Tax Freedom Day

Leading up to to today, every dollar you've earned has been to pay your taxes for the entire year. Beginning today, you now work for your own earnings. Today is Tax Freedom Day. However, if you add the deficit to the mix, tax freedom day actually is May 29. The latest in history. You can find this report at http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/.

Enjoy it, because tax freedom day will continue be later and later each year. Or at least until Obama is replaced in the White House by a Conservative.

Also, a reminder. Wednesday is April 15. The day that the Tea Parties, organized to protest the increased taxes and increased spending by this administration and congress. Find one in your area and attend. There is a very large turnout expected around the country. I have a partial list below, you can get a more complete list by googling Tax Freedom Day lists.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Obama Takes Presidency to a New Low

Obama Brings Shame to America

The President of the United States is the most powerful office in the world. It doesn't matter who the President is, the office is the most powerful in the world.

Despite holding the most powerful seat in the world, the current President of the United States bowed to the Saudi King. Protocol was broken. The President does not bow to anyone. This is the second (or third) faux paux by the current President and/or his wife in one trip.

In Great Britain, the hullaballoo was about Michelle Obama putting her arm around the Queen of England. Even Larry King, when asking one of his guests about the approprateness of the first lady touching the Queen then exclaimed while getting his answer from his guest, 'she's doing it again! She's touching the Queen!!'.

Then in Saudi Arabia, Obama bowed to the King. The White House is denying that he bowed, but the press in the arab world is all abuzz about the President bowing to the King. The White House claims that it just appeared that way because the President is taller than the King. I'm not sure how this works. If the President is taller, why is his head lower? If he's not bowing, what is he doing? I shudder to think of the possibilities. You can judge for yourself in the picture.

The lastest statement from Obama is a slap in the face to Americans. He's quoted as saying that America is not a Christian nation. I only know of one thing to say about this President after the bowing and the comment that we're not a Christian nation. He is not fit to be President of the United States of America. Obama may not be a Christian, I'm more convinced of that every day, but this country is more than 85% Christian. Mr. President, this is a Christian nation and you are a disgrace to this nation. Thank God we get another chance in less than four years to correct this monstrous error that America made in choosing Barack Hussein Obama (Or Barry Soerto) President of the United States.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Stolen Senate Seat by Democrats

Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty just days before the election. On election day, he was still on the ballot, and lost his election by a mere 4,000 votes.

Now that the new liberal Senator from Alaska is firmly ensconsed in the Senate, the Prosecution team has been called corrupt, they are under investigation and the charges against Stevens have been dismissed. He is no longer a convicted criminal.

Contradictory evidence was not turned over to the defense. A witness against Stevens had given two accounts of his encounter with Stevens. The prosecution was required to give the information to the defense but they didn't. This is but one item that the prosecution team was said to have done.

So what happens now? Will there be a new election? Will the new Senator, Begich, be forced to resign and run a clean campaign? The answer is no. Senator Begich will not be forced to resign and there will not be a new election. There is no evidence yet, that the Democrat Senator had a hand in the prosecutorial misconduct.

Should this happen, Alaska law calls for a special election. The governor appoints an interim Senator until a special election can be held, then the elected Senator will finish out the current term.

It's unlikely that the Justice Department under Eric Holder will investigate to see if Begich had any part to this farce, and Begich has already said he won't resign. So Alaska, and the country, is stuck with a tainted Senator for five and a half years until the next scheduled election for that seat.

What we do have is another example of too much power in Government. The Department of Justice is now in the business of choosing Senators.

So now we have an Alaska Senator, an Illinois Senator, a New York Senator and a Delaware Senator, all in their seats, at the hands of either corruption or appointment by someone other than the people.

On the House side, Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. is under investigation by the House Ethics committee for his role in the Blagojevich scandal.

When it comes to government, there just seems to be no end to scandals that they can create for themselves. Department of Justice scandal. Chicago politics scandals, Treasury Department scandals (tax cheat Tim Geithner). I think we're entering the new Clinton era with a scandal a day.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Obama's Recession Saving Plan: USA 8.5% Michigan 12% Unemployment

The so-called stimulus package was signed the day after Presidents Day, 2009. That's February 17, 2009. David Axelrod, Obama's top advisor is quoted as saying that we'll see an immediate slowdown in layoffs and an immediate appearance of shovels in the ground.

It is now April 3, 2009. Nearly six weeks after Axelrods statement, and unemployment has risen to 8.5%.

On February 17, 2009 at the Best Western in Western Lansing, Michigan, Representative Mark Schauer said that for every day that the stimulus package isn't signed, we lose 20,000 jobs. The bill was signed that day by Obama in Denver, Colorado. Since then, we've had announcements of job losses at 698,00 and the latest, 633,000.

Taxes have increased, after Obama said that it's not smart to raise taxes in the middle of a recession. Taxes are going to increase again a few times over the next year.

Yesterday, the Congress passed a $3.6 Trillion budget (See the sidebar for the amount of money spent thus far in Obama's administration).

It's very evident that Obama's plan for rescuing the economy is not working. So what is he doing during this time? He's in Paris, France telling the French that America has been arrogant.

I'm really sick of this guy taking our money for his own purposes, his own projects and having them fail and then him apologizing to Europe for America's past action.

Our unemployment rate is now at its' highest level since 1982. Do you remember 1982? We had double digit inflation, double digit inflation rates, and Reagan had just been elected President. He cut taxes, and the nation started on its' path to the longest peacetime growth in history. Reagan fixed Carters mess. Now we have Obama picking up where Carter left off with three more years to add to the Carter follies. This is understandable since it's been reported that Carter has been at the White House advising Obama.

I think we can now say with certainty that Barack Obama has lied along with the willing press, during the campaign, and that he has moved to socialist policies. We're now going to find out what would have happened if Carter had beaten Reagan. Obama is continuing Carters policies 28 years after the American people rejected Carter.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Another Obama Promise Up in Smoke

The question of trusting this President has been answered yet again. Let me take you back to the Presidential Campaign of 2008.

On September 12, 2008 in Dover, New Hampshire Barack Obama said this: . "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

And then, there is this quote from the Vice Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin: "No one making less than $250,000 under Barack Obama's plan will see one single penny of their tax raised," Joe Biden said, "whether it's their capital gains tax, their income tax, investment tax, any tax."

Yesterday, April 1, 2009, the Obama Administration more than tripled taxes on tobacco. Okay, you say it affects only smokers and smoking is a nasty habit, smells bad, causes health problems, and so on. However, it's still a legal activity. It's yet another freedom being attacked by this administration. You may not care for smoking, but if they can do this to smoking, they can do it to drinking beer or wine. If they want, they can start start putting an added tax on anything that they desire. If the average car costs $25,000 and you choose one that costs $30,000, they can force you to pay an excise tax of 10% on the additional $5,000 in cost that you chose.

In addition, the majority of smokers are lower income. Yes, there are middle class smokers, upper class smokers, but the majority of smokers are lower income. Both Obama and Biden said "ANY TAX" for anyone under $250,000 income.

We're in the midst of a recession. Stress is high on people losing their jobs. The ones losing their jobs are middle class and lower class. The stress may cause them to smoke more. So what Obama has done is not only attacked the lower classes, but also attacked those that are down and out. Kicking a man when he's down, comes to mind.

This is another example of the Obama Administration and the Democrats, who own both the House and Senate, breaking yet another promise. Will the liberals get it this time? I doubt it.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

The Tax and Spend Democrats have taken over. With taxes increasing beginning with the tobacco tax on April 1, we're learning of still more Democrats that didn't pay taxes. Naturally, they continue to say "unintentional".

One incident I might be able to understand. Two would be a coincidence. Three begins to appear as though it's becoming common. Four has to make you wonder if taxes are only meant for everyone other than Democrats. Five, makes it halfway to the Ten Most Wanted List. Six makes one wonder if there are any Democrats able to follow the laws that they write.

I'd ask 'who's next', but I'm afraid that we may find out.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Tea Party-April 15, 2009

In 1773 citizens of Boston, Massachussets dressed as Indians and boarded three English ships loaded with tea. In three hours time, they tossed that tea into Boston Harbor to protest the latest tax imposed on them.

This event was the culmination of events since the French and Indian War including the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, and the Boston Masssacre. Great Britain's Parliament thought the colonists wouldn't give up their tea and if they taxed the tea, it would be an indication by the colonists that they agreed with Britains right to tax them.

Today's Tea Parties that are springing up around the nation are not exactly the same as it was in 1773, but it is similar in that the people are protesting the excessive taxation imposed on the people by the government.

In spite of campaign promises to provide a tax cut to 95% of the people of this country, we are now going to be taxed like we haven't been in years. The government is using our money to bailout companies that have already failed. Yes, I said "our money". The government does not earn money. They confiscate money from the people in the form of taxes. Taxes are necessary, but not to the extent that we're being taxed and will be taxed under present conditions in the very near future.

On April 15, there will be Tea Parties held all across this country to protest the taxes that are about to be imposed on the citizens of this country. April 15 is of course, tax day in this country. This has been a growing phenomenon. There have been tea parties held already across the country. Naturally, the size of them has been underreported. The most notable thus far has been in Orlando, Florida, where it was reported that a couple of thousand people were out to protest. The number was actually placed at over 5,000.

Look in your area for when the Tea Party will be held and attend if you are able. I know that there is one planned in Lansing, Michigan and I've been hearing there may be one in Battle Creek, Michigan. I am hoping to attend one here and take pictures and post them. If you attend one in your area and take pictures and send them to me, I will try to post them as well. You can see below for some of the scheduled Tea Parties.

If you are able to send a picture, please send it to me at BYoung7411@gmail.com and include the city and state that your picture represents. If you have the estimated attendance I'd like that as well.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

"Overseas Contingency Operation"-The Cowards Way of Talking about the War on Terror

In an earlier posting, I said that the Obama administration hadn't used the phrase "War on Terror". Apparently, they aren't going to in the future.

They've decided on closing Guantamo Bay (Gitmo) and they suspended the hearings for terrorists held at Gitmo. There is talk that some of the detainees held in Gitmo will be set free in the United States and those put on trial will be put on trial in our court system in this country.

Now, they have renamed the War on Terror the "Overseas contingency operation". I thought I'd look up the written meaning of "Contingency". I know that with Life Insurance, you name a beneficiary who collects the proceeds at your death, and you select a Contingent Beneficiary just in case the original beneficiary dies first. Wikipedia gives this as a definition: "In philosophy and logic, contingency is the status of propositions that are not necessarily true or necessarily false."

From Miriam Webster: 1: the quality or state of being contingent2: a contingent event or condition: as a: an event (as an emergency) that may but is not certain to occur b: something liable to happen as an adjunct to or result of something else

We were attacked on September 11, 2001. We were not at war. 19 men decided followed Osama bin Laden's instructions and crashed 4 airplanes. 2 into the World Trade Center, 1 into the Pentagon and the fourth was headed for either the Capitol or the White House but due to some heroic actions by American citizens, was instead crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. These were terrorists, operating under the direction of Osama bin Laden.

bin Laden had said in the past, during the fighting in Somalia in the 90's, that Americans didn't have the stomach to handle their terrorist activities. The Obama administration is making great strides in turning bin Laden into an accurate prophet.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, the Japanese attacked the military. When we were attacked on September 11, 2001 citizens were attacked. On the planes and on the ground. Pearl Harbor was an act of war by another country. Sept. 11 was an act of terror perpetrated by terrorists on the American public.

This is and has been a war on terror and will continue to be a war on terror. They want to kill Americans. Not just American soldiers, but American people. The reward for the terrorists that give their lives for their cause think they are going to get 72 virgins in paradise for their actions. Will Obama now change that as well to "three score and 12 uninvaded female gender"?

Will Obama next want to enter into negotiations with bin Laden to attempt to put an end to the attacks?

Obama may not consider this a war, but the terrorists do consider it a war. If Obama is going to start treating terrorists like they've violated the traffic laws in this country, it's going to be a much longer war.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Was the "Stimulus" Bill Read by Anyone?

In January and February, the President said that he wanted a stimulus bill ready for him to sign on Presidents Day. The Democrats in the House wrote the bill. They didn't want any involvement by the Republicans. It came up for a vote and not one Republican voted for the bill. However, they did complain about it. Not the contents, though. They couldn't complain about the contents because it was passed in the late hours and voted on the next day. The bill was over 1,100 pages long.

Representative and Minority Leader, John Boehner held up the bill on the floor of the House. It was 8 inches thick and he dropped it with a loud thud. His complaint was that they were being forced to vote on a bill that NOBODY could have possibly read.

With all of the problems coming up over that bills contents now regarding the AIG Bonuses, they are again saying that NOBODY read the bill before voting on it. I can state unequivocably that one Representative did read the bill. How do I know this? Because he's my Representative. Democrat, Mark Schauer.

Mr. Schauer held public meetings around his district in February. At his stops in Charlotte, Eaton Rapids and a couple of other places, he heard complaints from his constituents that he voted for a nearly trillion dollar spending package that he didn't read. Mr. Schauer claimed at each stop that he did in fact read the entire bill. It was reported in the Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press, the Battle Creek Enquirer and the Lansing State Journal. He was quoted in each of those newspapers that he had read the bill.

On February 17, one day after Presidents Day, and the day that Obama did sign the bill in Denver, Mark Schauer held another meeting. He called these events "Congress on your corner". This meeting was held at the Best Western in Lansing, Michigan. I attended this event. He was again questioned about the bill saying that he could not have read it and again, he reiterated on at least three occasions during that meeting that he did read the entire bill. The people there, which numbered about 100, broke out in laughter at this claim. But he stuck to his claim.

I have tried to do some research on this to find out if any other Congressmen or women were claiming that they read the entire bill before voting on it. I have been unable to find even one that claimed to have read it, other than Mark Schauer.

In the past week, we've learned that the AIG Bonuses were permitted in that bill. Christopher Dodd, Democrat Senator from Connecticut, claimed on March 17 that he didn't have anything to do with that being in the bill, then on March 18, on CNN he told Dana Bash that he did add the bonuses into the final product under pressure from the Obama Administration.

Since Representative Mark Schauer read this bill, and has claimed repeatedly to have read the bill, he had to have known these bonuses were in the bill. Yet, he still voted for it.

Mr. Schauer has a problem of his own creation now. He claims to have read the entire bill, and did vote for it, so he must agree that AIG executives are entitled to those bonuses. If he says that he didn't know it was in the bill, then he's admitting that he lied to his constituents across his district about reading the bill. Finally, if he's against the bonuses, then the question he should have to answer is, "why did you vote for it?" Is he that gutless that he couldn't stand up to his colleagues and bring this to their attention?

What's interesting is that I have found no comments yet from Representative Schauer stating his position on the AIG bonuses. But then, with the liberal press in this state, I'm really not surprised that it's not even being asked of Representative Schauer.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

WalMart Stimulus Package

For the first time in 20 years, Walmart has announced it's bonuses to the Walmart associates. Walmart is paying out $500 billion to 80 million employees. It will be an average of $651 per associate.

Naturally, full time associates will get larger amounts than part time associates. It's divided up based on their status.

While the government gives bailouts to big companies that are failing, Walmart is paying their associates for their success. They have been doing this since 1986 but haven't announced the numbers each year. It's always just been given each year without fanfare. This year, they announced the amounts that are being paid.

According to associates last year, they were paid $500-$1,000 as a reward for their success, also known as their bonus for a job well done. Stores have sales charts in their break rooms to show how they are doing from month to month. By giving out this information, associates know from month to month if they are on track for bonuses and if they need to work to improve their demeanor with the customers and their placement of products on the shelves making them easy to find for the customers.

After all of the complaints that liberals like to throw out about Walmart, it's good to see them announcing the bonuses for their associates. I should probably clear something up before the liberals start their complaining. A Walmart employee is an associate. The person at the door that says hello, the stockboys, the cashiers, they are all associates. These bonuses, show they too take part in the profits of Walmart, and they aren't held back from working to improve their product, their stores, nor their associates by a union. If they were, the bonuses wouldn't be there.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

This is What Happens When Liberals Take Over

The Congressional Budget Office gave it's report today on the deficit figures going into the future. They are saying that there will be an average of over $1 Trillion per year in deficits for the next ten years based on Obama and the Democrats so-called stimulus package. This will be the excuse for the massive tax increases coming soon.

So what has been happening with the President and Vice-President since the election? Here's the top ten gaffes since the 20th of January.

10. Just after he's been sworn in by him, the newly-minted Vice President Joe Biden gets the name of Justice John Paul Stephens, "one of the great justices" of the Supreme Court, calling him "Justice Stewart":

9. Barack Obama jokes about Nancy Reagan having séances in the White House. He later called her to apologise after the AP noted that although she had consulted astrologers, "she did not hold conversations with the dead":

8. Joe Biden forgets the "website number" for the White House internet site designed to show how TARP money is being spent:

7. Barack Obama mixes up the windows and doors at his new home:

6. Joe Biden jokes about Chief Justice John Roberts fluffing the inauguration oath. The president is visibly annoyed with his veep and Biden later apologises:

5. A Marine One double. First, on his maiden Marine One trip Obama breaches protocol and makes life uncomfortable for an enlisted marine by shaking the the serviceman's hand as he's saluting his commander-in-chief:
Then - Gerald Ford, eat your heart out. Barack Obama bangs his head as he boards his helicopter:

4. Joe Biden tells his wife that he had the choice of being either Secretary of State or vice-president - an offer that was news to Obama aides and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when Jill Biden spilled the beans on Oprah:

3. Gordon Brown presents the new President with: a pen holder carved from the timbers of HMS Gannett, a sister ship of HMS Resolute; the commissioning certificate of HMS Resolute; and a seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, the Prime minister gets 25 DVDS, which don't work in Britain:

2. Joe Biden tells a former Senate colleague who addresses him as "Mr Vice-President" to "give me a f---ing break":

1. The latest one takes the biscuit. Barack Obama jokes about the disabled on the Jay Leno show. Afterwards, he calls the head of the Special Olympics to apologise:

This doesn't inspire much confidence.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Bonuses: Next up. Fannie Mae then Freddit Mac

It was just announced that Fannie Mae will be paying $611,000 in bonuses to four executives. Fannie recently requested $15 billion in bailout money from the government. Freddie Mac has requested up to $45 Billion, but they have not yet announced what their bonuses will be.

Fannie Mae is a government controlled company. It will be interesting to see if Senator Schumer threatens these people with 100% confiscatory taxes on these bonuses.

Freddie Mac will be announcing their bonus schedule but has not done so yet. I'm also wondering why they haven't requested that Franklin Raines pay back the money he received.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Washington's Kremlin Boobs

National Debt: March 18, 2009

Obama Received AIG Dollars

Barack Obama received over $101,000 from A. I. G. Financial Services in 2008. Now that he's complaining about the bonuses that are contractual obligations of AIG, I wonder if he'll pay back money to the taxpayers.

AIG Bonus Money was known a year before payout

The bonus money being paid out from AIG was known about a year ago. The Obama Administration says they didn't know about this until the past month. However, when the bailout was discussed, the bonuses that are required under contracts was discussed by those in attendance at the meeting. The ones in the meeting where this was discussed were Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson (then Treasury Secretary), and Timothy Geithner (the tax cheat that is now the Treasury Secretary). So to say that the administration didn't know until this past month is an out and out lie.

Military May Have to use their Private Health Care for their Injuries

Obama has said that he's considering making military personnel wounded in our wars use their own private health insurance to pay for their war injuries. He complains on one hand how the health care costs are skyrocketing but then wants to put our wounded heroes into the private health system. This will drive costs up even higher. I believe that's the goal. Break the health care system and force Socialized Medicine on everyone.

The New Kremlin in Washington Using Taxes to Penalize Americans

Senator Chuck Schumer said today that if those that are receiving the bonuses don't "voluntarily" return the bonus, he and his colleagues will tax them for it and take it back. The heavy hand of this government will create an excise tax to penalize American Citizens, but only a select few, with a tax that will force them to pay back the bonuses that they are contractually entitled to receive. Is this what government is there for? It was Christopher Dodd, Senator from Connecticut that wrote in the provision that the bonuses will still be permitted. Now another Senator wants to penalize American citizens with taxes. We shouldn't be surprised. Taxes are penalties on the American citizen.

$11 Trillion Debt

The National Debt reached $11 Trillion today. Less than two months into the Obama administration the debt has grown by a tenth.

The Tax Man Cometh

Here they come. Beginning April first (April Fools Day) a cigarette tax increase of 62 cents a pack will begin. That will be followed by an increase in your gas and electric bills because of the carbon tax. Capital gains tax increase from 15% to 20% to follow that, then comes an increase in the income tax, dividend tax and another increase in capital gains. Whatever happened to Obama's line "if you make less than $250,000 per year you will not see your taxes increase by one dime."

He can implement an energy tax on utility companies, but they don't pay it. They write the checks, but make no mistake. It comes out of your gas and electric bills each month. He can increase taxes on large corporations but they don't pay it. They collect it in the form of higher prices and then write the checks from the money YOU pay for those higher priced items.

Usually, Boobs are a Wonderful Thing

I am more and more convinced that there are nothing but boobs in Washington DC. Obama can't seem to get his nominees confirmed and the ones he does are tax cheats (Geithner) or have dubious histories (Holder and Clinton). Obama and his administration are nothing short of incompetent and the American people are figuring that out. Obama's poll numbers are dropping and his negatives are increasing.

Someone Please Tell Bill Clinton to SHUT UP

Throughout history, there was an unwritten rule that a former President doesn't comment on the new administration for a year following his exit from office. This rule was followed throughout history with few exceptions. Jimmy Carter ended this in the 80's with his comments during the first year of the Reagan Administration. Reagan was silent during George H.W. Bush's administration. George Bush even commented that he would not speak about the Clinton administration for a year, and then didn't make any comments at all until the 7th year. Bill Clinton was constantly talking after George W. Bush was elected. He was silent for about a month, until the theft and vandalism that the Clinton Administration perpetrate died down. Following that first month, Clinton was on the air almost as much as President Bush.

President Bush (43) today said that Obama deserves his silence. He's honoring that unwritten rule. However, Bill Clinton is still showing up on the air telling what Obama is doing right and wrong. Someone needs to tell that guy to just go away. He's been out of office for over 8 years. He really needs to find himself another girlfriend.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

N.C. Judge Decides to Dumb Down Homeschooled Children

In North Carolina, Judge Ned Mangum ordered a mother to enroll her three children into the public school system next year. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4727161/

Four years ago, Venessa Mills decided to start homeschooling her three children. The children are now aged 10, 11 and 12. The improvement in the children's education was markedly improved. They have tested 2 years above their grade level since being homeschooled.

Venessa and her husband, Thomas ended up divorcing. As part of the ruling in the divorce, the Judge said that he wanted the children's beliefs learned as part of their homeschooling curriculum, tested by the public school system. Each side in this matter have agreed that the children have thrived since becoming homeschooled.

Divorce is difficult enough. The parents must learn to raise the children alone most of the time, hoping that they will get the asssistance of the other parent when there are problems and if there is no cooperation between them, then they must each learn to deal with the children's problems and emotions separately hoping that they are at least reasonably consistent with what the other parent does. However, divorce is most difficult for the children. The parents may not care for each other any longer, but the children love both of their parents.

The less change the children have to endure, the better it is for them. It's already devastating to not have mom and dad together. Now, a judge tells them that they must now go to government schools despite what their teacher, their mother, has done with them for the past four years.

Make no mistake, the children have benefitted from being homeschooled. The proof is there. They have tested two years ahead of their grade level since starting homeschooling. The father disagrees with homeschooling, yet he was a part of it for four years leading up to the divorce. The success is plain to see.

There are two main reasons stated for this disruption to the children's lives. The first is socialization. The second is because part of their curriculum is religious based.

There are enough studies out there to prove that socialization is not a problem for homeschooled children. In public school they are placed with 20-25 other children of the same age. In homeschool they are subjected to people of all ages. Homeschooled students are better equipped to interract with people of all ages than those children that are government schooled.

The judge said in the courtroom, according to those in the courtroom, that putting the children in government schools was a good opportunity for the children to be tested in what their mother has taught them.

Judge Mangum, in that statement, has admitted that government schools "test" religious beliefs at home. Or perhaps better stated, government schools only teach evolution and not anything that is contradictory to evolution. It is a veiled admission that the government schools are not taking into consideration the personal values of the family, but rather that they are opposing the values that parents give their own children.

4% of children ages 7-16 in North Carolina are homeschooled. Colleges and Universities look for homeschooled children to attend their schools of higher education because they have excellent study habits. Socialization is not an issue. Performance is not an issue. Homeschooled children, by all studies, are better educated than government schooled children.

This judge has taken on the job of parenting by making this decision. The mother must still feed them, clothe them, provide a roof over their heads, and the father presumably will have to pay child support to help her food, chothing and shelter, but the Judge is making the decision on how they are to be raised and with what values, or lack of values.

I wonder, will this judge be there when one of the children has a fever. Will he be there to rock them to sleep at night when they aren't feeling well? Will he be there to put the bandaid on the skinned knee? Will he be there on prom night taking pictures of the children and their dates as they prepare to leave for their dance? Will he be there giving the bride away when the daughter gets married or to support the son when he decides to marry?

Homeschool families are planning to march in support of Venessa Mills on March 24.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

One Earmark Story

We've all heard about the earmarks in the recent budget bill which is expected to be voted on in the Senate shortly. One of the terms that has come to represent earmarks is "the bridge to nowhere" made famous by the money for Alaska for the bridge to nowhere. It became famous for two reasons. First, just by it coming to be and second when Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska was selected by John McCain as his running mate in the 2008 election. Her famous line is that she said "thanks, but no thanks to the bridge to nowhere."

In Michigan, we seem to have our own earmark. This was for $3.8 million added by Senator Carl Levin for Tiger Stadium. In the 90's, they began talking and planning for replacing Tiger Stadium with a new stadium. They finally did it at the end of 1999.

Tiger Stadium has been there since 1896. This was before the Tigers were even part of the American League. It has had various names. Named for a Tiger Catcher it was called Bennet Park. Later it became Navin Field, then Briggs Stadium and finally renamed by former Tiger John Fetzer, it came to be known as Tiger Stadium.

My own experience with Tiger Stadium was when as an 8 year old, I attended my first Tiger game. Later, in the mid 70's, I started going to nearly every game that Mark the Bird Fidrych pitched and I continued to go throughout the 70's and early 80's to anywhere from 25 to 35 games per year. It was a great place to watch a ballgame. Regardless of where you were sitting, you felt like you were a part of the game. You were close to the field even when you were in the bleachers in centerfield.

I loved the box seats, which were along the edge of the field in the upper and lower deck. You could be behind one of the dugouts, the screen behind home plate or even out to the bullpen, you still felt like you were a part of the game. My own favorite seat was in rightfield. Right in the corner of the upper deck. You were extended out over the field by about 10 or 12 feet and the overhang continued in fair territory along right field unti you reached centerfield.

Even the seats that were considered obstructed view were great. They were obstructed view because you had a pole in front of you somewhere. You still felt a part of the game. I believe that the left fence was 325 feet from the plate expanding outward to 440 feet in Center Field and then narrowing down to 315 feet in Right field and with the overhang, it was 10 feet less if the ball was high enough when hit.

This is where Reggie Jackson hit the light tower above the building in Right Field during the 1971 All Star game. It's also where Ty Cobb, Hal Newhouser and Al Kaline played. It's where Denny McClain won many of his 31 victories in 1968.

I hated the thought of them tearing it down and putting up one of the new style big stadiums. They had less seats, sky boxes and the seats are pushed back away from the field.

There were times in the 70's, that they would ask kids not to bang their bats on bat day because the rumbling could cause damage. But it was still the best place to watch a baseball game.

The decision was made to tear it down after the new Comerica Park was built. All efforts to save the stadium failed. This was in the good economic times that it was decided to tear it down. After many years of court battles, the demolition finally began in July of 2008.

Now, Senator Levin has decided to earmark $3.8 million for Tiger Stadium, calling it an historical landmark. Notice the two pictures above. The one on the left is Tiger Stadium when in use. The one on the right is after the demolition began.

If you look again at the picture on the right, all of the stands you see in that picture are now gone. The outfield is gone. Most of the left and right field foul line stands are gone. Yet, NOW they want to restore Tiger Stadium using tax payer money.

I love history and Tiger Stadium was an important part of my youth. But what that stadium was is no longer there. They can still keep the field and use it for college playoffs, high school championships and youth teams. But that wouldn't cost $3.8 million to make playable. Especially in the worst recession since the late 70's and early 80's.

As much as I liked Tiger Stadium and still respect it's history, the time has long since passed for restoration. They've torn down the outfield and most of the foul line seats. It seems pointless to waste money after it's more than 2/3 down. What was the charm of Tiger Stadium no longer exists. Especially when you consider that the American people are being told to pay for it in serious economic times.

This is another example of wasted dollars by the government. The sad part is that it is OUR TAX DOLLARS that they are wasting. to quote another historical figure from Tiger Stadium, Ernie Harwell, this stadium is now "LONG GONE!!".

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

545 People

545 PEOPLE

By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of representatives does.You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ...If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security, but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... is up to you.

The Stroke of a Pen

The form to the left is a page from the "Stimulus" bill that was signed into law on February 17, 2009 by Barack Obama, the President.

First, thank you to Renk from the Live with Renk Show out of Battle Creek. He posted this on his website and I got it from him. You might be able to see it clearer at his site. http://www.renkandfile.com/

This page is from Title X page 19. Notice the bill is typed up, but somebody (I have no idea who) crossed out the amount listed and changed it to a much higher number. It's not whited out and typed over. It's not backspaced away and retyped. As Maynard G. Krebbs would say, that would be too much "work". Instead, they drew a line through it and wrote in by hand the new figure.

This just amplifies the complete incompetence of the people that we elect to be our "leaders". There is no working the numbers to figure out if they will actually help create jobs. There is no analysis to come up with a proper figure to accomplish what they claim to want to accomplish. There is no careful thought nor deliberation. What this is, is someone saying, 'Barack wanted an $800 Billion dollar bill and we're short $1.5 Billion, so lets boost this number up by that much."

This is an embarassment. But then, we should be getting used to embarassment from this Congress and this President. Here's another example.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain came here for a meeting with the President. He came bearing gifts. Gordon Brown gave to our President an ornamental pen holder made from the remnants of the anti-slave ship, the HMS Gannet. Mr. Brown also gave Mr. Obama a First Edition, seven volume set of Winston Churchill biographies. Both of these gifts were well thought out treasures. They had meaning. Thought was put in to these gifts.

What do you think President Obama gave to Prime Minister Gordon Brown? This is really embarassing. You might want to sit down.

President Obama, the new leader of the free world. Arguably the most powerful man in the world, gave the Prime Minister of Great Britain, one of our greatest friends and allies, a 25 DVD set of American Movie Classics.

As I said, this is embarassing. Our laws and bills are made hastily just changing numbers with a papermate and the most thought for a gift to one of our best friends in the world is whether to tell little Rahm Emanuel he can keep the change left over after handing him $6.00 to run down to Walmart and buy the 25 DVD set of classic movies from the $5.00 bin of movies.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

White House Practicing Hate

The Barack Obama White House has an enemies list. It's been reported in Politico that there is an enemies list within the Obama Administration. Tops on the list is Rush Limbaugh. In 2007 Senator Reid sent a letter to Clear Channel Chairman Mark Mays complaining about Limbaugh. When Limbaugh received the letter, he auctioned it off on E-bay. It sold for $2,100,100. The money was then donated to the children of soldiers and police who had lost their parent in the line of duty. In addition, Limbaugh matched that high bid and contributed the same amount from his own money bringing the total to $4,200,200 to benefit those children.

Now, with a new President, the White House has created an enemies list with Limbaugh at the top. The conspirators to this are James Carville, Paul Begala, George Stephanopolous and Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel is a top advisor to Obama. Carville and Begala work for CNN and George Stephanopolous works for ABC. The three stooges of the press are all former Clinton employees. Emanuel also worked for Bill Clinton but may be even better known for shipping a dead chicken to a politcal enemy.

Rush Limbaugh is still a private citizen. This is clearly the government targeting a citizen of this country for having differing views of the present government. Is that how a free society is supposed to run?

Limbaugh, on his program today, challenged the President to a debate. He offered Obama three hours on his program for a debate between the two of them. He challenged Obama and only Obama. Limbaugh said he wouldn't accept debating one of Obama's lackey's. That he won't hide behind others as Obama is doing by having his staff in the White House and Obama's staff in the press coming in Obama's stead.

Don't get your hopes up. Obama won't accept this challenge. It's a no win for him. First, he's no match for Limbaugh. Obama doesn't speak well unless he has teleprompters. Off the cuff, he's filled with "uhhhs" and "umms". Limbaugh is very good at speaking on the fly.

Second, he doesn't want a feud with Limbaugh because the only thing he could expect from such a debate is that he'd be accused of lying about his statements of "change the tone in DC". After having five of his appointees caught not paying their taxes, and three of those didn't get the job they were vying for.

These liberals are creating all kinds of problems with the economy that was already in bad shape, and their answer is to go after Rush Limbaugh? He's not elected to anything. He is the choice of 20 million Americans who listen to him, but he's not elected to anything. So what is the sense in creating an enemies list with Rush Limbaugh as the head of that list?

If they will go after one private citizen, what is to stop them from coming after anyone else that dares to disagree with them?

This is a sure loser for Obama, but then, he's probably getting used to failure in his White House. Obama is proving himself to be the leader of hate in this country.

You're welcome to comment.

Brett

Revisiting the Line Item Veto

Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold are teaming up again according to the news. This time they want to push for a line item veto. They've already had their one debacle with the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. Now they want to get us again with a new topic.

The line item veto allows the President to veto parts of a bill but leave other parts in the bill. It takes some of the power and some of the responsibility away from Congress.

Let's say that Congress writes a bill that says everyone in this country must wear blue levi jeans at all times. As Congress is known to do on occasion (ahem) they add some amendments. Let's say one of those amendments is that ACORN gets $1 billion and let's also say that another amendment gives $1 billion to a Pro-Life group.

The bill passes the Congress. It goes to the President's desk and he looks it over. President Obama sees that money going for Pro-Life and veto's that line. But he doesn't veto the ACORN expense. The bill goes through. Let's also turn it around. Let's say that this happened while it was President Bush. ACORN would be veto'd and Pro-Life would remain.

Again, using the above example, if there is no line item veto, the President, regardless of which one it is, has to either veto the bill or sign it.

The line item veto takes away the responsbility from the Congress. The House will pass anything, but the Senate is supposed to be a deliberative body. They no longer have to deliberate anything. They can pass everything and let the sitting President take full responsibility for everything.

Each party, when they are in charge of the White House will love the bill, but when they are out, they'll complain about it. It reminds me abit of term limits. We have term limits in Michigan. Back when it was passed, the argument was that these people are in there too long and make a career out of it and their power gets to be too great. The downside, is that now we have inexperienced people that have no real long standing relationships to get things done. Which is what the people wanted to end. So what do we do? Change it back and then listen to the complaints of entrenched politicians or leave it and listen to the complaints of inexperienced people in office. We'll end up with the same problems with the line item veto.

In Obama's place, if he has the line item veto, every Democrat spending proposal will be passed. Every Republican cut in spending will be veto'd. The only hope then is that the veto can be reversed. Look at the numbers. Do you really think the Republicans can overturn a veto with the numbers they have? Or reverse it, do you really think that the Liberals could overturn a Bush veto with the numbers they had in the 90's and the first six years of the aughts?

Time could better be spent by a Conservative challenging John McCain in his re-election bid.

Your comments are welcome.

Brett

Grab Your Parka and Protest Global Warming

"Thank God for Global Warming. We'd never find the march without it"

You just have to love these "global warming" whiners. First, the earth has not had an increase in the temperature since 1997. It's been 11 years since we've had the earth warming, and the way it's going this year, we'll likely not get an increase this year either. In fact, the "experts" are saying that we may be headed into an ice age until 2015. My one problem with this is the weatherman can't get todays weather right, how on earth can they tell us what the weather is going to be like in 6 years?

That, however, doesn't stop the global warming alarmists. Once again, they were to have a global warming march in Washington DC that was ummm snowed out due to the blizzard that hit the northeast yesterday. New York got a foot of snow. Washington DC got 6 inches and even Atlanta had several inches of snow.

This isn't the first time. How many times have we heard of Al Gore planning on a global warming "summit" where they got freezing rain, or an ice storm or a major snow storm? I can remember three times anyway.

I like to be supportive of other people's rights to an opinion, so I'll do my part and actually make a suggestion to these moronic liberals. Look at your calendars. Most all calendars tell you when each season starts. The warm months are late spring, all summer and early fall. You might want to plan these things for July or August. You're almost guaranteed it's going to be hot. But at least it will be warm. However, if you take a deep breath through your nose and your nostrils stick together for a few seconds, you're not going to get the ideal effect for global warming.

It takes a real group of morons to put on a global warming summit or protest when you have to wear ice skates or snow shoes to get around. It sends a much better message when pretty girls are out in their bikini's and still sweating. In addition, from my point of view anyway, it's more fun to watch that summertime protest.

By the way, when I woke up at 6:30 this morning the temperature outside was 2 degrees. Thank God for global warming. Imagine how cold it would have been here this morning without the supposed global warming!

You're welcome to comment.

Brett