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Name: Mikestand
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Weeping For America

I am listening to Ronan Tynan singing God Bless America and I am weeping uncontrollably.  Not because of his amazing voice, or the memories and meaning that song conjures up from my soul.  I am weeping and saying repeatedly, "he is ruining our country."  He is Barack Hussein Obama.  I think Mitt Romney said it best.  "He's a nice guy who doesn't have a clue."
 
Obviously emotions run deep around 9/11.  We all remember where we were that day, how we first heard about the attacks.  But I don't think I was reacting to that.  I was simply overwhelmed by what is going on in our country, and the dismantling of the greatest nation on the earth by one incompetent man, and a handful of advisors who have no interest in preserving the Constituion or the values, beliefs and vision of the founding fathers.
 
When I hear the news about Boeing and Gibson Guitar, and a hundred other horror stories I can't recall at the moment, my heart aches for the days when businesses were free to roam the earth unencumbered by non-sensical regulations, pressure from liberal SIGs and political forces bent on ruining the economic engine that built America in favor of cronyism disguised as socialism.
 
I cry for all Americans who work hard every day to make something of themselves.  I worry for those young entrepreneurs who believe in the power of persuasion, who have a vision for a better future because of their creativity and diligence.  I am sick for the children who will be saddled with a debt of more than $40,000 at birth, and will grow exponentially throughout their lifetime, stealing opportunity from them at every turn.  Would they be better off if they invested what resources they had into learning to speak Chinese?
 
Yes, I know some of my fears will never be realized.  But does that mean we sit passively on our couches and hope that next year will be different?  That does not sound like my America.  I still believe we have the talent and spirit and fight needed to turn it all around.  And if one man can take it down, surely we as a nation can return our country to greatness.  We have slipped to number five in the global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, according to a report released this week by the World Economic Forum.  We were number one in 2008.  That is just not acceptable.
 
The 2012 election cannot come soon enough.  It is nothing less than a call to arms for a country under attack from within.  9/11 instantly changed all of our lives forever.  But the threat to our national security that Al Queda represents does not rank nearly as high today as does the massive national debt, the overburdening regulations, the downward spiral of consumer confidence, the relentless attack on our personal freedoms and the squandering of our tax dollars by a government drunk with power.
 
I write because that's is what works for me.  I encourage you to use your own unique talents to contribute to the cause.  Get involved in the process. Don't look back at this time twenty years from now regretting that you stood by and did nothing.
 
God Bless America.
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California Coma

So the homepage LA Times headline reads, "Obama strongly leads GOP candidates", referring to the results of an LA Times/USC poll conducted over the phone to registered California voters.  "Strongly" in the headline means at least a 15 point lead over any Republican as well as specific Republican declared candidates.  This in a state that now employs only 55.4% of the working age population, the lowest since 1976. I found that headline on Bloomberg.  For some reason I couldn't seem to find it in LA Times online.  Oh wait, there it is, buried in Business in an article with the headline, "Is California economy improving, or worse than ever."
 
But forget about the bias of the LA Times.  Focus on the stats.  California is on the brink of failure.  They're regulated to the hilt, with unemployment out of control, and they want to keep Obama in office.  Hmm. If California registered voters were consultants their clients would be suing for malpractice.  Do they really believe they're right and the rest of the country is wrong?  Are they arrogant.  Or are they voting out of habit without looking at the facts?  It's probably a combination of several factors.
 
If California's house were in order it might make sense to listen to their advice.  But they're not even moving in the right direction.  They seem to have a collective addiction to poor decision-making.  Addicts either hit bottom and turn themselves around, or they die.  How much further in the hole they've dug for themselves will they have to go before they bottom out?  And once they do, how much will it cost the rest of us to bail them out?
 
 
 
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Job Creation Blah, Blah, Blah

Let's get it straight once and for all.  Government does not and cannot create private sector jobs.  They can place obstacles in the path of job creation, which they have done frequently, successfully and more creatively than just about anything else they do.  And to say that same path is paved with good intentions is either naive or a cover up.  The consequences of the regulators actions are not unintended.  They are completely aware of the damage they inflict.  Because if you follow the money, there will always be a beneficiary when the death of a business occurs.
 
A recent casualty, I can't say the latest one because they occur so frequently, is the banking system.  Chris and Barney, or someone like them, didn't like the finger pointed at Fannie and Freddie, because they have way too many friends in D.C.  So they found a way to make that finger curve back to Bank of America and several other financial institutions by suing them.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseers of F & F, sued over losses related to the sale of mortgage backed securities, a practice Freddie created in the seventies.  The regulatory powers that gave Fannie and Freddie the authority to purchase sub-prime mortgages in the first place, coupled with the encouragement to do so, are the same ones suing private sector banks.
 
If the American Public wanted to whack the perpretrators of the current economic crisis, they would be well advised to arm the Obama Administration, Fannie, Freddie, Congress, Wall Street, numerous California mortgage moguls, the Clinton Administration...that's a good start...place them all in circle and tell them to starting shooting.  Oh, I forgot Al Gore.  We can't leave him out.  Blame whoever you like, the result is the same.  Jobs are not being created because businesses don't know what's coming next from The Hill and it's surrounding valleys.  Skiddish is putting it mildly.  Business owners are bunker hunkering and waiting for the Obamanation to self-destruct.  Between the Treasury, the EPA, Justice, Labor, Energy, Education and Health and Human Services, the Feds have enough firepower to discourage even the most upbeat entrepreneur.  But if I didn't name your favorite nemesis agency, it's because I don't have the time or space to list all 1300 of them.
 
I find it both irritating and funny that the government web site, USA.gov, uses the tag line Government Made Easy.  Oxymoron is the first word that comes to mind, with the emphasis on moron.
 
It would be easy to believe that all the country needs to do is elect someone else to "fix it".  My personal choice would be a Christie / Rubio ticket.  But the truth is that the only path to properity is through each and every American.  We have to end our dependency on Uncle Sam.   It's up to us to decide what kind of country we want, and what kind of future we want for our kids.  The near term fix begins with forcing the issue of checkbook economics on Washington.  They have to stop borrowing and stop spending more than they take in.  When a family gets into debt, they start cutting out everything that is not necessary for basic survival.  The Constitution requires very little from the Federal Government.  They need to cut, privatize, outsource, do whatever it takes to get spending down to about half of what it is today.  If they do that, they will eliminate the regulatory forces that stymie businesses.  And guess what will happen next?  Expansion.
 
Dare to dream.
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The Hangman Awaits The Nation

Uncle Sam is being escorted to the gallows, his hands shackled, as he faces his seemingly inevitable demise.  The executioners, Obama, Reid and Pelosi, are not hooded in traditional fashion.  They are proud of their respective roles in the pending execution. 

Standing next to Uncle Sam on the platform is his close friend Freedom, also scheduled for termination.  Freedom is in poor health, so death may be a welcome visitor.  His kidneys are damaged from a relentless pounding by his torturers over many years.  It is painful to swallow because his vocal chords have been severed. 

In the audience are the Chinese Communists, a sprinkling of terrorists, many of Hollywood's naive elite, reporters from the "major" networks as well as CNN and MSNBC, and a gallery of elected officials who have worked tirelessly to end the grand experiment.

This will be the last in a series of executions that began when BO was elected in 2008.  Capitalism was hung in a public display on Wall Street, and left to dangle in the wind for months as an example to the rest of the world that a free market society is unacceptable when the ultimate goal is One World Government.

Christianity was nailed to a cross, while Judaism was sent to the gas chamber.  Islam had already been issued an apology by the United States for torturing and killing countless terrorists.

As the tension builds in the hanging square in anticipation of the death of a nation, millions of Americans are going about their serious business of self-satisfaction. Some are attending movies starring left wing pied pipers who espouse the liberal agenda, and no nothing about building a sane society. Others are barbecuing and watching their favorite team as the country goes up in smoke. They are the ignorant, the uninformed, the ostriches, the blind followers, the surface dwellers that never turned a over rock to see what was underneath. Their reality is the state run media and a gaggle of low budget, high profit reality TV shows featuring average Joe’s who accurately reflect the lack of moral fiber in their daily diet.

So what follows the burial of Uncle Sam? 

Order or chaos? Growth or decline? Prosperity or despair? Blame or accountability? 

Perhaps a timelier question – is it too late to stop the execution? Will the American people come out of hibernation to become a nation of thinkers again? Will a leader emerge to turn the ship to starboard to avoid a collision with the constitution?

On this Christmas Day 2009 in the year of our Lord, one can not only pray, because prayer is still legal, but one can remove his derriere from the comfort of the couch and get involved. Casting a ballot is the fool’s act of patriotism. Candidates must be carefully selected, funded and promoted. Every seat in Washington should be in play every day. The elected should not even consider adorning their offices with personal memorabilia. Instead they should expect that their time in D.C. should be a Caramel Macchiato break from their every day lives back home, served humbly and honorably as they would their own family. 

On this Christmas Day 2009, the day that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and nothing else, we must gather around our fake trees after the presents made in China and India have been opened to discuss the possibility that the phrase “pursuit of happiness” may not even be allowed to be printed in the history books if action is not taken.

We can either embrace the ideals and vision of our forefathers or treat their lessons as outdated and meaningless in the twenty-first century. We can acknowledge the true beliefs in our heart and stand up to defend them to the death, or we can shrink into nothingness, anxiously awaiting the end of life counseling that will mean our misery on this earth is nearly over.

What will you do? When will you care? What will you say a year from now – Merry Christmas or Happy Winter?

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What I Learned On Meet the Depressed

I just finished watching Meet The Depressed.  I do that not as a masochistic act, although self-flagellation would be less painful, but in order to gain perspective.

What I learned today was that:

Dick Armey was responsible for the Tax Day Tea Parties.  Wow!  What a guy.  He was able to mobilize some 800 different events across the country.  You know, I live in the Alamo City.  Dick Armey is from Texas.  Our Tea Party was all over the news - before, during and after.  But yet I never heard Dick Armey’s name mentioned once.  Not only is he a great organizer, he does it so quietly.  I wonder if he would be considered a Community Organizer? Hmm.  I don’t really think the Administration is so ignorant that they don’t get the whole Tea Party thing.  They get it, they just need us to disregard it.  So they place the radical right or red neck label on it, and shove it under the rug in the Oval Office.  Yo, Bro, that ain’t so fly.  Stick around and I’ll tell ya why.

The thing on April 15, that was really just a Tease Party.  There will be more, they will be bigger, and even the printed press - who did not even write one word about the events in many cities, won’t be able to ignore the movement.  And by the way, it’s not Republican or Democrat, it may not even be conservative or liberal, it is about preserving the American way of life.  Yes that’s right.  We like things the way they are.  Baseball, apple pie, and capitalism.

I learned this morning from Harold Ford, the great economist, that we are at a turning point similar to the one that brought in the GI Bill and the Interstate System.  The healthcare and various and sundry other “investments” the Obamanator intends to make, on our behalf, without a proxy from me personally, will deliver immeasurable returns.  That is probably true.  Because by the time we are able to measure them - 20 years from now - Obama will be long gone, and the country will be called the United States of the Chino America.

While David Gregory feigns playing hardball with his questions, he is a typical pitcher.  He throws some strikes, but when the ball is hit back it him, he steps aside and lets it go by.  He knows that he won’t get a straight answer, and he’ll never press for one.  The interview with Dr. Summer was a great example of filler air time.  They might as well have run commercials.  At least they would make some money for the time.  Oh, but wait.  Nevermind.  That would be capitalism.

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UN Resolution To End Hatred...Yeah, Right!

So a Cease Fire resolution has been issued, and accepted by Israel and Lebanon... with consent given by Hezbollah. Although it's a mystery to me how a nationless terrorist organization can be considered a participant in the dealings of an organization of nations. 

Perhaps the Cease Fire should it be called a re-group and re-arm deal.  It is a great opportunity for Iran and Syria to strategize the next phase of the war.  That is, the withdrawal and then redeployment of the assets in Lebanon they have been amassing for more than two decades. 

Now would be the time to go "all in", betting that the cessation of hostilities will not last past Labor Day. 

Hezbollah is not interested in peace.  What is the future of a terrorist if there is peace?  Do you think they are chomping at the bit to get back to their day job at McDonald's in Tehran or Damascus?

Here are some of the questions that feed my thoughts.

Does the UN really believe they can disarm "The Party of God"? 

Will the 30,000 Lebanese and UN troops deport Iranian soldiers?  The Iranians are the ones calling the shots - literally.  Will there be any attempt to return the Hezbo fighters to their respective homeands?  For that matter, does Lebanon even have  15,000 soldiers?

How will GW be blamed for the failure of the Cease Fire when it occurs?

The Right Answers.

A simple analogy should put the whole mess in perspective.  If a neighbor stated publicly that their main goal in life was your extinction, would you move?  Would you prepare for a fight?  Would you believe them if they said they changed their mind?  What would you do?

If a leader of a rogue nation stated that the U.S. was his prime target, and he will not rest until we are annihilated, would we take him seriously?  Or would we continue to channel surf in search of a lost episode of Seinfeld?

Well, wake up America.  That threat is on the table.  And if you don't think the Islamic nutballs are either serious or capable, then you need to move to LaLaLand and let the rest of us take care of the business of survival.

The Republican Party, the conservative movement, the Bush Administration did not start this fight.   Nor was it started in 1948, when the territories were divided for the umpteenth time.  Try going a little further back - more than a few thousand years.  That's a good starting point. 

So to think a document is going to diffuse the hatred of centuries is completely naive.  The Shi'a love their hate.  They are more intent on being right than being alive. 

So the right answer is: A. Direct all available resources worldwide to defeat the extremist Muslim movement before it's too late.
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Plane Nuts

I woke up this morning to the news - sketchy as it is - to the seemingly foiled plot to "blow up" planes from U.S. based carriers while crossing the Atlantic.  I just can't wait to hear who is behind this one.  Surely it's not Osama!  I'm sure his peeps have moved on from the plane game to more creative terroristic activities.

I applaud the UK counter terrorist unit for their work in stopping these nut jobs before they hurt themselves.

Now, of course, there is a severe overreaction to the whole mess.  No more sippy cups on any plane.  And I wander what the gel thing is all about.  We are in alert status RED for the first time so I guess the color code system is back in vogue.  It's just too bad that a handful of people can cause such chaos for millions of travelers.  I'm referring to the Homeland Security folks who make the decisions as to how they're going to grind air travel to a halt today, and likely for several days to come.  I don't have The Right Answer at the moment, but kneejerk would not be on my short list.
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