Arizona

Someone forgot to tell President Obama that he won the election. He is still after Senator McCain. Well, we all know there are higher purposes at stake in Arizona. It is still about the election but not the last one, it's the next one. Obama has alienated most American voters so he is going to have to give citizenship to some lawbreakers so that he has enough votes for 2012.

I know that is harsh but it might as well be said.

When a state cannot make laws to protect itself without getting sued by the federal government it makes for dangerous times in our nation. The president is sworn to protect and defend our borders but failed to act. Arizona is trying to do what the feds ought to do.

It is not just about one state. It is about every state that wants to set its own course for the good of the people who live there. Obama is somewhat of a lawyer so naturally he goes to the courts. I think he knows the case will go to the Supreme Court where he has stacked the deck.

If our federal government is willing to let drug runners have free access to our borders just to get the millions of votes of illegals, then I must say that we are living under tyranny and not in a republic.

It is a shame that some people can't stop fighting a war that is long past.

Health Care - New Tactic

Well, the snake is not dead. There is a new tactic on 'Health Care Reform' to shove this legislation down the throat of the American people. They are using technical rules to get the bill past the Republicans. It only shows the true heart of Democrats. They will cry for bipartisan support so long as there is no other way to do as they please. Then, lo, 'there is another way we can do it without Republicans, let's get it done.'

May no mistake, this is about fall elections.

What Can the President Do?

Now it seems that Washington has reached the end of the Big Buzz and the cameras are drifting away from the scene of the non-event. The snow has blanketed the capitol in more ways than one. A new future is brewing and I think some of those who were leading the wolf pack are now concerned for their future in politics. I think it is too early for Republicans to gather around the carcase though.

In the end of the discussion, if that ever where possible, it is the country that is most important. It is not the survival of any particular party. It seems that which ever party is in command at the moment, they always get a little arrogant and forget about the people who elected them.

So, what can the president do, now that the fire from the election is burning low. He can get down to the business of running the country the way it was meant to be run...with three branches of the government, with checks and balances. There is little glory in sitting behind a desk and making things happen without the continuous news flashes and the glory speeches. Doing the business of the country is what the chief executive does.

He has three years to get down to business. Sometimes a president just needs to be quiet for a while and study the situation. Sweeping changes make news but they are not always the best way to go. Do some simple concrete things that need to be done. I could think of a few but I am not in charge up there and do not want to be.

Presidential Administration 2010

With Health Care Reform being virtually dead, it seems the president is trying to stir up every issue he can find. I wonder if it is a desperate effort to get something passed before this years elections. He fell into the health care trap just like the Clinton Administration did. It took up the first year with nothing accomplished. I hope they learn that it would be easier to break the process down into single issues that could be explained and passed instead of rolling everything into one big ball like a snowball rolling down a hill.

I think the big rush to get it passed before the end of the year was because of the election over Kennedy's Senate seat. But that is water over the rocks already.

We will see but I think we are in for three years of getting nothing done. It is pretty much a deadlock with Democrats not going along with the president because they want to get reelected and Republicans protecting their turf and waiting for the next presidential election.

Yak! Politics!

President's Freeze and Health Care Reform

With the election of a Republican in Mass. the Democratic Health care reform bill is pretty much done for. Suddenly the president announces a freeze on programs directly related to health care, i.e. medicare. This seems a little like vengeance to me. It is as if he is saying, 'all you conservatives want to play hardball, I can do that." I do not know if that is his thought or not but it certainly seems that way. I just don't get why he is so set against the elderly. I don't have the numbers but I expect that was a block of the population that did not sweep him into office, although AARP did support his reform bill. That was the organization AARP, not the people of AARP.

When it comes right down to it, the government had rather send billions to foreign countries to try to bribe them into not killing each other than to see that Americans are provided for. We are not looking for a hand out...we'd just like to keep the money we have paid in here where it belongs.

President Obama's Speech

Since I have been quite critical of Mister Obama, I thought it only right to give credit where credit is due.

His speech, last night, was a good one. He laid out things very plainly. He is right that we need to finish the job. Those terrorist will not stop in their tracks, even if we left them alone. They are filled with hate and force is the only thing they will understand.

I was looking at the young men and women of West Point as the camera panned around. They are a fine looking group. I am proud that there are still so many young people who are willing to serve their country. I pray that they will all be alright.

So, now is the time to unite behind the troops afresh. In this one thing, we can agree that they need the protection of Almighty God. May this action mean the defeat of those who find hurting innocent people a way to their kind of victory.

American may be a little weak in the knees but we still got some fight left in us. We can use all the help we can get from our friends.

Strangely Quiet

I would have expected more of an uproar over the attorney general's unilateral decision to ignore federal law and give those who would use illegal drugs a free 'get out of jail' card. Marijuana is still illegal. It is still harmful. People go to jail all the time for having it on them, loose their car, etc in many parts of the country. It is like this administration is trying to divide the country all over again. Look at the map where radical changes are taking place and compare it to the states that elected Mister Obama.

Now back to the attorney general. I believe it is true that he had to take an oath of office, as did the president, to uphold (and enforce) the laws of the United States of America. I understand that the president must have the authority as commander-in-chief to move the military forces around as he sees fit. The laws of the land are not under the authority of the commander-in-chief. They are under the executor of the constitution. The civilian president. The laws of the land were enacted using the guidelines (and demands) of the constitution. There is a legislative branch of government, there is an executive branch and there is a supreme court for entities to go to when they think the other two branches are wrong. You can't just make laws and arbitrarily make political decisions with them.

If the attorney general does not like the marijuana law, he is within his rights to ask the president to send legislation up to Congress to have the law changed. However, I believe it is a breach of his oath of office to just ignore the law and broadcast a statement telling others to ignore the law. Suppose tomorrow, he decides that meth would be a good way to treat the rest of the diseases that marijuana cannot help, will he tell everyone to go ahead and ignore those laws against making meth?

He has opened a can of worms. The problem is, though, there are so many other ridiculous things going on that illegal marijuana is dwarfed by them. The propaganda machine has been busy for years telling us of the terrible pain that marijuana relieves. I don't like pain either. I'm against it. Then, once the attorney general makes his historical decision to have people ignore federal law, we find out that a backache is sufficient reason to get a prescription for marijuana. Who doesn't have a backache, or nerve problem, or depression some days. Look at the shape the world is in. You either are affected by it or you are doped up. Even that is no reason to ignore the law. Without law, we have anarchy. You wouldn't like that.

So, he dumps it on the states. You folks do what you think is right. Yeah, we tried that once and got invaded. The feds allow states to govern themselves only when it suits the needs of the feds. In this case, it was the thing to do politically. It is a little security for the next election. Don't pull my leg...it hurts already. Besides I went through the teenage years with three leg pullers and I'm not all that easy to fool anymore.

President

I guess it is just me, but I really do not want to see my president getting involved in every thing that happens in the world. That's like getting the last word first. He should trust his appointed leaders to deal with situations and step in only when it seems things are not working out. I use to never step in when my wife was correcting or instructing the children. I tried to never tell the children yes if she had said no. Sometimes they would snucker me or her. The only time I would step in was when they showed disrespect and then only to support her authority. For a president to step in every time a situation comes up is saying that those he appointed cannot handle the job. However, if a mistake is made, it seems we go back to 'an unnamed spokesman said'. Time will reveal..........

Three Parts of Government

It should be remembered that in our country we have three parts to our government. Although we elect a president to fix things, congress still has to approve a lot of what he does. Of course, the supreme court does what they do, quite badly, I must add. Anyway, a president does not get to do everything he says he will do while on the campaign trail (unless you have a congress that cannot think for themselves and just says 'me too'). He must abide by the constitution whether he wants to or not. It's the law. Also things look much different once he is in office. He must be careful about making rash statements. On the campaign trail, he can say the wrong thing, say whoops and go on about his business. Not as president. His words are action.

Of course, he can't just up and load everyone on a ship and leave Iraq. The departure must be orderly and must include security for the people there. The candidate may have thought he could but the actuality of the situation is much different.

As president, he is not just dealing with the hot button issue of the day, like on the campaign trail. He must look at American interest worldwide and try to do a balancing act that does not always work. He can't sit in Washington and say stuff that makes everyone nervous 'out there'. No matter who it is that sits in the chair, he either considers carefully or chaos will erupt.

So, we have three branches of government and I like it that way. If a president could do anything he wants on a moments notice, he would be a king and not a president. We went down that road long ago and decided against it.

Little tricks.

Washington Leadership and such...

You know...I don't know if this is going to work out. Having two sets of rules (one for us and one for them) just seems wrong to me. They have the best insurance, we have to scratch up what we can and loose it if the job goes down. They get new cars, planes while we are making do with something that was probably under water in Katrina. They get real serious (and critical) when it comes to the sacrifice citizens must make but it is a big joke if someone points out government waste.

Mister John McCain stood up to express his concern over the cost of the president's new helicopter and the president made a big joke out of this great man's concern. Hey, a billion dollars would sure help out in our neighborhood. But no, it is all funny when it is their stuff. I do not like it when it is hands off of their stuff and give away ours and our grandchildren...

Speaking of giving away, AIG is obviously a black hole parading as a Wall Street sunflower. If they can't get by with a few billion, let 'em sink. It is a big mess anyway, so why keep on stirring in the same ol' mudhole. So people will be out of work, at least if they quit putting money there and other places, there will be some money left for people to start new businesses and these people can go to work for an honest company or at least one that can manage itself.

Hillary is giving 900 million to Gaza (the ones who are sending rockets to Israel with bombs on them) and so is the government, not us, we don't support terrorist nations, well, I'm all confused. Where did she get that kind of money? She was broke and in debt after the campaign. Oh yea, she works for the government.

Two sets of rules: One set says the government goes on flying high while rule number two tells Americans to tighten the belts, it will be a sacrificial time for us. It ain't right but that has never stopped them before. It is overused lately but it is true, 'they just don't get it'. They have no clue what is really going on in real America. I mean do they know that the price of 'shower curtain liners' has gone up from a dollar to three times that amount since China had to shut down their shower curtain factory. I doubt it..do they know that we are still scared to eat peanut butter...the nuts have gone nuts. Do they know that crime is on the rise because of the economy mess, including white collar crime and the legal crime where we are overcharged and stuff. By the way, I found 50 lbs of potatoes for under $10 the other day. We got 'em stacked up and will have taters 10 different ways for some time to come.

I am not just down on the new president. He is just doing what the others do, sit down and enjoy the ride. The Washington machine will keep on grinding along.

Spring

Change

What has?

The first month of this administration may be a clue to the rest of the four years.

Let me see, the president went to the White House to have a meeting or two and get some pictures taken. He flew around in Air Force One for a while and I think went to Camp David and will soon be in Colorado.

Hillary is in Japan. Bill still trumps her on the tube.

We just can't find a commerce secretary that wants the job. The people who do want those high paying jobs forgot to pay their taxes. It was an oversight! but still....

The country just went further in debt than its ever been and their are two more spending packages to go. We are going to have to sell something to make ends meet. Maybe the corporate jet?

At no time in history, in no place in the world were more people rewarded so much for doing so many things wrong.

Flying Around

You know Air Force One is a nice plane. I have thought about seeing if I could use it for a weekend. It is the people's property is it not. I think our new president likes the jet too. He has less than a month in office and already he is touring around telling the people he feels their pain. I think one of his stops probably cost a million dollars at least. I figured if he stayed home and sent the million to the town he is visiting, he could provide about $50,000 a year income for a whole neighborhood for several years. What failing business could not put people back to work with that much cash to grow their business. I was looking at some of the details of the so-called stimulus package, it starts out at around 800 billion and will result in anywhere between 400 dollars and up or down depending on whether the person stands on both feet and props one on the wall, has naturally colored hair or uses artificial color ... just kiddin', I think, but you get the idea. I could use some money to buy a freezer to put up some veggies this season. The guy working in the freezer factory could use the work it would generate. It seems pretty simple what they should do. But it will get all mixed up in red tape and overhead and by the time people get any help the crisis will be solved, not by government, but by the spirit of Americans who always hunker down and put their shoulder against the load. Government is not the cure, it is just another obstacle we have to overcome to get where we need to be. An example of how government hinders instead of helping is they raise taxes and fees to compensate for lost revenue when the economy takes a downturn. I know they talk about tax breaks but on the local level, government is playing their own game to keep their local government paychecks coming. Anyway, I was speaking of flying around. The government spends so much money and their wheels trying to fix a problem, there is no money left to fix the problem.