Another Gang Member Named

So The pro abortion Catholic Governor of Kansas, Sebelius, is joining the ranks of Obama's Cabinet as HHS head. Doesn't anyone in this administration believe in the protection of human life at any stage? Heard the other day that our Attorney General leaves a law firm which represents 18 of the Gitmo prisoners. How's that for a little conflict of interest?

Just another one to add to the list which includes VP Biden, Sens. Kerry, Kennedy, Cantwell, Dodd, Durbin, Harkin, Landrieu, Leahy, McCaskill, Menendez, Mikulski, Murray, Reed, Salazar, and Govs. Granholm, Manchin, Richardson, Ritter, Schweitzer, Lynch, Easley, Kulongoski, Gregoire, Doyle. The Bishops must be so proud.....

Watched a television show last night called "FlashPoint" which was quite current and depicted 3 guys who had been longtime friends whose lives had been touched in differing ways by a banking/mortgage firm. Comment: This should be required watching for every realtor, financial agent and government employee. It comes under the heading of "everything is connected to everything else" and we are all ifluenced by what is happening today.

That being said, I have an appointment to learn how to upload a video which is a report on how George W tried to do something about Fannie and Freddie and was stymied by Barney Frank et al. So please take a look at it next week.

If anyone is interested in distributing petitions for Mike Nofs run for State Senate please leave a comment and contact information. Appreciate it.

God bless.......

Eureka! Found the Most Apt Label: THE USER!!

Barak Obama is a User. He uses people. Something like the Pied Piper, but more like a hypnotist with post-hypnotic suggestion. After his audience listens in rapt attention, they leave the venue and go out to spread the good news to all the world. (And where did we first hear that?) This morning he used the military for whom he has little or no respect or he wouldn't have lied to them.

First he stroked them by listing all the ways they have helped the people in Iraq to accomplish rebuilding their country, rebuilding their government, rebuilding their education system and on and on. He talked about what the military and their families had to sacrifice and give up to accomplish these lofty goals. But nowhere on that list did he mention that American lives helped pay for these accomplishments.

Not until the end of the speech did he mention lives sacrificed and then in the most political way. Two Marines by name fell from his lips. He said that roads and bridges would be named for many of our fallen heroes. In my estimation, in that venue, this was close to sacrilege. Those men and women in his audience did not need to be told that two young men had made the supreme sacrifice--they have already seen it happen over and over again. It was so much like the speeches made by every President since Ronald Reagan where during the State of the Nation there were men and women in the audience to whom the Prez could point and everyone would get that warm and fuzzy feeling which they need to have for a little while to prove the politician is a good person who "feels" our pain.

He also said we should have a G I Bill so that military folks can go to college and get a leg up. Big applause line (next to a raise in wages.) What??? What's so special about that? Didn't he just finish promising a college educdation to every kid in America? For free? And in some cases all they would have to do is give some kind of public service. Duh! What the heck does he call military service? I call it the ULTIMATE in public service.

Every day I am faced with looking at and listening to a man who has never done anything but eat at the public trough and now wants to foster a system where it is nearly impossible for anyone to become successful in business through entrepreneurship. What is good for the goose???

I'm reminded of the folks in the Old Testament who told God they wanted to have a king like the rest of the tribes. God tried to talk them out of it, but they insisted and as I recall they became slaves, etc., etc. Is this the path we're on?

God bless..........

From the Home of a Chattering Class Member--

We in the chattering class, according to Chuck Schumer, really don't care about the little pieces of pork amounting to billions. That's chump change, right? Is there no one in New York who minds being called names by his Senator or are they all so elitist that they look down on us as well?

For six years beginning in 1998 I served 3 two year terms as 5th Vice Chair for the Michigan Republican Party and had developed a brochure which showed the national debt as a part of the picture. Pulled one out earlier and in 1998 the debt stood at $5.5 trillion, by 2000 it had risen to $5.71 trillion and in May of 2001 it was $5.651 trillion. It was also noted that in 2000 thre were $7 trillion in unfunded liabilities off budget which increased to $9 trillion by May of 2001. Make of this what you will, but remember that the unfunded amount includes Social Security and that continues growing no matter what else is going on. Add to this the stimulus, omnibus and whatever other names will be given to give away welfare programs and then will someone please tell me how raising taxes on the "rich" will be able to pay this down? Not gonna happen.

Today Obama said our growth would be in the over 5 1/2% range by 2011 and over 6% in 2012. At the risk of repeating myself--remember when I told you youngsters that one of the major causes of the recession of the 80s had to do with spending so many nonproductive dollars on EPA and OSHA regulations? Well, does anyone else see the parallel between that scenario and the greening of America?

I can only speak for myself but how can anyone expect the economy to grow when our disposable income is going to be used up paying for the increased energy costs? Sounds to me like more of the same old, same old. And frankly, as far as I'm concerned if it looks like a tax and acts like a tax, it's a tax. That means that each one of us who drives a car or heats and cools a home is being taxed and we certainly are not rich!!!

God bless.......

Check it Out/Autobots & Decepticons

I'll be back this evening, but if you want the story about Mark Schauer's playing games with Stryker money you'll find it at RightMichigan. Just click on the link.
See ya later.

A day is never a waste if you learn something--my motto. And today I expanded my universe to include autobots and decepticons. I'm sure you are all way ahead of me so I don't need to explain, but I would like to say this: After watching a couple of video clips my vote for the best line of dialog went like "you can't live with 'em and you can't melt them down." (And if you don't get that, let me know.)

Another random thought: What is it about Democrats that they are so often late? I can remember when as a State Senator Mark Schauer always kept an audience waiting (at least 10 and sometimes as many as 20 minutes) to watch a debate or panel discussion. Last night Obama didn't start his speech until a long time after the advertised start time. I'm not sure whether to call it a Power Play in the "I'm more important than you are" game or just simple disrespect of the value of someone else's time and I really would rather not be here, but aren't you lucky to have me."

Speaking of last night, how did you like another power play (small letters, not caps) of Ms. Pelosi. I almost felt sorry for poor old Joe Biden trying to keep up with her jumping up and down in her game of "one up on you, Joe."

One last thought and I'm going waaaay out on a limb here. My husband returned home today and one of his bits of news was talking to a young man who was adamantly supporting Obama--had a bumper sticker and everything on his Toyota. He drives for FedEx. I have this gut feeling that the next generation of drivers at UPS have a higher ratio of Republicans who drive American cars than FedEx. Why? Because I remember reading the biography of the founder of UPS and what I remember most about him was his patriotism--something like the guy who ran Mack Truck. Maybe it's a generational thing?

See ya tomorrow. Sleep well.

AAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!!

I just had to put this up earlier than usual today. Paul Harvey's show was on while I was in the car today and this is what I heard:

President Obama has named a 4 man panel plus 4 assistants to work on the crisis in the automobile industry. Out of those 8 people, 2 own American vehicles. One, a 6 year old Lincoln and the other, an 18 year old Harley Davidson.

Now, as my sainted late father-in-law used to say: "Wouldn't that just frost ya?"

I may be back if there is even one new thing to be heard from Obama this evening. If not, see you tomorrow.

God bless...

PS-Just checked out Nick at RightMichigan and now it'll bug me until I find out what an Autobot or a Decepticon is. And given the speed at which new words find their way into our speech I can't even afford to buy a new dictionary which is out of date almost as soon as a new car driven off the showroom floor. The words in question are not in my unabridged or either of my abridged editions. Help!

Okay- The Speech is over and it was another campaign speech. It reminds me of a cartoon/joke I rec'd a few days ago. Obama is making a different promise in each frame: free education!! free healthcare!! free energy!! free retirement plans!! free transportation!! After each of these freebies the crowd below yells "Yea!!!"
And the last frame is "And a job for everyone!!" And the crowd yells "Jobs???"

My biggest leap of faith had to come at the end when he said everyone wants America to be the best country in the world and my subconscious started listing the celebrity types and left wingers who I wonder what they really want..............
The Strykers and Soros of the world will always stay the same, but I wonder what they would have the rest of us do--for them.

God bless--

What are Polticians Made Of?

No, not sugar and spice or puppy dog tails--

Returned about an hour ago from the Jackson County annual Lincoln Day celebration and there were three main types of attendees. There were the usual party stalwarts who carry the water for the Republican Party and candidates 24/7. There were a good number of office holders and would-be office holders. And there were any number of people who had never attended an event like this before.

It was very rewarding and uplifting to see that people who care about the conservative Republican philosophy have not just curled into a ball and are licking their wounds. But the most exciting thing was the large group of candidates. It made me return to thinking about what it really takes to be a good politician/public servant.

From about 1955 to 1975 I met a number of politicians through working on issues with the League of Women Voters, but as time went by and the LWV coalesced with other women's groups whose main interest seemed to be abortion rights, I could see that the fit was no longer apt. Board members of LWV are not "allowed" to be partisan so it was an easy decision to resign and turn my efforts to the Republican party within whose platform I found much of my own worldview.

In the process I have met over the last 30+ years many, many politicians and have seen up close and personal what it really takes to start on that kind of career. So many folks who don't know these people personally seem to think that they are all crooks, not a dime's worth of difference between the parties, they all enjoy the perks and parties, etc., etc. Not true. These men and women make sacrifices of their time and talent, not to mention money, plus their family activities and just plain recreation that the rest of us take for granted.

Think about the endless hours of going door to door campaigning; the panel discussions and interviews for the media; the parades and public appearances demanded of them (particularly on weekends when we'd all rather be sailing or watching a kids' ballgame or going out to dinner with the family or wife or husband); depending on the age--helping to care for aging parents; having to have a listed telephone number so that they are available to their constituents. All that on TOP of actually doing the job of legislating with early morning and late evening meetings.

In my lifetime I have never known an office holder who was not honest and hard working and I say "For Shame!" on those who make the headlines which make all their contemporaries look bad. I say "For Shame!" on those who cut corners on reporting campaign donors who help them in ways against the law. I say "For Shame!" on those who parse their words so carefully that they can get away with the equivalent of "what the definition of is is" when they make public statements out of both sides of their mouths. As my Navajo grandson says "Grandma, he speaks with forked tongue."

So think twice when speaking of or voting for each and every candidate. Do not let them influence you without facts to back up their promises. And go for the guy who talks plain.

God bless.........

Everyone Has a Better Idea

How do Republicans get back on the winning track?

You will get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. You especially get the "I told you so" and "we should have done----" from those who perhaps have written a few checks to a candidate, but have performed no service to the party recently. The worst of these are generally family members who screw up family reunions or get togethers. I am here to tell you, however, that there are reasons to be hopeful.

Hearing the remarks of the new Michigan Party Chair, Ron Weiser, Saturday gives hope that he is willing to listen to what anyone has to offer and that his dedication will be complete.

But best of all is that when I arrived home after slogging through the snow between Lansing and Jackson my husband, who is at a golf weekend with his brothers and as many of our children as can make it in S. Carolina, called. He told me that after dinner Friday evening he and our two sons, one daughter and wives and husband split from the group and started talking about--you guess it--politics.

After a lifetime of exposing them to this you never know how kids will react. Will they be so sick of it that they avoid it at all costs? Will they just tolerate it? Or have they picked up a lot of what we threw down and been waiting for just the right time to go into action?

Picture this: One son had actually done some homework and the others agreed that in order to win, the Republicans would have to have that 270 (approx) count electoral college vote. But how to get there. Their theory: the base is Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and North and South Dakota for a total of 104. Chairman Steele has to recognize that without these states it can't be done, so they'd better be given recognition and influence. These kids are spread around and live or have lived in Michigan, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia.

From my point of view it's a great place to start and today is the first day of the campaign to elect a Republican State Senator in the 19th district. Then we take them on one at a time. I'll keep you posted.

God bless..........

Word to the Wise or a WARNING

Either way, if you either own a Volkswagen with a diesel engine or know someone who does please relay this information.

Shortly after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about being able to expect 300,000 miles as a reasonable goal and giving comparisons on mpg, etc. my son, who owns one, called with a totally different story.

He changed the timing belt at 84,000 miles (the manual recommended 90,000 miles) and when he had 88,000 miles on that one and was about to replace it, it broke. It didn't cost just the timing belt. There were other collateral damages from the episode resulting in a $7500 repair bill. And neither the dealer nor the company would offer any assistance saying in effect that the recommendation was not a warranty.

This was the first car, even though made in the USA, that was not an "American" car that he had ever owned. Needless to say, he is now driving a Chevy Impala and his wife just replaced her vehicle (a Jeep SUV) with a Mercury Milan.

We'll get back to the political scene tomorrow, but wanted to share the warning with you while it was still a fresh memory.

Sleep well........

PS-I mentioned a TeaBag Demonstration last night. Apparently it will not be necessary, even though we are still not represented in the State Senate, since the Governor has set the primary for August 4 and the general for November 3. That should give them time to get a more credible candidate than Marty Griffin, but it will also give us plenty of time to point to the records of Granholm and Obama as we work to put Republican Mike Nofs in that seat.

Republican State Convention

One of the speakers this evening opined that when Jennifer Granholm went to Washington to be on the advisory board to the President that her job would be to tell him when he asked "Did you try that in Michigan?" Yes or No. If the answer were "yes" he would instruct his team to take it out of the plan.

Apparently that did not happen. It is obvious that when he asked "Did you try that in Michigan?" and the answer were "no" he instructed his team to be sure to include it in the plan. Nobody laughed.

Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, told us how he inherited a deficit of over $720,000,000 which amounted to 20% over. He didn't balance the budget in one year, but he did balance it the second year and HE DID NOT RAISE TAXES! And, he actually spent more money on education and the system moved up in the rankings. Education wasn't the only area where increased spending resulted in improvements in service or efficiencies anad when hurricane Katrina arrived, he had mandated evacuation 24 hours before the storm hit undoubtedly saving lives unlike neighboring Louisiana.

We have an abundance of good candidates and enthusiasm to get started to do the job we know we can do for the 2010 cycle. Those of us in the 19th Senate District, however, can only hope that the Governor will give us an opportunity to be represented in the State Senate. I heard that some folks are ready for a TeaBag Demonstration similar to the Boston Tea Party to protest her inaction.

God bless......

Is it Paranoia?

You know. The age old question: is it paranoia if someone really hates you and is out to get you?

After the big drop in the market earlier in the week, as the Prez was announcing how he was saving the world, the investors spoke: we don't believe you. And that's when I started wondering again if this had been the plan all along.

From the day that Michelle said she had never been proud of this country until her husband was nominated and we couldn't get information on Barak's college days and other parts of his background this nagging thought kept poking at me. What is going on here and who is pulling his strings and who does he owe the most favors to?

This is all generalities, of course, but as the self-anointed average mom of average kids married to an average man I see us as a target of the elites to be destroyed on the road to socialism Even NEWSWEEK, for Pete's sake, took its head out of the sand! So the government is going to "change" the order of things for our own good. Remember when Clinton ended "welfare as we know it?" Well, the stimulus bill is more like your grandma's welfare than it is like FDR's public works projects.

So please don't be appreciative of the really, really wealthy liberal elites who can afford to take a 40-50% hit on their holdings acting like sugar daddys. It's more of the plantation mentality that most of the country, black and white, need to be taken care of because the elites know better than we do what is good for us and how we need to live.

Just an aside, I got that picture about 20 years ago when I met James Meredith, the guy who broke the color barrier at Old Miss. His take then was that the blacks had just substituted Democrats for plantation owners. I've never forgotten it and in my opinion, the theory hasn't needed to be tested because it is so obviously true. (Many of my black friends don't fit the mold, but you know what I mean.)

God bless--

Stimulus for Schools??????

Cong. Mark Schauer just doesn't get it. He told his audience last Saturday that the programs would start running through the school systems first and quickly because they already have their systems in place and the stimulus money will just piggy back on already existing plans.

Not so, says a superintendent of a small school district in mid-Michigan. He has listed some of his concerns in a letter to his Congressman, Dave Camp, and shares them with us.

1. The money is being allocated to schools through No Child Left Behind, NCLB or Title One (approximately 40%)
2. The state of Michigan is having significant problems with allocating current federal Title One money.
a. Many districts have not been able to access any Title One money for the current school year to date
b. Our district is only able to access 40% of our funds
c. The State Ed Dept has been downsized to the point they can't keep up with the demands of their jobs
Question: how are they going to oversee more funding?

3. Title One has strict guidelines on "supplement not supplant." The money, unless given with different guidelines, will not preserve current jobs. Currently I am looking at a layoff of 5-7 teachers due to the state budget crisis. The strict guidelines in Title I prevent me from "supplanting" to prevent a layoff. I will end up laying off needed classroom teachers and then hurrying to spend $100,000 of Title I stimulus money with little hope of spending it on a sustainable program.
4. As stated the 2008-2009 Title I funding that should have been flowing to districts was to be accessible as early as July but no later than September still is tied up in state bureaucracy. How can it be logically expected that the money might flow quickly and stimulate the economy in the near term?
5. The other 60% of the stimulus money to schools is to be distributed through the special education funding system, IDEA. This money also is earmarked and cannot be used to preserve jobs.
6. Special Education has a "maintenance of effort" clause that ties the hands of districts as to how the money is spent. Basically we cannot use this added money to offset costs and prevent layoffs because of the formula used to calculate maintenance of effort.
7. In most districts the IDEA money flows from the state to a regional ISD then to a local district. As you can see--needless bureaucracy.

If the feds are serious about stimulating the economy and either prevent job loss or creat new jobs then these funds need to follow the block grant funding process and remove all the regulation, red tape and bureaucracy.

With the state cutting funding for next year, we can put the money to good use to preserve jobs and improve programs.

That's one guy's opinion, but I figure if I have to choose, I will choose an educator rather than a legislator.

Sleep well..........

Half Mad Half the Time

Or maybe it's more like the Chinese water torture (that's a constant dripping sound for those of you too young to remember.)

Explain myself? Okay. It just seems like every day can go merrily along for a couple of hours talking to friends or co-workers, getting the job done and then along comes a news alert or a bit of gossip which puts a damper on the whole day.

Picked up an article today describing a high tech, 1.8 billion dollar "clean coal" high tech power plant in, guess where? Illinois -- now who lives there? Rahm Emmanuel, Dick Durbin and oh, yes, Barak Obama. Not to mention Blagoyavich.

Remember I told you that Congressman Schauer, 7th dist. Michigan, said unequivocally that there are no earmarks in the stimulus bill? No pork. No way, no how. He spoke rather heatedly that we were totally misinterpreting anything that could be defined as earmarks, WHICH ARE NOT IN THIS BILL! Well, the small town of Matoon has been admittedly working hard on a project that interestingly enough is the only one that qualifies for the $1 billion "fossil energy research" category mentioned in the bill. It's not a 100% "done deal" because they had to parse the language to get it through the compromise but being able to employ 3000 workers and start within 3 months would make it look very promising.

And have you seen the lists of projects which have been hurriedly cobbled together by every community in the country? It'll take months to even look at them, but then who reads "that stuff" anyhow?

If it's true that optimistic people live longer perhaps someone should be looking at the death rates from Election Day 2008 until some predetermined point in the future and posit that the Obama administration is not good for your health. All this gloom and doom plus the constancy of bad news and bad faith can't be good for us, right?

Think about what education projects you've heard about and tomorrow I'll share one superintendent's experience/opinion.

See ya.........

Perspective on Feminism

Many, many years ago when Feminism (capital F) first reared its head a war was declared. The only problem is that there were no rules of engagement like the Geneva Convention or any other way to identify the problem and make an attempt to solve it. I can remember developing a theory which, since there was no internet and I was a homemaker in a small town with a small circle of folks who discussed this kind of subject, had no way of being recognized as sensible. Tell me what you think.

In those days fewer women worked outside the home and this was the scenario in most households. When I cleaned the house, cooked the meals, took care of the kids, did the chauffering, school activities and general volunteering, etc., etc. we neither expected nor received thanks for each day's work. By the same token we did not thank our husbands when they came home every week or two with a paycheck. We all had jobs and our duties were fulfilled by all of us because that was what was expected.

The difference was that the men who were paid received their thanks in the form of that check. They knew there was value to what they did every day and it was appreciated by someone who needed their time and talent.

Not so with the women. In order to get that appreciation they went outside the home to work. Most of us had good educations through high school and either a smattering of college or a degree--generally in fields such as teaching or nursing. So-called "women's jobs." And of course one of the first things they noticed was that they really didn't earn much money compared to men and our first dollars were taxed at the rate of the last dollar of our husband.

So it started with the appreciation/money and developed into the full blown revolution by those who didn't want to be held back by a family that needed care followed by the gratification which comes from being not only equal, but respected.
It didn't take long for sophisticated birth control measures and abortion to start completely changing lifestyles with Feminism standing not only for equal pay but for equal rights (ie., pro-abortion)in order to satisfy those perceived rights.

Of course this is simplistic from the 21st century worldview, but in my opinion is still the logical jumping off point and just looking around us at the differences in the way we count success now. The statistical proofs in the divorce and crime rates all around the world further demonstrate these changes. Add to that the increases in STDs, poverty and violence and the last 50 years don't look quite like the advances we generally view as positive.

Enough for now. Sleep well....

Stimulus Package - Chicken Feed?

The MICHIGAN SCIENCE Winter 2009 Issue #8 indicates the costs of EPA regs and institution of environmental laws will dwarf the recent stimulus package. Put out by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, it is one of the services you get for a nominal membership fee. You can check it out on the web. But tonight I'd just like to give you a bit of information from the above issue.

EPAs Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) is nothing less that the most costly, complicated and unworkable regulatory scheme ever proposed.............
Among other specifics with accompanying charts they reach the following conclusion:

"Virtually every concern heightened by the economic downturn, especially job losses, would be exacerbated under the ANPR. As with cap and trade legislation, the EPA's suggested rulemaking would be poison to an already sick economy. But even in the best of economic times, this policy would likely end them. The estimated costs -- close to $7 trillion and 3 million manufacturing jobs lost -- are staggering. So is the sweep of regulations that could severely affect nearly every major energy using product from cars to lawnmowers, and a million or more businesses and buildings of all types. And all of this sacrifice is in order to make at best, a miniscule contribution to an overstated environmental threat."

Cong. Schauer's Town Hall Meetings

Well, for the first 40 minutes of a 2 hour session Schauer spoke about himself, his campaign, what he plans to acomplish, yada, yada, yada. Poor quality sound system.
Total: 40 min. monologue, 15 minutes of Q and A (supposed to be written questions, but a few women in the front row conducted dialogues) stopped using microphone. At 2:15 he tried to take back control.

Disjointed comments-mostly quotes:
7th district has lost 7,900 jobs. Will get tax deduction of sales tax for buying a new car (that's in the law now, right?) There are "no earmarks" in the stimulus bill. Depends on what your definition of pork is. Competitive example: if spending $1 on broadband it will generate $10 to the economy.

Neighborhood projects are like the Jackson Community in the St. John's Church of Christ area. Not like ACORN. These are good projects. Corruption cannot happen with Congressonal oversight.

Also Congressional oversight on school projects. Will be run through existing programs with accountability. Banks need to forgive loans. Bad banks falsified documents. The victims have no responsibility. Owner occupied only. This problem is due to our Culture of Debt (not the culture of greed of free lunch.) All banks are bad. He terms TARP the Wall Street "bailout" program (but objects if someone else uses the term "pork." My take: all of the really smart guys in the financial sector will take good paying jobs overseas and we are left with tax cheaters like Geithner.)

Gun control-absolutely in favor of 2nd Amendment. No exceptions until the end of his remarks when he said, in effect, unless it's a matter of safety. Segued into wind power topic. These are big components and manufacturing them in Michigan will save shipping costs for customers. Energy policy needs to be broad. When asked, he had no idea of KWH costs either in 7th district or competitively. Government needs to punish executives. How can we be sure illegals will not take jobs from citizens? The bill says it will not and they will watch. (A woman nearby said "Yeah, that'll work!")

Around 2:20 there was more dialogue in the front of the room on jobs. Then comments on college costs--there will be $500 more per Pell Grant and $2500 tax credit which will help. Question of whether Social Security program would pick up IRA and 401K programs--answwer No. No way would he ever vote for that kind of plan. (Let's hold him to that.) Referenced the biggest problem is really Medicare discussed earlier. Discussed free trade--hard to hear give and take from front of room. We are a donor state.

Discussed healthcare and 65% Cobra subsidy for unemployed for 9 months which will undboutedly be extended (my observation.) Schip, ie., My Child in Michigan will cover children whose family may not have healthcare coverage. My note: one of first steps to universal (rationed) care. Healthcare problems #1 cause of bankruptcy. Credit card fraud and high interest rates. The state is lender of last resort as in Community Action Agency. Home modernization and weatherization is energy efficient.

At 2:45 announced he would take one more queston. Then spoke with person in front of room and I could see this was the end and left.

My question, had it been read: Please discuss effects of inflation from stimulus spending deficit particularly on senior citizens on fixed incomes. He probably figured he had answred it when he said there would be a $250 check sent to each senior citizen. If it's like the last one I didn't get, I won't hold my breath.

So there you have it. A lot of blah, blah, blah and frankly I'd bet that over 50% of the approx 130 people in the room know more than he does since he couldn't possibly have read the bill. Didn't even know about the resesarch on a particular mouse native to California.

This format is unacceptable and wastes the time of those who play by the rules. He has a big expense account--he should pop for a good sound system. And he shouldn't play favorites by talking to folks he knows personally. This is also what happened on a Forum phone call Thursday evening. He appeared to know personally almost everyone he called on.

God bless us all--we really need all the help we can get........

Is This What The Lions Feel Like?

It just seems like it's been a long, long season and can only get longer. There were a couple of sparks of hope for a couple of days, but deep in our hearts we knew what the final outcome would be.

It would seem to me, however, that we should petition our new Chairman of the RNC to be much more judicious in spending monies contributed to the cause by helping to support moderate Republicans who cannot be trusted. Many people I know, and my husband is one of them, send money they can ill afford because they really want to help. I, on the other hand, have been burned by the RNC before and if I have any funds available to go out of state, I send them directly to candidates like John Thune and that gal in Atlanta-can't remember her name now. Michigan's Republican Party, including staff and state committee people, are willing to invest their time and funds also, so don't forget them.

I guess this is where I should make a pitch that your local County Republican Committee really needs and hopefully deserves your help as well. It is difficult to appeal to the party faithful when local candidates "use up all the oxygen/money" in the county. For instance, our annual Jackson County Lincoln Day event is February 23 with Terri Lynn Land as our keynote speaker. $50 a head or two for $75. You can get details at www.jacksonrepublicans.com.

God bless.....

Census Problems--Where Do We Go From Here?

Sen. Gregg backing away from Commerce should tell us that the problem is the very next thing to insurmountable and undoubtedly we will end up in court on this. Perhaps it's a good thing and should happen before the count begins rather than after the damage is done. Apparently Gregg is a pragmatist and realizes that on the inside and bound to the Democrat line one man could not fight this fight by himself. I think we owe him one.

A couple of weeks ago I admitted to being scared. Maybe I was just succumbing to the fact that unlike FDR who said all we had to fear was fear itself, Obama is trying to scare us to death by talking it to death and exaggerating all the problems as often as he has a chance. By the time we are all quaking in our boots he'll figure he has license to do anything he wants.

This was further demonstrated this evening when my phone rang with a disembodied voice telling me if I stayed on the line I could take part in a conference call with my Congressman. Long story short, the callers with questions were addressed by name and those "questions" were easily answered by some of the rote propaganda we hear every day from Gibbs or someone else. Interspersed were questions from him giving "choices" from answers which served his liberal purposes only. Can't wait to see his reported "survey" results.

One topic we haven't addressed during the past few days is that of the families of the victims of the bombing of the USS Cole. It is just shameful to use them in such a blatantly political way. Makes one long for the empathy Bush used to show when he prayed with them or shed tears with them.

See ya...

Air Force I Costs over $50,000 per Hour

So how much of the costs of going to Williamsburg, Elkhart, Tampa and other destinations which are blatantly political/campaign trips will he be paying back to the people about whom he cares so much? He is selling a product for which he can't even give an implied warranty let alone a guarantee for X number of months or a lifetime. (The Republicans had a retreat and he didn't go to greet them.)

I could be the least informed person on the planet, but I just don't remember that any other administration had a daily press briefing. They should call it the Gibbs Report or some such, but too bad--they can't depend on the start time so how can they market it? His definition of truth is "as he sees it." WOW!

A friend just asked me why there is no holiday on January 31. You know, the one that should be called George Bush/Free Iraq Day. She also wondered whether our numbers would increase or decrease if we had purple fingers for the rest of the day here.

The latest History Channel show on Gangland activities centered in Los Angeles and used the statistic of 160,000 members of gangs between Highland Park and Eagle Rock in that neighborhood. We've touched on it before and it seems a couple of cable news shows have recognized the problem but we haven't seen anything advertised on the major networks. What does it take to get them concerned about a problem?

Apparently Robert Redford doesn't like folks even thinking about drilling for oil and persuaded the proper departments to withdraw 77 drilling permits in Utah. That should really help our energy independence. (Every time I think about that topic I think of Jennifer Granholm's idea of everyone in Michigan having their own windmill. Can't you just see it? Along with those satellite dishes we'll have blades churning the air in every neighborhood.)

That's enough for tonite. God bless........

Zero Whining Zone

Have we fallen into a rut? And I mean "we" as in both parties plus the new President. It seems as though--Don't blame me, I inherited this mess, the Republicans caused our problems--is the answer to nearly every question put to the new President. He just can't get out of campaign mode.

As for Dems, the undercurrent seems to be the "We won, so get over it" mantra. It seems we're in a propaganda war where the "if we repeat it often enough they'll believe it" reigns supreme.

And Republicans realize how ineffective they are and will be for the forseeable future with the likes of the girls from Maine and the RINO from Pennsylvania.

Since these people are the visible representatives of those of us who voted Republican they had better give us something positive to work on instead of a comstant complaint machine.

Our local Issues Chair has it right: we need to develop our message to demonstrate the real differences between the parties.

See ya.........

Back in the day we used to say "quichurbellyakin'"

Where is AARP When You Need Them?

Those of us who are senior citizens have realized that the so-called stimulus bill will ultimately eat us up with inflation costs, but because of the speed of pushing this thing through there's certainly not enough time to get the word out as to what else is in that bill. We also realize, and empathize with those who are unemployed, that we need to "suck it up" to live with the fact that two wrongs don't make a right and that our kids or grandkids who are unemployed really need the part of the bill which will reach out and help them no matter who takes the hit.

But here's the part that you don't know about. Remember the old "cost-benefit analysis" we used to do in Economics classes along with the "opportunity costs?" Well, for us seniors we're all going to find out sooner rather than later.

Apparently a part of the $800+ billion bill has a mention of healthcare and the term "comparative effectiveness" is bandied about. What it really boils down to is this: If a medical treatment or procedure is cost out at, oh, say a hundred thousand dollars, and if the patient is 45 years old and his life expectancy is 75 that amounts to just over $2850 per year. However, if the patient is 80 years old and his life expectancy is 85 it amounts to $20,000 per year. So guess who gets the treatment? The given is that this is under a universal or national healthcare system which gives government the control. As we have said before many times, socialized medicine is rationed medicine.

And some people called us extremists when we pointed to some Obama's programs as socialism. It sure isn't taking him long, is it?

We also heard that Debbie Stabenow's name is being mentioned in connection with the HHS spot that Daschle blew. It figures. When she ran for her first term she was really elected by the seniors and others who had high prescription drug costs. It was the year that Dems all over the country in border states were hiring buses to tote seniors to Canada or Mexico to buy cheap drugs. And the ploy worked.

What they weren't told was that other countries' socialized medicine plans do not provide 100% of every necessary procedure since there is a continual flow of patients from Canada and Mexico who can afford it coming to the U. S. for things like CAT scans, MRIs, hip surgeries, cataract surgeries, etc. (The list is too long to take up space here, but you see what I mean.) And now with the toe in the door in this bill, we wonder how long it will take for the next step(s) to show up.

So hang on, folks! It's going to be a wild ride!

God bless--

This Will Be His Third Week..........

Caught bits and pieces of Sunday news shows-appeared to be same old, same old.

At first it was difficult to figure out how over half of the people thought business in Washington was business as usual which would indicate disappointment in view of the Obama promises, but they are still giving him over 60% approval ratings???

This is telling me that they were hoping against hope that he would be different and that he really could pull a messianic miracle, but in reality they knew in their hearts that he couldn't pull it off - so how could they be disappointed. This business of setting a high bar but then not meeting expectations or making exceptions will make a reality check come sooner rather than later but guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Since this is Sunday night, perhaps we can start the week with a positive attitude. Sharing mine with you:

Prayer--God's wireless. or: Prayer--the very first wireless communication.

God Bless..........

How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

You can call it horse trading, you can call it bait and switch but by any other name, it's just a plain, old scam!

Put out a plan, fill it with all the goodies you can think of, and then run it past the "Big House" where thre's no chance of any non or bi partisanship. Then ship it over to where they pretend to listen to the opposition while they were tinkering with the edges which they know they can fund with earmarks any time they want to or even let the Prez take care of it through an Executive Order. At this point it is back where it was when they started and poor old Moderate Republicans are laboring under the delusion they have accomplished something. (Two liberal women from Maine and the ghost, or Specter if you will, coming to haunt us. With friends like these who needs enemies?)

Did it ever occur to anyone to give legislators a test to enter politics?

And in view of having talked about the abortion problem and how the Bishops and clergy came up short before the election, this weekend we are being treated in our Diocese to a piece of information about the Freedom of Choice Act as thought this is the first time they ever heard of it. Give us a break.

God bless--we need all the help we can get.

Sarcasm, then Ridicule, then the Race Card

Can't you just see this coming? He thinks nobody understands but him. So, instead of being polite about it, he just calls anyone who disagrees with him stupid. When he says that the meaning of spending is stimulous or vice versa he picks up on one of the non-pork things in the bill to draw an analogy. A Green car will mean jobs. But as with Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, for every new coal plant that is stopped in its tracks the utility will have to buy electricity from neighboring states who get it from? you got it! Coal fired plants.

He just has to stick in the knife and twist it. Instead of presenting a case in a calm and logical sequence he goes out on the campaign trail and pokes fun at the opposition (of course, getting to play with Air Force I, his newest toy is a fringe benefit) so he gets double the pleasure. Shouldn't he be paying back the costs of using the President's airplane when it's being used for political campaigning whether it be in Williamsburg, Elkhart or Tampa?

We may not see it this time because apparently the bill is a done deal, but if it looks like the mark-up between the House and Senate gets a little sticky his next step is to accuse those who disagree with him of being racist. Naturally, he won't use the word himself, he'll send out his messengers to make the case.

Wonder what they'll call Obama--they used "Teflon" to describe Reagan so they'll have to come up with something new. Haven't been paying enough attention. Has NASA come up with something that will fill the bill?

Wonder also how many "isms" we will go through in the next 4 years. Nationalism, socialism, communism, fascism........

See ya---

Politics/Abortion

Should it be the politics OF or the politics AND abortion? In my opinion there are two areas of politics when speaking of abortion.

First, the politics played with the lives of the unborn by Bishops and the clergy in all churches, not just Catholic. The liberal vs the conservative would have us believe that any number of social issues may be, or are, as important as the basic right to life. Without life there can be no other issue. We have clergymen/women of all stripes on both sides of the issue but is it a basic premise or doctrine of the sect or a personal opinion? And are these people spiritual leaders or are they spiritual counselors? If spiritual leaders they get an "F."

The Catholic Church holds that life begins at conception and ends at natural death. And again, in my opinion, that is a black and white issue. The clergy in some instances are not doing their jobs as leaders or educators. And who are they afraid of offending? Men? Women? The poor? The rich? Take your pick, I wouldn't presume to read their minds. But I do presume to say that they are sending at best, mixed messages and this is not acceptable.

As far as politicians themselves, I last counted the Catholic Senators 2 years ago and came up with: Out of 19 Catholic Senators, 18 were pro abortion Democrats and one pro abortion Republican. Again, I don't presume to read their hearts or minds, but I do read the message they send. They are being hypocritical if they purport to adhere to the church teaching but vote in favor of abortion every time and they are being even more so the more well known and how high their office is. Witness: Biden, Kennedy, Daschle, Durbin, Kerry, Harkin, Dodd, Landrieu, Leahy, Menendez, McCaskill, Mikulski, Murray, Reed, Salazar, Voinavich plus all the Representatives.
What kind of example do they set for children, young adults and frankly, anyone of their faith who then consider it is OK to belong to a church which will tolerate members who thumb their noses at core beliefs?

So I see permissive clergy and disrespectful "members" who are disdainful of the church and her teachings not knowing or caring what kind of damage they might be doing to unformed minds and consciences.

Comment: Shouldn't excommunication be equal to the church just accepting the resignation of those who publicly disregard her precepts? It seems that the church or whatever body with which a member disagrees shouldn't have to dismiss that person, they could just accept it. Just a thought.......

Mexican Immigration

Please click on 2008, then November and the November piece on Mexican gangs will be right there on the 30th. Why? Because I want to draw a correlation between the gangs, illegal immigration and the clergy of all faiths in the southwest, especially Cardinal Mahony.

We in the Midwest were oblivious to the growing problem of illegals during the late 80s. After all, hadn't we given amnesty to all those who were here illegally a few years back? And didn't we think that the border security would be improved and the problem solved?

But what of the clergy (and others) who watched the problem take root and start growing again? They did the Christian thing in asking parishioners to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. And they offered sanctuary. But did they do anything to really help these people economically? Did they alert the rest of their brethren throughout the United States and potentially the world? No. Could they have? Yes. I'm not sure of the structure of all churches but the Catholic Cardinals and Bishops wield much influence. And I know that by not talking about it, they were encouraging Mexicans to break our laws and Americans to aid them. Does anyone remember "Render unto Caesar?" I think it has something to do with obeying the laws of wherever one lives.

What would have been the result had they brought the problem to the attention of the rest of us? We have all kinds of envelopes in our packets for specific projects and problems. Missions of all kinds are funded with dollars which when multiplied by the numbers of good folks who care, amount to really, really big bucks. Had there been effort made to gather together the funds, hire folks to administer projects which might include cottage industries for women and families much as Heifer International does and help develop small businesses and industries for men and women perhaps those who now carry the label "illegal" would be living proudly and making decent livings in their home country.

And to carry it a little further, there is the chance (albeit a small one) that those families would be contributing to making Mexico a first world country and economy where running drugs would not be as attractive as it is. Now we have this major problem for both countries. Mexico has lost millions of energetic, hard working people who could be assets to their country but instead have become an economic hardship for states such as California who are going bankrupt due in part to having to take care of non-legal citizens and sometimes at the expense of their own citizens and taxpayers plus others across the country.

I could write more, but I've always promised that you could spend just a couple of minutes on this site and go away with food for thought. This is the tip of the iceberg. Most of you can write your own finish.

God bless....

Nervous Breakdown

I told you before that I have a plaque in my kitchen which in effect says that when the rush is over I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I've worked for it, I earned it, I deserve it and no one can deprive me of it. Well, that's not quite true. When the rush is over I plan to finish the index I promised you a few weeks ago and then repeat a couple of columns I especially like and that never got a lot of press.

Right now there a couple of random thoughts we might share. Something I read today contained a quote from Rahm Emmanuel "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Now that guy is more cynical at his tender age than I am and for most people it takes awhile to get to that point. Can you imagine the conversations at the morning conference calls between him, Stephanopolous(?), Carville and Begala?

Which reminds me of another bit on the net today: Obama giving a speech and touting that famous definition of insanity--doing the same old thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Well, the guy said what can we expect from an administration with Panetta, Rahm, Reich, Eric Holder, Browner, Rice and Hillary among others? So someone out there is keeping score and has our backs. Clinton Lite or Clinton III? It seems as though Obama is making his choice between intelligence and ethics and ethics lose whereas the Clintons didn't bother making a choice, it was ignore ethics all the way.

Teaser: I'll need two days to share with you my thoughts about the Catholic (and others as well but can't speak for them) clergy and their partial responsibility for both immigration and abortion problems.

See ya tomorrow.....

Daschle-

Deja vu all over again? Don't those "mistakes were made" or "I apologize" refrains remind you of the Clinton years? I guess if they think the American public is gullible or stupid enough to keep on voting Democrat they won't have to change a thing.

Will we never learn?

Tell me, how rich do you have to be to think that for 3 years running a "friend" would give you an $80,000+ gift? Is it like going out to dinner and letting the other guy pay the check and saying "I'll get the tip" which might be the reason he paid $9,000 for healthcare coverage for the driver?

I can only hope that someone with a staff and who keeps track of politicians for a living is keeping score for us. One of these days I want to see the stats on the rate of crooks in government through the Clinton years and projected to see how much more we can expect through the Obama years.

The other thing bugging me today is that I'm getting so tired of hearing them talk all the time. Do you suppose they figure that since rhetoric is their strong suit that if they talk long enough we will finally get bored, tune them out and just let them have at it? We don't care any more, we just want it finished?

Well, we may have an off day now and then, but I'm hoping everyone is getting a balanced diet and plenty of sleep so we stay healthy and hold their feet to the fire. We just can't take this lying down. Remember, was it Seinfeld who opened the window and yelled "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore?" Perhaps one of these days that will be enough of the American public to foster not a change, but a house cleaning.

See ya.......

One of Life's Lessons

Happened to catch a homily this morning from a Deacon friend of mine which was really quite profound.

He started off by telling a story of a friend of his who was standing in the pulpit about to start his homily when he noticed a man sitting close to the front who proceeded to cross his arms, slide down a little and drop his head before falling asleep. His thought? That he wondered who was giving the more effective message that morning. He or the guy who slept through it.

Perhaps that is something we should think about. Everything we do or say is probably witnessed by someone and we tend to forget that we give messages about who we are, what we think and what is important to us by the way we act 24/7.

All of the politics which as a conservative I believe can destroy this country is making me short tempered. And the folks who are in economic distress are also unduly influenced by circumstances over which they have no control and which must make them more than a little short tempered. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should all show as much empathy as we can while still maintaining the strength and stamina to witness about what is truly important in our government.

We need to be aware of the evils that exist and continue fighting against them, but without bitterness and rancor for the guy next door who thinks Obama is going to save him so overlooks an administration full of crooks.

Just mull this around a little and figure that although we're not in the diplomatic corps for a reason, we can continue to make our points with a little irony here and there rather than full blown sarcasm and the ridicule we sometimes hear from 1600 Pennsylvania.

God bless.......