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Obama is counting on your Ignorance

1/29/2012

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I listened to President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) speech on Tuesday, and I came away with one conclusion. He is counting on the ignorance of the American people to get re-elected. Hell, it worked once, why not again ?  Sadly, the vast majority of Americans pay little attention to politics. They may dutifully listen to the SOTU, considering it a civic duty, and rightfully get inspired by a gifted campaigner, such as our President. But once you start to analyze what he said and compare it to what he has done you can’t help but get a little mad.
Go to this link below and look at this video made by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2012/01/video-quick-comparison-of-obama-state.html

Yes, of course the RNC is biased. But, I listened to all three of these STOU speeches and the words are not taken out of context. He gives a great speech and then not only does nothing to fix the problem; he gets in the way of those who are trying to remedy the situation.

Let’s start with illegal immigration. The vast majority of Americans agree that this is a problem, and something should be done. A majority want our borders secured so that entry into our country can be controlled.  You saw in the excerpts above that Obama says we should do something. He did.

In 2010 Arizona enacted a law that required it’s own police officers to try to determine, during a lawful stop, and with probable cause, if that person was in the country illegally. This sounds entirely reasonable, to me. It did to a majority of Americans as well. Almost every poll taken showed that a majority supported it. We let our policemen conducts searches of our homes and cars if they have probable cause. They are allowed to use their judgment there, and in this case I
don’t see any reason why their faculties would now fail them. 

Did Obama applaud this effort?  Did Obama try to work with Arizonaon the points he disagreed with? No. Obama directed his Department of Justice to file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona. That lawsuit said immigration enforcement (or in Obama’s case,  lack of enforcement) is the sole job of the federal government and that Arizonawas interfering. Obama does nothing.
Arizona tries a sensible solution and is treated like they are the criminals.

In the SOTU he stated that since he took office, the nation lost 4 million jobs in his first year, but then he turned things around with his policies and the country created 3 million jobs in the 22 months since. That got applause from the arithmetically challenged members of Congress (read: Democrats). Three years after Obama took office we have a net loss of a million jobs with the glorious policies he has enacted. Things like shutting down all off shore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, harassing Boeing when they built a non-union plant in South Carolina, and killing the Keystone Pipeline, which would have created 100,000 new union jobs. The unemployment rate was 7.8% when Obama took office three years ago. Now it is at 8.5%. Obama should have put that in the SOTU address. It would have gotten applause, too.

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Get out of the Damn Way

1/22/2012

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I was recently in Portland, OR, on business, and the problem of the government putting up needless statutory barriers to business was made clear in three examples.  But before I get to those a little background.

The government’s job is supposed to be the protection of property rights and to insure that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. America is the Land of Opportunity. It’s a place
where hard work and good ideas are rewarded. America was not supposed to be the Land of Equal Outcomes. Do you know why? Because all men were not created equal. Some people are smarter. Some people are harder working. Some people drink like a fish. Some people like to skydive. The result of all of these, and millions more differences, is that equal outcomes are impossible.

Even to strive, by setting a minimum level of prosperity is dangerous. To do that you must take something away from those who have succeeded (produced wealth) and give to those who have not. When that is done, those who succeed are chastised, and those who do not succeed are rewarded. This is the equivalent of praising your son who brings home a report card laden with failing grades and grounding his honor student sibling. There will always be people who succeed and people who don’t. What is forgotten in all of class  warfare rhetoric of late, is there are about a million levels in between. 
 
We do not have a situation where the 1% are taking from the 99%. The 1% (and their Adjusted Gross Income is less $350,000 per year) are for the most part successful businessmen. They either own or manage a company. Those companies create the jobs and pay the wages of virtually everyone else in  the country. To demonize, stigmatize, and then tax them to point of extinction is stupidity on steroids. These people are the engine of this country, and in order to create wealth they need fewer obstacles not more.

When a business owner wants to expand his company he has to either have saved or more likely borrow a sum of money for a larger building,  new equipment, supplies, and likely the start up wages for new employees. Every dollar that he has to waste complying with some unneeded government regulation is less money to be used to create a job. He will be forced to settle for a smaller building, cheaper equipment, fewer supplies, and less employees. There; I’m done with background and I feel better.

Now, back to Oregon. Example number one was the Driver’s Break Room Telephone. In the new building that I helped to move our Portland division into, we have a break room/lounge where truck drivers making deliveries could sit down, eat, and make a phone call using a phone that our company would provide them, free of charge. This particular phone was set at approximately four feet off the ground; shoulder level to someone of average height. But, our company was forced to spend money to move it both lower, AND to insure that the numbers were also in Braille to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Money has to be spent to make a phone for truck drivers to be in Braille, and to be moved down for someone in a wheelchair. I’ve been in the distribution business for 27 years, I have never, repeat never, seen a blind or wheelchair bound truck driver.

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The Eternal Struggle

1/15/2012

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This week’s blog is about a subject that deeply divides this nation. Those on one side are sure  that their candidate represents loyalty, honesty, a strong defense, and unconditional love. Those on the other are just as positive that their favorite represents intelligence, independence, self
assurance, and regal manner. My man is in the first camp. I find the other side’s candidate to be aloof, meddlesome, and recreant. I have heard the other side describe my side as stupid, sycophantic, and slobbery. Whom do I speak of? It is not Republican vs Democrat. Tea Party vs Occupy Wall Street? No. Obama vs The House? Hardly. Mitt vs Newt? Truthfully, not that many care. No I speak of the eternal struggle of Dog vs. Cat. 

I’m an unabashed dog lover. I have had cats, and while I will grant that they are good companions and are just as loving as a dog, the cat’s love is of a different kind. A dog loves you like he believes you are the center of the universe. A cat loves you like it believes it is the center of the universe.
 
You hear story after story of a dog intervening to save a family or family member from an intruder. Even the smallest dog will go after an intruder with the intent of driving it away from his master. This point is often used by a child to hoax the parents into getting a puppy. The parents  relent because they know it is true. The cat will run off and hide, or go look  for Lassie to save the day. I do think I heard a tale about a cat waking a family when there was a fire. I am pretty sure that it just wanted someone to let it outside, and saving the family was just incidental. 
 
History is rife with tales of a dog refusing to leave the grave of his fallen master. The dog will lie on the grave, and no amount of coaxing will induce it to leave. The poor animal will starve itself, waiting for his companion to return. A cat will haunt a graveyard only to catch a bird or to meet up with a witch. 
 
View these YouTube videos showing dogs greeting their returning soldiers from overseas. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKAVyXi0J4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlM3akznIU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gtfhE1fDW8

Now look at the best video I could find of a cat greeting someone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZDN6PjFCQ


There is no need to comment, which of course means I will. The difference in the greetings is night and day. Also the motivation is clear. The dogs are ecstatic over the return of their companion. The cat is looking for a hand out. 

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The Poor in America

1/6/2012

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The US Census Bureau issued it’s annual report on poverty in the US a few months back. It is titled Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 and can be found here. http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf

 The most interesting part to me is a statement on page two that I have never heard on the evening news. It says:

“The income and poverty estimates shown in this report are based solely on money income before taxes and do not include the value of noncash benefits, such as nutrition assistance, Medicare, Medicaid, public housing, and employer-provided fringe benefits.”

 Tell me something, do you think you might qualify as “poor” if the money you spent on food, rent/mortgage, health care, health insurance, and your utilities were not counted as part of your income? I make a solid middle class living, and I would be poor if all that were suptracted out. Here in this one sentence lies the real problem. The "poor" are really "poor with new and improved additives" So why would the Federal government define the "poor", without counting all that they give them (and take from someone else)? See if you can figure it out. First, lets describe why some people are poor and some are not.

I grew up hovering between poor and lower middle class. My folks qualified (but never accepted) food stamps and other government aid early in my life. Both of my folks grew up knowing poverty; both with large families and homes with out electricity and indoor plumbing. My paternal grandfather died when my dad was two. My grandparents on my mother’s side were immigrants who spoke no English, and worked in the beet fields to support 14 children. So I feel I have standing to talk about this from something other than an academic standpoint.

The “poor” are poor for one or more of four very general reasons, and one very specific government caused one.

The first reason that Americans live in poverty is Chronic Bad Decisions. This ecompasses things like, drug use, alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, failure to complete high school, failure to get along with others, breaking the law, cigarette smoking, failure to manage money, and out right wasting of money. This list is not inclusive.

I can already hear the howls.

“That’s nonsense. Plenty of people do these things and live a good life”

and

“ A bit judgmental aren’t you? This is a free country and people are free to live their own lives even if they make bad choices.”

My response; You’re right. People are free to make their own choices and many people that do the things I listed, live their lives above the poverty line. Just because you are an alcoholic who smokes like a train, does not mean you will be poor. But, I didn’t say that it would. I said chronic bad decisions are the first reason in making one poor. If a person spends his limited money for beer, cigarettes, and tattoos, while not being able to get along with his boss, has no high school diploma and spends his spare time breaking into cars, this will not lead to a life or riches. It’s a combination of bad decisions, and other factors, that keeps people in this category down.

The second reason is a Poor Work Ethic. There are a lot of people who make chronic bad decision, but are still not poor. They have one of three things going for them; a rich family, a winning lottery ticket or a good work ethic. Having a good work ethic will over come a lot of bad decisions. The Gods of Success will forgive a lot of things if you show up each day, bust your butt, and get the job done. But, combine a poor work ethic with just a few bad life choices and you end up as a statistic in a report.

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    Why this Blog?

    I'm 55, conservative and sincerely hope that my blog can make a difference. I think the Democrat Party has been taken over by America haters, career victims, and those who believe that the federal government should be your daddy. I'm looking to give those who vote for the "D" no matter what, something to think about.

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