Makes perfect sense to me…
A Utah high school is in serious trouble with the federal government. They have put the lives of their precious little snowflakes in danger and it will not be tolerated. Davis High School in Salt Lake City is paying roughly $15,000 in fines for failing to turn off a soda vending machine during lunch hours. Federal law requires the school to turn off vending machines during the 47 minute lunch hour so kids can't purchase the deadly sodas during lunch time.
The food police apparently made a surprise visit to the school and found that while the officials were complying with the law in the lunch room, there was a soda machine in the school bookstore that was not being turned off. Caught ya! That resulted in a 75 cent per student fine for the length of the offense. Now the school is taking money from the fine arts programs in order to pay the fine. Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me.
And in what alternate reality does turning off the vending machines during lunch hour make any real difference? I guess the kids aren't smart enough to realize what's going on and buy their soda before lunch hour starts. Yeah, that'll stop them. It gets even more inane: while students can't buy sodas, they can buy some of the sugar laden "sports drinks" and Snickers candy bars because Snickers contains nuts, which are healthy... You watch, next thing you know the feds will force Wal-Mart and the Quick Trip convenience stores near the school to quit selling soda during the lunch period. You think I'm joking but some bureaucrat will think that's a good idea.
A mistake?
The revelation that Barack Obama's literary agent promoted their client in a 1991 booklet touting his birth in Kenya has refueled a question that really hasn't gone away; is Obama an American citizen? Obama has called it a mistake and a proof reading error. Really? Another error by someone else and Obama had no idea what it said? Come on; Obama, like a lot of successful people, has an ego and reading his own press clippings or promotional material would have brought him pleasure. And it was standard operating procedure for the publisher to work with the client to approve the material being used.
Even if Obama only perused the pamphlet the revelation that he was born in Kenya is in the first couple of lines; that's not something you miss. So if it wasn't true, then Obama had to approve keeping that in there for marketing purposes; like Elizabeth Warren claiming to be of Cherokee descent, Obama had to think he was going to get something out of being born in Kenya.
Then we are asked to believe that the promotional material used by his literary agent was left as incorrect for 17 years. That bio was used up until 2007 and was revamped several times over that time period by Miriam Goderich, who later became a partner in the firm. And Obama nor any of his handlers/aides ever caught the mistake. Really. OK, I'll buy that.
What would you do?
What if you disagreed with a law duly passed by the Congress of the United States and upheld by the courts as being Constitutional? Would you obey the law? What if you found it morally repugnant or it went against your religious beliefs or you felt the government had over stepped their Constitutional authority despite what the judges said?
Let Walter Williams draw a picture for you as he so eloquently does: suppose the law required all Americans to attend church service at least three times a month; using the commerce clause Congress said all drivers should get eight hours of sleep before driving on interstate highways, justifying it by saying sleepy drivers cause accidents and accidents have a negative effect on interstate commerce.
What if in the 1850s you were on trial for assisting a runaway slave in clear violation of the Fugitive Slave Act? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that duly passed law was constitutional. Slavery is immoral thus any law supporting slavery is thus immoral. Thomas Jefferson his ownself even said considering judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine...
Soon the Supreme Court will rule on Obamacare. What will you do if they give it their approval and uphold the law? There is not a scintilla of Constitutional authority that can force you to purchase any product. Do you think our state leaders have the guts to do what our forefathers did in 1798 in response to the Alien and Sedition Act? Jefferson and Madison led the way to oppose the Act saying "the several states are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government... and whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void and of no force."
I hope we don't have the choice to make after the Supreme Court rules on Obamacare, but if you've been paying attention, there's no shortage of over reaching regulations and laws to which we could apply the principles as outlined by our forefathers. As Frederick Douglas said "Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. ... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."
Quick hits
Typical liberal behavior: Eduardo Saverin is the co-founder of Facebook and expected to reap a hefty profit when his company goes public. That could result in a huge tax liability but it won't since Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship. I don't have a problem with avoiding taxes, legally, but Saverin and his partner have been amongst the rich calling for higher taxes. Yet when it comes time to pony up and pay his "fair share" he does what he can to avoid helping out the poor.
Haven't heard much about Trayvon Martin lately? Maybe because the MSM, the Right Reverends Jesse and Al realized they jumped to a conclusion they could not sustain and people are growing tired of the bias and race baiting. Yet, there are more and more examples of blacks beating whites, putting them in hospitals as 'revenge' for the Trayvon Martin killing. Don't see those stories in the national media do you?
Despite what Glorious Leader and Joe Bite Me are telling you, the Republicans have put forth 5 budget proposals this year; all 5, including the one passed by the House, have not seen the light of day in the Senate as Harry Reid refuses to bring them to the floor. Heck, one RINO even proposed a budget based on Obama's failed budget proposal and it can't get the 50 votes needed to pass. Now Harry Reid is claiming they passed a budget by enacting the Budget Control Act. What a world he must live in...
Baccalaureate Services have been banned at high schools all across the country because they are Christian in nature and it violates the left's beloved "separation of Church and State" mantra. Same for Christmas Holiday, Easter, Hanukkah and so on. Where is the ACLU or Barry Lynn from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State as Hmatramck High School in Michigan is holding a Muslim prom for the girls? A school sponsored event based upon the religious beliefs of a group of students; if it were Christian or Jewish in nature, they'd all be beating down the courthouse doors.
Don’t panic
It was certainly big news this week when J.P. Morgan Chase announced a loss of $2 billion after a poorly executed hedging strategy backfired. It's no small mistake but does that mean the government needs to step in and create even more regulations? And how bad was that loss in real terms? Just because mistakes have consequences doesn't mean we need to government to step in and save us from ourselves.
Hindsight is 20/20 as CEO Jamie Dimon admitted on Meet the Press. Great. And the company should suffer the losses and consequences. But guess what? The market will determine just how to deal with J.P. Morgan; investors might take their money and put it somewhere else; customers might get nervous and leave for another bank. The bank's stock price dropped 12% right off the bat and the executive in charge of the investment retired on Monday. J.P. Morgan's reputation as one of the best managed banks also took a hit.
But one bank making a mistake doesn't mean we need the feds to jump in with more regulations as Obama and others on the left are calling for. If you take that attitude then when one person makes a bad decision then we'd all have to pay for their lapse of judgement... oh wait, that is what's happening in society. And has all of the government interference in our lives stopped bad stuff from happening? No.
J.P. Morgan is a $2.3 trillion bank with a net worth of $8.9 billion. While $2 billion is a lot of money it means the bank is now capitalized at 8.2% instead of 8.4%. That's right, they lost .2% of their net worth; a loss the bank can easily absorb. The taxpayer is not being called upon to bail them out. No bankruptcy proceedings are being contemplated at all. And the bank will still make a healthy profit this year even with the loss. Compare that to the $3.2 billion loss suffered by the USPS or the billions lost on Solyndra or Evergreen Solar; the list goes on. The so called Volcker rule being contemplated by the administration would not have prevented the losses by the bank. Even Jay Carney admits that regulations don't prevent bad decisions from being made; no this is just another cog in the wheel of divisive politics being used by the administration, since their policies have been a dismal failure.
Who has a plan?
Obama is out on the campaign trail complaining, once again, that the Republicans are blocking his plan to put forth a budget and turn this economic ship around. He's now come up with a "to-do" list which is just another stimulus spending plan designed to throw more money at the problem, given that it worked so well before. I guess Obama has a new list of donors he must pay back with government largesse; which ones will be the new "Solyndra" or Gibson Guitar?
On the other side of the aisle, while the Republican led House has passed a budget each and every year only to see Harry Reid refuse to even allow the budget to come to the floor for debate much less a vote, a Senator has finally picked up the gauntlet and proposed a budget. Mike Lee R-UT has followed the true conservative principles of smaller government, entitlement reform and tax reduction and simplification in trying to move things forward. Of course the MSM and left wing will cry "foul" and claim Lee's plan will kill seniors and starve children but that is not even close to being true.
Lee's plan will restrain government spending and reduce the debt burden while restoring our nation's prosperity. For example, Social Security is converted into a true insurance program that supplements income for retirees who need it. For those that planned ahead and are taking care of themselves, good for you. If things take a turn for the worse during your retirement you can then receive benefits. SS would thus remain viable.
Medicare was supposed to transition years ago to a premium support program; Lee's budget would complete that transition by allowing seniors to purchase their own health insurance policy that meets their needs; not a one size fits all program. The marketplace would thus be more competitive and costs would come down while coverage options would expand. We've already seen it work in Medicare Part D and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan (which is what Congress enjoys).
Americans would get a tax credit allowing them to buy their own health insurance; again choosing a plan that meets your needs. Lee's tax plan reduces the myriad of regulations to a simple flat tax with one rate for everyone; encourages savings for retirement and college or buying a house. Government spending is brought under control and many duplicative programs are eliminated and/or consolidated. People relying on the government largess won't be cut off, despite what the demagogues are saying. The deficit spending disappears and we pay off our debt avoiding a fiscal crisis.
The budget proposal won't see the light of day under Harry Reid; who has shirked his legal and moral responsibilities by not proposing or passing a budget for over 3 years. But it's another way to point out which party is trying to solve the problems and which party is the problem.
Must be nice…
It must really nice to be able to say anything you want and not have the MSM or your supporters care about the factual accuracy. Can you imagine if your wife believed you as easily as people believe Obama, even if there was video or audio evidence? You could do ANYTHING and get away with it.
The latest is the Obama campaign's attack ad against Romney blaming him for layoffs at GST Steel in Kansas City. GST Steel was owned by Bain Capital, which was Romney's investment company. But here's the real deal. The layoffs at GST Steel occurred in 2001; Romney left Bain in 1999. 2 years is an eternity in the business world and it's unlikely Romney or anyone else at Bain or GST was thinking about layoffs 2 years ahead of time. Those decisions were made long after Romney left Bain.
Remember also that the U.S. steel industry was in a downturn nationwide. Many companies in the steel industry were laying off workers since the U.S. government had enacted so many regulations that U.S. steel companies could not compete with the likes of China.
But guess who was at Bain Capital when GTS laid all those workers off and shut down the mill? Jonathan Lavine. Lavine joined Bain in 1993 and is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer. He was a director in 2001. He is also a major bundler for the Obama campaign, raising between $100-200K for Obama's 2008 campaign. We don't know the specific influence or involvement Lavine had in the GTS decision but as CIO and a director he was certainly aware of the decision, likely involved in the decision and absolutely had more influence than Romney did. Maybe Lavine could raise some money for those steelworkers he laid off...
Quick hits and random thougths
Obama and the DNC have hired Maya Wiley of the Center for Social Inclusion to train House Democrats on how to portray the conservative agenda, especially free market capitalism, as racist. Wiley told the group how calling Obama the "food stamp President", anything about transfer payments reform and calls to cut taxes are all racist code words/phrases designed to keep black people down. (wait a minute, I thought we can't say 'black people') Wiley explained "Don't make the mistake of telling them (white voters) they're in the problem. It's emotional connection, not rational connection we need..." Proves my point.
Obama didn't want to "spike the football" but he did anyway. Now his self aggrandizing celebration of spoiling the latest underwear bomber has put intelligence sources in danger and ruined the chances of a repeat. Mike Schuer, former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, said Obama's public discussion of the nuts and bolts of the operation has put informant's lives in danger and caused the intelligence units to have to start from scratch in their effort to infiltrate al Qaeda and Taliban factions. Robert Grenier, former head of the CIA counter terrorism center agrees, saying Britain's contribution to the operation will not longer be viable due to the leaks put out by Obama and his staff. So now is 'spiking' of the football is putting more American lives in danger.
Add Buffalo to the list of cities banning Christians from speaking on public. Just like Dearborn MI and other cities, Buffalo police approached Gregory Owens who was handing out pamphlets and speaking with willing pedestrians while on public property. The pamphlets were Christian faith informational pamphlets. At least 3 officers, Slomka, Capt. Blosat and another unidentified officer, told Owens and his friends they could not hand out Christian religious material on public property. The officers forced Owens and his friends to leave the area where a festival was being held and to get off public property under threat of arrest. The Capt. told Owens several times that the police were "the law" in response to Owens' questions about the Constitution.
Monday morning funnies
It sure seemed like a good idea at the time; it seems jurors are more frequently going home and conducting their own 'scientific experiments' to help them determine if testimony is accurate or believable. In Florida Dennis DeMartin went home and drank 3 vodkas in one night to help him decide if John Goodman was unfit to drive on the night he crashed his car killing his passenger. Never mind that DeMartin and Goodman were of completely different builds, different alcohol tolerances etc...
He's not alone; in OH 3 jurors took showers and timed how long it would take their bodies to air dry after a Cincinnati man claimed his wife drowned in the tub and he called 911 immediately. They concluded the body would still have been wet if he'd called immediately. That's some fine investigative science there Lou. Nimrods.
No it's not Florida but California: 32 year old Mayra Gonzalez of Santa Ana has given birth to a baby. Not a big deal except for the fact the father of the child is her daughter's 16 year old boyfriend. And the boy and her daughter are going ahead with plans to get married. So let's do the family tree: that would make Mayra the boy's grandmother(?) and the dad... oh heck with it, I'll call someone from the south and get them to explain it to me.
This isn't as funny as it is stupid. Gregory Harry, a quadriplegic, is being allowed to sue the South Coast Medical Center in CA after a worked tripped over a hose pulling a catheter from the man's penis. That's funny. The man allegedly didn't even know the catheter had been pulled out as he's paralyzed and has no feelings in that region. But you know what happens when attorneys get involved...
I am so mad at Obama for his stance on gay marriage; not because of his stance but more because he's created such a furor over the whole deal and brought Clay Aiken back into the news. Aiken was on Face the Nation this week to discuss President Obama's stance. Man, we were just getting to where we'd forgotten about him and now look at what Obama's done to us!
Happy Mother’s Day
Here are some funny and insightful quotes for you mom's on 'your' day, which generally means you can put off cleaning the kitchen until tomorrow.
Raising a teenager is like nailing Jell-O to the wall.
The happiest families are those in which the children are properly spaced... about 10 feet apart.
If a mother's place is in the home, why am I always in the car? - Ian Nelson
When is Sears going to make a riding vacuum so I can get some rest?
Cleaning up with children around is like shoveling snow during a blizzard.
"All of us have moments in out lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them."
"Working mothers are guinea pigs in a scientific experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life."
""Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"
"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it." (ouch)
"It is amazing how quickly the kids learn the operation of the DVD, yet are unable to understand the vacuum cleaner."