Category Archives: Politics

The so-called bailout bill (personally, I think, “monetary socialism bill” has a better ring to it) has passed the House (see the link to see how your Congressman voted).  All that remains is for President Bush to sign it which I’m sure he’s rushing to do since it was all his idea and the only thing he thinks can save what’s left of his legacy.

I vowed a few days ago when the Senate passed this 451-page behemoth that is another step toward socialism and that I would not vote for anyone that helped pass it (including McCain and Obama).  We need to send Congress a lesson that when they do not represent us, they get removed from the position of “representative.”

God bless, Phil Gingrey (R-GA 11th Dist) who is my Congressman.  Generally, I agree with the guy and I think he’s mostly done a good job.  Today, he faithfully represented the people of Georgia by voting against H.R. 1424.  Thank you, Congressman Gingrey!

For now, it looks like I’ll be voting for Congressman Gingrey, Mr. Allen Buckley (who is running against Saxby and Martin for the Senate seat), and possibly Bob Barr (jury is still out on that one).

This current situation in our economy has an overwhelming majority of our federal government screaming like Chicken Little that the “sky is falling,” an overwhelming majority of the American people screaming that the government needs to stay out of the market and not spend more money we don’t have, and an overwhelming majority of our elected representatives refusing to listen to us.

It seems appropriate that tonight was the “Debt” lesson of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class.  This entire problem was built on credit/debt.

• Credit that lenders were forced to extend to people that would never be able to pay it off. Forced by the government’s Community Reinvestment Act and President Bush’s goal of raising minority home ownership by an unrealistic amount.  Now, I’m not against minority home ownership–I am against anyone buying a home they can’t afford to pay for and financing it at 100%(or even 125%).
• Credit that banks have used to buy other, smaller banks (Wachovia, I’m looking at you).
• Credit that was passed around as investments in the sub-prime lending boom.
• Credit that people didn’t read the terms on or did and took it on anyway knowing they couldn’t repay it if the interest rate notched up.
• Credit, credit, credit.

Are you seeing a pattern?  Do we really think that giving the people that screwed it up in the first place more credit will help get us out of this trouble?  Because that’s what this bailout is (I refuse to call it a “rescue”).  It’s not real money.  It’s credit that we’re borrowing and printing (as in, more paper money that devalues the paper you have in your pocket).

Well, apparently, our government ignored the voice of the people and the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of their own version of the unconstitutional bailout bill.  Apparently, it needed more pork to pass.  This vote (from what I hear, though I’ve not seen the official tally yet) apparently included our two Georgia Senators, Chambliss and Isakson.  Well, all I can say is:

1. The term “Bank Robber” has a new meaning.
2. I urge you to do as I will do the next time I have opportunity and vote against any incumbent that voted to spend your tax dollars to prop up failed multi-billion dollar companies on Wall Street.  Fire them!  That’s the only way we’ll take our government back.
3. Vote for someone other than McCain or Obama in the upcoming Presidential Election.  Both of them overwhelmingly supported bailing out Wall Street at our expense and both of them attempted to help buy the American people’s complicity in this (which this time, from all the polls I’m seeing failed miserably).

I unsubscribed from the McCain campaign propaganda emails today and left explicit reasons in the “comments” box on the unsubscribe form.  I will be making an informed decision on who to vote for in the next few weeks.  Have any good ideas for what to do with a couple McCain/Palin bumper stickers and a never-used yard sign?

1) This is about the clearest, concisest explanation of why the bailout (or “rescue” as the government and complicit media are now referring to it as) is bad.  It lines up very nicely with why I’m against it.  Of course, it doesn’t seem like it matters now, since the Fed unilaterally made the decision to spend $630BILLION on bank bailouts (much of it going overseas) before the House even voted!  This country is so screwed.

2) Here is a great article about the current gas shortage in Georgia (and the Southeast).  You may not like the end result, but you have to admit, he makes a very good point.  In the end, gasoline may actually cost less when the government doesn’t interfere with the market.

Well, not really, but I am doing something I’ve never done before.  Giving my Senators and Congressman a very clear picture of my views by calling/emailing them about this ridiculous “bailout” plan that thankfully failed to pass the House today.

Here is the text of the email I sent to both Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson:

Senator XXXX,

The proposed $700B bailout that is being rushed through congress is a travesty to the free enterprise system, not to mention unconstitutional.

There are plenty of options available other than throwing money at the problem, especially when the people in charge of that money are the ones that either created the problem in the first place or are the least qualified to manage it.

Nothing personal, but the government has consistently shown that money management is not something they can be trusted with. This is clearly demonstrated by the increasing national debt and the inability to create a balanced budget and stick to it.

This is not something that can be solved in a week. The only way this issue can be adequately resolved is by intense and thorough study of ALL the options.

I have to put my foot down on this matter. If you feel that voting for this bill is something you must do, then I feel that you are no longer representing the interests of the people of Georgia and I will vote against you remaining in office.

Sincerely,
XXXX

I also gave Congressman Phil Gingrey (Georgia, 11th District) a call today to personally thank him (well, one of his Congressional aides, anyway) for voting against the current House bill for the bailout.  I’m not sure, after talking to his aide, that his motives were correct, but at least we got the result this country needed and I will keep on him about not using taxpayer money to bail out failed corporations whose executives drove the companies down while raking in tens of millions in salaries and bonuses.  The only way for the market to recover is to let it recover naturally and without government intervention (which is what got us to this point in the first place).  I sent a somewhat modified version of the email above to Congressman Gingrey.

If you need to look up your Senators/Congressmen, hit up Congress.org.  They give you everything you need to figure out which district you are in and who represents you and give you their office numbers (I would call the Washington D.C. office at this point), addresses, etc.

Get out there, get involved, let your representatives know how you feel!

The DOW climbed enormously today.  90% of Americans won’t see past that first sentence.  The reason it came up is that the government is once again coming to our “rescue” by drafting a plan for more socialism!  Yay!

The government manipulation of our markets has got to stop.  It will not end well and rest assured, it will end. Once the money is gone, our dollar is so devalued, and our creditors (China, anyone) come calling, it will end.

I said this over on SlapShotSal’s blog, but it bears repeating here:  In these last 2 weeks, the Bush Administration (not just Bush, but his Fed chairman, his advisers, etc) has done more damage to this country than they had in the previous 8 years. Meanwhile, all we can do is squabble about some “supposed” emails and “lipstick on a pig” comments.

I don’t really have much commentary on this.  Whatever your opinion of Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), you can’t deny the fact that he predicted the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 5 years ago.  Not only that, he was working to stop it from happening.  Too bad nobody listened.

I’m developing an unexplained and sudden interest in Economics, lately.

So, I was chatting with a friend of mine, Mick, and posting to his blog and I mentioned that I’d have a lot to say about “The War.”  So, Mick, this is for you.  I’ll try to keep it to the point so it doesn’t get too long.

President Bush said in his second inaugaral speech “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”  For a long time I agreed with that.  I still do to a point, but I no longer believe it applies to the US policing the world with our military. It seems that in the last 100 years, we’ve done more harm than good getting involved in conflicts that do not affect us directly.

I don’t believe President Bush is evil. I believe he was given information that certain people in Washington wanted him to see and made a bad decision with that information.  I believe that Saddam Hussein was evil and his removal will (in the long run) be good for the world.  I don’t know that we should’ve done it, but we did, it’s in the past.  I do believe Saddam Hussein was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon and he already had various biological weapons.

I don’t believe that pulling out of Iraq immediately is a good idea.  We need to finish the job properly now that we’ve stepped in it.  We need to turn provinces over to the Iraqis (we just turned over the Anbar province to the Iraqis and the media is hardly reporting it) as appropriate. We can’t just destabilize a country by removing their leadership and leave.  We need to clean up the mess we made.

Now, on to the media.  I do belive the media is to blame for the anti-war sentiment. People have apparently forgotten what it takes to win.  Sacrifice (even to death–I lost a friend over there) and time and the media sensationalizes this for their own gain.

Now, all that being said, we need to quit interfering in other countries militarily.  We need to quit sending troops to every conflict and every squabble and let some of these other countries stand up for themselves.  We need to stop fighting wars we cannot afford (the government’s debt is out of control at this point).

It’s just too bad that we don’t have a viable Presidential candidate that feels that way.  Obama talks a good game, but on “bringing our troops home” he’s only riding the coattails of the media’s anti-war propoganda.  He has no substance and will tax our economy into the crapper, advance socialism in this country, and raise the level of spending while weakening our national defense and Constitutional rights. McCain says he’s a maverick and will lower our taxes across the board, but without cutting government spending (what President really has in the last 30 years), how is he going to pay for that? Both candidates are beholden to the same special interest groups and both candidates want to eschew the Constitution for their own reasons.

That’s enough for now.  In part 2, I’ll explain why I’m voting for the “lesser of two evils” and who that is…

Everytime I see pictures of Sarah Palin, there is a nagging “something” in the back of my head–like I’ve seen her somewhere before this week.  JediChric pointed me in the direction of the above picture and I finally realized why she always seems so familiar!

Looks to me like a vote for Obama/Biden is a vote for the Cylons!

Here’s a link to the original on Flickr, but if the comments get too nasty, I’m taking the link down.

Someone posted this on my favorite gun forum and I just had to share with everyone else:

Sarah Palin does not have 5 kids, she actually has 7. Their names are Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, Trig, Chuck Norris, and Jack Bauer.

The Northern Lights are really just the reflection from Sarah Palin’s eyes.

The Russians sold Alaska to America because Sarah Palin would not submit to autocracy.

The Arctic Circle runs through Alaska so the Sun can have some relief from Sarah Palin’s bright glare.

Sarah Palin is allowed first dibs on Alaskan wolfpack kills.

Sarah Palin is so pro-life that she personally hog-tied two reps from Planned Parenthood who came knocking at her door.

It’s not raining in DC. Those are God’s tears of joy that McCain picked Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin’s hotness is the largest single contributor to melting polar ice caps.

Sarah Palin is the “other” whom Yoda spoke about.

Sarah Palin’s presence in the lower 48 means the Arctic ice cap can finally return.

Sarah Palin fired Jack Bauer because he was too soft in dealing with terrorists.

Sarah Palin’s pageant career ended early so other women could have a chance.

Sarah Palin’s son Track is going to Iraq after the Surge, because a Palin during the Surge would have been unfair.

Sarah Palin wears glasses lest her uncontrollable optic blasts slaughter everyone.

Sarah Palin actually has Big Foot in her freezer.

Sarah Palin gave a speech in Texas after her water broke before flying home to Alaska to give birth. (Actually true)

Sarah Palin doesn’t need a gun to hunt. She has been known to throw a bullet through an adult bull elk.

Sarah Palin once spilled coffee on Joe Biden & one of his $400 ties from Pink.

Sarah Palin keeps her hair in a beehive to hide her ninja weaponry.

Sarah Palin will personally open a homemade can of whoopa** on Ahmadinejad, Putin, and Chavez as soon as she’s done making mooseburgers for her kids.

A grizzly bear once tried to stare down Sarah Palin. Once.

Sarah Palin will send Joe Biden a pre-debate cheat sheet. The sheet will have tips on defending against Kung Fu Death Grip.

Sarah Palin became governor because five children left her with too much spare energy.

Sarah Palin will give birth to the man who will lead humanity’s war against the machines.

Three of Sarah Palin’s 5 kids came out sideways and she never flinched.

Global Warming doesn’t kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does. Generally with her bare hands.

Sarah Palin was the original “Deadliest Catch.”

Sarah Palin paid her way through school by hunting for Kodiak pelts with a slingshot.

Alaska is the 49th state solely because they knew even in 1959 that Sarah Palin never finishes last.

Chuck Norris wishes he was Sarah Palin trapped in a man’s body.

Sarah Palin got Tom Brady pregnant, and then left him.

Sarah Palin killed and ate the Grizzly Man.

Sarah Palin killed and ate Frank Murkowski.

Sarah Palin once won the Iditarod without any dogs. She simply willed the sled to victory.

Sarah Palin wears half the makeup that John Edwards wears and still looks like twice the woman he does.

Sarah Palin once guided Santa’s sleigh through an Alaskan blizzard with the light from her smile.

Sarah Palin fishes salmon by convincing them it’s in their interest to jump into the boat.

Oooo, time for a new blog category: Politics!  Even though I know everyone won’t agree with me when it comes to my political leanings (although, as my friend Ron would say, they should), this is too important of an election in our nation’s history to avoid the subject completely.

So, where’s the conflict?  Well, boiling things down to the simplest ideals and snippets, I agree with a lot of what Ron Paul has to say.  Unfortunately, he never had much chance of being elected and isn’t even running anymore, but I felt I needed to find out more, so I ordered his book “The Revolution: A Manifesto.”

Within a few minutes, however, I also ordered some bumper/window stickers and a yard sign for McCain/Palin.  I have never before ordered yard signs or stickers for a political campaign.  I wasn’t terribly excited about McCain (honestly, I was planning on voting against Obama, but more on that later) until he made a brilliant decision in choosing Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running-mate.  Not only did that show awesome tactical skill and a little risk-taking, she is actually someone I feel I can get behind in the upcoming election.  Now, I know we’re voting on the President first and foremost, but I definitely feel better voting for a combined ticket where I agree with the VP more than not (which would not have been the case had McCain chosen Lieberman).

So, what does that make me?  A Conservative Republican with Libertarian leanings?  A sell-out?  Just another guy who wants the Federal government to butt out of places it was never intended to be, but someone who is practical enough to know it’s probably never going to happen?  I guess I’ll know more after reading a bit of the book…