Start saving your pennies,
folks!  The House of Non-
Representatives voted last
night and passed their version
of the health care plan.  There
are so many things wrong with
it, I'm befuddled as to which to
rant about.  Let's start with the
mandate forcing you to buy
into their plan.  Congress has
now made your insurance
premium in effect a tax, as the
IRS will now have enforcement
powers, including prison, to
force you to pay one way or the
other.

By a vote of 220 to 215, the
House bill passed with only one
Republican (Joseph Cao of LA)
voting with it's Democrat sup-
porters.  39 Dems voted with
the GOP against the bill.  In
my opinion, the Republicans
blew it, as they had an oppor-
tunity to kill the bill when they
voted for the Stupak Amend-
ment, banning any Federal
money for abortions.  Sure, that
may not have sat well with
Right To Life had they done so,
but let's be serious here.  Had
they defeated the amendment,
which passed 240-194 thanks
to 174 GOP votes, it would
have stripped the shelter the
"blue-dog" Democrats wanted.
Word is Pelosi promised her
pro-abortion pals to delete the
Stupak language in the final
legislation anyway.

Now, do not panic yet.  We are
still a long way from Obama
signing anything.  The Senate
will now prepare their version
for a vote, expected to come
sometime next month.  Should
it pass, both bills will then go
into conference, be merged,
and the final bill voted some-
time early next year.

The Senate versions are just
as bad, especially on how they
intend to pay for this monster.
$500 Billion of the projected
$1.4 Trillion dollar package is
to come from reductions in
Medicare.  Now, does anybody
REALLY think that Congress
will take $500 Billion away from
senior citizens, the best organ-
ized voting block in the land?

So what we will get should
a bill cross Obama's desk is
a new, complex law that adds
some 100+ layers of bureau-
crats between you and your
doctor.  It will NOT insure
everyone who has no insur-
ance now.  The Democrats
claim it will add 12 million
people to those covered by
health insurance, but the CBO
scored the bills and put the
figure at half of that.  And it
will undoubtedly bloat the
projected budget deficits even
further.  To make matters
worse, nothing in any of the
legislative pieces truly trans-
lates to reducing the cost of
insurance premiums.

So what is this all about?  Why
are the Democrats forcing this
down our throats when every
poll shows Americans are
against these plans?  POWER.
Pure and simple.  This will give
the government more power
over 1/6th of the economy and
plenty of opportunity to use it
for graft and corruption.

Socializing health care adds
to the power Washington has
accumulated over the past
century, particularly in the
last year.  They have seized
control of the financial system
including the home mortgage
industry.  They are worming
their way into taking over
the energy industry as well as
the Internet and communica-
tions in general.

How much more we can take
of this is yet to be seen, but
as deficits and unemployment
continue to soar upwards, I
would not be surprised if
Moody's reconsiders their
last projection of America
losing it's AAA bond rating
much sooner than 3-5 years.
Just 6 months ago they
said 10 years.  The U.S.
dollar is getting beat up all
over the world and the talk
of replacing it as the world's
reserve currency is getting
louder each week.

If all of this keeps up at the
current pace, not only will we
'double-dip' the recession (as
if it's ended already) and slide
straight into a depression that
could last for a decade or
longer.  Sorry folks, that's just
the sad reality.  You can't have
your cake and eat it, too, and
nobody pay for it.  At some
point, the music will stop and
there are too few chairs to go
around.  Taxes will be raised
and assets be sold off.  I'm
sure the Chinese would make
good use of our national parks.

If it's Wednesday it must be
post-election review day. LOL!
Yesterday, a number of states
and communities held an off-
season election.  The most
notable were those in New
Jersey and Virginia, where the
voters replaced the Democrats
with Republicans.

The mood in the country is for
change, and not the kind com-
ing out of Washington.  Exit
polls indicate that people are
very nervous about the econo-
my.  In New Jersey, folks were
also concerned about corrup-
tion amongst their politicians.
Christie, who was an attorney
general, prosecuted over 100
corrupt politicians with no
acquittals.  

Both New Jersey and Virginia
had gone for Obama in 2008,
and the swing-back to the
GOP was over 20% in each
state.  About 30% in Virginia.
How this will translate to the
mid-term 2010 Congressional
elections is the big question?

With the ground swell of resis-
tance against health care and
other recent legislation that
Congress experienced over the
summer, the losses yesterday
will give many Democrats in
shaky districts to think twice
before voting for more budget-
busting programs.  Many had
considered the town hall and
Tea Party goers to be passé.
That by November, their anger
would subside.

The desire to sweep the deck
by voters clean of stale politi-
cians is real.  Even in Detroit,
a city plagued by decades of
cronyism, the city council got
a fresh face with 5 of nine in-
cumbants replaced.  The new
head of the council, Charles
Pew, was a local TV anchor,
and received more votes than
any others in his first run for
office.  Detroiters even passed
a revision to the city charter
changing the way councilmen
are elected, with 7 of the 9 to
be chosen by specific neigh-
borhoods, as it used to be be-
fore the Coleman Young Era,
instead of city-wide.

Change is in the wind and
yesterday's election was just
the beginning.  Obama, Reid
and Pelosi had better take
heed.  Reid seems the most
scared, as the Senate now may
not deliver it's version of health
care till next year.  He faces
tough opposition in next year's
election.  Some analysts say
that the Democrats could lose
as many as 35-40 seats in the
House and enough seats in the
Senate to give the GOP some
power in the use of filibusters.

The Democrats, and stale Re-
publicans, have done plenty of
damage already.  Yesterday’s
results may not save us in the
short-term, but may point the
way to a light at the end of the
tunnel for the long-term salva-
tion of America!

(Be sure and watch for Andy’s
blogs at “Mr. Capitalist” at
Townhall.com and follow him
on Twitter as “mrcapitalist”.)

What???  Another national
emergency?  Like we haven't
gotten over any of the others
yet!

Yes, President Obama today
declared yet another national
emergency, this time over the
H1N1 flu outbreak.  Numbers
of cases are increasing in
nearly every state.  However,
the strain has mutated since
this spring as has become less
of a killer.  This does not mean
that could it still not have a
serious impact on the health
care system nor the economy.

Young children and those
adults with chronic health
issues are the most endan-
gered by the H1N1.  If you're
between 21 and 60 and in
generally good health, the odds
are that should you contract
the H1N1, you'll probably just
be no sicker than had you
contracted an average season-
al flu.

So why has Obama declared
an emergency?  What do you
think?  He's playing politics to
keep the health care legislation
moving forward.  This is sad,
indeed.  But it is what we have
come to expect from this
White House.

Obama the Magician is trying
to keep us all distracted from
his continuous power-grabs.
On Thursday, the 'net-neutrali-
ty' legislation was passed with
little or no fanfare.  This is the
first step in Obama's plans to
seize control of the Internet.

The economy is still a joke!
(BTW, you ought to be also
reading my new posts at
Mr. Capitalist and follow my
tweets as mrcapitalist) Iran
is thumbing their noses at
us.  The whole ball of wax
seems on the verge of un-
raveling under Obama's eyes.

This 'swine' flu thing is just
another distraction for Obama
to use and manipulate the
discourse of events.  His
administration needs a crisis
to justify their actions.  So
what better than a pandemic
to justify health care reform?

When will people wise up?
Especially those in the media?
Obama’s poll numbers conti-
nue to decline, yet we are
still being fed a steady diet of
how wonderful he is.  In truth,
he is little more than a bully.
A misguided man-child who
throws a tantrum whenever he
does not get his way.  Obama
is still trying to blame Bush for
every problem.

By not taking ownership,
Obama has yet to begun to
actually govern.  He is still
in full campaign mode, as
highlighted by the many
fund-raisers he has attended.
28 so far as president, while
Bush and Clinton only went
to 5 and 6 respectively during
the first nine months of their
presidencies.

The lack of leadership from
the White House has allowed
Congress to behave any way
they choose, and they have
chosen to act like spoiled
children.  Obama had promised
during his ‘real’ campaign that
the legislative process for the
health care reform would be
open to the public and covered
by CSPAN.  Instead, the lea-
ders of the Democrats in
Congress have locked the
doors, even changed the locks!
Nobody really knows what is
being worked on or how much
it will cost?

Today’s declaration could put
the Federal government more
in control of the health care
system.  Even exercising more
authority over insurance and
pharmaceutical companies.
But I think the real germ we
need to fear is not the H1N1,
but those of Obama and his
pals in Congress.  The disease
they carry will not only make
us all sick, but ruin the nation’s
health.  The only vaccine that
is available is the truth, and
if the government can control
the flow of information over
the Internet, the truth will
become a casualty.

There was then a senator who
was known as Max Baucus. He
lived in the wicked city that was
Washington, DC.  Baucus was
not special in any way, and yet
he still loved and worshiped his
Lord Obama.  

Then one day, as Baucus was
walking to the Senate,  he saw
a pillar of light and heard the
voice of Lord Obama.  "Max
Baucus!  I am Obama, your
Lord and Master.  I have
chosen you to deliver unto me
10 Republican votes in the
Senate for MY health care bill,
so I may claim it is truly bi-
partisan."

"Oh, my Lord Obama!  I shall
obey and seek 10 Republican
votes!"  Thus, Baucus went to
the Senate and sought out 10
Republican votes for his Lord
Obama's health care bill.  But,
alas, he could not find any.

The next day, Lord Obama
spoke once again to Baucus.
"Baucus, my servant, have
you done as I ordered?"

"Oh my Lord Obama.  I have
failed you!", replied Baucus.
"I was unable to get 10
Republicans to support Your
health care bill."  With this
news, dark clouds appeared
and a rumble of thunder was
heard.  Baucus feared Lord
Obama and offered to find
five Republicans votes.

"Very well,", boomed Lord
Obama.  "Go forth and bring
me five Republican votes to
support MY health care bill
so I may claim a bipartisan
victory."  And with his new
orders, Baucus set forth and
went to the Senate to obtain
five Republican votes.  But,
alas, he could not.

The next day, as Baucus again
walked to the Senate, Lord
Obama spoke unto him.  

"Baucus, I am your Lord
Obama.  Have you done as
I command and obtained for
ME five Republican votes?"

"Oh my Lord Obama," did
answer Baucus, "I regret that
I have failed You again.  I was
unable to convince five Repub-
licans to vote for YOUR health
care bill."  And with that news,
the sky once again grew dark
and cloudy.  A loud clap of
thunder roared as Lord Obama
spoke.

"Baucus, you have failed me.
Let it be known that MY wrath
shall be felt and I shall turn
you into a pillar of salt!"

"Oh my Lord Obama!  Please
forgive your humble servant!",
begged Baucus.  "What if I
were able to obtain two votes
from Republicans for Your
health care bill?"

"Very well, Baucus.  You have
been a good and obedient
servant and I shall refrain MY
wrath unto you if you can bring
unto me two Republican votes
so I may claim a bipartisan
victory."  Baucus thanked his
Lord Obama, and went forth
to the Senate to seek two
Republican votes.  But, alas,
he could find none.

The next day, as Baucus again
walked to the Senate, he was
afraid of what would happen.
A pillar of bright light again
appeared and Lord Obama
spoke unto Baucus.

"Baucus, I am your Lord
Obama.  Have you obtained
two Republican votes for MY
health care bill so I may claim
a bipartisan victory?"

"Oh my Lord Obama, I regret
to say that I have failed you.
I was unable to find two Repub-
licans who will support Your
health care bill.  Please forgive
me, my Lord Obama!"  Once
again the sky grew dark and
great clouds appeared over
the head of Baucus.  A loud
clap of thunder knocked him
to the ground.  The earth shook
as Lord Obama spoke.

"BAUCUS!!!  You have failed
me yet again!  For this I shall
turn you into a pillar of salt as
a sign of MY wrath!"

"Oh my Lord Obama, please,
please let me try again! ",
begged Baucus.  "What if I
were to bring you one Repub-
lican vote to support Your
health care bill?  Would that
be enough for you to claim a
bipartisan victory?"

There was a long pause as
Baucus cowered on the ground
awaiting the answer.  Then,
Lord Obama spoke.  "Very
well, my faithful servant.  If
you can deliver unto me one
Republican vote I shall not
turn you into a pillar of salt."

"Oh thank You, Lord Obama!"
exclaimed Baucus.  "You are
truly my Lord of hope and
change!"  And with that, the sky
cleared and Baucus rose and
continued on his way to the
Senate.  There, he did find one
Republican, if one could call
her that.  Olympia Snowe then
promised Baucus that she was
willing to support Lord Obama's
health care bill.  But she had
some conditions to her support.
She would only vote for it in
the committee and would not
promise yet to support it on the
floor of the Senate as a whole.
She was also concerned over
the costs and the means to
pay for the program.

On the way home, Baucus
felt pleased that he finally had
good news.  The pillar of light
returned and Lord Obama
spoke unto him.

"I am your Lord Obama!  Have
you done as I commanded and
obtained for me one Republi-
can vote so I may claim a bi-
partisan victory?"

"Yes, my Lord Obama!,", did
answer Baucus.  "I have one
Republican vote for Your
health care bill."

"Baucus, that is very good!  I
am pleased.  Who's vote have
you delivered unto me?"

"It was Olympia Snowe's vote,
my Lord Obama.  She shall
support Your health care bill in
committee.  However, she did
not promise to support it on the
floor of the Senate as of yet.
She cited concerns over it's
cost and how it shall be paid
for?"

With this news, Lord Obama
gave out a long, loud sigh.
"Baucus, I shall keep our
covenant and not turn you
into a pillar of salt.  Now go
forth and appear on MY
faithful servant, Chris Matthews
TV show and proclaim that
I, Lord Obama, have achieved
a great, bipartisan victory!"

And Baucus obeyed and did
as so ordered by his Lord
Obama.  And the world was
told how great a victory Lord
Obama achieved with truly
bipartisan support for HIS
health care bill.

The End.  LOL!

This may be the wrong day for
me to comment on the decline
of the U.S. dollar.  Or it may
be the ideal day to do so, I
shall let you decide.  For those
of you who do not know, just
over three years ago, I nearly
perished in an accident.  It
was a long convalescence and
has complicated my life greatly.
With an approaching weather
front, every bone, joint and
muscle in my body aches. I
feel like a truck has dragged
me several miles.

There are several economic
weather fronts approaching.
Reports from the UK Telegraph
and other sources of a recent
meeting amongst key nations
like France, China and the oil
kingdoms.  They apparently
are talking about replacing the
U.S. dollar with a basket of
other currencies, called SDR,
for oil transactions.

The mere rumor of this meet
sent gold to new record levels.
On Tuesday, the COMEX
price index was $1045 per
Troy ounce.  Wednesday it
still crept higher and this
morning crossed the $1050
mark.  Since 2001, the dollar
has lost some 67% of it’s
buying power, nearly half of
that in just the past year!
In the same time frame, gold
has tripled in value.

Why is all this happening?
The answers are numerous
and vary in ease.  The most
simple answer is that other
nations are losing confidence
in the United States.

We are spending ourselves
ever deeper into debt.  We
have inflated the money sup-
ply dramatically the past year
or so in response to the
financial meltdown.  Citizens
are defaulting on mortgages
and credit cards in alarming
numbers.  The government
continues to plan to spend
even more money than it al-
ready has.

Private and commercial debt
are each in the $3 Trillion
dollar range.  The Federal
debt is approaching $12
Trillion.  Thrown in the states,
local governments and that
ever enigmatic realm of
‘obligations and contingencies’
(moneys borrowed from Social
Security, etc...) adds another
$50 to $100 Trillion dollars of
debt, depending who is crunch-
ing the numbers.  That’s a lot
of crunching!!!

So is it any wonder that China
and other countries, who own
substantial sums of our debt
(China holds the note for about
$800 Billion dollars of our debt)
are getting nervous about our
prospects for fiscal responsi-
bility?  What have we done
lately to demonstrate that we
will eventually fix the problem
and get back on a rational
program?  NADA!  Absolutely
not one blessed thing!

People just do not ‘get it’.
Here in Detroit, MI, we saw
this week a classic example.
As part of the Obama stimulus
bill, Detroit got $15 Million
dollars to distribute amongst
those needing help with rent
or mortgages.  Checks for
$3,000 would be issued to
applicants.  Thousands of
people applied, far more than
have a hope of receiving any
cash.

Local radio station, WJR, had
a reporter at the scene where
folks were waiting in line to
file applications.  He posed a
question to one woman in line,
“Where does the money come
from?”  She replied from the
city or state.  “Where did they
get the money?”  She guessed
it came from Obama.  “Where
did HE get the money?”  She
basically answered that he’s
got it because he’s the presi-
dent.  LOL!

While I lament here in my achy
body, my mind reels from the
general lack of economics
which exists in America.  Our
education system has com-
pletely failed in teaching sound
economic principles.  Unless
you are amongst those who
attended the handful of good
colleges, like Hillsdale, or are
self-taught reading the works
of von Mises or Hayek, then
you probably have few clues
how our economy actual works.
Even more fundamentally, how
our currency is created.  

The simple reality is that we
are printing money faster now
than ever before.  It still is not
enough to pay our bills or even
actually stimulate economic
growth.  WHY?  Because as
each new dollar is printed, it
devalues the rest already in
circulation.  That’s why the
flight to gold, and silver, are
in full swing.  That’s why China
and others are thinking about
a post-dollar world.

The money machine cannot
keep going on forever.  At
some point, one of two out-
comes will occur.  Somebody
in the Federal Reserve will
turn off the printing press and
raise interest rates, causing
our sluggish economy to be-
come even more sluggish.
Or, the whole thing crashes
down on our heads.

Our last bout with inflation was
some 30 years ago and it got
very ugly.  It took Fed chairman
Paul Volker and President
Reagan nearly 3 years to turn
things around and end the slide
into the abyss.  Volker may still
be around but Obama is no
Ronald Reagan.  At least not
yet.  Maybe he’ll get religion
and have a ‘come to Jesus’
moment and choose sound
economic policy over the re-
distribution of wealth/poverty.

Some truly believe that Obama
actually is working to destroy
the dollar, as it will open the
door to social justice.  This is
pure folly, as social justice
translates to Socialism.  That
alone is enough to frighten
those nations holding dollars
as reserve currency. 

So, it's a bad day to be me
and a bad day to be the U.S.
dollar.  Both of us are on the
verge of being crippled.  In
my case, I'll feel better once
the weather changes.  For
the dollar, well, we'll see
which way the wind blows.

I may surprise some of you
with this edition of my blog,
but I am actually somewhat
sympathetic to President
Obama's position in the dust
up with General McChrystal.
HOW ABOUT THAT!?!?

For starters, generals ALWAYS
want MORE.  Patton wanted
400,000 barrels of gas.  Back
in the Civil War, McClellan
always begged for more troops
and the time to train and organ-
ize them.  So the fact that the
new man in charge in Afghani-
stan wants more is not out of
the ordinary.  The real ques-
tions are how will they be used
and what is our goal?

Now, the goal question we may
lay squarely at Obama's feet.
One would hope our goal is
victory.  The way some of the
Democrats in Congress, as
well as VP Joe Biden are now
talking, victory is not our ob-
jective.  More and more are
advocating various forms of
retreat or withdraw.  Thus far,
the White House is being very
vague as to what our long term
objectives are.

As for McChrystal, he does
have a chain of command to
follow.  The last time I heard,
the Uniform Code of Military
Justice does list as a viola-
tion for military members to
make public statements
critical of elected officials. I
do not believe, from what
I have read so far, that he
said anything which would
violate the UCMJ.

How McChrystal will use the
extra troops is the matter at
hand.  Word, or rumor, is
that McChrystal wants the
extra forces to be located
within the population centers
much as 'The Surge' in Iraq
was executed.  He wants to
withdraw from the remote
outposts, where our forces
are more vulnerable.

Politically and demographic-
ly, Afghanistan is much differ-
ent than Iraq.  The Iraq stra-
tegy was successful due in
large part to turning Sunni
leaders away from Al Qaeda.
Many needed to be bribed,
but most were just fed up
with Al Qaeda and their strict
adherence to Shiria Law. The
Sunni's, historically, were al-
ways a bit more cosmopolitan
in Iraq.

By building up from the local
towns and provinces, we
achieved excellent results in
stemming Al Qaeda and other
insurgent groups.  In theory
this may work in Afghanistan
as most people do not trust
the national government in
Kabul.  Indeed, the recent
elections are being challenged.

Dealing more directly with
local politicians, warlords and
tribal elders is probably a good
idea in general.  Along with an
increase in troops to protect
towns and villages, additional
funds for training local security
forces, building infrastructure
and eradicating opium crops.

Some like Biden are calling
for a pull back to base camps,
and just launching periodic
missions against Al Qaeda and
Taliban targets.  This is a bad
idea.  It's the same silly 'fire-
base' mentality that failed in
Vietnam.  On the other hand,
pouring large numbers of
troops into towns and villages
may also offend the locals,
creating more hostiles than
before.

Clearly, a well thought out
approached based on good
intelligence and discussions
with local leaders would be
the way to determine if a
surge would have positive
results.  Defense Secretary
Robert Gates has repeatedly
stated in the past week that
such plans are being reviewed.
The Iraq surge took many
months to plan and execute.
We are now in week 5 or 6
since McChrystal's report to
Gates?

So we need to have a bit of
patience.  It seems like every
issue these days must be
rushed.  The war in Afghani-
stan will be a long one.  It's
not going to be over anytime
soon.  While there has been
an increase in violence, we
are far from a crisis situation.

So I will cut Obama some slack
on this issue and allow the pro-
cess to work it's way through
the system.  I am confident that
should the weak sisters gain in
numbers, people like Gates
and McChrystal will resign in
protest.  I am also pretty sure
that even with the proposed
surge, we will still be engaged
in Afghanistan come January,
2013, when President Palin is
sworn into office.  HA-HA-HA!!!

In a normal Universe, the
President of the United States
of America is considered the
leader of the free world.  The
office is one of prestige, honor
and decorum.  An office of
dignity and respect.

President Barack Hussien
Obama has ended all of that.
He has completely trashed
this noble position.  If his
appearances on late night
comedy shows was not bad
enough, Obama has now
become little more than a
traveling salesman, trying
to sell snake oil to the
world at large.  His shilling
for the 2016 Chicago
Olympics was disgraceful.

Never before has an American
President appeared before
the International Olympic Com-
mittee to pitch for the games.
But Obama did, and he failed!
I could almost understand if
he had gone knowing in ad-
vance that Chicago would win
the bid for hosting the games.
It would be exactly the sort of
cheap stunt Obama would do
to claim personal victory.

But alas, NO!  The I.O.C. had
the good sense to award the
2016 Summer Games to Rio
de Janeiro.  It will be Brazil’s
first time hosting the Olympics
and a sign of their new status
as one of the world’s top 10
economies.

This would have been the sort
of thing a president sends an
underling to.  His wife, Oprah,
and underling Valerie Jarrett
did go, along with the usual
US Olympic staff types.  But
Barack Obama felt compelled
to go there himself.  As if his
mere presence would make
all the difference and tip the
scales in Chicago’s favor.

If anything, his 4-hour stop-
over in Copenhagen had the
exact opposite effect.  As it
was, the previous presenta-
tions delivered by his wife and
the rest fell flat, providing few
details.  Obama’s appearance
was considered ‘bad form’ as
he only spent four hours.  The
other national leaders who did
attend all spent a few days
there in order to schmooze the
Olympic officials.

After Obama’s awful speech
at the United Nations, and a
series of international missteps
the past month, such as selling
out Poland on the anniversary
of Poland being stabbed in the
back by the Soviet Union, his
standing on the world stage
has sunk like a rock.  The
waffling on Afghanistan, the
spineless policies towards
Iran, his support for the former
president of Honduras who
tried to become a dictator, all
point to a general naiveté.
And others are speaking out
about it!

French President Sarkozy
was very critical recently on
the mishandling by Obama
of Iran’s secret nuclear fuel
factory.  Sarkozy and other
NATO leaders wanted to
raise the issue at the U.N..
But Obama delayed and
instead chose to announce
this latest violation by Iran
at the G-20 Summit held
last week in Pittsburgh.  

After caving into to Russia
and scrapping the missile
defense system for Poland
and the Czech Republic,
some pundits claimed that
Obama did so in order to
secure their support on the
subject of Iran.  But, alas,
Russia has shown little
support.  Oh, some of
Obama’s pals, such as
the CEO of General Electric,
Jeffrey Immelt, did get a
cozy business deal from the
Russians.  Hmmm!

Bill Clinton turned the Oval
Office into a bordello.  Obama
is turning it into a Blue Light
Special.  America is becoming
the bargain basement for the
world.  

Yesterday on The Glenn Beck
Show, Glenn responded to an
error pointed out by the White
House bloggers.  On Wednes-
day, Beck mentioned that the
city of Vancouver went $1 Bil-
lion dollars over budget when
they hosted the Olympics.  In
fact, they hadn't had their
games yet, as they are hosting
the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Beck admitted his error, he
confused Vancouver with the
games held in Calgary.  But
oddly enough, he was still not
far off the mark.  Vancouver
is about $800 Million dollars
over budget currently.  He also
added that London, England,
which is hosting the 2012
Summer games, is now some
$8 Billion dollars over budget.
China and Greece also went
way over their initial budgets.
So one has to wonder why
anybody would want to host
the darn thing?

Today, the International
Olympic Committee will select
the site for the 2016 Summer
Games.  Madrid, Rio de
Janeiro, Tokyo, and Chicago
are in the running.  President
Obama, along with his wife and
Valerie Jarrett, are in the city of
Copenhagen to attend the
festivities.

So how on earth would a city
like Chicago, running budget
deficits and forced to close it’s
offices one day per week, will
be able to fund the billions of
dollars needed to host the
Olympics?  An even bigger
question is how the money will
be handled given that Chicago
is probably the single most
corrupt city in the United States
if not the whole planet?

We already see the signs of
who and how billions of dollars
will be siphoned off by the
crony machine.  For example,
Aon Insurance looks to make
some $1.1 billion insuring the
Olympic stadiums and facilities.
Aon’s founder, Patrick Ryan,
is an old pal of Mayor Richard
Daley.  Not long along Ryan
gave Daley an unethical dona-
tion of $100,000.  Aon was also
recently fined $5.25 million dol-
lars for bribery and corruption
of public officials.

Valerie Jarrett, long time friend
of the Obamas and a White
House adviser, is the VP for
the Chicago Olympic Commit-
tee.  Jarrett, former CEO of
Habitat, a land management
firm, is plugged into the real
estate industry in Chicago.
Several properties managed
by Habitat, such as Grove
Parc and Lawnsdale Restora-
tion, both dilapidated, are in
the area planned for the
Olympic Village.

The I.O.C. generally does not
award the honors to cities
where the local population is
opposed to hosting the games.
There are conflicting polls as
to how much support there is.
One TV station’s news team,
from WFLD-TV, has been
threatened by the Chicago
Olympic Committee for airing
stories about local protests
and opposition against the
games being held in Chicago.

So while not one shovel of
dirt has been dug yet, the
Olympic games already have
all the signs of becoming a
costly and corrupt boondoggle.
Just imagine what will happen
once the money starts to really
flow!  I’ll bet even Tony Rezko
will make a few bucks while
in prison.  LOL!

The other issue, all be it a
minor one, is why the White
House is playing this silly
'gotcha' game with Glenn
Beck?  Didn't they learn
their lesson after making
Rush Limbaugh the head
of the Republican Party?
Limbaugh's radio audience
doubled as a result.  Beck
is already closing in on
having a TV audience the
same size as Fox's Bill
O'Reilly, who is on at 8pm
whereas Beck is on at 5pm.
This is remarkable for a
cable 'news' program to
have such ratings at such
an off-beat time.

Once again the episode shows
the general lack of experience
and wisdom in the White
House.  The Obama Admini-
stration is easily distracted
and too sensitive to any criti-
cism.  They never stopped
being in 'campaign mode'.
Instead of governing they
waste time and energy in
pointless minutia.  With nearly
a year gone and so much
still unresolved, when will
the Obama Administration
start doing some real work?

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

He took over the car
companies,
and close their dealers
with great ease!

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

Ignores the nukes in
Iran,
Hardly thinks of
Afghanistan!

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

He'll give health care to
everyone,
After gramps and granny
are dead and gone!

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

Spending more billions
everyday,
Next generations will have
to pay.

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

Helps fund his ACORN
fellows,
Who give advice to
bordellos.

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

Adopted in Indonesia,
To which he has amnesia.

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Barack Hussien Obama!

The women of America are on
the march!  Yesterday, Glenn
Beck hosted a group of some
100+ mothers, all members
of 9/12 Project or Tea Party
groups on Fox News.  It was
an inspiring program, showing
that the people are awakening
to the klaxon call, "Don't Tread
On Me!"

Unfortunately, Beck's show
was interrupted by none other
than President Obama, who
made yet another rambling
speech from Pittsburgh as
he attends the G-20 summit.
Now, pardon my ego, but
after some twenty minutes of
this, I took matters in my own
hands and called Fox News.
All I got was voice-mail, but I
left a loud and long rant that
let them know the reason I,
and others, watch Fox News
is NOT to see Obama every
5 minutes!  "Get that lying
M-F off the air!  We want Beck!
If I want to watch Obama, I'd
watch 'Tingle-Thighs' (Chris
Matthews)."  Now, I'm certain
others also called with similar
complaints.  But I would like to
take credit as within five min-
utes of my call, Fox News went
back to Beck, even though
Obama was still babbling on.
No need to thank me, it was
all my pleasure!  LOL!!!

So I had to tape the repeat at
2am in order to see the whole
event without interruption by
the Socialists.  The three main
issues the moms had were:

1)  History was not being taught
in our schools.  2)  Loss of
parental rights.  3)  Govern-ment ruining the future for their
children.

The ladies attending had other
issues as well.  They feel the
schools are indoctrinating their
children with nonsense like the
video "The Story of Stuff",
which was funded by the Left-
Wing, George Soros shell
group, the Tides Foundation.
Many of the moms are also
upset over curriculum they are
forced to teach their children,
even when home schooling.
The issue of flu shots and other
inoculations was also raised.

A recurring theme was how
the ladies all felt alone prior
to joining local 9/12 or Tea
Party groups.  They were
afraid to speak and share
their fears and concerns with
others.  But upon attending
meetings, they discovered
that they were not alone!
Indeed, many found that they
already knew others attending
from their schools and neigh-
borhoods.

The women told of how a year
ago, they were not political at
all.  They never discussed
politics with others and certain-
ly never went to townhalls to
protest.  But as events have
unfolded over the past year,
they are now galvanized and
activated.  The mothers now
vow to fight the good fight and
not just fade away, as many
politicians and media types
believe will happen.

The lack of God is viewed as
a major cause of the current
malaise.  While the Constitu-
tion does place a barrier to
prevent a state-sponsored
religion, the 1st Amendment
is NOT intended to cease the
mention of God.  Indeed, all
of the Founding Fathers did
believe in God.  They may have
had different perceptions, but
they all knew that for democ-
racy to succeed in America,
a moral center was necessary.

The mothers had a genuine
handle on the subject of
Socialism/Communism.  They
do fear the direction the nation
has taken.  The rapid expan-
sion of government, the exces-
sive spending, the massive
debt, over-complicated laws,
codes and regulations are all
seen as threats to liberty,
happiness, and the future.
The ladies are tired of those
who apologize to the world.

And they are tired of the world
trying to tell us what to do!
The subject of UNESCO’s
U.N. Child Rights Commission
was raised.  About 1/3 of the
money spent on a ‘global cur-
riculum is spent here in the
United States.  The ladies want
their children to learn a more
American-based curriculum,
featuring true heroes like our
Founding Fathers.

They see our government’s
attempts to ram socialized
medicine, Cap & Trade taxes
down our throats and take over
of private industries as wrong.
Of special concern is the legi-
slation to eliminate private
student loans which will give
the government the potential
power to restrict education
and career paths.

But the women are not afraid.
They know now that they can
make a difference and fight
back!  By organizing locally,
teaching their children the
values and history and learning
how to best express them-
selves.  Pollster Frank Luntz
advised them to always start
with, “As a mother...” to win
any argument with politicians
or the media.  One group of
ladies have started a new
organization, The Sisterhood
of Mommy Patriots, to further
recruit and spread the word
that the time for defending
freedom is now!

Think what you will of Glenn
Beck, but his show is the
only decent forum where folks
from across the spectrum can
gather.  Nobody else is doing
this as well.  Let’s face it, his
program is the only one that
has reps from the Ayn Rand
Institute on regularly!  ‘Nuff
said!  The impact Beck has
had the past few months is
truly astonishing and gives
us all the REAL HOPE for
REAL CHANGE we need now.

Our U.S. Congress is muzzling
free speech and openness.  
They are attempting to gag a
private health insurance com-
pany, Humana, from contacting
their customers about the pen-
ding legislation.  Humana did
send out one letter, warning
it's customers that under the
terms of the various proposed
legislations, each would have
a negative impact on existing
policies.

Needless to say, Congress
does not want Humana to
scare it's customers.  They
feel that only they, the
Democrats in Congress,
may scare people.  LOL!

In another move today, the
Senate Finance Committee
led by Max Baucus (D-MT),
voted 12-11 against posting
the some 508 amendments
to the health care bill they
drafted on the Internet.  The
Democrats believe that no-
body should be allowed to
read the amendments before
the entire package is voted
on.  Nice, huh?

Even Olympia Snow, (R-ME),
who usually votes with the
Democrats, was vocal in op-
position to this move to block
the free flow of information.
We have to wonder, what is
in these 508 amendments
that is too shocking to be
made public???  Snow was
part of the 'Gang of Six' whom
worked on a compromise bill.
But since it's release last
week, 508 amendments have
been added.  I guess it was
not compromised enough!

Both of these incidents just
continues to show the blatant
arrogance in Washington.
The powers that be think they
can do whatever they want
without consequences.  For
months, bill after bill have
been rammed down our
throats at break-neck speed.
They have all been extremely
lengthy and filled with pork
and insanity.

In addition to health care, we
still have the Cap & Trade
carbon tax bill waiting in the
wings.  The House already
passed it, by a narrow vote
margin.  It is now in the
Senate, where we can ex-
pect more amendments to
be added to the some 1300
pages.  

Meanwhile, President Obama
continues his never ending
speaking tour, this time at
the United Nations.  Not
content to trash America when
overseas, Obama took the
opportunity to trash America
at home.  He even spared a
few moments to trash the
nation of Israel, too!

One might think with all the
problems facing us, he ought
to stay at the White House
now and then to do some
actual work?  Maybe write
some proposals himself?
Maybe do some meetings
to get things done?  Seems
he thinks talking is enough.
I suppose if he ever had a
real job or some manage-
ment experience, he might
know that just talking all
the time doesn't accomp-
lish much.

President Obama went on the
offensive today, hitting five of
the morning talk shows.  He
appeared on CBS, NBC, ABC,
CNN and TeleMundo.  He did
not appear on "Fox News
Sunday"  hosted  by  Chris
Wallace.

While the intended purpose
was for him to push for his
health care initiative, Obama
instead used the opportunity
to blast the media for being
rude and outrageous.  He
claimed that the 24-hour cable
news networks only feature
guests who engage in conflict.

At the heart of his criticism was
the recent coverage of whether
racism was behind the outburst
by Joe Wilson during Obama's
speech before Congress two
weeks ago.  Obama said, "The
media loves to have a conver-
sation about race..., this is
catnip to the media because it
is a running thread in American
history that is very powerful
and it evokes some very strong
emotions."  

Following Wilson's outburst of
"You Lie!" during Obama's
speech, several people have
raised the issue of race in the
health care debate and in
opposing Obama's policies in
general.  Maureen Dowd, Bill
Cosby and Jimmy Carter all
commented along these lines
the past week.

Obama also seemed wounded
now that his administration has
suffered several setbacks the
past weeks.  Some of which
originating from Fox News'
Glenn Beck, who exposed the
background of former green job
adviser Van Jones, the re-
assignment of NEA official Yuri
Sergant and for Beck's involv-
ment in airing the ever growing
number of ACORN sting video.
Beck has even gotten his face
on TIME magazine for his part
in these, as well as the 9/12
Project and TEA Party rallies
last weekend in Washington
and other cities.

The Obama White House is
also miffed at Fox network for
not carrying the Congressional
joint-session speech.  Fox
Entertainment, the broadcast
network, instead chose to air
"So You Think You Can Dance"
again.  They did the same the
last two prime-time press con-
ferences, though Fox News did
carry all speeches.

This is not the first dust-up
between the White House and
Fox News.  Even during the
campaign last year, Team
Obama was late and reluctant
appearing on Fox News,  Of
some 114 one-on-one inter-
views Obama has given since
becoming president, he's
only appeared on Fox twice.

When Chris Wallace was
asked by Bill O'Reilly as to
why Obama was not appear-
ing on his show today, Chris
answered that in his 30 years
of TV journalism, he has never
seen such childish whining as
from the Obama administra-
tion.  The White House shot
back with a jibe about Fox
airing their dance show.

In many respects, Chris
Wallace did interview Obama
today when he interviewed
Bertha Lewis, the CEO for
ACORN.  Obama is ACORN
and ACORN is Obama! He
worked for them, trained their
employees, defended them
in court.  ACORN has been a
major supporter of Obama
all through out his political
career and he has benefited
them in hiring ACORN during
his campaign to register voters.

Actually, Lewis probably gave
a better interview than Obama
would have, anyway.  Even
George Stephanopoulos got
under Obama's skin when
George challenged him on the
definition of "tax" in respect to
the government mandate that
would force people to buy
health insurance.  Obama
argued that you cannot call
it a tax which led to George
reading a definition from
Merriam-Webster.  LOL!

This week once again shows
how inexperienced and shallow
the new administration is.  
They have been getting beat up
by Glenn Beck, the Russians
and their own kooky allies.
Comments from Carter or
Dowd just belittle Obama more
than make the point they were
attempting to paint.  Playing
this game with Fox News only
makes the White House seem
weaker.

This is why Obama is losing
the health care debate.  Nearly
ever single poll consistently
shows 47-52% opposed to
health care reform and only
38-42% supporting Obama
and the Democrat legislation.
The American people do not
trust the government claims
that only they can lower the
cost of insurance.

After all, Federal and state
government already account
for 50% of all money spent
on health care.  If costs are
still rising, perhaps they should
focus their attention more on
improving existing programs
before plunging into a whole
new one?  But Obama and
the Democrats see this as
their big chance to make the
ultimate power grab.  Control-
ing all of health care would
give them the authority to also
control nearly every other
aspect of our lives from birth
to death.

Obama is failing as a leader.
Today showed once more how
brittle he is.  The lack of sup-
port is not due to the poor
focus and disorganization
inside the White House and
the Democrat Congress.  He
blames it on everybody else.
We are too rude, too mean,
too negative.  Sorry, the facts
don't wash. 

It's been a bad week for
President Obama.  His old
pals at ACORN got nailed
on video helping a couple
get a home loan to start a
brothel.  The public outcry,
despite hardly any media at-
tention, resulted in ACORN
losing it's contract to assist
in the U.S. Census, as well as
losing other sources of funding
from other government agen-
cies.  That is, once Obama
signs the bills passed by the
House and Senate.

After the over-hyped health
care speech last week before
a joint session of Congress,
public opinion polls have re-
turned quickly to pre-speech
numbers.  The majority of
Americans are unhappy with
Obama's efforts on health
care reform.  Obama is now
planning another media blitz
starting Sunday by appearing
on all the networks, except
Fox News, to again pitch for
nationalizing the insurance
industry.

This past week was supposed
to be focused on the economy.
One year after the collapse of
Lehman Brothers, Obama said
his administration has "pulled
the country back from the
brink".  But very little has in
fact changed since then, at
least change for the better.  We
still face a credit crunch, home
mortgage meltdown and not
one thing done yet to deal with
the toxic assets..  Unemploy-
ment is still inching upwards
and the threat of more home
loans going bust looms.

One thing that has changed
is that the five largest banks
saved with government bail-
outs are now even larger.
They now hold nearly 75%
of all accounts!  Nice!  Thank
you, Uncle Sugar!  They, and
Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae,
are still holding TRILLIONS
of dollars of toxic assets. One
estimate puts toxic assets now
at $23 Trillion dollars.  Last
year, there was one auction for
the toxic assets which Lehman
Brothers held.  They only got
8.9 cents on a dollar for them.

If Obama doesn't have enough
on his plate already, yesterday
he sold out Poland and Eastern
Europe to the Russians.  The
plans for the ground-based
missile defense system have
been scrapped in favor of a
mobile, Navy ship-born one in-
stead.  Ever aware of social
niceties, the Obama White
chose the 70th anniversary of
the Soviet Union's invasion of
Poland, fulfilling their alliance
with Nazi Germany.  Oops!

But what else can one expect
from a White House staff that
doesn't know they use a differ-
ent format of video in the UK?
Oh, how could I forget when
former president, Jimmy
Carter, injected race into the
health care debate!  That really
helped the cause!  LOL!

So it's been a bad week for our
president.  I think he should
blow off those Sunday talk
shows and take another
vacation.  The world was much
quieter when he was away.

From time to time I receive
negative emails about my
writings here.  Some have
gone as far to call me a
traitor, a terrorist, compar-
ing me to Bin Laden!  If
that isn't a stretch I do not
know what is!

Another favorite criticism
is that I am wasting my time
if I think I'm going to influence
any of our political leaders.
That's quite a stretch of logic,
too!  I am under no illusions
about persuading politicians.
I doubt very much if many
have read the Constitution
since their schooldays (if
then).  I'm even more certain
few have ever read any of the
classical giants like Locke,
Bastiat, Von Mises or Ayn
Rand, let alone the works of
Madison, Jefferson and the
other Founding Fathers.

Frankly, I have little respect
or hope for the majority of the
politicians today.  In my hum-
ble opinion, most are only
interested in doing what is
necessary to get re-elected.
Few have any genuine ambi-
tion in furthering the cause
of liberty.  

In the case of the current
debate on health care, I have
no doubt that should any
legislation actually pass, it
would be bad for the nation's
health care system.  I also
have no doubt that such would
cost far more than any predic-
tions.  Back when Medicare
was proposed, it, too, was
promised to reduce costs and
improve quality.  Needless to
say, that prediction was wrong
on both counts.

Some of my detractors claim
that we must compromise, we
must find "common ground".
I suppose that was the same
justification for handing over
a slice of Czechoslovakia to
Adolph Hitler.  Politics is not
the art of compromise.  It is
an extension of one's philoso-
phical base.

Philosophy begins with met-
aphysics, the fundamental base
of what you can know.  Upon
this base is epistemology,
how you know what you know.
Ethics is where you apply what
you know, and the method of
how you know, in interacting
with other individuals.  Politics
is the 4th ‘step’ in philosophy,
apply the previous three while
interacting with groups of indi-
viduals.  Aesthetics is where
you apply the previous four in
expressing yourself, either in
the written or spoken word or
in artwork.

Consistency is the goal.  When
asked which politicians I do
happen to respect, I usually
answer Ron Paul and Dennis
Kucinich.  While both seem to
be polar opposites, they share
consistency in their positions.
They adhere to their own
philosophies and all they do
and say reflect such.

Obama is a classic example
of inconsistency.  He practices
the ‘art of compromise’, trying
to be all things to all people.
Obama claims to support the
free market, yet nearly all of
his appointed advisers are
opposed to capitalism.  His
policies are such that they
discourage business and cost
jobs.  He claims he stands
against deficit spending yet has
ballooned the national debt
more than all other presidents
combined!

In short, the art of compromise
is the art of dishonesty when
practiced by most of our poli-
ticians.  Honest negotiation is
a different kettle of fish than
what is practiced in the halls
of power in Washington. This
is why I often refer to John
McCain as "The Old Fraud".
He does not practice honest
negotiations,  he compromises
in a dishonest fashion.  His
'successes' are in fact failures
of judgment and consistency.

I am not wasting my time in
attempts to persuade them.
I write because I have some-
thing to say.  If you do not
agree or like it, then don't
read what I write.  Nobody
is holding a gun to your head.
Unlike the health care bills
floating around in Washington
I am not forcing you to partici-
pate.  My world is a purely
voluntary one.  Ha-Ha-Ha!

Independent film maker,
James O'Keefe and college
student, Hannah Giles, have
done what nobody yet has
accomplished.  They have
brought the radical, left-wing
community group, ACORN,
down to it's knees. Despite
the numerous voter fraud
cases raised every election
cycle, and the more recent
connection with the mortgage
meltdown, ACORN has man-
aged to skirt the legal system
and the Main Stream Media.

Sure, a few 'part-time employ-
ees' get thrown under the
bus by ACORN.  But none of
the legal issues has effected
the group's ability to draw upon
public, taxpayer dollars from
Federal, state or local govern-
ments.  Even with investiga-
tions in 14 states over voter
fraud, ACORN was poised to
receive a multi-million dollar
paycheck from the U.S.
Census Bureau to assist in
conducting the 2010 census.
That is, until this past week.

O'Keffe, 25, and Giles, 20,
self-funded a 6 week tour of
ACORN offices nationwide.
Posing as a new politician
who wants to run for Congress
and his 18 year old prostitute
girlfriend, the two Citizen
Journalists conducting their
own citizen-sting of ACORN.
Not only was ACORN all too
happy to help them get a
mortgage to buy a brothel for
his girlfriend to run a prostitu-
tion ring of 13 underage girls
from El Salvador, ACORN
also suggested methods for
the couple to commit income
tax evasion.

Of course, ACORN required
the pair to join the organiza-
tion, first.  LOL!  We cannot
forget those membership dues!
At least one ACORN rep was
also caught on tape soliciting
for a fee to prepare their tax
statements.  ACORN also gets
a fee for obtaining a mortgage.
Given that O'Keefe was pre-
tending to be a potential candi-
date for Congress, ACORN
would naturally want to help
him in return for his support.

ACORN is very upset as each
new video is released.  Three
have been posted so far at
biggovernment.com and it
would seem likely that many
more are on the way.  The
community group says that
they intend to sue O'Keefe
and Fox News (the only news
network airing the videos).

When the first video was made
public last Thursday, ACORN
denied it's authenticity and
stated that the Baltimore office,
shown in the video, was the
only one that did not immedi-
ately throw out O'Keefe and
Giles.  On the next day, an-
other video was made public
showing another ACORN
office in Washington, DC,
assisting them, giving similar
advise.  Today, a third video
of an ACORN office in New
York City was made public.

Clearly, Baltimore's ACORN
office was not the only one to
be 'taken in' by the citizen
journalists.  I'm guessing that
most, if not all, of the ACORN
offices visited during those 6
weeks cooperated.  Which
means we'll be seeing more
as they are metered out.

The exercise shows two things.
First, that ACORN is corrupt
and immoral, not caring what
kind of enterprise they will get
involved with.  So long as you
pay them their dues and fees,
they will help you, even if you
engage in criminal activity.

Second, O'Keefe and Giles
scooped every 'Legacy'
news organization in America,
even Fox News!  Why has no-
body else thought to investi-
gate ACORN in this fashion?
Clearly, there has been plenty
of evidence that the group
needs to be examined.  Even
former members, the ACORN
8, have called for the group
to be audited.

Perhaps now, thanks to the
efforts of citizen journalists,
ACORN and their activities
will finally be scrutinized.
Nearly every politician in
every urban area owes some
allegiance to the community
organization.  They have been
very active in forcing banks to
issue sub-prime home loans
and intimidating other busi-
nesses and groups.

Hopefully, the days of their
practices are now over.  We
shall see how this plays out,
but for now, I would say that
the citizen journalists have
ACORN up a tree.  LOL