Empowerment, Not Entitlement!

We Need Empowerment, Not Entitlement

It Really Isn't All About "Me"!

Monday, December 31, 2012

Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Patience Of The American People And The Fiscal Cliff, Another Perspective

Here's a well expressed point of view from Doug, a friend of mine, who posted this on his Facebook page.  With his permission, I share it with you:
"The hour for immediate action is here, it is now," Obama said. "We're now at the last minute, and the American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. ... We've got to get this done."

This just annoys me. If the house can't create a bill everyone agrees on and the senate can't either, then we do not need someone standing on the sidelines saying, "we need to get this done." When my employees can't figure something out it's my responsibility to step in and work it out with them, to walk them through the compromise, to lead. LEAD dammit. Sit them down, day and night, for the entire freaking week and weekend if you have to but LEAD, LEAD them to the solution. Don't blame them, don't tell them they failed, GET IN THERE dammit. TODAY.
I must confess, I've given up on the possibility that this President will lead anyone anywhere (Unless being lead astray counts), but I totally agree that leadership on both sides of the isle and in the White House is sorely lacking.   I also think the American people have long ago lost patience with the kabuki theater our elected representatives are trying to pass off as governance.

At the risk of souning like a broken record I thnk it's time to get rid of all of them!  Pink slips for EVERYONE. Perhaps that should be our New Year's resolution!?

Thursday, December 27, 2012

A Mad Dash For The Cliff, A Final Countdown:


It won't be long until we collectively hurl ourselves over the fiscal cliff, and into the abyss of financial ruin . . . Maybe the President and Congress will reach a compromise, or maybe not. Regardless,  I doubt that any plan devised by Barack Obama, John Boehner, and Harry Reid will save us.  To make matters worse, Tim Geithner today disclosed that United States will probably hit the debt ceiling on December 31.  But don't you worry, Timmy, who can't figure out how to use Turbo Tax, will save us . . .  at least for a month or two . . . or maybe not.  Odds are we're doomed! . . . unless, of course, we're aren't.

*Shudder*

Strangely, I'm overcome with indifference, and quite frankly, Scarlet, I just don't give a damn!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Emmanuel


Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. ~Matthew 1:23
Especially today, we celebrate the Son!

Merry Christmas to you, and yours . . .

Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas . . . Our God IS With Us!


I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said:
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!
"
 ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Christmas ought to remind us that even when it seems that the entire world has lost its mind, God is still with us.  His redemptive plan WILL, in the end, prevail. It is, after all, about that Baby!  All IS well!  Believe it!

Friday, December 21, 2012

December 21, 2012

. . . I'm just askin'!

John Hammar To Be Released From Mexican Prison

. . . According to FOX News:
DEVELOPING: Jon Hammar, the U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico on a gun charge, will be released today, his mother told Fox News Radio.
 Olivia Hammar said the judge hearing Hammar's case issued a ruling in his favor and that her son is to be released at a time on Friday yet to be announced. No more details were available. Hammar, 27, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been stuck in a notorious, drug cartel-controlled prison just 15 miles south of the U.S. border since Aug. 13, after he crossed into Mexico and declared an antique shotgun to Mexican customs officials.
Glad tidings coming just four days before Christmas.  I dare say this is best Christmas gift ever for the Hammar family . . .  and certainly good news for all of us at a time when good news seems hard to find.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

House Republicans Cancel Plan B Vote


 Via Market Watch:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Republican leaders canceled a vote on a tax-cut plan linked to fiscal-cliff talks on Thursday night, saying it didn't have the votes to pass. The Republicans' "Plan B" would have extended tax cuts on incomes below $1 million. President Obama had said he would veto the bill, and House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement that it's up to Obama and Senate Democrats to avert the fiscal cliff.
Someone must be paying attention! Encouraging, but this is no time for complacency.  We can, and are making a difference.

Here is a phone directory for The House of Representatives. Give your representatives a call, urge them to remain strong . . . and while you have them on the phone, ask them to help secure the release of Marine Corporal John Hammar who is being unjustly held in a Mexican prison.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Conservative Leaders React To Speaker Boehner's 'Plan B'

Reacting to Speaker John Boehner's Plan B proposal, a group of conservative leaders today released the following statement:
As leaders of broad based American citizen groups we call upon Republican House Members to vote no on Speaker Boehner’s Tax Hike known as “Plan B.”  This tax increase bill is just like the tax increase proposal Nancy Pelosi offered last year on May 23.

Speaker Boehner, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and too many Members of the Republican conference have forgotten that the problem in Washington is too much spending and not too little taxation.

When the American people voted to return the Republican majority in the House last month we sent you to cut spending.  Instead, you are now voting on the Pelosi plan to increase taxes next year.

We urge Members of the House to vote no on the procedural rule to stop the Pelosi/Boehner tax plan from coming to the House floor for a vote.

Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General
Brent Bozell, President, ForAmerica
Erick Erickson, Editor, RedState.com
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio Faith & Freedom Coalition
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
David N. Bossie, President, Citizens United
Alfred Regnery, President, The Paul Revere Project
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Chris Chocola, President, Club for Growth
George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom
Michael Needham, Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Action for America
Morton Blackwell, Chairman, The Weyrich Lunch
Peter Thomas, Chairman, The Conservative Caucus
Amy Kremer, Chairman Tea Party Express
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
David Y. Denholm, President, Public Service Research Council
Jim Backlin, Christian Coalition of America
Becky Norton Dunlop, former Reagan Administration official
Gary Bauer, President, American Values
David Williams, President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
David McIntosh, former Member of Congress, Indiana
Robert (Bob) Reccord, Exec. Dir., Council for National Policy
T. Kenneth Cribb, former Domestic Advisor to President Reagan

(All organizations listed for Identification purposes only)

Credit to: The Minority Report Blog

It's comforting to know that there are some conservatives in DC who are not willing to sell out their principles for the sake of political compromise. A compromise, I might add, that will do NOTHING to remedy the fiscal mess we're in.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Any Discussion Of "Gun Ownership" MUST Start . . .

. . . with a refresher course on the Constitution and the Second Amendment!




"In recent years it has been suggested that the Second Amendment protects the “collective” right of states to maintain militias, while it does not protect the right of “the people” to keep and bear arms. If anyone entertained this notion in the period during which the Constitution and Bill of Rights were debated and ratified, it remains one of the most closely guarded secrets of the eighteenth century, for no known writing surviving from the period between 1787 and 1791 states such a thesis. The phrase “the people” meant the same thing in the Second Amendment as it did in the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments — that is, each and every free person."
~Stephen Halbrook, Ph.D (in his book, That Every Man be Armed)


Arm yourselves with knowledge . . . and a gun!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Doctors In Great Britain Call For A Ban On Long Pointed Kitchen Knives

. . . They point out that such knives, which are readily available in most kitchens,  can inflict a lot of damage and are used in almost half of all reported stabbings.  Furthermore, chefs they've consulted say these knives "have little practical value" (except, apparently, for puncturing someone who's royally pissed you off). OK, point taken (pun intended) . . . but why stop there!?  I suggest eliminating all kitchen utensils except for the spork! A spork is all any law abiding, peace loving citizen ought to need.  And while we're at it, why not do away with many dangerous garden implements too . . . starting with chain saws (which can leave nasty, gaping wounds and severed limbs). 

For the good of the human race, especially the children, we need more government regulation and we need it NOW.  Save us, oh Mother Government, from sharp and pointy objects . . . and from ourselves!

It Is For Us, The Living, To Remember . . .

 
And yet we are not without hope or comfort . . .



H/T The Looking Spoon

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Obama's Unbalanced Balanced Approached

Courtesy of the Senate Budget Committee's ranking member, Jeff Sessions, this graph clearly illustrates that Obama's solution to our financial crisis is no solution at all. (what a surprise)


Bottom line is that Obama's plan adds 8.6 trillion dollars to the debt.  Amazingly, this is he calls a serious offer.  Really? 

This President wants to raise taxes because he wants to raise taxes, not as sound economic policy since  the resulting revenues will not lower our debt (he plans on spending the resulting revenues anyway).  The ONLY remedy for the financial fix we're in is to stop spending money we don't have.  Our problem is SPENDING, a fact which Mr. Obama either doesn't comprehend or chooses to ignore.

It is the SPENDING, stupid . . . and that fact's NOT negotiable!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Right To Work . . .

It's not just for 23 other states anymore!


Governor Snyder signed the bills . . .

Feel free to spike the ball (It'll annoy a liberal!)

"Environmental Justice" For Nail Salons, An EPA Quest (Your Tax Dollars At Work)

'Environmental justice'? There's more to it than meets the eye, but as defined by the EPA, environmental justice is:
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race or income, in the environmental decision-making process.
That very same EPA is spending 1.2 million dollars to insure a "healthy and safe environment" in nail salons.  WHEW!  It's about time!

The EPA has other similar projects on their docket, each one more important than the last, each one funded at your expense, and of course each one protecting minorities and the poor!

Is it racist or uncaring to suggest that this is money that might be better spent in other ways, especially given the state of our economy?  Not really, but it's guaranteed to be labelled as such.  Whatever!

Suggestion to those in D.C. laboring frantically to find ways to keep us from plunging off that financial cliff:  Cut wasteful government spending... Slash the EPA budget and eliminate programs promoting social and environmental justice.

And we call that... a good start!

Steven Crowder Attacted By Union Thugs At Michigan Right To Work Rally

Here we have the poster children for Union Organizing . . . Great PR, guys!


If sucker punching doesn't win 'em over ... threatening to kill them with a gun is sure to do the trick.  Union recruiting at its best!

Update:

Dana Loesch's radio interview with Steven Crowder regarding his encounter with union thugs.


Update 2:

Donate to the fund to find and prosecute the thugs that assaulted Steven Crowder.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Obama Quote Of The Day

Barack Obama in Detroit, blasting the pending Michigan 'Right to Work' law:
"You only have to look to Michigan where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry to see how unions have helped build not just a stronger middle class but a stronger America.”
Right!  The unions have really revived Detroit.

Packard Motors Plant
Michigan Central Station
Vacant & Burned Out Houses


East Palmer Street, Detroit Michigan

Yup Yup, everything's coming up roses for "The Motor City"

Ok, Jesus Said We Should Do Good To Those Who Despitefully Use Us . . .

. . . But He never said we had to invite them to the White House!

Our National "host with the most" couldn't be at the lighting of the National Menorah because he was attending a star studded charity event at the White House. 
PSY, born Park Jae-sang, performed at a White House charity event on Sunday, despite a deeply controversial performance in 2004 that has shocked and outraged American fans.

The rapper showed off his signature dance moves while performing 'Gangnam Style,' which has the most watched YouTube video in history.
Missing form Psy's Sunday performance was that controversial 2004 hit titled, "Dear American":
Kill those f***ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those f***ing Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully
Catchy lyrics! Now, Psy apologized for this, and other past transgressions right after they became an issue in the American press (an apology of convenience, I suspect). Nonetheless, go ahead, forgive him, just don't give him a photo op at the People's House!

I know . . . I Know . . . TOO LATE!


Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hanukkah At The White House

The White House Menorah
"The President and Mrs. Obama typically host a White House reception for Hanukkah, but the event has not yet been announced.  The National Menorah will be lit on Sunday at 4:00 PM on the Ellipse behind the White House in a ceremony that dates back to the Carter Administration, but the President will not attend.  Along with the First Family, he is scheduled to attend the 'Christmas in Washington' program at the Newseum."
... The Obamas like to keep things at the White House understated and low key! (That's the best story I could come up with on short notice)

Happy Hanukkah anyway!

Oh NO He Didn't . . .

. . . Oh YES, he did!


This is the photo that Mr. Wonderful posted with his Pearl Harbor Remembrance tweet.  He's out of control, somebody STOP him for his own good!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

December 7, 1941


Who knows if or how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is taught in schools these days.  It was, to borrow a phrase from Joe Biden, a BFD... an event that changed the world.  Can you imagine what might have happened had our current administration been in charge on that day in December?  It is likely that the Japanese would have seized control of the Golden Gate Bridge before any retaliatory action would have been considered. Instead of at war, we would have found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a man caused disaster!  It would have been down hill from there.

Fortunately that wasn't the case.  In those days our nation had a collective spine, and a leader, who though FAR from perfect, at least wasn't ashamed of America.  Thank God (and you should) for those who lead us through those perilous days and for those brave souls who fought and died to save the world.

He Wants To Be Perfectly Clear . . . And So Do I

“I want to send a very clear message to people here: We are not going to play that game next year,” Mr. Obama said in remarks to the Business Roundtable, a trade group. He said Washington needs to “break that habit before it starts,” referring to the way Republicans would like to use the debt limit to negotiate further spending cuts.
 It's not a game at all, but clearly this President seems to be involved in a serious game of chicken, while the Republicans are playing "Let's Make A Totally Unacceptable Deal". To our elected leaders it's all fun and games... until someone loses a job, or a house, or a 401K.  The President is behaving like a spoiled petulant child,  the Republicans are acting like they've forgotten the principles they were elected to defend, and Congressional Democrats appear as though the only principle they have is "hating the rich".

Negotiate!?  None of them knows the meaning of the word, nor do they understand the relationship between spending and debt. Beneficial tax reform and governement downsizing are impossible with this insane clown posse running things. I'm convinced they really do think that money grows on trees! (Ben Bernanke told them so)

A POX on all their houses!

They ALL need to go.  Yesterday!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Banned In Arkansas!!!!



Shocking, isn't it!? Thank you, Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, (Apparently, they are SO open minded that their brains fell out!) . . . and Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

How Do You Spell EXCESSIVE?

. . . 54 Christmas Trees in the White House, that's how!


That's double last year's tree count... But at least something besides the number of people on food stamps is going up!

The tree glut is especially curious in light of the fact that the Obama's won't be home for Christmas.  They'll be leaving on the 17th to vacation in beautiful Hawaii, and won't be back to the White House until after the first of the year.  Maybe they're leaving the trees for Bo to enjoy (and utilize)?

I wonder if the poor and elderly victims of Sandy who are still without lights, a hot meal, or indoor plumbing might find this rather outrageous example of conspicuous consumption just a teensy bit annoying?

. . . Four more years!? *groan*

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Barack Obama Honors Rosa Parks

... on this, the 57th anniversary of her refusal to give up her seat on the bus.  He did so by posting a poignant photo:


No ... not that one.


I like that one, but no, not that one either.


That's the one!  Brought tears to my eyes.  And just what you'd expect from someone who, after the death of Neil Armstrong, saw fit to honor him by posting this photo:


If it weren't for bad taste, he'd have no taste at all!

Bronco Bamma Continues To Channel Lucy Van Pelt

The President In his weekly campaign address (what's he running for again?) said (for the umpteenth time):
So let’s begin by doing what we all agree on. Both parties say we should keep middle-class taxes low. The Senate has already passed a bill to keep income taxes from going up on middle-class families. Democrats in the House are ready to do the same thing. And if we can just get a few House Republicans on board, I’ll sign this bill as soon as Congress sends it my way.
Now there's a promise he can keep!  He'll sign that bill before the ink is dry,  heck, he won't even stop to read it! (I think I took two sarcasm pills this morning)  But what then?  What happens after we soak the rich? No one really thinks that will cure what ails us,  but hurry up and pass the bill... There will be time to discuss other issues later, after we've avoided the dreaded cliff.

We can negotiate spending cuts, entitlement reform, tax overhaul, and an end to government fraud and waste next Tuesday... pinky promise!

Are you buying this?

. . . Me either!