered closed - not one! While all of their competing Chrysler/Dodge and Jeep dealership were closed! Eight dealerships located near the dealerships owned by McClarty and Johnson were ordered shut down. Thus by pure luck, these two major Obama supporters now have virtual monopoly on Chrysler sales in their zone. Isn't that amazing?
There are voices in Washington demanding an explanation, but the "Automotive Task Force" has released no information to the public or to any of the senators demanding answers for what was done.
Keep your ear to the ground for more on this story. If you've ever wanted to make a difference about anything in your life, get on the phone to your national senator or representative in the House and demand an investigation into this.
No More Car Czar
Then an amazing thing happened as this story progressed. Obama's Car Czar, Steve Rattner, resigned and was promptly replaced by former steel workers union boss Ron Bloom. According to CBS News, Rattner left "to return to private life and spend time with his family." Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said, "I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future." By the way, Rattner is under investigation for a multi-million dollar pay-to-play investment bank scandal in New York .....UGH!
But, we're certain that had nothing to do with his resignation. And, according to several news sources out there, there are rumors he's being investigated for what could be pay-to-play scandal involving the closing of Chrysler and GM dealerships. Really? Again, that couldn't have anything to with his resignation-that's ridiculous! Like CBS said, this guy just wants to "spend more quality time with his family."
Obama has 32 personally appointed "czars" who answer to no one but him, all of whom are acting without any Constitutional authority. But hey, we're sure they all have "unique skills,"... as Tim Geithner likes to say!
SOOOOO. HOW’S THE CHANGE WORKING FOR YOU?..”
These guys own a half dozen Chrysler stores under the company title of RLJ-McClarty-Landers. Interestingly, none of their dealerships were ordered closed - not one! While all of their competing Chrysler/Dodge and Jeep dealership were closed! Eight dealerships located near the dealerships owned by McClarty and Johnson were ordered shut down. Thus by pure luck, these two major Obama supporters now have virtual monopoly on Chrysler sales in their zone. Isn't that amazing?
There are voices in Washington demanding an explanation, but the "Automotive Task Force" has released no information to the public or to any of the senators demanding answers for what was done.
Keep your ear to the ground for more on this story. If you've ever wanted to make a difference about anything in your life, get on the phone to your national senator or representative in the House and demand an investigation into this.
No More Car Czar
Then an amazing thing happened as this story progressed. Obama's Car Czar, Steve Rattner, resigned and was promptly replaced by former steel workers union boss Ron Bloom. According to CBS News, Rattner left "to return to private life and spend time with his family." Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said, "I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future." By the way, Rattner is under investigation for a multi-million dollar pay-to-play investment bank scandal in New York .....UGH!
But, we're certain that had nothing to do with his resignation. And, according to several news sources out there, there are rumors he's being investigated for what could be pay-to-play scandal involving the closing of Chrysler and GM dealerships. Really? Again, that couldn't have anything to with his resignation-that's ridiculous! Like CBS said, this guy just wants to "spend more quality time with his family."
Obama has 32 personally appointed "czars" who answer to no one but him, all of whom are acting without any Constitutional authority. But hey, we're sure they all have "unique skills,"... as Tim Geithner likes to say!
SOOOOO. HOW’S THE CHANGE WORKING FOR YOU?..”
Sunday, August 14, 2011
More Dirt on the Chrysler Deal - Part 1
The takeover of Chrysler is a very dirty story. Sooner or later it will all come to light!
This could be a scandal of epic proportions and one that makes Nixon's Watergate or Clinton 's Monica Lewinsky affair pale by comparison. Back in 2009, I wrote a post on the Chrysler bankruptcy and how Obama swindled the bondholders out of their rightful ownership in the company under conventional contract law and gave most of the company to the UAW union, who was directly the primary cause of the bankruptcy, http://conservativesideas.blogspot.com/2009/05/chrysler-bankruptcy-saved-by-fiat.html. Here is a footnote to that story, sent to me by a blogger, which shows how corrupt that deal really was.
“Why was there neither rhyme nor reason as to which dealerships of the Chrysler Corporation were to be closed as part of the bankruptcy? Roll the clock back to the weeks just before Chrysler declared bankruptcy. Chrysler, like GM, was in dire financial straits and federal government graciously offered to "buy the company" and keep them out of bankruptcy and "save jobs."
The feds organized their "Automotive Task Force" to fix Chrysler and GM. Obama, in an act that is 100% unconstitutional, appointed a guy named Steve Rattner to be the White House's official Car Czar - literally, that's what his title was. Initially, the national media reported that Chrysler “had made this list of dealerships”. Not true! The Washington Examiner, Newsmax, Fox News and a host of other news agencies discovered that the list of dealerships was put together by the "Automotive Task Force" headed by no one other than Mr. Steve Rattner.
Now the plot thickens.
Remember earlier we said that there was neither rhyme nor reason why certain dealerships were closed? Actually there's a very interesting pattern as to who was closed down. Again, on May 27, 2009, The Washington Examiner and Newsmax exposed the connection. Amazingly, of the 789 dealerships closed by the federal government, 788 had donated money, exclusively to Republican political causes, while contributing nothing to Democratic political causes. The only "Democratic" dealership on the list was found to have donated $7,700 to Hillary's campaign, and a bit over $2,000 to John Edwards. This same dealership, reportedly, also gave $20000 to Obama's campaign.
Does that seem a little odd to you?
Steve Rattner is the guy who put the list together. Well, he happens to be married to a Maureen White. Maureen happens to be the former national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As such, she has access to campaign donation records from everyone in the nation- Republican or Democrat. But of course, this is just a wacky "coincidence," right? Now comes another really wacky "coincidence." Stay tuned for Part 2 of this story.
Monday, June 27, 2011
How Environmentalists Are Killing America
As a conservative who tends to support Republican candidates that espouse the values of our founding fathers, I automatically am looked upon by liberals as someone who is against global warming or anything that purports to “protect” the environment. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. However, as a technically trained person I am suspect of what I consider “junk science” or environmental research that actually is driven by a liberal political agenda.
Since the left identifies itself as a champion of causes such as the environment (now labeled climate change), gay rights, minority rights, poverty, unions, a woman’s right to choose (commonly known as abortion), and a rather questionable concept known as “social justice”, I have concluded that all this is merely lip-service to pander to special interest groups to advance their “progressive” agenda.
While most of these “causes” are not black and white issues, liberals have proven to be quite hypocritical when their support of these values does not promote their political agenda. This is a point that conservatives have used quite handedly come election time. The title of this post is meant to emphasize how the environmental wing of the Democratic party is actually crippling our economy, causing unnecessary costs to consumers and wasting taxpayers’ money to the tune of billions of dollars, while the rest of world goes merrily along off-setting any good America does about the environment.
A case in point is in the area of energy self-sufficiency, as this administration tries to force our conversion to alternative energy long before it is economically viable. Thus, it artificially drives up the cost of petroleum sources while subsidizing uneconomic sources like wind and solar. This is doomed to failure and will “kill” our economy, if successful.
The latest farce is the environmentalists attack on hydraulic fracturing, which when combined with the new technology of horizontal drilling has unleashed massive reserves of natural gas trapped in shale formations throughout the U.S. As a result, the U.S. now has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world! Natural gas will eventually replace crude oil as the world’s energy source, it’s cheaper, cleaner, easier to transport, has greater BTU (heat/energy) output, and no residual emissions or waste.
The boom in shale-gas is transforming America’s energy landscape. In the last 10 years it has gone from 1% to 25% of our current gas production, and has created over 100,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania and even North Dakota where the unemployment rate is 3.2%, the nations lowest. What we are now hearing from environmentalists is that fracking contaminates drinking water, releases chemicals and radioactivity, causes cancer, earthquakes, pollution, and is not adequately regulated. All of this is poppycock!
In reality, 99.5% of the fluid injected to fracture shale is water and sand, with benign chemicals such as water thickeners (also in food additives), and citric acid (which is in soda pop). Also, shale formations are thousands of feet underground while the water table and aquifers are a few hundred feet deep and they are separated by impermeable rock. There are no proven cases where frac fluid has ever contaminated water supplies and the technology has been used for over 60 years. You will be hearing more of these allegations in the next few years, all aimed at slowing development of this technology in the name of protecting you.
Unfortunately, it is all bogus and another attempt to push us away from energy independence and lower costs, and preventing us from becoming an exporter of natural gas and improving our trade balance.
Don’t be fooled by this attempt of environmentalists to further destroy your economy.
Since the left identifies itself as a champion of causes such as the environment (now labeled climate change), gay rights, minority rights, poverty, unions, a woman’s right to choose (commonly known as abortion), and a rather questionable concept known as “social justice”, I have concluded that all this is merely lip-service to pander to special interest groups to advance their “progressive” agenda.
While most of these “causes” are not black and white issues, liberals have proven to be quite hypocritical when their support of these values does not promote their political agenda. This is a point that conservatives have used quite handedly come election time. The title of this post is meant to emphasize how the environmental wing of the Democratic party is actually crippling our economy, causing unnecessary costs to consumers and wasting taxpayers’ money to the tune of billions of dollars, while the rest of world goes merrily along off-setting any good America does about the environment.
A case in point is in the area of energy self-sufficiency, as this administration tries to force our conversion to alternative energy long before it is economically viable. Thus, it artificially drives up the cost of petroleum sources while subsidizing uneconomic sources like wind and solar. This is doomed to failure and will “kill” our economy, if successful.
The latest farce is the environmentalists attack on hydraulic fracturing, which when combined with the new technology of horizontal drilling has unleashed massive reserves of natural gas trapped in shale formations throughout the U.S. As a result, the U.S. now has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world! Natural gas will eventually replace crude oil as the world’s energy source, it’s cheaper, cleaner, easier to transport, has greater BTU (heat/energy) output, and no residual emissions or waste.
The boom in shale-gas is transforming America’s energy landscape. In the last 10 years it has gone from 1% to 25% of our current gas production, and has created over 100,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania and even North Dakota where the unemployment rate is 3.2%, the nations lowest. What we are now hearing from environmentalists is that fracking contaminates drinking water, releases chemicals and radioactivity, causes cancer, earthquakes, pollution, and is not adequately regulated. All of this is poppycock!
In reality, 99.5% of the fluid injected to fracture shale is water and sand, with benign chemicals such as water thickeners (also in food additives), and citric acid (which is in soda pop). Also, shale formations are thousands of feet underground while the water table and aquifers are a few hundred feet deep and they are separated by impermeable rock. There are no proven cases where frac fluid has ever contaminated water supplies and the technology has been used for over 60 years. You will be hearing more of these allegations in the next few years, all aimed at slowing development of this technology in the name of protecting you.
Unfortunately, it is all bogus and another attempt to push us away from energy independence and lower costs, and preventing us from becoming an exporter of natural gas and improving our trade balance.
Don’t be fooled by this attempt of environmentalists to further destroy your economy.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Watch Out For Bogus Articles
I recently received an email that was forwarded to me by one of my blog recipients. It contained an article purported to be written by Dr. Walter Williams a conservative African- American professor who currently teaches at George Mason University. Williams is very well known in conservative circles and I was very surprised with the article because it claimed that Obama was a shoe-in in 2012 regardless of the state of the economy and all our other problems. When I searched this out I found that this was a bogus article written by some left wing nut and published in several leftist blogs like Move-on.com and others. You can check this on http://www.acnation.com/forum/topics/walter-williams-did-not-write, along with the article. Obviously, this was a ploy by radical liberals to make it appear that a credible conservative was already throwing in the towel on the 2012 election. The following is my response to each of the 10 points in the article before I knew it was a fraud.
1. We all know that the blacks will vote for him by 90%. However, they only make up 12% of the population and less than 50% even go to the polls to vote even when a black is running. That means that as a voting black they are less than 6%, even less when you count eligible voters (excluding prison inmates and under 18’s).
2.His point that college educated women will vote for Obama because of his looks and oratory is somewhat sexist, good looks is a subjective thing and his oratory which is no longer novel, in fact, he is rather boring when he does not have a teleprompter.
3.Liberals will vote for him but most of them are disenchanted with him because he is not liberal enough. They won’t vote Republican, but less will turn out for him than in 2008.
4.I agree that Democrats will vote for him but many party moderates are less enthusiastic about him and therefore less will turn out than in 2008, when they were trying to get back the White House.
5.Traditionally the Hispanic vote is split down the middle, and Hispanic’s are basically Republican in their values i.e. work ethic, anti-socialistic, for personal liberties, pro-life, and many do not favor amnesty for illegals since they got here by following the rules. Most want stronger border enforcement, particularly those who live in Border States. Obama should not take the Hispanic vote for granted.
6.His point about union members is also incorrect. Union leaders will certainly push the membership on to Obama and donate the money, but history shows that union members do not vote the way their leadership dictates, and, anyway, union members represent a very small voting block.
7.Williams’s point that big business will support Obama is also exaggerated. No doubt Obama is a great fund raiser with his base, most Presidents are, but you can be sure that this is not so in the energy industry, defense industry, or the financial industry. In fact, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal showed that hedge-fund managers and employees who supported Obama in 2008 have already greatly reduced donations they made to Democrats. Donations to Republicans were $13M in 2010 compared with $7M in 2008. Donations to Democrats dropped to less than $5M in 2010 versus $12M in 2008.
8.The media does love him but the race card accusation against people who criticize Obama has been defused and is ineffective.
9.Not sure special interest groups will be as strong for Obama in 2012, certainly not Jews; also homosexuals are not a strong voting block. I do know that Asians, who make up almost as much as the black population, will be in the Republican camp.
10.The polls currently show that Obama has lost the Independent vote compared to 2008; now less than 40% will vote for him in 2012. So Williams is wrong on this point.
All I can say is that if the article you get is somewhat fishy, it probably is, so don’t send it on.
1. We all know that the blacks will vote for him by 90%. However, they only make up 12% of the population and less than 50% even go to the polls to vote even when a black is running. That means that as a voting black they are less than 6%, even less when you count eligible voters (excluding prison inmates and under 18’s).
2.His point that college educated women will vote for Obama because of his looks and oratory is somewhat sexist, good looks is a subjective thing and his oratory which is no longer novel, in fact, he is rather boring when he does not have a teleprompter.
3.Liberals will vote for him but most of them are disenchanted with him because he is not liberal enough. They won’t vote Republican, but less will turn out for him than in 2008.
4.I agree that Democrats will vote for him but many party moderates are less enthusiastic about him and therefore less will turn out than in 2008, when they were trying to get back the White House.
5.Traditionally the Hispanic vote is split down the middle, and Hispanic’s are basically Republican in their values i.e. work ethic, anti-socialistic, for personal liberties, pro-life, and many do not favor amnesty for illegals since they got here by following the rules. Most want stronger border enforcement, particularly those who live in Border States. Obama should not take the Hispanic vote for granted.
6.His point about union members is also incorrect. Union leaders will certainly push the membership on to Obama and donate the money, but history shows that union members do not vote the way their leadership dictates, and, anyway, union members represent a very small voting block.
7.Williams’s point that big business will support Obama is also exaggerated. No doubt Obama is a great fund raiser with his base, most Presidents are, but you can be sure that this is not so in the energy industry, defense industry, or the financial industry. In fact, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal showed that hedge-fund managers and employees who supported Obama in 2008 have already greatly reduced donations they made to Democrats. Donations to Republicans were $13M in 2010 compared with $7M in 2008. Donations to Democrats dropped to less than $5M in 2010 versus $12M in 2008.
8.The media does love him but the race card accusation against people who criticize Obama has been defused and is ineffective.
9.Not sure special interest groups will be as strong for Obama in 2012, certainly not Jews; also homosexuals are not a strong voting block. I do know that Asians, who make up almost as much as the black population, will be in the Republican camp.
10.The polls currently show that Obama has lost the Independent vote compared to 2008; now less than 40% will vote for him in 2012. So Williams is wrong on this point.
All I can say is that if the article you get is somewhat fishy, it probably is, so don’t send it on.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
How Do We Get This President to Move?
We are witnessing a vacuum of leadership in Washington. Never in my days on earth have I ever seen an administration that focuses on low priority issues and avoids high priority issues. Now I understand how Obama could abstain or vote “present” on most of the legistlation that came before him in the Illinois State Legislature before he became a Senator and why he sponsored so little legislation in his two years in the U.S. Senate.
I really don’t want this to be another Obama bashing post, but you all know that the world is in turmoil and the only superpower left is just filing in line behind lesser nations waiting for global initiatives that will never come.
1. We await action on the nation’s 2012 budget, and on the deficit ceiling that is not being addressed. Instead, we fund our government via legislation for 2 weeks at a time because the Democrats do not want to deal with the real need to cut spending, which Obama completely ignored in his budget proposal.
2. Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya all are in various stages of regime change, much of which can be very favorable for our interests and adverse to Al Qaida. Yet we watch on the sidelines reluctant to take any action while the world waits for the U.S. to lead. Even the Arab League and the President of France plead for action to save Libyan lives, and our President clearly doesn’t want to appear too “aggressive or arrogant”.
3. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has serious repercussions for the U.S. economy as well as the world; they are the world’s 3rd largest economy. Surely, we will provide aid to a staunch ally but now the Democrat left has another reason to stop development of nuclear power in the U.S., just as the BP oil spill caused a ban on offshore deep water drilling. So now we can develop more expensive and less viable energy sources (wind and solar), while we sit on top of the largest natural gas and oil reserves in the world, and send billions to Brazil to develop their offshore oil industry.
While the world is on fire, our President plays two rounds of golf during the Japanese crisis, goes to some high schools with his wife to discuss the major problem of “bullying” and devotes his Saturday afternoon radio speech to the nation on spending more attention to women’s history month. Nero fiddles while Rome burns!
I can’t wait until he whales in on his prediction of the final four of March Madness (the NCAA basketball tournament for you non-sports fans) at his next press conference. I have previously written at least two posts on the characteristics of great leaders and how this President doesn’t measure up. Leadership is being a great communicator, but also setting an example through actions that we all want to emulate. How do we inject some energy into our President? He runs this country like he has overdosed on valium.
I really don’t want this to be another Obama bashing post, but you all know that the world is in turmoil and the only superpower left is just filing in line behind lesser nations waiting for global initiatives that will never come.
1. We await action on the nation’s 2012 budget, and on the deficit ceiling that is not being addressed. Instead, we fund our government via legislation for 2 weeks at a time because the Democrats do not want to deal with the real need to cut spending, which Obama completely ignored in his budget proposal.
2. Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya all are in various stages of regime change, much of which can be very favorable for our interests and adverse to Al Qaida. Yet we watch on the sidelines reluctant to take any action while the world waits for the U.S. to lead. Even the Arab League and the President of France plead for action to save Libyan lives, and our President clearly doesn’t want to appear too “aggressive or arrogant”.
3. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has serious repercussions for the U.S. economy as well as the world; they are the world’s 3rd largest economy. Surely, we will provide aid to a staunch ally but now the Democrat left has another reason to stop development of nuclear power in the U.S., just as the BP oil spill caused a ban on offshore deep water drilling. So now we can develop more expensive and less viable energy sources (wind and solar), while we sit on top of the largest natural gas and oil reserves in the world, and send billions to Brazil to develop their offshore oil industry.
While the world is on fire, our President plays two rounds of golf during the Japanese crisis, goes to some high schools with his wife to discuss the major problem of “bullying” and devotes his Saturday afternoon radio speech to the nation on spending more attention to women’s history month. Nero fiddles while Rome burns!
I can’t wait until he whales in on his prediction of the final four of March Madness (the NCAA basketball tournament for you non-sports fans) at his next press conference. I have previously written at least two posts on the characteristics of great leaders and how this President doesn’t measure up. Leadership is being a great communicator, but also setting an example through actions that we all want to emulate. How do we inject some energy into our President? He runs this country like he has overdosed on valium.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
On Leaving Cleveland - The Gem on Lake Erie
I am reflecting on my life experiences here in Cleveland, Ohio, as my wife and I go through 50 years of our life’s possessions (otherwise known as stuff), deciding what we will leave behind for an estate sale, and what personal belongings will go to our Florida location. I am one of the few lucky ones to have a potential buyer with a legally binding contract on my Ohio home.
This process is one that your kids usually go through when you die, so we have saved them the trouble. Having your adult life reviewed before your eyes in a few days is a bittersweet experience. Looking at old photos and reading old letters and documents reminds one of how great things were in simpler times in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and also how crude communications were compared to the technology we have today. However, I feel sorry for today’s generation who have little time for deep analysis and pensive thought in their lives and only have sound bites to get their news, and little quality time with their spouse and children; where multi-tasking is the desired skill and there is little patience for focus, concentration, and meditation.
Based on what I see coming our way and coupled with the rapidly changing geopolitical environment, I am glad that at my current age, I won’t have to deal with most of it in the future. However, I am optimistic about America. Although we are going to go through a difficult time, we will eventually purge ourselves of this growing socialist tendency and the political correctness that has completely subverted our value system. After all, we are the last bastion of freedom on this planet; after us there is no hope, no resort.
So, I will say goodbye to Northeast Ohio after 22+ years of wonderful memories, great people, beautiful rolling hills and majestic greenery. I will miss the seasonal changes, the great sports tradition of the Browns and the Indians, and what might have been with LeBron. Cleveland, once a great manufacturing metropolis at the turn of the century, home to John D. Rockefeller and many Presidents, now finds itself struggling for survival in this new service-oriented economy. It may never be what it once was, but with its great people, ethnic diversity, family values and tradition, it will take its place as one of the great cities in the glorious history of this great country we call America!
This process is one that your kids usually go through when you die, so we have saved them the trouble. Having your adult life reviewed before your eyes in a few days is a bittersweet experience. Looking at old photos and reading old letters and documents reminds one of how great things were in simpler times in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and also how crude communications were compared to the technology we have today. However, I feel sorry for today’s generation who have little time for deep analysis and pensive thought in their lives and only have sound bites to get their news, and little quality time with their spouse and children; where multi-tasking is the desired skill and there is little patience for focus, concentration, and meditation.
Based on what I see coming our way and coupled with the rapidly changing geopolitical environment, I am glad that at my current age, I won’t have to deal with most of it in the future. However, I am optimistic about America. Although we are going to go through a difficult time, we will eventually purge ourselves of this growing socialist tendency and the political correctness that has completely subverted our value system. After all, we are the last bastion of freedom on this planet; after us there is no hope, no resort.
So, I will say goodbye to Northeast Ohio after 22+ years of wonderful memories, great people, beautiful rolling hills and majestic greenery. I will miss the seasonal changes, the great sports tradition of the Browns and the Indians, and what might have been with LeBron. Cleveland, once a great manufacturing metropolis at the turn of the century, home to John D. Rockefeller and many Presidents, now finds itself struggling for survival in this new service-oriented economy. It may never be what it once was, but with its great people, ethnic diversity, family values and tradition, it will take its place as one of the great cities in the glorious history of this great country we call America!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Obama Finally Adopts the Freedom (Bush) Doctrine
After two years of playing the nice guy to all the evil players and enemies of the U.S. in the name of political correctness, President Obama has finally adopted the Bush freedom doctrine in the Mid-East, albeit in a rather slow and indecisive manner. Trying to give the impression that he was on top of the situation in Egypt and in close contact with Mubarak, it was quite clear that he and our CIA Director, Leon Panetta, really didn’t know what was going on nor could influence it in anyway. Making rather nebulous statements and getting his face on television every day, it appeared that Obama was starting his 2012 presidential campaign.
Tell me, where was he when the youth of Iran were doing the same thing a year ago trying to rid themselves of that oppressive theocracy that has sponsored terrorism all over the world. While a young girl was lying in the street bleeding to death, he was silent, saying that this was Iran’s internal affair, blowing an excellent chance to overthrow that tyrannical regime.
Finally, Mubarak got a knock on his door yesterday morning and was told by the military that they would no longer support his government and he was going on vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh, we finally had a peaceful military coup and thankfully there was no significant violence. What will come in the long term is still in doubt. However, the media will never concede that the Bush freedom doctrine, starting in Afghanistan and Iraq, sparked this movement towards democracy in that part of the world. And if we play this right it will forever change the future of the entire Middle East in a positive way.
After watching the many tributes to Ronald Reagan on his 100th birthday, I became somewhat nostalgic about the 1980’s when we had a President that really influenced world events, faced our enemies from strength, and motivated our nation with his optimism and vision for the future. In his farewell address to the nation he said, “Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts”.
I hope that Mr. Obama is beginning to realize that decisiveness and strength is the only tact that Jihadists respect and that cow-towing to Islamist extremists by apologizing for our past “indiscretions” only fuels their confidence. Reagan stared down the Soviet Union and won the cold war without firing a shot. Let’s hope that simply a view of our western values and liberties via the Internet and social media will have the same result in the Middle East.
Tell me, where was he when the youth of Iran were doing the same thing a year ago trying to rid themselves of that oppressive theocracy that has sponsored terrorism all over the world. While a young girl was lying in the street bleeding to death, he was silent, saying that this was Iran’s internal affair, blowing an excellent chance to overthrow that tyrannical regime.
Finally, Mubarak got a knock on his door yesterday morning and was told by the military that they would no longer support his government and he was going on vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh, we finally had a peaceful military coup and thankfully there was no significant violence. What will come in the long term is still in doubt. However, the media will never concede that the Bush freedom doctrine, starting in Afghanistan and Iraq, sparked this movement towards democracy in that part of the world. And if we play this right it will forever change the future of the entire Middle East in a positive way.
After watching the many tributes to Ronald Reagan on his 100th birthday, I became somewhat nostalgic about the 1980’s when we had a President that really influenced world events, faced our enemies from strength, and motivated our nation with his optimism and vision for the future. In his farewell address to the nation he said, “Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts”.
I hope that Mr. Obama is beginning to realize that decisiveness and strength is the only tact that Jihadists respect and that cow-towing to Islamist extremists by apologizing for our past “indiscretions” only fuels their confidence. Reagan stared down the Soviet Union and won the cold war without firing a shot. Let’s hope that simply a view of our western values and liberties via the Internet and social media will have the same result in the Middle East.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Why I Really Enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday
As I write this on Super Bowl Sunday 2011, I don’t know who won the game, in fact, it hasn’t started yet. At this point it really doesn’t matter because I’ve just witnessed an inspiring and moving tribute to President Ronald Reagan on his 100th birthday. This televised tribute came from his museum in Simi Valley, California where he was laid to rest some seven years ago.
The tribute included the traditional laying of the wreath and a 21 –gun salute, wonderful patriotic music and entertainment, and great photos against the backdrop of this beautiful setting in the warm mid-day California sunshine. It included brief remarks of thanks from Nancy Reagan with introductions of members of Reagan’s cabinet, staff, diplomats from around the world, and Reagan Foundation members, which I’m proud to say I have supported for many years and will continue to until after my death.
Remarks by Gary Sinese, the actor and patriot, John Ryan, the Chairman of the Foundation were wonderful, but the highlight was an awesome and inspiring speech from Jim Baker, Reagan’s chief of staff and Secretary of Treasury, and Secretary of State under George Bush, the elder. It was probably the best speech I have heard in many years. It was delivered by Mr. Baker in a moving and poignant manner as someone who was very close to Reagan and Nancy. There was not a dry eye in the audience, including yours truly watching it from some 2,000 miles away. Those of you who saw this had to be moved, and wonder whatever happened to America since those days.
Baker’s speech recalled an era not much different from today coming out of the Carter presidency with double digit inflation, high interest and unemployment rates, threats from abroad, particularly the mid-East (Iran) were Carter bungled our response to the Iran hostage crisis, and our international reputation in ruin. Not to mention the ominous cloud of Communism and the Soviet Union hanging over our heads. I can remember Jimmy Carter telling us, like Obama tells us today, that we were at the end our reign as a great power and future generations would not be as blessed.
Suddenly from the West came this man who talked about our “rendezvous with destiny” and this “shining city on a hill called America” and told us our best days were ahead of us. He told us that we, the American people, would control our destiny, not our government. He said we will have “peace through strength” and built a defense force that is the greatest in modern history, with air power that is unprecedented. In fact, this military built under Reagan and used by Bush during the Gulf War, virtually eliminated the Iraqi army in less than 48 hours after Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait, and less than 3 weeks during the Iraq war after 9/11. Last night, during a similar tribute, televised by C-Span of the Young America Foundation’s Reagan tribute, Dick Cheney said that he called Reagan after the Gulf War, as Secretary of Defense under Bush, and thanked him for building this marvelous defense machine to protect the American people.
How does this make you feel after seeing what we have today? Do you think Reagan would ever apologize to the world for America’s “arrogance”? If this doesn’t get you off your duff to make sure we get something better in 2012, nothing will……Thank you, Mr. Baker.
The tribute included the traditional laying of the wreath and a 21 –gun salute, wonderful patriotic music and entertainment, and great photos against the backdrop of this beautiful setting in the warm mid-day California sunshine. It included brief remarks of thanks from Nancy Reagan with introductions of members of Reagan’s cabinet, staff, diplomats from around the world, and Reagan Foundation members, which I’m proud to say I have supported for many years and will continue to until after my death.
Remarks by Gary Sinese, the actor and patriot, John Ryan, the Chairman of the Foundation were wonderful, but the highlight was an awesome and inspiring speech from Jim Baker, Reagan’s chief of staff and Secretary of Treasury, and Secretary of State under George Bush, the elder. It was probably the best speech I have heard in many years. It was delivered by Mr. Baker in a moving and poignant manner as someone who was very close to Reagan and Nancy. There was not a dry eye in the audience, including yours truly watching it from some 2,000 miles away. Those of you who saw this had to be moved, and wonder whatever happened to America since those days.
Baker’s speech recalled an era not much different from today coming out of the Carter presidency with double digit inflation, high interest and unemployment rates, threats from abroad, particularly the mid-East (Iran) were Carter bungled our response to the Iran hostage crisis, and our international reputation in ruin. Not to mention the ominous cloud of Communism and the Soviet Union hanging over our heads. I can remember Jimmy Carter telling us, like Obama tells us today, that we were at the end our reign as a great power and future generations would not be as blessed.
Suddenly from the West came this man who talked about our “rendezvous with destiny” and this “shining city on a hill called America” and told us our best days were ahead of us. He told us that we, the American people, would control our destiny, not our government. He said we will have “peace through strength” and built a defense force that is the greatest in modern history, with air power that is unprecedented. In fact, this military built under Reagan and used by Bush during the Gulf War, virtually eliminated the Iraqi army in less than 48 hours after Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait, and less than 3 weeks during the Iraq war after 9/11. Last night, during a similar tribute, televised by C-Span of the Young America Foundation’s Reagan tribute, Dick Cheney said that he called Reagan after the Gulf War, as Secretary of Defense under Bush, and thanked him for building this marvelous defense machine to protect the American people.
How does this make you feel after seeing what we have today? Do you think Reagan would ever apologize to the world for America’s “arrogance”? If this doesn’t get you off your duff to make sure we get something better in 2012, nothing will……Thank you, Mr. Baker.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
State of the Union # 2 - More of the Same
The State of the Union address is usually filled with optimism, platitudes, promises, appeal to our nationalism and pride, and examples of American heroism and success stories. President Obama did not let us down in this regard. What it didn’t have was a sense of the real world. He showed no sense of urgency about the economy and our growing debt. In fact, he said “Now that the worst of the recession is over we need to address the question of deficit spending”. Everyone knows this remark is ridiculous and that if the economy is showing any signs of improvement it’s because of the November election and extension of the Bush tax cuts for two years, not his policies.
The unemployment rate and housing market continue to show us that the worst is not over. His main proposal to address the debt is to freeze government spending for the next 5 years. That gets us $400B after he just added $3 trillion to the debt in the last 2 years. How’s that for a frontal attack! And all this after he’s just added thousands of people to the federal payroll as well. Since federal government spending has increased 84% (stimulus included) in the last two years, a freeze is absolutely worthless.
His comment about our corporate tax rate as being too high to be competitive is something that conservatives have been saying for years. However, he said we need to cut the rate without adding to the deficit. This means that the government takes back an equivalent amount and, therefore, some companies benefit and others don’t. The government gets to decide who wins and who loses. You can bet the evil oil companies and those greedy health insurance companies will pay, and companies like GE, GM, alternative energy, etc will benefit. More hot wind here!
We continue to hear about simplifying the tax code, transparency in government by putting spending online now for all to see, trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea, and Panama (as long as the American worker is protected), all promises he’s made during his campaign and in the last State of the Union speech but never acts upon.
His comments about our eroding infrastructure were really laughable. He says we are corroding away while China and Korea outspends us on infrastructure. Well, Mr. President, that’s because they’ve done nothing in infrastructure for the last 50 years! What do you expect? And what happened to that $875B in stimulus money that was supposed to go to infrastructure. Something doesn’t smell right here.
Well, you get the idea, don’t you? The biggest applause line was about the end of the Iraq war and our great military, and you know who should get the credit for that. I seem to recall he voted against funding that war and was against the “surge”.
He concluded his speech on the optimistic note of acheiving the American dream and almost had Speaker Boehner have another emotional breakdown. The irony is that only a few months ago he said the next generation may have to settle for less than previous generations.
This President continues to fail to connect with the American people and, as they say, “if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig”. I’m afraid Mr. Obama failed to inspire me last night.
The unemployment rate and housing market continue to show us that the worst is not over. His main proposal to address the debt is to freeze government spending for the next 5 years. That gets us $400B after he just added $3 trillion to the debt in the last 2 years. How’s that for a frontal attack! And all this after he’s just added thousands of people to the federal payroll as well. Since federal government spending has increased 84% (stimulus included) in the last two years, a freeze is absolutely worthless.
His comment about our corporate tax rate as being too high to be competitive is something that conservatives have been saying for years. However, he said we need to cut the rate without adding to the deficit. This means that the government takes back an equivalent amount and, therefore, some companies benefit and others don’t. The government gets to decide who wins and who loses. You can bet the evil oil companies and those greedy health insurance companies will pay, and companies like GE, GM, alternative energy, etc will benefit. More hot wind here!
We continue to hear about simplifying the tax code, transparency in government by putting spending online now for all to see, trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea, and Panama (as long as the American worker is protected), all promises he’s made during his campaign and in the last State of the Union speech but never acts upon.
His comments about our eroding infrastructure were really laughable. He says we are corroding away while China and Korea outspends us on infrastructure. Well, Mr. President, that’s because they’ve done nothing in infrastructure for the last 50 years! What do you expect? And what happened to that $875B in stimulus money that was supposed to go to infrastructure. Something doesn’t smell right here.
Well, you get the idea, don’t you? The biggest applause line was about the end of the Iraq war and our great military, and you know who should get the credit for that. I seem to recall he voted against funding that war and was against the “surge”.
He concluded his speech on the optimistic note of acheiving the American dream and almost had Speaker Boehner have another emotional breakdown. The irony is that only a few months ago he said the next generation may have to settle for less than previous generations.
This President continues to fail to connect with the American people and, as they say, “if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig”. I’m afraid Mr. Obama failed to inspire me last night.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sarah and Jeb - The More I See the Better They Look
It’s clear that the new Republican majority in the House will result in a significant change in the direction this country is moving. The conservatives now control the agenda in Congress and they have considerable leverage to put an end to the reckless spending and waste that has characterize the Democratic controlled Congress since 2006.
The November election and the extension of the Bush tax cuts have already had an impact on business and consumer confidence and this has been reflected in the recent rise in the stock market, which just hit a 2-year high last week. No doubt Mr. Obama will soon claim that his stimulus bill and economic policy are responsible for this new –found confidence, but the American public is smart enough to know what is driving the recent surge of optimism.
With the Republicans beginning to jockey for position in the race to challenge Obama in 2012, my attention in recent weeks has been to observe their behavior and the reaction of the main street media, particularly the far left media. I notice that there is a concerted move to label the expected standard-bearers as the Republican “establishment”. This covers Romney, Gingrich, Huckabee, and the Rove types which attempts to separate them from the Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin. I think we will see more of this as the campaign heats up and I believe it to be a tactical error on the part of the left.
I must say that the left’s obsession with Sarah Palin is fascinating. They obviously fear her and will do anything to denigrate her skills and intelligence to create an image that she is not qualified for the presidency. Of course, Obama was no more qualified when he started his run for the presidency; the only difference is that he had a higher profile because he was a Senator and was not located in Alaska.
As I observe Palin’s handling of the media and listen to her improving rhetoric, I must say she looks better as time goes on. I know many of you may gag at that comment, but just wait. Another potential nominee who I think will be a great candidate is Jeb Bush. Did I hear somebody scream out there? Another Bush, people don’t want a Bush, it will never happen!
As a Florida resident, I can tell you he was an outstanding governor. He would capture the large Hispanic vote, is more articulate than his father or brother, and is well versed on the key domestic issues like education, immigration, fiscal integrity, and national energy. He also has close relations with the key military leaders of our effort in the Mid-East who operate out of Tampa. If he wants to run, he’d be a hellava candidate. Just listen and watch when you see him on the news.
Well, that’s my early speculation. Watch Palin and Jeb Bush! I bet you think I’m crazy.
The November election and the extension of the Bush tax cuts have already had an impact on business and consumer confidence and this has been reflected in the recent rise in the stock market, which just hit a 2-year high last week. No doubt Mr. Obama will soon claim that his stimulus bill and economic policy are responsible for this new –found confidence, but the American public is smart enough to know what is driving the recent surge of optimism.
With the Republicans beginning to jockey for position in the race to challenge Obama in 2012, my attention in recent weeks has been to observe their behavior and the reaction of the main street media, particularly the far left media. I notice that there is a concerted move to label the expected standard-bearers as the Republican “establishment”. This covers Romney, Gingrich, Huckabee, and the Rove types which attempts to separate them from the Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin. I think we will see more of this as the campaign heats up and I believe it to be a tactical error on the part of the left.
I must say that the left’s obsession with Sarah Palin is fascinating. They obviously fear her and will do anything to denigrate her skills and intelligence to create an image that she is not qualified for the presidency. Of course, Obama was no more qualified when he started his run for the presidency; the only difference is that he had a higher profile because he was a Senator and was not located in Alaska.
As I observe Palin’s handling of the media and listen to her improving rhetoric, I must say she looks better as time goes on. I know many of you may gag at that comment, but just wait. Another potential nominee who I think will be a great candidate is Jeb Bush. Did I hear somebody scream out there? Another Bush, people don’t want a Bush, it will never happen!
As a Florida resident, I can tell you he was an outstanding governor. He would capture the large Hispanic vote, is more articulate than his father or brother, and is well versed on the key domestic issues like education, immigration, fiscal integrity, and national energy. He also has close relations with the key military leaders of our effort in the Mid-East who operate out of Tampa. If he wants to run, he’d be a hellava candidate. Just listen and watch when you see him on the news.
Well, that’s my early speculation. Watch Palin and Jeb Bush! I bet you think I’m crazy.
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