Guns, shooting, and hunting

Ever since I was a little kid (That was a long time ago), I have enjoyed shooting and hunting. In fact, when I was eight years old, my mother enrolled me in an NRA shooting course. We're talking 1950. The target shooting that we did was in the basement of the Canfield Corner Pharmacy in Woodbury. Can you believe that! (I still have a group picture to prove it). Since I am a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, and belong to "Gun Owners Of America" and "The Second Amendment Foundation", and am a NRA Certified Hand Gun Instructor, I am amazed at where the Left Wing media and politicians have taken us with their demonizing of guns, shooting, and hunting. When I was in High School, it was common for kids to bring their guns to school in their cars if they were going hunting with friends after school, and nobody thought a thing about it. Today, if a kid brings in a G.I. Joe, with his "weapon", he will be suspended, if not expelled. Ridiculous!!!

I have included the picture on the left that was taken from the inside cover of the 1959 "Wide Awake", the Woodbury High School yearbook. That's the Superintendent of Schools holding the double barreled shotgun on the Senior Class. Anybody want to guess how many pictures like that appear in any school publications today? Not one single thing has changed, except the attitude toward guns.


Periodically, I will be posting some of the more common myths about "guns" and the real facts you don't get in the media today, because of their blatant bias.

Today's myth:

Myth: Concealed carry laws increase crime

Fact: Forty states, comprising the majority of the American population, are "right-to-carry"
states. Statistics show that in these states the crime rate fell (or did not rise) after the right-to carry law became active (as of July, 2006). Nine states deny or restrict the right to carry.

Fact: Crime rates involving gun owners with carry permits have consistently been about 0.02%
of all carry permit holders since Florida’s right-to-carry law started in 1988.

Fact: After passing their concealed carry law, Florida's homicide rate fell from 36% above the
national average to 4% below, and remains below the national average (as of the last reporting
period, 2005).

Fact: In Texas, murder rates fell 50% faster than the national average in the year after their
concealed carry law passed. Rape rates fell 93% faster in the first year after enactment, and 500% faster in the second. Assaults fell 250% faster in the second year.

Fact: More to the point, crime is significantly higher in states without right-to-carry laws.

Fact: States that disallow concealed carry have violent crime rates 11% higher than national
averages.

Fact: Deaths and injuries from mass public shootings fall dramatically after right-to-carry concealed handgun laws are enacted. Between 1977 and 1995, the average death rate from mass shootings plummeted by up to 91% after such laws went into effect, and injuries
dropped by over 80%.

Some criminologist believe measuring first year change is shortsighted as it takes more than a year for permits to be issued, reach critical quantities, and for the criminally minded to recognize the new situation and avoid violent confrontations.

Patriotism Not Dead in Schools Yet

If this doesn't send shivers up your spine, you have my condolences!

http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/Battle%20Hymn/index.htm

Gun Control - Good news again! Maybe there is "hope"

U.S. Senate Votes to Uphold
Second Amendment in Washington, D.C.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Fairfax, Va. - The United States Senate has voted, with overwhelming bipartisan support, to adopt an amendment offered by Senator John Ensign (R-NV) that seeks to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens in the District of Columbia. The amendment, attached to S.160, the D.C. Voting Rights Act, will repeal restrictive gun control laws passed by the District of Columbia's (D.C.) city council after the landmark D.C. v. Heller Supreme Court decision. The vote margin was 62-36.

"Today's vote brings us one step closer to restoring the Second Amendment freedom of law-abiding D.C. residents," said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox. "It's ludicrous that good people in our nation's capital continue to be harassed as they try to defend themselves and their loved ones in their own homes. This vote reinforces the historic Heller ruling."

After the Heller ruling, the D.C. city council passed a law requiring would-be gun owners to pay a registration fee, pass a 20-question multiple choice test, take a five-hour training course, undergo an invasive background check every six years, re-register any firearm every three years, and finally, submit all handguns for ballistics testing. Current D.C. law also bans an overwhelming majority of firearms commonly used for self-defense. This Ensign Amendment would also remedy that unjust practice.

"NRA would like to thank the lead sponsor, Sen. John Ensign for his efforts to reform D.C.'s gun laws and enable folks to protect their property and their loved ones," concluded Cox. "It's time for leaders in Washington to wake up to the fact that the Supreme Court decision is now the law of the land."

-NRA-

Gun Control-I Give Credit Where Credit is Due!

One of our most important rights is the Second Amendment. It allows us to "keep and bear arms", and be able to defend the rest of the Bill Of Rights should it ever come to that.

Back in 1993, the Clinton Administration passed what came to be known as the "Assault Weapons Ban". This outraged a lot of Gun owners in the country and the election of 1994 resulted in the Democrats losing control of the House and Senate. Maybe they have learned. During the campaign, Obama repeatedly said he would not take away anybody's guns. On Weds, Attorney General Eric Holder said one of the goals of the Obama administration was to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban". Another lie by the "Anointed One".
Well, the following article was posted to the Web today.

Reid joins Pelosi in opposing weapons ban revival

By J. Taylor Rushing Posted: 02/26/09 10:17 PM [ET]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will join Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in opposing any effort to revive the 1994 assault weapons ban, putting them on the opposite side of the Obama administration. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the Nevada Democrat will preserve his traditional pro-gun rights voting record. "Senator Reid would oppose an effort (to) reinstate the ban if the Senate were to vote on it in the future," Manley told The Hill in an e-mail late Thursday night.
It was not immediately clear whether Reid would block the bill from the Senate, but his opposition casts serious doubt on its chances. Also, Manley noted that Reid voted against the ban in 1994 and again when it expired in 2004. Reid's stance joins him with Pelosi, who told reporters Thursday that the administration had not checked with her before Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters the administration would attempt to reinstate the ban. Pelosi gave a flat “no” when asked if she had spoken to Holder or any other administration officials about the issue. “On that score, I think we need to enforce the laws we have right now,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. “I think it's clear the Bush administration didn’t do that.”
Outside of the dig at the recent Republican president, that phrase is the stock line of those who don’t want to pass new gun control laws, such as the National Rifle Association.
Holder said during a press conference Wednesday in Phoenix, Ariz., that Obama had made reinstating the ban one of his campaign promises.
"There are obviously a number of things that are — that have been taking up a substantial amount of his time, and so I’m not sure exactly what the sequencing will be," Holder said. "It is something, The news caught Capitol Hill by surprise, immediately pitting Democrats and Republicans against each other and even exposing deep divides among Democrats. A number of House Democrats lost their seats after being targeted by the National Rifle Association for voting for the 1994 ban. however, that we still think would be an appropriate thing to do."

OK, I have read what Reid and Pelosi said. If they are telling the truth and aren't going to try to get the ban added as an amendment to another Bill and hope no one notices, then I support them 100% (on this issue).

You can't make this stuff up - AGAIN!!!!!

Associated Press story this morning. There are organizations that are claiming that farm dust could be dangerous and are looking at ways to regulate and control it.

You didn't want to eat anyway right.

Hey, I just had a thought. There could be some good to this. It would solve the obesity problem every one seems to whining about.

When are we going to say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quiz time!

OK, if you have been following my blog for a while, it's now time for a quiz. The poll I have just added relates to the following quote from a speech given by a President of the United States.

No cheating. You have four choices. Who said it?

"The final and best means of strengthening demand among consumers and business is to reduce the burden on private income and the deterrents to private initiative which are imposed by our present tax system—and this administration pledged itself last summer to an across-the-board, top-to-bottom cut in personal and corporate income taxes to be enacted and become effective in .....

I'm not talking about a ‘quickie' or a temporary tax cut, which would be more appropriate if a recession were imminent. Nor am I talking about giving the economy a mere shot in the arm, to ease some temporary complaint. I am talking about the accumulated evidence of the last five years that our present tax system, developed as it was, in good part, during World War II to restrain growth, exerts too heavy a drag on growth in peace time; that it siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power; that it reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking. In short, to increase demand and lift the economy, the federal government's most useful role is not to rush into a program of excessive increases in public expenditures, but to expand the incentives and opportunities for private expenditures."

Closing "Gitmo"

Great idea! Our Military could use them for target practice. Clay Muslims. Solves the problem of what to do with them when they close the "Evil Gitmo".

Works for me - next week OK?

Found this on the Internet
Wish I'd thought of it!

Subject: Separation and Divorce,

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, Obama supporters, et al,
We have stuck together since the late 1950’s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know, we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but, sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not ever agree on what is right, so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, chalk it up to irreconcilable differences, and go our own way. Here is a model separation agreement. Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass, each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes. We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA, and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie O’Donnell. We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal Mart, and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies, and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s, and rednecks. We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood. You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks, and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we will help to provide security to them. We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, and Shirley Maclaine. You can also have the U.N, but we will no longer be paying the bill. Knowing your concerns about”excess population”, in your part of the country you can overcome the problem of excess population through gay marriages and choosing to kill the unborn. We’ll keep the cattle since you don’t like beef anyway. We’ll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks, and over sized luxury cars. You can take every battery operated station wagon and ethanol vehicle you can find. You can give everyone healthcare, if you can find any practicing doctors. We’ll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kumbaya", or "We Are the World". We’ll practice trickle down economics, and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name, and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots, and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 5 years.

Sincerely,
John J. Wall, Law Student, and an American.

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand, Susan Sarandon & Jane Fonda

Stimulus package

From Liz, Thanks

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota.

All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he
says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100
profit for me."

The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Chicago contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700." The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"

The Chicago contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence."

"Done!" replies the government official.

And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.

Honey Bee Insurance

A few weeks ago , when the Porkapalusa "Stimulus"package was being put together and debated, it became known that it contained a provision providing for $150 million for Honey Bee insurance. A lot of the "talking heads" on TV had a field day with that item, as they should have, because this would have no stimulus effect at all. Well, the "Stimulus" bill passed as we all know.
Now being a beekeeper, I thought I would have a little fun with our elite elected officials in Washington. Last week, I called Senator Dodd & Leiberman's offices to find out how I could sign up for the insurance. I also called Congressman Chris Murphy's office. I hadn't heard anything, so I called them all back yesterday. Leiberman's staff person said they were still looking into it. I talked to a staff person in Dodd's office. She said she would look into it and call me right back. Congressman Murphy's office told me the same thing, Dodd's staff person called me back and told me that it was really Livestock Disaster insurance (that would cover honey bees) and that it had been pulled from the final bill and was not there.
I just received an email from Congressman Murphy's office telling me that it was in the bill and while they probably weren't taking applications just yet, I could get info at the Farm Service Agency office in Torrington, CT.
So it's not in the bill, but it is in the bill. Still believe those morons in Washington know what they are doing and are smarter than the average peon out here among us common folk.
Once again, you can't make this stuff up!!

Hypocrisy - Part III

During the Reagan and Bush, Jr. Administrations the Democrats railed against Federal Deficits. They were horrible, we couldn't have them, they would destroy us. So what do the Democrats do now that they are in power? They just finished passing a huge, Porkapalusa "stimulus" package that will put our deficit at about $1.5 TRILLION dollars for this fiscal year. Yesterday, President Obama held a summit in Washington on "Fiscal Responsibility"! Fiscal Responsibility????? He wants to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term. That would put it at about $800 Billion dollars, more than twice what it ever was under the "Evil" George Bush. I guess Republican deficits are somehow much worse than Democrat deficits. Fiscal Responsibility????? As I said before, you can't make this stuff up!!

Hypocrisy!! Hypocrisy!! Hypocrisy!!

Obama Administration - Coming Attractions

Here are a few of the things the Obama Administration and the Democrat Congress will attempt to force on the American people in the coming months. All are direct violations of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is that part of the Constitution that protects individual rights and keeps getting in the way of the Liberal Democrat's true agenda for our country.

1. Reinstitution of the "Fairness Doctrine".
This is a blatant attack on the First Amendment's Freedom of Speech clause! It will be an attempt to silence Conservative Talk Radio (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and dozens of local commentators) and Conservative Blogs on the Internet, but the Left Wing Media (CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN) will not be included, because the liberals consider them to be "balanced" already. They will do this by saying that there should be equal time for Liberal points of view (which are already broadcast on the above networks) as well as the Conservative point of view. Well, this was tried by "Air America", a Liberal Radio network that went bankrupt after about 4 months on the air a few years ago. The reason - nobody listened. Radio is all about ratings and advertising. Conservative talk radio has millions of listeners and high ratings. If the Fairness Doctrine is brought back, Radio stations will have no choice but to give up broadcasting Conservative Talk radio shows and revert back to a "Top Forty" format or something similar, because they cannot afford to lose the ratings and advertising that would result if they carried "Liberal" radio that no one listened to. You will be left with nothing but the Left wing "spin" on CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN and web sites such as "Moveon.org.

2. "Card check".
This is about unionizing companies. The current procedure is for workers who wish to unionize, is to approach a Union and request information. The Union then presents it's case to the workers and the Company does the same. The workers then vote by "SECRET BALLOT" if they want a union. "Secret Ballot" is the whole basis of Democracy in our country. Under card check, workers would be presented with a card, by Union organizers, on which they would check off "yes" or "no" to the Union. No "secret ballot" would be used. Once 51% or more of the workers checked off that they want to unionize, the company is unionized. How many people are going to refuse to sign up for the Union when they are met in the parking lot after work by two or three Union thugs requesting that they approve the union? Not very many! This is a blatant attack on "Free Choice".

3. Confiscation of 401K's, IRA,'s and SEP accounts.
Right now, the Liberals in Congress need as much money as they can lay their hands on for their pet spending projects. Where is all that money going to come from? Congress is looking at ending the tax deduction for contributions made to these accounts or actually taking your retirement accounts and rolling them into your Social Security account, and promising to pay about 3% on that money and any future contributions . They will then spend that money (probably trillions of dollars) and do as they do now and put a bunch of IOU's in your Social Security account. "I won't let them take that money, you say". Well, what they will do is promise to give you the value of what your accounts were last August, before all those "evil" Wall Street Corporate Executives tanked the Stock Market. Since most retirement accounts have lost anywhere from 25-50% of their value at the moment, compared to last August, that would be a huge incentive to back their plan. If the plan goes through, over the years you will lose tens of thousands of dollars, compared to what you have now in private investments.

4. More Gun Control laws
Despite the "Heller vs. District of Columbia" decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last June , that found that the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms" is an individual right, there will be attempts at the reinstatement of the "Assault Weapons" ban. This would ban guns that look "evil" and would include many new models of semi-automatic and pump rifles and shotguns not included in the original ban which expired a few years ago. All "Assault weapons" sold today are semi-automatic (one shot for each trigger pull). No different than a lot of hunting rifles sold today. Fully automatic rifles and shotguns (keeps firing until trigger is released) were banned in the "30's and cannot be sold to the general public, although video of these fully automatic firearms are what are shown by the mainstream Media when they do a story on "Assault Weapons". There will also be an attempt to institute a Federal law requiring registration of all firearms, and Federal Safety training and licensing of all firearms owners. Since they usually have a tough time getting this type of legislation passed, they will also attempt to increase the taxes on ammunition so that it becomes prohibitively expensive. Liberals don't want an armed populace!! This will be a huge assault on the Second Amendment!!

BUCHANAN TO OBAMA

Good read and very true! Thanks, Ray!

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America. Fair
enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White
America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to. This time, the
Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands
heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was
here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew
into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation,
and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have
ever known. Jeremiah Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an
American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white
Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare,
food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student
loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty
programs designed to bring the African-American community into the
mainstream. Governments, businesses, and colleges have engaged in
discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract
set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white
applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools, and individuals
all over America have donated their time and money to support soup
kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for
blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new "ladders of opportunity" for blacks. Let him go
to Altoona, and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools
how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out
scholarships for "deserving" white kids. Is white America really
responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for
African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really
white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American
community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high
schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of
the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and
especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that
while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black
criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than
the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in
the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the
Duke rape case and Jena. All turned out to be hoaxes, but about the
epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and
10 trillion tax dollars ago.

Apathy

Apathy - 1. Lack of emotion. 2. Indifference.
Definition from Webster's American Dictionary. I think the current political situation is best defined by "indifference". About a week ago I was discussing my blog with someone who follows it. They were pretty fed up with the current situation, so I asked them if they had called Dodd and Leiberman's offices about the Stimulus Bill. They told me that they didn't feel qualified to call and voice their opinion. Please remember, these people are not Gods (although some think they are), they were elected to office and work for us, not the other way around. We have the power to remove any one of them any time we wish. There is no course you take at school that makes you qualified to call. If you don't like what going on, call them and tell them. You don't have to be specific, you can say you want to raise or lower taxes, or you want more or less government spending, or you want more or less gun control. They do pay attention, especially if they get the feeling that if they don't listen they may be voted out of office. I know some of you out there are saying "what's the sense, they're all the same". OK, maybe they are. Then how about we clean house and remove every last one of them, and if they behave the same way, we keep going until they start behaving the way they should.
Get involved, right now we are being mugged. Billions of dollars are being spent on Liberal special interests - Environmental Wackos, Unions, Acorn, etc. Did you know that the Stimulus Bill is giving every American a tax cut? Starting around June your withholding will be reduced by about $7.50 a week, if you don't make too much. Billions & Billions being given away and you get a tax cut of $7.50 a week. Don't spend it all it one place, you might overheat the Economy!

Corporate jets - Part II

Remember when GM, Chrysler, and Ford Motor Company Executives came to Washington to beg for bailout money? They were chewed up one side and down the other by the Democrats for flying in on Corporate Jets and not flying commercial or driving there in Hybrid vehicles? I mean how could they present such elitist attitude to the American people when looking for tax payer money? After that President Obama said that corporations should give up their airplanes.
Well, I was watching Neil Cavuto on Fox News yesterday afternoon and guess what I found out?
In the "Stimulus" bill is an item that gives tax breaks to Corporations who buy Corporate jets.

As the old saying goes, "You can't make this stuff up". UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

Camelot

Does anyone remember or have you heard of the quote from President Kennedy's Inaugural address in 1961? He said, "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country".
Now unless I am incorrect, JFK is a Democrat God, I mean we had Jack, Jackie, John Jr., and Caroline, and don't forget Camelot. My God, the world couldn't get any better.
Well, coming out of the late fifties the economy was in recession. What did President Kennedy do? A massive stimulus government spending program? Government bailout of banks and major corporations? Help for homeowners who might lose their homes?
None of the above!! He cut business and personal income taxes, and guess what happened? The economy started to boom almost immediately. Why do we need massive government spending today? Why don't we cut taxes? Because we need to create as many people as possible who are beholden to the government, so they will become Democrat voters.
I am afraid that we are rapidly becoming a country where most of the people get out of bed every day and look to Washington, D.C. and ask "what are you going to do for me today"?
JFK is spinning in his grave. Whatever became of individualism, being responsible for yourself, morality, entrepreneurism, and the "we can do it" attitude that made this country great. The quote today is "Ask not what I can do for my country, ask what my country can do for me".

Another bail out

President Obama announced today that the Federal Government is going to use $75 billion dollars to help prevent people from going through foreclosure and losing their homes. OK, fine, but I have one question.
Are the homeowners who get government help going to be told how much they make, what they can drive, and where they can go on vacation?? Just curious that's all.

Uniforms

Got this from one of my blog followers, Thanks, Judy

Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms like

NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors.

Corporate jets

Speaking of Corporate jets. I believe the Democrats are trying the best they can to create and protect jobs with their new legislation. Well, last week the Bankers and Corporate executives were told to get rid of their Corporate jets. Fine! Now, how about the pilots that fly them, the maintenance people who maintain them, the airports where they are based, and the people who build them. What happens to them? Reminds me of early on in the Clinton Administration when Congress passed a bill that imposed a luxury tax on Yachts to punish the "rich". Do you know what happened? The "rich" started buying their yachts overseas and the domestic yacht manufacturers closed their doors, went out of business, and took all those manufacturing jobs with them. Congress eventually repealed the tax.

There is a classic example of "class warfare". How did that tax improve the lives of average Americans? It didn't have any effect at all, but it did put a bunch of average Americans on the unemployment line!

HYPOCRISY- Part II

The Liberal Democrats in Congress are at again!

Last week they called all the Bank executives up to the Hill for testimony about what they were doing with the Taxpayer funds that they had received. They were berated up one side and down the other for bonuses paid, for not lending money and for their use of Corporate jets. They were told to get rid of those jets. Forward to today. Now that the “Stimulus” package has passed and will be signed by President Obama on Monday, anybody want to guess where Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) is going. She’s off on an eight day junket to Europe, where she is going to speak at some “global warming” conference, probably meet with the Pope, among other things, which I assume must be very important. I assume she is going to be flying ”coach”, and staying at 5-star hotels at her own expense. Yeh, right!. Our tax dollars are paying for the whole thing. Representative John Tanner (D-Tennessee) is leading a delegation of himself and 12 other Democrats on a tour of Europe starting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Oh, by the way, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), who served in Vietnam, is off on a Middle East tour at our expense. He is expected to visit at least Egypt, Irag, where I suppose he's going to meet with U.S. Troops that he thinks so highly of and really appreciates the job they have done there.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we, the common folk, had someone to pay for our “vacations”? Talk about protecting taxpayer funds!!!

Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy!

New "Tone" in Washington

Remember during the campaign how Obama vowed to set a new tone in Washington if elected. Well, he was elected. He said he was going to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans and be "Bipartisan". Well, now that the stimulus has passed the Senate it goes to a House/Senate conference to work out the differences between the two bills. Anybody want to guess the make up of that committee. 100% Democrats!! So much for working across the aisle. More Liberal hypocrisy!
I have never seen such a group of arrogant, elitist individuals in my life. They put those "evil corporate types" to shame.

Do you know the Democrat definition of Bipartisanship?? It's sit down, and shut up unless you totally agree with us!!

I am beginning to really fear for the country most of us grew up in.

Senate Version of Economic Stimulus Bill

As I said yesterday, Nationalized Health Care is in this bill. Some of the provisions include a slow down in research of new drugs because of the cost, Centralized computerizations of health records in some bureaucracy in Washington where your health records can be seen by who knows who, and what I mentioned yesterday-Some bureaucrat in Washington will determine if treatment for your illness will be paid based on the cost. For example, if you give birth to a mentally retarded child, you are 60 and diagnosed with a serious illness, you are 25 and develop a disease that will require life long treatment, that bureaucrat will have the power to determine if you live or die. I'm sorry, but I've looked through my copy of the U.S. Constitution a half dozen times and I find nothing in there about the Government providing health care or deciding whether I can live or die.

If you are OK with this, then by all means sit down, relax, and have a cup of coffee. The Government surely will take care of you. However, if you think your medical treatment should be between you and your doctor, than for God's sake call your Congressman and Senators. Their numbers can be found in the blue pages of the phone book under United States Government- United States Congress.

Please pass this on to as many people as you can - This B.S. has got to be stopped. You've heard of the Boston Tea party, let's have another and show those clowns in Washington that we are still in charge. It happened last year with an immigration bill that was shot down, it can happen again!!

Afternoon outrage

I was just sitting here listening to the radio and I heard, that buried in the Stimulus Bill, is some info on what is in it regarding Universal Health Care. It seems that one of the provisions is that if you are elderly or getting up in years and you are diagnosed with a serious disease, whether you are treated or sent off to die will depend on what the cost will be to treat you. If it costs too much, sorry, see you in the next life.
The government is already telling us now what kind of cars we should drive, what we should eat, what we should drink, what we should do with our lawns, even what kind of light bulbs we should use. Now they are going to tell us whether we live or die. I have had it!!!!!! I called Senator Dodd and Senator Lieberman's offices today to see if that is true. If it is, I'll be back to you with their phone numbers. On second thought, I'll give them to you now. Call them and tell them to take the whole "stimulus" package and put it where the "sun don't shine". It's nothing but a Liberal wish list and payback to all their left wing wacko supporters, unions, environmentalists, and even $8 billion for ACORN (a group under FBI investigation for voter fraud in the last two elections). It won't create job #1.

Senator Dodd 1-202-224-2823
Senator Lieberman 1-202-224-4041

P.S. Barry, you'll have to call Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer's offices. Their numbers are in the blue pages of the phone book.

USS Cole

In October, 2000 the US Navy destroyer USS Cole was attacked by a boat carrying suicide bombers while refueling in a port city of Aden in Yemen. Seventeen US sailors were killed in the attack. The alleged mastermind Al Nashiri was subsequently arrested and sent to Guantanamo terrorist prison in Cuba. He was about to be brought to trial, when Obama's Defense Department dropped all charges against him the day before he met with the families of the sailors killed in the attack. Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that get together? Diane McDaniels, the mother of James McDaniels, one of the sailors killed, refused to go to the meeting. Her interview with Neil Cavuto of Fox News can be seen at the following link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeNaakPox5s

"Not I said the Cow"

Once again thanks to Steve, who seems to be rapidly becoming my co-author,


"Not I," said the cow, "Not I," said the duck, "Not I," said the pig, "Not I," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. She planted her crop, and the wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.
"Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
"Not I," said the duck, "Out of my classification," said the pig, "I'd lose my seniority," said the cow, "I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did.
At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread?" asked the little red hen.
"That would be overtime for me," said the cow, "I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck, "I'm a dropout, and never learned how," said the pig, "If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves."
"Excess profits!" cried the cow (Nancy Pelosi), "Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck (Barbara Boxer), "I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose (Jesse Jackson), and the pig just grunted in disdain (Ted Kennedy).
And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities. Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, "You must not be so greedy." "But I earned the bread," said the little red hen. "Exactly," said Barack the farmer. "That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle."
And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand." But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread free, and all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established. Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for.

IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?

Poll

I have added a new poll option. I will post a new question about once a week. Please participate and vote. Votes are anonymous.
Thanks.

Lobbyists

lob'by.ist, n. one who tries to get legislators to support certain measures.

This definition of lobbyist comes from Webster's American Dictionary.

We all hear about those "evil" lobbyists from the media. The people who are influencing Congress and the State legislators to do stuff for "special interests". What people don't realize is that there are lobbyists on all sides of all issues. There are lobbyists for oil companies and environmentalists. There are the anti-gun lobbyists like the Brady Center and pro-gun lobbyists like the National Rifle Association. When you feel a certain way about a certain government proposal, there are lobbyists on your side regardless of what that position is. As long as we have our Representative Republic, we will have lobbyists. They are not evil, they are part of our Government process. When you call your Senator or Representative about an issue that matters to you, you become a lobbyist, supporting a "special interest". Does that make you "Evil"?

Government spending vs. Tax cuts

Congress is on the verge of passing a "stimulus" package that will be in the neighborhood of $800-900 Billion dollars. That's with a "B" for billion. With the $700 Billion already authorized last Fall to bail out the credit markets, we are looking at a deficit next year of an amount approaching $1.5 Trillion dollars. If this continues, pretty soon we'll be talking serious money.
Where will this money come from? It will come from your tax dollars, your kids tax dollars, your grandkids, etc. This tax money goes to Washington, DC and is funneled into various programs. The Bureaucracies like the IRS, and others siphon off some of these tax dollars for pay and benefits (which are much better than those in the private sector)for the Bureaucrats . The money is then sent out to the States for various programs. Here in Connecticut we get back $73 for every $100 sent to Washington.
If this money never went to Washington, and was spent here in Connecticut, our economy would be getting it dollar for dollar. As it stands now we only get about 75% of that money going into our economy minus whatever the State & Local Government Bureaucracies siphon off for their pay and benefits. If taxes are cut the benefit to our economy goes up, because more of our money stays here. If taxes go up, we lose the amount of the taxes plus 25% of what comes back. Would you put your money into a private investment like that?

There is definitely more "bang for the Buck", when taxes are cut as opposed to increases in Government spending and subsequent tax increases.

Who knows how to spend your money better - the Government or you?

HYPOCRISY

Let's see if I have this right. Late last year, some corporations, such as AIG and Wells Fargo, which got bailout funds from the Government, were lambasted by Democrats in Congress for going away to posh resorts for "meetings". Guess what happened this weekend? The House Democrats in Congress went to the Kings Mill Spa Resort in Williamsburg, VA for "meetings". They went by private train with helicopter security accompanying them. Want to guess who paid for it? Yep, you and me!! Our tax dollars! I voted Republican! Why should I support Democrats trips to Resort Spas. The Democratic National Committee should have paid for it.
One of Obama's first orders of business as President, was signing an Executive Order banning lobbyists from serving in the Government. This was followed by the nomination of a dozen or more former lobbyists to high positions in his Administration.
What would happen if you didn't pay your income taxes? A heavy penalty plus interest at best, jail at the worst. During the campaign, Vice President Joe Biden said it was our Patriotic duty to pay more taxes. Guess what, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner didn't pay some of his taxes (on purpose), and now he's in charge of the IRS. Tom Daschle, Obama's choice for Health and Human Services Secretary failed to pay over $100,000 in taxes. At least he had the judgement to bow out when he got caught.

You can't make this stuff up!!!!

HYPOCRISY! HYPOCRISY! HYPOCRISY!

A Depression That Wasn't Great

Which U.S. President was our greatest depression fighter? FDR? Wrong! It was Warren G. Harding.

Republican President Harding inherited Democrat President Woodrow Wilson's "depression" coming out of World War I. Wilson had built up huge Federal bureaucracies, imprisoned dissenters, and ran up $25 billion dollars in Federal debt. Near the end of Wilson's Administration the Gross National Product dropped by 24% and the number of unemployed people rose from 2.1 million to 4.9 million.
Harding did not like high taxes, government waste, excessive government spending, and government interference in private businesses. Harding, in 1920, ran on a platform of "less government in business". After his election, Harding cut Federal Spending from $6.3 billion in 1920 to $3.2 billion in 1922 and taxes from $6.6 billion in 1920 to $4 billion in 1922. At the same time the government started to pay down it's debt while income tax revenue to the government actually fell. Unemployment fell until it reached the all-time historical peacetime low of 1.8% in 1926. The economy boomed. The Gross National Product grew year after year, Productivity rose, real wages increased, and the Stock market tripled in value. Missing was the business bashing that became so prevalent in FDR's later speeches. Harding managed to do most of this in about 3 years.
FDR's policies of Government regulation, tax increases, huge increases in Government Spending, and make work programs caused the Great Depression, which started in the early 1930's to last until the start of the World War II. A period of about 10 years.

President Obama should take a long hard look at the effects of both methods for dealing with economic downturns before embarking on a program similar to FDR"s.

A lot of this information I gleaned from Jim Powell's column in the 1/11/09 Waterbury Republican newspaper.