Burt Prelutsky gathering my thoughts once again

Burt always gets right to the point.

Excerpt:  I definitely hope and pray that Obama is evicted from the White House in the coming election. For one thing, it would dispose of the worst president we have ever had, a distinction I had assumed would be Jimmy Carter’s in perpetuity. Now even Carter’s title as the worst ex-president we have ever had will be in jeopardy if Obama somehow manages to live up to his potential.

But Obama’s defeat would also restore my faith in the American people. Not all of them, you understand. After all, even in defeat, Obama and Biden will manage to carry several states and garner tens of millions of votes in spite of overseeing an administration that has somehow managed to make a terrible economy worse, gutted the military, offended our allies and encouraged the very worst of our enemies.

If Romney and Ryan win, and the GOP manages to regain control of the Senate, the celebration will be short-lived unless they repeal ObamaCare; institute long overdue changes in healthcare; do away with several federal departments and cabinet positions; undertake welfare reform, taking millions of undeserving people off food stamps; passing a federal law against lying about disabilities in order to fatten up pension checks; get America out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of America; and revoking public sector unions.

Even as radical a left-winger as FDR knew that the very idea of allowing civil servants to unionize was insane. It was only after he saw how easily Robert F. Wagner, Jr., won re-election as New York’s mayor after allowing city employees to unionize that John Kennedy decided that he would help assure his own re-election by doing the same for federal employees.

Read full article here.

Blood Of Afghan Betrayal On Obama's Hands

It appears that the rush to get out has increased casualties.

Excerpt:  Now, after years of denying the attacks were anything but an “isolated” problem, U.S.-led command has finally let American soldiers carry loaded weapons at all times to protect them not just from terrorists but from the Afghan security forces they’re training.

The policy reversal exposes the suicidal nature of the prior order. Even as our disarmed soldiers were being systematically ambushed and gunned down by their Afghan counterparts, high command continued to co-locate entire Afghan military units inside U.S. bases.

As a gesture of trust toward these Muslim partners, commanders ordered U.S. soldiers to remove their magazines from their weapons while training and working alongside them.

The Afghans, however, were allowed to remain armed.

Further exposing them to “friendly fire,” American troops generally removed their heavy Kevlar body armor once they got inside the base.

Disarming the Afghans would have been the obvious solution. But of course that would expose this whole “training partnership” as the farce it really is.

Training and standing up a national security force in Afghanistan is the linchpin of President Obama’s withdrawal strategy. He has set a 2014 deadline for troop pullout.

But the Pentagon is already reducing troop presence by 30,000 by the end of the summer. Many of the remaining soldiers will switch from fighting to training and advising Afghan forces. This means even more of them will be exposed to insider attacks.

But we’re not just training Afghans to replace soldiers. We’re hiring them to protect our soldiers right now, and many of them have also turned on our soldiers.

Obama has insisted on using Afghan security guards for base security as a way to limit the size of the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan.

Hiring local Afghans to protect troops obviates the need to deploy some 20,000 additional troops as MPs, or to move existing troops out of combat roles.

Obama’s rush to withdraw has needlessly cost at least 100 soldiers’ lives and wounded countless others.

Read full Investors.com article here.

The 30 Best Quotes From The 2012 Republican Convention

The 30 Best Quotes From The 2012 Republican Conven

The Oparowskis Republican convention testimonial

Chris Christie Republican convention speech

Democrat Artur Davis Republican convention speech

Mitt Romney Republican convention speech

Paul Ryan Republican convention speech

Condoleeza Rice Republican convention speech

Marco Rubio Republican convention speech

Ann Romney Republican convention speech

Mia Love Republican convention speech

Obamanation - Jon McNaughton

http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/page/view_collection/Most%20Popular/423

Ariz. Governor Signs Bill to Allow Bible Classes in Public Schools

Paul Ryan on college graduates' jobs

John Coleman on the California Cap and Trade Law

Big Sur, California (Photo credit: the_tahoe_guy)

The only thing I can say to those of you who live in California is, you get the representation that you vote for, and deserve it if you don’t recognize the source of your problems.

Excerpt: John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel, writes on his Facebook Page:

Basically, the concept of Cap and Trade is try to force companies that produce carbon dioxide and “other greenhouse gases” to reduce their emissions or buy offsets by paying the State of California fees that the State will then (supposedly) use to offset the effects of that release of CO2 into the air. The State’s first Auction of Cap and Trade off-sets in November is expected to produce 1 billion dollars for the State. The Governor said he wanted to use this money on the high speed train project, but the State Legislature intervened and designated the money for other mass transit and related projects. Skeptics think the money will end up being applied against the State’s huge budget shortfall and end up paying the upscale wages and pensions of State Officials and employees. 

In any case, that billion dollars will come from us, you and me. It will come in the form of greatly increased prices for gasoline (estimates go as high as 7 dollars a gallon) and electricity and water and food, etc. We will be charged these increased prices to offset the carbon credits paid by refiners, farmers, water districts, truckers, etc. It will be an indirect, huge tax increase.

This is California’s action to save us from the horrors of global warming.

Here is what I think. There is no significant man-made global warming. Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. It is, however, a very minor greenhouse gas that causes a smidgen of warming, but not enough to create any problem. So we are going to further wreck the economy of California to save us from a non-problem. And, even if we totally eliminated CO2 releases in California we would only cut the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by less than 1 percent. All of the rest of the World produces over 99 percent of the carbon dioxide in the air, and the atmosphere knows no state boundaries.

So the Cap and Trade is really bad idea, based on faulty science and about to increase the cost of living for the typical California family of four by as much as $4,500 a year.

And, I don’t see any way to stop it.

Read full article here.

A nation adrift from the rule of law

The rule of law is something Obama has no use for. If Congress doesn’t pass his bills, he does it illegally by executive order.

Excerpt:The notion that we are governed by rules that are transparent and enacted through the legislative process—not by the whims of our leaders—is at the heart of that commitment. If legislators exceed their authority under the Constitution, or if otherwise legitimate laws are misused, courts must step in to prevent or remedy the potential harm.

During the 2008 financial crisis, the government repeatedly violated these principles. When regulators bailed out Bear Stearns by engineering its sale to J.P. Morgan Chase, they flagrantly disregarded basic corporate law by “locking up” the transaction so that no other bidder could intervene.

When the government bailed out AIG six months later, the Federal Reserve funded the bailout by invoking extraordinary loan powers for what was clearly an acquisition rather than a loan. (The government acquired nearly 80% of AIG’s stock.)

Two months later, the Treasury Department used money from the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program fund to bail out the car companies. This was dubious. Under the statute, the funds were to be used for financial institutions. But the real violation came a few months later, when the government used a sham bankruptcy sale to transfer Chrysler to Fiat while almost certainly stiffing Chrysler’s senior creditors.

Read full WSJ article here.  (If fee request comes up, Google title.)

The Unvetted - Obama's Communist mentor John Marshall Davis

Republican Party platform best yet

Good article by Phyllis Schlafly discussing the major points of the Republican Party platform.

Excerpt:The Republican Party platform may be the best one ever adopted. The party has long since learned that fiscal, social and sovereignty issues cannot be ignored or separated, but must be addressed as all part of a national campaign.

The media may have forgotten (or chosen to forget) that Ronald Reagan’s big victories, including his 49-state victory in 1984, were based on a three-legged stool of dealing directly with all three clusters of issues.

he platform endorses “American military superiority” as the cornerstone of our strategy to deter aggression and protect national security. Superiority disappeared from the Republican platform in recent years, but it’s now more than ever necessary because of Mr. Obama’s foolish statements about wanting a nuclear-free world, which would leave America at the mercy of dictatorships that ignore all treaties and promises.

It rejects a long list of United Nations treaties, including the treaty on women’s rights, the treaty on the rights of the child, the treaty on persons with disabilities, the arms trade treaty and the Law of the Sea treaty. The platform also rejects Agenda 21, including its proposal for a global tax and various U.N. declarations on the environment.

Altogether, the 2012 Republican Platform is an excellent document written by grass-roots conservatives. It is a true reflection of American values.

Read more: SCHLAFLY: Republican Party platform best yet - Washington Times 

Thomas Sowell - Insurance a risky business

Great article explaining what insurance is all about and how to solve some of the problems without Government destroying the whole health care system.

Excerpt: Too many political "solutions" are solutions to problems created by previous political "solutions" — and will be followed by new problems created by their current "solutions."

There is no free lunch. In the case of health insurance, there is not even an inexpensive lunch.

Health insurance would be a lot less expensive if it covered only the kinds of risks that can involve heavy costs, such as a major operation or a crippling disability. While such things can be individually very expensive, they don't happen to everybody, and insurance is one way to spread the risks, so that the protection of a given individual is not prohibitively expensive.

The problem of "pre-existing conditions" is a problem largely because of the way that politicians have written the laws — more specifically, by giving a tax break to employer-provided health insurance. If individuals bought their own health insurance, with the same tax advantages, the fact that an illness occurred after they changed employers would not make it a "pre-existing condition."

There is no inherent reason for employers to be involved, in the first place. The fact that some guy manufactures furniture or plumbing fixtures in no way qualifies him to understand insurance for his employees. Including him in the loop adds another unnecessary layer of bureaucratic costs.

Read full article here.

Democrats keeping the black folk down

Read my full article on Examiner.com.

Romney/Ryan Medicare plan

Allen West on education

Proposed 28th Amendment

The Silent Second-Term Agenda

The most important of these is the shift in the balance of the Supreme Court

Excerpt:  Let's dispense with the obvious: An Obama second term will be foremost about higher taxes and greater spending. The president has been clear about the former and will consider victory in November a mandate to raise taxes on higher-income Americans and small businesses—at the least.

Meanwhile, no matter how the coming budget sequester sorts out, nobody should forget why it came into being: It was the result of Mr. Obama's refusal to consider any real changes to Social Security or Medicare. There will be no reason to budge in a second term. Absent reform to these drivers of debt, and given Mr. Obama's ambitions to further "invest" in education, energy and infrastructure, a second term means proposals for even broader and bigger tax hikes—and not just for his favorite targets. Continued and growing deficits are likely as well.

Enlarge Image

Coughlin/ZUMAPRESS.com

The president greets well-wishers at Kennedy International Airport, Aug. 22.

Presidents often use re-election to revive leftover policy objectives. A New Yorker magazine article in June noted: "The President has said that the most important policy he could address in his second term is climate change." Such an unpopular policy focus might seem crazy if Republicans hold the House, but then again Mr. Obama will want an issue where he can press his advantage and blame an obstinate GOP. The president has to date been unconcerned by how his agenda hurts congressional Democrats; he's unlikely to begin caring once he has been re-elected.

Yet since the probable outcome of his approach would be continued gridlock, his real efforts will be devoted to fine-tuning the regulatory apparatus he has designed specifically to go around Congress—as the administration has done the past two years. 

Read full WSJ article here.

Illegal Obama "Propped Up" By Congress!

Plastic Bag Bans Lead to E-coli Deaths

One green pet cause du jour is the banning or taxing of disposable plastic bags at supermarkets and other grocery stores. These measures, which are designed to encourage shoppers to use their own reusable tote bags, have been spreading widely in recent years, and have already gone into effect in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

This may make the world marginally safer for plants and animals, but a new study by the Property and Environment Research Center (h/t Sullivan) shows there may be a significant downside for human health. Researchers examined these reusable totes and found significant amounts of dangerous bacteria, including, among others, E-coli. And there seems to be a correlation between plastic bag bans and increased illness, as bacteria-related deaths spiked immediately after San Francisco’s bag measure began. The International Association for Food Protection reports:

Reusable bags were collected at random from consumers as they entered grocery stores in California and Arizona. In interviews, it was found that reusable bags are seldom if ever washed and often used for multiple purposes. Large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all bags and coliform bacteria in half. Escherichia coli were identified in 8% of the bags, as well as a wide range of enteric bacteria, including several opportunistic pathogens. When meat juices were added to bags and stored in the trunks of cars for two hours, the number of bacteria increased 10-fold, indicating the potential for bacterial growth in the bags.

This green unicorn looks considerably less enchanting upon closer examination.

Reference The American Interest.

2016 Teaser Trailer

HOLDER'S DOJ 'BIGGEST ENABLER OF FINANCIAL CRIME IN U.S. HISTORY' - Re: MF Global

CNBC Host Rick Santelli spoke with James Koutoulas about the ruling by the Department of Justice that they believed no crimes were committed by MF Global. Santelli asked, "You know, Edith O'Brien supposedly has information. Yeah, you must have information if you want to be protected to give it. You told me they never even really went that route. They didn't give her any immunity. So they don't care that she knows something that probably isn't very good? That's it?" Koutoulas responded, "Right. By not giving her immunity, it's a way to stalemate the case and say, 'Well, we don't really have enough evidence to prosecute it. But Attorney General Eric Holder's Department of Justice is the biggest enabler of financial crime in U.S. history, and that's why, way back in January, we went to Congressman Grimm, and we asked him to write a letter demanding that independent counsel be appointed for this case. And 65 congressmen agreed with him."

Sourced from Breitbart.

Change the Obama way

Please read my article on Examiner.com

Communist America? A warning from the past

Marine humor

Romney's energy plan - let states develop their abundant resources

It is about time we got the Federal Government off the backs of the real innovators and gave the power to the states to regulate their own resources.  

Everyone thought that the purchase of land by the Federal Government was meant for good for the American people, but it has turned out to be just another control mechanism.  Because of the vast amounts of land controlled by the Feds, some states have very little room to grow.

The top 10 list of states with the highest percentage of federally owned land looks like this:

1. Nevada           84.5%
2. Alaska            69.1%
3. Utah               57.4%
4. Oregon           53.1%
5. Idaho              50.2%
6. Arizona           48.1%
7. California        45.3%
8. Wyoming         42.3%
9. New Mexico     41.8%
10. Colorado          36.6%

Excerpt: “What Governor Romney is proposing is that state governments, which already control the development of energy resources on their own and private lands within their borders, would also control the development of energy resources on federal land within their borders,” said Romney’s domestic policy advisor Oren Cass in a briefing call with reporters to preview Romney’s energy speech slated to occur later today in New Mexico.

Cass said that Romney believes the challenge in getting to energy independence by 2020 is “not about the resources we have, it’s not about the technology that we have, it’s about the government we have.”

“The question is, Are we going to pursue the political reforms that will allow us to develop the resources to their fullest?” said Cass.

In addition to shifting the power of energy development exploration on federal lands to the state level, Romney’s policy also calls for opening more offshore drilling options, starting off the coast of the battleground state of Virginia as well as the Carolinas.

Romney’s plan also calls for the pursuit of a “broader North American energy partnership” with Canada and Mexico that would include building the Keystone pipeline, a development Romney calls for frequently on the stump while simultaneously criticizing the Obama administration’s rejection of the pipeline.

Read full ABC News report here.

Cinnamon and honey - a cure all?

Ran across this in my readings at HealthEnlight.  Don't know if it works, but I am certainly going to try it.

Cinnamon and Honey; Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around.

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scie

ntists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without side effects for any kind of diseases.
Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, when it is taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm even diabetic patients. Researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply it on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, when they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as one ages the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and the veins.

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily (morning and night) one cup of hot water with two tablespoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. When taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week (out of the 200 people so treated) practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain -- and within a month, most all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis now started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, when taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and, clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from its root.
GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that when Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles (where DNA is contained) to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food is eaten relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals

INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural 'Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Use four teaspoons of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of boiling water to make a tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans increase and even a 100 year old will start performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

RASPY OR SORE THROAT: When throat has a tickle or is raspy, take one tablespoon of honey and sip until gone. Repeat every three hours until throat is without symptoms.

PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it off the next morning with warm water. When done daily for two weeks, it removes all pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS:Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin Infections.

WEIGHT LOSS:Daily in the morning one half hour before
breakfast and on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. When taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder three times a day for one month.

FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, even when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, when taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M., the vitality of the body increases within a week.

BAD BREATH: People of South America, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water first thing in the morning so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

World Begs US to Stop Burning Shrinking Food Supply - Ethanol

It has been proven that use of corn to produce ethanol does nothing to alleviate the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.  But it has also been proven that food prices have skyrocketed since this ill conceived environmentalist legislation.  It is time for the repeal of this legislation and get back to feeding the world. 

Excerpt:This mandated glass of stomach-churning regulation remains a primary component of United States energy and environmental policy, elevating food prices worldwide and further destabilizing countries hovering at the edge of political unrest.

Saving Obama the trouble of appointing yet another commission to study the issue, the deleterious effects of biofuel subsidies and mandates have already been well documented.

Both the public and private sector have catalogued in-depth the rise in food prices caused by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act that reallocated corn harvests from hungry stomachs to internal combustion engines. The Congressional Budget Office showed that the mandates accounted for ten to fifteen percent of the price rise from 2007-2008, and the National Chicken Council commissioned a study showing a seventy-nine percent acceleration in the Consumer Price Index for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs since the bill went into law. A full forty percent of the current corn crop is dedicated to fuel instead of food.

On top of these existing price rises, the USDA’s latest production forecast predicts that corn and soybean production will be down 12% from last year due to the ongoing and severe drought ravaging corn crops in the heartland. While the United States recovers from a limp economy and continues to pay out food stamps to 46.4 million citizens, current ethanol policy increases the price of these handouts even as our national debt approaches a staggering $16 trillion. The USDA forecasts that by the end of 2012, domestic grocery prices will have risen another 2.5 to 3.5 percent.

As the leading food exporter in the world, U.S. commodity shortfalls affect food prices across the globe. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization’s overall food price index climbed six percentage points in July alone. A Tuft University report shows that U.S. ethanol policy caused our Mexican neighbors to incur an additional $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion in import costs from 2006-2011. This while millions of its citizens illegally fled to the United States to escape poverty. Mexico’s most recent food riot was in 2008, and it may only be a matter of time before the next one.

Read full report here.

The subtle media bias of a simple image

Found this example of media bias on another website.  

Look at this image. Pretty straightforward, right?

Wrong. (Full-size image here.)

Let’s dissect it, piece by piece.

1. Biden and Obama bookend Romney and Ryan. Newspaper and magazine editors know where your eye goes first. Guess which team is in that position?
2. Biden and Obama are smiling. Romney and Ryan are not.
3. Biden and Obama are fully lit and clear. Romney and Ryan have shadows on them. Ryan’s is even a little creepy, with that shadow of a hand reaching across his chest.
4. Biden’s and Obama’s faces are well-lit and clear. Romney is in shadow, and Ryan is a sickly shade of yellow-green.

I worked in publishing for a long time. I know the process that goes into choosing a photograph before it is sent out to the world. There’s no way the contrasts in the above picture happened by accident. The shading of Ryan’s face, the shadows on the Republican candidates, the full sun, smiling faces on the Democrats–all on purpose, by the photo editor and whoever signed off on the photos. Oh, they’ll deny it to the rooftops. But look again at the contrasts in those photos, and tell me that it’s not deliberate.

Your media bias, deconstructed.

Oh. And it’s in a piece that decries how ugly the campaign has become so far. Yeah. Ironic, isn’t it?

Go to original website Yourish.com.

Paul Ryan's foreign policy views and "American Exceptionalism"

For those of you who think Paul Ryan is a one issue candidate, this foreign policy speech he gave in June of last year should put that to rest. Reading the whole speech will give you a sense of his world view and possible approach to the world's problems. 

Excerpt: Our fiscal crisis is above all a spending crisis that is being driven by the growth of our major entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In 1970, these programs consumed about 20 percent of the budget. Today that number has grown to over 40 percent.

Over the same period, defense spending has shrunk as a share of the federal budget from about 39 percent to just under 16 percent – even as we conduct an ambitious global war on terrorism. The fact is, defense consumes a smaller share of the national economy today than it did throughout the Cold War.

If we continue on our current path, the rapid rise of health care costs will crowd out all areas of the budget, including defense. 

This course is simply unsustainable. If we continue down our current path, then a debt-fueled economic crisis is not a probability. It is a mathematical certainty.

Some hear these facts and conclude that the sun is setting on America… that our problems are bigger than we are… that our competitors will soon outrun us… and that the choice we face is over how, not whether, to manage our nation’s decline. 

It’s inevitable, they seem to say, so let’s just get on with it. I’m reminded of that Woody Allen line: “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

Look – our fiscal problems are real, and the need to address them is urgent. But I’m here to tell you that decline is not a certainty for America. Rather, as Charles Krauthammer put it, “decline is a choice.”

It is hard to overstate the importance of this choice. In The Weary Titan, Aaron Friedberg − one of the founders of the Hamilton Society − has shown us what happened when Britain made the wrong choice at the turn of the 20th century.

At that time, Britain’s governing class took the view that it would be better to cede leadership of the Western world to the United States. Unfortunately, the United States was not yet ready to assume the burden of leadership. The result was 40 years of Great Power rivalry and two World Wars.

The stakes are even higher today. Unlike Britain, which handed leadership to a power that shared its fundamental values, today’s most dynamic and growing powers do not embrace the basic principles that should be at the core of the international system.

A world without U.S. leadership will be a more chaotic place, a place where we have less influence, and a place where our citizens face more dangers and fewer opportunities. Take a moment and imagine a world led by China or by Russia. 

Choosing decline would have consequences that I doubt many Americans would be comfortable with.  

So we must lead. And a central element of maintaining American leadership is the promotion of our moral principles – consistently and energetically – without being unrealistic about what is possible for us to achieve.

Read full Paul Ryan speech here.

What could possibly go wrong

Sen. Rand Paul Speaks Out Against Senators Voting without Reading the Bills

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer blocks illegal alien benefits of Obama's amnesty program

 

In your face, Barack!

PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed an executive order directing state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations under a new Obama administration program.

Brewer’s order issued Wednesday says she’s reaffirming the intent of current Arizona law denying taxpayer-funded public benefits and state identification to illegal immigrants.

Young illegal immigrants could start applying Wednesday with the federal government for work permits under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The program defers deportations for young illegal immigrants if they meet certain criteria.

Brewer’s order says the program’s federal paperwork doesn't confer lawful status on illegal immigrants and won’t entitle them to Arizona public benefits. She directs state agencies to start emergency rule making processes as necessary to implement her order.

Compliments of Weasel Zippers.

Obama's Fiscal Commission Democrat Co-Chair praises Paul Ryan

Erskine Bowles, President Obama's Fiscal Committee Democrat Co-Chair heaps praise on Paul Ryan and his budget that was passed by the Republican House but blocked by the Senate's Harry Reid. He also has no kind words for Obama's attempt at budgeting.

Obama lies to Iowa farmers

Lou Pritchett Letter #2

I feel so strongly about this danger our country faces that I am forwarding this to you.....

Letter #2 from Lou Pritchett...

"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear."
Emerson, 1833


Count your blessings now, because if this comes to pass there will be no more!!!

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America ’s true living legends --- a former P & G executive, an acclaimed author, a dynamic teacher, and one of the world's most highly rated speakers. It was he who changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "Partnering".

You may remember a previous letter he wrote in 2009 to Obama and the New York Times, which went viral.

From a speech given by Lou Pritchett April 15, 2012

"I was born in year two of the Great Depression (1931) and spent the first 10 years of my life, influenced by the extreme hardships of the depression. -- By today’s standards my family was about a mile below today’s so called ‘poverty level’; but if you never ‘had’ - - doing without was not so ‘bad’. Borrowing shoes to graduate from the 8th grade didn’t seem at all demeaning because most of the 8th graders did the same thing.

In June 1944, my only brother, Joe, was killed in action on Utah Beach in Normandy , France during the D-Day landings. Exactly one year later, my father died and left me, my mother, and my sister to go it alone - - and alone we went. My mother went to work at a department store, my sister dropped out of school and joined her, and I went to work shining shoes on the streets of Memphis for a dime a shine. Government assistance was not available, and if it were, I am confident my mother would have refused it, because she never wanted the government involved in our lives.

I mention this bit of personal history to help you understand that millions of Americans, including your parents and grandparents, grew up like me during the Great Depression and never expected nor wanted the government to offer them anything other than an opportunity - - and now to see what Obama is trying to do to our country tends to make you crazy.

As some of you know, my “Scare Me" letter went viral with millions of hits on the internet during the past 3 years. I have now written a follow-up letter, which I will now share with you.

To the editors:

"In April 2009, I sent President Obama and the New York Times a letter titled "You Scare Me" because, as a candidate, he promised to "fundamentally transform America ." Now, after observing his performance for over three years, he no longer scares me - - he terrifies me for the following reasons:

FIRST: He has done more to damage America 's standing in the world, to lower the standard of living in America, to impoverish future generations, and to shake our faith in the country's future more than any other American president in history.

SECOND: With a compliant Democrat congress, a lapdog media, and a weak,
almost nonexistent Republican opposition, he has shattered the American dream of job security, home ownership, and rugged individualism for millions of Americans and has poisoned and divided our civil society with his politics of envy, class warfare, race warfare, and religious warfare - - which he is using as fundamental building blocks for his 'socialist' agenda.

THIRD: Culturally, he remains totally out of touch with traditional American values. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or where he was born, rather it has everything to do with where, how and with whom he was raised, schooled, educated, trained, and associates with - - still today.

FOURTH: He has surrounded himself with naive academicians, lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats, and socialist leaning czars who arrogantly think and behave exactly as he does. People who offer no balanced suggestions, or devil’s advocate positions, and think in lock step with him that big government is the answer to all our problems.

FIFTH: He not only encourages, but aids and abets the unionization of all American industry, the albatross around the neck of the free market. In turn, they provide the money and muscle to intimidate his opponents.

SIXTH: He has increased the national debt by over 30% in just three years. If re-elected, and this rate of increase continues, America will be burdened with an unsustainable 20 trillion dollar debt which will result in the country's financial death. Recovery will be impossible - - America will be the Greece of 2016.

SEVENTH: Given his fanatical beholding to the 'environmental' and 'man-caused global warming' fringe, he has deliberately discouraged U.S. fossil fuel exploration and production, while wasting billions of tax payer dollars on solar, wind, and algae experiments. He refuses to accept that oil, gas, and coal are not America ’s enemies, they are America ’s assets - - which, properly managed, could make us energy independent within a generation.

EIGHTH: He views the U.S. as a power in retreat which abused its World dominance. Therefore, he systematically apologizes round the world. This past March, he whispered to Russian President Medvedev - - "This is my last election. After my election, I will have more flexibility". Just what is the secret that Obama and Putin are concealing from the American people until after the election? With what other leaders has he made similar secret agreements?

NINTH: And finally, after all his miss-steps, bad decision-making, poor management, and zero leadership, the fact that he has the audacity to seek re-election should terrify every American.

I predict that if re-elected, future historians and political interpreters will look back at the eight-year period 2008-2016, and conclude "the 44th President of the U.S. allowed the takers to overpower the payers, which resulted in the greatest economy in history vanishing from the face of the Earth". Farewell America , the World will really miss you!!"

Lou Pritchett April 15, 2012

It is my hope and prayer that this letter will also go viral and serve as a 'wake up' call to Americans of all political leaning - - convincing them that never before in U.S. history has so much depended on Americans understanding that we are facing one of the greatest crises in U.S. history. Convincing them that this election will be won not by letters to the editor, political speeches, or radio and TV sound bites.

No!! It will be won by those with a conviction, with a belief, and with a willingness to pay the price in helping put the most enlightened voters in the polling booth on November 6.

Let me end on my favorite quote - - which I think is very appropriate for each of us today:

"TO EVERY MAN, THERE COMES IN HIS LIFETIME, THAT SPECIAL MOMENT, WHEN HE IS PHYSICALLY TAPPED ON THE SHOULDER AND OFFERED THE CHANCE TO DO A VERY SPECIAL THING, UNIQUE TO HIM AND FITTED TO HIS TALENT; WHAT A TRAGEDY IF THAT MOMENT FINDS HIM UNPREPARED OR UNQUALIFIED FOR THE WORK WHICH WOULD BE HIS FINEST HOUR."

Those words spoken by Winston Churchill over 70 years ago are very appropriate for all Americans today.

For, if each of us is prepared and is qualified, then 6 November 2012 just might be our, and our Nation's, finest hour as we reclaim this "shining city on the hill" from the ravages of Obama Socialism.

IT IS NOW OR NEVER FELLOW PATRIOTS!! GOD HELP US IF WE FAIL!! 


"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear."