Polital Books to Read

Here's my top 10 list of books both fiction and non-fiction with a political slant.  They are in no particular order just how they were lined up on my bookshelf.

1. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
2. On Liberty - John Stuart Mill
3. Rules for Radicals - Saul Alinsky
4. The Burden of Bad Ideas - Heather MacDonald
5. Animal Farm - George Orwell
6. 1984 - George Orwell
7. Understanding the Times - David Noebel
8. Grave Influence - Brannon Howse
9. The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton
10. Liberal Fascism - Jonah Goldberg

Free Free Free

Free healthcare for all

Free housing for single moms

Free education for college students

Free breakfast for kids

It may be “free” for the individual accepting the service but who really pays?

Taxpayers are stuck holding the bill for services that they may never use and the individual using the service get stuck in a cycle of “free” goods and services that they will never "break free".

People enrolled in the “free” service programs have to stay below yearly income, so there is no incentive to ever make more. We are raising a society of college educated young people who are going to continue to receive free social services under the guise of a helping hand up.

But at what point should people be held accountable for their own lives? There is a vast difference in helping someone get back on their feet and people living off of the system for generations.

So who is the real looser in the deal, the voluntary population of slaves that we as a country have created or the tax payer?

Who benefits from a population living off of social services? Simply: Individuals running for office promising those free services.

So is it FREE FOR US or FREE US?

November 2

Don't forget to vote!

To my Democrat friends (yes I have some):

You are right. Conservatives are up in arms about the amount of money being spent by this administration. There were no Tea Parties during the past administration when spending was out of control.

My question to you is where were you?

Don't we need to start somewhere?

It would be a real shame when Republicans gain control of the house and senate again if the Tea Parties disappeared.

This country is caught in a vicious circle of political corruption on both sides and someone needs to break that cycle.

The Misquote

I am a regular listener to Rush and Beck. I am also a regular reader of Media Matters and The Cincinnati Beacon. I watch MSN and Fox News.

We all know that good ratings equal extreme rhetoric. Both ends of the political spectrum hold very different views on every issue. It seems that there are enough sound bites that could be taken in context to illustrate a point.

Lately, it has been the norm to take sound bites out of context and use them to create public outrage. Rush used the word retard on his show last week. In context he was taking a poke at Rahm Emanuel using the word retard. Surrounding the comment he joked that it would become a sound bite that would result in him getting in "trouble" with the media. He was correct.

With technological capabilities there is no longer an excuse to misquote someone. There is no longer an excuse to take things out of context in error. Today misquoting is deliberate and malicious.

Some sites are based entirely of sound bites and misquotes. Media Matters is an excellent example of this practice. I read several articles about Rush's retard statement- along with the string of comments posted in response. I also heard the live broadcast of the actual statement in question. The disparity in facts was almost alarming.

It is time for us as intelligent Americans to take responsibility for the "news" that we are ingesting. The resources are readily available to check sources and the context of statements. If we are not doing some quick research we are just being lazy and contributing to the problem.

How many examples do we need?

Danny Williams the Newfoundland Premier is coming to the US for heart surgery this week.

I believe that the United States has the best physicians and hospitals in the world. Apparently so do many world leaders. Premier Williams is on the first to come to the US to receive healthcare, it happens everyday.

What will happen if we go to a single payer system? Will people still flock to the US to have complicated procedures done? Will we have room for them? Will we have room for our own citizens?

Rasmussen

With so much to say about the state of the country it is difficult to pick a topic. For today this will have to do.


With unemployment numbers climbing, national debt on the dramatic rise and discontent with both parties one would think that his approval numbers will continue to drop. Only those who blindly cling to the man and the party line will hang on.

Job Market

I am highly offended with Obama’s conclusion for the job crisis. Our president primarily blames small business owners and their mindset for “squeezing profits” for the lack of new jobs in the market.

I realize that he has never run a small business, and I assume that he has never been employed by a small business owner. If he had any experience with small businesses he would know that start up businesses usually require owners to go without a paycheck for an extended period of time. Once the business is up and running cost savings is a primary drive for EVERYONE working in the company. That means going without new software upgrades, buying crappy office supplies in bulk and having pot luck Christmas parties.

The heart of a small business is the employees who all join together for a common goal. To say that “squeezing profits” is the goal is a slap in the face to all owners and employees who are just trying to make payroll. Any profits are quickly eaten up by taxes and soon to be fines for healthcare.

I have worked for small business for most of my adult life. One of which I had to leave due to the lack of health insurance, but that was my CHOICE. It was inconceivable to expect a start up business to provide health insurance (or be fined for not having it) when the owner was using up his 401K in order to get it off the ground.

We are killing small business already - and it is only getting worse.

Approval Ratings

All information taken from the Rasmussen Reports.

It is interesting to me that there are people in the media who are still claiming that Americans "overwhelmingly" support the healthcare package.

30% Strongly Approve of the president.
38% Stongly Dissapprove of the president.




44% trust Republicans more than Democrats on Healthcare.
41% trust Democrats more than Republicans on Healthcare.

26% of voters strongly favor the proposed healthcare plan.
44% of voters strongly oppose of the proposed healthcare plan.

49% believe the protesters at the congressional town hall meetings genuinely express the views of their neighbors.

37% believe the protesters at the congressional town hall meetings have been put up to it by special interest groups and lobbyists.

Definitions

There has been a lot of talk lately about socialism. The right is crying socialism the left is screaming that the right does not know the definition of socialism.
Reading all of the definition it seems pretty clear that the new health plan is clearly socialism.

Main Entry: so•cial•ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1837

1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

“Grass Roots”

Who in the crap cares?

I have in the past few days heard and read more arguments about Tea Party’s being or not being grass roots than I have heard about the foundation for which it was formed.

I don’t care if Sarah Palin herself formed the Tea Party movement. I believe in:

Fiscal responsibility
Limited government
Free markets

The left is boggled how quickly the movement took off and how may people are share the core values.

“Change” was top down. Why is that not mocked?

Pay Me

There has been a lot of talk about the Tea Party movement and how it is backed by huge sums of money and that the participants are all paid.

I will be the first to say that it is backed by huge sums of money… private money of average citizens banning together. Citizens who take PTO to come out to a rally to know first hand that there are people who agree with them. Citizens who own small businesses who know what it is like to do without when times are bad and who put money away when times are good. Citizens who don’t use family values as a dirty word and believe in hard work, loyalty and family.

It’s a sad state of affairs when the “leaders” of our country discredit those who succeed and dress well and accuse average citizens of being a “mob”.

As far as I know no one is being paid to attend a rally or town hall meeting. But if they are I hope they contact me – I am there anyway.

Control your government, or it will control you!

Here is a fantastic article written by Henry Lamb. He is an inspiring writer.
Control your government, or it will control you!
By Henry Lamb

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMABy Lou Pritchett

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.

Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.

Free Speech takes a hit.... again

'Hate crimes' bill likely to pass House, thanks to Dems.
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 4/29/2009 6:00:00 AM (see link above)
A Republican Congressman who attempted to derail the controversial "hate crimes" bill with numerous amendments says, in the end, the Democrats simply had the votes to ram it through the Judiciary Committee.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would add gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability to the list of protected categories under federal hate crimes law. Proponents of the bill claim that Christians and others who speak out publicly against homosexuality are not threatened with the same type of prosecution that criminals would face for committing acts of violence against homosexuals and transgendered individuals.
But Judiciary Committee member Steve King (R-Iowa) says that is simply not true. "Don't believe what they say; read the bill. Think what happens. What's their agenda? Their agenda is to shut down preaching of faith from the pulpit," he contends. "Their agenda is to force public approval of the homosexual agenda. And destroying marriage nationally is the follow-up piece of this."
King explains that one of the amendments he introduced would have barred pedophiles from special protection under the hate crimes statute. He finds it unbelievable that Democrats threw out that amendment.
"I just think that tells you that this breaks down the logical approach to law," King adds. "If we move away from punishing overt acts to punishing thoughts -- which is what this legislation does -- heaven help us [because] we've crossed a line from which it will be awfully hard to ever get back again." If the bill passes the full House this week, King believes it will have a chilling effect on free-speech rights. He says the bill could be approved by the House as early as today and fears the Democrats have the votes to accomplish it.

Invitation

What ………............................................................... Tea Party
When ……………........................................................ April 15th, 2009
Where……………........................................................ Fountain Square
Time …………………...................................................... 11:30AM
Additional instructions ………….............................. Bring a sign


AMENDMENT 10

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.

This is not about being a Republican or a Democrat. This is about being an American. This is a key issue that spurred the original colonist to leave Europe. Let's not give away so easily what they worked so hard to establish.

Stem-Cell Research

I don't think you will find a better article on the stem-cell controversy than this one.

Winning Smugly You just won the stem-cell war. Don't lose your soul.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, March 9, 2009, at 4:42 PM ET

One size does not fit all

The new bill that will sadly be passed will ensure that the economic crisis will last until at least 2011. After all that is when most of the money will be spent.

November 4, 2008

So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.

The dumbest man on the planet

Did you know that the whole bail out is not about fiscal irresponsibility and risky loans? It’s all about the lack of health care in out country. Yep, you guessed it the brilliant Michael Moore is blaming it all on healthcare. Not on the fact that large loans were given to people with bad credit and/or high debt to income ratios. Not to mention the fact that hospitals not only do not turn people away for care, but they also work out payment plans on a sliding scale. This myth that if you are not insured you will die in the streets is ridiculous. I am not saying that Americans should not be insured, that would be as irresponsible as maxing out all of your credit cards and buying the most expensive house you can afford.

Example: Joe gets promoted. Joe wants a new car so he goes out and buys a brand new Ford Ranger, because the payment fits his new budget. Joe wants to own a home; he has been renting for 6 years and is ready to start investing in his own property. Joe is told he can spend between $120 and $200 thousand on his home. He chooses to spend $200 thousand on his new home after all he is still in the range that the bank told him he could spend. He needs new furniture but he is maxed out on all of his credit cards and he is unable to pay cash because the majority of his income is going to his new car and his mortgage. So he takes out a store credit card. Why not, its 0% interest for a year – and he reasons he will pay it off long before then. Summer time rolls around and he wants to have a few friends and family come over for a grill out, he spends a little more than he planned but reasons that he can just pay the minimum on the credit cards – just this month. Fast forward three months, and a few small get togethers later, two more credit cards and Joe is in way over his head financially.

If Joe would have been living within his means he would not be struggling financially. The media seems to be under the impression that only those with mortgages under $150 thousand were foreclosed upon. Million dollar homes also went into foreclosure. Buying a million dollar home is not just putting a roof over your head – it is a lifestyle.

I will close by saying that not all people can afford to buy a home. Not owning a home is a lot less embarrassing than being kicked out of your home because you could not make the payments.