Freedom of Religion/Speech Hanging On

In the past week we’ve heard stories about a five year old playing army at school and being suspended for pointing his hand in a way that was emulating a soldier with a weapon shooting at the enemy. We’ve also heard of a school that edited out references to  Jesus in the song “Silent Night”. The children were not allowed to say certain words during the song lest it offend non believers. Then there is the one that has generated the biggest headlines. Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson saying that he doesn’t believe that God sanctions the gay lifestyle.

His comments appear in the January issue of Gentleman’s Quarterly (GQ). You can read the entire story at http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson.

I warn you up front that if you read this article, it’s laced with foul language including the “f” word on several occasions, but not by Robertson. It’s all by the writer. You also have to be careful not to take the writers words as part of what Phil Robertson believes or says. If you want Phil’s words, read the quotes. The writer put his own interpretation into things said and the environment they are in for the interview.

I have never watched the Duck Dynasty television program so I know virtually nothing of what it’s all about other than what I’ve read lately. I always thought that it was a hunting program and while I have hunted and enjoyed hunting, watching on television as people sit in a blind and whisper their tips and what they are seeing has never been a big thrill for me.

The quote that has been the center of the controversy is: “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

I want to look at the first five words of this quote. “It seems like, TO ME”. In the fourth and fifth words he is making it clear that it is HIS opinion. He gets his opinion from his belief in God and what the bible says. Others may get a different opinion but this is his opinion and he states that it is in his first five words.

There is another quote in the article: “We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”

There isn’t one place in the article with all of the quotes by Phil Robertson or even the others in the family where they condemn homosexuals or anyone else to hell.

So the gay group GLAAD came out with their quote the day that the article was published. "Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil's lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe. He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans — and Americans — who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil's decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families."

Someone please tell me where are the lies? Is the lie where he says “we just love em”?  Was his description of a gay mans activities wrong? If his description of their activities is correct, shouldn’t GLAAD be embarrassed for calling their own activities “vile and extreme?  If we compare the truthfulness between Robertsons quote and GLAADs quote, the lie appears to be coming from GLAAD. Their quote is “He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans-and Americans-who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples.” 

Louisiana has a constitutional ban on gay marriages. I believe it’s up to 34 states now where the people have voted against gay marriages. Some are being overturned by the courts, but the people have voted against it. So if we’re going to start calling things lies or truths, I believe that GLAAD has stated the lies, not Robertson.

GLAAD immediately called on A&E (the cable network carrying Duck Dynasty) to condemn Robertsons remarks. Later that same day, A&E complied and then expressed their own opinion of the issue.

“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”

A&E then went a step further and suspended Robertson indefinitely. As I understand it, A&E is less than truthful in their statement as they say that Robertson’s beliefs are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. From all that I’ve read, they pray on the show, they give Christian values on the show. So their views are reflected in the series.

One more quote for you.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That is from the Constitution. It says that Congress shall make no law, and so far they haven’t made a law against the free exercise of religion nor abridging freedom of speech. However, it seems that A&E is perfectly willing to prevent freedom of speech and freedom of religion and most importantly using your freedom of speech to share your beliefs of your religion or your views on other topics, but in condemning Robertson for expressing his views, they offer a differing view. In other words, they are suspending Robertson giving their views in announcing the suspension for Robertson expressing his views that they admit they don’t agree with.

John Podesta, on the very same day that the GQ article was published with Robertsons quote, said that “Republicans are a cult worthy of Jonestown”. He apologized for stating his beliefs and all is well with him.

Robertson has not apologized for his views and I’m glad (no pun intended) of that. So far, he has stood up for himself. Something we rarely see any longer.

I still have no intention of watching Duck Dynasty. But I’m glad it’s out there. If they are stating Christian values, that is something I wish my children would watch rather than the crap that’s out there on television and in movie theaters.

I hope that the Robertsons find a way to resolve this without it turning into a huge battle or angry words in public. So far, they don’t seem to be throwing darts back at their detractors. It appears as though they are being the one set of adults in the room.

By the way, when I was a child, westerns were big on television. We used to play cowboys and Indians in the back yard with mock fights and shootouts and we even had our own toy holsters and toy guns. I also remember in grade school doing a Christmas program where we sang Silent Night and Coming round the mountain. Nobody edited it out and they even said “Merry Christmas” to each other at the end of the program and nobody got offended.

With the backlash that GLAAD is getting from this, which is the first time that I can think of that happening, I’m glad this happened and maybe it will be the catalyst for everyone minding their own business and allowing others to have their own beliefs without being scorned or scolded by others. I’d rather have the Robertsons as role models for my kids than GLAAD or A&E and if that offends any of you, then feel free to fill out the complaint box. You can find it on any liberal website you look at.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Democrats Running from Democrat Foolishness

There are reports all over about how Democrats are trying to distance themselves from the Affordable Care Act (ACA…or ObamaCare) debacle. They can’t. Another thing they can’t do is talk about bi-partisanship and they should be called out on it each time they try!

They are all now trying to figure out a way to save Obamacare. To find a way to make a failed plan work. Not because they are concerned about people losing their jobs but because they are worried about losing THEIR jobs! They were warned.

During the debate (and I use that term loosely) the arguments against it were that it would cost jobs. Hours would be cut back because employers, businesses, would have to cut costs to pay for it. Since they could only avoid it by cutting workers hours down to 29 hours per week, that’s what would happen. And it’s happening.

The Democrats were also warned that costs for the government insurance would be more expensive. And it’s happening.

All of these things and more were stated before the plan was even voted on. Remember Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of House, giving the answer to some of these? “We have to pass the plan to see what’s in it.”

There is another consequence of this plan. To qualify for subsidies in helping people pay for the government insurance their income must not exceed a certain amount. Those that are earning more but want the subsidy rather than pay the full freight will just lower their income by not working as much or cutting back on their production in their business. When did this country ever stand for doing less than your best? That’s what government health care is doing.

President Obama has been caught lying about this plan. If you want to keep your plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor you can keep him. Now we know that’s not true.

I write these things as a way for me to vent and if someone wants to comment, I like it and maybe someone will even be enlightened by something I write or maybe I’ll be enlightened by someone’s comments. But what I do for a living is that I’m an insurance agent. Yep. Health care, among other things. I have to pay a fee to the government to be licensed to do health care and life insurance and others. I’m bound by ethics and must not make false and misleading statements. Is President Obama licensed? He’s obviously not bound by ethics and he’s not held to account for making false and misleading statements.

Remember how this law came about. The Democrat controlled House passed the law. It went to the Democrat controlled Senate. They would have made changes to it, which would then require 60 votes to pass it and then it would go to conference. Senator Arlen Specter changed parties giving the Democrats the 60 votes they needed. However Senator Ted Kennedy died and Scott Brown ran as the 41^st vote to defeat Obamacare and he won his election.

The only way that they could pass it then would be to pass the House bill as written. No changes to it whatsoever. That’s exactly what they did! This law was completely done by Democrats. Not one Republican voted for it. What I haven’t mentioned yet, is that 68% of the people at the time did not want this plan.

For those of you in Michigan, we have an election coming up next year for Governor. As it stands now, it will be Governor Snyder against Mark Schauer. Mark Schauer I’m very familiar with. My representative where I live was Tim Wahlberg in 2008. But in that election, the Democrats took control of Congress and Tim Wahlberg was defeated by Mark Schauer. Mark Schauer voted for Obamacare and in the next election in 2010, Tim Wahlberg won  back the seat he’d lost to Mark Schauer.

I can also tell you that Mark Schauer is not a truthful person. He was caught blatantly lying several times. I heard some of them on a radio program I listen to and I attended two of his Town Hall meetings back when they held town hall meetings in person before they figured out that people actually had the nerve to tell them face to face that they haven’t got a clue what we really expect.

I would also remind everyone about Representative Joe Wilson. During an address to Congress by President Obama, Wilson is the Representative that shouted out “You lie”. Now it’s known that Wilson was speaking the truth, even if it was in an inappropriate setting.

Obama just held a press conference. His answer for the problem of policies being cancelled is another big government heavy boot. They are now forcing insurance companies to not cancel those insurance plans. Government orders are being fixed with more Government orders. I’m finding it hard to see where there is anymore freedom.

Obama has been called the Messiah in some corners. Let me ask you this. Did Jesus ever lie to you?

Below, I have listed all in the House that voted for and against Obamacare. Some will surprise you. What shouldn’t surprise you is that not one Repubican voted for Obamacare. This is not bi-partisan. This is an entire Democrat fiasco. Those Democrats now are running away from it because they are up for re-election. The Democrats took over the Government and orchestrated the takeover of the American health care system. It was the best in the world even with it’s flaws. Now it’s made this country look like a joke.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

At the Supreme Court of the United States

Chief Justice John Roberts voted FOR
Sonia Sotomayor voted FOR
Stephen Breyer voted FOR
Ruth Bader Ginsburg voted FOR
Elena Kagan voted FOR

Anthony Kennedy voted AGAINST
Samuel Alito voted AGAINST
Antonin Scalia voted AGAINST
Clarence Thomas voted AGAINST

Who voted for the bill in congress:

ALABAMA

Democrats: Bright voted NO • Davis voted NO
Republicans: Aderholt voted NO • Bachus voted NO • Bonner voted NO • Griffith voted NO • Rogers voted NO

ALASKA

Republicans: Young voted NO

ARIZONA

Democrats: Giffords voted YES • Grijalva voted YES • Kirkpatrick voted YES • Mitchell voted YES • Pastor voted NO
Republicans: Flake voted NO • Franks voted NO • Shadegg voted NO

ARKANSAS

Democrats: Berry voted NO • Ross voted NO • Snyder voted NO
Republicans: Boozman voted NO

CALIFORNIA

Democrats: Baca voted YES • Becerra voted YES • Berman voted YES • Capps voted YES • Cardoza voted YES • Chu voted YES • Costa voted YES • Davis voted YES • Eshoo voted YES • Farr voted YES • Filner voted YES • Garamendi voted YES • Harman voted YES • Honda voted YES • Lee voted YES • Lofgren, Zoe voted YES • Matsui voted YES • McNerney voted YES • Miller, George voted YES • Napolitano voted YES • Pelosi voted YES • Richardson voted YES • Roybal-Allard voted YES • Sanchez, Linda T. voted YES • Sanchez, Loretta voted YES • Schiff voted YES • Sherman voted YES • Speier voted YES • Stark voted YES • Thompson voted YES • Waters voted YES • Watson voted YES • Waxman voted YES • Woolsey voted NO
Republicans: Bilbray voted NO • Bono Mack voted NO • Calvert voted NO • Campbell voted NO • Dreier voted NO • Gallegly voted NO • Herger voted NO • Hunter voted NO • Issa voted NO • Lewis voted NO • Lungren, Daniel E. voted NO • McCarthy voted NO • McClintock voted NO • McKeon voted NO • Miller, Gary voted NO • Nunes voted NO • Radanovich voted NO • Rohrabacher voted NO • Royce voted NO

COLORADO

Democrats: DeGette voted YES • Markey voted YES • Perlmutter voted YES • Polis voted YES • Salazar voted NO
Republicans: Coffman voted NO • Lamborn voted NO

CONNECTICUT

Democrats: Courtney voted YES • DeLauro voted YES • Himes voted YES • Larson voted YES • Murphy voted NO

DELAWARE

Republicans: Castle voted NO

FLORIDA

Democrats: Boyd voted YES • Brown, Corrine voted YES • Castor voted YES • Grayson voted YES • Hastings voted YES • Klein voted YES • Kosmas voted YES • Meek voted YES • Wasserman Schultz voted NO
Republicans: Bilirakis voted NO • Brown-Waite, Ginny voted NO • Buchanan voted NO • Crenshaw voted NO • Diaz-Balart, L. voted NO • Diaz-Balart, M. voted NO • Mack voted NO • Mica voted NO • Miller voted NO • Posey voted NO • Putnam voted NO • Rooney voted NO • Ros-Lehtinen voted NO • Stearns voted NO • Young voted NO

GEORGIA

Democrats: Barrow voted NO • Bishop voted YES • Johnson voted YES • Lewis voted YES • Marshall voted NO • Scott voted NO
Republicans: Broun voted NO • Deal voted NO • Gingrey voted NO • Kingston voted NO • Linder voted NO • Price voted NO • Westmoreland voted NO

HAWAII

Democrats: Hirono voted NO

IDAHO

Democrats: Minnick voted NO
Republicans: Simpson voted NO

ILLINOIS

Democrats: Bean voted YES • Costello voted YES • Davis voted YES • Foster voted YES • Gutierrez voted YES • Halvorson voted YES • Hare voted YES • Jackson voted YES • Lipinski voted NO • Quigley voted YES • Rush voted YES • Schakowsky voted NO
Republicans: Biggert voted NO • Johnson voted NO • Kirk voted NO • Manzullo voted NO • Roskam voted NO • Schock voted NO • Shimkus voted NO

INDIANA

Democrats: Carson voted YES • Donnelly voted YES • Ellsworth voted YES • Hill voted YES • Visclosky voted NO
Republicans: Burton voted NO • Buyer voted NO • Pence voted NO • Souder voted NO

IOWA

Democrats: Boswell voted YES • Braley voted YES • Loebsack voted NO
Republicans: King voted NO • Latham voted NO

KANSAS

Democrats: Moore voted NO
Republicans: Jenkins voted NO • Moran voted NO • Tiahrt voted NO

KENTUCKY

Democrats: Chandler voted NO • Yarmuth voted NO
Republicans: Davis voted NO • Guthrie voted NO • Rogers voted NO • Whitfield voted NO

LOUISIANA

Democrats: Melancon voted NO
Republicans: Alexander voted NO • Boustany voted NO • Cao voted NO • Cassidy voted NO • Fleming voted NO • Scalise voted NO

MAINE

Democrats: Michaud voted YES • Pingree voted NO

MARYLAND

Democrats: Cummings voted YES • Edwards voted YES • Hoyer voted YES • Kratovil voted NO • Ruppersberger voted YES • Sarbanes voted YES • Van Hollen voted NO
Republicans: Bartlett voted NO

MASSACHUSETTS

Democrats: Capuano voted YES • Delahunt voted YES • Frank voted YES • Lynch voted NO • Markey voted YES • McGovern voted YES • Neal voted YES • Olver voted YES • Tierney voted YES • Tsongas voted NO

MICHIGAN

Democrats: Conyers voted YES • Dingell voted YES • Kildee voted YES • Kilpatrick voted YES • Levin voted YES • Peters voted YES • Schauer voted YES • Stupak voted NO
Republicans: Camp voted NO • Ehlers voted NO • Hoekstra voted NO • McCotter voted NO • Miller voted NO • Rogers voted NO • Upton voted NO

MINNESOTA

Democrats: Ellison voted YES • McCollum voted YES • Oberstar voted YES • Peterson voted NO • Walz voted NO
Republicans: Bachmann voted NO • Kline voted NO • Paulsen voted NO

MISSISSIPPI

Democrats: Childers voted NO • Taylor voted NO • Thompson voted NO
Republicans: Harper voted NO

MISSOURI

Democrats: Carnahan voted YES • Clay voted YES • Cleaver voted YES • Skelton voted NO
Republicans: Akin voted NO • Blunt voted NO • Emerson voted NO • Graves voted NO • Luetkemeyer voted NO

MONTANA

Republicans: Rehberg voted NO

NEBRASKA

Republicans: Fortenberry voted NO • Smith voted NO • Terry voted NO

NEVADA

Democrats: Berkley voted YES • Titus voted NO
Republicans: Heller voted NO

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Democrats: Hodes voted YES • Shea-Porter voted NO

NEW JERSEY

Democrats: Adler voted NO • Andrews voted YES • Holt voted YES • Pallone voted YES • Pascrell voted YES • Payne voted YES • Rothman voted YES • Sires voted NO
Republicans: Frelinghuysen voted NO • Garrett voted NO • Lance voted NO • LoBiondo voted NO • Smith voted NO

NEW MEXICO

Democrats: Heinrich voted YES • Lujan voted YES • Teague voted NO

NEW YORK

Democrats: Ackerman voted YES • Arcuri voted NO • Bishop voted YES • Clarke voted YES • Crowley voted YES • Engel voted YES • Hall voted YES • Higgins voted YES • Hinchey voted YES • Israel voted YES • Lowey voted YES • Maffei voted YES • Maloney voted YES • McCarthy voted YES • McMahon voted NO • Meeks voted YES • Murphy voted YES • Nadler voted YES • Owens voted YES • Rangel voted YES • Serrano voted YES • Slaughter voted YES • Tonko voted YES • Towns voted YES • Velazquez voted YES • Weiner voted NO
Republicans: King voted NO • Lee voted NO

NORTH CAROLINA

Democrats: Butterfield voted YES • Etheridge voted YES • Kissell voted NO • McIntyre voted NO • Miller voted YES • Price voted YES • Shuler voted NO • Watt voted NO
Republicans: Coble voted NO • Foxx voted NO • Jones voted NO • McHenry voted NO • Myrick voted NO

NORTH DAKOTA

Democrats: Pomeroy voted NO

OHIO

Democrats: Boccieri voted YES • Driehaus voted YES • Fudge voted YES • Kaptur voted YES • Kilroy voted YES • Kucinich voted YES • Ryan voted YES • Space voted NO • Sutton voted YES • Wilson voted NO
Republicans: Austria voted NO • Boehner voted NO • Jordan voted NO • LaTourette voted NO • Latta voted NO • Schmidt voted NO • Tiberi voted NO • Turner voted NO

OKLAHOMA

Democrats: Boren voted NO
Republicans: Cole voted NO • Fallin voted NO • Lucas voted NO • Sullivan voted NO

OREGON

Democrats: Blumenauer voted YES • DeFazio voted YES • Schrader voted YES • Wu voted NO
Republicans: Walden voted NO

PENNSYLVANIA

Democrats: Altmire voted NO • Brady voted YES • Carney voted YES • Dahlkemper voted YES • Doyle voted YES • Fattah voted YES • Holden voted NO • Kanjorski voted YES • Murphy, Patrick voted YES • Schwartz voted YES • Sestak voted NO
Republicans: Dent voted NO • Gerlach voted NO • Murphy, Tim voted NO • Pitts voted NO • Platts voted NO • Shuster voted NO • Thompson voted NO

RHODE ISLAND

Democrats: Kennedy voted YES • Langevin voted NO

SOUTH CAROLINA

Democrats: Clyburn voted YES • Spratt voted NO
Republicans: Barrett voted NO • Brown voted NO • Inglis voted NO • Wilson voted NO

SOUTH DAKOTA

Democrats: Herseth Sandlin voted NO

TENNESSEE

Democrats: Cohen voted YES • Cooper voted YES • Davis voted NO • Gordon voted YES • Tanner voted NO
Republicans: Blackburn voted NO • Duncan voted NO • Roe voted NO • Wamp voted NO

TEXAS

Democrats: Cuellar voted YES • Doggett voted YES • Edwards voted NO • Gonzalez voted YES • Green, Al voted YES • Green, Gene voted YES • Hinojosa voted YES • Jackson Lee voted YES • Johnson, E. B. voted YES • Ortiz voted YES • Reyes voted YES • Rodriguez voted NO
Republicans: Barton voted NO • Brady voted NO • Burgess voted NO • Carter voted NO • Conaway voted NO • Culberson voted NO • Gohmert voted NO • Granger voted NO • Hall voted NO • Hensarling voted NO • Johnson, Sam voted NO • Marchant voted NO • McCaul voted NO • Neugebauer voted NO • Olson voted NO • Paul voted NO • Poe voted NO • Sessions voted NO • Smith voted NO • Thornberry voted NO

UTAH

Democrats: Matheson voted NO
Republicans: Bishop voted NO • Chaffetz voted NO

VERMONT

Democrats: Welch voted NO

VIRGINIA

Democrats: Boucher voted NO • Connolly voted YES • Moran voted YES • Nye voted NO • Perriello voted YES • Scott voted NO
Republicans: Cantor voted NO • Forbes voted NO • Goodlatte voted NO • Wittman voted NO • Wolf voted NO

WASHINGTON

Democrats: Baird voted YES • Dicks voted YES • Inslee voted YES • Larsen voted YES • McDermott voted YES • Smith voted NO
Republicans: Hastings voted NO • McMorris Rodgers voted NO • Reichert voted NO

WEST VIRGINIA

Democrats: Mollohan voted YES • Rahall voted NO
Republicans: Capito voted NO

WISCONSIN

Democrats: Baldwin voted YES • Kagen voted YES • Kind voted YES • Moore voted YES • Obey voted NO
Republicans: Petri voted NO • Ryan voted NO • Sensenbrenner voted NO

WYOMING

Republicans: Lummis voted NO

FAILURE

We are five years into the Obama Presidency. So how have things improved?

In 2008 our economy nearly crashed just a month and a half before the election which pretty much ensured Obama’s victory in the election.

Obama promised that if the congress would pass his stimulus package, he’d sign it on Presidents Day in 2009, less than one month following his inauguration. The House, the Senate and the White House were all controlled by Democrats. One day after President’s Day, Obama flew out to Colorado and signed the stimulus bill.

As predicted unemployment soared to 10.2%. As predicted the stimulus failed. The stimulus money went to Democrat favored groups, such as the unions. Remember the cash for clunkers? It cost the country $24,000 per clunker. Another failure. Even now, nearly five years later, we are still languishing in the slowest recovery in history. Unemployment has now dropped to 7.2% largely because those on unemployment have run out of benefits, which takes them out of the numbers.

Next we had the health care fight. It passed the Democrat controlled House but when it got to the Senate it was about to die. Senator Ted Kennedy had died and was being replaced by Scott Brown a Republican who ran as the 41^st vote against health care which would stop it. But the Democrat controlled Senate had a plan. They could pass the House health care plan if they made no changes to it. That’s exactly what they did. National Health Care was now forced on the people despite 65% of the American people being against it.

This was another failure. First, it’s not bi-partisan which used to be so important to Democrats. Second, changes have been made by the President during the past three years. Illegal changes. In addition, waivers were granted to select Democrat groups. Now that it’s time to implement it, the websites don’t even work. Another failure. Obamacare was supposed to lower premiums. Failure. They said that under Obamacare you could keep your insurance if you wanted. What they didn’t tell you (although it was predicted by Republicans) was that employers would lower hours for employees so that they didn’t have to provide health care. So much for keeping your insurance if you want it. Another failure.

Congress is exempt from the health care law, in fact, they are being subsidized by the American people’s tax money for their heath care if they go to Obamacare. Another failure.

Remember the transparent government promised by Obama? Last year we find out that the IRS is targeting Tea Party Groups, and Republicans. Another illegal activity taking place under Obama’s nose. Failure.

The NSA is spying on Americans and now even foreign governments are complaining because they are finding out that the NSA was spying on them. I expect spying on foreign governments, but we don’t expect to get caught on such a large scale. Another failure. What does the government say? They want a whistleblower arrested because it’s “his fault”. Not the governments fault for hiring him. Not the governments fault for spying on their own citizens. It’s Snowden’s fault. Another failure.

Then there is Benghazi. Our governments failure to protect and to even go so far as to cover up information about the attack. Susan Rice went on television and blamed it on a video that nobody had seen. The maker of the video was jailed. Susan Rice is promoted. Another failure.

There is a case to be made for impeachment of President Obama.  Do we really want Joe Biden as our president though?

Obama has not yet completed his first year of his second term and the failures are mounting up. What do we hear about who’s running for President next time? Hillary Clinton. Clinton was involved in Benghazi, not to mention Hillarycare in the 90’s which failed. Not to mention the 900 FBI files in in the 90’s. Not to mention enabling her husband, then the president, who was diddling with an intern as well as others. Do we really want another failure in four years when it’s time to make a change?

There is only one way to describe this presidency. FAILURE.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Republicans Wimp Out to Obama

If what’s being reported in Breitbart this morning is true, it’s proof positive that the only thing the Republicans have in mind is their own re-election and they are no better than President Obama and the liberal Democrats. In fact, I’d call them wimps at best.

The Republicans sent over four bills just prior to the government shutdown. The Democrats in the Senate rejected them. Each of them. There were no negotiations. There were no talks at all. The government shut down. The Democrats from President Obama to Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi started their childish name-calling campaign.

The Republicans were called extortionists among other things. The Republicans only wanted to defund Obamacare. Why not? A strong majority of the American people don’t want it. Defunding it is a good position to take. Then they wanted to delay the rollout by a year.

Here we are two weeks later. The government is shutdown. Finally Obama agrees to “negotiate”. Negotiate. That seems to mean you give a little and the other guy gives a little. When has Obama ever negotiated in good faith? NEVER!

So what do the Republicans do? They apparently intend to agree to fund Obamacare. They have given up the fight to delay it for even a year. In addition, the Republicans apparently are agreeing to lift the debt ceiling (which was not even a part of the shutdown), fund Obamacare, and in addition to all of that they are willing to reverse cuts from the sequester from a year ago…or was it two years ago!

Apparently, the Republicans just wanted an audience with his majesty the President. They got it, so now they are giving him everything he wants and more.

I am beginning to think that the smartest people in this country were the Republicans that stayed home during the last election costing Mitt Romney the election. I am now prepared to do nearly the same thing.

While I haven’t completely thought this through, at this moment, I’m pretty much certain that in the primaries next year I will vote for any challenger to the Republican incumbent. If the incumbent wins, then in the general election I will go vote but will not vote for the incumbent. My Representative is Tim Wahlberg. I will vote for the challenger in the Primary, provided he’s a Conservative. If Wahlberg wins, when I go vote the following November, I will not vote for Wahlberg. I also won’t vote for the Democrat. In other words, I will not vote for either for Representative.

In Michigan we will be voting on Governor next year. I will vote for the governor and not for his Democrat opponent. But I will leave the office of Representative for the US House blank. This is exactly what the Republicans in the House of Representatives is now doing to us, so I think they should get what they give.

The current crop of Republicans in the House and Senate in DC are wimps. If Breitbarts reporting is true, they don’t deserve to be in Washington DC. Let them come out and suffer with the rest of us.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

25 Republican Wimps that Need to be Replaced

“Thou shalt not speak ill of fellow Republicans”

Remember Ronald Reagan? He used to be President. He was Conservative. He was what all Republicans wanted to be like. Conservative. That quote was Reagans 11th commandment. 

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Representative Peter King of New York, all Republicans in name only. They preferred to attack Senator Ted Cruz rather than back him. The very least they should have done was to keep their mouths shut.

Let’s do a little review: Ted Kennedy had died and an election was held to replace him as Senator of Massachusetts. Scott Brown ran as the 41^st vote against Obamacare. His vote would stop cloture and the bill would die. The House had already passed Obamacare without one Republican vote. The entire bill in the House was because of Democrats. The party that always whines that things must be bipartisan or it’s not a good law voted for the law without Republicans.

In the House, they only need a simple majority. Democrats had the majority in the House. They passed the bill with zero Republicans voting for it. The Senate is a different matter though.

In the Senate, there are 100 Senators. Due to the late Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switching parties, the Democrats now had 60 votes. The Senate does not have a simple majority vote. They must first vote for cloture and to achieve that they need to have 60 votes in favor of cloture so they can then vote on whatever bill they are taking up. Then they only need a simple majority of 51.

Ted Kennedy, the very liberal Senator from Ma died. This brought the Democrats down to 59 seats with the Republicans holding 40. If the Democrat running for the seat to replace Kennedy won, the Democrats had the 60 votes needed. But the Republican candidate ran as the 41^st vote stopping the takeover of Health care. Money poured in from around the country to help elect Brown in the most liberal state in the country. Brown won. The Democrats would not get cloture without a Republican voting for it and there were none.

So they had only one option left. They could vote on the bill that the House sent over but it would have to be as the House wrote it. There would be no changes allowed to that bill. If the vote were taken strictly on the bill and no changes, the Senate only needed to have a simple majority. Since they had 59 seats, that part was easy.

So the health care bill that the House passed without any Republican support was passed by the Senate with no Republican support. They changed their normal order of doing things because they lost an election. The majority of the American people have been against this health plan from start to finish.

We are now two days away from the law going into effect. Both Houses of Congress have a chance to stop this. The American people want it stopped!

The House voted to defund the Obamacare. It then went to the Senate. Republicans now hold 44 seats in the Senate. They can stop cloture. They only need to vote against it and Obamacare is defunded. Now remember, the Democrats in the Senate have not taken up a budget bill in five years. They are required by law to do so, but they never have since Obama took office. Even when they had the majority and the Republicans couldn’t stop them, they never took it up. The Republicans in the House have passed budget bills, but the Senate never took them up. So now the House does a Continuing Resolution to continue to fund the government into November but not to fund Obamacare.

The Democrats claim Republicans are trying to shut down the government. But, if they vote on the bill the House sent over (as they did with Obamacare) the government remains open. The Democrats, President Obama and the willing press all say that it will be the Republicans fault for the government shut down.

Twenty five Republican Senators run scared and vote for cloture rather than standing up against Obamacare as they did in the past and as they said they would in the most recent election! Those twenty five Republicans are: Alexander,  Ayotte,  Barrasso,  Blunt, Boozman, Burr, Chambliss, Chiesa, Coats, Coburn, Cochran, Collins, Corker, Cornyn, Graham, Hoeven, Isakson, Johanns, Johnson (WI), Kirk, McCain, McConnell, Murkowski, Thune, Wicker.

Prior to the vote, one man stood up for the American people. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. What did he get for his efforts?  Senator Corker  said Cruz was doing nothing more than a publicity stunt. Senator John McCain didn’t like Cruz’s remarks about appeasers when he compared them to Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister in Great Britain during World War II. He was talking about press pundits. McCain didn’t like the remarks saying that they were a disservice to his father and grandfather who fought in World War II. I’m not sure how calling press pundits appeasers relates to McCains ancestors fighting, but like so many things, if you say something negative about something, if someone fought against that negativity, they are not served well because they participated even if on the right side. I wonder if McCain saying negative things about Cruz if that should be taken to mean that McCain doesn’t like Cubans.

Representative Peter King of New York called Senator Cruz a fraud and after getting calls in his office that were pro-Cruz and anti Obama that he called vile, he said that Cruz is a false leader and he’s bringing out the unsavory elements of the right wing. Peter King is a Republican!
The real slap in the face to the American people is that Republican Senators quit answering their phones. They didn’t want to hear that the people didn’t want them to vote for cloture. The American people wanted Obamacare shut down. Let the Democrats stand up and keep the government open by passing the House bill.

These Republicans are wimps! They don’t deserve to sit in the Senate chamber. They are not honorable. If all of that is not enough, Chris Wallace said that there were “top Republicans” that approached him with information to ask Cruz about during their interview. It’s too bad these Republicans don’t fight for the American people this hard against the Democrats!

Even Karl Rove has said things against Senator Cruz saying that Cruz and Senator Mike Lee of Utah did not approach other Republicans before standing up against Obamacare. Apparently Rove doesn’t understand that the old Washington ways is what got us in the mess we’re in with this country. Cruz and Lee stood up for their constituents and didn’t check with their leadership in their party for permission to stand up for their principles and their constituents.

If those 25 so-called Republicans can’t stand up for what they said they would, perhaps they should switch parties and then run against some real Conservatives in their next election. We don’t need Democrat light. We need honest, principled Conservatives that won’t cower to the likes of Mitch McConnell and John McCain.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett