An email worth sharing.

[308bolt]

Though I'm not the author I certainly could have been, as could many of us.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of us did write it.
Maybe someone can tell me who did.

A little long for a forum but well worth reading.

I even learned something interesting about the ground zero mosque.

fwd:


I made a decision today. The world has gone nuts and for a while I was along for the ride. I have decided to get off the ride. I have decided to start fighting instead. Fighting for me, for you and for our grandchildren. I invite and encourage you to join me. By the way, you will probably notice that I have also rescinded my pledge to not use the word bullshit. I’ve heard more bullshit from Washington this week than ever before. And what got done? Nothing but more bullshit!
The US government SUED a state for trying to protect its citizens and infrastructure by doing what the Feds have continuously refused to do, enforce the law!!!!!! I got a speeding ticket the other day and gasp! I had to show my ID! Why isn’t he suing our police department? Makes about as much sense except....there aren't 20 million of me to vote for them.
Wednesday, Obama instructs NASA to have a 5 year party and invite ONLY MUSLIM nations so “they will feel good about their contributions in science and technology! Err, help me out here as I’m having a little trouble naming such a contribution. I know that making Muslims feel warm and fuzzy is certainly a priority for all of the unemployed folks in the gulf waiting for his next 3 hour photo op visit.
Obama waits until Congress is on the 4th of July recess (none of those bothersome confirmation hearings) to appoint another czar, for his healthcare disaster..who just happens to be a true fan of socialized medicine and care rationing which he says will help accomplish the redistribution of wealth. Great. Congress can’t do anything about the appointment for about 18 months, even assuming they were inclined to do anything other than try to get reelected.
It is recommended that our military introduce a new medal for “Combat Restraint” to be awarded to our men and women in uniform who demonstrate restraint when at risk on the field of combat, specifically in Afghanistan . One general quickly noted “Those medals will all be awarded posthumously. This is not dodge ball”.
All the while the American Muslim Nation marches on with its plan to build a $130 million mosque as close as they can get to Ground Zero in NYC. You may recall a few of those peace loving folks made a contribution to science and technology at that site. They tell us the name of the mosque will be “ Cordoba ”. Muslims have built Córdoba before, in lands they attempted to conquer, it means “The First Victory”. Don’t believe me? Check it out.
The week did have a few regular happenings, the president, yes I know I I didn’t capitalize it. spent his usual 2-3 days of the week “out of the office” campaigning on our dime where he tells us things are really looking up. He has charted the way out of our economic slump, double exports in the next 5 years. So, now exports are the answer.. Just when I thought buying carbon credits from Al “Spanky” Gore and Goldman-Sachs was the cure all.
Ah, excuse me. Don’t mean to pee in the punch bowl but apparently he hasn’t noticed..seems that most countries in the world but us are announcing austerity programs BECAUSE THEY ARE OUT OF MONEY. Who's going to buy the stuff we plan to export? Is the plan for his appointed (didn’t our elected congress once take care of these things?) financial task force to raise taxes on us so the money can be “redistributed” worldwide as well, like the $2 billion loan to Brazil and Obama puppeteer Soros, enabling them to drill oil off shore and sell it to us�using the off shore platforms a Whitehouse directed EPA action attempts to idle in the gulf.
Well, I guess to be honest there are some with money. Hamas has some cash as Barry has sent over $1.3 billion (900 million and recently another 400 billion) in “AID” to the Gaza strip in the past 12 months. Mostly Hamas uses rockets so I guess we could try to get them to use the money we gave them to buy rockets from us, but, as Iran GIVES rockets to them, buying them from us probably wouldn’t be attractive to them.
By the way, the president might want to send another “strongly worded letter” containing “frank dialogue” to Iran about the rocket and the nuclear weapon thing. I’d even suggest that he really get tough and drop the “S” word on them, Sanctions, as that has a super strong track ck record of REALLY straightening them up big time. I admit I can be the aggressive sort so I guess the letter could be toned down some by several references to all of the great humanitarian contributions they have made in science and technology.
To be honest, I am in a bad mood and I know it. Maybe because we spent a lot of time in Webster City again this week where 900 plus good people who are losing their jobs due to the Electrolux plant closing. You guessed it, those jobs are going to Mexico . I know Obama’s revelation on doubling exports really got the people in Webster City excited. They were so excited they almost forgot that they have no jobs with no opportunities nearby or that about every house in town is for sale with no buyers. Not so much.
I would encourage congress and the president to stop by and have a beer with those boys. I think it might be especially enlightening for the president as they indicated pretty clearly to me that they have agreed on whose ass needs kicking.
And to Joe “to the high bidder” Biden, they would like to spend a little quality time with you too. Maybe catch up on a thing or two that, as you like to say on camera, is “a big f**king deal” to them. I can assure you that you would instantly get some of that personal interaction you seek if you were to call one of them a “smart ass” for asking you to cut taxes, as you said to a gentleman the other day.
But Joe, we know you can’t help it. No one could do or say as many stupid and tasteless things as you do on purpose. It is what it is. Almost uniquely, your total lack of class is exceeded only by your ability to embarrass the office you occupy. Remember when you asked the fellow in the wheelchair to “stand up” and say a few words? Why do I think of Cousin Eddie?

*Angie has read to this point and assures me that I am on a roll..

So, back to the mother of all recovery plans, double the exports. No details. No starting point. No targets. Just “git her done” in 5 years and happy days are here again. Swell.

So, beyond the question of who’s going to buy these exports, there's also that itty bitty question of “WHAT are we going to export?" Today there are more Americans employed in government than there are manufacturing and construction. And everyday this administration makes it harder on small business where private sector jobs come from! Totally total bullshit

Let’s see, the 2009 U.S. trade deficit was $380 billion. Wow! If we could cut that in half it would be the same as a $190 billion stimulus package without incurring any debt in the process. Every year. Wow! Call me crazy but how about increasing exports while at the same time REDUCING IMPORTS by replacing them with good old 100% made in the USA products. Wow!

Certainly not as much fun as handing out stimulus favors to the boys but, why don’t we try putting a “fair-wage" tariff (for lack of a better term) on all imports? Might irritate a few in China (psss...they can’t vote and don’t pay taxes) but anything is better than to just continue to sit and watch what’s left of US manufacturing continue to be eaten away.
I know it's just an idea that probably makes way too much sense but I thought I would at least mention it.
Perhaps the president was all about only exports because it might offend someone if we were to talk about reducing imports. You know how he hates to bow down and apologize for Americans and the way we can be.

And here is another storm on the horizon......For the past year our business has been very active in providing solutions for underfunded public and private pension plans and other post employment benefit obligations. Most main stream news media outlets don’t find it newsworthy and the boys in charge really don’t like to talk about it. In the real world, 49 of the 50 states are running huge budget deficits yet they resist making hard decisions about spending less money.

Actually, most states are drowning in red ink. Beyond operating budget deficits, states have more than a combined $1 trillion in pension obligations they can’t come close to meeting. Maybe General Motors can become a state because their unfunded pension liability is close to that. Geez, I wonder who they will look to for that bailout.

So who are the states ultimately going to look to for solutions as they obviously can't seem to get it handled on their own? Washington of course. There isn’t anywhere else to look. They have already spent all of their state tax payer’s money and everything they could borrow. Now here is the scary but true part, if things aren't handled correctly in Washington and we've got to admit their track record is a little shaky, a recession is a guarantee and we could see another depression. Maybe my 85 year old mother in her wise ways is correct in her assessment that things are so screwed up that another depression is the only way to get “this throw away, no accountability style of life and government straightened out”. You may quote Dorothy on that.
Before I stop..
The financial reform Dodd and the Demos are bragging about right now is smoke. All hat and no cattle. Just more bullshit. It does nothing to address the main problems on Wall Street, which is that the banks we apparently won't allow to fail are dedicated to one thing, they win, we lose and the paid for politicians look the other way while they are ripping us off.
Don't you feel better knowing the Federal Reserve...which isn't even part of our federal government...is watching out for us? The fox in the henhouse. The Federal Reserve system is a privately owned banking system whose owners are mostly unknown because they don't have to tell us who they are. Don't believe me? Look it up. Congress again just recently killed another bill which would have ordered an audit of the Federal Reserve. I wonder why.
For 60 years, banks did banking and brokers gambled with other people's money. That was because of the Glass-Steagall Act, passed in the 30’s to prevent a repeat of the 1929 crash and Great Depression. It forced financial firms to divest themselves of overlapping operations and focus on their core business. It provided strict separation of activities for the various types of financial institutions.
In the late 1990s, a guy named Sandy Weill, Citicorp CEO, led a successful effort to rescind Glass-Steagall. Phil Gramm, then chairman of the Banking Committee, worked with industry lobbyists to get the repeal through congress. The repeal act, called the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act after the three Republican senators who pushed it through Congress was hailed by President Clinton and the Treasury Department as ”protective consumer reform”.
I’m certain it was just coincidental but within days after the act passed with Treasury Department support, Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, accepted the job as Weill's main man at Citigroup. Phil Gramm became an executive at UBS, another giant bank that was a big beneficiary of repeal. It is the understatement of financial history but the continual revolving door between Washington and Wall Street is not in the best interest of the US taxpayer.
Reinstating Glass-Steagall IS a huge part of the financial reform we need. The Obama administration and the Demo controlled congress offer a lot of lip service but the truth is both oppose reinstating Glass-Steagall. That magnifies the reform that is truly needed in this country. Please mark November 2 on your calendar as the date we will fix that.
These are simple but stark facts..We can't afford to police the world anymore ... Iraq and Afghanistan costs the American taxpayers over $12 BILLION a month. Sooner or later they have to get things sorted out without us. Might as well be sooner. At least the Romans were smart enough to charge everyone a 10% tribute for providing law and order.

We can’t continue to let Washington pick winners and losers nor let their partners on Wall Street pick our pockets. We cannot let government give-away programs designed to garner votes and favors bankrupt us and our grandchildren.

Neither side of the aisle in Washington will even utter the words immigration reform for fear it might hurt THEIR careers. We have 55,000 military personnel in Germany but our federal government won’t secure our own southern border. Madness.

Congressional term limits are a must for our country.

Regardless of political party affiliation, we are all Americans. People who care about the future of this country have the common sense to agree that things must be changed. Many who voted for hope and change now sadly see that it was only a catchy campaign phrase.

The hard cold facts are that things won’t change unless we change the people who have so utterly failed to represent us and our country. We must do that first, and as soon as possible. I read something I thought appropriate....

"If not us, then who?
If not now, then when?"

So, let’s get ready to rumble.

Nah, too late. Just ring the bell. Let’s fight.

[Illurian00]

I agree,,,it's a little long,,,and it could have been written by someone that haunts these envirions

[ANON]

Excellent read, it was long, but probably not long enough. There should be several further installments.

[cowbilly]

Term limits are in place through primarys and elections every 2-4 years. We just don't pay them too much attention nor do we use them correctly. The people keep electing John Kerrys', McCain's, Schumer's, Kennedy's, Boxer's, Pelosi's, Frank's, Rangal's, Thompson's and Dodd's et al. The people also elected Obama despite his poor qualifications. Not sure what the solution is but a good many of the people voting do not keep the constitution in mind, too many decisions are based on feelings and looks.

Good read. As you stated, we all feel that way.

[martin35]

Nov. 2, 2010 is the day we will find out if there will be a reason to have hope for our counrty.

[308bolt]

Originally posted by cowbilly
Term limits are in place through primarys and elections every 2-4 years.

Technically you can look at it that way but in reality that's not how it works.

Incumbents are hard to pry out and their respective parties don't welcome new blood.
They fund raise on your dime while they are supposed to be representing you and as long as they're part of the good ole boy network, they get the nominations.

[cowbilly]

I agree that vetted incumbent is harder to remove but the people still have to vote for them. We are where we are because we don't put a stop to it.

[308bolt]

Originally posted by cowbilly
I agree that vetted incumbent is harder to remove but the people still have to vote for them. We are where we are because we don't put a stop to it.

Actually the way these assholes keep getting in is by people not voting.

[Ricketts]

Originally posted by cowbilly
Not sure what the solution is but a good many of the people voting do not keep the constitution in mind, too many decisions are based on feelings and looks.

Good read. As you stated, we all feel that way.

I'll tell you what the solution is.

A Poll tax of sorts.

A Poll tax is not a tax like we are used to.

It is a restriction as to who can vote.

A good one would to restrict those that do NOT pay taxes would not be able to vote. Why should someone not paying into the system be able to dictate by vote who pays what for their benefit? You KNOW a welfare momma woould vote Democrat because they are going to give her mo money. Nope==if you are on the public dole, no vote.

[Heat]

not to long..were just used to soundbytes..back in the day the written word was the only best way to communicate.back when I was a teen my first girlfriend and I wrote long, detailed letters discussing everything..15-20 pages at a pop..now with ease of email Its little, concise snippets, my most recent ex-girlfriend said I talked/wrote to much...that from a women!

[Illurian00]

I'll tell you what the solution is.

A Poll tax of sorts

Just about everytime you time you spend a dollar in this country, or any dollar you take in is taxed in some way.

I'd say we would do a better job of thinning the herd at the polling booth w/ a literacy test of some sort administered in ENGLISH.

[kfranz]

I'd be fine with voting restrictions at the federal level. They were in place at the founding. The taxes thing not so much, but I'd be OK with restricting the right to vote for those on the public dole (food stamps, SSI, public housing, unemployment, social security, take your pick) for more than 6 months.

[308bolt]

IIRC,
At one time only land owners could vote.

[Deltaten]

So who gets the vote?
Me or the bank?

[martin35]

My early years of voting in Texas required a yearly $2 dollar poll tax. The poll tax receipt and voter registration were needed before I could vote.
I carried them next to my just in case condom in my wallet for years,,, and you think you got it tough today, the old lady at the drug store woudn't sell you a condom if you didn't have a wedding band. I tried to "vote" as much as they would let me.

[kfranz]

Originally posted by Deltaten
So who gets the vote?
Me or the bank?

Who gets the house if you don't pay? That person gets the vote.

[Heat]

Originally posted by 308bolt
IIRC,
At one time only land owners could vote.

who owns land/property? I do(outright, no note)..but if I fail to give unto Ceasar then Ceasar gets my land/property--guess Ceasar calls the shots then!

[308bolt]

In theory you own the property but are using it as collateral for a loan.
You pay the taxes so you own the land.
Ergo, you get the vote.
The bank only owns the property if you default on the loan and they take possession.
I guess they get to vote then.
Hmmm.... explains some of our banking laws.

[cpd109]

Originally posted by Ricketts


I'll tell you what the solution is.

A Poll tax of sorts.

A Poll tax is not a tax like we are used to.

It is a restriction as to who can vote.

A good one would to restrict those that do NOT pay taxes would not be able to vote. Why should someone not paying into the system be able to dictate by vote who pays what for their benefit? You KNOW a welfare momma woould vote Democrat because they are going to give her mo money. Nope==if you are on the public dole, no vote.

Reminds me of Starship Troopers. If you didn't have federal service, you didn't get to vote.

[AndyC]

Sounds good to me

[Heat]

Originally posted by cpd109


Reminds me of Starship Troopers. If you didn't have federal service, you didn't get to vote.

And then the jews dont get a vote, then those pesky catholics with their mary..see where this can lead?

[Heat]

Originally posted by 308bolt
In theory you own the property but are using it as collateral for a loan.
You pay the taxes so you own the land.
Ergo, you get the vote.
The bank only owns the property if you default on the loan and they take possession.
I guess they get to vote then.
Hmmm.... explains some of our banking laws.

But I dont owe..its paid for..but if I do not pay taxes then uncle suga' takes my property and then thay get my vote? Has their always been property taxation?

[308bolt]

Originally posted by Heat


But I dont owe..its paid for..but if I do not pay taxes then uncle suga' takes my property and then thay get my vote? Has their always been property taxation?

I guess it depends on which tax you don't pay.
If it's property tax then the state gets your vote.
If it's fed income tax then the fed gets to do what they want.
Hey...
They already do, don't they?

Good question on property taxation.
Just off hand I don't know the answer.

The property owners only getting a vote was long before all this other BS.
I wonder how things would have turned out if it had stayed that way.