Promises, Promises

So many issues, so little time or space--

Obama is going to fix the education system by throwing more money at it and giving merit raises and getting more parent involvement. I have news for him: throwing money has never been the answer even though the NEA still insists in the face of falling graduation rates that it is gospel. As for merit pay for teachers, lay that at the door of the NEA as well--they won't allow it. And parental involvement? There are single parent and traditional parent households who sacrifice both time and money to be sure their children are educated either in public, private or home schooled environments. But the people who will never sacrifice but expect someone else to do the job of rearing their children will not change. You can lead a horse to water, yada, yada, yada. So what's next on his list?

The energy crisis.
I heard his life described as "compelling" by a Washington Post columnist. Most of us in the middle class have spent a lifetime saving energy because it is an economic necessity. Until you pay the bills yourself you have no incentive to save. Michelle and Obama's adult life has been one of "not to worry" affluence and they may have researched the price of milk or bread, but I'm sure it hasn't mattered or influenced what went into the shopping cart. Did they replace light bulbs with energy savers over 4 years ago? Do they mentally make a list of errands so they will not retrace steps? Carpool? Use a car only if public transportation is not available?

What is compelling about having parents and grandparents sacrifice for you so you can attend ivy league schools? And by the way, having graduates do public service in exchange for tuition is already happening--it's not a new idea.

The McCain pick of Palin is inspired! She has the leadership qualities that are born not made. No one in her position could have accomplished what she has without being able to delegate and place those knowledgeable and responsible in their proper positions. Remember what they used to say about Reagan? He wasn't the brightest bulb, etc? He was an intuitive leader, had street smarts, character, empathy and was a fighter for what was right. And, he was just smart enough to surround himself with the smartest people he could find. All of those are leadership qualities which Sarah has and she is right on the issues. What more could we ask.
And as Tim Stout used to say about the Lions, (a long time ago) they could screw up a two car funeral. That about describes the leadership experience of Obama and Biden.

See ya tomorrow.

This does not Compute

I am having a lot of trouble reconciling the need for change with the success stories of all the Democrats up on the stage giving speeches.

#1 - Obama and his wife going to Ivy league schools
#2 - Obama and his wife earning millions
#3 - Obama and his wife being free to go anywhere they want, say anything they want
#4 - Obama criticizing McCain for owning more than one house (in the Obama income bracket
and with 25 years to go until he is 72 I wonder what assets he will accumulate in that time)
#5 - Children whose parents can't afford private Preschool have Headstart
#6 - Can't speak for other states, but Michigan kids who need healthcare have MyChild and others have something comparable
#7 - Healthcare in the United States is unrationed, as is the case with other countries whohave nationalized programs - we are all working to find a way to serve 100% of the
population, but until then those who can't afford private insurance find service at the
nearest ER or Clinic
#8 - Although nothing is perfect, for those who want to learn we have a pretty darn good
education system K-12 with programs enabling those who value further education to
get it
#9 - We have a form of government and Constitution which guarantees, and which we take
for granted, the freedoms which young Americans have died for and for which other
countries can only dream

So what's to change? Keep working on, maybe. Change, never!

Carbon Footprints? Wipe your feet!

This letter will be printed in the Jackson Citizen Patriot sometime soon but most of you will not see it.

Remember the tale of the"Emporer's New Clothes?" You know, the vain emporer who was duped by rogues who said they were weaving fine cloth which could only be seen by those who were fit for high position or very, very smart.

He ultimately "dressed" in his invisible finery and went out in public where no one had the courage or wanted to be judged unfit or stupid except an innocent child. "But he has no clothes on," said the boy. And all the people realized they had been had.

Does anyone else see the parallel in carbon tax credits? No one will argue that energy needs should be filled by expanding all avenues such as wind, solar, nuclear as well as coal and oil. But to manufacture out of thin air a tax to force what should be a free market process is the elite forcing us common folks to live the way they want us to live and according to their rules.

When government bureaucracies manipulate and mandate our behavior to the point where they determine our thermostat settings while sitting with the elitists in their ivory towers it is time for those of us blessed with common sense to call a halt.

Michigan's last deep recession started in the early 80s due to EPA and OSHA mandating the shape of toilet seats and the height of mounted fire extinguishers with dollars being spent on non-productive projects rather than research, development and workers. Next thing we heard was "the last one to leave Michigan should turn out the lights." What liberals call "acceptable collateral damage" affects families negatively in very basic ways and should be unacceptable to every citizen.

We are being duped into pretending or believing that we follow their directives "for our own good."

We cannot afford this kind of liberal leadership.

We'll cover this topic again, but this is enough for today.

Abortion/Infanticide

This is an exercise in logic. We must have hit a nerve when the pro-life folks brought to our attention the fact that while in the Illinois State Senate, Sen. Obama voted to prohibit hospital personnel from using life saving techniques on babies who survived a failed abortion attempt.
(The Obama apologists were nearly apoplectic and said we were accusing him of being in favor of killing babies. Well?)

Here's where the logic comes in. The Senator has defended his vote by saying it was connected to a package of bills which he could not support. I would suggest that any other issue could be remedied at a later date, but there is no remedy for the end result of withholding medical care which is death. Death cannot be "fixed" later.

His continued support for third trimester abortions, a position also held by Michigan's State Senator Mark Schauer and a good share of Democrats holding public office, has left them no place to go when the so-called pro-choice lobbyists tell them what they want.

Random Thoughts

This is the first day of the rest of our lives or the first day to give Lola a few minutes. We'll talk about anything you can think of that is connected to politics. This blog leans pretty far to the right but there will be no nastiness, there will be a lot of logic, some common sense and at the risk of having you reach for the barf bag, some love and prayer from me to you. Hopefully you will come back often. lp