Ambassador Economics 101

In The News May 29, 2009

Times are a-changin’.

It seems now you do not need to have any foreign policy nor foreign relations experience to become an Ambassador for the United States. All you need are deep pockets with the contents going to a certain “Teleprompter in Chief”.

This in via Bloomberg via Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion:

Ambassador “Vacuum Cleaner” Gets Company

Louis Susman of Chicago was nicknamed “the vacuum cleaner” because he was so good at cleaning out the pockets of the wealthy to get them to give to Democratic causes and candidates. As noted on this blog last February, Susman was in line for ambassadorship to Britain after having raised $240 milliion for Democrats.

The Susman appointment now is official, as are the appointments of numerous other wealthy contributors to the Obama campaign, including (via Bloomberg News):

— John Roos, chief executive officer of the Palo Alto, California-based law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, to Japan. He raised more than $500,000 for Obama.

— Charles Rivkin, chief executive officer of Wildbrain Inc., to France. Rivkin collected more than $500,000 for Obama’s campaign and $300,000 for his inauguration.

— Laurie Fulton, a partner with Williams & Connolly LLP, to Denmark. Fulton, 59, raised $100,000 to $200,000.

Obama is continuing the presidential tradition of rewarding campaign contributors and denigrating career foreign service officers. So much for change, more like business as usual.

So much for hope”n”change, it seems all we are going to see from here on in is: 
hope ‘n’ a whole lotta cha-cha-cha-ching cha-ching, cha-ching

The “Big Brother” Census Survey..Is Really Manditory?

Action Item, Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, Educational Material, In The News, US Congress Legislation May 28, 2009

This topic has been on my mind since we received 2 of these ominous 14 page surveys.

A WND article yesterday lays out a sampling of it’s ludicrous questions and the extent of the intrusion into our personal lives that the federal government is trying to pull off:

The federal government is forcing 3 million Americans to disclose sensitive, personal information about finances, health and lifestyle in a 14-page survey – including questions about availability of household flush toilets and difficulty with undressing and bathing.

The 2009 American Community Survey, an annual supplement to the decennial Census, asks about residents’ personal relationships and whether a home has hot and cold running water, a flush toilet, bathing facilities, appliances and phone services. It also asks how many rooms are in a home and what vehicles are used at each household.

The article also brings to light a very important mis-representation as to the legal aspect it:

While many recipients may consider the questionnaire to be tedious and meddling, the Census Bureau warns that citizens are required by law to complete it and may be fined as much as $5,000 for willfully refusing. While an individual may feel uneasy about answering each question truthfully, the fine for filing false information can be as much as $500.

(snip)

While the U.S. Constitution allows Americans to be counted for purposes of taxation and political representation, Jim Harper, a privacy expert at the Cato Institute, told the New York Post the survey is “a classic example of mission creep over the decades – this constitutional need to literally count how many noses are in the United States has turned into a vast data-collection operation.”

Rep. Ron Paul blasted the government for spending “hundreds of millions of dollars” on the survey and called the questionnaire “insulting” in his Texas Straight Talk column.

“The questions are both ludicrous and insulting,” he wrote. “The survey asks, for instance, how many bathrooms you have in your house, how many miles you drive to work, how many days you were sick last year, and whether you have trouble getting up stairs. It goes on and on, mixing inane questions with highly detailed inquiries about your financial affairs. One can only imagine the countless malevolent ways our federal bureaucrats could use this information. At the very least the survey will be used to dole out pork, which is reason enough to oppose it.”

read the article in it’s entirety here

OK, so tell me, how can they impose fines on only a certain portion of the population that is chosen at random? How did we get to be chosen as 1 of only 3 million of the over 300 million residents of this country?

I am not a legal scholar nor even spent a day in college, but my knowledge of the Constitution and my Common Sense smelled a rat and thus the threat of being fined or arrested for not filling this form out did not send me into a tizzy to get right on it and send the federal government mine and my families personal information. Quite the contrary.

What I did was sit to start filling it out with much sarcasm:

ancestry/origin: Natural born US citizen

when did you move into your home: after the furniture was in place and the utilities turned on

how many separate rooms in the domicile: enough to be comfortable

appliances: yes we have the ones that we need at this time, no they do not all work all the time

autos: depends on if you are asking about ones we own or ones the neighbors own

home heating fuel: we’re working to recycle the livestock gas to save the neighboring farmers from being unduly taxed, we’ll let you know how that all works out

food stamps: no thank you, we either cut back or get an extra job

taxes: yes, they come due annually

and my fav was…any physical, mental or emotional condition: only when government intrudes where it has no business being, lying, threatening us that we will be fined or prosecuted for not answering this illegal survey

 While I was filling out the form, the phone happened to ring and I am sure they wished they had skipped our number as it was a representative/acorn red-shirt calling to again assist me in filling out the form. I say again, as they had already called to inform me that it would be coming and I had told them we had already received a survey, I just hadn’t sat down to fill it out.

But this time when the call came, having opened the survey and seeing it for what it was, and being dressed in full sarcasm, I decided to bait the red-shirt caller and conceded to let them ask me a few questions. What I did not do was give them the answer they wanted. Instead I asked them what these questions had to do with a constitutional head count of the population for election purposes and what article or clause in the constitution required me to answer them?

After repeated rounds, them asking and me asking back, they never did answer my question, instead the caller abruptly hung up with no good-bye or even a thank you for taking their call. HOW RUDE!! But on the upside, it has been 3 weeks since that call and they have not made any attempts to re-contact us and we haven’t been arrested or served with a federal citation for refusing to divulge personal information that is none of their business.

So, now you know my story of the census survey. If you have gotten one of these surveys and have not fallen into the illegal trap of our corrupt government and already sent it in…DO NOT…It is NOT illegal to refuse to fill it out!!!

Making Our Voices Heard

Action Item, Economy May 27, 2009

Let’s keep this going…an e-mail I recieved that if implemented by enough can send a HUGE message to DC about why American Made is the only way to get this economy moving again….

> LETS GET BEHIND THIS!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
> we can really start right now.
>
> I WAS BUYING FOOD THE OTHER DAY AT THE LOCAL MARKET. ON THE LABEL OF
> SOME PRODUCTS IT SAID FROM CHINA. FOR EXAMPLE THE” OUR FAMILY” BRAND OF THE
> MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN “FROM CHINA.” I WAS SHOCKED!!
> SO FOR A FEW MORE CENTS I BOUGHT THE LIBERTY GOLD BRAND FROM CALIFORNIA. TAKES FOREVER JUST TO BUY FOOD AND DO LABEL READING ! !
>
> Are we Americans as dumb as we appear — or — is it that we just do not think? While the Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Bush Administration for perceived errors.
>
> Yet 70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.
>
> Well, duh..why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges?
>
> SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA !!
>
> Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says ‘Made in China ‘ or ‘PRC’ (and that now includes Hong Kong ), simply choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.
>
> Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter? If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some American farmer. Easter is just an example, the point is do not wait for the government to act. Just go ahead and assume control on your own.
>
> THINK ABOUT THIS – If 200 million Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that’s a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor…fast!!
>
> The downside? Some American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of inventory. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh
>
> The solution? Let’s give them fair warning and send our own message. Most of the people who have been reading about this matter are planning on implementing this on June 4, and continue it until July 4. That is only one month of trading losses, but it will hit the Chinese for 1/12th of the total, or 8%, of their American exports. Then they will at least have to ask themselves if the benefits of their arrogance and lawlessness were worth it.
>
> Remember, June 4 to July 4.
>
> EVEN BETTER. . . START NOW.
>
> Send this to everybody you know. Let’s show them that we are Americans and NOBODY can take us for granted.
>
> If we can’t live without cheap Chinese goods for one month out of our lives, WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET!
>
> Pass it on, America

God Bless Our Brave Servicemen and Women and God Bless America

Youth Educational Material May 25, 2009

Vodpod videos no longer available.

President Bush’s 2008 Memorial to our Fallen Soldiers:

Today, we gather to honor those who gave everything to preserve our way of life. The men and women we honor here served for liberty. They sacrificed for liberty. And in countless acts of courage, they died for liberty. From faraway lands, they were returned to cemeteries like this one, where broken hearts received their broken bodies — they found peace beneath the white headstones in the land they fought to defend.

It is a solemn reminder of the cost of freedom that the number of headstones in a place such as this grows with every new Memorial Day. In a world where freedom is constantly under attack and in a world where our security is challenged, the joys of liberty are often purchased by the sacrifices of those who serve a cause greater than themselves. Today we mourn and remember all who have given their lives in the line of duty. Today we lift up our hearts especially those who’ve fallen in the past year.

(snip)

The men and women of American armed forces perform extraordinary acts of heroism every single day. Like the nation they serve, they do not glory in the devastation of war. They also do not flinch from combat when liberty and justice are embattled. Ronald Tucker, Nathan Hardy and Mike Koch make clear, they do not waver — even in the face of danger.

And so today, here in Washington and across our country, we pay tribute to all who have fallen — a tribute never equal to the debt they are owed. We will forever honor their memories. We will forever search for their comrades, the POWs and MIAs. And we pledge — we offer a solemn pledge to persevere and to provide the security for our citizens and secure the peace for which they fought.

The soil of Arlington and other sites is filled with liberty’s defenders. It is nourished by their heroism. It is watered by the silent tears of the mothers and fathers, and husbands and wives, and sons and daughters they left behind. Today we pray for God’s blessing on all who grieve and ask the Almighty to strengthen and comfort them today and everyday.

On this Memorial Day, I stand before you as the Commander-in-Chief and try to tell you how proud I am at the sacrifice and service of the men and women who wear our uniform. They’re an awesome bunch of people and the United States is blessed to have such citizens. (Applause.)

I am humbled by those who have made the ultimate sacrifice that allow a free civilization to endure and flourish. It only remains for us, the heirs of their legacy, to have the courage and the character to follow their lead — and to preserve America as the greatest nation on earth and the last best hope for mankind.

May God bless you and may God bless America.

We may have not always agreed with everything he did, but then when do we agree with everything anyone does. No one is perfect.

The one thing we always could count on and that we could never fault President Bush, was his patriotism and dedication to our men and women of the armed forces. Our national security and our men and women of the Armed Forces ALWAYS came 1st to him, as it should be for any Commander in Chief.

The Armed Forces held a farewell ceremony in Fort Myer’s Conmy Hall in honor of the departing commander in chief, President George Walker Bush. President Bush praised the military for their service and efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration. The ceremony included military honors and a pass in review, as well as remarks by Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates.

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“Obama-man Can Cuz He Mixes It With Hope And makes The world Feel Good”

Economy May 24, 2009

Hillarious . . . Yet sad at the same time because of the destruction this administration is imposing on our economy and the future of our children and grandchildren.

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English Is The Language Of These United States

Contact Your State Senators & Representatives, Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, South Dakota State Legislation, US Congress Legislation, Youth Educational Material May 24, 2009

AMEN!!!

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Cheney on Obama: ‘Recklessness Cloaked in Righteousness’

Action Item, Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation, Youth Educational Material May 24, 2009

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Jihadist Training in US Prisons

Action Item, In The News May 21, 2009

For some reason this isn’t sitting too well with my gut:

Bad Books Behind Bars: An inventory of extremist Islamic texts in federal prisons

Especially after yesterday’s FBI bust.

Read the Bill? Perish the Thought!”

Action Item, Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, Economy, In The News, US Congress Legislation, Youth Educational Material May 21, 2009

Brian Beutler of TPM may be enamoured by the tactics Waxman took to make sure his “C-r-ap N’ Ty-rade” bill would be heading our way in a few short days:

Faced with the possibility that the GOP minority might require the committee’s clerks to read aloud the 900-page Waxman-Markey climate change bill, or many of its 400-plus proposed amendments, the committee’s chairman, Henry Waxman (D-CA), hired a speed reader. An quick tongued, acting-clerk, if you will.

The quick tongued clerk soon had the RINO’s running back to their prehistoric caves whence they came, once again conceding to political theatrical blackmail:

Mary Katharine Ham of TWS gives a true constitutional perspective as to the trouble the Republican party is in for the next couple of years while the halls of Congress are thick with these spineless creatures who claim to represent us: 

Democrats Cleverly Thwart ‘Nefarious’ Republican Scheme to Have Congress Read Cap-and-Trade Bill With Speed Reading Clerk

Heaven forfend! Who would want to make the committee, which is supposed to understand the bill, actually listen to the contents of all 900 pages of it?

Even if the reading of the bill is a partisan “stall tactic” on the part of the Republicans, intellectually honest folks who want government to function responsibly would have to admit it’s a pretty benign one—beneficial, even. The brouhaha over reading the bill is an implicit, disturbing admission that—yes!— your Congress will enact a 900-page bill heavily regulating the fundamental engine of the American economy and your life in unprecedented ways without ever having read it. Feel good about that?

Beyond TPM’s take, which is predictable from a left-leaning site, the laughter inside the hearing room from lawmakers themselves is illustrative of the darkly comic state of legislative affairs on the Hill. Just remember: This is only the attempted reading of one tiny amendment by a speed-reading clerk, no less, and the reaction in the chamber is, “Ho, ho, ho, imagine if we were actually serious about this! It’s ludicrous! The language is mystifying, the prose impenetrable. It’d be absolutely excruciating to read all of those words together, in a row. Someone once told me that’s what my monocle was for, but I absolutely refuse to believe it. Now, Alfred, collect my topcoat and cigars, and let’s head to the club for a brandy before someone else tries to burden us with the stewardship of the taxpayers’ money. Read the bill. Perish the thought!”

So, while this was going on today, I was calling DC and making my opinion be heard. Have you made that call lately?

1-202-225-2801 ~ Herseth-Sandlin’s DC office

I also received 3 letters today, 2 from Johnson and 1 from Thune. I’ll be working on an article on their contents over the weekend. I have to say that Johnson, or should I say his staff, is so well versed in using talking points vs actually answering the question that . . .

I am thinking of coming up with some kind of “SHAM-A-WARD” for their office. They are sooo deserving of it.

“HWMN-BLA”

Uncategorized May 21, 2009

American Thinker : A peom by James Lewis, though he claims to know nothing about it

(*) HWMN-BLA, pronounced HUMMN-BLAH. To be pronounced devoutly, while head-knocking on a cold floor

toward Washington, D.C.

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