For all of loyal readers ( Hey Paige) that haven't been following the Fast and Furious debacle, mainly because I've yet to opine, let me provide a summary thus far.
The ATF, an agency under the Justice Dept and thus led by the mustachioed Eric Holder came up with the incredibly bright idea of letting guns from the United States flow into Mexico and see if anything good would come from it. Absolutely brilliant! One imagines bunch of suits, never having been on a field operation all congratulating themselves on their sheer genius.
Now of the 2000+ guns that went into Mexico, several hundred were used to kill people. All 2000 are missing. Surely not? How can this be? Must be a data error. Then one of these guns was used in the murder of a Border Patrol agent. All kept hush hush, until a colleague of the slain agent blew the whistle and Congress gets involved.
Since the went live AG Holder complete with Dirty Sanchez mustache has appeared before Congress numerous times to . At first it was " I know nothing", subsequently " I know a little, but the President knows nothing". All the while Congress keep demanding more documents.
This could have all been ignored as cheap Washington theater in an election year, the networks largely were, until yesterday when the Messiah stepped in and claimed executive privilege from AG Holder providing any further documents or testimony.
Now this is when the buffoonery goes into hyperdrive and it becomes interesting. For those old enough to remember, Watergate and Whitewater became scandals not so much because of the crime, but the subsequent cover up. The Prez has upped the ante considerably.
It cannot be argued that F&F was anything other than an act of complete stupidity and the deaths of Mexican citizens entirely predictable. For that alone, heads should be rolling, but 18 months after this came into the open not one firing. The death of a Border Patrol agent with a firearm that the ATF had control of means we need answers and the executive privilege call has the strong odour of cover up.
If exec privilege is used, we are to assume that the Messiah knew about it, which means that AG Holder perjured himself before Congress to say that he didn't. If the Prez didn't know about it, there can be no executive privilege.
Either way, no good outcomes and either way we have a dead agent and hundreds of dead Mexicans.
Well played guys, well played
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A harbinger of doom ?
After last year's Wisconsin protests, the subsequent going to ground of half of the State Senate and the ultimate recall attempt of the duly elected Governor, you could reasonably assume that the left had the wind at their back from last night's recall.
With the state having to fund the $17m cost of the election out of it's precious resources and $68 million coming it to support both sides of the argument, maybe this is going to be pointed out as a "stimulus". It certainly kept the talking heads of the national news channels something to talk about for the last two weeks.
Since the protests, Governor Walker balanced the budget , reduced property taxes and still provided government services. The State workers hadn't taken to living in refrigerator boxes at Lambeau . Rationally, the electorate looked at their choices and came to the conclusion that "why should these people enjoy a great retirement than I do and pay less for it?"
I hope that Governors across the nation, particularly Moonbeam Brown of the Great State of California, recognize that you can take on the unions, end their ownership of the State House, balance the budget, introduce choice into schools, all without raising taxes.
Hopefully, these guys will grab their bits and step boldly into the abyss
With the state having to fund the $17m cost of the election out of it's precious resources and $68 million coming it to support both sides of the argument, maybe this is going to be pointed out as a "stimulus". It certainly kept the talking heads of the national news channels something to talk about for the last two weeks.
Since the protests, Governor Walker balanced the budget , reduced property taxes and still provided government services. The State workers hadn't taken to living in refrigerator boxes at Lambeau . Rationally, the electorate looked at their choices and came to the conclusion that "why should these people enjoy a great retirement than I do and pay less for it?"
I hope that Governors across the nation, particularly Moonbeam Brown of the Great State of California, recognize that you can take on the unions, end their ownership of the State House, balance the budget, introduce choice into schools, all without raising taxes.
Hopefully, these guys will grab their bits and step boldly into the abyss
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Leave my Wife's womb and my bottom out of this
It wasn't even 24 hours after Mittens became the official GOP nominee that Planned Parenthood announced an ad buy denouncing him and that they were supporting The Messiah for reelection. With this announcement we are now assured several news cycles of discussion of the legal implications of Roe vs Wade and the various arguments concerning Pro-Choice and Pro-Life.
Isn't there a delicious irony in that the party, that is a proponent of small government and that the Government should only legislate or act on the enumerated powers of The U.S Constitution, should take up positions of what a women can do with their womb or a man with their bottom?
Maybe they'd find themselves somewhat more electable in California, New York etc, if they dropped the abortion and gay planks and focused on the more important issues of fiscal , domestic and foreign policy.
Don't like abortion? Don't have one, but please don't interfere with anyone else's natural right to decide what happens with their body.
Don't like Gay Marriage? If I want to marry my buddy or my sheep, some of whom are very cute, that has absolutely no business of the Gov't.
They prove themselves incompetent at just about everything they do, so let's just pin them down to where they absolutely need to be and leave our bedrooms, wombs, bottoms and relationships with barnyard animals alone
Isn't there a delicious irony in that the party, that is a proponent of small government and that the Government should only legislate or act on the enumerated powers of The U.S Constitution, should take up positions of what a women can do with their womb or a man with their bottom?
Maybe they'd find themselves somewhat more electable in California, New York etc, if they dropped the abortion and gay planks and focused on the more important issues of fiscal , domestic and foreign policy.
Don't like abortion? Don't have one, but please don't interfere with anyone else's natural right to decide what happens with their body.
Don't like Gay Marriage? If I want to marry my buddy or my sheep, some of whom are very cute, that has absolutely no business of the Gov't.
They prove themselves incompetent at just about everything they do, so let's just pin them down to where they absolutely need to be and leave our bedrooms, wombs, bottoms and relationships with barnyard animals alone
Delusion not limited to Washington
Living as I do in the heart of liberal nirvana, The People's Republic of California, I find it somewhat rare to be surprised by the incompetence of our elected officials. In an interesting parallel to domestic abuse victims, who check out of the hospital to then bail their abuser from jail, we the great hoi polloi continue to send the same people to the State House and think that we're somehow going to get a different result.
The dysfunctional California Republican Party no longer registers as a credible opposition, thus bringing the rise of the NPP (no party platform) candidates who, while having great ideas and goals, aren't organized into one focused group and thus the lackeys of the unions get to go unchecked.
Case in point, while facing a State deficit of $16 billion, Governor Brown continues to push for the high speed train to nowhere project at a cost of $69 billion that we have no method of paying for. Not to mention that we have a cheap, reliable and fast way of traveling between SF, SJ & LA, which would indicate that the ridership projections are somewhat laughable. Only in California would this not be granted a loud "WTF"?
As we already pay the highest taxes in the nation in return for some of the lousiest schools and worst roads, I am generally opposed viscerally to the idea of new taxes, however Prop 29 might be one that I can actually sign on for. Basically a $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes that's projected to raise $735 million for cancer research. If we can believe for one short moment that Moonbeam and his comrades won't immediately appropriate the funds for high speed rail or saving the spotted owl, this could be a good idea. Bear with me one second. I don't smoke, I don't know anyone any more that smokes and those that do smoke know that they're probably going to get cancer so they might actually appreciate the cancer research. So, as we know when you tax something you get less of it ( like earnings, but I digress) the tax would probably have a bunch of people quit smoking, not a bad thing, it would also prevent a bunch of kids from taking up smoking, also not a bad thing. The money raised would be ( Moonbeam aside) used for research which by definition means hiring Doctors and research assistants etc. Also good. The only people "harmed" by the tax are the people who smoke and paying it is a choice. Now if we can figure out a way to impose a tax on being fat and marijuana we could help fund other well intentioned research projects.
On the other "success tax" of 3.5% on our highest earners, I have to point out that successful people and their capital are portable and just about any example of so doing has earned way less revenue than anticipated as the successful generally take their capital to where its most welcome- Increasingly Austin TX.
It's very easy, almost tempting, to demonize the wealthy as not paying "their fair share" even though they the Top 5% are already paying 60% of taxes collected. It's also easy to point to the teachers that will be laid off if we don't increase our taxes, but where is our collective outrage about the number of State retirees, retired at 50 on almost full pay. They neither risked their capital nor contributed much to to their retirements to be able to live in the lap of luxury on our dime for 30-40 years. Maybe we can be more inclined to support the idea of new taxes, when the elected buffoons in Sacramento can prove themselves to be more competent stewards of its citizens money.
In the meantime, we do have a choice of bankrupt states to live in, but the other choices don't include 300+ days of sunshine, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, The Beach etc. Still a great place to live, but then again I would suspect that living of the Gov't tittie in Santorini would be quite pleasant too.
The dysfunctional California Republican Party no longer registers as a credible opposition, thus bringing the rise of the NPP (no party platform) candidates who, while having great ideas and goals, aren't organized into one focused group and thus the lackeys of the unions get to go unchecked.
Case in point, while facing a State deficit of $16 billion, Governor Brown continues to push for the high speed train to nowhere project at a cost of $69 billion that we have no method of paying for. Not to mention that we have a cheap, reliable and fast way of traveling between SF, SJ & LA, which would indicate that the ridership projections are somewhat laughable. Only in California would this not be granted a loud "WTF"?
As we already pay the highest taxes in the nation in return for some of the lousiest schools and worst roads, I am generally opposed viscerally to the idea of new taxes, however Prop 29 might be one that I can actually sign on for. Basically a $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes that's projected to raise $735 million for cancer research. If we can believe for one short moment that Moonbeam and his comrades won't immediately appropriate the funds for high speed rail or saving the spotted owl, this could be a good idea. Bear with me one second. I don't smoke, I don't know anyone any more that smokes and those that do smoke know that they're probably going to get cancer so they might actually appreciate the cancer research. So, as we know when you tax something you get less of it ( like earnings, but I digress) the tax would probably have a bunch of people quit smoking, not a bad thing, it would also prevent a bunch of kids from taking up smoking, also not a bad thing. The money raised would be ( Moonbeam aside) used for research which by definition means hiring Doctors and research assistants etc. Also good. The only people "harmed" by the tax are the people who smoke and paying it is a choice. Now if we can figure out a way to impose a tax on being fat and marijuana we could help fund other well intentioned research projects.
On the other "success tax" of 3.5% on our highest earners, I have to point out that successful people and their capital are portable and just about any example of so doing has earned way less revenue than anticipated as the successful generally take their capital to where its most welcome- Increasingly Austin TX.
It's very easy, almost tempting, to demonize the wealthy as not paying "their fair share" even though they the Top 5% are already paying 60% of taxes collected. It's also easy to point to the teachers that will be laid off if we don't increase our taxes, but where is our collective outrage about the number of State retirees, retired at 50 on almost full pay. They neither risked their capital nor contributed much to to their retirements to be able to live in the lap of luxury on our dime for 30-40 years. Maybe we can be more inclined to support the idea of new taxes, when the elected buffoons in Sacramento can prove themselves to be more competent stewards of its citizens money.
In the meantime, we do have a choice of bankrupt states to live in, but the other choices don't include 300+ days of sunshine, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, The Beach etc. Still a great place to live, but then again I would suspect that living of the Gov't tittie in Santorini would be quite pleasant too.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
POTUS 2012. Let the douchebaggery begin
With today's Republican primary Mitt Romney will cinch up the nomination for the Republican Party's Presidential candidate and the 2012 race will be officially underway.
As we work our way through the inevitable name calling, attack ads etc I will endeavor to provide a cynical analysis of the race. I will aim to be objective, as I don't really have a dog in the hunt ( Dog being a Freudian slip), but must admit I would vote for a half-eaten, two week old egg sandwich rather than give the Messiah a second term.
One imagines that this will be most expensive Presidential race in history with wild claims being made by both sides. The douchbaggery factor is likely to be huge. While we make the choice of who is to be the leader of the free world, do we really need to discuss Rev Wright, bullying incidents of 50 years ago and whether Mitten's owns a pair of magic pajamas ( but if he does, what's magic about them?)?
Let the douchebaggery begin!
As we work our way through the inevitable name calling, attack ads etc I will endeavor to provide a cynical analysis of the race. I will aim to be objective, as I don't really have a dog in the hunt ( Dog being a Freudian slip), but must admit I would vote for a half-eaten, two week old egg sandwich rather than give the Messiah a second term.
One imagines that this will be most expensive Presidential race in history with wild claims being made by both sides. The douchbaggery factor is likely to be huge. While we make the choice of who is to be the leader of the free world, do we really need to discuss Rev Wright, bullying incidents of 50 years ago and whether Mitten's owns a pair of magic pajamas ( but if he does, what's magic about them?)?
Let the douchebaggery begin!
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