A Good Day for VA and for America

Today a federal judge in Virginia ruled that a mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional. Nothing else, mind you, just the mandate that every citizen buy health insurance. This is so straight forward that I find it hard to believe that two other federal judges ruled that this was somehow enumerated in the Constitution, it is not. I have my 'handy' Constitution by my computer. Please read Article I, Section 8, The Congress shall have the power ... "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes..."

Ok, I have a MA in Legal Administration, I'm not a lawyer or an expert in Constitutional Law, but I can't find a credible argument that this mandate is constitutional. The Constitution clearly lays out the enumerated powers for all branches of government. Yes, there is a Commerce Clause that allows Congress to regulate interstate commerce. But this mandate has nothing to do with that. If someone chooses not to participate in any health care plan, guess what? They're not participating in commerce!! Is this so hard to understand??

Oh, and yes there is the argument that in Article I, Section 8, "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes"... hmmm, Mr. Obama said that the 'penalty' for not buying insurance was not a tax. But yet the government lawyers are using this lame excuse to support their case. Sidebar: federal judges don't decide cases based on whether or not it's a 'feel good' idea, they base their decisions on the law.

One other important issue, if the government loses this case? Guess what... the whole bill will go down in flames. The revenue that they had projected from this 'mandatory' requirement was what was going to support the majority of the cost of this program. With this mandate gone.... the bill will fall like a house of cards.

This WILL end up at the Supreme Court, probably a year from now, and ..... well may the best argument win!!

Cheers!

Wasilla we hardly knew ya!

Everyday it seems like I have to comment on these ridiculous goings on....

ACT I, Introducing Sarah Palin, there is a love fest!

ACT II Some in the Tea Party don't like her. But a lot of peeps luv her.

ACT III Oops my teenage daughter gets pregnant, then wants to marry Baby Daddy, then doesn't want to marry Baby Daddy

ACT IV Teenage Momma goes on DWST... I actually liked her.

ACT V - Oops the other daughter says awful things about gays on FB.

ACT VI Bristol chimes in with the S word~ And TLC is licking its chops over the ratings for Palin's Alaska.

My read on this..... She and her family are fab at PR but that's it! Good night!

"If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested..."

"Over the river and through the woods, with a 'strip search' along the way." I hadn't really been paying much attention to this story until yesterday. I don't fly much anymore, and for the most part our airport security seemed to be handled relatively well. Up until now. What I have been reading lately is horrifying on so many levels. Where to begin...?

First and foremost, wasn't it just last month that we discovered Al Qaeda performing dry runs with bomb materials in printer cartridges? Why then are we 'virtually' strip searching pregnant ladies and patting down 3 year old kids?? And why the hell aren't we addressing what the 'bad guys' seem to be planning next?? This really seems to be so straight forward. After 9-11, we virtually shut down access to successful hijackings. The 'bad guys' always look for another way to blow stuff up. We need to be doing more to protect the cargo in our planes, when OBVIOUSLY this is what these terrorists are planning. As Homer Simpson would say..."DOPE"!!

Second, what purpose does it serve to see every passenger... man, women and child... naked? I haven't read a credible argument for these machines in terms of their effectiveness in protecting the flying public. What this is ... is a grave violation of our privacy. Who wants some stranger seeing an image of their naked body! Or their minor child's body! We need to fight this gross infraction of our constitutional rights.

Oh hey... wanna opt out of the x-ray? No problem, look what we have for you.... a pat down usually reserved for criminals whose behavior has created the reasonable suspicion that they've broken the law. Groping genitalia included!

Lastly, the verdict is still out on how safe repeated exposure to this type of x-ray might be. Especially to people with certain conditions, and especially to pregnant women, the elderly, and children. This is a reckless move by Homeland Security and hopefully the uprising by the flying public and flight crews will put a halt to this......Cheers!

DADT

I haven't blogged for a while because of my ankle replacement surgery. This was done on June 30th, but now on November 12, there appears to be another problem. Sad is me and Bah Humbug!

But in spite of all of this, I had to blog about Veteran's Day and all the 'hubbub' about DADT. First, anyone and I mean anyone who chooses to join the military in any capacity is a hero. I'm not a military expert, but I find it hard to believe that the small percentage of gay people who join are going to create massive disruptions. Maybe I'm wrong, but you have to show me the evidence, I am a student of legal studies so I always ask that question.

No evidence.... case closed. This is another example of our federal government is spending too much time re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Glenn Beck

I have to blog again about Glenn Beck. As I have said before, I used to listen to his radio program in the early part of 2000. He was funny, irreverent, creative, and lovable. There was mostly dark humor and sarcasm about current events and his 'sick freak' callers. Back then no one listened to his show...he was syndicated on a measly 43 stations and he was a 'soft core' shock jock. There was definitely no talk of politics. The only controversial topic I remember him discussing was the case in Florida regarding Terri Schiavo who was going to be taken off of life support. And when I heard him talk about this, I thought, GB WTF, this isn't your shtick. The old Glenn Beck was a recovering alcoholic who was a 'Howard Stern' wannabe.

I remember thinking .. this is so strange that HLN gave him his own show. He was awkward and the show didn't get ratings. Enter Roger Ailes at Fox.. this Svengali-like influence turned this alcoholic shock jock into a major media phenom. I didn't get it then and I don't get it now. I guess because I was one of the few who knew him, 'back when'.

This is why I can't support him, or his rallies, I remember him back when...... And now he just seems like a phony.

Why Have Some of Our Young People Become Sociopaths?

It's been a while since I've blogged. Mostly because my recent ankle surgery and recovery has dominated my entire being. But I am back because I am extremely disturbed by the recent suicides of young people (children really) because of the actions of other 'children' who it appears have become sociopaths.

Five suicides in three weeks...... this is horrific. As a heterosexual, it is really hard for me to 'wrap my head around' why someone is gay. But I definitely believe that this is not a choice for someone. With the hatred in our society for them, why would anyone choose this? This is who they are. I don't have a lot of gay friends, but the ones that I have or have had in the past have been nothing but loving, giving, funny, hard workers, honest.. the list goes on. So I am outraged that vulnerable young people have to deal with this hatred in silence.

Let me also say that this is not an exclusively 'gay' issue. It has become a national news story because all five students in the last three weeks have been gay, but there have been other bullying incidents that have tragically led to other suicides.

Phoebe Prince in Massachusetts, Megan Meier in Missouri, and I'm sure there are others.

Problem #1 - Legislation addressing this issue is non-existent. Technology marches forward at a pace that is hard for legislators to keep up with. Prosecutors are left with 'invasion of privacy','criminal harassment','violation of civil rights' or perhaps 'felony stalking' charges. We need to push for more legislation targeting these specific crimes.

Problem #2 - This generation of young people have no concept of privacy. What it is, why it is important, how violating someone's privacy is not right... I think most good parents don't think about ever talking to their kids about privacy. Until now, I think people just took for granted that certain things were meant to be private, and assumed that their kids would think the same. Children these days have a warped sense of what should be private. Technology has fueled this fire. Come on, sending naked pictures of yourself to classmates? Oh Lord, look how far we have come.

Problem #3 (and the most important) - Faculty and staff at schools need to wake up and start taking 'bullying' more seriously. These aren't just your 'run of the mill' pranks. Before his suicide Tyler alerted his RA and other University officials, and his plea for help fell on deaf ears. The abuse that Phoebe Prince suffered was witnessed by many faculty and students at her school, and again no one said or did anything to help her.

My sincere hope is that these recent tragedies will at least start a dialogue on how to combat this problem.

Reasons # 7

7. Obama Lacks 'Presidential Theatricality'

I didn't realize until the other day that 'theatricality' was a word. But Leslie Stahl was on Morning Joe and they were discussing how important this is to a president. People are far more influenced by a 'visual' picture than a message that is simply transmitted in writing. For example, why is it that so many Americans are now believing that Obama is a Muslim? Because he has not been seen in a church for many, many, months. But yet lately, on camera, he has been sponsoring dinners, and making speeches promoting tolerance for Muslims. Most folks in the media now predict that the first family will soon be pictured attending a christian church.

Oh and BTW, the USA is THE most tolerant nation in terms of religious freedom. Let's not forget that. In conclusion, Obama has no concept of the importance of the 'symbolism' that the office of the president requires. So let's just throw in the Gulf Disaster, and the first lady's trip to Spain, these are just more examples of his and his administration's inability to connect to the American people.

Do you know what just happened.......... my computer, doing spell check just suggested that muslim should be spelled with a capital 'M', but when I typed the word christian, there is no such prompt. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

I would have included a #8, but the Skins VS Ravens just started!!!

Reason #5 and #6 for the '2012' like Destruction of the Obama Administration

Aside from the fact that DC has experienced Apocalyptic weather in the last eight months.... here is the real scary news:

5. The Continuing Loss of Jobs is Staggering

The new unemployment numbers came out today. New unemployment claims were 500,000. This is the highest it has been since November 2009. Not only are employers not hiring.. they are laying off workers at a record number. There was no unusual circumstance for this increase, just a growing sense of uncertainty as to this country's economic future.

The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits is 4.5 million. This number doesn't include those people who are receiving extended benefits from the federal government. That number is 5.6 million. Unbelievable..

6. The Growing Gap Between the 'Haves' and 'Have Nots'

Sears, a giant in the retail industry, which includes K-Mart, had a drop in their expected earnings for the 2nd quarter. Why? .. competition from retailers such as Target and Walmart, and also the lack of consumer confidence from their target audience. The middle class in America is beginning to disappear and they are now becoming the poor in America.

On the other hand, the William Sonoma company, which owns Pottery Barn, both very upscale and pricey retail stores, have shown remarkable increases in expected earnings. The wealthy who still have disposable income are spending that money with seemingly no worries about their financial future.

In conclusion: both of these trends signal a dire situation for our country's economic future in the short term. And this is Obama's economy now.... not Bush's.

More Reasons Obama is in a meltdown

This is number 3 and 4 in my top ten:

3. The US is drowning in debt

This is frightening.. and I don't want to use this space to spew numbers but just 'Google' the 'Congressional Budget Office'. The CBO projects that the US debt could rise to 87% of GDP by 2020. Do you know what that means... Imagine that your household makes $60,000 a year, and you are in debt for $52,000. Sounds scary to me. Or just check out this link http://www.usdebtclock.org/ I'm not a 'finance' or 'economics' person, but I do know that this country is in serious trouble, and there has been no attempt by either Republicans or Democrats to slow down the spending. This is like the 'crazy Aunt' in the basement.. everyone knows she's there.. but no one wants to talk about her.

4. Obama now fails to inspire

This was his 'calling card' during the campaign. He talked about hope and change and transparency in government. His actions so far have been anything but.. now he reads endlessly from a teleprompter, and if he doesn't, he puts his foot in his mouth. For example, when he stated on Friday that the US Constitution gives all people freedom of religion, and the right to own private property. Ok... hello? I think we would all agree with that, but just because you are free to do something, doesn't mean that it is a responsible or respectable thing to do.

Enough for now, time for bed.

Top 10 Reasons Why Obama is 'Crashing and Burning'

I must admit at the outset that these 'talking points' are from an article I read in the UK Telegraph. It's interesting how keenly aware the Europeans are of what has happened to our country in such a short amount of time. And it's not good. I've decided not to post all 10 reasons at once. I want to comment on each reason, and hopefully get some comments from some FB friends. I'll tell you straight out.. I don't care if you don't agree with me. I love listening to opposing opinions! So here goes:

REASON #1 (and these are in no particular order)

Obama is out of touch with the American people:

The poll numbers for him have been in a stunning decline recently. I don't need to post numbers. Look them up for yourself. The incredible rise of the "Tea Party Movement" is evidence that many Americans don't like what he has done to this country so far, and don't like where he wants to take it. Even some Democrats have recently voiced concern about him; and some of them who are up for re-election this November don't want him anywhere near their constituents. Obama campaigned for this job saying things a lot of people wanted to hear, and then did a complete '180'.

REASON #2

Obama has no leadership qualities:


The times that we are living in require that the POTUS have strong leadership skills. In this department, Obama has completely failed. Thinking back on the campaign, most of us realize that we should have taken note of this. Obama has never 'run' anything. He's never run a company and met a payroll. He was a community organizer? And a law professor? How differently things would have been if Mitt Romney had been elected. This man, as the governor of Massachusetts, turned a $3 billion budget deficit into a $700 million surplus without raising taxes or borrowing. He also successfully took over as President and CEO of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. Our current president came into office with NO executive experience, are any of us surprised that he is totally incompetent?

My head is ready to explode.. thinking and writing about this is cathartic, but exhausting, I need to relax...Stay tuned for more later.

Total Ankle Replacement Surgery Next Week

In 1980, the summer after my first semester at GCC, I dislocated my ankle. How you ask? Some of you may know.. I was training to be a server at 'The Iron Bridge'. I was in the small kitchen area picking up 2 mugs of coffee for my table. While I was doing this, a beer delivery guy had entered and opened the trap door in the floor to take his products to the basement. As I turned to exit the kitchen, my first step was into the basement. I remember landing on a stair about half way down. I remember the hot coffee burning my leg. I remember the owner coming down and picking me up and sitting me down on the basement floor. I remember that instead of calling an ambulance the owner decided to put me in his car and drive me to the ER in Grove City. I remember holding my leg and staring in horror at my foot, which instead of facing forward, was twisted to the left. Strangely, I didn't feel much pain. I guess the brain, during trauma, has a way of blocking what should have been excruciating pain. I felt my leg swelling. Ironically, as we were driving through Grove City, we passed my mother driving the family station wagon.

A pin was put in my ankle, and for 30 years my ankle has done very well. In recent years however, I have experienced traumatic arthritis and lots of pain. Hard to walk even a few blocks.

So on June 30th I will be getting this 'crappy' ankle replaced. I'm thrilled... my blog will be about my experiences with this and our healthcare system.

Penny for your thoughts

Did you know that it actually costs more than a penny to make a penny.. same with nickels. Our country is drowning in debt, why don't we just give up using nickels and pennies? I find them annoying, they just get in the way.

I also think that we could get rid of PBS.. let's face it in this day and age with satellite, dish, cable.. you don't think Barney or SS could find a home? Trust me they could.

We need to think 'outside the box' to put our country on a track to a balanced budget. It wasn't so long ago that we had one.. with dare I say, President Clinton.

One of our finance professors, who is deeply concerned about this country's debt to foreign countries suggested that we sell Alaska and Hawaii to raise money. I laughed .. but he kept a straight face.

Obama's 'so called' stimulus package of 400 million?? (I can't keep track of the amount) has led to NO NEW JOBS. Where did this money go??

And now this disaster in the Gulf, how long will we be able to use BP as an ATM to fix this?

I feel empathetic towards President Obama right now. He is not Harry Potter... He is not 'Aqua Man'. He is a completely incompetent leader who is in way over his head. All of us should be praying for him every night.

That's all for now. Good night.

The Slippery Slope

First it was AIG, then GM, and now BP? Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, said the following today:

"It’s time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped. This is the only way the public will know what’s going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP’s strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary, and be sure the President is ultimately in charge."

"If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP’s North American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history."

I really cannot believe that all of this is happening unchallenged; especially by constitutional lawyers who should know better. It is illegal for the federal government to take over a private company. No matter how reasonable and apparently vital their goal may be. I'll tell you where my thinking takes me on this (courtesy of oyez.org).

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, US Supreme Court

FACTS: In April of 1952, during the Korean War, President Truman issued an executive order directing Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer to seize and operate most of the nation's steel mills. This was done in order to avert the expected effects of a strike by the United Steelworkers of America.

QUESTION: Did the President have the constitutional authority to seize and operate the steel mills?

CONCLUSION: In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that the President did not have the authority to issue such an order. The Court found that there was no congressional statute that authorized the President to take possession of private property.

Seems pretty clear to me. I would love to hear other arguments.

This will make your head spin

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

AMERICA'S NATIONAL DEBT
TOPS $13,000,000,000,000;
DEBT PER TAXPAYER - $117,975;
US DEBT TO GDP RATIO - 90.3%

~Drudge Report www.drudgereport.com

Our tax dollars hard at work

OMG, this is ridiculous... the feds,instead of working to clean up the oil spill, are contemplating filing a complaint against Arizona. "The draft complaint challenges the Arizona law as unconstitutional, saying it is illegal because it impedes federal law, according to the sources. Huh? What? yea, the federal law which has not been enforced, so the sovereign state of Arizona and its citizens decided to take action to stop the overwhelming increase in crime there due to illegals.

This is a colossal waste of money (Our Money!!!)

I think I heard that when Sec. of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was the Governor of Arizona, she would send copies of documents (bills) stating total dollars spent by her state for border control (it was in the millions). Wonder if she was ever reimbursed?

I miss the old Glenn Beck

Betcha didn't know that there actually was a 'old' Glenn Beck. I listened to him in the very early years of 2000. He wasn't on TV and he was syndicated on a measly 47 stations. The old GB had a reputation, not as a right winger, but as a 'soft core' shock jock. This was a Glenn Beck that used dark and sarcastic humor, and had a tag line with his callers that was 'Hey ya sick freak!'

I don't know if I'm alone on this island, but I really liked the old GB. That is why I now find him hard to stomach. There is barely a thread left of that humorous jock. It appears that the 'Svengali-like' influence of Roger Ailes has left him a shadow of his former self.

I'm sure Roger, GB, and lots of others don't really care about where he came from... but I miss the old GB. Couldn't even find any archived recordings from that era.

Now, moving into the present, I was very upset when XM changed their talk line-up. Now during AM drive time there are TWO channels carrying GB at the same time. Switched to another channel and found a breath of fresh air, named Stephanie Miller. Yes, I know, she's a lefty liberal, but I must say I found her very entertaining, and she doesn't talk non-stop politics. She is witty and banters well with her side kick. She also seems self-effacing, not arrogant. Ed Schultz, you could learn a lot from her on how to put together a radio show that actually gets ratings.

I knew therehad to be a reason I liked James Carville

One of this country's most out-spoken liberal democrats has taken a huge swipe at the Obama Administration. Here's what he said on CNN:

"I'm as good a Democrat as most people, and I think this administration has done some good things. They are risking everything by this 'go along with BP' strategy they have that seems like, lackadaisical on this, and Doug is right, they seem like they're inconvenienced by this, this is some giant thing getting in their way and somehow or another, if you let BP handle it, it'll all go away. It's not going away. It's growing out there. It is a disaster of the first magnitude, and they've got to go to Plan B."

And I must apologize for anything cruel I have said about Chris Matthews. Here's what he said about the spill on the "Tonight Show". He said that the President was "acting a little like a Vatican Observer". He went on to say, "The President scares me," he said. "When is he actually going to do something? And I worry; I know he doesn't want to take ownership of it. I know politics. He said the minute he says, 'I'm in charge,' he takes the blame, but somebody has to. It's in our interest."

Wow... this is my mea culpa.

Reminiscing about the 90s

For some reason I've been thinking a lot about Ross Perot lately. Maybe it was this past Sunday that I missed him the most. I can hardly bear to watch these Sunday AM 'talking heads' anymore. They are so boring, and no one wants to ask the tough questions, nor do others want to respond with decisive answers. I miss seeing Ross Perot on Larry King. Remember his pie charts and grafts about this country's debt and deficits. Larry.... (he'd say in that wonderful Texas drawl) this country's debt is like the crazy Aunt in the basement.... everyone knows she's there but no one wants to talk about her. Luv'd that! Instead of the Tea Party movement, the Perotistas (AKA The Volunteers) formed United We Stand America. I also enjoyed it when he bought 30 minutes of air time for his infomercial style chats.

I'm also looking back fondly on the Clinton Administration. What I wouldn't give to have him in office rather than Obama. If Obama could accomplish even half of what Clinton did (with the help of the 'Republican Revolution' in Congress) I might feel a little better about having him as President. I'm more than a little horrified to feel this way........ But let's take a look back at some of his administration's accomplishments. I won't list them all here, so here they are: http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-01.html

Oh well, it's never good to cling to the past.

Save for future reference.....

"One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary." -Ayn Rand, The Voice of Reason

Also, so as not to appear sexist... the woman to be watching now is Brigitte Gabriel. Check out her website http://americancongressfortruth.com/ .... everything you ever wanted to know about radical Islam. This woman knows what she's talking about.

The REAL guy to be watching

The guy we really need to be watching now is Gov. Chris Christie. If he can turn the state of New Jersey around... We will have a coronation in DC in 2012. He isn't interested in being reelected so he's doing the right things to get that state's budget under control. He isn't pandering to any special interests. He's pissing off a lot of people .... especially the teachers' unions, but tough times call for tough decisions. These are the types of politicians that despite not wanting to be reelected... most likely will be.

I really wish the media, who is spending soooo much time talking about how evil Rand Paul is would spend more time talking about the ballooning debt this country is in. These people's ancestors were the ones rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic rather than seeing the giant iceberg they just hit.

Cafferty got this one right: "Felipe Calderon should spend his time trying to create opportunities for his own citizens, so they're not driven by poverty and desperation to sneak into this country illegally. This country doesn't meddle in Mexico's internal affairs, President Calderon, and you ought to keep out of ours. Quite frankly, our border security is none of your business."

Yea, my new place to voice my opinion... rant and rave...vent,vent, and vent!