California's Exchange A Democrat Voters Bonanza : Free Health Care

This is from a larger story that explains 'Coveredca.gov', California's  health care exchange, and how the productive are paying for the unproductive to destroy the state and prosperity. The Democrats have this health care thing down to a science.

Vote for us and your reward will be free health care, maybe. If it doesn't work out that way after you vote for us, well we're sorry you got screwed, but thanks for your vote.

I just wonder what they will do when the money runs out and the rest of the country won't support the progressive vote getting machine. 

(Author Unknown)
ObamaCare is not 
about dealing with inequities in the healthcare system. That's just the cover
story. The real story is that it is a massive, political power grab. Do you
think anyone who can insure himself with a premium policy for $4 a month will
vote for anyone but the political party that provides him such a deal? ObamaCare
is about enabling, subsidizing, and expanding the Left's political power base,
at taxpayer expense. Why would I vote for anyone but a Democrat if I can have
babies for $4 a month? For that matter, why would I go to college or 
strive for a better job or income if it means I have to pay real money for
healthcare coverage? Heck, why study engineering when I can be a schlub for $20K
per year and buy a new F-150 with all the money I'm saving?

Progrssive Hate Unbridled On MSNBC : Who Are These People?

Melissa Harris-Perry

I wonder how this would go over it wasn't done by a progressive socialist liberal left Democrat. The question that remains is, at what point do the voters stop accepting this hate from the progressives Democrats?  This is truly the face of the progressive socialist Democrat party. Who willing votes for unbridled hate!

 

(Right Wisconsin)

Everyone knows MSNBC is a joke. They do everything they can to be provocative - and still find themselves firing their hosts for obscene remarks while their ratings sit squarely in the tank.

 

Weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry commands one of these little watched shows - and she and he panel decided it would be funny to mock and belittle the Romney family because they adopted an African-American child.

 

Get it? It's really funny... or not at all.

 

Watch this segment and ask yourself if this would be deemed acceptable on any other network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGPbhXNOD9Q&feature=player_embedded

Progressives Voted for Higher Taxes But the Middle Class Foots the Bill

Welcome to the real world of the progressive socialist liberal lift Democrats. It's not lost on many of us that more the 60% of the wealth in this country is in the hands of progressive Democrats. They, of course, voted for Mr Obama and the socialists, twice, but now have to deal with the consequences.

I wonder how they will succeed in not paying their fair share of the tax burden? Realistically, the progressive Democrats have never carried their fair share of the tax burden, they have always found a way for others to pick up the tab. Has anyone ever heard of a progressive socialist Democrat politician that was middle class? I didn't think so.

Their motto has always been "do as I say not as I do" as they laugh all the way to the bank.

Slammed by New Taxes: Why You're Poorer Than You Think
Source: David Koeppel, "Slammed by New Taxes: Why You're Poorer Than You Think," Fiscal Times, December 19, 2013.

December 30, 2013

Recent tax law changes will hit the wealthiest Americans harder than others when they file their taxes in the next few months, thanks to new ObamaCare taxes and increases in overall tax rates and capital gains taxes, says the Fiscal Times.

The tax rate increases begin to kick in for couples earning $250,000 or individuals making $200,000 per year.  Several factors are making this year particularly painful: there are four major tax increases that went into effect this year, plus the end of Bush-era tax cuts reinstated phase-outs for itemized deductions and personal exemptions. Here are some of the new or higher taxes high-income earners will see this year:

• Additional Medicare tax regulations authorize an increase in Medicare tax by 0.9 percent, for married couples earning $250,000 or individuals at $200,000.

• The new Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) imposes a 3.8 percent increase to investment income of "individuals, estates and trusts" and is triggered at the $250,000 or $200,000 threshold. Both of these taxes are being levied to help pay for the new health care law. The NIIT is not indexed for inflation.

• Tax on capital gains and dividends increased from 15 percent to 20 percent in 2013 for couples earning $450,000 or individuals earning $400,000, returning rates to Clinton-era levels.

• The top income tax bracket increased to 39.6 percent (from 35 percent in 2012) for married Americans making $450,000 or individuals making $400,000. Those taxpayers are also ineligible for the personal $3,900 exemption.

• A phase-out on personal exemptions caps how much high earners can deduct on their taxes. The phase-out limits exemptions for taxpayers who earn more than $300,000 (married filing jointly) or $250,000 (single) by 2 percent for each $2,500 earned above the threshold.

The increased capital gains tax could hit taxpayers particularly hard, given the record year seen by the stock market. U.S. mutual funds are disclosing capital gains distributions greater than many investors have seen since before the financial crisis.

• A Morgan Stanley analysis of a hypothetical couple earning $500,000 per year and $315,000 in investment income found that the couple's tax liability would increase from $183,000 in 2012 to $220,000 in 2013.
• That's a nearly 20 percent increase, some of which might be avoidable with additional tax planning.

 

Public Pensions Fight for Dollars With Public Services & Falling Revenue

Local governments and unions that have always relied on the stock market to support their retirement policies have found meeting those goals more difficult with the demand for more services and falling tax revenue due to a bad economy. With the increase unemployment, tax revenue take a hit.

It appears the stock market is doing well now, but Wall Street annalists are nervous as they expect another bubble to appear that will crash the system like it did in 11987 and again in 2001 where trillions of dollars were lost, directly affecting pension payouts.

But the demand of services doesn't stop just because the stock market decides to have a bad day. So how does one meet the demands of the retired and those that are just making demands? A conundrum?

The Hidden Danger in Public Pension Funds
Source: Andrew G. Biggs, "The Hidden Danger in Public Pension Funds," Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2013.

December 30, 2013

Public-employee pensions are larger and their investments riskier than at any point since public employees began unionizing in earnest nearly half a century ago, says Andrew Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

How much riskier are public pensions now?

• Public pensions pose roughly 10 times more risk to taxpayers and government budgets than in 1975.
• In 1975, state and local pension assets were equal to 49 percent of annual government expenditures, according to Biggs' analysis of Federal Reserve data.
• Pension assets have nearly tripled to 143 percent of government outlays today.
• That's not because plans are better funded -- today's plans are no better funded than in 1980 -- but mostly because pension plans have grown as public workforces have aged.

And pensions can expect to take losses more often because of increased investment risk. Public plans have historically assumed roughly an 8 percent rate of return. But thanks to falling yields on safe assets, pensions must invest in riskier assets to have any hope of getting 8 percent returns.
Meager yields leave America's enterprising public-pension plan managers with a choice: Accept a lower return -- forcing higher taxpayer contributions -- or take on more risk to keep 8 percent returns flowing.

• Biggs' estimate, based on Treasury yields and analysis from economists at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is that a pension today must build a portfolio with a standard deviation -- how much returns vary from year-to-year -- of 14 percent.
• Such high volatility means that a fund would suffer losses roughly one out of every four years.
• By contrast, in 1975 a plan could achieve 8 percent expected returns with a standard deviation of just 3.7 percent.
• Those portfolios would lose money once every 65 years.

This level of risk varied little through the 1980s and 1990s: An 8 percent return portfolio in 1985 would require a standard deviation of 2.7 percent, and 4.3 percent in 1995. Risk began inching upward after 2000 and has increased rapidly since the recession as low-risk assets continue to fall.

Larger pensions and riskier investments combine to increase risk to state and local budgets. The standard deviation of public pension investments equaled 1.8 percent of state and local budgets in 1975. That figure crept upward to 2.2 percent in 1985, and reached 5.8 percent in 1995. Today it stands at 19.8 percent. Pension investment risk to budgets has risen roughly tenfold over the past four decades.
 

Mortgage Interest Deduction A Myth? A Middle Class Mind Set?

Interesting but no 'news break' - the mortgage interest deduction on ones taxes has been in the middle class mentality for decades if not generations. That it doesn't really help all that much isn't relative to the amount the home owner believes they are saving every month .

Perception is the holy grail of mortgage lending - the bigger the mortgage the more one saves, so borrow more to save more - makes sense, right?

Who Benefits from the Mortgage Interest Deduction?
Source: Anthony Randazzo and Dean Stansel, "Mortgage Interest Deduction Saves Middle Class Taxpayers All of $51/Month," Forbes, December 18, 2013. Anthony Randazzo and Dean Stansel, "Unmasking the Mortgage Interest Deduction: Who Benefits and by How Much? 2013 Update," Reason Foundation, December 18, 2013.

December 30, 2013

The mortgage interest deduction (MID) is the largest personal tax deduction on the books and is widely considered one of the most sacrosanct in the country because it is seen as making homeownership more affordable for middle class Americans. However, the average benefits from the MID are not enough to be the difference between renting and home owning for a household, say Anthony Randazzo, director of economic research at Reason Foundation, and Dean Stansel, an economics professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.

• The most recent data from the Joint Committee on Taxation show 34.1 million homeowners claimed $68 billion in mortgage interest deduction benefits in 2012.
• This was down from $83 billion in total MID benefits in 2010 that went to 33.6 million homeowners.

While the number looks big, it turns out the MID isn't the middle class savior it is often made out to be.

• Most of the MID 2012 tax benefits went to people making six figures or more.
• Households earning over $100,000 in 2012 claimed 77.3 percent of the total MID tax savings, essentially the same as in 2010.
• Meanwhile, homeowners earning between $30,000 and $40,000 saved an average of $587 in 2012, or $49 a month off their mortgage.
• For households making between $40,000 and $50,000 the average tax savings was $54 a month.
• Combined these groups represented just 8 percent of MID claims.

Not only are mortgage interest deduction benefits largely limited to a narrow selection of upper income homeowners making claims, but they are assisting an even smaller number of taxpayers on the whole.

• Only 25 percent of all taxpayers claimed a mortgage interest deduction in 2012.
• Only 32 percent of taxpayers itemize in the first place, and of those 79 percent claim the MID.

Supporters of the mortgage interest deduction point out that most homeowners do claim it. Opponents counter that creating loopholes in the tax code for politically favored groups is bad public policy.

If the goal of the mortgage interest deduction is to increase or assist middle class homeownership, policymakers should take a closer look at who benefits from the deduction and by how much. There are certainly more cost-effective ways to help Americans buy homes than maintaining the status quo for the mortgage interest deduction.
 

Progressive Socialists Blind to Success : Power Grab Trumps Prosperity

 This from the Wall Street Journal.  

I wonder who in the Obama administration has even the slightest clue about who exactly we are in America and just how the rest of the world matches up.

Of course, this is a no-brainer, the Obama progressives, which includes the media, have no idea and they don't care, this is only about taking power away form the people and concentrating it in the hands of the socialist liberal progressive Democrats. That the country will fail is of no concern.

Charity Beings At Home As Expenses Rise & Charity Corruption On The Rise?

With the decline of giving due in part to the bad economy and the new health care law that threatens their very existence, it's also could be due to the people seeing how dysfunctional many charitable institution actually are. With the information age in full swing, it's not difficult to see just what these agencies are doing with the money they get, and in many cases much of the funds are wasted in over-head expenses.

Many charities are paying the executives huge salaries with generous expenses accounts that siphon off much of the needed capital that should go to help those that the charity proclaimed to help. According to watch dogs groups on charities, this is the case in a lot of their investigations.

Little wonder then the amount of giving is down and will go lower in the future as the economy becomes worse and ObamaCare take over health care. Many of those the gave so generously in the past will now being looking just to survive from one day to the next, let alone give what little funds that have left after taxes and the crushing new health care costs

The Impact of Taxes on Charitable Giving
Source: Arthur C. Brooks, "The Great Recession, Tax Policy, and the Future of Charity in America," American Enterprise Institute, December 3, 2013.
December 12, 2013

The recession has significantly impacted Americans' giving patterns, says Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute.

• Charitable giving in the United States was at $300 billion in 2007.
• But after that year, giving in the United States declined and it has yet to reach that previous level.
• In 2011, charitable giving was at $298 billion, with 73 percent of that figure coming from individuals.

What explains the decline in charitable giving after 2007? It seems intuitive that the decline could be attributed to the recession.

• Giving per household reached a high of $2,956 in 2005.
• But the recession caused the median American family to see at least four years of diminished purchasing power.
• Average household giving declined rapidly between 2007 and 2009. It then maintained a low level of about $2,460 per household between 2009 and 2011.

Brooks' study took the results from the recession and then estimated what kind of effect a charitable deduction cap would have on giving. President Obama suggested a 28 percent cap in his FY2013 budget. With such a cap in place, charitable giving overall would be expected to drop by 4.35 percent -- a total loss of $9.4 billion.

• For the top 1 percent of earners itemizing deductions, the study predicts a 24 percent reduction in giving. This would have a major impact on the nonprofits -- including universities, think tanks, orchestras and hospitals -- that depend on this group for funding.
• The study noted one caveat to the prediction, citing some commentators who believe that a deduction cap would stimulate growth. If that is the case, such growth could reduce the cap's predicted negative effects.

 

Progressives' Tyranny At DHS : Preparing for Insurrection?

The question that remains after one understands just what Mr Obama and progressive Democrats are actually doing behind closed doors to, in Mr Obama words, "fundamentally" change America, is why is he doing this? Was this the plan from the very beginning? Is ObamaCare just one of the steps in the process?

Worse maybe is why are so many among us ready to allow him and the Democrats the freedom to do it? The majority elected him and then reelected him, why? 

 In the face of so many scandals, which include murder, Benghazi and Fast and Furious, the IRS along with the FBI and the DOJ attacking Conservative and religious groups for the personal beliefs, Mr Obama continues to move forward with his plan to destroy our freedom and replace it with totalitarian progressive socialism.

What the DHS is doing by ordering all this ammunition is not by accident, this is purposeful and planned. The progressive's are arming themselves for what they believe is coming insurrection. The people rising up against a tyrannical government.

The Constitution's framers foresaw this problem when they wrote this magnificent document. The Second Amendment was designed to prevent just such a situation that we all face today with Mr Obama and the progressive Democrats doing everything they can to gain total power by trying to destroy the peoples will to act. Only time will tell who wins in this struggle.

Is Government Readying For A Shooting War Against Gun Owners?
Personal Liberty Digest

Gun grabbing lawmakers at both the State and Federal level continue to push forward with their anti-American, anti-2^nd Amendment, anti-gun agendas, even as more individuals, State legislatures and manufacturers of weapons, weapons accessories and ammunition push back. It almost seems as if the elected class is itching for a fight.

And when one considers that the Department of Homeland Security has contracted for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition — much of it hollow points or for use in sniper rifles — for its 55,000 armed agents, plus 2,717 armored personnel carriers and 7,000 select fire “personal defense weapons,” it seems even more apparent that’s the goal.

For perspective, 1.6 billion rounds is enough to fight the Iraq war for 20 years. It’s enough to shoot every American five times. It’s 28,000 tons, or the equivalent of three guided missile destroyers. It’s almost 30,000 target practice rounds per armed agent — but of course, because they are more expensive, hollow points are not used for target practice.

These purchases have long concerned many of those who pay attention. But only the alternative media talked about it — to derision and catcalls — until Feb. 15. That’s when The Denver Post ran an article by The Associated Press about the purchases. That prompted a column by Ralph Benko at Forbes.com in which he said it’s time for a national conversation about the purchases.

More than that, it’s time for a national conversation on the link between the purchases and the ongoing push by the elected class to collapse the economy and pass legislation against the will of the people.

Progressives' Time Is Now : Tyranny and Subversion for Success

This has been the goal of the progressives from the very beginning of the social liberal left movement, decades in the making if not generations, but it's only now with Mr Obama in power, and with a majority of the population still believing he means well, that the progressive liberal Democrats believe they can make a disenfranchised and mentally crippled citizenry a tool to gain total power.

No longer do they hide behind a smoke screen of lies and misinformation, the progressives believe their time is now or never to accomplish their life longer desires of a subservient population doing their personal bidding.

As this article points out, the only thing that prevents the success of the tyranny of progressivism is the Second Amendment of the Constitution. It is the only thing that the progressive fear, an armed population that will decide what will happen at the end of the day.

There isn't anything between the tyranny of our government and the pitch forks in the hands of the people that have been pushed too far.

Proof Of A U.S. Police State
Personal Liberty Digest

America has fast descended into a police state. The trouble is that we want to believe in the rule of law and the system that alleges to support and enforce it. But when reality collides with illusion, it is too late. No matter how bad things seem, we always think that times will get better and that government will do the right thing.

Only a few people left Germany in the early 1930s. They could clearly see the evolving tyranny. Many who stayed thought that things would not get so bad or that times would get better. They suffered from normalcy bias, a form of cognitive dissonance. They paid.

The wisdom today is in being able to see what is happening and having the vision to discern what is going to happen. Sorry. Anyone who still believes in the illusion of the rule of law will not see reality until it’s too late to do what is necessary to survive and keep their assets.

Today, the rule of law is what the 1 percent (the government) says it is. The government holds the police power and the military power. Its main purpose is to be the silent force to contain the population.

The population in the United States is well-armed. That fact does not escape the 1 percent. That is why the 1 percent is so eager to find a basis upon which to justify disarming the people.

The armed populace is all that stands between the people and full-blown tyranny.

Low Information Voters Are Truely Low Information and Clueless : A Video

Progressive liberal Democrat voters seem to have gotten lost in the mess that is Barack Obama as the savior of us all. They seem to be part of the walking ignorant.

This video tells a story that is a more about our future then just the clueless walking the streets, it foretells the chaos that is coming our way when these same people enter the voting booth.


http://www.youtube.com/embed/O0azojPPRhw?feature=player_embedded

Barack Responds Well to Danish Rescue From Funeral Slights : Michelle Waits Her Turn

When it all started out with just a few laughs between friends and a funeral program slight, " hi my name is Barack, what's yours?", things suddenly take an unexpected turn. But all's well that ends well right? - or maybe not.

The Danes Rescue Mr Obama from A Progam Slight : Mandela Funeral Oversight Repaired

Mr Obama is puzzled by the program as it doesn't have a picture of himself on the front.
But to help take some of the stress from this situation, the Danish government official explains that on the preceding page they have awarded him the number one slot ahead of the other and lesser individuals in the program.

Michelle is not impressed by the conversation.

Incandescnet Light Bulb Gone : Republicans Promised Repeal!!!!

Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute has a great post on National Review Online wherein he examines the bipartisan nanny state crusade against the light bulb.

Please correct me if this is wrong, but didn't the Republicans promise they would stop this insanity after the first wave of bans, the 100 watt bulb, hit the final push through congress?

 

How did this happen? Wasn't it John Boehner who said he would not allow this to happen?  incondencent

 

How Big Gov. Saved Us From the Dreaded Light Bulb

By RightWisconsin

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 — one of the most pork-filled bits of federal energy legislation ever passed by Congress — continues to haunt us.

That legislation, signed into law by George W. Bush, forced more ethanol into our motor-fuel supply. And come New Year’s Day, it will effectively eliminate a type of light bulb — the standard 40- and 60-watt incandescent — that consumers have been using since the days of Thomas Edison. (The January 1 ban on 40- and 60-watt bulbs follows the phase-out of the 75- and 100-watt incandescent bulbs that took effect at the beginning of this year.)

To be clear, this is not the end of the republic. But it is yet another maddening example of governmental intervention in the energy marketplace that simply isn't needed.

The motivation behind the ban on standard incandescent bulbs is greater efficiency. The EPA claims that the light-bulb ban will cut consumers’ electricity bills by about $6 billion by 2015. It also claims that the move will reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants and cut greenhouse-gas emissions.

All that may be true. But $6 billion in savings is a vanishingly small sliver of the U.S. GDP of about $16 trillion. Furthermore, the United States already leads the world in cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions, thanks to the fact that natural gas is displacing significant amounts of coal in the electric-generation sector.

Back in 2007, one of the main backers of the push to ban incandescent bulbs, Representative Jane Harman, a Democrat from California, who has since left Congress, offered a justification for the move. In an article in the Huffington Post, she claimed that banning the bulbs could "help transform America into an energy-efficient and energy-independent nation." Over the past few years, I’ve heard plenty of cockamamie notions — from the corn-ethanol scam to cellulosic biofuel — about how to reach the mythical Valhalla of energy independence. By adding light bulbs to the list, Harman proved she isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

Homeless Get Free Mini-Homes : Madison, Wis. 'Rolls' Out New Plan

This may seem insane to the common person that fights each day to make a living for themselves and the families, but to the progressive liberal establishment that is the very core of Madison, Wisconsin, this is business as usual.

 

'It's just the right thing to do, and it feels so good knowing we are doing something for others.'

 

Given the history of Madison, especially since the 60's where the radials ran the show and are now running most of Madison from board rooms or dominating the city council, it isn't hard to understand why this project has legs.

 

In reality, there isn't a tax or a regulation that the residents won't embrace that will appear to help the 'unfortunate' among us, no matter where they came from, or how many there are, or how long the have been here. But one has to know when the mayor of Madison, Paul Soglin, a leader of the radials from the 60's which was associated with the Weather Underground and the Students for A Democratic Society (SDS), which was responsible for the killing of a researcher in the bombing of Sterling Hall on the Campus of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has come under attack by the progressives socialists liberals for his stand on the 'unfortunate ones' reeking havoc in his town, it sure seems things in Madison are taking an unexpected turn for the worse.

 

Will Madison's Stupid Mini Homeless Shelters Soon Blight Your Street?

By David Blaska

 

 

It is the Christmas season in Wisconsin’s Capital City where liberal guilt, not gilt, is the gift that keeps on taking.

Coming soon to a politically correct neighborhood near you are tiny houses, each containing one or more "homeless" persons. The theory behind this experiment is that putting a roof over their heads turns dysfunctional people — whether through substance abuse and/or mental illness — into something approaching neighborhood watch captains.

A group calling itself Occupy Madison has built two such structures, so far. They’re kind of cute; window with a flower box — at 96 square feet, they’re twice the size of a food vendor cart. The tiny houses contain a bed, small fridge, microwave, composting toilet and sink. Where these will discharge is unanswered.

Being Madison, they have solar panels, said to generate enough electricity to power four LEDs and a cell phone charger, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, which posed this development as a feel-good Christmas Eve story. Yes, the homeless have cell phones in the Emerald City, perhaps to be ready when the job offers come a-calling. Oh, and the solar panels were 'donated' by the UW. In other words, the taxpayers are subsidizing this experiment.

In response to residential complaints of people living in their automobiles, Madison allows camping on city streets no more than 48 hours before they must move — usually to the next street. Advocates want to amend zoning ordinances to permit churches to place at least three of the tiny "homeless homes" on their parking lots. At my church, there’s a parochial elementary school at the other end of the lot, which would make for an interesting discussion at the church council.

Ultimately, Occupy Madison wants to erect a village of these little houses. It will be interesting to hear the artful excuses generated by city’s more-progressive-than-thou neighborhoods when they object to these shanty towns. This is a city where siting a drive-through coffee shop inflames name-calling and political demonstrations.   

Take the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood, just a few blocks northeast of the Capitol. It voted Obama-Biden by a 5 to 1 margin in 2012. 

In the Winter of 2011-12, the neighborhood abutting Lake Mendota had endured the double whammy of a daytime warming shelter for homeless men in a vacant car dealership showroom and an ad hoc tent encampment of 40 to 60 "homeless" people next door in the former car lot. The latter was the work of Occupy Madison, the politically motivated group that spun off from the disastrous Occupy Wall Street movement that The Nation and other enlightened spirits once hoped would be the progressive antidote to the Tea Party. Intended to be an indictment against NAFTA, capitalism, global warming, and what have you, the Occupy movement turned, instead, into a societal SuperFund site rampant with disease, defecation, and destruction.

Same story in Madison. Fronting heavily traveled East Washington Avenue, which leads straight to the majestic Capitol, the ragged encampment erected a sign reading: "We’re Not For Sale." Not that it had anything worth buying. By April 2012, the two adjoining sites had, over the previous five months, logged an average of more than one police call per day for such offenses as theft, fighting, trespass, property damage, noise, drugs, unlawful weapons, sexual assault, and public intoxication. This reporter personally witnessed a steady parade of automobiles stopping, being greeted by one or more of the denizens, then driving away. He also found a motley collection of liquor bottles, emptied, around the periphery.

The major domo of Occupy Madison is one Brenda Konkel, whose day job is running the taxpayer-subsidized Tenant Resource Center. Its primary mission is to bedevil property owners. It pushed through a city ordinance making criminal history a protected housing class until the state legislature overturned it with Wis. Act 108 two years ago. Konkel is past chairman of Progressive Dane, a local political party to the left of Bernie Sanders. As alderman for this same neighborhood she would later blight with the encampment, she was so anti-cop that the aggrieved police officers union put up a billboard successfully opposing her re-election. 

We are not without Christian compassion this Christmas season. We celebrate Pope Francis’ ministry to the less fortunate. Kudos to the Madison activists for thinking outside the box, even if the result is, well, little boxes. But the road to hell can be paved with good intentions. Isn’t that how Obamacare got started? 

How many of our fair trading, union-supporting progressive acquaintances will say "great idea, but not in front of my house?"

It is not as if Madison and Dane County ignore the homeless. The Salvation Army and Porchlight are just two of the contractors providing a rich array of services that attract takers from throughout the state and beyond. But, as Konkel once explained, Occupy Madison serves people who refuse to abide by the government-sanctioned providers’ rules.

County human services administrator Lynn Green suggested that Occupy Madison is an enabler of destructive behavior. She told this reporter earlier this year, "The Dane County sheltering system is keeping hundreds of men, women and children safe every night. ... We need to remember the good that is being done for so many and not just focus on a few people who refuse help. By demanding special treatment they are consuming a disproportionate amount of resources."

When the basement lunch room in the State Capitol was closed, due to being taken over by vagrants, the "homeless" commandeered the lobby of the City-County Building, just two blocks south. 

City and county employees formally complained of drunkenness, sexually explicit remarks, and urine in the elevators. City police were issued mugshots of 6 of the occupiers "for officer safety." Someone smeared excrement all over the first-floor women’s lavatory. In October, public health officials warned city and county employees of an outbreak of lice. 

Former UW-Madison student protest leader Paul Soglin initiated a 40-year reign of liberal mayors in Madison when he unseated the incumbent mayor in 1973. He is sometimes called "Havana Paul" for his affinity for Fidel Castro, whom he has personally visited. He camped overnight in the Capitol during the union intifada of 2011. This September, the mayor encountered a family of five adults and five children, ages 4 months to 13 years, who had decamped in Madison from Chicago with no job and no housing. He hooked them up with county social services. 

But the outraged mayor sounded almost Tea Party after he witnessed a fist-fight in November over who had rights to which seat in the city-county building lobby. "Frankly, I see no sense in spending public money for buildings, shelter, day centers or housing for individuals who either refuse to use them or will be banned for behavior reasons."  

"When I raise the issue, I’m a heartless sonofabitch," Soglin lamented. 

No other local leader has picked up on his plea that some of the squatters need more than a meal and a roof and should be involuntarily committed.

Well, placing them in deluxe portapotties across the city isn't the answer.

ObamaCare Tidlewave of Failure to Wipe Out Progressives? : Maybe - Maybe Not

Mr Obama has no fear of the future - Love abounds

I believe it would be wise to take a step back and reevaluate how the complete failure of ObamaCare will effect the voting habits of those that always vote one way, always!!

It would be foolish to step out into the spot light and proclaim the Democrats will lose next year like so many did in 2012.

Given how we all thought Obama was a loser with all of the failures that were associated with his White House and the Democrat party, and yet he won the election. The adults in the room were completely shocked, dumbstruck.

Are the American people that dumb, uninformed, clueless to be so easily fooled, duped into voting again for more destruction? It appears so. And no matter what the Republicans candidate did or said, he still was the best bet to save the country as it is so clearly seen now with the domestic and foreign policy disasters that have the finger prints of Mr Obama all over them. Will we be fooled again?

So give it some time, like about three days before the election, to proclaim the Democrats losers. Even then, the liberal Democrat will under tremendous pressure to pull the lever for the Democrats like they always have even though they know by doing so they are doing harm to themselves and the nation.

For a life long Democrat to admit their guy is a loser is something that can not be contemplated or discussed among like minded individuals. The narrative will always be what a good job he is doing and we love him.

And then to believe once they are in the  booth they will vote to save themselves and their families from catastrophic economic events by voting for the opposition is a huge stretch of the imagination.

It is what it is. There truly is no situation that can occur in the life of the progressive liberal Democrat, no matter how it will effect themselves or their families, that will convince them to vote against the Democrat party candidate. It just won't happen, not ever.

Employment Problem Identifited : Progressive Leadership

I think this sums up our situation after 5 years of Mr Obama and the progressive Democrats. - millions out of work and no jobs for the foreseeable future. Total disaster for our country.

 

Author unknown but good humor.

 

 

An Israeli doctor says: "In Israel, medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man’s testicles, put them on another man, and in 6 weeks he is looking for work."

The German doctor says: "That’s nothing, in Germany we take part of a brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for work."

The Russian doctor says: “Gentlemen, we take half a heart from a man, put it in another's chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for work."

The United States doctor laughs: "You all are behind us. Five years ago, we took a man with no brains, no heart, and no balls…and made him President.  Now, the whole country is looking for work!"

 

 

Unions Loose 100,000 Members in Wis. & $60 Million Dollars : Scott Walker's Act 10

Scott Walker's Act 10 works for freedom of thought - what could be more important then that? When people have the opportunity to make decisions on their own, they become new persons, independent persons that decide for themselves what is best for their families and their personal futures.

 

For the progressive socialist liberal left Democrats, having individuals making decisions on their own is unacceptable. Individual thought to the Democrats, unions, is like a wooden stake is to Dracula.

 

100,000 Government Workers Choose Freedom from Unions in Wisconsin

By Matt Batzel

 

Less than 3 years after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed his collective bargaining reforms (Act 10), more than 100,000 union members have left Big Labor. The Left has fought these reforms at every step, but when workers are given the choice, they have overwhelmingly voted to leave government unions. Wisconsin’s reforms prove that public sector union representation is becoming an antiquated idea. Other states should follow Wisconsin’s example and provide government workers with the freedom to vote on union representation.

On Thursday, more than 70 local unions failed their re-certification votes with over 5,500 employees walking out on their unions as a result. Thursday was the deadline for many public sector unions to vote for the first time whether they would have union representation. Part of Act 10 was the requirement that government unions annually hold a re-certification vote. Many labor unions pre-empted their reforms through ramming through contract extensions for various lengths of time. Consequently, Thursday marked the end of the first voting period for many unions across the state.

Prior to this week’s re-certification votes, numerous reports have come out about loss of union membership. While it is very hard to pin down the exact number of "members" the unions have lost largely because unions are not willing to release this information, we can come up with a minimum estimate of union dues paying members who have left their respective unions based upon publicly available information.

In May 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported that American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) had lost 34,073 and at least 2,455 have left since then. American Federation of Teachers- Wisconsin (AFT-Wisconsin) told the Wisconsin State Journal that they had lost about 5,250 members, while the UW-Madison Teaching Assistants’ Association lost 1,350 members. Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) lost around 50,000 members prior to this latest round of voting. Even the Wisconsin Professional Police Association lost 1,700 members. In total, the public reports indicate Wisconsin unions have now lost more than 100,000 members since Act 10 became law.

Big Labor’s playbook to stop these reforms has failed. First, they flooded Madison with protesters from across the nation, then their State Senators fled to Illinois to prevent a vote. After they inevitably returned and the bill passed, they tried to not publish the bill to prevent it from becoming law. When that failed, they went to court to halt the law. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ultimately weighed in and said the collective bargaining reforms did not violate the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law. But that didn’t stop the recalls, several more lawsuits and other temper tantrums from the Left.

Now we know exactly what the Left was so scared of: government workers having a choice about whether they are represented by a union. Perhaps more importantly for the union bosses is a loss of union dues in the millions of dollars. Conservative estimates show that with 100,000 members opting out of unions, around $60 million less will be flowing to unions in Wisconsin. In terms of pure political dollars (PAC Contributions), more than $2 million less will be at the Left’s disposal for upcoming election spending and lobbying. Gone are the days of public sector unions going unchecked, ripping off Wisconsin taxpayers, and amassing war chests full of political money.

States need to follow in Wisconsin's footsteps to allow freedom for government employees and relief for taxpayers. Wisconsin shows that public sector union representation is not providing value to their members and public sector unions are on the decline. Government workers in all states should have the right to vote on the value of the public sector unions’ services. After all, out of state union protesters came to Madison after Act 10 was introduced and shouted, "This is what Democracy Looks Like!"

FOX News Explains Reality to Mr Obama : Neil Cavuto Speaks Plainly

Here is a short video from FOX News, Neil Cavuto explaining responsibility to Mr Obama. It's not nasty as one might think, it's not like a progressive socialist Democrat taking at shot at Bush, this video lays out in plain language just who has caused the chaos that has perminated American society.

Take a few minutes, with an open mind, to understand just what has happened to our country and why. You decide if this has merit.


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

Joe Biden For President : Democrats - A Moral Tragedy

This is guy is really inspiring and should be a poster boy for the next election, as the next election will be a big 'F -- ing deal'.

Sadly, it seems all Democrats are lost in a sewer of hate and ignorance of witch there is no cure.

This short video list just a few of the intellectually challenged and moral despots that inhabit the progressive socialist party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkY1Wm3pwIw&feature=player_embedded

PolitiFact Gets More Pinocchios : Wis. Gov Walker's Car Attacked - State Police Lied?

Let there be no mistake about who and what PolitiFact is - they are completely grounded in the progressive Democrat party. They are functioning arm of the marketing effort of the democrats to advance their agenda of socialism and to misrepresent all opposition to that end.

 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is also a function outlet for the same purpose as they have trumpeted "facts' or the lack of facts from Politifact attacks on it's enemies on a regular bases.

 

At the Journal Sentinel, truth is lost in the translation from reality to fantasy .

 

PolitiFact Jumps the Shark

By Brian Fraley   (Right Wisconsin)                       

Just when you think PolitiFact can't become any more of a joke...

In today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the 'journalists' at PolitiFact set out to prove whether or not an incident described in Governor Walker's book actually happened.

In their hackneyed analysis, they label false the claim that the Governor's car was surrounded and rocked by protesters after an event in LaCrosse.

What proof do they have that the event did not happen?

None.

However, they do ignore the word of the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, a Wisconsin State Trooper, and a political aide who no longer works in Wisconsin.  Three witnesses don't matter to the self-righteous, agenda-driven hacks at PolitiFact.

What is particularly hilarious is the 'fact checkers' say the lack of mainstream media coverage of the disturbance helped them give the claim a rating of false.

That's rich. 

The mainstream media did an embarrassingly awful job of reporting on the Big-Labor fueled chaos of 2011 and 2012. That they missed yet another incident is hardly 'proof' that the incident did not occur.

As we have chronicled here previously, PolitiFact has jumped the shark.

Gun Control Proponents fear the Pitch Forks : Disarm the Population

Gun control is based on the need by a tyrannical  government wants to be able to dictate outcomes. Having the population armed makes this more difficult.

Texas : Bigger Then World Population

Goodness - when they say Texas is huge, they mean it. I think we really don't understand just how large our country really is.

ObamaCare Website Failed : Health Care In America Destroyed

With the progressive socialist liberal Democrats in charge of the country, is it little wonder America is failing it's mandate of being that 'shining city on the hill' that everyone wants to live in. All we can look forward to now is being told by our government what we deserve for health care. Some, of course, will be denied.

So, the website failed and it took years to develop, "what difference does it make anyway", there won't be any health care insurance as well.

(Author unknown)
So during the 3-1/2 years of World War 2 that started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ended with the Surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, the U.S. produced 22 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 48 cruisers, 349 destroyers, 420 destroyer escorts, 203 submarines, 34 million tons of merchant ships, 100,000 fighter aircraft, 98,000 bombers, 24,000 transport aircraft, 58,000 training aircraft, 93,000 tanks, 257,000 artillery pieces, 105,000 mortars, 3,000,000 machine guns, and 2,500,000 military trucks

We put 16.1 million men in uniform in the various armed services, invaded Africa, invaded Sicily and Italy, won the battle for the Atlantic, planned and executed D-Day, marched across the Pacific and Europe, developed the atomic bomb and ultimately conquered Japan and Germany.
It's worth noting, that during the almost exact amount of time, the entire Obama administration couldn't build a functioning web site.

Obama's Selfe Causes Domestic stress? Michelle Rips The 'One'

I wonder just how the conversation went when this confab was over - heh

Union Power Fading In Wisconsin : The Fix - Blue Fist Tree Ornaments?

Whether it's the unions of just a local Democrat party get-together, the tone will always be one of protest, and it doesn't matter what the subject, although it probably will be one related to not being in a position of power to implement their personal view of how life must be lived, still the anger will be front and center on how this happened, how to regain power to crush the opposition and by any means necessary.  Nothing well be off the table.   None of the conversation at these confabs will be about how to solve problems in the state, it will only be about how to get the power back. It's always about power, getting it and keeping it. Period! Big Labor's Christmas Hate

How cool is this - an angry tree ornament

By James Wigderson  (Right Wisconsin)

 

Nothing says Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward Men like a clenched fist. 

The Wisconsin AFL-CIO has an ornament you can download and make for your non-exclusionary diversity evergreen. It’s the Wisconsin public employee unions Blue Fist. Just print out the pdf file, fold, tape, and be angry.

What can better celebrate the holiday, whatever it is, than a tree ornament that celebrates vandalism, occupation of the state Capitol, protests at private homes to intimidate senior citizens, boycotts of Wisconsin products, disrupting the Special Olympics, and failed recall elections? Would you rather have Governor Scott Walker’s Frosted Pecan Recipe, or a holiday ornament that reminds everyone of the threats against the life of Walker and his family?

They must be fun homes that have these ornaments hanging from the tree. Imagine the carols that are sung in these homes. It must be so much fun roasting chestnuts while singing along with a recording of Congressman Gwen Moore. Instead of listening to The Little Drummer Boy, they probably just drum on the plastic buckets they brought home from the protests.

A highlight of the Holiday in the homes with these ornaments is probably a telling of how Russ Decker Stole Christmas. It’s been three years since the Democrats busted former State Rep Jeff Woods out of jail to cast a vote for union contracts that would have tied the hands of incoming Governor Walker.  All that trouble, only to watch former State Sen Russ Decker perform a Christmas miracle and vote against the contracts. 

Instead of the Three Wise Men, do parents with the Blue Fist ornaments tell of Marty Beil, Richard Trumka, and Mary Bell bringing union dues, out-of-state protesters, and fake doctors’ excuses to the state Capitol?

Seriously though, what does that Blue Fist ornament say to visitors? "The people of this house are so angry that we can’t let go of our hate of Walker for even one day. Up yours, Santa, with your Koch brothers non-union elves."

How ironic this comes shortly after Wisconsin’s leftists criticized a Walker fundraising note that suggested people spend a little less on toys and give the money to his campaign instead. At least his campaign didn’t suggest boycotting every business that refused to display the Blue Fist in its window.

But it’s the political left that just can’t resist politicizing the holidays, trying to divide families at this time of year. President Barack Obama wanted us to discuss Obamacare at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Organizing for America wanted us to thank Obama at Thanksgiving for new environmental regulations that make it more expensive for Santa Claus to put coal in the stockings of bad little boys and girls. 

And now we get the Blue Fist Holiday Ornament, probably the worst idea since the Star Wars Christmas Special. The only good thing that could be said for the ornament is that there is less demand after the recent re-certification elections wiped out more than 80 public employee unions.

Feinstein Slaps Down California Democrats & Veterans? What?

Why is this news - most of us that are awake to reality always knew that any progressive liberal has mental problems, they are genetically different, they are not like normal people. If they were normal they wouldn't be progressive socialist liberal Democrats.

This is so easy to understand - why all the confusion on who these people are. The fact that one of their own is calling them out, if indeed this is a true report on Feinstein, tells a story in it's self. Even if it just a story, it's a good one and I believe it to be fact. There is so much history to back up the claim of mental illness among Democrats as they, on a daily basis, say and do things that are cognitively delusional and psychotic.

How could a normal and rational individual come to any other conclusion, given what has transpired over the last five years of progressive control of government, that the progressive socialist liberal Democrat is mentally ill.

The humane thing to do would be to help them recover in an institution where they can obtain professional help, but if that is not a good option in the short run to save them from themselves, voting them all out of office will be the next best thing.

This from the Los Angles Times - ? (True or False) 

Quote of the day by Dianne Feinstein..........

 

Dianne Feinstein: "All vets are mentally ill in some way and government should prevent them from owning firearms"  Yep, - she really said it on Thursday in a meeting in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. .and the quote below from the
LA Times is priceless. Sometimes even the L.A. Times gets it right.

Quote of the Day from the  Los Angeles Times:

 

 "Frankly, I don't know what it is about California,  but we seem to have a strange urge to elect really obnoxious women to high  office. I'm not bragging, you understand, but no other state, including  Maine, even comes close. When it comes to sending left-wing dingbats to  Washington, we're Number One. There's no getting around the fact that the last  time anyone saw the likes of Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters,  and Nancy Pelosi, they were stirring a cauldron when the curtain went up on  'Macbeth'.
 The  four of them are like jackasses who happen to possess the gift of blab. You don't know if you should condemn them for their stupidity or simply marvel at  their ability to form words."

 

  Columnist Burt  Prelutsky, Los  Angeles  Times

 

"Bitcoins" Looking Better Now? : Poeple Looking For Alternatives

Isn't this interesting that people are trying to by pass the federal government even with creating a new source of money. Bitcoins have been around for a while but they haven't taken hold as of yet, but wait until ObamaCare takes hold and the entire economy collapses from it sheer magnitude of corruption of society, that's when everyone will be thinking of how to survive without depending on a socialist government that is in total ruin.

Is Bitcoin Real Money?
Source: Brian Wesbury, "How Much Does that Burger Cost in Bitcoins?" Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2013.
December 20, 2013

In the 1930s, when the Federal Reserve let the money supply contract, there was a true shortage of currency. At least 150 communities experimented with scrip -- printing their own money to grease the wheels of commerce. None worked, and all have disappeared. Today, because of worries about the Fed printing too much money, a private online global scrip, called Bitcoin, has been created.

This scrip is supposed to protect society from inflationary monetary policy, says Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors LP. Could Bitcoins become an alternative to the money or monies that exist across the globe?

• Bitcoins are "mined" by running a computer algorithm, creating a digitized code, which can then be used to complete online transactions.
• The algorithm makes it progressively harder to mine Bitcoins as the total number increases.
• Preset limits supposedly cap the maximum number of Bitcoins at 21 million, and right now there are roughly 12 million in existence.

Bitcoins meet most of the criteria of money. They are a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and a standard of deferred payment. But what ultimately gives money value is that it is accepted by others in trade for something of value. And that is why scrip doesn't work. To become a true alternative currency, Bitcoins need to be accepted in a wide enough swath of society to facilitate the normal transaction of business.

• Right now, total cash and deposits in the U.S. banking system (the M2 money supply), is roughly $11 trillion.
• Assuming 21 million Bitcoins are mined and they become an accepted currency, each one could be worth as much as $524,000.
• This is a massive potential appreciation from their current level.

However, the list of companies that accept Bitcoin as payment for actual transactions make up what Wesbury estimates to be less than one-hundredth of a percent of all spending, or gross domestic product. Since money gets its value from the goods, services and assets that it can purchase, a Bitcoin is currently worth only 0.01 percent of its true potential, or about $52.40.

To become a real alternative currency, Bitcoins must be recognized by a majority of businesses and consumers. They must be as safe, or safer, than currency issued by a central bank -- a concern as hackers become more and more sophisticated. And they must be transportable. Currently, the Bitcoin does not meet any of these requirements, and this is why it is trading for much less than its actual convertible U.S. dollar value.
 

Coal Energy Fuels World Industry : Progressives Attack Coal Industry

Come on people, it's not that we all depend on coal to heat our homes and light our lights, this is about doing what right and feels good. Destroying the coal industry so we can save the planet was one of the high priority items on Mr Obama's agenda when he was on the campaign trail in 2007 and 2008.

Remember he said 'With the new regulations that I will put into place under my Cap and Trade policy, plants that produce electrical energy from fossil fuels will skyrocket and this will be passed on the consumer'. Now this exactly how he said it but it's close enough to understand what he had in mind.

The fact that more then 6000 jobs have already been lost in the coal industry since he took office is lost on the general public as it was on the press back in 2008. The media completely ignored his statements. They knew what he said but so starry eyed over the magnificence of Mr Obama and how he will transform politics and the country, it was just a nonstory.

I wonder if they have a memory of what they said back then or care how their refusal to understand the consequences of being completely partisan has tortured our country, the media being progressive hacks for the Democrats. But still, for many in the press and on the left, Mr Obama is still the "One". hallula! Pass the Kool-Aid.

Coal in the Global Energy Landscape
Source: Nicolas Loris, "Coal in the Global Energy Landscape," Heritage Foundation, December 11, 2013.
Source: Nicolas Loris, "Coal in the Global Energy Landscape," Heritage Foundation, December 11, 2013.
December 20, 2013

Coal could surpass oil as the world's number one energy source by 2017, says Nicolas Loris, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

• Coal provides 30 percent of the world's energy, 41 percent of the world's electricity generation, and factors into 70 percent of the world's steel production.
• China produced 45.3 percent of the world's coal in 2012, up from 13.6 percent in 1973. India is projected to surpass the United States in coal production and become the second-largest coal producer in the next five years.
• Unlike in the United States, where regulators are trying to reduce coal production, China and India have no plans to do so.
• Over the 1,200 proposals for coal-fired power plants across the globe, 818 of those are in China and India.

Other countries are also focused on coal.

• Much attention has been concentrated on Europe's push for renewable energy, but coal is still a major player.
• There are plans to build 69 coal-fired plants in Europe, 47 in Turkey and 48 in Russia.
• In Australia, 75 percent of the country's electricity comes from coal.

Forty percent of electricity in the United States is generated from coal-fired power plants, yet lawmakers and regulators are increasingly looking to impose restrictions on plants and mining operations. If coal is declining based on market forces (the transition to cheaper natural gas, for example), consumers are made better off and the economy benefits. But imposing unnecessary restrictions that have no environmental benefit on coal operations brings higher prices and destroys jobs. Other countries across the globe recognize how dependable and affordable coal is, and the United States should follow suit.

Christmas Perspectives : Right and Left

Okay, here is two version of what Christmas is and isn't - don't know the author or care, this is to the point of where reality and fantasy collide.

To All My Liberal Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2014, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other countries nor the only "America" in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes. 

To My Conservative Friends:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Duck Dynasty Demonstrates What's Good About Us

'Speak the truth and the world will beat a path to your door.'

Bin Laden Take-Down WH Photo Retouched : More Questions?

Breaking - Wowha - where's our fearless leader? Maybe this was taken before he arrived. He refused to leave the links as he was ready to break 100 on finishing the back nine.

According to sources inside the house, he left strict orders not to be interrupted. But as we all know, later, he did make it home, or did he? Apparently, according to this photo, his picture must have been inserted at a later date and 'pajama boys' removed.

Questions - questions.

Waste In Federal Gov. Catastrophic : Coburn 'Waste Book" 2013

Here's one that I would like to address, there are 800,000 nonessential federal employees on the payroll.

Wastebook 2013
Source: Senator Tom Coburn, "Wastebook," Office of U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, December 2013.
December 20, 2013

Washington has reversed the wisdom of the old cliché that less is needed when less is wasted. Every branch of government bickered this year over the need to spend more (while continuing to misspend) with an attitude of "waste more, want more!" says Senator Tom Coburn.

Confronted with self-imposed budget cuts necessary to trim years of trillion dollar shortfalls,
Washington protested that it could not live within its means. Some of the most egregious examples?

• The Department of Defense grounded the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels, yet still spent $432 million to construct aircraft they never intend to fly.
• The Army National Guard spent $10 million on Superman movie tie-ins while plans were being made to cut the strength of the Guard by 8,000 soldiers
• As the Smithsonian was closing exhibits at its world renowned museums, the federal government was funding the creation of "play zones" at the National Museum of Play, an inventory of toys at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys, and a website celebrating romance novels.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut housing assistance for the disabled elderly while subsidizing thousands of risky mortgages, including more than 100 homes (that cost in excess of half-a-million dollars each) within walking distance of the ocean in Hawaii.
• And while nutrition assistance was being reduced for many needy families, USDA was spending money on celebrity chef cooks-offs and running up the taxpayer tab on Bloody Marys, sweet potato vodka and red wine tastings from here to China.
• And just days before the impending government shutdown, when much of Washington was bracing for a protracted closure of most government offices and activities, USDA decided to celebrate Christmas early by funding six Christmas trees projects and -- in the spirit of holiday cheer -- 35 different wine initiatives, including the creation of two smart phone apps to help "navigate to the next winery."
• The Department of Interior was counting sheep with high-tech unmanned aerial drones after delaying the opening of some national landmarks and closing others early.

These are only a few of the 100 examples of government mismanagement and stupidity included in Wastebook 2013. Collectively these cost nearly $30 billion in a year when Washington would have you believe everything that could be done has been done to control unnecessary spending. Had just these 100 been eliminated, the sequester amount would have been reduced nearly a third without any noticeable disruption.
 

Wind Turbines Killing Birds of Prey : Bald Eagle Kills Soars

This story has been around for a while but it's  worth telling again. What a conundrum for the eco-fascists environmentalists who demand the population do what ever they decide is best, that is the EPA thugs and criminals that now occupy that department, and have for decades, but only now it's much worse as it is controlled by progressives liberal socialists.

These eco-terrorist demand thousands in California loose their jobs so a few tadpoles can survive in a muddy pool, but when the destruction of the pristine country side is turned into a ugly sewer by wind turbines and solar panels is of little consequence.

So if the eco-fascists have to sacrifice a few national birds and other 'protected' species of flight to feel good about themselves, so what, who cares. The stupid voters will do nothing to stop the insanity of green energy destroying our heritage and country side because if they do we will call them racists. The population will always run away from this attack. It works every time!

Welcome to the real world of the progressive socialist liberal left Democrats, and know they have many more great ideas like green energy and ObamaCare in store for us. It's only a matter of time before they demand we all willingly fall to their power.

Green Energy Kills Eagles
Source: Robert Bryce, "'Green' Energy Kills Eagles," National Review, December 9, 2013.
December 19, 2013

The Obama administration is allowing the wind industry to kill eagles, says Robert Bryce, a senior fellow with the Center for Energy Policy and the Environment at the Manhattan Institute.

On Friday, December 6, the Department of Interior announced that it was granting permits to wind-energy companies that would allow them to kill and maim bald and golden eagles without penalty.

• The wind industry has been lobbying for these permits for years.
• After the announcement, an American Wind Energy Association official stated that the program was "about conservation," and was "not a program to kill eagles."
• Environmental groups have lashed out at the decision. The National Audubon Society's CEO David Yarnold said, "Instead of balancing the need for conservation and renewable energy, Interior wrote the wind industry a blank check."

The federal government has spent the last few decades bringing hundreds of cases against the oil and gas industry for killing migratory birds, but the wind industry has been left alone. It was not until a few weeks ago that the government first enforced the Migratory Bird Treaty Act against the wind industry, when it filed charges against Duke Energy for killing 14 golden eagles and 149 other protected birds. But only a few days after settling that suit, the Department of Interior issued its announcement.

• After spending millions of taxpayer dollars to conserve the bald eagle, the bird was finally moved off of the endangered species list in 2007.
• Biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the number of eagles killed by wind turbines has shot up from two in 2007 to 24 in 2011. After that report, the authors documented additional eagle kills in Idaho, Montana, Nevada and North Dakota.
• Moreover, the Fish and Wildlife Service reported in April that "there are no conservation measures that have been scientifically shown to reduce eagle disturbance and blade-strike mortality at wind projects."

 

American Slides Into Chaos : Ideology and Ignorance Prevail

Who cares about the dam website, what we should be concerned about is how can our Constitutional government tell us we have to do something, buy something they have decided we have to have, or be fined or go to jail if we don't obey ?

Do you understand what is going here? From the beginning when justice Roberts changed the world by saying ObamaCare was just a tax and not a mandate, we who understood the progressives saw this as the catastrophic nightmare that it is today, but millions refused to see this for what it is, a blatant attack on our very way of life by a few elites seeking control of the population by destroying it.

Where there is chaos there is profit. "Never let a good crisis go to waste" Rohm Emanuel.

Who's to blame, easy to see and understand, the arrogant  progressive socialist media and an ignorant population more interested in the next IPhone then whether their children will survive the next bout of the flu.

I guess times have been too good in the past for Americans, they can't grasp the notion our country could actually fail to meet our needs. Guess again.

ObamaCare's Troubles Are Only Beginning
Source: Michael J. Boskin, "ObamaCare's Troubles Are Only Beginning," Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2013.

December 19, 2013

ObamaCare is only going to get worse, says Michael Boskin, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

• As we move into 2014, the increased costs from ObamaCare are going to become even more apparent as individuals begin paying higher deductibles and copays.
• People have already begun to see premiums increase by 30 percent and more, but if too few healthy people sign up for insurance, premiums will have to rise even more to subsidize the sick.
• The insurance market will begin to unravel.

On top of this, more people are going to begin to see that they cannot keep their doctors or see the doctor that they want.

• In order to keep prices low, insurance companies are offering very restrictive health plans that give patients access only to certain doctors and hospitals.
• Often, these plans do not include the best hospitals in the area.
• If an individual wants to see someone outside of his network, he will have to pay more.

Moreover, people outside of the individual market (those covered by employer plans, union plans, or Medicare and Medicaid) are also going to begin to feel the effects of ObamaCare, and the time it takes before they can see a doctor is going to increase. Even more workers are going to see their work reduced to part-time, and small businesses will be hesitant to hire more than 50 employees full time.

More broadly, fewer young people are going to seek careers in medicine. Practicing doctors, rather than accept lower incomes, will retire early or restrict their practices. And with higher taxes, the pace of innovation in drug and medical device development will slow down.
 

Tail of Two Cities : Chicago & Houston

	Chicago, IL	Houston, TX
Population	2.7 million	2.15 million
Median HH Income	$38,600	$37,000
% African-American	38.9%	24%
% Hispanic	29.9%	44%
% Asian	5.5%	6%
% Non-Hispanic White	28.7%	26%

 

Pretty similar until you compare the following: Chicago, IL Houston, TX Concealed Carry gun law no yes # of Gun Stores 0 184 - Dedicated gun stores plus 1500 - legal places to buy guns- Walmart, K-mart, sporting goods, etc. Homicides, 2012 1,806 207 Homicides per 100K 38.4 9.6 Avg. January high temperature (F) 31 63