Is a Trillion Enough?

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OK folks, I've been very busy (I know, we all have) and I haven't been able to sit down to put any thoughts on paper. But, I'll give it a shot today.

I listened to the President's State of the Union Address the other night and wondered if he was saying he was actually going to do anything differently. He boldly said he would veto any earmarks and his own party pretty much said they would still put them in. The POTUS still talked about investment when we clearly need to evaluate the past "investments", stop "investing" in "investments" that show no positive return. 

Remember Wild Bill Clinton's war on smoking? I guess it had no real affect on Barack Obama. Now. President Obama wants to consolidate government agencies. Good, I agree. But, that will not have any significant affect on the cost of government. The only thing that will bring down the cost will be by instituting spending limits on entitlement programs. Sorry folks, but Social Security, Welfare and Medicare are out of control, literally. Obama's call to consolidate a few government agencies is as meaningless as Clinton's war on smoking. It sounded good but ddin't stop any future Presidents from smoking . 

Then this morning my local paper reads, "Deficit to hit a chilling $1.5T." Obama's plan: raise the debt limit. Did you catch that? RAISE THE DEBT LIMIT!! So, my "brilliant" President's solution to crushing, enslaving, mortifying debt is to make a way to borrow more? Now, he will sell it as "investment" but. let's be real, the "investments" this administration has put our hard earned money into have been nothing short of disastrous. Yet, President Obama still wants to pretty much stay on the same course. 

At least my Lakers seem to be getting it together. 

Flush 'em Friday 1 21 11 Edition

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It is time for another edition of "Flush 'em Friday!" The following represent a random list of people or things I fell should be flushed down, around and/or out of wherever they are and whatever they doing.

• California Governor Jerry Brown for even thinking about let alone mentioning more taxes.
• Drivers who don't use their blinkers at all or wait until AFTER they have turned or changed lanes. This includes the group of drivers who stick their arm out of their window, point and turn without looking.
• Gavin Newsome for being Gavin Newsome whether I like it or not.
• Supervisors who dump crap on others and call it delegating, and then tell you it needs to be done by this afternoon before you leave which is long after they leave.
• Drivers who take up two spaces when parking either because they believe their car is worth it,and/or because they just seem destitute of any car parking skills.
• ObamaCare because it is just a government cluster#$#*% of mismanagement via government agencies, cronies and basic knuckleheads. Forcing anyone to purchase something is a minus in the freedom column  no matter how "progressive" you try to paint it.
• Representative Jane Harman for voting against the repeal of the job killing health care bill. She should go see what has happened to the hundreds and thousands of people in her district who have lost their jobs and find out where the jobs went. 
• Community Organizers for being the paid henchman of unions and the left.  

Who do you think I should add to this list?

Job Creation via Government?

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It looks like LA Mayor Antonio Villarigosa is planning on lobbying the new congress and President Barack Obama on strategies to help create jobs. This is why Los Angeles and California are in the horrendous condition they are in financially. Herein lies the problem with all Democrats and liberals: the solution to business problems are, in their belief system, in government regulation and "funding." What is telling is also that La Mayor does not go to his Governor first. He knows his state has no money, but, the feds will at least print some more up if they feel they need money. La Mayor is not looking to help businesses flourish in a free market system, he is looking for a handout. 

It can't be the mythological green jobs candidate Jerry Brown promoted during his run for Governor but has scarcely mentioned since would help LA or La Mayor would seek those. If green jobs were the answer La Mayor would surely know how to open up opportunities for small business entrepreneurs and thus create jobs all over LA. 

Here's the deal: Job creation via government intervention is only as good as the intervention lasts. In other words, when the funding stops, so do the jobs. So called infrastructure creation such as roads is really just government payouts to unions. If the roads do not produce an industry that will outlast the funding they are only temporary jobs, government payouts. 

As I drive around Los Angeles I see empty building that once housed industries. Industries that created products not dependent on government subsidies. Industries that provided jobs for my grandparents and parents. Where are they now? Some are out of state, some are overseas. Why? Maybe we should ask the likes of Democrat Jane Harman who when informed of the loss of over 500 jobs in her district was "blindsided" and "didn't see it coming". Clueless. We dare not go there for help. That is why I will repeat myself and say that since 2005, under the Democratic legislature California has lost over 1,200,000 jobs and counting.

So, off you go Antonio. Ask the POTUS if can print some money to send California's way to "create" handouts, err, I mean jobs. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Outstretched Hands and Pointing Fingers

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Happy Marting Luther King Jr. Day.

For me, racism can be approached two different ways, either with an outstretched hand or a pointing finger. When I think back upon Martin Luther King Jr. I think of an outstretched hand. In his time honored "I Have a Dream" speech he called on Americans to look not to the color of our skin, but to the content of our character. My mother used to say that there are good and bad people, no matter the what they look like on the outside. 

Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric I hear ignores the content of men and women's character and focuses on the color of someones' skin. Basically, it is the pointing finger approach that I hear. I once had a friend of mine tell me, "You have no idea what it is like to be black and be an American!" Here's the deal: I NEVER said I did. I was eating my lunch, saying nothing, precisely because I am not black and growing up black is not my experience. The flip side is that my friend, (I gently replied that I never said I did know what his experience as a black man was like), had no idea what my experience as a white man was like, although he was pretty much assuming he did. My friend and I went to the same private school in elementary and middle school. we both went to private colleges. We both had the same positions in our company. That does not mean our experiences were the same getting there. My friend had just read a book by a white liberal guy blaming all the other white, mostly conservative white people, for all the crimes, injustices and poverty known to African Americans. A pointing, blaming finger without many solutions, just deflection of blame.

When I talk to people, no matter their color, race, religion, or political hankering, in the end we have the same hopes and dreams. What disturbs me the most is that most political dialogue does not unite us but divides us. As a parent I believe I am like any parent in that I want my child to grow up in a world where he or she is free to be who God created them to be. I know the world is not like that. But, I teach my children as I was taught that there are good and bad people, no matter what they look like on the outside and that the inside is what counts. And I teach them to reach out their hands and treat others as you would like to be treated. 

Loose Cannon Fire 1 15 11 Edition

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Just a few shots for fun...

At face value it looks like a good start for Governor Brown.
While campaigning for Governor Brown repeatedly stated that California needed to live within its means.
What are California's means?
Let's see if Gov. Brown will honestly start from the reality of California's means (income), not budget wish list.
Let's see how the Democrat led legislature leads. Will it be responsible to right the ship or will they seek first entitlements to get reelected?



Since J Brown is not a capitalist he isn't worried about the effects of his methodology of budget balancing on businesses and individual jobs. If his cuts and shifts do not open up jobs now more businesses and more jobs will leave California. Maybe Jerry's idea is; if businesses leave there will be less mouths to feed?



What frightens me is the number of Californians who were "smart enough" to vote Jerry in may be "smart enough" to vote for his tax increases. Not too smart.



A tax break for businesses = jobs. Even "Billy the Kid" and such childish thinkers should be able to understand that a state, or country can not tax businesses into job creation and prosperity.
The code word "reform" = deform. For example, the California Tax Reform Assn. really means the California Tax Deform Assn.
Just the facts? 1, 200,000+ jobs have left California since 2005 under the Democratic led state legislature.

67% Income Tax Increase. Really?

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I just have to say it. What the #$%*!? are these people thinking? In Illinois the state legislature voted to abuse the citizenry by raising the state income tax rate up to 67%! What kind of senseless person thinks that people can live on LESS money than they already are? It looks like most of the representatives we vote in. And what is the payoff for this abuse? More mismanaged government. 

Why should any citizen think that those who have run our government into catastrophic debt and uselessness should be given the power to TAX us anymore? Why would any person with an once of sense even entertain the notion that Americans need to be taxed which is only punishment and abuse, to pay for the foolish use of our tax dollars? We should not. 

The actions of the Illinois legislature is a warning to all America. Beware! The people in government are by and large power hungry want a be despots. We the people are here to serve their political agendas. On this the Tea Party is absolutely spot on. We are Taxed Enough Already! 

Sarah Palin or Sheriff Dupnick: Sense vs. Sensless

Listen to Sarah
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/KatiePavlich/2011/01/12/sarah_palin_publicly_responds_to_tucson_rampage

Read about Clarence
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2011/01/12/the_worst_sheriff_in_america

You make the call.