It's a Gaffey Gaffey Thing

Dear America,


so for the Left, it's now a gaffe if you simply tell the truth; it's a gaffe if you are brutally honest and put something or someone in its proper place.

for example, and going to old news....Romney in London.

Having 'been there and done that' -- during an interview, he expressed a genuine concern and said this:

"You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney told NBC. "There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials … that obviously is not something which is encouraging."  for more, go to yahoo here

It was all for the use of the word "disconcerting."  

And so, since we are talking all about opinion as this week begins here -- if you ask me, and I'm pretty sure you're not --  he couldn't have made a better choice of words.   We have all heard of the issues going into the Olympics -- between striking bus drivers and not enough security (to the extent of calling in the troops to fill the void!) right?   So the word 'disconcerting' all of a sudden becomes very proper, doesn't it?   I mean an Englishman would probably say the very same thing, no?

Oh but for Romney he becomes "Mitt the Twit."

Another "gaffe"  -- against Palestinians:

Romney said, “Culture makes all the difference.” Rejecting the geographic determinism that claims geography, climate, and species distribution account for the greater power and wealth of the West, Romney added, “you look at Israel and you say you have a hard time suggesting that all of the natural resources on the land could account for all the accomplishment of the people here.” for more, read David Horowitz' Front Page Mag.com article from Bruce Thornton here

Does another country come to mind that proves this theory?

hello america...culture is everything.

He speaks his truth, a universal truth, and what do they do -- call it a serious foreign policy gaffe.  seriously?

Oh and just today, when the Romney spokesman told the rude reporters to "kiss his ass" -- it may have been a little over the top, but what was his point?    THEY WERE AT A POLISH HOLY SITE -- it was neither time nor place for ridiculous Romney digs from reporters, considering all they want to do is ride him like a one trick pony.

Who gaffed?  the freaking reporters!

Let's see, just how did Thornton describe it -- "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is under attack for speaking an important truth about the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Speaking truth.    Telling the truth.   How refreshing.

What has been the one thing americans have been fit to be tied with over the last couple of decades, and maybe longer?  

Being lied to by our elected officials; manipulating the truth for political purposes or to control the masses.

Whether a little white lie or really huge (as in referring to our Social Security funds as being in a 'locked box'; or saying you will lower the deficit by half, but in reality, quadruple it; or get into office saying you believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but stop defending DOMA (a real law) and swiftly switch sides...)


just tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth and let the people make up our own mind without liberal bias dictating every move and every word according to how the left sees fit .  

I mean, just imagine the entire world getting unbiased news all the time! 

The truth is, it's the liberal media making "the gaffe" a gaffe at all.   Just who's the real twit(s); it's people threatened by truth, who are the most challenged and the most defensive.

Make it a Good Day, G
 

It's My Opinion Stupid and no small Thing

Dear America,

opinion is everything.
and then again, it's not.

Either way, in this country, the United States of America, we have worshiped the inherent right to have our own opinion and then speak it or keep it totally to ourself.

Dick Cheney voiced an opinion this past weekend. Does he speak for all of us, half of us, a third of us, or none of us?    IF you answered NONE you would be correct.  For in all things, he can only speak for himself.....just like the rest of us.  [Unless of course, we have been given the direct mandate to speak on behalf of someone, a group, an agenda, and so on -- we can only speak as one person's opinion.]

Now, if you asked me, I would say Dick got it all wrong.  His perception is way different than mine.  Way.

Sarah Palin saved McCain's old progressive hide.  And if you can't see it, then perhaps you may be connected at the hip to the problem -- you know, as part of the thin-skinned posse content with running with the cowards of the republican establishment.

Obama was about to destroy him [McCain] and whatever stellar reputation he came with until that phenom rising, dressed in a skirt and lipstick, took command of the situation.  While if we go there, in my opinion, I have no doubt about her capabilities as president, if need be.  But that opinion is moot now isn't it.

What crushed Sarah Palin --  in the vicious aftermath -- is jealousy, misrepresentation, liberal lambasting from all sides, false narratives, and just total lack of courage under fire; and not for anything Sarah did.

Again -- the opinion is all mine -- on this day with the London Olympics in full swing-- may  God save the keen.
 
Is Dick entitled to saying what is on his mind, to speak his truth?  you betcha.

Now meandering into another realm of our inherent right to an opinion......

Chick-fil-A

First, read this.

"We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”  Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A

In this country -- we don't all bundle.  We have a right to uphold tradition in every way, or not.

And yet, almost immediately, Cathy's personal opinion was attacked.  In Boston, in Chicago, and now even with the mayor of San Diego joining in with the anti-first amendment chorus -- Cathy has been seriously accosted by high-ranking city officials just for answering questions and sharing his opinion and speaking his truth for an article in The Baptist Press.

Considering the comments were made in an interview with an outfit like The Baptist Press -- should Cathy's opinion be any real surprise?  I mean seriously.   A conservative paper interviewing a conservative businessman, and just assuming he just might be baptist and all...

But in reality -- the way this opinion plays out -- it's just that, his opinion.  The franchise vows not to treat anyone discriminatingly or disparagingly, whether as a guest or employee.    [but all you go ahead and picket all you want....guess you have a right to do that....]

just imagine the number of people who got a tickle up their leg when they heard Cathy speak with such conviction....hmmmm...
ah yes, the world may never know, considering the media censorship of the true depth and breadth of opinion these days....and considering the prevailing belief that you are a bigot if you believe deep down that traditional marriage and traditional family values still holds a certain amount of reverence for yourself.

Oh, and here's another opinion -- from Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com.  It's an opinion cast in millions of dollars [like 2.5 million].

I wonder -- putting your money where your mouth is like that is pretty astounding; it sort of makes a statement, doesn't it.   I wonder if Amazon.com will lose any customers?  I wonder if people will picket it on line, like boycott it or something?  Or, I wonder if even more people will be drawn to go there?   It doesn't matter.

It's still just his opinion and Bezos is fully entitled to it.

For some reason, Bezos is allowed to share his opinion, yet Cathy is not.

But if we really pick it all apart, it gets down to religious persecution along with a serious thwarting of one's right to speak freely, normally associated with regimes synonymous with free radicals and communists and fascists.

so let's have a little refresher, shall we --

Amendment I 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment

of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

or abridging the freedom of free speech, 

or of the press; or the

right of the people peaceably to assemble,

and to petition the government

for redress of grievances. 

and I can't wait for a Chick-fil-A to open near me.


Make it a Good Day, G

It's Just a Sit Down with the Typewriter Thing

Dear America,

"There's nothing to writing -- 

 all you do is sit down 

at a typewriter 

and bleed."  

Ernest Hemingway

happy monday, i think not.

since the massacre that took place during the wee hours of Friday morning, in Aurora, Colorado, the nation has been stunned....what kind of a person does this?

In the barrio, it's seems understandable; in the projects, totally expected; in East LA or Chi-town, don't even get me started.   And definitely (now taking creative license to take a giant leap) -- when it comes to places like Iraq and a little something that was reported just this morning -- when it comes to the loss of 82 people in multiple blasts that occurred within hours of each other at the hand of one body of evil, we just breathe a sigh of relief that that kind of thing just doesn't happen here.

But one thing is for sure -- we seem far more alarmed when death comes to us all at once; when it just trickles in here and there, our daily lives quickly consume it, or worse, totally disregard it.

But a massacre -- a massacre gets our immediate and full attention for days...weeks...months; while for those of us right up close to it, the experience steals away precious years to forever.

"Why, you don't even know 

what will happen tomorrow.  

What is your life?  

You are a mist 

that appears for a little while 

and then vanishes."   

James 4:14

We have no idea what the day brings, let alone tomorrow or the next day.

This is a day with all the more reason to hold the ones you love tightly in your arms and tell them you love them.  This is a day that reminds us to do our very best, no matter what mundane task is ahead of us; this is a day demanding us to live our lives fully, respectfully, courageously, and with honor.

This is certainly not a day for politics.

For our lives are nothing but a mist, really.   While in this day, my mist lays virtually still, pooling with the blood and tears of those who have lost their lives and a whole host of families and friends who must pick up the pieces and go on along with the rest of America.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Roads Paved in Gold Thing

Dear America,

this is how disconnected to business the president is --

before anything gets built,

whether it is a fast food joint, a commercial office building, a hospital, a gas station, a strip mall --

before anything gets built,

the business must get a permit (for everything)

the business must get approval (for everything)

the business must pay up --

for the roads and street lights and sewer and fire hydrant and handicapped sidewalks and underground cable and basically cover for everything in and around that business.

The business paid somebody, the city and all of it's contractors, to create a new road and any and all infrastructure the government deems necessary.

The government should be thanking the business!

Hey, Mr. President --  you didn't build it!  You couldn't have built it without the commercial success and investment by virtue of the free market and the capitalists behind the sign-age.  And guess what, your ignorance precedes you every step of the way now.

It's like, you detest business, in so many ways, so much these days, the Democratic Convention can't even refer to the stadium by its proper name.  It is called the Bank of America Stadium, not Panther's Stadium.  Bank of America paid big money to put their name on it just to take advantage of moments like this...association with the great one about to stand at the incumbent pulpit and speak to his congregation just like last time around.  [Who could forget that extravaganza?]

You know, all this got me thinking -- I'm beginning to realize so many of my shortfalls.

I know I cannot build a stadium, I wouldn't even know where to start.

And I certainly don't know a thing about this computer, as I am hunting and pecking about on the keyboard; nor could I build a phone, a refrigerator, a TV, a plane, train or automobile.

Heck, it would take me more time than I would like to take to make my own yogurt, bread, wine and cheese.

But I do know this -- I benefit more than I can ever imagine from all of these things that have magically appeared before me through the magnificence in mind and energy and ability and strength and ambition that other people are so well endowed.

I just want to go to my fridge, grab my ice cream, and go back to my couch and watch House Hunters International (before Calgone can take me away).

Anybody that creates anything that I can't make I am indebted to for life and give thanks. 

But do I ever look upon these corporate entities who bring all these things about with green eyes of envy for the wealth they may have earned through bringing 'it' to market and making a profit on my hard-earned dime?

No.   Because I respect reality -- no business would stay in business if it didn't turn a profit.  [and I really like my wine]

The president's mantra -- coming right out of the handbook for community organizers, collectivists and socialists worldwide -- is the continuing pounding for everyone to pay their fair share; the president believes that the rich (aka job/business/opportunity creators) should pay more because they have more.  And they do, see here for a great stat.

So as it clearly points out from the audacity of hypocrisy website -- if the top 5% of wage earners cover for 64% of all tax revenue going into the coffers, how can this not be MORE than fair?   This leaves the majority, the 95% -- might as well round up to 'the 99%' -- only covering a "fair share" of 36%.

The disconnect of the president weighs in even more once we imagine that for every corporation, for every business large or small, has a leader - - somebody is in charge of making sure that business employs the right number of people, keeps its total expenditures low and its profits higher, maintains all laws and regulations, treats its employees fairly, and makes/provides something of value that people want to buy -- just so that the business can simply continue to hang its shingle (even if such a shingle runs the size of a football stadium).  This business may support one life, a family, or a whole crew, but at the end of the day, doesn't it support all of us and thereby support hundreds of lives, if not hundreds of thousands, maybe millions.

And if such a business does not perform and do the right thing more often than not, it doesn't deserve to stay in business, respective of the understanding there is no such thing as too big to fail.

While regretfully, and digressing to classic Godfather for support, sometimes it's not personal at all, it really is just business.

The thing is -- would real business  make it if we all walked around walking all over each other, or putting our boot to the throat, or hitting up the grocer (Sam Walmart) to pay even more, or else?

Real business stays in business from being honorable in every way and creating a place where the masses -- the consumer, the buyer, the purveyor of a need -- want to do business with.  It's all about an exchange of value, as we have aggressively talked about on more days than I can remember.

I believe Romney owes his success from doing the best job he could no matter what he was doing -- whether at Bain, leading Massachusetts, leading the Olympics in 2002, or anywhere else.   His track record, his results, are exemplary, are they not?  He is just dripping in success. 

For Bain Capital, they made it their business to help other businesses, for goodness sakes.  This is what they do.  If they didn't have a reputation for producing rather stellar results, word would get around, and Bain would go belly up accordingly.

But all of this is neither here nor there.

We have a president who at some warped level believes that 'if you have a business, you didn't build it' -- that you have the 'government provided infrastructure' to thank for it -- and more important, you should be ashamed of yourselves for not giving more back considering all that you have; all of this revealing the classic, but jarring, mentality of someone in the business of marketing collectivism.

The president should stop and apologize.

The thing is -- it all boils down to so much more than contributing 2/3rds of the financial tax burden; for what the higher achievers of the world --  those bringing all good things to life -- really do for us, gives back to us a hundred fold in the every day.  If we can be truly honest, what we gain in the exchange may be worth so much more.

think about it -- can you even put a real value to the rather inexpensive cell phone connected to your hip?  Get a phone --  make contact with your children with ease, get directions, phone in a food order for pickup, call for help in an emergency.  Get a phone number --  start a business, make money, employ somebody to help you, then turn an even bigger profit....hello.  [yeah, and it's gotta be just that simple, given the way this president uses his minutes to talk and text]

It's called priceless.
It's an intangible process of give and take, risk and reward, counting upon an even exchange at all times, between all parties involved or it would not work.  The job creators provide a commodity that the every day person on the street either cannot do, will not do, or just chooses not to.  But make no mistake, the value of providing such an opportunity for those of us on the anti-do side, is huge -- it's what feeds us and puts clothes on our backs, and so on and so.   This country should be kissing the feet of every entrepreneur instead of slapping their face.

What we have created in America through the magic of capitalism re-booted an entire new world...and all of us benefit from it...the entire world has benefited...all of us gain something and most often for doing absolutely nothing [oooh which reminds me of a super sweet golden rule -- you get what you give ]

And speaking of roads, bridges and Internet  (the brilliant context the Left speaks so highly of to support the president's absurd belief system):  the roads in America gained such the reputation, people spoke of them being paved in gold [of course now, paved in nearly worthless paper]; but that's how good at it we were [being capitalists]; while the underlying exceptionalism ruled in thought, word and deed from school house to school house, from Main Street to Wall Street, from sea to shining sea.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's About One Good Thing

Dear America,

so Africa has lots of roads and bridges;

Cuba has a military;

even Egypt gets the Internet (just remember how that Arab Spring spread?);

for goodness sakes, the people of Iran posted crazy scary videos....on the Internet...when they were crying for help from the leader of the free world.

What, pray tell, is the difference?

What separates America from all of these places?  How did America create the environment to grow wealth for every living breathing soul with an ambition, to pursue their own happiness?

It's certainly not the infrastructure, provided by our government (paid for by us, the taxpayers).

Hardly.

Everything America has become we owe to Something far greater than government.

Our success was earned -- every penny of it -- through the vehicle of capitalism working within and around a free market by the grace of God, our Creator.

At the risk of repeating myself, of course, Mr. President, we are indebted to Something -- and it sure ain't the government.  

Whether one chooses to accept it as their truth, or not, everything that we are -- individually and collectively -- is built upon a foundation that truly believes in our heart of hearts "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

It's not a talking point.

These words have carried the power and the might to lift all people in this fine nation to aspire for making the greatest of achievements, experience the greatest of wealth, creating the greatest humanitarians and champions for democracy in the entire world.

Nowhere in the world comes anything close....which, not surprisingly, is why other people do anything and everything to get here.

Listening to Mike Slater again this morning, I am humbled by the realization of just how great the mistakes we have made as a people, all together.   Trying my best to paraphrase, as I only caught about ten minutes of a much longer conversation, the gist of it was this:

that we, the people, have allowed the government to usurp the moral responsibility of taking care of our own.  And  subsequently, we, as a people, have left to the government to do the work that in the 'olden days' made us better people; basically, what we have done to ourselves is  "OUTSOURCED" our moral duty to each other --  allowing for the unconscionable growth of entitlements and government dependency -- and thereby greatly adding to our debt we can no longer afford -- and all the while, chipping away at the personal connection, releasing the individual from any real or perceived moral mandate and obligation.

And this downturn doesn't stop there, for we have traveled so far away from our moral obligations -- to each other and ourselves -- that we no longer acknowledge, let alone respect, from where this stirring even comes.

We owe everything to our Creator -- whether it is our voice, our athleticism, our smarts, our aspirations, our character, our gifts, our talents...to our roads, bridges, airplanes, the Internet, and any and all other flights of fancy and feats of engineering.... to our founders, our system of government, our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, our Rule of Law, our People of Character... our beautiful Republic -- all of it comes from our Creator.

Sure, Mr. President, we owe much of our success to the people and opportunities and roads  which touch our lives -- whether they be positive or negative; it all grows into our character contributing to the kind of person we ultimately become, illuminating the very thing that separates the wheat from the shaft, deeply rooting us into all the things worth remembering, keeping, respecting, and honoring as we build a business and create a life all in the pursuit of Happiness.

Good people create good business, a simple principle that withstands the test of time.

Good people creating good business, under God -- only allowing for the intrusion of a small, limited good government -- characterizes America's first intention, and all in all bringing it down to the only thing that really matters right about now.

 I have nothing more to say today.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Felonious Against the Free Market Thing

Dear America,

just because the president's speech in Roanoke was so stunning:

"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.  (Applause.)
     If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
     The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."

Make no mistake; this is not a voice of an American who truly understands America and how she was made  -- let alone a president.

Please read every single word from the official White House transcript on the day, just go here.

repeating his first point:

"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart."

read it again and catch yourself up at the point where he stops himself for full effect..."they know they didn't -- look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own."

HE even repeats it:  "you didn't get there on your own." 

and then the digger chimes in:

"I’m always struck by people who think, 

well, it must be because I was just so smart."

are you serious?

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that."

HE doubles down on the individual not getting there "on your own" and takes it two steps further, saying "if you've got a business -- you didn't build that."

It's so offensive, it's hard to imagine it came out of the mouth of our president.

"So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together.  That’s how we funded the GI Bill.  That’s how we created the middle class.  That’s how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam.  That’s how we invented the Internet.  That’s how we sent a man to the moon.  We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that’s the reason I’m running for President -- because I still believe in that idea.  You’re not on your own, we’re in this together.  (Applause.)"

The real Barack Obama has been cultivating this moment for four years; the collective mentality, the socialist agenda, the progressive paradigm, has been rooted in his every move; and his followers and believers are eating out of the palm of his hand.  The end justifies the means. [The end being the end of the Republic of the United States of America]

right.   so you, Mr. President, Al Gore, and our incredibly gracious, smart, charitable government created the Internet and Mark Zuckerberg and his facebook owes it all to you.  Every business operating on the Internet owes it all to you -- the face of the USA today.

you know what ---- you should just go ahead and plant someone at the helm of every Board of Directors from coast to coast.  what's stopping you?  But let's continue to digress --

"if you've got a business -- you didn't build that." 

k. so to carry HIS line of thought backwards -- are you taking equal credit for all the failures, too?  Fair is fair, right?


I wonder just how many businesses have not made it over the last 236 years?  How many have gone belly up just in the last four?  so --  perhaps Mr. President, you might also say  -- 'if you've got a business that has gone under -- it's not your fault -- it's ours....no, no, let me be more clear...it's my fault.'

wow. now wouldn't that be some kind of refreshing.


But in all seriousness, this president of ours has absolutely no respect for the American Free Market, the naked, now walking aimlessly in the woods, capitalists that we are and intended to be.


Being not of the business world whatsoever, leaves this president vulnerable in every way [just wish Romney could jump on this aspect a little more often, perhaps even with a little of his own business bravado showing....a girl can dream a little dream....].   did you like that? isn't Zooey just wonderful.  guess she owes her success to Obama too...

But this president seems to be missing a major attribute contributing to one's success, and the ability for a company to even get to the level of turning a profit.  And that being, SOMEBODY took a risk first. And from another angle.... even the greatest of actors can have stage fright.

There are no guarantees in a free market.  None.

All ideas start from the individual, at the widget stage; the hope, the dream, is to multiply and expand that one widget -- whatever it may be -- to make something bigger from something small. 


But this president has the audacity to say to every successful business person/company/corporation -- you didn't do it without the collective making it so.  Did the collective risk anything when mr. mom and pop opened the deli with collateral saved up after ten years, a loan from family, or after mortgaging their home?


Even Ray Kroc opened up with just one store.


It's this kind of disconnect that disturbs me.  But this president actually gets away with feeding his audiences ignorance and false truths on even the most basic of free market principles; and all the while, driving a wedge between the haves and the have nots solely to stir a collective uprising large enough to open the door to a second term.

I heard something surprising this morning on talk radio -- Mike Slater, on KFMB 760 San Diego, asked his audience which chain has the most stores.  Most of us would automatically think Mickey D's, but nope, that wasn't it.

The answer:  Subway.  25,000 stores.

So here they are, holding onto the number one spot in number of locations, and yet they rank 36th on revenue share.  That's why they are constantly wrestling with the task of growing a customer base...offering special deals, bringing in professional athletes to help sell sandwiches, starting a marketing craze with the five dollar foot long, and things like that.   The drive to please it's customers -- provide the service and value at a price the customer is willing to pay -- is a continuous challenge.   

This pressure never sleeps.

This is what the president fails to recognize.

Somebody risked something with an idea, made the investment through begging and borrowing, and then continuously does everything in his power to stay in the game, to stay in business, with absolutely no guarantee to double the number of stores, employees, profits, let alone multiply it by 25,000 or a million.

and it doesn't stop there -- as once somebody turns a profit, they can afford to buy things, even make other investments, create a charitable foundation, maybe even go on a vacation...

America wants to grow millionaires and billionaires.  That is who we are.

Not because we are all greedy bastards -- but because we have something inside us that feeds our ambitions, both charitable and in business; and ultimately, in a perfect world, we want that something to be able to support a lifestyle, our own individual pursuit of happiness -- whether living large or small.  It is entirely up to the individual.

Smart, dumb - rich, poor - honest, corrupt - ambitious, lazy ---- we could go on and on -- it all boils down to the character within and how we invest in ourselves.  

In America, the only thing that prevents the individual from rising out of the shadows remains inside the individual.  Time and time again, the 'poor child' from 'the other side of the tracks' has transcended from their own predicament and stature in society; and time and time again, the rich kid from the upper east side can fall to pieces by simply having too much too soon.  More often than not, however, most of us seem to make it or break it somewhere in the middle.

This speech performed by our president is repulsive in so many ways.

We have much more to say about all this, but this speech, THIS SPEECH -- sounds totally unamerican, really; it -- this speech -- just might be of the felonious nature against this great country and especially our free market. (and no, I'm not apologizing for that).

Make it a Good Day, G

It's If You Tell a Lie Big Enough and Keep Repeating It Thing

Dear America,

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."  Joseph Goebbels

it's gonna get messy.

so welcome to the next 100 days of text, lies and videotape -- an art-form virtually suspended into the air for as long as the audience bites through the unconscionable widespread loss of the unbiased journalist.

and it looks like we're surrounded.

The effect is compounded exponentially when the Rules-for-Radicals-in-Chief lays the groundwork.

Oh, and he ain't apologizing for it either.

"No, we won't be apologizing...Sometimes these games are played during political campaigns. Understand what the issues are here: Mr Romney claims he's Mr. Fix-it for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience*."

Now, bear in mind, the Obama campaign threw out the possibility of Romney having committed a felony.  A felony!

"Either Mitt Romney, through his own word and his own signature was misrepresenting his own position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony, or he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments. If that is the case, if he was lying to the American people, than that is a real character and trust issue.”  Stephanie Cutter (for more of this BS go here)

The strange thing is -- this president is quite alright hanging it all out there as the truth, even when it's not.  Whatever gets it done.  And the bigger the better.

Wow.  Now this is a new low for even you, Mr. President.

And I'm searching... wildly, madly, everywhere for how this makes you look even a scosh presidential...a little help?

Oh but never mind, this just in -- it's only been since, like, yesterday, that the press believes the president's ads have gone like, negative in all of this.   ooooh burn.  now that's handing it to him.  But in other news, let the press help you, help us, Mr. President.

And speaking of some bad press, let us be so bold and review Obama's very own "JOBS Council" --  through the pages of one of his own, the HUFF POST:

 "26 business leaders assembled by the president for job-spurring ideas, includes representatives of several companies that have used outsourcing, fueling job creation abroad and job losses in the U.S. Shipping work to low-cost overseas labor markets has been a trend in American manufacturing for decades"

fascinating.  maybe hope springs in the media yet...

what's even more fascinating -- reading the comments underneath the HUFF POST; as always, the comments by we, the people, prove evermore on the ball than the elite wish to believe.  (ooooh is there perhaps a conspiracy to make ourselves dumber-than-we-appear in the political reflective mirror?)

And what about all the oil and gas jobs that have gone belly up after the BP disaster -- you know, like the number of oil rigs that had to pull out altogether and the Obama Administration clamping down on all off-shore drilling both east and west -- put two and two together plus the billions thrown into Brazil's oil industry over our own and you get Mr.Oil-Outsourcer-In-Chief; or how about the green energy jobs subsidized by stimulus money that went abroad...for back up found more recently, read this -- now we get Mr. Green-Energy-Outsourcer-In-Chief.  Ta Dah

The problem with running a campaign in and around today's media frenzy is that the other side to every story can easily be reached within about two clicks on the keyboard.

And did you know that even campaign funds can come from fund-raisers outsourced abroad?
oh yes they can...and yes they did... and certainly not apologizing for it (cuz "they need the money" -- yeah, just another false narrative only fueled by the media to stoke the "underdog's" incumbent coffers)

But here ya go...."Obama taps overseas donor pool..."

It's not like it's a felony or anything -- I mean, the donors are all Americans (at least, according to their passports) and there is nothing illegal going on whatsoever.
And besides, both sides do it.

One world, y'all.

This is what confuses me: at what point did outsourcing become evil?   Surely, we have had Americans working abroad for ages;  we have had foreigners fill positions overseas within U.S. companies; while we also have foreign companies outsourcing manufacturing and investments upon American soil here.  Doesn't it all even out in the end?  Or is it just wrong when the right does it?

IF restructuring -- and ultimately outsourcing some jobs -- saves an American company from going bankrupt, wouldn't that be a good thing?

The truth is, these days, nearly everything we touch has the possibility of  coming from somewhere else -- the olive oil on our bruschetta could be from Italy, the clothes on our back from Indonesia or Vietnam, the wine in our glass from Chile, that funny looking light bulb coming on a slow boat from China (thanks GE) but about that Toyota we drive, it just might have been made in Mississippi.  go figure.

It's a small small world.  Free trade within a big giant free market should be our end game...no?

And as I seem to recall, our president even campaigned to a foreign audience last time around; remember that speech in Germany? [July 24, 2008]   ..."people of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment - this is our time"  -- guess having a total brain-freeze on where he was or which country he was campaigning for.

Okay, but now going full circle and back to all about Bain.  A big time bundler for the Obama campaign is Jonathan Lavine.    So what G...

so go here for the icing on the hypocrite cake fest.  yummy, isn't it?

Ahhh heavy sigh -- what the media doesn't want to talk about might say a whole lot more than what they do...

And just maybe, it's more about the story and not about the truth at all.

From Obama's lips --  to our ears -- to the media page:

"the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times."  Obama  [for more go to: The Weekly Standard here]

um no.  wrong again.

we don't need a story teller; in the real world we need a leader.

Honestly, this is such a weird thing for him to say -- for it reveals how much of his own life has revolved around a narrative -- a narrative providing the perfect back story for an up and coming candidate; one that fills in the blanks and supplements his weaknesses with dreams from his father, all with the help of a ghost writer; one that creates the evolution of a president as he goes along; one that rewrites it all in a more favorable light. 

He doesn't think he needs to be anything more than a good story teller to get by [while for so many, he doesn't].

Now there is nothing wrong with 'unity and purpose and optimism'; nothing at all.  But in a twisted version of his own story telling, he thinks that all we need to hear is a good lie and everything will be fine.

* and about that 'business experience' -- According to Obama, Obama knows more about business than the business man in the particular (a Romney), and in general.  Get a load of this commentary from one of my favorite things -- The Heritage Foundation.

so hear ye, hear ye -- here we are about a hundred days out; it gives us plenty of time to investigate and contemplate where we go next as a country.  Don't believe everything you hear, even if it's from your own sister or brother; think for yourself.

It's up to every single one of us to get this right.

Make it a Good Day, G

Epi-Blogue

I am not going to apologize 

for being all over the place today.

I am not going to apologize 

for making you read a bunch of things.

I am certainly not going to apologize

for the games political blogs play --

sometimes, 

"I think voters entirely 

legitimately 

want to know what is exactly 

his business experience--"

you know -- Obama's**. 

oh g, that is good.

real good.

and it's a print.

** but seriously, if I were Romney,

I would be hammering this point into the ground...

can you say, shovel ready?

k, gonna shut up now.

It's a Bottom's Up Thing

Dear America,

"As government expands, liberty contracts."

the country is top heavy...and not because of what you think.

It's not because of the top 2%, or even the top 10% of all wage earners -- who just so happen to pay 71% of all federal tax revenue.

Nope.  Keep the change.

It's because we, the people, have allowed our government to grow exponentially -- stealing our liberty every step of the way -- and eroding the very foundation in which we stand.

Clearly, we are top heavy.   And we all know what happens when that happens, right?

 The THIRD city to go down in the state of California -- San Bernardino -- knows exactly what I am talking about.  Can you say pension overload?  Can you say exorbitant salaries?  Can you say unconscionable entitlements?   Can you say twenty years of nobody watching just what 'they' do?

Just who holds sweet liberty now?

America was designed to build our liberty from the bottom up -- one citizen at a time, from generation to generation, and never breaking the code of honor and integrity which binds.

But as we are witnessing today, this very notion of the bottom being part and parcel of our nation's unfaltering, unwavering foundation and being of principal and values and the rule of law has simply grown non-existent.

Instead of building upon the elements proven to withstand the test of time -- living honestly and morally sound, investing in years of hard work and a good education, being of exceptional character as best we can -- the bottom has simply decided to check out, leaving all duty and responsibility for someone else's shoes to fill and essentially leaving a huge, massive, uncharacteristic, un-American, void.

Just who jumps in to fill the void?

oooh which reminds me of another good video to cue on GTV (it's a replay, but who's counting anything right?) --



We are entering a new phase in America -- it seems to be some rendition of a mob rule, masked by a highly corrupt rule of law maligning with unscrupulous representatives who have usurped all power of our Constitution.

The mob at the bottom is totally okay with this; for this topsy-turvy view of being a productive, integral, responsible, accountable citizen has been replaced with a brand new mindset -- some kind of compilation of a junkie on entitlement steroids and an Occupier who simply wants to stick it to the man.

Now this girl is certainly no engineer, but me thinks a country -- a Republic -- can only keep it's balance for just so long.

It all comes down to a few things:   the weaknesses of human nature --  the inherent faults of inferior construction and lousy materials -- along with an ignorant (yet sometimes blatant) trampling of the blueprints.

Thanks to a gift from my papa, I receive a newsletter, Access to Energy, each month.  It's published by a science/tech guy running for Congress up in Oregon, Dr. Arthur B. Robinson.  It's really good stuff.  Anywho,
he includes an essay simply entitled "Democracy" and shares this thought --

"The real issue is whether or not we can convince the majority to elect a Congress that will return to government under the Constitution -- wherein the powers of the majority are placed below individual human rights.  Will the majority realize that their rights are no safer than those of the minority?  Will the custom and culture of our Republic and common sense prevail?"

And adding one more thing under a heading of "Stark Raving Mad" -- Robinson laments upon the thought of what Thomas Paine would think if he were here today and makes this observation (and totally like a mad scientist, too):

"That it is not common sense that the 99% and the 1% would permit the 0.001% to set them against each other and thereby enslave the entire 99.9%.  To do this would be "stark raving mad."

Exactly.

If the mob at the bottom was really using it's head, they would see this.

They would see that they are in the midst of eroding not only their own liberty, but the liberties of other people that they will never even exchange 'hellos'... 

[cue the light bulb above my head]  Because that's just it; we are not a nation of skyscrapers and corporations.  We are a nation of people.  People needing people, as G quickly digresses into cheesy...

Producers needing consumers; consumers needing producers, to buy all the many things they want or need or must have -- and requiring a real job to pay for all of it.  Given previous conversations, it's the fairest exchange of all when allowed to operate freely, openly, honestly between all the parties involved.

And yet the hard reality remains to be seen --  the only thing the government produces is a world of debt built in the middle of nowhere wasting trillions of dollars propped up by fiat money and paper pushers of bureaucracy.  Every job the government produces, every new government entitlement, every empty government building, every wasted government stimulus, every dollar printed like monopoly money costs us money! 

While the mob at the bottom just wants more of it.  The Republic is seemingly being outnumbered and outwitted right before our eyes.  weird.

Dr. Arthur Robinson notes in the very same issue a steel deficiency -- sharing new stats that the Chinese produce 46% of world's steel, while the U.S., merely 6%.  6%!  that is a whopping 6%.  [Andy Carnegie must be shaking his head right along side Tommy boy]

But we'll have to save that conversation for another day.

Bottoms up.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Not the Free Market's Fault Thing

Dear America,

capitalism and the free market and a free people can be so misunderstood...

...while we so happened to have traveled so far away from our country's founding intentions -- crafted by the pure genius of our founding fathers and learned men -- the ordinary citizen has not a chance in recognizing our failure to uphold our duty and responsibility to it...

surely, we have lost our way....
...we have forgotten the reason why
...we have ignored the facts, making up new rules as we go along --  finding ourselves choosing to rationalize bad behavior at every turn, and siding with the irrational, emotional pull of human nature versus sound decision making, we seem to have reached a dead end.

But when allowed to operate correctly, freedom itself, can be best expressed within a free market economy; there is nothing else like it in the world!

According to The Naked Communist,  "It allows everyone to win, either by making a profit or by improving his position as the result of an honest transaction."

Of course, take out "honest" and we all fall down.


IF a company grows a reputation of being dishonest -- if a seller uses tricks and gimmicks to sell an inferior product -- word gets out.  Rather quickly, actually. But let's not get hung up on this aspect...

True free enterprise is based on the value of something and how each party in a transaction wins something in the exchange.   As my little red paperback by W. Cleon Skousen goes on to explain in plain language:

"Take a man who wants to buy a used car.  He has a certain amount of money or credit.  When he offers this money to the dealer it means that he would rather have the car than that amount of money -- the 'value' of the car is greater to him than the 'value' of the money.  If the dealer agrees it means that the dealer would rather have the money than the car.  In fact, he won't sell the car unless the price he gets is of greater value to him than the value of the car...both men have made a profit."

The thing is -- very few of us really respects the dynamic of supply and demand and the true value bestowed upon things that fuels this free market on a daily, moment by moment, transaction after transaction, basis.   Nobody has a gun to somebody's head (aka a penalty, or a tax) to force them to buy a new used car (at least, not yet...health care, yes, a used car, no).

But in a free country, it is the individual who decides what is of value and what is not.

AND  -- at the moment we choose something -- we are expressing our freedom to choose or walk away, to spend or to save, to risk or to play it safe, to buy or not to buy, to sell or not to sell --  basing our decision entirely upon what it is worth to us after weighing it against all pros and cons.

What we fail to teach our children (and ourselves) is the power of that specific, dynamic, revolutionary choice we make.  We fail to teach the great responsibility back behind it, even if it is merely a pack of gum.

As another example from Skousen:

"If a man has ten dollars and chooses to spend it on a night of celebration he has thereby lost the freedom to spend that same ten dollars on some new clothes.  One the choice is made, a person is not free to avoid the consequences of that choice.  That is why we say there is no such thing as unrestricted freedom, or freedom in general.  Freedom is always restricted to some specific choice and freedom is always restricted to choosing one direction at a time."

oh and he continues with this kicker:

"It is for this reason that a free economy requires a continuous education of its people so that they will exercise their "freedom to choose" in such a way that it will sustain sound moral principles and build a dynamic economy with a strong social structure to preserve it.  In making such choices, the people must sense what is best for both the individual and the community [so as to not become a burden on it].  They must be well informed.  They must know enough about each problem so they can anticipate what the result will be when they have made their choice." 

Romney has made phenomenal choices for himself and his family (while his boys seem to be following right behind).

Are the results of Romney's choices simply because he was a ruthless businessman, a capitalist pig?

I think not.

He made good choices based upon, first and foremost, being an honorable  man.  And this man, as part of the private equity firm, Bain Capital, invested into the future value of other companies, basically risking their capital on hand to a future value, virtually unknown.  Each party wanted something of value and were willing to exchange something of value, and so on and so on.

And by the way, there wasn't some kind of magic ball, some kind of built-in GPS system giving directions, you know what I mean... 

There were no guarantees that Staples, for an example, would actually make it.

And certainly, I have no idea of the particulars of the deal.  But somewhere in the mix, both parties came away with something of greater value.   There was an exchange of values (and hard work); and fortunately, in the end, it all  worked out for all parties involved.

Staples only continues to thrive because the public, in general, likes what it sells at the price points they provide.  People work at Staples because they see the value of what they get paid in salary and benefits in exchange for the amount of time and energy they spend there.   Manufacturers continue to cater to Staples, for they, too, appreciate the return on the "value exchange" overall.  And, in turn, the lucky company who sells the packaged health insurance, the corner gas station who fuels the delivery trucks, the neighborhood deli which feeds all the passersby all win (just to name a few).

Throughout every leg of the process, at the very core, a specific choice is made.

And THIS FREEDOM is what it's all about.  This freedom, at one time, was revolutionary; and it was so dynamic, it led in this country's decision making. And we, as a whole, glorified it for all the right reasons.

But oopsie daisy, today... not so much.

We have stopped teaching it.  We have ceased leading with it.  And more often than not, have encouraged vilifying it.

The thing is, as a people, we have made horrendous choices over the last hundred years in government.

As a people, we have enslaved ourselves -- every single one of us!

Now, I know, deep in my heart, that I have made relatively bad choices with my individual freedom to choose (carrying a bevy of consequences in tow).  But it's not anyone else's fault but my own.

While, as a people -- given we have seemingly fallen fast asleep behind the wheel of our fine used car, tagged America -- we are currently dealing with the results of our freedom to choose collectively.  We have made some seriously bone head choices.

I don't even wanna know what some of our founders must be thinking.

The road ahead will not be pretty, nor pink; for we are seeing red everywhere we turn.  Our innocence has been lost upon things frivolous and short sighted.

Our toil has been wasted upon a corrupted exchange of values and control.

The things we should value, we trash; while the things we throw away, are disposed of mindlessly of the consequences it creates.

And strangely enough, the good news is:  we have done this to ourselves.  
[yay...   fist pump for freedom everyone]

For the even better news:  WE CAN FIX IT THE SAME WAY WE BROKE IT.  WE CAN TURN IT ALL AROUND.

All we have to do is make better choices again -- come one and all, individually and collectively.

It's a clunker alright.  But we have the ability to recognize the beauty within -- to re-introduce ourselves to ourselves and the very things that make us special -- the attributes intrinsically built into the free market, capitalist, republic that we are.

We can teach our children -- and our 'brothers and sisters', too --  to be wise in their freedom of choice.

We can teach our representatives that they serve the people.

We can teach our so-called unlimited government that it answers to us.

We can all learn to drive this thing all over again if we have to, whatever it takes.

The freedom to try, to buy, to sell, to fail is our engine.  And without these things working in unison with the ignition being lit by the freedom of choice provided by every single one of us -- responsibly, deliberately, conscientiously, and honorably -- for the benefit of our own life and each other's -- we might as well drive off the proverbial cliff right now.

It works with ideologies, too.

It's called making one good choice after another, until one day, we get back to where we started.  (oh the irony of going backwards in order to move forward with integrity, preserving all the things that make this country pretty wonderful) 


Make it a Good Day, G

It's I Pledge to the United States of America Thing

Dear America,

somebody needs to get to the Romney camp, sit them down with some s'mores, and set things straight.

Romney needs to be on offense, not defense -- whether it is regarding Obamacare or Romneycare, Bain or off-shore jobs, free market economy vs. nanny state...you get my driftwood so take a seat.

The fundamental difference between Obamacare and Romneycare is that Romney acted on behalf of a STATE!    States -- as sovereign entities unto their own -- can enact things a federal government has absolutely no power over.  End of story.

The people of Massachusetts wanted a health care system, and the state legislature made it so; while according to the new definition of penalty -- it, too, would be considered a tax.

So, this brings us to the opening of the floodgates with a universal government run health care system (aka socialist medicine).  We the People have never wanted this; and the federal government has no such power to create it; this task should continue to be left to the individual states ---

Romney can win this argument over and over and over again...and yet, here they sit, fussing about what we are calling it with the left brain media as if the campaign has no higher ground to climb up to.

unbelievable.

now let's turn to the outsourcing dilemma --

let's first go to The Daily Caller citing a factcheck.org fact check, go here.

The G-ist of it is this:

"After reviewing numerous corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, contemporary news accounts, company histories and press releases, and the evidence offered by both the Obama and Romney campaigns, we found no evidence to support the claim that Romney — while he was still running Bain Capital — shipped American jobs overseas."

Now cue an ancient article -- from September 2011 -- capitalist china meets Chevrolet.
did you read it?
if you did, you can now proceed with caution to the episode now appearing on GTV:

.

Romney -- can you say offense in Chinese?

Obama has got nothing on Romney.  Romney is the one who KNOWS business; Romney is the one who makes sound investments, rebuilds, and brings new life to a business about to be drowned in debt and mismanagement.

What is Obama?  A community organizer, a bureaucrat, a spender, a president who has never worked in the real world a day in his life.  He is just someone highly astute at protesting, marching, and occupying the White House while stomping and tromping over the Constitution of the United States and the separation of powers; this is what he knows; it's innate, handed down to him through 'dreams from my father' and radicalism from his mother, while fostered under the likes of Saul Alinsky and mentored for twenty years under the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Can you find any other history on the guy?
No, you can't.

Why? Because this is just who he IS.  And the definition of is, is. 

If the Left were really honest with themselves -- they would see that this president sits on the wrong side of America each and every time, totally willing to chop us all up and spit us back out using whatever means available to fundamentally transform America. It's the only promise he ever intended to keep.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

So here we are, on the eve of another birthday, when who would have thought we would be sitting here wondering if this will be our last.  Everything hangs on the next election.

Our dear Republic sits, huddled around the campfire, scared, shaking at her roots, feeling very much in jeopardy.

Just who could enjoy fireworks at a time like this?

Perhaps a moment of silence, for prayer and reflection, may be the order of the day tomorrow.

May you and yours be safe --

May I also recommend reading The Declaration of Independence with your family, or to the dog, whatever--
for 

"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, its the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes..." 

to keep reading it -- go here.

"...with firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor."

oh to have every single one of us take this pledge...

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Not an Easy Breezy Covergirl Kind of Day Thing

Dear America,

I was channel surfing Saturday morning just to have some noise in the background as I cleaned when I heard this:  "wealth comes from freedom, not force."

Amen, Jonathan Hoenig.  He is the Managing Member of private investment partnership, and runs CAPITALISTPIG ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, easily found @capitalistpig.com.

The thing is, on this happy Monday morning --  this notion of freedom vs. force, is at the bottom of the Affordable Care Act slop.  And it is slop.

Nobody disagrees with the early signs of benefits from the Affordable Care Act -- you know, things like keeping kids on your plan until they reach the age of 26, outlawing the issue of pre-existing conditions, just to name a couple of our favorites.

And yet, NONE of these things (and a whole bevy of others) required our Congress to pass a 3,000 page behemoth health care law, enacting the greatest tax increase in twenty years, paving the way to another massive government controlled entitlement only accomplished through the turbulent waves of pure, full force.

None.  These things -- the very things we like -- are regulatory changes and do not require a new entitlement.

Now, the issues that necessitated a congressional leg up can be found beyond the boundaries of this unconscionable law -- things like, allowing the individual to purchase health insurance across state lines, opening up real health insurance competition; allowing the individual to keep their insurance when leaving a company, and enacting real TORT reform throughout the industry.

These things are the real pre-existing conditions that have yet to see the light of day with a resolution.

As we have learned over the last few days, Chief Justice John Roberts turned to the P.P. principle to back his answer.  Politics and Perception.   Two things that surely don't belong within the realm of the Supreme Court and suffice it to say, set in motion a lifting of the leg on the American people.  [oh g, do you have to be so crass?   um, yeah, I do]

Here's some backup for you.  From CBS of all places....read this.

Roberts' opinion was swayed by the left wing by a soft, unyielding force.  Roberts was less committed to protecting the people's freedom and more committed to crafting a decision protecting the perceptions of the high court.   Now talk about  unconstitutional.  He took an oath for pete's sake.

Now just before the weekend I heard something simply astounding.  Now, I don't always listen to this guy, but when I do, I am never disappointed -- it's all about the rush we get, the tingle up our leg:  Rush Limbaugh outlined just how unlawful this decision by the Supreme Court really is...beginning with the idea, they never should have heard the case in the first place!

I will go as quickly through as I can -- first, upon opening day of the oral arguments, the court asked the government 'is this a tax?'; they said no.  The court appointed their own attorney to investigate further, to prove if whether or not it is in fact a tax, and they said 'no.'  we are free to proceed....

So why all the fuss?

Because of something called the anti-injunction act -- the court cannot take up the argument until AFTER such time the tax has been implemented [in this case, not until AFTER 2014].  The SCOTUS should have stopped right there if in fact we were all discussing "a tax." 

So fast forward through the proverbial supreme court pipeline -- and now we actually get a decision solely based upon it being a tax?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Now, not only that -- but apparently, you can't have a penalty (now morphed into a tax) be higher than the actual cost of doing something (purchasing the health insurance).

According to the Affordable Care Act, which is now the law, the 'mandate = penalty = tax' INCREASES over time, nudging people -- forcing people -- to acquire health insurance through a tax punishment.

From the National Review, a rose-colored breakdown of the decision by the Attorney General of Virginia, Kenneth Cuccinelli included this:

"Another thing to note is that Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion on the taxing power is limited. He noted that it could not be considered punitive because the amount citizens are required to pay for not having insurance is far less than they would have to pay to obtain insurance. He strongly suggests that, if Congress were to require citizens to pay an amount greater than the costs of insurance, that would constitute a penalty, and thus would be unconstitutional. "

Please read more, go here.

well well, Mr. Cuccinelli, lookie here...the grounds -- which are not of sand -- for your next lawsuit with the Supreme Court.  I would get right on that...the punitive damages against the American people are set in motion.

I found a decent rough sketch of some of the new taxation, go here.

A highlight:    "In 2014, the penalty will be no more than $285 per family or 1% of income, whichever is greater. In 2015, the cap rises to $975 or 2% of income. And by 2016, the penalty would be up to $2,085 per family or 2.5% of income, whichever is greater."  (you will be happy to note, it rises with inflation thereafter).  And it's not just about the individual, or the family -- the states have their own set of mandates -- and just where does that money come from?  yes.  back to you and me.

For another take, go to The Daily Ticker here.

News Break: The waves of freedom are currently sloppy and choppy.

Freedom is not free in any way, shape or form -- and on a day like this, nor is it easy breezy cover girl.

But HISTORY proves that FORCE is way less fun and far more costly.  way.
whoa dude.
cowabunga to me.

Make it a Good Day, G