Stimulus or not to stimulus

Bigger government is not a stimulus. Bigger government is a strain on the economy and costs more.

Idiotic spending does not create long term jobs.

More taxes do not stimulate the economy. More taxes stifle growth.
More taxes cause businesses to spend less, hire less, and lay off or fire workers.

More taxes on the rich do not stimulate the economy. The rich pay the most taxes now. The rich also spend more. Raising their taxes makes them find ways to pay less taxes or not pay any and to spend less. They stop investing in the economy.

Stimulus explained - sort of

8 billion for a Vegas to LA supertrain

Millions for tooth decay and dental floss

46 billion for transportation projects, including $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair.

Individuals would see about $13 a week, (tax cut would be scaled back from $500 for most workers to $400, with couples getting $800 instead of $1,000).

$20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent.

$14 billion for one-time $250 payments to Social Security recipients and veterans receiving disability and pensions.

$40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31 and increase them by $25 a week

100 million for science - what science - not explained.

Pelosi's (mouse) slated for $30M.

New York state's aid will go to Medicaid, the federal-state health plan for the disabled, elderly and impoverished: about $12.6 billion over nine quarters.

New York also should get $800 million for special education and $1 billion for Title I school aid.

New York will get $1 billion to modernize highways and $1.3 billion for mass transit upgrades.

New York City will get $390 million for public housing, out of the national total of $4 billion.

New York will get $98 million for community development grants, $142 million for homeless prevention and $251 million for affordable housing programs. Neighborhood stabilization programs will get $51 million.

$19 billion is dedicated to health-information technology, calls for mass digitization of medical records with little regard for the security or integrity of the sensitive personal data.

$6.5 billion for medical research.

States will receive $87 billion to help pay for Medicaid and states will still face huge Medicaid deficits in the future.

Social Security recipients will receive a payment of $250.

$2.3 billion fund called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families has been created.

Tax breaks for buying a new car as long as the buyer earns less than $125,000 per year.

$54 billion general fund to help schools.

$16.5 billion in the food stamp program.

$7 billion in rural access to high-speed Internet

$4.6 billion to increase the earned income tax credit, on a temporary basis, from 40 to 45 percent of earnings for families with three or more children who have low incomes.

Helps General Motors Corp. avoid a $10 billion tax liability,

Stimulus Bloat

Our country is facing one of the greatest economic challenges of our lifetime and smart action is needed to help our economy move forward again. People are worried about their jobs, home values, retirement savings, and businesses, and we need an economic plan that brings immediate relief, creates jobs, and strengthens American production.
This so-called stimulus bill falls short of what is needed. What was initially advertised as an effort to boost economic growth has become bloated by misplaced spending and lack of attention to the real problems facing the nation. Massive amounts of money will be spent years after this bill is signed into law that will help special interests groups.
The tax relief provisions will not adequately spur investment and business activity, which are critical for job creation and economic growth.
This bill is not which is what a stimulus bill should be.
Obama promised to have legislation in the sunshine. This bill has been changed and amended so many times no one has time to read it.

Stimulus vs spending

The difference between the Obama stimulus package and the Republican package is simple.

The Obama stimulus is two to one: Spending vs tax cuts.

(Or big government vs people in charge of their own money.)

The Republican stimulus would be two to one: Tax cuts to spending.


President Obama blames the recession on President Bush.
He forgets for six years Bush had a great economy -- Bush warned in 2002 that the problems of the mortgage had to be addessed -- until the out of control spending of the mortgage industry, giving unqualified loans to people who couldn't afford them, and unrealistic bonuses, caught up to them.

What about the Democrates loading this package big up with anit-global warming legistlation -- has is that going to help someone get a job?
Most of the money in this goes of construction which will only benefit a certain segment of the economy.
None of this bill addresses the credit issues of the car industry.
This bill doesn't loosen up credit markets enough nor does it put enough real money in people's pockets.

Obama calls this massive spending 'Direct Investments': spending is spending.
Unwise spending is terrible for the economy at this time.
The more the government spends on the more is has to pay back.
With the government spending so much there is that much money available to for the banks to lend.
The banks will have to get on line behind the government to get money to lend.

The economy will fix itself sooner or later, sooner if the government doesn't get in the way.

Big Brother is alive and well in Oregon

Big Brother is alive and well in Oregon

The Oregon governor is looking at GPS-based mileage tax to fund roads. Governor Kulongoski is proposing a mileage tax that would eventually replace the gas tax altogether, and make use of GPS units to determine just how far each person travels and bill them accordingly.

Oregon governor Kulongoski wants to put GPS devices in car so they can record the miles driven on Oregon roads and collect taxes. They don't want to add anymore onto the already high gas tax. And they complain about not getting road tax money from electric cars and the new hybrids.

They say they want to get the money for Oregon roads. But what about bicycle usage? What about people who only drive into Portland or to the Portland airport from Washington. Are they going to be stopped at the border? Is there going to be a special tax added on at the airport?

And what about truckers with those gigantic gas tanks that can drive across the state without filling up. Is the highway patrol going to pull them over and give them a tax ticket?

This is an invasion of privacy. Now officials in Oregon can tell where you've been, where you're going and where you stop. They say they won't, well maybe they won't at the start, until they get caught.

Well, their might be a good side of this. We a little help from hackers the people will know where elected officials are and when.

911 and the Recession

After 911 the airline industry operated in a diminished capacity and congress stepped in to help.

The ripples the airline industry caused in the economy gave some in congress an excuse to step in with mishandled regulation and misguided regulation. Greed and unfounded future prospects rippled through the free market. The struggling economy absorbed these changes (and rising gas prices) as best it could until the ripples became a tsunami.

When the stock market and the mortgage industry ruptured so close together (from abuse and misguided regulation) their closeness increased their lack of viability and the recession carved a deeper destructive path in the economy.

First Ten Days

The first hundred days of a president's term are important
because they set the tone of his presidency. So far Obama's tone
seems to be do the things that cause disapproval (like allowing
government funding for abortions) quietly, some might say secretly.

His call for an open government seems to be for everyone else to
be open while his aides do things behind the scenes, so if
anyone does anything wrong, he can say he didn't do it.

While the world turns around -- no, not the title of a new soap opera --
Obama has been strangely quiet. Where is the moral high ground he
talked, some might say bragged about doing his campaign.

Obama has remained strangely quiet about Blagojevich.

Has been quiet about the goings-on in Minnesota.

Is this the brave new presidency we have heard so much about
or more of the same.

My Last Rant

This will likely be my last blog, as I am giving up blogging for the world of print media. My final blog centers around this, here is a report from a major four year university (not the one I attend) in relation to a dorm:

"Joints litter the tile floors of the bathroom and bargaining with weed is frequent among residents. communal areas are used almost exclusively to enjoy the effects of ganja. the people who occupy the hall do little to conceal their recreational activities. the hall reeks, and this seems to be a source of pride. Interaction among the guys almost entirely is concerned with "blazing," "getting baked," what have you.

What is the point of spending thousands of dollars on college and tuition if this is the outcome? The liberal leanings of administrative officials means that they do not try whatsoever to clamp down on such horrible activity. The acceptance of these dangerous substances on campus and the blind eye that the administration turns can lead to years and years of drug abuse. I hope that the parents of the school find out and sue the university for gross negligence as it's their job to turn out bright young minds, not potheads.

Speaking of potheads, what about the parents? Are they so blind as to what is going on or is it a culture that if they did it then their children are allowed to? What happened to holding your children to higher moral principles than you were? What happened to trying to make your children better than you were?

In the end, it won't change, in fact, marijuana may soon be decriminalized, and only until people start dropping like flies from cancers and car accidents start occurring because people are high will we realize that maybe it's time to hold people responsible for their actions, expel the people with pot, fire the administrators and sue them for negligence and finally, tell the parents to actually raise their children, only that will make American kids on a level with others around the world.

Al Franken, stealing an election

This vote went for Franken... how? I don't know, something to do with that there was no duplicate...
but here you see shameful and the unabashed attempt by Al Franken and his canvassing board cronies to steal the Minnesota Senatorial election.
For all of you rooting for Franken, that's nice... but please recognize that he's cheating. If you wanna argue that Bush in 2000 stole the election, that's fine but show me some proof like this as well.









If this isn't good enough for you, then here's some more stuff:

This went to Franken due to the x through the bubble
















This one went for Franken also...






















And this one










I don't know whether all the counters were released from mental institutions or they're getting paid by the Minnesota Democratic party, but this must stop... hopefully Tim Pawlenty will stop this before it's too late and the board declares Al Franken the cheater (oops, I mean winner).

Liberal hypocracy strikes again... this time in Washington

Governor Christine Gregoire decided to let an anti-Christian sign stay up in the capitol, right next to a nativity scene (for political correctness... the baby in the manger could be any baby, and the three kings are not from Orientar... yeah, right).
I have to say that between that and her "holiday" tree Gregoire is moving at quite a rapid clip along on the slippery slope toward complete anti-Christian bigotry.

(bigotry~ stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.)

Like renaming religious symbols (see: "holiday" tree).

Here is what the sign says:

"There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens our hearts and enslaves our minds."


So here's why it should be taken down.

Like it or not, America is a Christian nation, the founding fathers were all deeply religious men, and the majority of US citizens are Christian. In fact, the founding fathers, in their letters to one another professed that the 1st Amendment was to protect the different branches of Christianity. Now this sign isn't only anti-Christian, it is anti-Jewish,anti-Muslim,anti-Hindu, and anything else that can be considered a religion.

What if the sign said something against... oh let's say Islam, or Hinduism, or African-Americans. Now let's keep in mind that for Christians this is one of the holiest days on the calendar (for those of you that do not know, Easter, not Christmas is the most important holiday in Christianity).

The sign is anti-religion, now what if the sign said something like that next to a menorah? Then it's anti-Semitic... leads to neo-nazi plot... leads to locking up whomever wrote it. The sad part is that the governor of Washington just doesn't give a damn when it comes to protecting a majority.... and let's be clear, this sign is hate speech. It may be hard for you to see it, because the target is not a minority, but it is hate speech against those of all religions, and, considering the timing, it is quite inappropriate.

I also have another bone to pick with the governor, over a so-called "holiday tree". If the prior event isn't crossing the line, this truly is. While the Christmas tree may have come in a little late in the game, it doesn't mean that it too is not a religious symbol that the governor has deemed worthy of bastardization as it might "respect an establishment of a religion".

Herein lies the difference between conservatives and those liberalest of liberals.

The conservative (and true) idea of the religious part of the 1st Amendment is to support the practicing of faith, so if someone wants to put up a menorah, that's fine, if someone wants to put up a tree, that's fine. However, said objects shall be recognized for their religious significance and shall not be spat upon by the state during their display.

The liberalest of liberal meaning is more in line with the ideals of Soviet Russia... that the 1st Amendment (I don't know how they get this idea from it) in fact says no one can publicly practice religion... especially Christianity.

This is Christmas, a holiday that means a lot to everyone, even to many atheists Christmas carries a special meaning of giving and love. I'll admit that Christmas has been over commercialized... still, the message and the spiritual significance are still stronger than ever.

Here's an idea, an amendment to the state constitution saying, "The State of Washington recognizes the importance of faith, henceforth, major faith holidays and observances shall be recognized for what they are and celebrated as such. There will be no discrimination against any faith through the secularization of objects nor intolerance of regular religious practice."

And before you tell me it's unconstitutional, remember the first word of that section in the 1st Amendment, "Congress".

The states can do anything they want, so let's do something right for a change.

And if atheists want their anti-religion sign, they can have it, but not next to a Nativity scene, and not right before Christmas. After all, their religion is quite capable of hardening hearts as well.