On January 29 President Obama criticized the banking industry for paying over $18million in bonuses to employees, calling it shameful.  I must say that on this point I agree with him.  The banks did run to the government for money saying that they were in “dire straits” and that without the money they might collapse, forcing the government to handover valuable tax payer money.  This is shameful, however since no accountability was entangled with the bailout money the banks were given, I don’t think there is much we can honestly do.  Watch the video below to hear Obama scold Wall Street.

There is one point I’d like to make here.  While agreeing with President Obama’s sentiment, I find it very difficult to believe that he cares this much about their irresponsible use of tax payer money.  Why? Because he and his democrat cronies in Washington are doing much much worse with tax payer money in this so called “stimulus” bill that the Senate will be voting on next week.

If the country’s economy is in such turmoil and is as bad as Obama keeps telling us, they why can’t these pet projects wait until the economy is in a better position to support such spending?  How is it that it’s okay for the government to misuse our tax money yet it’s shameful if Wall Street does it?  This is an incredible double standard.

Obama is basically talking out of both sides of his mouth.  He’s pandering to the American public, calling Wall Street shameful, yet all the while he’s planning to spend our hard earned tax payer money on things that do nothing to stimulate the economy and will increase government spending in one year to record levels never seen in the U.S. before.  And it’s these type of crooked politics that leave us with no trust in our government officials who were elected to work for the people, not exploit them.  Remember, the government was created by the states and for the states, not the other way around.

As reported by newsbusters, MSNBC’s apparent “love fest” with Sarah Palin was exemplified as Norah O’donnell and her guest Morris Reid belittled Palin regarding her attendance to the Alfalfa Dinner.  O’donell accused Sarah Palin of calling Obama a terrorist during the campaign in a questioning tone as she tried to understand why Palin would attend the dinner.  Morris Reid joined in the Palin-bashing segment with his own minimizing tone stating that Palin is clueless.

What bothers me most is that Sarah Palin never called Obama a terrorist.  She pointed out that his relationship to Bill Ayers made him friends with a terrorist, but never referred to Obama as a terrorist.  O’donnell’s smear campaign is disgraceful and proves that MSNBC’s left slant is only getting worse.  They are afraid of Sarah Palin and will try to bury her under false accusations and lies.  I’d never be for the fariness doctrine, but if there was ever a need for it, it’d be here.

Watch the video for yourself.

This has to be my favorite pro-life ad ever and to see NBC reject it for prime time viewing during the Superbowl disappoints me, yet doesn’t surprise me.  After watching them through the 2008 election expose their major bias towards President Obama, it’s clear to me that they lack integrity when it comes to reporting the news.  Now I’m not the type to necessarily believe that a single commercial will necessarily change someone’s opinion, though I suppose someone on the edge of such a paramount decision could be swayed by this ad.  It is effective.  But obviously, what bothers me is censorship based on an agenda.  Now I realize that it isn’t without precedent to see a major network keep political ads from being aired during the superbowl, however NBC’s reason for doing this exposes their double standard.  They recently rejected an ad by PETA based on the grounds that it was too sexually explicit.  However, to the Catholic group Fidelis, they stated that they do not allow advocacy ads.  Well, I’m not sure if anyone told them, but PETA is an advocacy group.

So, since it may not air during the Superbowl, I thought I’d show it here.  There’s absolutely nothing objectionable about this so no warning is necessary.

Soon after the inauguration, President Obama signed an executive order to shutdown the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in one year.  But what he failed to provide was a plan of action on what they intend to do with the inmates at Guantanamo.  It is widely considered a very bad idea to close Guantanamo Bay since the military needs a place to house prisoners in the war on terror, and we don’t want them on U.S. soil since they could possibly escape and put Americans at risk.

On Fox News, Sean Hannity has begun profiling inmates at Guantanamo in a series called Gitmo’s Greatest.  And as with the idea that there is no plan on what to do with these inmates, he always points out that they “may be coming to a prison near you.”  This segment features the mastermind behind the attack on the U.S.S. Cole that left 17 U.S. servicemen dead and 39 injured.

The trillion dollar pork-non-stimulus spending bill was voted on in the House today, and every single Republican voted against it – all 177 of them.  Thank you John Boehner for pulling your guys together. And 11 House Democrats also voted against, and to all of you I say Thank You.  You’ve stood up for conservative principles and have drawn a line in the sand against excessive spending that will push our economy deeper into a recession/depression.

The bill passed the house 244-188 and will be voted on by the senate soon.  My hope is that next week the senate republicans and democrats will also vote against the bill, causing it to fail.

Note that there was a bipartisan effort ONLY to defeat the bill.  Obama was slated to be a unifier, however you can’t get bipartisan support when the bill doesn’t help the economy.

Please call your senator and tell them to vote NO on this Bill.

Occasionally I do enjoy a good cat video.  And while there are quite a few out there to pick from, these two caught my eye and made me laugh, especially the animated one below.

Enjoy.

I continue to hear over and over that we need to fix our economy; and the people saying this come from the highest levels in our government. From the last 5 months of Bush’s term until now, we have been hearing about bailouts and stimulus packages almost daily. Billions and trillions of dollars are on the line as our economy seems headed for certain peril. But I’ve got one problem that seems to be nagging me about this whole situation.

If you remember, the banks began to fail around September of last year and we found ourselves staring this economic crisis dead in the eyes. We began to hear how Wall St. was littered with greed and corruption as they were the ones who were blamed for causing this debacle. And the mortgage industry had apparently suffered a cataclysmic failure as a result of this. Then words like subprime morgtages, Wall St. and Main St. became etched in campaign slogans. At first they were talking about fixing Wall Street, trying to keep it from hurting Main Street. I remember getting tired of hearing these words over and over as it just seemed like rhetoric. I guess it didn’t help that we were in an election cycle.

And then Bush and Paulson started yelling “FIRE FIRE” and told us that if we didn’t pass a $700 billion dollar bailout, then the economy would tank and we would all be eating peanut butter underneath bridges in the rain. Ok, maybe not that last part, but that’s what it felt like. So they passed it, and gave $350 billion to the banks to get them to start lending again to get money moving. Well, that failed. The banks were too afraid to lend money, so they just put the money in their pockets. And there was no accountability on what they did with the money, and they aren’t saying. And neither is the Treasury department. And now, congress is looking at adding another $825 billion on top of the $700 billion, $350b of it already gone, to get our economy back on track! Jeesh! Where is this money going to come from? Oh yeah, me and you.

So, I mentioned I had a problem – here we go. As I see it, everyone keeps talking about what they want to fix, whether it be the corruption on Wall Street or stimulating the economy. But no one seems to be talking about fixing the real problem behind this whole mess – our very on government. Yeah, I said it. Ronald Reagan said it best – “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.” It’s the government (mostly dems) who forced the banks to give people loans who couldn’t afford it. Yeah I know, people over spent when they shouldn’t have. But if the government hadn’t forced banks to relax their standards for dealing out mortgages people would have been rejected. And yes, I know there was deregulation at work here too, which didn’t help this process at all. But in the early 200o’s, the Bush administration tried to strictly regulate the industry, but to no avail. So here we are, with a full blown financial crisis on our hands.

So let’s talk government corruption…just in the last few days. Have any of you bothered to look at this new stimulus? You know, the one that’s supposed to cost us $825 billion? Well, if you haven’t heard, the first go at this includes alot of pork…and I do mean alot. And when I say pork, I don’t mean money that will stimulate the economy. I mean pet projects that the government wants us to pay for, and I’ll just list a few:

• $650 million to help Americans upgrade to digital cable after the official transition to digital television on Feb. 17, 2009.
• $600 million for NASA, including $400 million for projects such as “satellite sensors that measure solar radiation critical to understanding climate change.”
• $6.2 billion to weatherize the homes of low-income people to make them more energy efficient.
• $2.5 billion to upgrade government-owned housing projects with new insulation, windows, and furnaces.
• $2.4 billion for projects demonstrating carbon-capture technology.
• $20 billion to provide “nutrition assistance” for middle-income families and to lift restrictions on how long people can receive food stamps.

There’s a lot more here. And this is the stimulus package that the dems came up with on their own…you know, the ones who claim they want to fix the economy? It hasn’t been voted on yet, and hopefully won’t pass as it stands. Yes Yes, I know, there are corrupt republicans too. I am getting to that.

And then we hear about the first bailout again, and how that money was supposed to only go to banks that not only needed the capital, but were healthy enough to utilize it without failing. Well, apparently, according the Wall St Journal, the first bailout money went to more than just those who were healthy, but to those banks who were politically connected. In fact, there were some banks who didn’t get any of it, who were in fact healthier. Alabama has received $3.7 billion in TARP funds for four of its lenders, and state banking officials credit their two Republican Congressmen for getting them their share. And Barney Frank saw to it that a bank from his own home state, OneUnited Bank, who didn’t look like much of a candidate, got their fair share too. And the Treasury is keeping tight lipped about the whole thing, and with no accountability built in, they can just waste our money as they see fit. Awesome!

Back to the new bailout…oh, I mean stimulus. Now we learn today that talks are going on in congress about who get’s the infrastructure jobs that are supposed to help boost the economy. And one group is being targeted as not getting the jobs, skilled white male contractors. So, our bridges and roads may be built by people who currently don’t possess the skills…who are among women and minorities. So everyone pays for this “stimulus” but only certain people benefit based on the color of their skin? This is just great stuff….racism at it’s finest. Now all of this is just discussion mind you, but it is coming from one of Obama’s own Economic Advisors, Robert Reich. And Charles Rangel. You can watch it here.

This could probably go on forever and ever, but suffice it to say that there is no more government for the people. Our government just keeps padding it’s own pockets and the pockets of the corporations with the lobbyists, and we are all left to suffer.

So before they talk about fixing the economy, the auto industry, the mortgage industry, or anything else for that matter, they need to fix the government. We need to start electing a new breed of congressman….someone who actually cares about the people. Remember, it’s the states that created the government, not the other way around.

Sometimes when you hear something that’s especially great, you want to pass it along. I was listening to the Mark Levin Show while he did a segment on this new phrase that Obama is using, “Culture of Responsibility.” Now I’d add to what he said, but honestly, he said it very well himself. Listen below.

Source: http://www.marklevinshow.com/
Clip: Jan 19, 2009

President Bush has served our country patriotically for 8 years, and I must admit that I hate to see him go. He’s endured more during his tenure than most presidents. Now I’m not suggesting he was a perfect president, nor am I suggesting he was the greatest. He was, however, a great president and history will certainly be kinder than some of the loud voices within our nation.

Something he said during his farewell speech really describes the weight that was laid upon his shoulders:

“As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our nation. I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.”

I can’t begin to imagine being in his shoes, especially after the foreign attack on our soil. And as much as some like to play it down, 9/11 did change everything. We went to war with Afghanistan to root out the Taliban and hunt down Osama Bin Laden. And to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again, President Bush created Homeland Security in which he devoted many resources to developing new ways for different government agencies to communicate. And from that point our nation has not had to endure another attack and I credit him greatly with keeping our nation safe.

And then there was Katrina. I’m not sure the last time our nation suffered a natural disaster as great as this, and I would expect this to bring great difficulties upon the federal and state governments in their attempt to get help to New Orleans. Huge criticism was leveled at President Bush for what was deemed a slow federal response, but as the President put it so well, over 30,000 people were rescued from rooftops to safety right after the storm had passed. How much quicker do you want a response? And what was even more apparent was the negligence of duties by the governments of Louisiana and New Orleans. Even so, there were things that the administration could have done better, but that is what hindsight tells us. We have learned from those difficulties and I am sure future administrations will have a better response if it ever happens again.

More than anything, though, President Bush’s legacy will be based on how Iraq succeeds in the future. At the time before the invasion, much of the world believed through intelligence that Saddam Hussein was developing chemical and biological weapons. Even in 1998 President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act into law which declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government. With Saddam Hussein’s refusal to allow UN inspectors to fully evaluate whether or not he was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and with the reports that there was in Iraq a dangerous minority in Islam that either had, or wanted to have the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons almost anywhere in the world, the choices were growing few on what to do about Iraq. Thus Congress voted in overwhelming majorities to approve the invasion into Iraq to ensure the safety of the citizens of the United States. There were certainly difficulties that we encountered in fighting this war, and it took time to understand better how to fight it. But we learned, adapted, and have become victorious in creating a democratic government in Iraq. In fact one reason that it’s clear to me that we have victory in Iraq is that the Mainstream Media hasn’t been reporting on it lately. But that’s another story.

President Bush stated recently that he wished the intelligence had been different. Looking back there are certainly things I’m sure he would do differently. But unfortunately, he doesn’t have that luxury; nor do any of us. I look back at President Bush’s 2 terms with much thankfulness and appreciation for what he has done for our nation. I know that there are many out there who have been against his presidency from the start, never giving him the chance to succeed, always seeking to find every mistake and report it. But in the face of all the criticism vitriolic hatred he endured, he still made the tough decisions and we still stand as one country.

Thank you President Bush for your service out or nation.

I was driving home on Thursday from a meeting with a wonderful couple getting married this year, and I was browsing radio channels on my iPhone when I ran across Mark Levin on an Atlanta talk radio station. Immediately he caught my attention and I found myself laughing the whole way home. It’s not that he’s a comedian, but his style is quite entertaining. He cares deeply for this country and has an insightful way of getting his message across.

Since I am a newcomer to his show I am still learning about him; but I do know that he served in the Reagan administration for 8 years and also has a law degree from Temple. But more than any of that he seems to have a great understanding of politics in this country and certainly does “tell it like it is.”

I am posting a clip from his show on Nov 19, 2008 on his explanation of how the financial crisis came about. He breaks it down in such a way that is easy to understand. If you are interested in listening to Mark, his show broadcasts daily from 6-8pm and you can listen to it live (or from the archive) at http://www.marklevinshow.com.