Cartoon on Global Warming

Saw this on townhall and could not stop laughing.

If you want to read a good presentation on “real” global warming science. Read this Power Point.

Slaughter does nothing

Will I have been looking for a month or more to find what Louise Slaughter does. What I have found is pretty much nothing but collect pay checks.

Can’t report on someone who does nothing but hide.

Going to go back to general topics

Charge of direction for Blog – anyone but Lousie Slaughter

I have not had time all summer to put any entries in my Blog for a variety of reasons. The main one being that very few positive things are going on in my local area (Rochester, NY) the nation or the world stage and I got fed up with all the negative thoughts.

After discussions with my wife I (we) are going to redirect the efforts of our blog with the goal being that Louise Slaughter, our representative in the House of Representatives, that is so far out of touch with reality that she refuses to meet with her constituents during the her vacations for her hard work (HAHA) as head of the rules committee in the House. The rules committee is basically the lapdog committee to the speaker of the house. Louise is not one any other committees so her only task is trying to figure out when votes are to be held on the floor of the house. Pretty much when Pelosi tells her to schedule the vote.

My Goal is to bring her real record to the light of day of the voters since she does so little that there is no news on her and she gets elected because of one of the worst cases of gerrymandering in the history of America. map of district.

Her inconsistency and for not taking care of her district while spending taxpayer money everywhere else in the country makes her a bad representative.

One example of her hypocrisy
She was against a project in downtown Rochester call Renaissance Square. I agree with her that is would have been the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars. Ren Square was a project to build a auxiliary campus for the local community college, make an underground bus terminal for the RTS (local public bus company) and a performing arts theater.

The two main reason for being against the project were:
1)the bus terminal was not where the local Amtrak station is located so she was against the project
2) She was against the theater portion of the project.

At the time she was doing interviews in the local media and talking with local politicians, noted here and here she was saying the only way to make the economy recover is for investment in the arts.

… Representative Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Arts Caucus. “If we’re trying to stimulate the economy, and get money into the Treasury, nothing does that better than art.”

Last 2 weeks of News

I have been MIA the last two weeks, to much work and to do at home in the nice Spring weather to spend time on the computer.

1) California Supreme court rules Prop 8 is a “legal” amendment but stating the only the term marriage is what was made illegal for same sex couples in California. This is a ruling I actual agree with. Marriage is a religious term and should be taken totally out of the Governments hands. The government should create a mutual support contract to be filed with a government agency to give the “marriage rights” to any two people who want to enter such a relationship. Also a dissolution of the mutual support contract form and process would be needed. No need for lawyers or courts. Just a notarized form.
A good legal analysis can be found here.

2) Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, A normal far left wing hack job who thinks that they no better than anyone else what is “good” and “just” for all without any regard for the actual law.

3) Government Motors is now bankrupt. Big shock here, a poorly managed company for the last 30 years that has a huge union presence so short and long term costs can’t be controlled. To bad it will result in a motor company which is fascist in nature, supposedly privately owned by run by the government.

4) Obama stumping for his health care plans passage this summer before the bill is even written. The plan is here but there are no specifics. Normal politics, talk, give speech, no substance and rush through a plan in the darkness of night that nobody can read or comprehend since a true debate of the bill will result in it being something a vast majority of US citizen’s do not want.

5) North Korea leaves the peace Armistice, blows up a nuclear weapon and tests some long range missiles, the US response, maybe we can get a harsher worded letter to be considered at the UN but no passed. While this is going on make statements that this is not tolerable and North Korea is a rogue state, yada yada yada, nothing changed in 20 years on this front.

Searching for a silver lining but do not see anywhere that people are being told to be responsible for themselves and live with the consequences of poor decision making. Another couple of weeks on the road to fascism.

Maybe Obama Finally gets it

Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’

May 14 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”
…………….

Us conservatives have been railing against government spending for many, many years and have been saying it is not long term sustainable and will cause huge inflation and high interest rates.

We will see if he actually does cut government costs significantly (25-50%) or is another lip service politician which says one thing and does another, like add a few trillion more in government spending for universal health insurance for the 3 or 4 million American citizens which do not have insurance for the long term.

Adding the 12 to 15 million uninsured illegal immigrants will bankrupt any government system. The other 12 to 15 million which are already eligible for government insurance (SCHIP or MEDICAID) and do not use those programs. That is 25 to 30 million of the 45 million the Single Payer Health insurance people talk about, then there are 10 million transient people (between insurance coverage) and 5 to 10 million who do not choose to buy health insurance.

Effects of Stimulus Plan

1) As part of California’s attempt to balance its budget earlier this year there was an agreement to reduce some union labor rates that work for the government. Now the federal government (Obama administration) is telling California that unless it recedes the wage cuts, California will loose $6.8 Billion dollars in federal stimulus plan money.
California Officials Question Union’s Role in Federal Stimulus Ruling
Lawmaker angry over federal stimulus money decision

2) Spending the U.S. stimulus: states can’t afford it

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One of the greatest challenges U.S. states face in spending federal stimulus money is funding the burst in bureaucracy that accompanies the funds, a government watchdog said on Thursday, as the Obama administration pledged to give states more help.

Revenue has been dropping in most U.S. states for a year, and many governments have cut staff. But the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act flooded states with money for programs and required them to keep the public and federal government apprised of their spending, all of which requires more workers, said the Government Accountability Office.

“Due to fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff — limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds,” the GAO’s nearly 300-page report on the stimulus plan said.
…………

3) STIMULUS WATCH: Jobs, but not where needed most

WASHINGTON – The billions in transportation stimulus dollars that President Barack Obama promoted as a way to create jobs shortchange counties that need the work the most, an Associated Press analysis has found.

The AP’s review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide is the most complete picture available of where states plan to spend the first wave of highway money. It reveals that states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than in communities with the highest. The Transportation Department said it will attempt to replicate the AP’s analysis as it continues pressing states to dole out money fairly.
……

Results of the stimulus plan, direct political payback to unions that supported the Obama campaign, creating jobs where there is low unemployment and states can’t spend the money due to lack of resources.

As usual, the government is trying to help and puts resources in the wrong spots and the controls decisions which have nothing to do with the original area of concern.

Yup, just the new business as usual from the hopeychange administration.

Worst Supreme Court Decision Ever

A case nobody has probably ever heard of is one of the most influential to date and controls more of Americans live than anyone can image.

Wickard v. Filburn
link to Wikipedia
link to Conservapedia

This case gives the federal government the ability to regulate someones activity to engage in a act which has no commercial value because it may indirectly influence the commercial activity somewhere else.

I know that sounds far fetched but it is true.

From wikipedia

Roscoe Filburn was a farmer who produced wheat in excess of the amount permitted. Filburn however, argued that because the excess wheat was produced for his private consumption on his own farm, it never entered commerce at all, much less interstate commerce, and therefore was not a proper subject of federal regulation under the Commerce Clause.

[edit] Amount of wheat at issue

In July 1940, pursuant to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, Filburn’s 1941 allotment was established at 11.1 acres (45,000 m2) and a normal yield of 20.1 bushels of wheat per acre. Filburn was given notice of the allotment in July 1940 before the Fall planting of his 1941 crop of wheat, and again in July 1941, before it was harvested. Despite these notices Filburn planted 23 acres (93,000 m2) and harvested 239 bushels from his 11.9 acres (48,000 m2) of excess area.[1]

……..

The Court’s decision

The intended rationale of the Agricultural Adjustment Act was to stabilize the price of wheat on the national market. The federal government has the power to regulate interstate commerce through the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution. In Filburn the Court unanimously reasoned that the power to regulate the price at which commerce occurs was inherent in the power to regulate commerce.

Filburn argued that since the excess wheat he produced was intended solely for home consumption it could not be regulated through the interstate Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, reasoning that if Filburn had not used home-grown wheat he would have had to buy wheat on the open market. This effect on interstate commerce, the Court reasoned, may not be substantial from the actions of Filburn alone but through the cumulative actions of thousands of other farmers just like Filburn its effect would certainly become substantial. Therefore Congress could regulate wholly intrastate, non-commercial activity if such activity, viewed in the aggregate, would have a substantial effect on interstate commerce, even if the individual effects are trivial.

This court case precedent will be the centerpiece in the argument between states rights with the Montana and Utah laws on gun rights and commerce recently passed.

An overturning of this case would/could dramatically change how the Federal Government works and put restrictions on the federal government. Anyone who wants a smaller federal government needs to hope that the Supreme court takes up a case which will allow this to be precedent to be overturned. This is more important than any other issue, it if for the continuing existence of states and personal liberty.

HR 1913 – Hate Crime – Perceived intent added to offenses

Text of H.R. 1913: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009

Another redundant unnecessary feel good law passed in the house by democrats that will let the justice department have someone put on trial because a politically appointed lawyer (prosecutor) perceives that the person on trial for committing a crime may have thought something before or during the committing of a crime.

Some excerpts from the law

(1)OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person–
………………..
(2)OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerouse weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person–

I am pretty sure is is already against the law for anyone to burn, shot, beat, stab or blow up someone else in America. It should not matter if any perceived prejudice is present just that one individual (or group) tried to harm or succeeding in harming another individual.

Passage of this bill and signing into law will make any crime a hate crime because one can now be prosecuted on the perception of a prejudice.

Under this law any crime in which the attacker can be categorized as different is some way from the victim is now a hate crime.

So much for equal protection under the law, one is only equal to one that the government classifies as the same not everyone. This is a tragedy and a shame that the punishment for all crime is not the same regardless of government classification for the perpetrator and the victim. Everyone will now be unequal under the law.

This is the “thought” police at work. Bring on Big Brother, it is 1984 Mr Orwell.

Economy is OK if the news is NOT AS BAD AS EXPECTED

Recent news which is said to be good since it is not as bad as predicted.

Fed’s Bank Results ‘Reassuring,’ Show No Insolvency

…….
Federal Reserve stress tests on the 19 biggest lenders show Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. together require about $54 billion, said people familiar with the conclusions.
…….
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs yesterday suggested that the Obama
administration may seek management changes at some banks. Officials will want to “ensure that going forward they felt that the management was in place to remedy the situation and ensure long-term viability without continued government assistance,” he said.

Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis, 62, was ousted as chairman on April 29 ……….

Jobs Report Giving Investors Mixed Picture On US Economy

The pace of layoffs slowed in April when employers cut 539,000 jobs, the fewest in six months. But the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent,………………..

Job losses in February and March turned out to be deeper, according to revised figures. Employers cut 681,000 positions in February, 30,000 more than previously reported.
They cut 699,000 jobs in March, more than the 663,000 first reported. The deepest job cuts of the recession —741,000 came in January.

Jobs: A little less bleak

……………
Wachovia senior economist Mark Vitner and Gilliam both say they’re worried about the impact on jobs in coming reports from the bankruptcy at Chrysler, which will result in a 30-to-60 day shutdown at all of its plants, and the possible bankruptcy at General Motors (GM, Fortune 500). The loss of jobs — not just at those companies but at their dealers and suppliers — will be substantial.

And Vitner said that while Wachovia is projecting that there will be economic growth by the fourth quarter of this year, it’s projecting that unemployment will continue to rise into 2010, topping out at 10.8% in April of that year.

“We are moving in the right direction, but the recession is not over, and even when it’s over that’s not an end of the tough times,” said Vitner.

Wow a bank stress test with an 8.4% unemployment shows the banks will be OK, current unemployment is 8.9% and expected to exceed 10% in the next year.

I wonder if a new stress test will be needed so that the federal government can take over the banks.

GM & Chrysler Bankruptcy

G.M., Leaking Cash, Faces Bigger Chance of Bankruptcy

Even after receiving $15.4 billion in federal loans, General Motors is once again on the brink of financial collapse.

The automaker’s first-quarter earnings released Thursday showed that G.M. was losing more money and sales than it was in late December, when the government began its bailout…………..

This is occurring as Chrysler is in Bankruptcy

Chrysler Files to Seek Bankruptcy Protection

President Obama forced Chrysler into federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday so it could pursue a lifesaving alliance with the Italian automaker Fiat, in yet another extraordinary intervention into private industry by the federal government.
Flanked by his automobile task force of cabinet secretaries and business advisers in the White House’s grand entranceway, Mr. Obama announced a plan that would allow the United Automobile Workers, through their retirement plan, to take control of Chrysler, with Fiat and the United States as junior partners. The government would lend about $8 billion more to the company, on top of the $4 billion it had already provided……

If this is the good things that comes out of companies being to big to fail and then being supported by a federal government which is to big to fail.

This just proves that the US federal government is to bg and needs to be dismantled and let the states try to run things since the feds have screwed things up so badly.