An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for June 2011
Taxpayers Win – Thugs Lose
Victory in Wisconsin, but the Fight Goes On
The Foundry
Consider it a victory for taxpayers and for the rule of law. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4–3 in favor of upholding the state’s new collective bargaining law, reversing a lower court decision that sought to stamp out the will of the people, the authority of the legislature, and a major movement toward fiscal reform. And at three this morning, following a nearly 13-hour floor debate, the Wisconsin Assembly approved a budget aimed at wiping out the state’s $3 billion structural deficit.
Like many states, Wisconsin this year found itself drowning in an ocean of overspending and suffering the fourth highest tax burden in the country. In this fiscal nightmare, public-sector unions fashioned for themselves a cushy, taxpayer-funded existence, disconnected from the realities of the state’s economic woes. Heritage’s James Sherk explains just how sweet that deal was:
Until now, government employees in Wisconsin paid just 6 percent of their health care premiums and next to nothing for generous pensions, and the average teacher in Milwaukee makes $101,000 a year. Government union contracts also require layoffs to occur on the basis of seniority. Long-time government employees can rest assured that they will never get laid off.
Media Pick
Poll: Romney Solidifies GOP Lead for 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has surged to a clear lead in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, but his party’s attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic stewardship have yet to shake the president’s lead over the GOP, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released
I’d honestly like to know who is being polled. I don’t know one single person who supports Romney. I haven’t ready any glowing reports from anyone who supports Romney. The best I can figure, the person they are asking have been reading that Romney is in the lead, so just automatically say “Romney”. Or, they aren’t really polling anyone, and have decided, as in 2008 with McCain, that it’s Romney’s turn, and just pretend they ask the question, and make up the numbers to support their poll. 
Ann on The Libertarian “Mob”
Get Rid of Government–But First Make Me President!
by Ann Coulter
I consider all Republican debates time-fillers until New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie jumps in, but Monday night’s debate did crystallize for me why I dislike libertarians. (Except one, who is a friend of mine and not crazy.)
They lure you in with talk of small government and then immediately start babbling about drug legalization or gay marriage.
“Get the government out of it” is a good and constitutionally correct answer to many questions, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to all questions.
It was a good answer, for example, when libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was asked about government assistance to private enterprise and government involvement in the housing market.
Glenn Beck 06/15/11
Lack of Integrity
Was Anthony Weiner Victim of New Washington ‘Puritanism’?
Was disgraced Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, who carried on several inappropriate online chats with young women, a victim of a newly “puritanical” climate in Washington? That’s the inference from Kate Zernike’s front-page story for the Times’ Week in Review, “Naked Hubris…While digital flux makes it easier for politicians to stray,” a companion piece to Sheryl Gay Stolberg’s “When it comes to scandal, boys will be boys.” She wrote:
But technology keeps adding new and in many ways more seductive temptations to the mix. And this is happening at a time when, many argue, a more prying press corps, stricter public standards and greater partisanship have combined to make Washington oddly more puritanical than it once was. Hamilton, after all, had confessed his affair to investigators in Congress several years before he was actually exposed for it. But 15 years after the House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton, revealing lurid details of his sexual dalliances with a White House intern, most politicians now know that they can’t count on the press or their peers to stay silent about straying.
So, fidelity is puritanical? Morals are no longer the norm? I’d say we have a much bigger problem in Washington than Rep Wanker if that’s the case. Is it any wonder the country has slipped into a cesspool? We no long have politicians, or the media, standing up for decency. The lack of character shown by both is a clear indication that what was once a great nation has fallen far.
We’re #6! We’re #6!
Tennessee ranked No. 6 among states last year in terms of inflation-adjusted growth in goods and services produced, according to figures recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
But the 3.5 percent growth for Tennessee appears to be creating a growth industry all its own in the Volunteer State as Republicans and Democrats tried to nab credit.
“This ranking highlights what many of us already know: Tennessee is open for business,” Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell, of Nashville, said in a news release issued by the House GOP Caucus. “We have a dynamic, pro-business environment that is attracting the attention of more and more top companies with each passing day.”
While the Republicans and Democrats duke it out about who deserves credit, I’ll give a lot of it to former Governor Bredesen. He was one of the few Democrats that actually understands that in order to have jobs in the state, you have to give companies incentives. The current Governor, Haslam (R), is/was a businessman, but honestly, I think if a Democrat blew on him, real hard, he’d fall over. I’m just not too sure how “R” he really is.
As for the guys and gals over there in Nashville, trying to take credit, from the past and current legislatures? Well, I hate to burst their bubbles, but I don’t think the past bunch did much to advance businesses, and the current really hasn’t been there long enough. Although, the current has made some impressive attempts to right some of the wrongs, so far, I’m not all that impressed.
It’s the people of Tennessee who are the real winners! NOT any political party!
H/T: Tena
Obama – Warmonger
A Showdown over the War in Libya
The Foundry
For the past three months, the United States has been engaged in a war in Libya, and during that time Congress has remained largely in the dark and on the sidelines about central questions in the conflict, all while U.S. forces remain committed without congressional authorization. Yesterday, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent a letter to President Barack Obama warning that the commander in chief may be in violation of the law if he refuses to ask Congress for its approval.
In his letter, Boehner noted that the President is just days away from violating the War Powers Resolution, which maintains that, without congressional authorization, the President can deploy U.S. military forces for 90 days. In his letter, Boehner demanded that Obama provide legal justification for the operation in Libya by Friday. Though the War Powers Resolution is problematic, Congress is right to be angry and has an obligation to speak up on Libya.
That’s Just Plain Wrong!
Mosque flap leads to TPD captain being suspended
A Tulsa police captain who disobeyed an order to make officers attend a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day at a Tulsa mosque was suspended without pay for two weeks.
Is there something wrong with this people?
Specifically, he was suspended 40 hours for violating the department’s rule on being obedient and another 40 hours for violating a rule on conduct unbecoming to an officer.
Obedient? What is he? A two year old?
Fields said in correspondence with a superior that he considered the order to be “an unlawful order, as it is in direct conflict with (his) personal religious convictions, as well as to be conscience shocking.”
He also told his superiors that he would not require any of his subordinates to follow the order “if they share similar religious convictions.”
You know there are big problems when a police department FORCES officers to go against their own faiths to appease the religion of pieces.
Allison Moore, Islamic Society of Tulsa Community Relations Spokesperson, said that they had no comment specifically on the situation involving Fields. She did, however, praise the work of Tulsa police officers.
“We have just been thrilled with the Tulsa Police Department over the years. We have had a wonderful relationship with them,” Moore said.
Oh, I just bet they are! Evidently, tickling pink the muslim community is more important than the morale of the officers.
Buddies
Pakistan: Military spy agency ‘arrests five CIA informants’
Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence military spy agency (ISI) has arrested five CIA informants in Pakistan, including an army major, suspected of feeding information on Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the CIA, according to a report in the New York Times.
Pakistan’s detention of the five alleged CIA informants, including the Pakistan army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in the Punjab garrison town of Abbottabad in the weeks before the raid there on 2 May is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan.
It comes at a time when the administration of US president Barack Obama is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael J. Morell, the deputy CIA director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism operations, on a scale of one to ten.
“Three,” Morell replied, according to officials familiar with the exchange.
I really wonder if anyone, no matter who is in ‘charge’, in Washington will ever figure out…..THESE ARE NOT OUR ‘FRIENDS’! The U.S. is a fat paycheck, but Americans are scorned as worthy of nothing more than to be subjugated or killed. We are the enemy! Wouldn’t it be wise to recognize this fact?
I have no doubt the officials knew exactly where bin Laden was and never had any intent of giving him up. The fact that they arrested those who actually DID what Pakistan has agreed to do speaks volumes! Does anyone believe the Pakistanis are calming questioning these people? No, there is REAL torture involved, because that is what they do! Is anyone speaking out on their behalf? Where are the protests and demonstrations to free these men?
“Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It’s a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs.”
American officials said that the CIA director, Leon E. Panetta, raised the issue of the arrested informants when he travelled to Islamabad last week to meet Pakistani military and intelligence officers.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, said in a brief telephone interview that the CIA and the Pakistani spy agency “are working out mutually agreeable terms for their cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage.”
Doubtless, there is a large dollar sign attached to those ‘agreeable terms’. You can’t buy friends, and you damn sure can’t purchase reliable allies. And Pakistan is NOT an ally, bought or otherwise. Not one more dime to these animals! NONE!
Glenn Beck 06/14/11
*Snoopy Dance*
Wisconsin’s High Court Says Controversial Union Law Can Take Effect
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s contentious union rights law can go into effect, giving Republican Gov. Scott Walker a major victory.
Walker pushed the law that eliminates most of public employees’ collective bargaining rights and forces them to pay more for their health and pension benefits. He says it’s needed for the state to address its budget problems.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling provides our state the opportunity to move forward together and focus on getting Wisconsin working again,” Walker said in a statement.
….3….2…..1 And let the lefty whining begin!
The Money Hole
One Was Too Many!
The president tells TODAY’s Ann Curry in an exclusive interview that while “there are days where I say that one term is enough,” “what keeps me going is a belief that the work that we started in 2009 is not yet complete.” (source)
Yeah…there are still too many people with jobs, not enough on food stamps, and there are still too many privately owned businesses.
My 2 Cents On The Debate
Well, we watched the debate last night. 
To say we were less than whelmed, would be an understatement. It really wasn’t a debate at all. It was a guy asking questions, who really enjoyed the sound of his own voice. Very few of the questions could be answered in a 30 second sound bite. I guess the CNN crowd has a short attention span, and instead of getting in depth answers, ya got a very brief half, or quarter answer. Of course, that makes for some interesting talking heads commentary, but really didn’t do the voters, or the candidates justice.
Now that I’ve slept on it, rather badly I might add, I guess I’d have to say…..there was no clear winner. How could there be? See above.
Who do I think did the best? *thinking* All gave some great answers.
I found myself quite surprised when I agreed with Newt on a number of issues. He’s a smart dude, but he’s shoved his foot so far down his throat so many times his toes can scratch his hinder, there is just no way I could support him in the primaries. Think “Newt and Nancy, sitting on a couch….she’s a moonbat and he’s a slouch!” That’s just one problem I have with him.
Mitt Romney appeared a wee bit too plastic, both in appearance, and his answers. While I don’t dislike him, and he is a bright fellow, his baggage of RomneyCare, the flip flopping on abortion, and a number of other things I’ve learned over the last few years keeps me from being able to get enthusiastic. The fact that the ‘establishment’ seems to think it’s “his turn” puts me off even more. They decided it was John McCain’s turn in ’08 and look where that got us! For some reason, I see him as a wee bit too slick.
Ron Paul. ‘Nuff said! While the man is good on fiscal issues, when he goes off on his isolationism, and other moonbattery, I’m afraid all I can do is tune him out.
Former governor of MN, Tim Pawlenty, has a few good ideas, however, that greenie stuff is a major turn off for me. I wasn’t really impressed with his performance, and he had this odd smirk on his face several times that just grated my nerves. I don’t see him as a true conservative, and this gives me a great deal of pause.
Rick Santorum is an interesting fellow. Young, bright….should I add articulate and clean, Mr Biden? 
I found him a little too soft spoken, but coherent. His stand on the issues appears to be quite conservative.
Herman Cain. Enthusiastic is one way I’d put it. While he doesn’t have the political experience of the others, I find that extremely refreshing. Once he’s informed on a topic, he seems to have common sense solutions. He has had a few stumbles, but when you look at who is occupying the White House right now, I’d say he was a veritable genius on all areas in comparison. The fact that he is NOT a politician gives him points in my book. He’s not beholden to the elite establishment, and how can ya not like the guy?
As a female, I’d have to say Michelle Bachmann was the best looking on the stage. 
Ok, I’m just quoting some of the males on that one. Although, I do agree she is attractive. Conservative women have the benefit of looks AND brains, don’cha know. The fact that she’s extremely intelligent and knows the ins and outs of Washington does help. I was a bit disappointed when she didn’t give straight answers to straight questions. But politicians seem to have made that an art. Bothersome, but I could overcome it, because as a whole, she did quite well.
Who do I see myself supporting? Well, to be totally honest, in order to get that socialist man/child from having four more years to complete his plan of destruction, any of ‘em who ends up as the nominee! No, I’m not selling out, I just don’t see any other choice to rid ourselves of the pretender. Who would I LIKE to see as the final choice? Right now, I’m considering Bachmann, Cain, and Santorum. I see all three as rather strong conservatives, and that’s exactly what we need right now.
So, there you have it. My synopsis. Details are for you to decide. One thing I am hoping for, no matter who the nominee ends up being, I pray we can all join together, put our egos into the background, and work together, for the sake of our nation. We will not have a perfect candidate, that everyone can agree with 100%. But I’m sure we can all agree, to allow the socialist agenda of Barack Hussein Obama to continue to move forward for another 4 years is totally unacceptable!
We Aren’t Laughing “Mr President”
Unemployment Is No Laughing Matter
The Foundry
As President Barack Obama swung through North Carolina yesterday, he did all he could to show that he cares about the U.S. economy, its 9.1 percent unemployment rate, and the 13.9 million Americans who remain out of work. Well, that is, until he let a bit of honesty slip off his tongue.
During a meeting with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council—a group of CEOs the President created to give him advice on the economy—conversation turned to Obama’s $787 billion stimulus that promised to “create or save” 3.5 million new jobs by 2011 by pumping money into “shovel ready” jobs. Confronting the reality that his stimulus failed, the President quipped, “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” The council, led by GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, burst into laughter.
