Simple Man Politics

August 31st, 2010 that’s the date to remember. That is the day that President Barack Hussein Obama says we will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq. Wow that is only 18 months to wait before everyone’s loved ones come home from the Iraqi theater of operations. I bet you that so many wives, husbands, and parents are so excited that they are all a quiver with the anticipation of their long overdue reunion of their families.

Oh…..wait a minute did I say all of the combat troops out by August 31st, 2010? I’m sorry that was wrong, it is what the Obama said, but it is still wrong. Actually only 100,000 troops will be out of Iraq by that date. There will still be up to 50,000 troops there when we reach that date, so not everyone will have their long awaited family reunion after all.

By the way did I forget to remind you all that we are getting ready to step up combat operations in Afghanistan with a surge in troop deployments there? With 14 brigade combat teams currently in Iraq and many of those personnel with current combat experience I am sure that some of those fine young men and women will see their duty tours extended for that party, which means even less family reunions for families with their folks in Iraq.

Obama broke the news of his date for withdrawal at Camp Lejeune, NC. Many of the marines currently stationed at Camp Lejeune are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. Obama also told these young warriors that most of their brothers in arms in Iraq would remain there through the end of the year to make sure that the national elections there go smoothly but that they would be out by the end of August 2010.

It does appear that the President will keep his promise to start withdrawing troops from Iraq soon. However some of the leadership within his own party does not appear to be happy about the extended timetable for withdrawal or the number of troops left behind. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) said that 50,000 troops left in Iraq was a little higher number than he anticipated. However former Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator John McCain (R) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R) have both supported the plan with cautious optimism.

It seems to me that while President Obama is keeping his promise to withdraw troops from Iraq that he is not really keeping his promise to his supporters about a full withdrawal. I cannot say that this displeases me as I believe that they will do anything to undermine Bush’s Iraq policy in an effort to remove him from our history or to at least portray him as a failure for not leaving Iraq sooner. I also believe that President Obama has learned the hard way that leaving Iraq will not be so easy and I am sure he will learn a few more hard lessons with regard to our foreign policy as his administration continues over the next four years.

I also understand why a lot of people feel that we never should have gone to war in Iraq. We found no WMD’s there, although we know that at one time they had them and used them against their own people under Saddam. We also know that when we invaded Iraq we found no terrorists, but we did find evidence of their camps and Saddam’s cooperation with those groups. There is also a widely held consensus that G.W. Bush was just finishing what his dad started because Saddam tried to assassinate Bush 41, which we have the evidence that the assassination was at least planned and probably attempted.

The truth of the matter is though that Saddam Hussein was a very bad guy and a destabilizing force in the region just as Ahmadinejad of Iran is now. I also believe that since Saddam refused to cooperate with the UN inspectors and his violation of over 14 UN Security Council resolutions that it was time for him to go. Let’s be honest here for a minute we helped to create this monster by supporting his government at one time, so we had to clean up our mess.

Unfortunately I think Iran is our next mess we are going to have to clean up to, because we supported the former Shah of Iran, who was latter ousted in the Islamic revolution that took place while Jimmy (The Peanut Farmer Carter) Carter was president and resulted in US citizens being held hostage by the very monster that now runs the nation of Iran. I know for sure that the last thing we can afford is an Iran with a nuke, so I guess Obama is going to get some more on the job training as Commander in Chief.

That’s all for now I hope you all a fabulous weekend. I will see you all next week, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Today’s topic is the United Nations, one of my favorite topics although I don’t talk about them very much. The reason I don’t talk about them very often is that in the grand scheme of things that I write about they don’t play a very important role. However I will write about them today because they have stuck their thumb in the American tax payer’s eye again.

The American people give the UN more than 5 Billion Dollars a year, headquarter the UN here on US soil in New York City, and usually provide the bulk of UN peacekeeping forces around the world. With this information in mind here is the rub and a case in point.

The UN internal judicial body known as The Administrative Tribunal or UNAT, has just ruled that the UN must pay the legal fees of Benon Sevan. Sevan is the former chief of the UN Iraq Oil for Food Program, which cost a whopping 60 Billion Dollars worth of scandal and corruption. Sevan is currently in hiding in Cyprus.

In 2007 Sevan was charged with bribery and wire fraud in connection with the oil for food program. The charges were brought by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. His lawyers are requesting 880,000 Dollars plus interest from the UN to pay his legal fees and the UN has pledged to abide by the UNAT ruling. All of these while the criminal faces up to 50 years in prison.

This is not the first time that UNAT has issued such a ridiculous decision either. They did the same thing on Kofi Annan’s watch ordering a years back pay to a former UN official with the UNDP who was then accused of killing 32 people during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Even though there was a huge public outcry Annan issued the payment.

The reason that this is our problem is that the monies being paid out for these ridiculous decisions by UNAT are funds given to the UN by American tax payers. Benon Sevan is a criminal charged by the US government with two federal felony counts and should be extradited to the US to stand trial, but instead we have to pay his legal fees. UN officials charged with any sort of corruption should be brought to trial, not have their legal fees paid.

I personally feel that most of the UN General Assemblies main body are criminals. Yet we allow the UN to continue to function and right here on our own soil. They feed on our people at every opportunity and we pay them for their pleasure. The only thing that unites the UN is that they are usually united against the American people without whose support they would not even be a damaged nonviable entity.

I think that not only should we not pay the legal fees of those international brigands, but that we should hunt them down and bring them to justice. That is if you can find any real old fashioned American justice here any more. I don’t think we should stop at that though. I think we should withdraw our financial support and membership in the UN and evict the entire organization. We don’t need them they need us.

That’s it for today my friends but I will be back soon. Have a great day CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well here it is midway through the week and it has been a week filled with a lot of activity in the political arena. Unfortunately I believe most of it is not going to be good for our country. Although the democrats would like all of us to believe otherwise I just can’t help but feel like we are on a roller coaster ride with no brakes and a steep fall into oblivion at the end. I know, I know I sound like the doom and gloom guy Instead of Obama this time, but everything seems to be pointing me in that direction.

On Monday we had Eric Holder down at Guantanamo taking a look at the detention facility there. After his tour and meetings with the chain of command for both the detention facility and the base he said in an interview with the press that the facility was run very professionally and is doing a great job. However he also said that even though they are doing a great job hew would close the Gitmo detention facility any way, which means those wonderful terrorists could be coming soon to a prison on US soil near you. These are just the people we need right here in our homeland.

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair also told the House Intelligence Committee that Guantanamo Naval Base should be closed just because we are not popular the world over, and those countries won’t deal with us. What I want to know is when did we forego our nation’s security just for the sake of international popularity. I guess we really don’t need our first line of defense and the warning system it is responsible for.

Of course there is also Barack Obama’s great speech before both houses of congress last night where he pled with the nation to support him and his massive spending porkulus bill. He tried to tell everyone that without going into debt to the Chinese even more and without spending billions on products not scheduled to begin before 2010 that we could not stimulate the economy now. I am trying to figure out how that is supposed to work still.

As if the first 800+ Billion Dollars wasn’t enough the lower house of congress approves another 410 Billion Dollars today for domestic programs increasing entitlements and the entitlement mentality. That’s right instead of the American people doing what they have always done, which is pick themselves back up, brush themselves off, and get back down to business the Democrats are going to save them all by doing it for them.

On a lighter note though our vaunted and fearless VP Joe Biden pulled off yet another gaffe in an interview CBS’ “Early Show”. This gaffe was in the techie field of the internet. While discussing the stimulus bill he told viewers to check out a government run website tracking stimulus spending. He did admit that he was embarrassed that he didn’t know the sites number and asked an aide if they had the number. Hmmmm I didn’t know websites had numbers. As most web savvy people are aware websites are identified by their URLs or addresses even thought hey do use a number system and are identified by their numeric IP address. I just found it funny that the most web savvy administration would have an official who thought the web worked like a telephone.

That is all for now and I hope you enjoy the Biden gaffe video. See you all later, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

As you all know the economy is in the forefront of the political news again today. I’m sure that this comes as no surprise considering it has been there since before the November 4th national election that saw Barack Obama catapulted into the White House. It was actually the economic crisis that helped to secure the oval office for the new President who ran on a platform of change, transparency, and a new style of governance for the American people.

Of course what we have actually seen from party in power both on the hill and at 1600 W. Pennsylvania Ave is definitely a new style of governing. We have seen an administration riddled with scandal over cabinet appointees and nominees who have done everything from cheat on their taxes, to awarding state contracts on the basis of contributions to their campaigns. Not to mention some who outright admit to being socialists with socialist agendas.

We have also seen the biggest increase in spending programs ever by a President in his first 100 days in office. We have seen monster bailouts of our banking institutions with a thinly veiled attempt at the nationalization of those institutions. We have also started bailing out the big three that make up the Detroit auto industry. We are also bailing out insurance companies, mortgage companies, and credit card companies.

We are even going to bailout homeowners who are facing foreclosures on their homes. The latter group often times being responsible for going into foreclosure simply because they were not responsible enough to pay their own bills and while we are at it we are going to pay off their credit card and auto loan debt to.

In addition to all of that we just got a 800 Billion Dollar stimulus bill loaded with pork and projects that wont even be ready before 2010 that passed both houses of congress and was signed into law by the President without ever having even been read by a single congressperson, or senator, and probably not even a White House official.

Congress is now waiting in the wings with another 400+ Billion Dollar bill and we aren’t even through the first 100 days of a new presidency or even the first year. As if that isn’t enough of our tax money being spent before it is even made Obama has pledged 900 Million Dollars to rebuild Palestine as if we can actually afford it.

With all of that going on as well as his own party working against him and having no support amongst Republicans on the hill in a gesture of good will Obama now points the finger at former President Bush and blames him for all of our economic woes, because he was President and initiated the first bailout mistake, which Democrats wanted to make anyway.

All of which flies in the face of the truth that the economic problem started with Freddy and Fanny who were forced by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who chair the committees that regulate them to make bad loans. Not to mention the fact that McCain as well as a few other conservatives warned that Freddy and Fannie were in trouble, and were told by Frank and Dodd that all was well and no need to worry.

One thing is for sure in my view and that is that it’s definitely going to get worse for all of us before it gets better. I for one can’t wait to see the spin that our glorious leader the great Barack Obama puts on all of this in his historic economic summit speech tonight. I am sure it promises to be full of doom and woe if he doesn’t get what he wants.

I am also very sure that the continued negative reaction by Wall Street as well as the continued negative reactions by the American people to this glut of spending and lack of real economic stimulus will fall on the deaf ears of Obama and company who will only blame someone else for their mistakes because of it when they fail.

My friends that is all I have to rant about today, but I am sure I will find something else to rail against very soon. Have the best day possible, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I was sitting in my office trying to think about what to write about today and I couldn’t find anything going on in politics today that I haven’t already written about, and I didn’t really feel like beating a dead horse today. So I decided to check my email and found this wonderfully written but of correspondence. At first I found it to be a little bit funny and I even got a good chuckle out of it, but then I realized something.

I realized that this would be the perfect solution to the ever widening gap in the ideologies and philosophies of the two major political parties who have most of the power in our nation today. I for one am all for this plan as I heartily agree with the author of this piece of potentially historical legislation. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

> Democrats and Republicans
>
> Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists,
> Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:
>
> We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this
> latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I
> know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future
> generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two
> ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is
> right, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, slate it up
> to irreconcilable differences, and go on our own ways.
>
> Here is a model dissolution agreement:
>
> Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each
> taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two
> sides can come to a friendly agreement.
>
> After that it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives
> can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct
> and disparate tastes. We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep
> them.
> You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU..
>
> Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA
> and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie O'Donnell
> (you are however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big
> enough to move them).
>
> We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical
> companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street. You can have your beloved
> homeless, homeboys, hippies, and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot
> Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's, and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles
> and give you NBC and Hollywood .
>
> You can make nice with Iran , Palestine , and France and we'll retain
> the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the
> peaceniks and war protestors. When our allies or way of life are under
> assault, we'll provide them job security.
>
> We'll keep our Judeo-Christian Values. You are welcome to Islam,
> Scientology, Humanism, and Shirley McClain. You can have the U.N. But we
> will no longer be paying the bill. We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks,
> and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you
> can find.
>
> You can give everyone healthcare, if you can find any practicing doctors
> (that is practicing, Howard Dean) who will follow to your turf (sic).
> We'll
> continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.
>
> We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and The National Anthem. I'm
> sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World
> to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.
>
> We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up
> poverty its best shot.
>
> Since it often so offends you we'll keep our History, our Name, and our
> Flag.
>
> Would you agree to this? If so please pass it along to other like minded
> patriots and if you do not agree just hit delete and hang on.
>
> In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR on who will need
> whose help in 15 years.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John J. Wall
>
> Law Student and an American
>
> P.S. Please take Barbra Streisand.

I hope you all enjoyed reading that, I know I did. I will try to be back soon with something a little more current in politics if I can find something in politics that is actually new and newsworthy, and I am sure the left as well as the right will endeavor to furnish me with something real soon. Have a great day my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well my friends T.G.I.F. Of course you all know what this means, this means it is time for the last post of the week. There is a lot going on in politics right now that I can write about, but I think I’m going to stay with the topic that Joy picked for my blog yesterday, which is the stimulus bill and the start of the nationalized socialist healthcare plan in it that both houses of congress and the administration passed into law and signed off on without so much as one congressman, senator, or administration official reading it. However I am going to put my own little spin on it and tell you something that it might mean and shock the hell right out of you.

Now bear in mind that they have only laid the foundation for a national healthcare plan within the bill so far and it is not yet complete, but when it is we will have lost any and all control that we currently enjoy with regard to our own healthcare. This is because they plan to have everyone’s medical records placed into a nation wide data base for easy access by healthcare professionals. Oh and by the way the database will be overseen by a governmental official and the DHHS, whose job it will be to streamline healthcare making it more cost effective and affordable. I mean for the government that is.

What this will does is put a bureaucrat instead of a physician in charge of determining whether or not to continue what ever treatment you are currently on, whether or not to receive a new treatment that may be necessary, or whether you will receive any treatment at all based on cost and your health. All of this means exactly the question that Joy asked you all yesterday, which is are you ready to die for America? That is not what I intend to shock all of you with though. Here is what I do intend to shock you with.

If the government is going to have this sort of control over you then what else do you think they will have control over with this new nationlized healthcare system? Think about it for a moment, can you guess? Don’t worry I will tell you what they will control. They will control who can and can’t be born. They will be able to determine a child’s health within the womb, at the same time they determine the health of the mother.

If the child is developmentally disabled in anyway they may decide that it is more cost effective to abort the child than to care for it medically outside of the womb, even if the mother’s health is fine and she wants the baby. By the same token they may also decide that for the mother that the child is healthy and even though the mother wants an abortion they can deny it. That’s right folks what I am talking about is population control, which sort of reminds me of China.

You all know by now that I am a pro-life kind of guy, which means I am against abortion except if the life of the mother is in danger, rape, or incest, and partial birth abortion period, which means I am all for the second part. As a parent of a special needs child as well I am totally opposed to the idea of abortion because the child is developmentally disabled. So what happened to the woman’s right to choose? It seems that the government will have the say, so there goes Roe v Wade right out the window.

Granted that is not what the bill actually says but it is a definite possibility and one I am certainly not comfortable with and people on both sides of the issue should not be comfortable with the idea either. You see government run healthcare means everyone’s health your unborn child included.

I hope that this gives all of you a pause for thought and stops you from being willing to jump in to bed with the government just because you misguidedly believe that you are entitled to something from the government, because this may be what you’re entitled to. I hope you all have an awesome weekend and I will see you all next week, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

More than once here on Simple Man Politics, both Tim and I (Joy) have discussed the stimulus bill that was just passed. I've even discussed it on my own blog, American Politics for the Conservative Woman. However, most of our posts have touched on the ridiculous spending, the silly tax cuts that don't really help anyone, and the atrocity of spending billions once AGAIN in tax payer dollars.

Many Americans are outraged at this bill, especially the idea of spending close to a trillion dollars. However, most Americans are not aware of some of the other scary issues that have come up in this bill. They've been covered up, and it's time that Americans realize what's really under there.

No doubt you've heard about Obama's lofty ideas of bringing about a nationalized health care plan. Most conservatives have felt that it wouldn't happen. You'd think that if people knew it was going on, they'd stand out against it and it would never actually come to pass. That's the problem…most people don't know that it's already happening.

This stimulus bill that was just passed included a large chunk of money that has been set aside to start a "nationwide health records database." This will be a database that includes everyone's health information. It will allow the government to see what medical problems you have, how often you see the doctor, and how you are being treated. In that 1000+ page stimulus bill, which no one in congress really read, this slipped right on through.

Now you're probably wondering where my title "Are You Ready to DIE for America" is going to fit in? Well, this is a huge step in the direction of nationalized health care with the government overseeing your care. Right in the stimulus bill, it has the stipulation on the Department of Health and Human Services, that they will "appropriate information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care." They will be overseeing what kind of care you get. This section also allows the Department of HHS to put penalties on physicians that end up spending too much money on one individual patient.

Essentially this new stimulus bill has started the beginnings of government run health care, where the law decides who is going to be eligible for care and what treatments they are allowed to receive. If it gets too expensive and you have too many medical problems, then you may end up doing your "patriotic duty" and dying for your country because the government decided you were too sick and too much of a financial liability to treat.

According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA, your medical records are to be kept private. Let's not even get into the fact that Democrats always argue that it's wrong for the government to "choose" or "interfere" when it comes to a woman's right to have an abortion. Apparently women can choose to kill and the government can't do a thing…but the government can get involved in every single aspect of your medical history, and it's perfectly fine.

Sadly Americans keep voting for this type of "change." I think eventually they'll regret it. I'm fairly sure this isn't the change that the American people have been hoping for. There definitely is going to be a change. Soon you'll no longer even have the freedom to choose medical treatments. In fact, your duty may be the "duty to die" so that everyone else can have free healthcare. Now that's a very expensive price to pay for change…don't you think?

Well my friends it appears that gun control may be applied to more than just the average law abiding American, because here in the Valley of the Sun Phoenix Arizona seems to have a shortage of long guns for la enforcement. The reason for the shortage and the person responsible are one and the same it’s Phoenix Chief of Police Jack Harris.

In a Glenn Beck interview dated February 13, 2009 between Beck and Darrel Ankarlo concerning Phoenix Arizona’s dubious distinction as being the number two child kidnap capitol in the world right behind Mexico City Mexico, it was discovered that there was a shortage of rifles within the Phoenix Police Department.

Apparently there are only sixty long guns for the entire force to rely upon. This is not good news considering the fact that we are not only the number two child kidnap capitol in the world but that we face drug and gun violence from the Mexican drug cartels here as well as homegrown violent crime.

The reason that this poses such a threat and problem to our law enforcement community here is that most of the crimes involving gun violence involve long gun or automatic rifles. As a result when an L.E.O. responds to a call involving guns he is usually unable to do anything about it because he is out-gunned.

The procedure for bringing a long gun to bear against criminals goes like this. The officer responds to the call. Upon arrival he determines whether or not rifles or automatic weapons are in use. He then requests a supervisor on scene. The supervisor then decides if long guns or automatic weapons are in use and whether or not to deploy a long gun. If he decides to employ a long gun he then issues the long gun he carries in his cruiser to the officer for deployment against the criminals. All of this takes an average time of 15 to 20 minutes, if you ask me that is unacceptable.

It appears that Chief Harris is unwilling to do anything about this weapon shortage to. He has not requested or ordered any long guns for his officers. However the Phoenix Police Dept approved some officers on patrol having rifles and when they said they would buy their own were promptly told no they wouldn’t by Chief Harris. Actor David Spade who is from Phoenix also donated 100,000 dollars of his own money for the effort but as of yet there have been no purchases.

Now to be honest I have a conceal carry permit and am known to be a gun owner. As a result I for one do not worry about defending myself in my own home that is what the criminals need to worry about. However I do worry about our law enforcement officers being able to defend themselves and the law abiding citizens in this country.

If city, county, and state governments are allowed to impose gun controls on those charged with our safety such as the law enforcement community then they will have no problems attempting to keep private citizens from defending themselves. I wonder how many other law enforcement agencies suffer from this same type of obstruction from their local governments and chain of command.

Have an awesome day, and I will be back again soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I think that former Governor and host of the new Fox News show Huckabee Mike Huckabee is right, that should be the name of our new economic stimulus plan. Since both houses of congress and the White House have failed to give the bill a name, I think this one is as good as any and better than most. I find this title to be especially descriptive and quite accurate as to the contents of the new stimulus package.

For starters this isn’t even Obama’s bill. The Obama version of the bill called for 45% to 50% tax cuts and 50% to 55% percent spending. The C.R.A.P. bill that passed has a 25% tax cuts to 75% spending ratio and is the brainchild of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid the ranking members and leaders of the Democratic Party that controls both houses of congress.

On the tax cuts side of C.R.A.P. the federal payroll tax cuts are aimed at people and couples who make less than 150k approximately. What this will basically amount to is about 13 dollars extra in your paycheck the first year and about 8 dollars in your paycheck the next year.

WOW is that economically stimulating to you or what. This must really want you to thank those politicians who voted for C.R.A.P. thereby giving us all such a wonderful financial windfall. Remember one thing though don’t spend it all in one place spread the wealth around a little.

On the spending side of the stimulus bill there is more C.R.A.P. than ever to stimulate job creation. It is spending programs like STD prevention for example. While I know that STD”s are acquired by a different kind of stimulation I am sure they wouldn’t put that in C.R.A.P. if it didn’t create jobs.

Then there are other spending programs designed to promote job growth like rebuilding infrastructure or bringing it into the 21st century by making it greener, although most of the work won’t start before 2010 I am sure we can wait for 2010 to see such awesome job creation. After all aren’t our elected officials looking out for our best interests?

I do know of one segment of the work force that will experience rapid job growth virtually overnight though. Those lucky people will be the beltway bandits and the lobbyists they employ to try to find ways to get their hands on your C.R.A.P. After all who better than the politicians and the businessmen who make up the beltway can handle your C.R.A.P. better than you the American tax payer.

That is all I have to say for today, but I will be back again soon with more revelations regarding our C.R.A.P. I’m sure. Have a great day and enjoy the video I put on here you will really find it amusing, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. To all of you who wanted to know, my Valentines Day was filled with a whole lotta love, and I hope yours was to.

Before I get started today I just want to say something about the deadly plane crash that occurred last night just outside Buffalo New York. First I would like to say that my heart goes out to the families of the 50 victims of that tragic accident, and that they will be in prayers as I’m sure they will be in all of yours.

I would also like to address the impact of the death of the 9/11 widow on board Mrs. Beverly Eckert who lost her childhood sweetheart and husband in the terrible attack on the World Trade Center. She was on her way to Buffalo to celebrate the 58th birthday of her late husband to award the scholarship she established in his honor to the two students who had won it. She is a hero after the fact of 9/11 but a hero none the less having found something positive out of the ashes of the rubble of the towers and the loss of her true love.

May all of you the victims of this grave accident REST IN PEACE!!!!!

Now on to easy part of this blog post. Today I want to talk about both the stimulus and the withdrawal of Senator Judd Gregg from consideration for the Secretary of the Department of Commerce. Both of these subjects are very important since on has already happened and the other will happen shortly. The consequences of each will most certainly be felt by the American people.

With regard to the 790 Billion Dollar stimulus package that is going to be voted on in both houses of Congress. The lower house under Speaker Pelosi stands ready to vote on the package as early as today and will certainly pass it by a partisan vote along party lines. I do not expect any of the house Republicans to vote in favor of the bill and I agree that they shouldn’t.

The Senate will also attempt to pass the bill as soon as the lower house does pass it. The problem is that three RINO (Republicans In Name Only) senators appear to be in support of this pork laden monstrosity incorrectly labeled a stimulus bill. I fervently hope that the majority party in the Senate does not get the GOP votes needed to pass the bill at least until the rest of the pork is removed and replaced with other programs that will actually stimulate the economy.

Judd Gregg’s vote may actually keep the Dem’s from getting the 60 votes needed to pass the bill and hopefully the renegade RINO’s supporting it will get back into line with their party’s faithful and oppose it as well. If this bill does pass the Senate and reaches the Presidents desk our economy may be at risk of suffering even greater damage as a result.

Now we move on to the Judd Gregg withdrawal from consideration for the Dept of Commerce. I agree that that when the President does ask you to serve in his cabinet that it is an offer and honor not to be taken lightly. However in light of the Obama administrations positions on both the stimulus and the removal of the census from the Dept of Commerce I can understand Gregg’s reluctance to accept the post both philosophically and practically.

He had a serious philosophical difference with the administration on the stimulus as well as the potential politicization of the census by moving it into the white Houses purview, which would have greatly politicized the census. I congratulate him on his insightful decision to withdraw and I hope he can be instrumental in putting a stop to both the stimulus bill and the census issue.

That is it for today my friends I hope you all have a magnificent weekend and an awesome Valentines Day. I will be back again next week, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship…The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
And then from dependence back into bondage."
- Writer, Alexander Fraser Tytler


I hope you take a minute to read the above quote. It's profound, especially since it was written by a man who lived 200+ years ago. However, a quick read makes you realize that this man definitely had some insight. It seems as if he was writing the history of America.

Recently we've had a president rise to power, Barack Obama, who has endless ties to the socialist movement. Many conservatives are worried that this man will bring socialism into our country. A look at the new stimulus bill shows us it's not far off. The sad part is, many Americans have asked for a socialist government.

It's a scary feeling to open your eyes and watch as democracy, which was fought for so bravely by patriots, merely slips away. Unfortunately, many don't even realize it's gone. However, what did Americans think would happen? America has become the land of the "handout," where there IS a free lunch.

Americans can talk about how much they hate big government, yet they beg for it. They ask for more and more from the government, fostering dependence upon a big government instead of on themselves. Many no longer even work for what they have - they simply wait for the government to hand it to them.

It's easy to see what has happened if you take a good look. We became a country of prosperity…the country of "rich men." People did become complacent…then apathetic. Soon, more and more people began to depend on the government. Simply look at the 2008 presidential election, and it's easy to see that people vote on how much they think the government will give them.

After all, people saw Obama as their "savior" who would end the economic problems, give out more money, and make sure everyone was taken care of. Now complaints are flying at a "stimulus" bill that is full of new programs, new handouts, and smelly "pork."

Well Americans, this is what may of you asked for. It's what many of you voted for. Unless people wake up and become independent and aware, democracy will merely fade away, and a socialist government will soon rise in its' place…"and then from dependence back into bondage."

Wow who ever thought that our eloquent Vice President Joe (The Gaff) Biden would be a conservative. On February 6th 2009 at the Democratic Leadership Retreat told his listeners that no matter what they do, they have a 30% chance of getting it wrong. I definitely think that this is a conservative estimate and I will tell you why.

When you take into account the tax cheat we have running the US Treasury, the socialist we have as the Global Warming Czar, the new crapulous bill.

There is also the fact that Iran is jazzed about our new President, the possibility of what they call fair diplomacy and their supposed new superpower status making them equal to us on the world stage.

Not to mention all of the Gitmo controversy going on and I would say that they stand a 100% chance of getting it wrong, which is still a conservative but almost liberal estimate falling more into line with a liberals point of view. Who would have ever thought that Joe Biden actually had a talent for understatement, certainly not I.

I hope you all have an excellent day. I will be back soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

If you've been following the news at all lately, you're aware of the big spending "stimulus" package that has made its' way through both houses. Passed by the House, and then today passed by the Senate, it's a bill that is full of "pork" and most of it offers very little when it comes to a solution to the economic problems that we are dealing with.

President Obama spent months spouting off his cliché's about "change you can believe in." I have news for you - this is NOT change that we can believe in. It is simply a debt that we can count on paying for years, that our children can count on paying, and even that our grandchildren can count on paying. Sadly, though we will pay, we will not reap great benefits from it at all.

Well, recently I received an email from American Solutions, that provided 12 solutions that will really work to stimulate our economy, instead of the big government, sorry excuse of a bill, that has just gone through congress. Instead of bringing more debt, these solutions will help create more jobs, and will also reward those that save, invest, and work hard. Here's a look at the 12-step program.

1. " Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
2. Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
3. Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.
4. Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.
5. Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.
6. No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.
7. More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.
8. Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
9. Protect Our Right to Vote in the Workplace. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union.
10. Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
11. Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.
12. Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year."

I for one, think this is an excellent plant. It makes sense, and actually does something for the American people, other than spending millions on STDs, getting rid of fish barriers, and fixing park trails for ATVs.

Interested in supporting these ideas? You can. Simply visit the site and show your support. Click here to visit. If you still believe in the voice of the people, give it a shot - I did!

Well Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said it best “why quibble over 200 million dollars?” I’ll tell you why senator, we quibble over 200 million dollars because it is the American tax payers dollars not yours, and we don’t want it wasted on programs in the stimulus package that stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Now I will tell you all that I agree that something needs to be done to jump start our economy. I would further add that I don’t think that tax cuts alone are the answer and that some strategic spending targeted at actually stimulating the economy and job creation is a must. However this stimulus package that the White House and both houses of congress are touting as the best way to save our economy has more pork in it than a Nebraska hog farm.

Here are a couple of examples of the wasteful spending in the bill. They want to put hundreds of millions of dollars into STD (sexually transmitted disease) prevention. While I agree that this is an important problem, I want to know just how that stimulates the economy. Another one is fish barriers. How do removing fish a barrier from waterways stimulate the economy and is it really worth 20 million dollars? How about 70 million dollars to support supercomputing activities for climate research? Not only does it not stimulate the economy or create jobs it promotes the lie that is global warming.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I look at wasteful spending programs like these I think it is more than a little important to question the validity of these pork projects in the stimulus package. These pork projects won’t cost us 200 million dollars they are going to cost us 470 million dollars and only for the three I mentioned. There is a lot more wasteful spending in the stimulus than that.

So Senator Schumer I hope this answers your question of why quibble over 200 million dollars. If you want to fund this kind of garbage then put it in an annual budget bill and try to pass it through both houses of congress and get Obama to sign it failing that pay for it all out of your own pocket. Whatever you decide to do don’t waste my money on this garbage and it is my money because I am the tax payer whose pocket you have your hand in.

Well my friends that is my rant for today, but I will be back again soon. Have a great day all of you, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I am sure that there are a lot of things I can write about today that are going on in politics that directly affects all of us. What I am going to write about today does affect all of us, but it only affects a few of us directly. That is not to say that we were any less outraged at the catastrophe that I’m going to talk about, but the families involved will have to endure a little more injustice on top of the injustice of losing loved ones in a cowardly attack. You see today’s subject is about the USS Cole, it’s victims, the crime, and now the travesty of justice where it’s criminal mastermind is concerned.

On October 12, 2000 while in the port of Aden in Yemen refueling the Cole suffered massive damage as a result of a cowardly suicide bombing attack against her. The crew of the Cole also suffered thirty-nine injuries and seventeen fatalities. The Cole began refueling at 10:30 am and at approximately 11:18 local time a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer and exploded putting a 40-by-40 foot gash in the side of the ship. In addition to the gash in the side of the ship there was also wide spread flooding the engineering spaces, but was brought under control by the evening. Navy divers determined that the keel was not damaged in the attack.

On March 14, 2007 a federal judge in the United States by the name of Robert Doumar ruled that the Sudanese government was liable for the bombing of the USS Cole. This ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed against that government by the victim’s relatives claiming that Al Qaeda could not have made this attack without support from Sudanese officials. On July 25, 2007 Justice Doumar ordered that the Sudanese government pay 8 million dollars to the families of the seventeen sailors who died, but the Sudanese are currently appealing this ruling.

As of May 2008, all of the defendants convicted of the attack had escaped from prison, or were freed by Yemeni officials. However, on June 30, 2008 Brigadier General Thomas W Hartman, legal advisor to the US Military Tribunal System announced that charges were being sworn against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Nashiri a Saudi citizen of Yemeni descent had been held at Gitmo since 2006. The charges filed were defined as organizing and directing the bombing of the USS Cole and the Pentagon will seek the death penalty.

As of today however the Pentagon and retired judge Susan Crawford who oversees the commissions issued a ruling dismissing without prejudice the charges against al-Nashiri. This was done to avoid a showdown between the Pentagon and the President. It also means that the charges can be reinstated at any time, while still bringing Gitmo into line with the 120 day stay order made by Obama. Al-Nashiri was arrested in the UAE in 2002 on charges of conspiring with militants and was later transferred to Gitmo.

Because of all of the political wrangling going on with regard to the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility the charges against this animal have been dropped. They have also said that since this beast was water boarded that the evidence may even be inadmissible in court, I guess we will have to wait and see how that angle works itself out.

I don’t see how we can give animals like this the same rights we afford their victims, which is to say the American people, but I fervently hope that even with justice wearing her customary blindfold, that she is not blind to the atrocities that this creature or any like him we have in custody have committed and judges them accordingly. As for the real victims in all of this, my prayers are with them and I pray they get the justice they so richly want and deserve.

That’s it for this week my friends, but I will be back again next week. Have an awesome weekend, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. I now have this blog page set up so that you can follow it. The tool for that is on the left side of the page near the bottom, I hope you all do.

Just when you thought that those thieving, lying, cheating politicians on capitol hill couldn’t surprise you any more than they already have with their bloated stimulus packages and righteous indignation at corporate compensation and big money corporate retreats to fancy resorts they come along and do it to us again. This time in the form of their own high dollar luxury resort retreats.

That’s right the Democratic Party, the party of change, the party of transparency is taking an all expenses paid party caucus retreat to Kingsmill Resort and Spa in historic Williamsburg, VA. That’s right it is apparently time for them to come together, regroup, and strategize on how best to run the country and ram home their un-stimulating stimulus package and the socialist policies they so desperately wish to share with us the tax payers.

The best part of this whole retreat for them is that it won’t cost them a dime, because we the tax payers are going to foot the bill for them. That’s right the tax payer is paying for this unnecessary junket to one of Virginias most attractive spots. While they are there we will also be paying for their rounds of golf at the local PGA course, massages, and four star dining experiences during their stay. All of that is in addition to their transportation to and from Kingsmill as well as the luxury suites they have obtained for the duration of their stay there.

However the Dems are not the only ones guilty of this sin at the tax payer’s expense. The Republicans did the same thing at the Homestead Resort in Virginia for their annual retreat. The Republicans are supposed to be the party of smaller government, low taxes, and conservative spending, yet they go off and do this retreat with the very tax money of ours that they are supposed to be protecting.

What exactly do these retreats have to do with saving the economy, creating jobs, and lessening the debt on the tax payer’s of this nation? I’ll tell you what these retreats have to do with all of that, NOT DAMN THING!!!!!

They do not create anything but tax payer debt so each political party can enjoy the good ole boy’s club for their respective party’s. Even Barack is going to show up at the Kingsmill retreat for the Democrats, which makes me wonder when exactly we are going to see all of this change in government that we have been hearing about. It looks like business as usual to me.

These party’s are running off and doing all of this nonsense while at the same time attacking AIG for their corporate sponsored retreats, Detroit for their corporate jets, and CEO and executive salaries in companies that have taken tarp and bailout funds, what a bunch of hypocrites.

These idiots whom we the people have elected to represent us are acting just like the very businesses and individuals that they attack for behaving the same way. I guess we the tax payers have created an entitlement program for Capitol Hill criminals…..oops I mean politician’s.

Well my friends that is my rant for today I hope you all have a great day, see you all later, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Gun rights are a touchy subject for people in this country. The reason for this is because it involves two very different points of view by gun rights supporters and gun control activists. Politically it widens the divide between both major political parties in our country on ideological grounds making this topic severely partisan in nature.

For the most part the Republicans are all for gun rights with the proper legislation in place to guarantee that those who are convicted felons, mentally unstable, not legal residents of the US or citizens, or involved in violence related litigation such as domestic violence never have legal access to firearms. They believe that the 2nd amendment guarantees our citizens the legal right to keep and bear arms. Most also believe in a citizens right to carry firearms concealed. They fervently believe that private gun ownership helps to deter gun crime.

On the side of the coin the Democrats with very few exceptions believe in no gun rights at all for US citizens. They believe that laws similar to those enacted in the UK some years back and in Australia a little over a year ago banning private gun ownership is the way to go. Failing that they want the toughest gun control laws possible to help restrict private gun ownership in the US. Their reason being that no guns no gun crime or very little gun crime.

Using the UK and Australia as a window to our future with their type of gun laws, and as test cases for this argument I have taken the time to do a little research. What I have found out about the success of their governments gun laws and the effects that they have on gun related crimes does not surprise me. I am sure that it would surprise those on one side of this argument for sure though.

In the UK there has not been a total ban on all firearms yet. However their gun laws are so restrictive as to type, caliber, and barrel length as to make it all but impossible to purchase a firearm in that country. The result of these laws being that while the law abiding citizens have followed the rule of law there and have surrendered all banned weapons required the criminal element has not.

This has created an environment where the criminals act with virtual impunity against their victims because the are almost certainly assured that their victims are unarmed and incapable of defending themselves with the same force being used against them by the criminals. It was noted by shadow Home Secretary David Davis that gun related killings and injuries reported by police had risen more than fourfold since 1998. In 1998/1999 crimes involving guns went from 13,874 to 24,070 and have stayed steady at this rate until the present.

In Australia the figures do not bode well for their citizens either. Nation wide for them homicides are up 6.2 percent, Assaults are up 9.6 percent, and armed robberies are up a staggering 44 percent. The data preceding the ban for the twenty five previous years showed a steady decreased in gun crimes each year. Yet since the ban went into effect down under there has even been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults on the elderly while the resident is at home. These numbers exist because the criminal elements that employ firearms are definitely assured that their victims are unarmed.

Taking all of this information into account and looking at the current administration and their cohorts on the hill, it concerns me greatly that there may be a concerted effort in the near future within our own borders to attempt the same sort of legislation that has been adopted either in the UK or Australia. I just thank god for the 5-4 majority of the US Supreme Court who ruled the DC gun ban as unconstitutional. However we need to hope that our President does not appoint more than one new justice while in office or we may wind up looking like those countries I have researched.

That is all I have for you guys today. I hope you take the time to consider what was said here today and take an informed stand on the 2nd amendment and preserve our nation’s and citizen’s historic right to keep and bear arms. Have a fabulous day my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello to all the readers of SimpleManPolitics. As requested by Tim, your fearless blogger, I'll be posting from time to time here to give him a break as he starts his other blog. I'm honored to have the opportunity to contribute, and I look forward to hearing back from all the readers, whether you agree or disagree with me.

Today as I was doing my customary research, I came across an interesting article at Townhall.com by Congressman Thomas Price. Essentially Price felt he had an idea of what was wrong with the Republican Party, and went on to give a list of things he felt needed to be changed. However, his list was so vague that there was no substance to it at all. Typical political BS if you ask me.

What really got my attention though was the many comments left in reply to his writing - all from angry conservatives unhappy with the Republican Party. You see, the theme that many Republicans seen to be singing lately is the theme of becoming moderate, moving to the left, and making change. Well, the conservatives aren't happy about this.

Many conservatives are leaving the party and some find themselves only voting Republican because they feel the Republican choice is the lesser of two evils. You'll probably be shocked to find out that studies show 1 out of 5 "self proclaimed" conservatives actually voted for Obama. They hated John McCain that much that they'd vote for a leftist Democrat - Barack Obama. Now that's scary and a sad place for the Republican Party to be.

Simply take a look at the past 10 years in the Republican Party. It's no longer so conservative. The party continues to move towards the left. Too many Republican senators and representatives vote based on popularity and concerns of re-election instead of voting based on the principals that the Republican Party stands for. Those who are truly concerned about the people of America will not be as worried about re-election as they are doing what is right for the people.

The Republican Party didn't lose the last election because of the Democrats - they lost because of their own party. People no longer have a reason to vote Republican. Conservatives are no longer happy with the platforms that Republican leaders are running on. When you have "centrists" like John McCain running with a staunch conservative like Sarah Palin, it just doesn't work out. The people didn't trust John McCain because he wasn't a staunch conservative. This was the disaster that lost an election to the most liberal politician in Washington - Obama.

Listen up Republican leaders. It's time to actually walk the walk. You can claim to be Republicans, but look at the decisions you make. Right now there are republicans in Congress blindly following along with the crowd. Take a look at Orin Hatch, who decided to confirm Geithner in spite of the tax fraud say that he was "qualified" for the job.

Now, you may be wondering why I, a Republican, am writing negatively about the Republican Party. Well, that's because I call it like I see it folks. I'm not blind. I see the problems in the party. Who knows, if it doesn't change, I may be out there finding a new party myself. There are many conservatives out there looking for a new party that is "truly" conservative. There are actually some choices out there, such as the American First Party, which is beginning to grow.

Now I don't have all the answers here, but I can definitely see when a party is dying. Unless true conservatism is truly held up once again in the Republican Party, I believe it will die. Perhaps Michael Steele, the new Chairman of the party will make a difference. We can only wait and see. Until then though, Republican leaders better walk carefully. There's a mob of angry conservatives out there.

They say that you can tell a lot by the company that a person keeps. I personally think that this saying is very true. I would even go so far as to say that I do judge most if not all people I meet by the company that they do keep. I know that that probably sounds very judgmental, but the truth is that we live in dangerous times and I would rather err on the side of caution than have me or mine endangered by not being cautious enough.

All of that being said it leads me to my topic for today. Which is President Obama and his associations. I find his associations both past and present to be both curious and important when it comes to my decision whether I am going to trust him to protect this country both within and without our borders.

Now people will say that he is new at his job and we should cut him some slack, while others will say that I am being racist because I question his associations and by that means his motives, which must imply racism because no one judged Bush by his associations, which is not true.

There has been much made of our Presidents relationships in the past, but never any real investigation, because the mostly liberal press did not want to do anything to endanger Barack’s campaign or give his Republican opposition any ammo to use against him. That did not surprise me because I know that the media is to busy looking out for their own interest’s, not ours. However I am more than willing to investigate his associations, so let’s take a look at them right now.

We know that Barack Obama has associated with both homegrown terrorists such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn and at least one international terrorist by the name of Rashid Khalidi who says he is a FORMER member of the PLO. (Palestinian Liberation Organization)

His relationships with thieves are also very public knowledge. He is an associate of Tony Rezco who is currently serving time for his crimes. There is also the matter of his association with Franklin Raines and James Johnson his former financial advisors during his campaign. They both stole millions of dollars from Fannie Mae when they were CEO’s of the company as well as defrauded their investors and the government with falsified reports to obtain the funds they pilfered.

We also know that he is or has been associated with racists in the forms of both Jeremiah Wright and Calypso Louie Farrakhan. One of these men was his pastor and spiritual mentor and the other the leader of The Nation of Islam. Of course he claimed not to know anything about Reverend Wright’s views and didn’t even answer when questioned about Louis Farrakhan.

There are also his known associations with Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al-Mansour a self professed radical Muslim and former member of the Black Panthers a radical group from the 60’s, and Father Phleger who is just a plain radical, idiot and political activist. Just two more reasons to question Obama’s judgment with regard to whom he chooses to be associated with.

Now we come down to his current associations. It seems that tax evaders are in vogue for relationships where our President is concerned this political season. First the is Timothy Geithner who has just been confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury and now Tom Daschle who is looking to be confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Geithner didn’t pay his taxes for about six years and falsified his tax returns, while Daschle back taxes troubles have just come to light. Daschle has been reported to have received monies from groups that could directly benefit if he is successfully appointed to the DHHS position.

Throw into this mix NM Governor Bill Richardson who is facing federal investigation, Charlie Rangel’s investigation for failing to report rental income on property in the DR, (Dominican Republic) and the Eric Holder question about his support for a Presidential Pardon for Marc Rich the fugitive financier, and you got a lot of questions to ask about Obama’s judgment on character.

It seems to me that our President has been plagued by scandalous associations for the better part of his political career and some of the people here that he has picked to help him run the country scare me to death. People will tell you that even with all of this evidence you should still trust Barack, but he has to earn my trust and everyone else’s as well. I don’t think that he has done anything yet to have earned it either.

That’s it for today my friends I will be back again soon. Have a great day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. Look out for my new entertainment blog coming soon, maybe even tomorrow.