The election of 2010 -- Rejecting Liberal Policies

The election of 2010 was a complete rejection of the Democrat's liberal policies.  This rejection wasn't just at the federal level either.  State and local elections saw a tidal wave of Republicans being elected.     People are now recognizing that government IS the problem, not the solution and have elected those politicians who advocate for a limited, less intrusive government at all levels.

Historic GOP Gains in State Legislatures

• Going into the 2010 election, Democrats held 60 partisan legislative chambers and Republicans held 36, with a couple of ties.

• It looks like the GOP has picked up an astounding 20 chambers, including both houses in Alabama, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin and additional chambers in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

• In total legislative seats, it is possible that after all the results are posted, Republicans will have won a nationwide majority.

• Republicans haven’t enjoyed this much power in state capitals since the 1920s.

This rejection wasn't exactly nationwide, however.  There were a few hold-out states --- NY, NJ, CA, MA, WA --- that are so overwhelmingly liberal that this election had virtually no effect.  But, races that should have been cake walks for Liberals were much closer than expected.  The people of those states need to suffer another 2 years of crushing debt and bad policies before the rising red tide can impact these states as well.  NJ has a fighting chance to curb Liberal policies due to Governor Chris Christie who has already made significant gains by taking on unions, special interests and insuring sound fiscal policies.

I believe 'We the People' have woken up to the destructive policies of the left and are saying finally 'enough is enough'.  WTP DON’T want to be told what light bulb or toilet bowl to use; we DON'T want to be told what kind of car to drive; we DON'T want to be told what doctor to see; we DON'T want nationalized healthcare; we DON'T want crushing national debt left to our children; and we certainly DON'T want a nameless, faceless Washington bureaucrat telling us how to raise our kids.

Now a note to the GOP---  Remember those that got you where you are; Conservatives.  Remember that several squishy Republicans were replaced in the primaries by Conservative Republicans.  We are watching you and we will not forget.  We are fired up and very active and will remain so for quite some time.  2012 will see a new President and it should see a new Senate leadership as well.

perhaps a better image for my blog?

Are We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity?

We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity: Only Fundamental Change Can Save Us | | AlterNet

Here is the money quote: "A 'wild law' is a law to regulate human behaviour in order to protect the integrity of the earth and all species on it".

In order to do this, you need to change all governments to a totalitarian dictatorship in order to attempt to regulate human behavior. You must take away everyone's freedom. You must regulate or take over all industries to a central planning agency.

Time after time, attempts to regulate human behavior has failed. It has NEVER worked and it never will. Humans believe they have a basic right to be free and do not wish to be regulated. China has tried this. They even took people's right to have children away. Russia has tried this and i remember stories of people lining up just to purchase toilet paper. Witness North Korea who can't even afford to keep its lights on at night.

Time after time, each attempt has failed because the attempt always left the country in ruins without the proper resources left to protect its own citizens, let alone the environment. Look at the pollution in China or the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl as examples of what happens when resources are depleted with communism/socialism/totalitarianism.

It takes resources to protect our environment. The worst thing you can do is to confiscate money from those entities that generate these resources. The USA is the richest country on this earth and this country does more FOR the environment than any other country and we do it of our own free will. Can we do more... sure we can. But when you confiscate wealth, that wealth cannot then be used to generate more wealth and we will become poor, without funds to do what is needed for the environment.

The question: "Are We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity?" can be answered: Yes, and the threat is coming from this author and her ilk who think they can control human behavior, setting trees, animals and bugs above human beings. This is the greatest threat to humanity and our way of life and freedom.

As an side, the author's premise is completely off base. Most of the assertions have been proven false. For example, our overall temperature has not been rising at all over the last 15 years.

Why is there a Tea Party?

What is so difficult to understand about the tea party? This is not a tail wag dog situation. This is an organic movement by people who are genuinely angry that our fedgov is completely out of control and spending money like drunken sailors. Our fedgov derives its power from 'we the people'... not the other way around. 

This movement, just as the Boston Patriots did , decided to DO something about it.  It didn’t start off as a state sponsored activity, it started with 'we the people' and it grew from there.   Of course money is flowing to the Tea Party... just as money and materials flowed to the patriots in Boston to hold off the British.  As opposed to unions confiscating money from its members to support the dems as well  as George Soros and other deep pocketed people purchasing true astroturf ops.  

We witnessed several very large protest rallies held by the Tea Party than no one was paid to attend.   We witnessed the liberal rally where unions had to pay people to attend and teacher unions bused their kids to the rally regardless if the kids wanted to attend.  There is another liberal rally upcoming that deep pocketed liberals are paying people to attend.   If this was grass-roots, then no one should be paid to attend because if people feel strongly enough about the issues, they'd attend on their own.  No, The Tea Party movement is  the real deal.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."  -- The Declaration of Independence.http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

How can I say our fedgov is out of control? Our tax code has thousands of IF statements each designed to make us unequal; when fedgov can force you to buy a certain toilet or light bulb; when fedgov endeavors to treat people unequally solely based upon the color of their skin or gender; when fedgov takes over entire industries; when fedgov passes laws to force a citizen to purchase something just so it can be regulated; when a fedgov refuses to even protect our borders and denigrates states who have the audacity to protect it's citizens; when fedgov spends billions on a nebulous concept that has been proven false repeatedly (global warming) etc.  This is the tyranny that 'we the people' fought against over 200 years ago and we must fight against it today.

No, I'm not advocating a new way to selecting our congressmen and president. the Tea Party is working within the constitutional framework and removing GOP via primaries and now removing DEMS via the general election.  This is true democracy in action and it should be celebrated.  Republicans have ceded the debate when they say 'lets not spend as much on federal program' or 'I don't like their big government ideas so lets try our big government ideas'.  The debate needs to be brought back to 'Why should fedgov be involved in these things?'.  That, first and foremost needs to be debated.

I am not a cold and heartless person.  I share the same values that most people do.  The problem with our current fedgov is that it IS cold and heartless, no matter how much money and programs it creates.  Once you recognize this simple fact, then you'll  then come to the conclusion that these programs do not belong at this level but at the state and local level.  Our founders recognized this fact and wrote it into the USC.  'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'  It was this recognition that the values of Massachusetts may not be the same as Virginia.   It is the same today as it was back then, that each state has a different set of values .  Slavery was an issue that couldn’t be resolved immediately but they understood that eventually the 'all men are created equal' would abolish slavery once and for all.

For example, if California decides it wants to have state run health care then let them. If people feel this is a great thing and want to pay higher taxes for it then move to California.  If Alabama wants to allow its residence to choose their healthcare plan thus making it cheaper due to increased competition, then  so be it.   This is just one of many examples of differences  in the approach to achieve the same goals.  'We the People' will decide what is best for themselves and make life decisions accordingly.  We have seen over several decades now that people are rejecting the liberal policies of NY, CA, MI, et al. and moving to more business and individual friendly states like AR, TX and FL.  We see this in the numbers of congressional seats  changing from liberal states to conservative states.  This is also the free market at work for people of free will.

I welcome the debate as you can tell. There is a proper role for fedgov, lets debate that first because unless you fully understand our concepts as laid out by the DOI and US Constitution, then what you have left is trying to defend the indefensible.

Mr. Prez, I am frustrated

Yes, I'm getting frustrated with stories of booms sitting in a Maine warehouse unused, of refusal to get international help, of supplies not getting here because of incorrect paperwork, of Governors requesting things and not getting answers, of knee-jerk reactions stopping all deep-water drilling thus hurting everyone and solving nothing, of saying stupid things like 'boot on the Neck' and 'kick some ass' etc. 

No, I have no problems with the prez playing golf or having personal concerts, after all, being prez is stressful.  But enough is enough already.  Prioritize, Mr. Prez, go to the funerals, not the fundraisers, and take advice from Oil execs, not movie execs. 

Mr Prez, After you give a speech at a High School about not finding blame, then go out and blame everyone else, who can take you seriously anymore?

Why isn't Greenpeace, Sierra Club, et al screaming their bloody heads off?  Why isn't the press treating this admin like they did after Katrina?

If I was Prez, how I would lead on this Gulf Oil Spill

I got to thinking about how I would lead if I was President.  This came about by a comment on one of my Facebook posts, so I figured I should elaborate.

1. Meet with BP CEO and keep an open line to make sure BP has whatever they need to be successful to stop the leak.  (Without talking to CEO, you can't hold him responsible to his words and actions.)
2. Put someone in charge to work directly with BP to ensure they have every resource available and to coordinate all military and non-military assets with BP. (This may be the only step actually being done)
3. Put someone in charge of oil containment -- give them authority to acquire whatever materials are needed and coordination of navy assets to get these materials installed. (Companies can make the booms if asked, some companies are making the booms unasked, but no one is taking them, unacceptable)
4. Put someone in charge to coordinate state efforts -- Whatever a Governor needs this person ensures they get, give authority to cut thru all red tape to expedite fedgov response  (It took LA almost 30 days to get approvals to do what they needed to do, totally unacceptable)
5. Put someone in charge to accept and coordinate Foreign aid in materials and assets. (Obama/Clinton has refused all foreign ad and materials, how stupid is that?)
6. Get the best experts into a room and include people who know how to deal with man-made disasters, such as the Iraqi oil well capping. This would mean enlisting the dreaded Haliburton who I'll bet can help. Contact Alaska's experts who have dealt with Exxon Valdez disaster. (James Cameron only shows how unserious this prez is)
7. Put someone in charge of the environmental issues --Ensure the environmental groups are heard ONLY if they have something constructive to contribute.
8. Put an accountant on the team just to keep track of the expenses. Whatever it takes now will be paid for later.
9. Put a lawyer on the team to document the process and hold people accountable AFTER the disaster is over. (lawsuit now only serves to dampen the spirit of cooperation and create an adversarial environment not conducive to solving the problem)
10. Finally, don't say things like 'boot on the neck' and 'find me some ass to kick', it demeans the office and shows how un-serious, un-engaged, uncooperative and disrespectful to those who are trying to solve this issue in good faith.

All of these 'someones' are cabinet level people who will drop whatever they are doing to focus on this.  Daily briefings will happen right after the NIA briefing, and any major roadblocks will be addressed immediately.

As we witness this disaster, little of the above has happened. This is a disaster of leadership.

Pelosi heckled at progressive conference

44 - Video: Pelosi heckled at progressive conference

What's worse... there is a sign that says 'Stop Funding Israeli Terror' right next to the stage. This is our Progressive, Liberal, Lefty attitude. Helen Thomas retired, but she was just echoing the sentiments of her political allies.

from the hypocrite files

Hot Air » NRSC web video: “Never Again”

Power Line - Global Warming In One State

Power Line - Global Warming In One State

Why are the moose leaving Minnesota?

Here's what puzzles me, though: isn't global warming supposed to be--you know--global? That being the case, why are moose populations "burgeoning" in Massachusetts, returning to Wisconsin, "growing" in Michigan, moving into Connecticut, where historically they did not live, "booming" in Oregon, "resurging" in Vermont, "increasing" in Washington, "growing exponentially" in New York, "significantly increas[ing]" in Colorado, and "growing" in Utah?

Perhaps because thats where the moose-jobs are?

Words have meaning, Mr. President

Ritz-Carlton to close 5-diamond Las Vegas hotel in May

"The whole demonization of luxury meetings and companies' pulling back on having their high-end meetings in luxury hotels -- this has had a tremendous impact on Las Vegas," Deuschl said. "I can't think of another destination that has had to defend itself more against comments from politicians."

350 jobs lost.

What's your point?

Moscow says U.S. missile shield aimed at Russia | Reuters

Snowstorm squelches climate change protest - Salt Lake Tribune

This should be a Saturday Night Live Sketch:

A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.
"Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions," said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah.
It didn't take long for the six friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they'd planned to use for their "scream-in," an outlet for their frustration about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to curb the pollution blamed for climate change.
Still, they chatted with a few passers-by during the commuter-hour protest near the Gateway, and explained that, blizzard aside, climate change is expected to bring chaos to the global climate, said Major.
She called Wednesday evening's effort a success and possibly the first in a series. As for the snow, it's not entirely new; a protest she attended last year in Washington, D.C., suffered a similar fate.
"There is always the irony element," Major said.

I guess from Major's perspective it could be ironic, but from mine, its hilarious.

You can't make this stuff up.

During the day on Sunday, several drives on our ERP server failed.  (translation from geek: system is down, no orders, no jobs no shipping no invoicing.. no MONEY).  Thankfully we have a 4 hr response support agreement from Hp so we call Hp support to begin the process.  After doing the triage, it was discovered that there were 3 drives that failed, so Hp needs to locate compatible drives so we can replace them and get up and running again.

Of the 3 drives, only 1 was found in the Philly area, 1 was found in the NYC area and another somewhere else in the country.  We determined we can replace the one drive and limp along until the other drives are replaced.

I drive down to Philly with my dog because I have no idea how long this will take and it would be best if she was with me.  We arrive to work about midnight to meet the Hp Tech and UPS who is delivering the drive from Philly.  To get into the building, there are 2 doors.  The outer door is locked with a key (which I have) and the inner door is locked with a swipe card.  After struggling with the alarm system, I finally gained access to the building and brought the dog (and her blanket) to my office and settled in to wait for the UPS guy to show up.

As it turns out, my timing was near perfect.  I didnt have to wait long for the UPS guy.  So my dog and I met him in the vestibule.  I needed both hands to sign for the package, so I placed the box between the door with the swipe entry and it's door jam.  (now comes the fun part)  Right at that moment as I was signing the paper, Bella decided she needed to be inside, and being a clutzy dog, knocked over the box holding the door open.  Click.  The door is now shut with me in the vestibule and the dog inside the building.  I reach into my pocket to get the swipe card... its not there!   ya see, as I was struggling with the alarm, i just shoved the card into my jacket pocket.

I was stuck!!!!  I couldn't get in the building, I had no phone to call anyone, and the Hp tech was due to arrive very soon to fix the system that neither of us can get to!  This was like a scene is a silly movie where the dog is sitting on the other side of the glass door with a mischievous smirk on her face trying to figure out in what order should she cause the most destruction.  thankfully, Bella is a very good dog.  All she did was go back to my office and curl up for a nap (as far as I know).

I am sure glad there are no hidden cameras to see what happened next.  Needless to say there was a whole lot of yelling and screaming going on knowing full well how silly it was to carry on that way, but it felt real good to let it all out.  I then made some attempts at going all black-belt on the glass panel.  I executed some real nice reverse side kicks (my speciality from my tae kwon do days).  Not a scratch.  I then remembered that all the windows were replaced with bullet-stopping glass several years back because... well ... it IS Philly after all.

So I sat and waited for the Hp guy, who showed up at 1:15.  After explaining my stupidity, he used his cell phone to call my consultant who found an employee's name in the phone book who then called someone local to let us in.  We finally got into the building at 2am.

you just can't make this stuff up.

If you can't behave, we'll take your flying priveledges away!

There are some forms of punishment that are meant to get the peers of the guilty to inflict punishment, or at least to get the peers to pressure themselves to not behave badly again. The armed forces do it... 'if one of you fail, you all do push ups till your arms fall off!' (or something like that). Or, 'If you kids can't share the tv, no one gets to watch it'.

It is now time to do the same for these asshole terrorists: 'If you swarthy middle-eastern looking men attempt to bomb another plane, there will be NO swarthy, middle-eastern men able to fly again'. Oh the outrage we'll here! The righteous indignation, the blasphemy of it all! If these people who will be outraged would spend just 10% of this energy where it belongs -- in loudly denouncing terrorism in deed as well as words -- the world would be a much better place.

But you know what?  Some swarthy, middle-eastern men could start their own airline to shuttle other swarthy middle-eastern looking men around... and let them bomb themselves.

Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen - ABC News

A Great Day!!!

I Payed my mortgage today, and I feel great!  Why you may ask?

After months of being unable to pay due to a jobless lifestyle... after months of working with the banks to stave off foreclosure (and it came real close)... after months of re-negotiating rates and terms and loan modifications.... notaries and certified checks....I payed the mortgage for the 1st time since April.

Right up until last week, I was still getting notices from the banks lawyers regarding foreclosure procedures, I was getting letters from local lawyers as recently as yesterday saying 'so.. your in foreclosure... use me!'.

My anxiety level was rising to a point of physical pain.  The knot in my chest had been growing so slowly that I didn't realize how bad it was until a very close friend noticed and helped to ease it.  She didn't say anything that I didn't already know, but the way she said it was a major kick in my ass, and sometimes a person needs a slap in the face to wake them up from the funk that the person has put himself in. 

I still didn't realize why it was happening, I thought it was job related.  I had some time yesterday driving for 3 hours to think more about it.  Although the job is stressful, the thought of losing my house represented a more powerful emotional reaction.  Emotions range from being a lousy parent who can't keep a roof over his children's heads, feelings of inadequacy from being unable to meet my obligations, feelings of guilt for making poor decisions in purchasing the house in the 1st place, feelings of shame for procrastinating for not taking care of things in the proper time frame, feelings of dread of what will happen when they take my home away.

I can now understand how all of these emotions can overwhelm and devastate a person to a point of unable to live with it.  A great quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption comes to mind.... 'Get busy living, or get busy dying'.  I have made a choice:  I will get busy living.

So, this morning, i FINALLY went online to gmac to attempt to pay the mortgage thinking that I wouldn't be able to due to the foreclosure notices.  I logged in, and it allowed me to pay!!! The knot in my chest eased considerably, and now.. .I just feel stupid for not doing this sooner, and incredibly grateful for having such great friends.  The sun is shining, and I think I'll take the kids shopping for some new living room furniture to improve my home.

UPDATE:  It figures... A disk drive on my company's production ERP system failed, so I have to go to work today to meet the Hp tech so he/she can fix it.  So.. bundle up the kids and drive to Philly.  However, the knot didn't get tighter... its still a beautiful day and I'm enjoying being with my kids...no matter where we are and what we are doing.

Lets deal in facts

ICECAP

Greenhouse gases and their effects are well-known. Here are some of things we know:

• The most effective greenhouse gas is water vapor, comprising approximately 95 percent of the total greenhouse effect.

• Carbon dioxide concentration has been continually rising for nearly 100 years. It continues to rise, but carbon dioxide concentrations at present are near the lowest in geologic history.

• Temperature change correlation with carbon dioxide levels is not statistically significant.

• There are no data that definitively relate carbon dioxide levels to temperature changes.

• The greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide logarithmically declines with increasing concentration. At present levels, any additional carbon dioxide can have very little effect.

We also know a lot about Earth temperature changes:

• Global temperature changes naturally all of the time, in both directions and at many scales of intensity.

• The warmest year in the U.S. in the last century was 1934, not 1998. The U.S. has the best and most extensive temperature records in the world.

• Global temperature peaked in 1998 on the current 60-80 year cycle, and has been episodically declining ever since. This cooling absolutely falsifies claims that human carbon dioxide emissions are a controlling factor in Earth temperature.

• Voluminous historic records demonstrate the Medieval Climate Optimum (MCO) was real and that the “hockey stick” graphic that attempted to deny that fact was at best bad science. The MCO was considerably warmer than the end of the 20th century.

• During the last 100 years, temperature has both risen and fallen, including the present cooling. All the changes in temperature of the last 100 years are in normal historic ranges, both in absolute value and, most importantly, rate of change.

Contrary to many public statements:

• Effects of temperature change are absolutely independent of the cause of the temperature change.

• Global hurricane, cyclonic and major storm activity is near 30-year lows. Any increase in cost of damages by storms is a product of increasing population density in vulnerable areas such as along the shores and property value inflation, not due to any increase in frequency or severity of storms.

• Polar bears have survived and thrived over periods of extreme cold and extreme warmth over hundreds of thousands of years - extremes far in excess of modern temperature changes.

• The 2009 minimum Arctic ice extent was significantly larger than the previous two years. The 2009 Antarctic maximum ice extent was significantly above the 30-year average. There are only 30 years of records.

• Rate and magnitude of sea level changes observed during the last 100 years are within normal historical ranges. Current sea level rise is tiny and, at most, justifies a prediction of perhaps ten centimeters rise in this century.

The present climate debate is a classic conflict between data and computer programs. The computer programs are the source of concern over climate change and global warming, not the data. Data are measurements. Computer programs are artificial constructs.

The Benefits of Global Warming

I'll bet for every doom and gloom prediction that the Global Warming alarmists think up, there is a beneficial prediction that will cancel it out. Case in point, The Chunnel was shut down with passengers inside the tunnel for 15 hours:

My Way News - Eurostar train services canceled indefinitely

Services have been suspended since late Friday, when a series of glitches stranded five trains inside the Channel Tunnel and trapped more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. More than 55,000 passengers overall have been affected.

Some panicked passengers stayed underground for more than 15 hours without food or water, or any clear idea of what was going on - prompting outrage from travelers and a promise from Eurostar that no passenger train would enter the tunnel until the issue had been identified and fixed.

So, if there was global warming, things like this wouldn't happen anymore.... right?

Dont rob my house

What's the best way to prevent getting your house robbed?  Put out a sign on your front yard saying "I will be on vacation starting July 2011".  How will this prevent your house being robbed (at least up until July 2011)?  Why rob a house when it is occupied when you can wait until it is empty.

Our President just put that sign out in Afghanistan's front yard.  Who cares if there is 30k more troops... it may as well be 80k or 1k, it wont make a difference.  The enemy, now knowing what we'll be doing, will make the proper adjustments in their strategy.  They will hunker down and melt into the countryside, while they recruit and train and prepare for their offensive starting August 2011. 

Meanwhile, Obama claims victory because no troops are being killed fighting the enemy because we cant find the enemy.  Our troops all come home with much fanfare.  In Afghanistan, the Taliban re-asserts itself because we have really accomplished anything. Of course, our press as well as Obama ignores this.

Its no wonder our allies don't like this strategy

Why I'll never visit San Fransisco again

SF Supervisor Considers Public Gay Sex Tents | Right Wing News

call for investigation on climate change?

Like that's going to happen.

Ms Chairman: 'Lets begin an investigation into the hoax of climate change. I know I supported it (and still do) and I know this investigation is going to make me and every democrat look stupid, but its in the best interest of the people to know the truth.'

like i said... it could happen.... NOT!

.: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works :: Minority Page :.