I can’t believe they said that

If you have any old civic books laying around the house, you might consider mailing them to the United States House of Representatives. Tomorrow, the house republicans will introduce legislation stating that if the senate fails to pass an operating budget before April 6, 2011 the GOP house budget version would be the law the land. This wasn't a wild-eyed tea partier; this was house minority leader Erick Cantor. He should know better. A piece of legislation has to be passed by the house and the senate, reconciled and reworded ,so both versions are identical before presenting it to the president for his signature. I know the republicans think they won a monumental victory last November, but they don't get to change the constitution.

In trying to defend his” birther “stance, Donald Trump said that he knows many people on Wall Street that commit fraud and change documents daily.

Rep. Eric Turner (R), HB 1210 would make most abortions illegal after 20 weeks. Current law restricts abortions after the fetus is viable, generally around 24 weeks.
In an attempt to soften the blow this bill would have on Hoosier women, state Rep. Gail Riecken (D) introduced an amendment to exempt “women who became pregnant due to rape or incest, or women for whom pregnancy threatens their life or could cause serious and irreversible physical harm” from being forced to carry to term. Fearing this bill would “push women to the back alleys” for illegal abortions, Riecken pleaded with lawmakers to allow women to make the choice in these cases. Eric Turner then said “I just want you to think about this, in my view, giant loophole that could be created where someone who could — now I want to be careful. I don’t want to disparage in any way someone who has gone through the experience of a rape or incest — but someone who is desirous of an abortion could simply say that they’ve been raped or there’s incest.”

Rand Paul is playing both sides of the fence because on one hand he voted for resolution to set up the no- fly zone in Libya by unanimous consent. Then he said the president needed to go through Congress before taking action. As a guest on Fox, he mocked them because Fox couldn't decide how to be happy for the war in Libya, yet bash the president for intervening. Then he took some shots at Newt Gingrich for being  for the war before he was against it and now he's waiting to see what Obama does before he changes his mind again.

Speaking of Newt Gingrich, he's worried the United States could be "a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists," in the foreseeable future, according to Politico….Let me get this straight Islam is a religion, so we're going to have a state that’s atheist, yet dominated by radical Islam… Can’t have both ways Newt.

Rick Santorum has cracked America's Social Security problem: "We just need to quit aborting babies, so there's enough young people to pay out benefits to the nation's elderly." Jon Stewart said “Really that’s your Social Security plan?” then he went on to say we could have accomplished the same thing, if we would have aborted the elderly we are paying today.

Your methods are just wrong

Mr. Tasin finally responded to all his critics, but he just can't defend his actions because they are deplorable.  I do give him credit for trying to explain his reasoning but the examples he gave are not convincing.

Mr. Tasin and another man are known in our fair city of Victoria, Texas for showing up at our schools or along our main thoroughfares to display their graphics signs of a human fetus.  I saw one of them, and I was walking down the steps of my church. I  was startled by man holding a sign that read " If you voted for Obama; you are an accomplice in murdering babies." The idea that a person could come out of the shadows and pounce on someone for maximum effect, stuck with me for the rest of the day.  If he only knew that the pros and cons of abortion never crossed my mind that day, but his rudeness did.  Whatever message he was trying to convey was lost on me.

Mr. Tasin tried to convince everyone that a picture was worth 1000 words despite the methods used. He said pictures of the holocaust, beaten civil rights protesters, and the funniest of them all, the movie Bambi had on discouraging hunters had a major role in how we view things today.  He was correct in saying that the military showed, pictures of the effects of venereal disease, but he didn't say that 12 hours later, at a bar on Saturday night, young military men had completely forgotten those pictures.  He didn't say that we took pictures of the holocaust to document history not because we thought it would deter atrocities in the future.  While the nightly television news showing blacks being beaten and sprayed with fire hoses did make a case for civil rights legislation; you can't take away the major impact the 20 years of preparation by Martin Luther King's in his calling for peaceful demonstrations.  I would bet $100 that  the decline of hunters had more to do with the changing of times and being less reliable on hunted food, then it had to do with a Bambi movie.  It is my opinion that Mr. Tasin takes a noble cause and cheapens it by making it about him and his methods.

Unfortunately Mr. Tasin is not the only one making a woman's right to choose extremely difficult.  Several republican states are making it more difficult for a woman to choose, by making her wait three days and requiring her to go to clinic,where they will try to talk out her out of it before she can have an abortion.  Others are making the pregnant mom view the sonogram prior to getting an abortion.  On the Federal side, republicans tried to redefine the word " forcible rape"but had to settle for "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." Then there is Rep. Chris Smith's bill which would essentially "turn IRS agents into abortion cops — that is, during an audit, they'd have to determine, from evidence provided by the taxpayer, whether any tax benefit had been inappropriately used to pay for an abortion." That's because the legislation contains a whole section called "Prohibition on Tax Benefits Relating to Abortion," which would make it illegal, to, say, use funds set aside in a pre-tax health-care spending account to pay for abortion — unless, that is, the abortion was the result of rape, incest, or a threat to a woman's life. As I understand it, voluntary sonograms are doing more to change a pregnant mother's mind than the forceful methods that the republicans are trying to make mandatory.

It’s about time

I could hardly believe that I actually heard republican Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland saying that the Libyan war costs might be as much as one billion dollars. Finally, the speaker of the house John Boehner asked "What's the Libya war cost?" It's better late than never republicans, even thou it's because the president is a democrat; but it’s time to look at defense spending that needs to be cut. All along, republican members of the house and senate have said that we must cut entitlements but very few went along with defense cuts and to this day, none of them are talking about tax revenues.

We don't have to make radically changes, like going back to the gold standard, taking steps on becoming an isolationist nation, stripping the right to petition the government from the constitution, or cut spending so drastically that it chokes our recovery. Those proposals don't have a chance of passing, so it's a waste of time discussing them. If you were to take congress aside and inject them all with sodium pentothal; they would all tell you that we need to cut the entitlements, defense spending, discretionary spending, and impose some tax increases for alternative energies. They would also tell you that we can't keep voting on continuing resolutions just to keep the government going. We're got to put the nonsense aside, like NPR, abortion, Planned Parenthood, and the repeal of Health Care and settle on cutting and spending to what it was in 2008 for this fiscal year. It's going to be difficult to come up with a 2012 budget so close to the election, but it doesn't have to be hard. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR) has already come out with a plan that will cut $3.9 trillion from the deficit through 2020. It has a lot of bipartisan support and is based on a principle of shared sacrifice.

Last night conservative columnist for the New York Times, David Brooks, tried and failed to defend the fact that General Electric did not pay any income tax on $5 billion of profit. It's indefensible or as Lawrence O'Donnell said “they have 975 tax lawyers and accountants, producing such a long and complicated tax return that the understaffed IRS could never mount an effective investigation." This is coming from a pundit who works for a company that is owned in part by General Electric. The NCFRR committee's plan would eliminate all their tax loopholes, cut corporate rates, and still generate tax revenues from a company like General Electric. We still need a progressive tax reform that eliminates all deductions but insures that it doesn't hurt the working poor. A flat tax will not do that.

The proposals to cut education funding are very unpopular. Pennsylvania’s former governor Rendell said he saw a poll where 98% of Pennsylvanians were against cutting funds for education. Texas's Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday that spending on public education can be maintained and even increased in the next two-year budget. He said, we could sell some state land, reduce spending elsewhere, and probably raise some fees.

There you have it, bipartisan cuts to the entitlements, defense, and discretionary spending; maintain funding for education and enact most of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reforms recommendations. After that we need to come up with an energy policy.

I can't wait for the GOP debates

The republican presidential debate should be interesting if the present group of candidates and possible candidates are still standing. I could burn my partisan hat and still not come up with a republican candidate who stands a chance to beat President Obama.

For openers, strictly for entertainment sake; I would like to see the first round be a one -on -one debate between Representative Michelle Bachmann against Donald Trump... The Tea Party queen vs. the casino king. They both love the limelight and neither knows how to run a country; I mean Donald Trump bankrupted a casino that has a 95% house odds on its side. Michelle Bachmann thinks the founding fathers freed the slaves. They better have a single microphone, welded to the floor, because I can see both of them wrestling for that precious piece of equipment, as if their words will have an impact....The GOP could have some preliminaries such as the battle of the flip- floppers' between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, the battle of the dull, sleepers( I mean that literally) between Mitch Daniels and Tim Pawlenty, but first; there has to be a runoff between Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum for Christian right, pro life, ex Fox News contributors title to advance to meet the winners of the bat crazy, flip flopper and the dullest of the dull. The halftime entertainment will be provided by Fred Karger and Herman Cain...Fred Karger is a retired California political consultant and the first openly gay Republican ever to run for president as well as the first GOP candidate to declare officially that he is running for the 2012 race...Herman Cain is an American newspaper columnist, businessman, political activist, and radio talk-show host from Georgia. He is best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He is a former deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He currently lives in the Atlanta suburbs. I thought Herman Cain had the credentials to be a pretty formidable candidate, but then he started talking and said "The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know. They have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them." He reminds me of Alan Keyes but he has a better work resume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain

There are always the old stand-ins like Ron Paul and Gov. Hayley Barbour but they don’t stand much of a chance but I did hear a rumor that Rand Paul will consider if his dad drops out.Now that would add a lot of possibilities to the circus match-ups.

Chris Matthews said that the same old  five white men, that actually run Republican Party will probably call for a meeting sometime in the fall, to beg,bribe,or demand  a way to get Governor Chris Christie, Jeb Bush or Representative Paul Ryan to be the official candidate, because, even if they lose; at least the GOP will go down with some credibility.

Is it just my blog?

I have the hardest time trying to keeping people on subject.  I know a lot of it has got to do with the subject matter I choose to write about. I also know that VicCad offers a lot more in variety ,when it comes to posters because I don't seem to have a problem with this personal blog.

I was really interested in how people felt about getting corporal punishment removed from our schools but the subject immediately went to parental corporal punishment. No one mentioned the 220,000 children that were admitted to the hospital because of corporal punishment in schools.  I saw where maryann said we had over 40 school districts that were still using corporal punishment.She said we had a long way to go.  I wanted to respond and ask her to look at my blog where I mentioned that we don't have to take it district by district because we could do it in one clean swoop by writing our legislators,telling them to repeal the act.  I didn't get a chance to because people were engaged in parental corporal punishment.

I'm still confused about  the reason for our engagement in Libya but so far only arlewill  has made a comment that had nothing to do with common sound bites like “tar baby, and policemen of the world” but I guess that's my fault because I titled the blog “ Mission Creep?” If I choose economics,it usually goes to left,right,liberal,conservative argument and I’d be a fool to think politics would be any different. I’m always amazed when someone excepts me to write a balanced view. If I saw a balanced view,  then I would write it that way, but I don’t have an obligation to do that, if I don't really believe it.  Sometimes, events, don't have two sides to it. One side may be blatantly wrong, of course that's never my side…:-)

Rebecca unknowingly gave me a great idea the other day on how to stay on  one of my Lenten promises of  remaining civil at VicAd and still have the ability to vent.  I will continue to use this personal blog to express my true feelings,so if you think I let someone off the hook or I was being too passive,come over here and I will tell you what I really think…I feel so much better now and  I’m ready to be a much kinder and gentler poster when I ‘m responding to posters on ViCad. It’s  going to be a long 20 plus days.

It's kinda hard picking sides between those that want the $24,000 to go to the booster club and those that agree with the school's decision. On one hand it reeks of commercialism but on the other hand schools have to find new scources of income. I wouldn't mind if it beneifited all the students like a new classroom,computers,or teaching enhancements but a booster club!....The new computers or classroom could bear the company's name but no student involement or the commercial use of school property....I don't think it has to be equally divided because each school could solicit their own sponser or do I really believe that?...I'm stuck,someone help me out.

Are we satisfied with status quo?

Every Saturday night at midnight my Tivo is set up to record PBS’s “Need to Know” because the show keeps me abreast of what Americans are coping with and the methods they are using to deal with their problems. This past week’s show was about an academic transformation in Brockton Massachusetts.  The show featured an urban minority school district in Brockton that was known for its sports teams but ranked among the lowest in academic achievement.

In the United States we don't seem to  want to face our problems as Finland did.  Finland recognized that in order to achieve  academic progress, you have to concentrate on the underachievers.  Brockton realized that giving the students of this poor urban school the required standard tests would always be met with failure.  The Brocton school had to start with the basics of speaking , pronunciation, reading, writing and listening skills and every teacher in every class had to include English as part of the curriculum, including the gym and music teachers.  The project worked and Brockton is still an athletic powerhouse but they have  also won several academic awards. In fact,a transfer student from Africa, who couldn't speak any English, recently graduated with honors and won a scholarship to Harvard.

A study said most of our universities are taught with a series of lectures but this one university decided to reverse the trend. The university believed that students worked better in groups, than  as individuals.  At the start of the semester the instructor  handed out a project to the group and let them work as groups to research, discuss, and come up with a group answer.  The individuals learned real quickly how important they were to the team, they weren’t many absences.  I wonder if this would help with our excessive dropout rate?

I believe we can let children opt out of PE  and physical education has not been a big part of the curriculum since John Kennedy convinced us that we needed to be strong to keep up with the Soviets.  There are some new  studies that state that those  who vigorously exercise before taking a major test, usually do better. This one school made sure that the kids exercised hard enough to get their heart rate to a certain level,so it would release some hormones that increase their learning ability.

In July of 2009 the president challenged us with these words “I am issuing a challenge to our nation’s governors and school boards, principals and teachers, businesses and non-profits, parents and students: if you set and enforce rigorous and challenging standards and assessments; if you put outstanding teachers at the front of the classroom; if you turn around failing schools – your state can win a Race to the Top grant that will not only help students outcompete workers around the world, but let them fulfill their God-given potential.” but several states did not want to compete because of political reasons… ..  The status quo is alive and well in America.

The one man cavalry has arrived

We have a new proud liberal blogger who calls himself, justanotherDesertVet, who is quite articulate and if he sticks around he will be a formidable opponent for the local conservatives. He doesn't mince words and uses a lot of facts to back up his statements. It's going to be pretty interesting (for me anyway) to see who will take up the challenge because, so far he has come on like gangbusters. I think the new blogger can challenge them on their own grounds of stereotyping because he's a war vet, and he seems to be relentless but we'll see. I think a lot of the local conservatives are holding back and waiting for reinforcements because they are afraid of the one- on- one confrontation. They don't know what they will get with the new kid on the block. They got used to posting on my blog, and so they weren't afraid of whatever, I responded with because they had the numbers. After awhile it just became a habit of theirs to contradict anything I posted. When I didn't challenge, I guess they took it as a victory.Itisi has challenged the new blogger on two consecutive days  but he is trying to counter with the same old" I'm better than you because I'm conservative" crap that usually rings hollow.  I have noticed that Observer and Reeder compliment each other's post a lot. They used to do that on my blogs. They might be the same person.

Now that there is someone to carry the banner without shame; I can turn my attention  to the politics of issues where I don't have to be on the defensive and feel more at ease . It's been awhile since I've had a reliable partner to show the flip side of the coin.Kyle used to take on the local conservatives but I guess he got bored of never really being challenged. Vietnam vet and ragman used to work in unison, on the night shift and I tried my best to hold down the fort during the day, occasionally they would come in to help. BigJ use to help out but it was only because he hated the local conservatives more than he did the liberals. Lately, my old cohort has decided to be on the side of the “militant middle," whenever that means. I don't agree with Big J's assessment that conservatism and liberalism should die out because it's extremism that gives both ideologies a bad name. Talk radio and partisan media outlets do not represent  issue oriented discussions; they are mostly for a viewing or listening audience that likes a host and their guest hollering past each other.They are not for someone who wants to learn or for those with an IQ higher than their age.

It's going to make it a lot easier for me to keep up my Lenten promise of civility, now the I have someone to take on the bulk of the oncoming fire. Perhaps they will say "you know for being a liberal, Mike is not so bad after all." I kind of doubt it but it what makes life on the forum so interesting..I guess you would have to know what it's like (being a liberal in a conservative/libertarian/republican county)before you can appreciate how glad I am to have a creditable ally help to finally bring some balance to the forum

It’s personal

I was the first to post on Lamppost's blog titled "BSspotter's attempt to grab your user information-herein lies the problem." I wanted to know if this would just another accusation to settle a personal score. I asked Lamppost he had the proof, and if he had reported it. He responded by saying that he reported it to Thomas Martinez and Chris Cobbler, who assured Lamppost that they were looking at it. I then thanked Lamppost and forgot about it, until BSspotter produced a lame excuse, as if we were all going to fall for it. To BSspotter's credit, he came back assumed responsibility with an apology, and that was that until others came in and said what he did was not so bad. A crony of his, Toni Anne, defended him by trying to make us look like rank amateurs because we should all know about “imbedded cookies" being part of our Internet journey. We all know that but no one gave him permission to install a privacy gathering script, and he could grow tired of measly user names and move onto more sophisticated tools....BigJ said it was all just a diversionary tactic from what he thinks is the most important issue in Victoria. First, we are all capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time and not all of us are consumed with Ms Morrison...I wanted to write a blog on this issue yesterday but I waited for all the facts to come in, so I could present my case in a rational way.

I remember one of BSspotter's first postings ever, because it was directed at me. He challenged me to a debate on National Health Care. I quickly let him know that I don't do requests, but he asked me couple more times. He tried to bait me with charm and by complimenting my intellect; I gave him a traditional (lol) and told him that it wasn't going to work and that he reminded me of a “used car salesman."I spotted him for being a shameless self promoter and I still think that.For the record, and we've had some pretty civil discussions, and I told him that he was pretty smart and quick on his feet. He quickly responded by asking" is that an endorsement?" I wanted to come back with something sarcastic about the candidate he was supporting, but I thought better of it.

I didn't just jump on the bandwagon yesterday because on December 10 of last year, I wrote a blog titled “Conspiracyville, USA" about BSspotter and his baseless accusations that he has yet to prove. I wrote about his elaborate chart, they could've been summed up with a single sentence saying that 16 people serve on most of the boards in Victoria. He later filmed some VISD students and posted them online without their permission. BSspotter recently posted a blog titled "Did the city pay VEDC to lobby for a UHV outster?", legitimate concern but he posted a draft of a brief that implicated an" open meetings" violation and possible misuse of $100,000. This is why I am for limited transparency. In the hands of amateurs and those that want to prove mischief without proof can be devastating. Before you know it, they will take over the local GOP and put in their candidates. Yea, I know that's my conspiracy theory. I know that the Victoria CAD list everyone's property values, but I thought it was wrong that one member of that cabal used and published that info on line, to try to prove his case of corruption. These people never ask the pertinent questions of those in power, they just make accusations based on their own agenda. The whole city and county may be corrupt but until I get that from a reporter who knocked on all the doors and questioned all those involved, then it is merely hearsay. I am consistent; I never approved of the Victoria 10 vigilante tactics either. I am 65 years old lived in Victoria all my life , and I've heard of corruption in the Monte Marshal administration, Rosenquest police department and a county judge who was actually indicted,so this nothing new.

I will be the first to say “boy was I fooled" if charges of corruption are actually filed, but I don't expect an apology directed to those implicated, if everything is above board.

I don't trust BSSpotter, because I don't think being outed affected him because his friends came to his defense. I do think his apology was sincere, but it will be forgotten in three or four months and maybe by then he will have improved his skills in using much better information gathering scripts. Not that he cares but I will never  again read his blogs .This group won't stop with the accusations because the ultimate goal is to oust the current regime and replace it with their cabal.

If the Advocate would have approved of BSspotter's use of an information gathering script, I would have quietly exited the forum; never to return. For the record I have information gathering information in this very blog and I do look at the traffic,ipaddress, referrals, and word searches but I consider this my personal blog and the one I have at the Advocate is theirs...I will not tamper with theirs.

The Wisconsin wakeup call

It's funny how in my working years I always benefited because of the threat of the union but I never gave them their due. I selfishly applauded the fact that I didn't have to pay union dues or have to go on a picket line at reduced wages. Now that I see an organized effort by the republicans to crush unions taking hold; I wish I would would have been one of millions that made an effort to prevent that. Union members and democrats got too complacent and a tip of the hat to the republicans for exploiting that weakness.

Rachel Maddow  thoroughly explained how the republicans will use their power to stymie the democrats. Instead of trying to increase their numbers by recruiting minorities and young people, they will use methods to make it harder for the democrats to cast votes. Crushing the union's will cripple the cash flow needed to get out the vote but they don't stop there. Young people usually vote for democrats, so states like Wisconsin and New Hampshire are voting on laws that will make student IDs invalid for voting purposes. Minorities have always been a big constituency for democrats, so Texas will eventually(when passed) require a state ID to vote but there are two exceptions; the elderly and a holder of a concealed handgun permit. Naturally, the elderly in Texas vote for republicans as well as those with concealed handgun permits.  All across nation GOP control states are implementing abortion laws, taking that issue off the table, so it will no longer give women voters an excuse to vote for democrats.  This is definitely taken place but Rachel never provided the proof that it was a coordinated effort.

The national democrats were angry at president Obama for various reasons. The liberals  thought Obama dissed them at various points so they stayed home in 2010.  All democrats are not liberals but it's the union and liberal base that will lick the stamps, seal the envelopes, make phone calls, and go door to door campaigning. The more moderate democrats tried to mend fences and tried to work in a bipartisan way with their republican counterparts and paid a price because the republicans were only interested in the 2010 elections. It paid off for the GOP  and they're letting the democrats have it every chance they get.
The Wisconsin union loss should be a lesson for democrats to stick by their principles thick and thin because the voters will reward you for that. The protesters are not necessarily democrats; they are the policeman, firemen, and other professionals that see their unions been crushed by republican overreach. The independents will not aligned themselves with a party that is at war with itself that makes it  look weak and indecisive. That’s the reason democrats will have to keep the union fight going before it’s too late.

I have to admit that I didn’t see what all the criticism was about when it came to the health care bill. A lot of independent voters thought the democrats weren't paying enough attention to the issues important to them and just wanted to push their agenda. That's what I see of the republican overreach.

You let me down “ Meet the Press”

I didn't want to believe that a political talk show like " Meet the Press" would allow dumbing down its audience for advertising dollars.  The interview that David Gregory had with Michelle Bachman was pretty pathetic and did not meet the standards it once had.  Politicians used to be afraid to face Tim Russert because he would not let 'em spew their talking points instead of answering legitimate questions.  Then again, Tim Russert and those before him always had credible guests.

Michelle Bachman in a trance like state kept repeating "It is shocking the revelations of all the money that's been spent," said Bachmann, R-Minn. "There is a Congressional Research Service report that just was issued in February, and we discovered that secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation to fund the implementation of Obamacare. This is something that wasn't known."....Just in case you missed her point, she said the number "$105 billion" seven more times, and waved a sign that said "$105,464,000,000."
http://tinyurl.com/4qkvg5e
...Politifact gave a her a "barley true"

[Our conclusion]
Bachmann said that "secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation." She’s right that there’s about $105 billion of already approved spending in the health care bill that may be difficult to rescind. But that does not mean that the process was secret. While the pre-approved spending provisions didn’t attract media attention, they were in the plain language of the bill and did not vary dramatically from past congressional practice. And the bill was made public before the vote. On balance, we rate Bachmann’s statement Barely True.

She went to call the Obama Administration a" gangster government."...  A credible Sunday political talk show with 60 years  of experience should not lower their standards for advertising dollars. Michelle Bachmann has talk radio and Fox News where she will be more than welcome.

On the local front I thought BigJ wrote a good blog stating his feelings of pride but on cue,three local right-wingers were angered at the mention of president Obama. The question “ Are ethnic theme months necessary?  prompted some typical responses,  so I think BigJ went out on his own  to respond. I may be naive but I thought the board would sit around the table and decide the answers to questions they poll.  I imagine they have the diverse group to poll from. If you got to ask; don't complain or delete when you get the response.


I'm giving odds on the deletions of posts and maybe a poster or two by Sunday night.

Just around the corner……..Lent

Next week is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season for this practicing catholic, but I'm going to start a week early. It's supposed to be 40 days of self-denial, so traditionally we're supposed to give up something that we like and eat fish products or any other meatless meals on Friday's. Plan now, because starting next week the fish places will be packed.

I got a little off track explaining the tradition but this time I will give up arguing with the conservative right wingers in the forum. I think if I can restrain myself for 40 days, and hopefully it will become a habit. I don't have to name names again but a couple of posters will follow me and accuse me of lying or being delusional. One poster has a habit of calling everything I post “smoke and mirrors." That's OK, I can rise above that. I've posted my references, so others can judge the validity of my post.

My wife is going to use the rest of the week trying to decide what to give up the lent. It shouldn't matter as I keep telling her because that's between her and her god. It's not like you going to be punished, and it's more of a self -restraint than anything else. I bet right now, she's at the store buying fish, tuna, and stuff for bean chalupas. By the time Easter comes, I will have my fill of fish.

Life is funny, when you're in your mid thirties, work and parenting take up most of our time and when we get old and retired; we have the time but don't enjoy it as much. I remember the weekends were special when we were off together, but now it's just another day. The other night my wife was up trying to buy Astros tickets for a Saturday game and was having trouble getting two end seats. I had to remind her that we can go during the week now. She is still having a difficult time of not having to be at a certain place, at a certain time.

The weather is great, 70° with no overcast clouds, it’s great for being outdoors, so I guess I'll look for the WD 40 and air up the tires on my bicycle and just ride up the block for a while.Why do bicycle tires have to be aired up everyday?

Puppets on a string

I can still remember September 15 of 2008 because that's the date Lehmann brothers went down and almost took down our entire country’s Financial System in a domino effect. However clumsy it was and I think Federal Chairman Bernanke, Secretary of Treasury  Hank Paulson and President Bush made the right decision when they decided to let the taxpayers bailout out Wall Street.  Yet, we still have those that will shill for Wall Street and big corporations because they think taxes and regulations will  weaken them.

I know after 30 years of Ronald Reagan’s prophecy of “ government is a problem not the solution” the followers will all defend trickle down economics'. They will go to bat to give the top 2% a tax cut and go out of the way to see that Wall Street and the corporations have very little interference in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. The republicans have a bill to restrict the EPA from enforcing current emission laws and they want to repeal the finance reform package the democrats passed.  This is the basis for local bloggers like Observer and rollingstone to that the top 2% and the big corporations should not be tampered with if we're to have a robust economy.They are puppets on a string.

Conservatives accused President Clinton of “tax and spend politics” when he raised income taxes on the very wealthy to pay for investments in economic development, education, and new technology. [Washington Post] But Clinton’s policies yielded 23 million new jobs—nearly five times more new jobs than Bush created with his tax cuts for the super-rich. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

The problem is not that corporations are overtaxed. In fact, a whopping two-thirds of American corporations and foreign corporations doing business in the United States pay absolutely no federal income taxes—despite taking in $2.5 trillion in sales. [Government Accounting Office] In 2005, 28 percent of large foreign companies doing business in the United States (those with more than $250 million in assets or $50 million in sales) paid no taxes.

There's a point of overtaxing and over regulations but we can’t come to the table if zero is the starting point.  I bet the majority of Americans believe that cutting discretionary spending by $61 billion is a great start at getting our fiscal house in order. Not so, says Goldman Sachs that large of an amount would cut the GDP by 2% and other economists have said that it will lead to 700,000 jobs being lost.  There is a rule that says “ when consumers and businesses are not spending- government has to.” we don't want to make the same mistakes of the 1929 Depression by drastically reducing government spending before full recovery. We should sit down at the table and discuss 10 year plans of tax reform, entitlement reform, and defense cuts with tax increases that will trigger if we don't mean our goals.

I'm completely ignorant when it comes to local politics because Lamppost wrote a blog that doesn't make any sense to me.  I'm pretty sure the posters that responded understood what he was talking about because he was articulate and but I don't know if his message was about the good ole boy system, volunteering, or a combination of both. I guess I’m that far behind with my head buried deep in the sand.  Someday,I will will get someone to explain all this to me.I don’t know if “puppets on a string” applies because I don’t know who the puppets are.

In the meantime Mike Huckabee thinks Obama was born in Kenya and Chris Matthews is going off the edge like Charlie Sheen and Rick Perry thought Juarez was part of Texas.