It was announced today that the US Supreme Court will accept a Federal lawsuit attacking the constitutionality of ObamaCare for review in the spring. The prime focus is on the individual mandate which would force everyone to buy health insurance.

After nearly $1 Trillion in Stimulus spending in 2009 with little or no success to point to, Obama has come up with a new "JOBS Plan." Sadly, the new plan is just more of the same.

In a severe blow to the Obama Administration, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals slapped down the key element of ObamaCare today. In a decision that is considered by many to be a major rebuke of Obama's most cherished success, the court ruled that people cannot be forced to buy a product they don't want.

It came down to the wire but the US House of Representatives passed a game changer in the national debate over the direction of our country's fiscal future. I am not 100 percent in support of what was passed but it is a good start. More on my position after I have a chance to review the details.

Something is changing in Congress. And the 'powers that be' don't like it.

While the Republicans, Democrats and the President continue to posture on the debt - deficit numbers most people have not looked closely at the Drop Dead Date; August 2, 2011

With a little investigation one can conclude that this date was picked out of a hat by Obama and his Treasury Secretary to lend an air of CRISIS to the debate which would invoke the emotions of Fear and Anxiety. I have been unable to find any credible source of this date in any of the financial journals, S & P reports, or in the reporting of the Wall Street Journal.

Like with so many other issues in the Obama Presidency, the administration seeks to deflect criticism or anger to any other person or group while claiming to be the White Knight riding to the rescue. Or worse, the president seeks to be the only 'adult in the room.' And at the same time implying that Republicans or Blue Dog Democrats are spoiled children in need of parenting.

In his usual manner, Obama seems to believe that he has some type of mandate from the people which gives him an imperial position over every other branch of government - not the equal status the Constitution details.

An example makes my point. A few days ago Obama 'summoned' Congressional leaders to the White house. Like he is allowed to order everyone around. Reminds me of the bullies I knew in grammer school. I would suggest that Obama instead look to the feelings of George Washington. Our first president was fearful of the country being led by a King with no limit on his power. The authors of our Constitution agreed and decreed a three-branch government with checks and balances.

The State of New York has taken the next step towards national acceptance of gay marriage. By approving a law to make gay marriage legal, the state puts additional pressure on other states to follow suit. Only the most out of touch or the most delusional will not admit the power of this move.

For the past few months the democrats in the California legislature have been trying to figure out a way to raise taxes, without Republican votes, in order to balance the budget. As time runs short on the constitutional deadline, July 1, they have not been able to sway the Republicans, so they have now turned on each other.

Two constitutional amendments passed last November gave them hope and created a major problem. The first was to allow a budget based on a simple majority; but they neglected to get the ability to pass new taxes without a 2/3rds majority. So the budget became easier but they still need Republicans to pass tax hikes.

The second amendment said they would lose their pay if they had not passed a balanced budget by June 15. Well, they created a sham budget and passed it without Republican support and sent it to the governor - who promptly vetoed it.

Now the Republicans are no longer to blame for stopping the budget process. The democrat leadership in the legislature turned on Governor Jerry Brown. Then Controller John Chiang, a democrat, said they had not complied with the balanced budget amendment and decided to stop paying the legislators on June 15. The democrat leadership, Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the assembly Perez then turned on the Controller.

As days have passed the democrats, who control all branches of the state government have fought with one another in the media and behind closed doors. But as of this writing there seems to be no end in sight - unless the democrats go, hat in hand, to the Republicans and allow more budget cuts.

In a recent article by writers for McClatchy newspapers, investors who buy forclosed home, improve them and remarket them are depicted as 'Scavengers.' While I often disagree with the Progressives at McClatchy, this article takes the cake.

The implication is that people who invest their time, energy and resources to help stimulate the economy are somehow bad. Also, the article seems to say that property investors are somehow to blame for the 'housing bubble.'  Let me be clear on this subject.

 The housing bust was not caused by house flippers. Here is what happened:

The democrat politician I admire MOST:

Anthony Weiner! Why?

Republicans have been waiting for Newt Gingrich to announce his run for president of the United States. When he finally threw his hat into the ring; many Conservative Republicans rejoiced. The Religious Right had hoped that Newt would champion their social agenda and lead the party to a victory over Obama.

Well, it only took a week for his nacient candidacy to implode. In just a few words on Sunday, he not only criticized Paul Ryan's economic plan but then went on to endorse Obama's plan to force Americans to buy health insurance. In my mind, Gingrich is political TOAST.

I was always suspicious of his ultra right-wing social positions but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in the campaign. With his endorsement of health insurance mandate; he has committed an unforgivable sin. There is NO way that I would vote for him, even if he were to win the Republican nomination.

Gingrich can do the Republican party a great favor. He should realize his fatal error and save the Republicans the embarassment of a continued campaign. He should stop campaigning; he should drop his bid for the presidency and retire.

The sooner he does this - The Better.

The Chicago public school system allows individual principals to ban students from bringing their own lunches to school. This forces students to buy their lunch at the school run cafeteria or go without lunch.


This is all done under the guise of protecting students from unhealthful foods and drinks they would bring from home. As if parents are not intelligent enough to choose what their kids consume. One wonders if parents are not capable of picking their kid's lunches, how can they possibly be smart enough to serve them their breakfasts or dinners?


What is more likely is, that the Progressive idealology has taken total control of Chicago and its inhabitants. Chicago is notorious for its Marxist philosophy. The Progressive Democrats have controlled this middle American city for decades; but it almost seems that Chicago is the test tube for the radical Left.


Then one has to take into account the power of the Teacher's Union and the rest of the PEUs in this bastion of Progressivism. If the Public Unions can control what kids eat, what they read, what they learn; there is nothing to stop them from imposing complete mind control.


This policy also puts student dollars directly into the school district's pockets. It could be constued as the public school district going into a profit mode. No private business in America has such a monoploy. And with the support of local and state Democrat politicians, it is a no-lose game. Hypocracy on the Left???


Noting that Obama came from the depths of the Chicago's democrat / Progressive Machine; it gives one pause for their influence on the rest of America. It is also the basis of a lot of fears, imagined or not, of the future of our country. I, for one am not optimistic. But the 2012 election should prove to be prophetic.

It is an epic day in the great state of Wisconsin. In what will prove to be a major turning point in labor relations, individual freedom may be the ultimate winner. Ever since the Progressive movement began with Woodrow Wilson, organized labor has enjoyed an ever-growing power base. Of course, organized labor is just another name for 'collectivism.'

America was founded on individual inititive and personal responsibility and Capitalism. Unions are the exact opposite of these concepts. Worse yet, when one political party (democrats) forms an incestuous relationship with unions; the power struggle between labor and business becomes one-sided.

It is interesting is that the democrats and unions in Wisconsin are complaining that the Republicans were elected to bring their state back to fiscal sanity. They howl when the Republicans use their majority to pass laws that do just that. How quickly they forget or ignore that the Democrats under Pelosi, Reid and Obama did EXACTLY the same process to ram through Obamacare.

Hypocracy is the operative word in this discussion. And everyone knows that hypocracy is the worst sin that can be committed.

Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner signaled this morning that the administration may be considering defanging Fannie and Freddie. In what appears to be a reversal of their Progressive policies, Geithner laid out 3 options for returning control of the housing loan market to the private sector.

As most people are aware the loose fiscal requirement F and F used to give home loans to unqualified people was the primary cause of the housing bubble which burst creating our Great Recession.

This reversal also indicates that maybe Obama is finally beginning to realize that the Progressive's 'social justice' agenda won't work in America. But, Geithner also restated a mild desire for the government's failed policy of trying to 'help low income people buy homes.'

I believe in our Capitalist system. People cannot be given a home. They must earn it. If home ownership is not worked for; people won't value the home as much. Personal struggle and growth are the foundations of a succesful life. People need to reach for their success and not rely on the good will of others. If the government gives, it creates a sense of entitlement and eventually slavery.

It is time to completely eliminate Freddie and Fannie. The government must turn over the entire home loan business to private companies. This does not eliminate the need for government oversight; but the government must let our free-market system to operate on its own. 

A US District judge today ruled Obamacare unconstitutional. Not just the mandate to purchase health insurance, but the entire law. Hopefully the next stop will be the US Supreme Court so we can get this craziness behind us once and for all.

While it seems admirable to give health insurance to all Americans, this law was so fundamentally unfair on its face. The Democrats who pushed Obamacare were blatantly trying to redistribute the income of hard-working Americans. Why else would they need to use bribes and extortion to get enough votes to pass the Senate and the House?

Some people who favored the mandate to buy insurance try to compare Obamacare to car insurance. This argument is flawed. States, not the Feds, require a person to purchase car insurance ONLY if they own or drive a car. Can one imagine if the Federal Gov't tried to force every American to buy car insurance? The Progressives and the entire liberal media elite would be howling at the top of their lungs.

While those of us who see the dangers of Obamacare can breath a little easier today; the battle is not over. Hopefully the SCOTUS will be eager to rule on this judge's ruling ASAP. Then and only then will we be able to move on to a brighter economic future.

The unrest in the nation of Egypt is causing a ripple affect throughout the entire planet. Unrest that seemed to start in Tunisia is now rocking Egypt; looks a lot like what is going on in Yemen and Lebanon and Syria and.....

What appears on the surface to be a movement towards democracy and freedom; is something more basic and dangerous. Just because a few nations have a quasi-democratic power structure, they are able to pass themselves off as free and open. But if one was to stand back and consider the goings-on in the Middle East; one might see the influence of the radical Muslim clergy.

If we are to see the real dynamic in the Middle East, we must look to the major power player. Iran with its ability to export its radical version of Islam and its ability to empassion the masses is to be feared. But more dangerous is Barack Obama.

Obama has an agenda that poses more of a threat than any other in the world. Obama has attacked every ally of America and has minimized every threat to America. He seems to actually want world chaos and unrest. His comments today after talking to Egypt's president show that he is power hungry. He wants to appear to be a peace maker but that is not what Progressives need. They need to create a crisis so they can come riding to the rescue.

Obama continues his war on America. After putting shackles on the Gulf oil fields, now he turns his focus to the coal industry. It seems that the president is bound and determined to shut off all homeland fuel production.

The EPA, which is dominated by Progressives moved to shut down Arch Coal in West Virginia. It does not seem to matter that the company was complying with all rules and regulations for the industry. What will we do when we are forced to rely completely on other countries for our energy needs?

Add to this that China is developing its own resources as quickly as possible and that China is searching the globe to lock up as much natural resources as it can. Obama seems either to not care, or is deliberately trying to turn America into a third world country or he is just plain stupid. Regardless, his actions are dooming America to a deeper recession and massive inflation. Reminds me of Jimmy Carter.

With whole new crops of politicians taking office all across America, 2011 looks to be a year with a lot of surprising events, twists and turns. It seems every state had unexpected election results that ended long-time careers. Elections that brought in long-shot winners. Elections that created new laws and regulations.

Then we have the massive changes in Washington DC. With the Republicans taking over the House and vowing to repeal Obamacare and rein in spending; conflict seems to be top of the political agenda. Conflict worth watching.

I can already see that in order to keep you, my readers informed, I will have to expand the number of blogs I post to. Instead of having only one 'catch-all' blog on the home page, I will create specific issue blogs listed on the left side of the page. I would also ask you readers to give me feedback and suggestions on how to make this educational site better and more useful.

Things will move fast in 2011 and almost every aspect of our society will be affected. A lot of people will get their ankst riled up. A lot of people will lose their apathy and a lot of people will be totally confused by events. I will take it upon myself to help you sort through it all. Remember, we are all in this together.

The new year brings many changes and probably the best one is that Nancy Pelosi will no longer be the dictator (Speaker) of the US House of Representitives. After four years of looking at her sickening face and listening to her Marxist propaganda; we might be able to get our country back on track.

Even though Obama will still be president for two more years and Harry Reid will still rule the Senate; the Republicans will be able to put a huge kink in their plans. The House of Reps still has the power to influence how our Federal tax dollars are spent.

Let's all hope the worst is behind us. That sanity can gain a foothold in Washington. That the vision of our Founding Fathers can lead our nation to renewed prosperity. But that will take a concerted effort of our citizens. Their voices must be heard; but that will also require their constant attention and vigilence.

Now that Christmas is almost over, we can turn our attention to the year 2011. It should be an exciting year with tons of potential and profits. Almost every expert (except for Progressives) sees a much higher stock market and an increasing number of private sector jobs.

Add to this the Republican promise to shrink the size of government and to rein in wasteful spending. Now if only the Republicans will keep their promise. Being a cynic, I always take promises with a grain of salt. But I think that the new Republican leadership in the House realizes that they have been given one last chance to prove their words mean something.

Time will tell. I and many others will be watching and giving our analysis. We intend to hold the Republican's feet to the fire if they fail to live up to their promises. Dog help them if they backtrack or waiver in their committment to the voters who elected them.

A few months ago Sutter Health in Sacramento CA announced that due to the Federal government reimbursements that their system would lose $124 Million each year for the next 10 years. They cite the terms of Obamacare for the losses.

Obama's push for his healthcare reform was intended to give away free healthcare to EVERY American. What he never took into account was the affect on health care providers and their employees. All he cared about was advancing his Progressive agenda. The net results if Obamacare becomes fully functional is to wipe out every private health insurance company and eventually take over all hospitals and clinics in America.

On a VERY personal note; my best friend recently lost his job. He had been with Sutter for over 25 years. Sutter told him, in no uncertain terms that they must consolidate departments because of Obamacare. His job was combined with another position and because he did not have seniority, he had to go.

As a side note is it not ironic that Obama never pushed to create jobs only to ram through his agenda of government takeover of the entire American economy. Thank dog the US House of Reps was rescued by the Republicans. Maybe they can stop Obamacare from going into affect - and save us all from Obama.

The incoming Republican majority has already started to cut waste in Congress. With Rep. Dan Lungren taking over the House Administration Committee, he is sending a signal that the expenses of the House have become bloated over the past two years.

Speaker-designate, John Boehner has obviously taken last November's election results to heart. I think he understands that if Americans are suffering from too-high taxes and too-big government and too-intrusive bureaucrats. He realizes that he has a golden opportunity to prove to the voters that the Republican party has finally gotten IT.

Americans are suffering from the Progressive Agenda. Americans want to 'un-change' America. Americans want to return to the type of government that the Founding Fathers evisioned.

The uber-Progressive, Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a lawsuit over McDonalds inclusion of toys in their Happy Meals. First blush tells you that CSPI has a very low opinion of the intelligence of parents. Second blush tells you that they feel that the government is better at parenting your children than you are.

Obviously they take their POV from Obama. Like Obama, they believe that the politicians and bureaucrats know better how to run our lives than we do. They feel that the average citizen needs to be told what is good for us and what is bad. I believe that Americans hold their freedoms dear. I believe that Americans are smarter than the government gives us credit for.

Lastly, if any parent is unable to tell their child NO when the child demands a McDonald Happy Meal; that parent should lose custody of the child entirely. The government should just take the child away and raise it in a government-run child care center.

,Just when the average citizen starts to believe the post election rhetoric about respecting the 'will of the people' as expressed by the voters; Reid pulls a fast one today.

Instead of bringing up a vote for short-term interem spending, he dumps a monsterous omnibus bill of 1800 pages. This bill will attempt to lock in spending until next September. And then he loads it up with Billions of dollars of earmarks to pay off his buddies in the Senate.

In addition, he keeps pushing back the very important bills that need to be completed by year's end. Kind of like a game of chicken. I guess that he knows that he might not have another chance considering the Republican takeover of the House and gains in the Senate that will change the whole dyamic in Congress next year.

Reid shows that he is not interested in the will of the people; only pushing his own personal, Progressive agenda and tying the hands of his enemies. This shows that the claim of caring for the welfare of our country is merely a political scam.

Hopefully, the Republicans will not fall for his scam and force him to retreat. Even if it pushes the important decisions down to wire of Christmas day.

A couple of days ago President Obama revealed a tentative deal he made with Republicans. Since then the various interested parties have been batting the details around; which is a good sign. Why? Because logic says that if no one is happy then a real compromise is involved.

Since I have no children or grandchildren to pay for the long-term tax increases; I am not concerned about them. I am much more concerned about any short-term tax increases; which could harm today's economy.

I firmly believe that the only reason the job market is not growing is because of the uncertainty in the minds of employers - concern over Obamacare and concern over tax liability in the next few years.

Once the deal is voted on in Congress; things should start moving. If the deal is defeated; the markets will fall and hiring will remain stagnant. If the deal is approved; the markets will continue to raise and within months; jobs will start to grow.

"Toast" is the word of the evening. Early election results indicate that Nancy Pelosi is, in fact, "Toast." Looking at certain races which have been called by the major media outlets; the Republicans are taking House seats which were considered safe by Democrats. The Senate seats are more difficult to call.

One of my favorite races is Florida House seat #8; held by Alan Grayson. As you know Grayson has made quite a few outragous statements about Republicans; most of which are degrading beyond reason. He accused Republicans of wanting 'death panels.' Well, it looks like he is 'Toast.'

The biggest question is, what will Obama do, if the Republicans take over the House of Reps; as it looks like they will. As for this moment in time, it looks like a rout for the Republicans.........

Well, election day 2010 has finally arrived; and none too soon. I am so sick of the political ads with their lies and distortions. After the presidential election of 2008 I did not think things could get any nastier; but I was wrong.

I can see how the average voter is confused. Both sides engaged in hideous games with the truth. As someone who is up on the issues and candidates, I found myself listening to ads without being able to determine if I liked the candidate or not.

For instance, one ad talked about a mayor raising his salary. The truth is that the mayor received a raise with the rest of the city council by 8 to 1 vote of the council. But if you only listened to the ad, you would think that he raised his salary by only HIS action.

But today, most of the suspense will be over. Yes, some of the races will be too close to call for a few days or must be resolved by lawsuits and accusations of fraud. But the mood of the nation should be visable to everyone. Will the Republicans sweep the House of Reps? Will the Dems keep their majority in the Senate. How will Obama react to the elections? Answers will have to wait till tomorrow; or we not know for a week????

It is my hope that the predicted dumping of Democrats will lead to gridlock in Congress or at least cause Obama to rethink his Marxist agenda. Most pundits believe that Obama's ego will not allow him to pull a 'Clinton' and move towards the Right and/or work with Republicans. We shall see....

I have made no bones about my fears of the Obama agenda. He has pushed our country so far to the left that it hardly resembles the nation I knew growing up. He caused so many of my business associates to hold off investing in the future and he even caused some of the to shutter their businesses. Obama has NOT been good for America.

It is a stunning story that will appear almost nowhere in the mainstream media. I found the story on page B6 of yesterday's Sacramento Bee.

Cuban President Raul Castro announced that up to 1 million Cubans who work for the state will be laid off. He claims that that many workers are redundant. He also said that they should go out and start their own small business.

This is in response to the downward spiral of the Cuban economy; and obviously, Castro is finally beginning to understand that communism does not work. For years, the Cuban government was supported by the now-defunct Soviet Union. Since the downfall of the USSR, Russia has given limited support; with some support coming from Venezuala and other South American countries.

This comes in direct contrast to the Progressive movement in the US, led by President Obama to make our economy more socialistic. It seems that Obama and Pelosi are driving our society to the left; while Cuba and China are drastically moving right towards Capitalism.

Also, contrast this with the building tensions here in California between the Public Employee Unions (PE-U's) and the taxpayers. California's union pensions are driving the state towards bankrupcy. The Democrats who run California's legislature continue to promise the moon to the unions. Somthing has got to give.

But we may have to wait till after the November elections to see California can be saved. If Meg Whitman gets elected governor we might have a chance. If Jerry Brown gets elected; total economic collapse may be our only possible outcome.

Here are a couple of stories that were reported in the Sacramento Bee today; but were given very little space. I thought they were important but the Bee did not.

1. Chrysler trims losses - As you are aware Chrysler is owned by the taxpayers of America. President Obama is the defacto CEO of Chrysler and when the auto maker loses money, so do the taxpayers.

2. White House now looks at Fannie and Freddie - The two, taxpayer owned mortgage companies have been losing hundreds of Billions of taxpayer dollars for the past 2 years. The democrats in Congress recently passed a financial regulation law (FinReg) which gives bureaucrats almost total control over lending in America.

Funny thing is that Fannie and Freddie were EXEMPT from this regulation.

It is important to note that Fannie and Freddie lost a total of $9 Billion in the last fiscal quarter. Also, most people who have studied the causes of our recession link the Democrat's social loan programs and the loose loan qualifying done by Freddie and Fannie; making them directly responsible for the recession.

Oh, and NOW, Obama and his team will start tracking F & F. Sick, huh?

***** - In all fairness to the Sacramento Bee; they did make a big splash over the bonus paid to the recently fired Hewlett-Packard CEO.

Last Wednesday, a Federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional. While I will not go into the correctness of his ruling here; I do see that the divide between supporters and opponents are becoming more hateful and polarized. The level of emotions is reaching a new high.

This portends  a coming disaster in America. Since the election of George Bush in 2000 the left and right have moved to their extremes . The angry rhetoric has become more and more vicious and destructive. Obama has done his part. He has used the tactic of villianization to pursue his progressive agenda. Almost a 'take no prisioners' attitude.

Obama has introduced race into the mix; while at the same time proclaiming himself to be 'post-racial.' Then in another blatant attempt to move his leftist agenda, he has begun to pit the 'poor' against the 'rich.' Blaming Capitalism for the woes of the 'working class.'  

Here then is my prediction for future; unless the American citizens wake up from their stupor:

 The US of A is on the verge of 3 internal wars:
1. Morality war - the different religions trying to force their idealogy down the throats of others. And to become the single decider of what is moral.

2. Class war - Obama and the progressive have begun waging war against the producers for the benefit of the looters. While the progressives stand on the sidelines lining their political pockets.

3. Race war - Again Obama and the progressives trying to accuse everyone who disagrees with Obama of being racist. Imagined slights and downright lies.

The Obama administration has embarked on a mission; the scope of which has not been seen since the governmental takeovers by the FDR. The total control of the US economy; accomplished through Congressional action or through Executive Order is the ultimate goal of the progressives.

The end results of Obama's idealogical plan will be to turn our nation into a citizenry which is totally dependent on the federal government for their economic future. Everytime a business and customer interact, there will be a bureaucratic 'finger on the scale.' Every business transaction over $600 a year will be reported to the IRS. The federal databases will fill up with massive details of everyday business deals. When these numbers are crunched by all-powerful government supercomputers; audits of business and personal finance will SOAR.

Every aspect of the lives of American citizens will be logged, cataloged and filed away for future reference. Soon the feds will know WHAT you buy, Where you buy it, Where you got the money to purchase it.  They will know how much you earn and how much you save. They will be an all-seeing 'partner' in your every transaction. Especially if you use a credit or debit card to buy things.

MY PLAN:

1. Cut spending - buying only the essentials

2. Pay off debt - protect your credit rating and my self-esteem.

3. Pile up cash equal to at least 1 years expences, including vacations.

4. Buy physical Gold - to allow me to buy things when the economy collapses.

5. Know exactly where my asset protection tools are located.

6. Have an emergency plan for when all government structure collapses.

7. Have an 'exit' stratedy for when it is time to leave this life.

This plan is subject to update as situtations change due to actions by the Obama administration. Mantra: hope for the best; plan for the worst.

In the past few weeks I have begun to see a pattern develop which might show us Obama's overall plan of action for his presidency. If what I am seeing is indeed his true motivations for ramming through legislation; it chills me to the bone.

Pundits on the left bang away at the previous Bush Administration in an attempt to justify Obama's policies; never missing a chance to link some current problem with a Bush 'failed policy.' Most times it sees like a smoke screen to shield a president they agree with philosophically. Which creates doubt in my mind.

 What I see is much more insidious. If my fears are realized, the very existence of the United States of America is at stake. Studying economics and human behavor for the past 40 years have led me to be suspicious of anyone in power who says, 'trust me.' So what is Obama's plan??

The national debt has been climbing since Obama took office. His Obamacare is estimated to add $1.5 Trillion to the debt even before it takes affect. His takeover of GM and Chrysler gives him a very large seat on their boards of directors. He has pushed throught a huge financial regulation law (FinReg) that gives him a huge voice in every financial transaction in our nation. Obama now wants tens of billions of dollars to bail out the auto workers pension funds. On and on it goes.

Here is how the plan works: Drive up the national debt against the wishes of Republicans. Create more social programs. Claim to care about the unemployeed and the poor. Rail against Wall Street and the 'rich.' Drive the country to the edge of the fiscal abyss - then propose a Value Added Tax (VAT) to pay for the debt. When the Republicans, who are complaining about the huge debt, resist the tax increase; Obama will say, 'See, the republicans don't care about the debt.' Simple huh???

With the help if the left-leaning media, the president will villify anyone who stands in his way; with special emphasis on Fox News.

On Wednesday, a federal judge overturned parts of Arizona's new law regarding illegal immigration. The law passed in May by the Arizona legislature, and supported by a majority of Arizona citizens AND Americans; was intended to stop the flow of illegals swarming the state.

While this might seem to be a setback for the Governor and people of Arizona on the surface, it seems that almost every one of the supporters welcomes a chance to have the issue heard before the SCOTUS. Only then will final resolution be at hand. Since the ruling is in the 9th Circuit Court's jurisdiction, any appeal will be lodged with that court. The first step is a 3 judge panel of the 9th Circuit and then on to a 9 judge panel. Then on to the SCOTUS.

It is interesting to note that since the decision, there continues to be protests by opponents of the law. News stories contain details of acts of civil disobedience and property destruction. Contrast this with the Tea Party protests, where no reported acts of violence. Tells you something about the differing tactics of the left and the center / right in America.

This is an issue that will continue to see the light of day. At least 14 other states and a few cities are contemplating similar laws or regulations. It looks like the federal government (Obama administration) has set out on a course of action which will pit the rights of the individual states against the feds. Other "State's Rights" issues will follow. First amoung them will be Obamacare's dictate that individual citizens can be forced to buy health insurance.

justdesserts wrote on 07/25/2010 09:41:23 PM:
Why do Republicans always come up with eliminating taxes as a way to create jobs?
========

Here is the simple answer:

If a man or woman have an idea for starting a business, they need money to pay the opening and operating expenses. They need to survive (and live) while the business builds enought to pay them a living wage. When they get large enough, they hire employees.

But on the other hand if the government takes every penny they earn in taxes, they have NO resources to create or build a successful business. Thus NO employee - and no need for government regulators or state employees.

Who in their right mind wants to invest their savings and struggle and work long hours to build a business if they know that the democrats and unions and tax collectors are hovering just out of sight to take it all away.

First, let me say that my vacation lasted longer than I expected so I have not been 'on the job' and my postings have been neglected. Oh, well, I am back.

With the California budget overdue by 20 plus days, the citizens of CA are getting worried about what the democrat majority is planning to cut to balance the budget. The Sacramento Bee is mobilizing to pressure the republicans into approving tax increases. Which, by the way, I don't think will happen.

I worry that the citizens don't completely understand the dire nature of the budget shortfall. Most people cannot comprehend how much $20 Billion dollars is. And that is the budget shortfall for just THIS year. It will happen next year unless the democrats do massive cuts to entitlement spending and union  retirement systems.

Today a democrat state legislator was documented as trying to live on food stamps for a week. The article by one of the Bee editorial board was intended to foist guilt and shame on the taxpayers of CA. I don't think it will work because the taxpayers of CA are tapped out.

We will see where this goes, as the majority of legislators are on vacation. More on this tomorrow.

I just want to take a few moments to review the top headlines and comment on where we are tonight.

1. The 'massive' oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

After several failed attempts to stem the flow of oil from the broken pipeline it appears that at least partial success might be forthcoming. BP has twice attempted to cap the leak with a dome, but both attempts ended in failure. Today they lowered a pipeline and pushed it into the leaking pipe at the bottom of the gulf. We will have to wait and see just how much of the gushing oil they can divert to the tanker waiting on the surface.

But no review of this story would be complete without talking about the politicial side of the issue. Oil company executives, who were summoned to testify before congress, professed innocence and pointed the finger of blame at each other.

Obviously this irritated Barack Obama. On Friday, Obama, in an angry speech deplored the finger-pointing. Then in what this humble writer can only call hubris, Obama pointed HIS finger of blame directly at the George W Bush administration.

2. The Arizona Illegal Immigrant Law.

This week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was questioned on Capitol Hill about Arizona's new law. What was striking was that since the law was passed he has made the rounds on TV news shows making negative references to the potential results of the law.

His remarks have generally concerned the constitutionality of the law and the possiblity of 'racial profiling.' When asked if he had read the law, he said, "NO"  That answer says volumes. His response was widely broadcast over the internet and on Fox News, with various commentators expressing disbelief. We should also note that there was almost NO coverage by the 'mainstream Obama' media outlets.

Oddly enough, with all of the treats of lawsuits from the ACLU, Holder's office and Moveon.org, we have not seen any lawsuits filed. This makes me wonder if they really have any basis for a lawsuit or if they are just blowing smoke and venting their anger. We will see.

3. The upcoming state primary elections.

There are several interesting primary elections this next week. Primary elections held over the past two weeks were surprising. Two veteran lawmakers were summarily thrown out in favor of newcomers. One was Senator Robert Bennett of Utah. He did not survive the party caucus vote. Another was Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia. The 14-term congressman was thrown overboard for another rookie politician.

On Tuesday we have three races to watch and they will tell a lot about voter sentiment. The past upsets have been generally characterized by career pundits as freak occurances. But I don't believe that is the case. I think we are seeing a trend, but again Tuesdays primaries will say a lot. The election races to watch are:

1. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas,

2. Rand Paul's entry into the Kentucky race as a newcomer,

3. Senator Arlen Spector of PA who is fending off a challenger from the Democratic party. Spector, you will remember changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic last year.

To say the least, 2010 will be exciting to watch from a political perspective. We may also be witnessing a rebirth of American public's desire to rest control of their government from the hands of the established elite. I can hardly wait.

The Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted today over concerns about the massive debt and fiscal crisis in Greece. It seems that by this weekend we will find out if the European Union (EU) will bail out the nation. What I find interesting is that considering the reasons behind the crisis it does not make any difference if Greece gets bailed out or not.

If we look at the causes of the current situation in Greece we will find similar situations growing in the State of California and to a lesser degree, the US. It seems that since the first of the bailouts occured in late 2008 and the prospect of more to come; everyone is focused on staving off the day of collapse instead of focusing on how to prevent the ultimate failure.

For example, the state of CA, like Greece has been promising their unions more and more freebies and enhanced retirements. They have overspent their power to levy taxes and the taxpayers are starting to resist. While at the same time budgets are being cut to try and balance the income with the expenditures. But the unions don't want any cuts to their entitlements.

For the past week the union membership have been rioting in the streets. Burning buildings and cars. They have been demanding MORE entitlements and higher wages. Well, something has to give. That brings us to this weekend.

With other countries on the verge of becoming Greece, everyone is looking to the richest country in the EU - Germany. But, the German people are upset thinking they will be the scapegoat for the rest of the EU's problems. The Greece bailout is highly unpopular. The 'Greece vote' is scheduled for Friday. This is when we will find out if the bailout will occur.

What makes this weekend even more important is that the German people hold their elections on Monday. Chancellor Merkel's government may well win re-election or not based on Friday's vote.

But, even with a bailout, if the unions in Greece won't give concessions, and it appears they will not, this economic disaster will re-occur in a few months. And, if the US markets don't like what happens this weekend, today's freefall will only continue. Buckle up, folks.

Anthem Insurance today announced it was retracting its previously proposed 39 percent rate hike. This rate hike set off a massive firestorm among Obama minions and California democrat politicians. There were charges of 'excessive profits' and cheating their insurance clients.

Oddly enough this rate hike proposal occurred just before Obama made his final push to get Obamacare through Congress. The bill was stalled and on the verge of failure. Obama had already been villianizing health insurance companies. How convienent!!

Well, now after Obamacare has passed and signed into law; Anthem announces they are retracting the proposed rate increase. The reason for the retraction - they made 'inadvertent miscalculations.' So, the supposed rate crisis has served its purpose.

It is interesting that whenever Obama needs to push through one of his crisis bills; a villian suddenly pops up. Which allows Obama to say, 'See I told you I would save you.' This is not only an attempt to fool the public; but possibly a criminal conspiracy. But getting HIS justice department to investigate will never happen.

For the past week the 'mainstream' media have been pushing the message out of the Obama administration, that the Republicans are resisting banking reform because they are in the pocket of big banks - like Goldman Sachs. And the message seems to resonate with average Americans.

But the truth is slowly leaking out that Obama is tied at the hip of Goldman.  It has been revealed that Obama has taken almost $1 million dollars in campaign donations from GS. Harry Reid, majority leader of the US Senate has also taken donations recently from GS. Probably the most serious of revelations is that the CEO of GS, Lloyd Blankfein has been a frequent visitor to the White House.

A commentator like myself could be called cynical for seeing a connection here. But, I found out long ago that cynicism helps one see reality more clearly than the pollyanna's in the general society are able to. The worst part, what if Obama's plan to villify the banking industry actually ends up giving him and his administration ultimate power over the banking industry.

In the California governor's race, the large newspapers are spreading stories about how the leading Republican contender is 'linked' to Goldman. This is followed up by the blogs, dominated by state employee unions, which continue to feed misinformation to the public. Kind of like if enough people tell the same lie, people will start to believe it.

On the Sacbee website there is a story about a CA state employee trying to get his union to deal with the realities of our state economic crisis. He encourages his union to make concessions for the good of the entire state. But the union members are having none of that.

In multiple comments, which seem to be coming from the Public Employee Union members, this persons is taken to task for going against the union and their hard line tactics. The union and their members don't seem to understand that CA is on the verge of bankrupcy.

One poster in particular by the screen name of jhufnagle takes offense at the very idea that he should be glad he still has a job when many, many CA citizens in the private sector has lost theirs. He does not seem to understand the gravity of our economic situation and is only looking out for himself and his union.

Until the PEUs come to grips with reality and accept that they have to be part of the solution, they will continue to be part of the problem. And if they hold out too long the only solution will be to lay off or fire a great number of public employees. Just like the City of Las Angeles is planning.

But I guess the unions only care about winning and not about solving problems with the least amount of collateral damage. Sad situation for everyone who loves CA.

The columnist Ruben Navarrette is not someone I usually agree with. His writings tend to lean towards the left and with questionable conclusions. But today's piece was square on target.

The title was, 'Teachers unions need to be more accountable, less stubborn.'

He rightly points out that teachers like to part of a collective when negotiating their contracts but want to be thought of as individuals when they are being patted on the head for their compassion towards their students. Well, then why do teachers and their unions hate the idea of being evaluated on how well their students learn and succeed?

The fact is that teachers, like every other individual puts their own personal welfare ahead of every other consideration. That they try to portray themselves as altruistic, selfless angles belies the truth of human nature. Granted, they are charged with the education of our children; and that is a huge responsibility, the very existence of remedial classes in nearly every college and university tells a different story.

I have no problem with the motives of individual teachers. Most people like to think they do their jobs well. What I DO have a problem with is two-fold; 1. as members of a powerful union, they get the idea that they have power over the public purse and 2. that they are somehow exempt from feeling the economic pain that employees in the private sector are suffering. The Public Employee Unions need to remember that they serve the public.

In an Associated Press article today Obama was suggesting that a new Value Added Tax was 'still on the table.' Even the hint that a VAT is being considered is a direct reversal of Obama's pledge that NO tax increases would hit individuals making under $200k a year. Since a VAT like the ones used in Europe would affect every consumer in America. In a big way.

It is interesting to me that the 'mainstream press' has chosen to ignore the apparant conflict between Obama's pledge during the election and this new 'possiblity.' Thankfully the US Senate passed a non-binding resolution last week effectively giving a big thumbs-down to the VAT. By a vote of 85 - 13. The article by the AP appeared in the Sacramento Bee on page A11

In my opinion a VAT that is added to the current tax system would be the final nail in the coffin of the US economy. If the VAT were proposed to replace the current income tax then the affect would be neglible. BUT, that second option would be a VERY complex proposition. And, it would be ripe for including sneeky perks for certain groups. i.e. unions and campaign donors. Just like the Obamacare bill did.

The Tea Party held nationwide protests today. Even though the events were organized and promoted by average citizens; the elite, progressive media did their best to villify the participants and portray them as anti-American.

MSNBC and the New York Times are instrumental in this process of trying to silence anyone who does not agree with their political dogma. Mcclatchy, in their Sacramento Bee unit printed a nice front page article; then followed up on the jump page with an outragous NY Times hit piece to sit along side their article.

It is becoming more and more clear that the 'mainstream' liberal media cannot be trusted. Us ordinary citizens must resist the attempts to silence us. America was born on the issue of free speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution was first in line because of its great importance. We must never allow the haters of the Constitution to block our First Amendment rights.

McClatchy and the NY Times revel in their free speech rights and then censor anyone who disagrees with them. This was seen tonight in several comments I made on their website. All the while promoting the comments of neocon_terror; an outragous proponent of hate and insults.

In an editorial appearing in today's Sacramento Bee, the teacher's union is singled out for blame in the state's effort to secure funds to be distributed by the Obama administration.

Specifically, the reluctance of the union to allow data collection which would tie teacher and student achievement together. I would assume that if the success or failure of a particular student could be traced to an individual teacher; there could be some embarassing consequences. When you couple this to the fact that most teachers have tenure; which makes bad teachers almost impossible to fire; you get an interesting paradox.

If California is ever to have solid tools to increase student success, then there must be some way to find out if there are incompetent teachers who need to be dealt with. With the power of today's computers it would seem that it would be simple to tie each student to every teacher they have ever been exposed to. Which is something that would create problems for the entrenched teachers union. Add to this, the fact that the unions are tied hand and foot to the democrat power machine in Sacramento; don't expect much to change.

Even if it means the state and the students lose valuable federal tax dollars. Sooner or later this situation will boil over. I will watch with great interest.

In the last 36 hours a variety of financial experts have begun to warn of coming tax increases directly tied to Obamacare. The latest is a proposed increase of tax rates on capital gains.

The current top rate of 15 percent is expected to increase to 24.5 percent for the 2011 tax year. If this happens, one can expect to see a drop in the amount of money flowing into the stock market as investors seek to find save havens for their cash.

Looking at my own portfolio, why would I want to hold my investments into 2011 when I could cash out this year and save money on my taxes? If this could kill the bull market we are currently experiencing remains to  be seen. But investment managers will be watching closely and they will have to decide on the best use of the money they manage. Also, large investment funds like CalPers and CalStrs could be seriously affected.

Lastly, no one is expecting Obamacare to lower prices OR taxes. The American economy is still in a fragle position. Anything that affects investor confidence in a negative way could lead us back to a bear market and a second-dip recession. Every investor needs to consult a professional advisor to seek advice on how to proceed.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner delayed a report which was scheduled for April 15 to Congress on exchange-rate policies, avoiding a decision on whether to accuse China of manipulating the value of their currency, the yuan.

It appears that Geithner's decision was made because it might create turmoil in relations between the Obama administration and the Chinese government. With the massive US debt that China holds; the administration appears to be increasingly concerned with antagonizing China's leaders. At least twice before, China has shown its displeasure with White House actions. The recent visit with President Obama, by the Dalai Lama was roundly criticized by un-named Chinese officials.

Many of us in the media have been watching carefully to see whether China would attempt to influence U.S. policy; and how the Obama administration would respond. Stay tuned.

Justice Stevens, a reliable liberal / progressive vote on the US Supreme Court is hinting he will retire soon. Maybe as early as this year. While this seems to be minor news, there is a much more important issue.

While it is expected that President Obama will appoint someone to replace Stevens who mirrors his liberal agenda; for a sitting justice to say, 'I will surely do it while he's still president'; shows he is trying to pick his own successor.

This strips away any notion of impartiality on Stevens part in his judicial role. Normally a justice is known to be biased one way or another, but it never spoken about by the justice. Secondly, it smacks of his desire to STACK the court. Not very impartial, if you ask me. 

Sacbee using their platform as the only newspaper in Sacramento tries to discredit former Bush advisor, Karl Rove. It has become almost an everyday occurance to find some little tidbit involving Bush to push their pro-obama agenda.

This time they attacked Rove on his CA book tour. Accusing him of falsifying the data on Saddam and the threat Saddam posed to the world prior to our invasion of Iraq. They say he lied to congress. What hypocrits.

But what makes the editorial suspect is that they offer NO proof. Just innuendo and their bias. The reason this is clear is that if they had any proof, they would have splashed it in giant headlines on their front page. Along with 8 or 9 followup stories.

I have learned long ago to not trust anything the editorial board of Sacbee says. Only the most gullible of people do. BTW, the only reason I subscribe to Sacbee is stay abreast of what the loonie left is putting out.

NOTE: This is a companion article to the last posting. Sacbee positions stories to bring the greatest impact on its pro-Obama, Anti-business stance.

Now the story. Oil prices have been fluxuating for several weeks, creeping higher. Most of the industry sources I have been reading attribute this to the coming of summer driving season and uncertainty about Obama's energy policies.

But Sacbee says, 'Blame it on the same folks who brought you $140 oil and $4 gasoline in 2008. Wall street speculators.' The inference is that there are a couple of insidious individuals sitting in a room somewhere pushing buttons to control prices. In reality, it is the market - stupid. Doing what the market always does.

America has always had an open market system. Especially when it comes to the commodies markets. But Obama has injected so much uncertainty that investors are looking for a safe have for their money. Many have chosen to hold cash; while others have chosen have gone to gold in an effort to shore up their economic futures.

It seems that almost everyday the Sacbee and the Obama administration announce another villian and another crisis to be addressed immediately. And it scares the public which is otherwise uneducated on how the world really works.