Budget Persective

I have to give props to my friend Sara Johns over at

KOLO for posting this video from Tony Robbins.  This is a great perspective on the national debt and how do we pay our national bills.

If you have any questions about the budget process monster or what these numbers mean in perspective - milions, billions, trillions - this is a great video.  Again, for a guy who claims to be independent he sounds awful conservative when you use facts.

I know dreamland is fun, but really, can we continue the path we have set up for ourselves?  While some olks say the debt is no big deal just pass it onto the kids, we are seeing what happens when local and state governments over leverage their budgets and the result is fewer services.  Just like your credit card and home, it is great to have a way to not have to pay for everything all at once, but at some point your credit payments become too high and you can no longer use your income to pay for regular things because all your money goes to credit payments.  Greece and Spain have been there, America isn't far behind.  Think about it.

This has to be the best use of Photoshop EVER!

What else is there to say?  Well, it's coming later on the actual article, but to provide a quick amuse-bouche!

Carville does get it...still

James Carville, the bare headed political strategist that brought us Bill Clinton in 1992, is wrong.  He is wrong on abortion, gun rights, how to fix the economy, education, and the environment, BUT....he is right on how to campaign and for all my liberal leaning friends, forget Carville and assume the election is yours.

Carville is right when he says that his party has to fight for this election, but the advice could easily go both ways.  Anyone who takes the coming election for granted is a fool.

Carville is right that every recent election - here and elsewhere - incumbents are being tossed on their head.  Perhaps, they should have been, maybe not, but one thing I do know that I learned from watching Jim Carville is that elections aren't about candidates, but about people.

'No one cares about a politician's troubles, they have their own' hence the public in general gave Clinton a pass on his many personal foibles because the economy was ticking along.  Similarly, George Bush "won" the Iraq War (version 1.0), had amazing foreign policy success, and no outside distractions and lost to a Governor from Arkansas.

Just a suggestion, if you are in politics, you might want to listen to Jim Carville on the basics of his message.

Nice to see the football isn't being spiked...

I know I just wrote about this issue, but it is amazing to me that President Clinton agreed to be the spokesman for this message given he had three opportunities to remove Osama bin Laden from this world before September 11 was ever carried out and didn't execute on actionable intelligence at the time.

If he had carried out his duties as Commander-in-Chief, I think it is arguable that President Bush would never have been re-elected and arguably your Veep could have appeared stronger than he did in the 2000 general election where he lost the Electoral College by an exceptionally few votes.

White House Correspondent's Dinner

Portions of Jimmy Kimmel's speech were above the top, but as Robert Deniro said as Capone in the Untouchables "we laugh because its funny, but we laugh because its true."

Fortunately, it is a great statement that in America we can make fun of our leaders at ten feet.  It is unfortunate that they walk so easily into these jokes and do not better represent those that elected them.

So much for reality...

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, one of world's most annoying people, either is exceptionally misinformed or just plain willfully ignorant.  In a recent appearance on Fox News, Congresswoman Schultz argued that the Romney-Ryan budget plan was flawed, but had no specifics of her own on how to make a budget work.

The idea that the US Senate hasn't voted a budget up or down in three years is a joke.  You complain about the Ryan budget, but you know the only way to defeat it is via conference committee between the House and Senate when both Houses pass a bill which are not identical.  However, you haven't even passed a budget in the Senate, so...it's like they seem to teach in law school.  When you don't have the facts, argue process and the law.  When you don't have the process or the law, argue facts.  The whole thing is problematic though as the Social Security and Medicare crisis continues on as does the rest of the bloated federal government.

Yes, bloated, as in have you ever tried to get anything done via the federal government?  It isn't easy to say the least and it is often designed to make life more difficult on the person trying to correct the situation that it needs to be.  Where are the leaders?

As one commenter noted on YouTube, Congresswoman Schultz is just a talking points robot.  She has no ability to think on her own and she clearly has no desire to step up and say here is how we would do it.  She is not interested in substance or solution, just obstruction.

Not That Interested In The State of the Union?

Once again, wow! Is there any indignation from progressive feminist women as to how the President treated an elected woman by walking away while she was speaking? Is anyone surprised that he wanted nothing to do with Governor Brewer when he refuses to secure her border, has trashed her economy with his regulation, and she calls him on it?

If this is the State of the Union, where the President does not work with the chief executives of the states, we are in real trouble. I think he actually does believe he knows best for the country and his command-and-control communist style system of government is best.

I was given five rules to follow when I worked for a Governor myself. One of which that has stuck with me is that problems are best solved at the local level. Whether you are talking the politics, government, the military, or anything else really, how many times does this not apply? The 'shooters' - the people closest to the problem - should be the ones making immediate decisions, not the white tower 'experts' who are so far away from the problem they never experience it themselves. I don't think BO picked this up during his Ivy League education. Too bad he didn't pick up manners either for how we treat ladies.

Integrity

There is no question what the roll of honor in America is. The roll of honor consists of the names of men who have squared their conduct by ideals of duty. – President Woodrow T. Wilson

Grrr. There is nothing worse in politics than the near guarantee that someone who you respect will make an endorsement of someone whose motives and morals you question. The move by Marco Rubio to attempt to be 2012's Lloyd Bentsen and remind voters that Mitt Romney is no Charlie Crist is just a joke. Mitt Romney is Charlie Crist, except he hasn't let the GOP as he uses his family's money to try to buy himself a place in history.

I get it, I get it...Romney came down and campaigned with you a few years ago and you are trying to both play nice and say thank you in a substantive way, but this is the wrong way. As far as I know Senator Rubio is not endorsing anyone for the nomination this year. (A smart move given he is on the short list for everyone for VP and this topsy turvy year will turn out who knows how.) However, there is a tacit endorsement when you say to conservatives who supported you, "hey, this guy is not all bad" and you also do not endorse any of the other three.

While none of the candidates are perfect, there is a clear idealogical difference between Mitt and the other three. Romney may actually be the only candidate who has held the positions of all the other candidates at one time or another which is why Rubio's statement is so much more far fetched. I can not hide the disappointment and have to just say I knew Senator Rubio liked breakfast, I just didn't realize he liked flapjacks that much.

Thirty-nine years and counting...

On the anniversary of the legalization of genocide, Roe v. Wade, our dear President chooses to not make an argument about the morality of the subject, an argument that would surely fail under the weight of its implications, but instead attempts to argue the economic value of killing children before they are born.

Once again I am embarrassed for a man who says one thing and then does another. He talks about everyone having a right to healthcare, but then argues for the economic incentives of allowing children to be killed in utero rather than being healthy, responsible citizens who contribute to society. While 50,000,000 children have been killed since Roe v. Wade we wonder aloud about why we have a society that doesn't support public education or that teaches humanities. Perhaps the lessons have been taught and the lessons are that life is an economic question of what each person is worth and unfortunately many of those with the right to make and interpret laws have judged life to be inconsequential, that there are too many about and we should do with fewer children.

These kinds of statements from the President always make me wonder where his heart and head really are because he clearly isn't in this for the kids.

Willie Horton Returns...

President Obama has made his road harder on both his re-election and those who support immigration to the United States.

In what is sure to be the 2012 election's Willie Horton ad of the fall, Mr. Obama apparently chose to not deport a Haitian immigrant that then went on to murder three. While this news may not be specific to immigrants from Haiti or Mr. Obama it is the type of thing that plays directly into the hands of those who do not support immigration as a fundamental part of our American fabric.

The topic always amazes me as a conservative because people who come to this country are looking for what conservatives are looking for...opportunity. Conservatives are supposed to believe in people; people who want to make their own life, have the chance to start a business, get their children educated, and be parts of society, but unfortunately there are, like in every immigrant cohort before, those who also seek opportunity also in the form of victims. Rather than work for success, they are happy to prey on those who try to make their lives better. This is not unique to immigrants whether they be from Haiti, Mexico, or England. There are plenty of good old boys born and bred right here in Texas and New York and even your state who are willing to be bad participants of society, but immigration being a hot button expect to hear more of the name Kesler come October because it is popular to beat up on a class of people for political points because of actions of the one percent.

The Last Republican Candidate...

Goodbye Republican Party. It has been an interesting 150 years, but I guess you have run your course.

Excellent articles today here and here on why the Republican Party will lose itself should Mitt Romney become the nominee of the Republican Party. More imporantly, both articles tend to provide some ammunition to the idea that the Republican Party has left the heart and soul of the party behind...those working stiffs who sit around at night trying to figure out how to pay the bills the government seems to continually create through higher middle class taxes, regulation on small business, and an environment that does not educate nor protect our children. These same folks seem to be running to the Tea Party in droves and the GOP establishment doesn't seem to get it...yet.

Like 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party came to national prominence, the modern GOP must get its act together and figure out who it represents before it suffers calamity. Voters are tired of the same old excuses and the modern economics explanations for this, that, or the other which do not hold water. Our full time do nothing Congress is second only to our part time do nothing President.

The articles lay out precisely why the GOP must abandon this tried and true method of nominating the least offensive candidate who we already know and take one of the conservatives - with their flaws - and run a conservative Reagan style campaign.

If indeed Obama is today's Jimmy Carter than we must nominate today's Ronald Reagan and while I am not sure that person truly exists, the person it certainly is not, is Mitt Romney. Hopefully South Carolina voters will find a way to support a conservative and return us to the correct path before the GOP ceases to exist.

The Road Traveled Too Often

In a Sacramento Bee article about Moderate Mitt, Adam Beam tells the story of Mittens claiming that his work at Bain Capital is no different than that of President Obama and his work to save the US auto industry. Once again, I guess he does not get it...the vast majority of the country, conservatives in particular, are not looking for Obama 2.0 with a Republican label. We are looking for fundamental change, but again, Romney demonstrates he does not get it and is no different than Obama except whose pockets get lined. Woops!

Mr. State's Rights or Sore Loser

Today is the day when we find out if the federal courts will support "Mister State's Rights" Rick Perry in his attempt to get on Virginia's Republican Presidential Primary ballot. For years, the Commonwealth has had a standard where you were required to submit 10,000 valid signatures with at least 400 signatures coming from each of the eleven Congressional Districts and all of the signatures being received by a valid voter themself, i.e. I can not collect signatures in Virginia any longer because I am a citizen of Texas.

In Governor Perry's case, like that of Newt Gingrich, he was short signatures. Rick Santorum, very short on people AND money, did not even submit a petition. Now, after the process has concluded and he was denied a place on the ballot per the rules he agreed to when he got into Virginia he is complaining about process. Unfortunately, the right time to do this is on the front end before you turn in signatures, but moreover each state has its own standards - something Rick Perry tells us he is in favor of...he believes in the Tenth Amendment...unless he doesn't like it.

Unfortunately this portends a very slippery slope should he somehow get back into the Presidential nominating process. Would a President Perry really support state's rights, or only when it suited his other needs. It is disappointing he decided to play sour grapes with his electoral defeat (essentially) in Virginia and run to the liberal activist courts he cries about in fundraising other days.

The Rock

This is a recent video that was sent to me showing exactly why I can't support Mitt Romney...not for President, not for Vice President, not for dog catcher. Wow! List these out and tell me you still want to pull the lever for this guy.

Reagan Did It

A recent piece by Ari Fleischer suggests Newt Gingrich is the only candidate who has the ability to beat Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for President. He is right.

As Fleischer points out Gingrich is the only candidate who will have the financial support to run in every state other than Rick Perry. Perry though has demonstrated again and again that he is not ready for the big time of Presidential politics and should consider a way that he can cash in on his repetitive terms as Texas Governor because I am not sure where else he goes from here.

The important issue of course is not only money, but the fact that Mitt is, well, Mitt. Romney has a host of issues as a "conservative" which he can barely fake when he wants to. Which side of the fence are you on Mr. Romney? Abortion, gun control, greenhouse gases?

While some will paint him as exactly the candidate we want in terms of a candidate with business experience, a true "capitalist" nothing can be further from the truth. Here too, GOP operatives more hopeful of a Republican White House win are too ready to sacrifice principal on the altar of winning politics. Romney's history at Bain is clear. Again and again, Bain raided companies, leveraged them while spinning off pieces of laying off American workers. He did this with seed money from foreign sources and then used guaranteed pensions for his personal profit, leaving the American taxpayer with the pension bill while he and his cronies made millions.

This is all before we even discuss the issues of the bailouts that Romney needed after he bankrupted these companies.

Gingrich on the other hand has (mostly) been clear on his stance on various issues. His ideas were the ideas that led Republicans from the wilderness of a permanent minority into the majority for the first time in decades. Unlike Romney who plays the typical Washington game of win-lose, Gingrich works to find win-win solutions. While he is by no means perfect he should stay in the race and offer an opportunity for Republicans to have multiple candidates to consider. Without it, the Republican Party will simply nominate John McCain 2.0 and watch him lose to Obama.

Not My First Lady

Yup, I am a racist or so I am sure I will be told as I do not like her.

I do not like her with a fox or in a box.

I do not like her on a boat, I do not liker her with a goat.

Yup, I can not stand Michelle Obama.

Her forcing my children to participate in her Guiness attempt to get the world record for people being active at once was a joke. Perhaps if she wasn't herself ordering 1700 calorie meals while spending millions of dollars on her Get Moving campaign I might be more interested.

However that isn't her MO - is it? I'm sorry, but I find the First Lady more than a little disingenuous. Whether it b

e her and POTUS' dash to New York a few years ago for date night on Broadway during the worst recession of most of our lives AND while he public

ly complained of auto executives flying private jets or her trip to coastal Spain for a five day trip of sun and fun, the First Lady, Michelle "Marie Antoinette" Obama, does not seem to get it.

She also seems to have a penchant for leaving for trips four hours before BO (see Martha's Vineyard trip while the economy tanked) or the trips to Hawaii which always required separate security and travel arrangements. She is just an embarrassment.

Perhaps what makes less sense is the main stream media seems completely disinterested in calling her out on these issues that they had no trouble roiling Nancy Reagan over thirty years ago. I hate to say there might be a double standard, but...

When Your Friends Say You Went Too Far...

Somehow I doubt President Obama will pay attention and somehow I doubt that Obama would consider John Podhoretz a friend given his significant work with the Clintons, but he is right about his assertions that Obama reached way too far in making recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess.

Yes yes, I have read the opposite commentary that somehow this was acceptable because pro forma sessions are not really the Senate in session, but the point of gaveling in and out of pro forma session is exactly that...that the Senate is in session. Unfortunately this executive who has little actual executive experience also did not have the experience in working in our Nation's most deliberative body whose design was to be free of the impulse of sudden and violent passions. While that does not lend itself to making work quick, it does hopefully lend itself to making work thoughtful.

That would have been a lesson the President might have better learned during his time in the US Senate had his own ambition been less aggressive.

Tax Dollars For Genocide

Only in America can people find themselves able to support the intentional killing of unborn children and not realize it is genocide. As one of the leading proponents of this barbaric procedure, Planned Parenthood owes an awesome debt for the many it has helped arrange a death.

The CNS article here shows that in the past twelve months, it helped killed nearly 330,000 innocents. Worse yet, these 330,000 murders were committed using $487M of taxpayers' funds to financially support their organization.

Again, only in Western "culture" would we allow this to happen that we would kill a child as often as not to secure our own financial freedoms. If this were Bosnia in the 1990s or Rwanda or Libya we would be outraged and CNN would demand we send over peacekeepers, but instead we stand by silently.

Obama 2.0

Uh oh. With the victory of Mitt Romney in Iowa, a realize it is almost a tie with an eight vote separation, but one can not miss the fact that should Romney find his way to the nomination and win the Presidency, we probably have not changed anything in a serious way.

Romney has repeatedly supported big government economic stimulus and the TARP programs. A lot like Obama. He has also been in on the General Motors bailout.

Obama has stated publicly that Obamacare is based on Romneycare. Worse yet for Mittens, he doesn't know if he does or doesn't support his big government state run healthcare program. What the rest of us do know is that our healthcare goes down and our taxes go up with both programs.

Finally, both seem awkward - at best - in politics. Both are too stand offish to be real pols and whether it be Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, both would have been ten times more comfortable at a ropeline than Obama or Romney.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Menage a Twois In Iowa

As returns begin to come in am I wrong or is there a genuine sense that a three way race will exist between Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum. This might be an interesting night if the numbers continue in this manner.

The bottom line is Mitt Romney needs a sizable number more than he had four years ago when he lost to Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul needs to show he is a candidate for more than the isolationist reefer crowd, and Rick Santorum is going to have to take whatever momentum he has from this "win" should it occur and show he won't be a one-and-done like Huckabee was or his candidacy will face the same fate.