INFLATIONARY LUNCH

Reprinted from www.TMZ.com

The economy hits some, but not others

check out this lunch bill...

Italian food and fine wine for 12...

$47,221.00 !

Of course that includes a manditory tip tacked on of 20%,

but not to worry, they also added $5,000.00

for the service staff.

Police: SC state attorney caught with stripper | ajc.com

I have been in a recent blogging slump.....perhaps the longest blogging slump since I started blogging. But thanks to those wacky Republicans, I am back. Big time. Those wacky, sex starved, perverted, family value lovin', holier than thou conservative Republicans have struck blogging gold once again....here is the latest from, you guessed it...the South Carolina GOP.
"A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired, his boss said Wednesday. Former State Rep. Roland Corning, R-Richland, was fired from the State Attorney's office Tuesday, after being found with a stripper in a Columbia cemetery. No criminal charges were filed. Roland Corning, 66, a former state legislator, was in a secluded part of a downtown cemetery when an officer spotted him Monday, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act."
As the officer approached, Corning sped off, then pulled over a few blocks away. He and the 18-year-old woman with him, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club, gave conflicting stories about what they were doing in the cemetery. The officer then searched Corning's vehicle and found a Viagra and several sex toys, which Corning stated he always kept in his vehicle "just in case."
Corning was a republican state legislator during the late 1980's into the early 1990's.
Of course, Mr. Corning hails from the sex scandal state of the nation South Carolina, most notably due to the sexual escapades of its Governor Mark Sanford. Perhaps instead of a cemetery, Mr. Corning should have taken his whore up to the Appalachian Trail.....

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

LIBERAL BLOGGERS A "PAJAMA PARTY?"

According to the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, anchorman, and John Harwood, Chief Correspondent.

"HOLT: In general when you look at the left as a whole, have there been conversations about some things they thought would have been done but haven’t?
HARWOOD: Sure but If you look at the polling, Barack Obama is doing well with 90% or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the “Internet left fringe” Lester. And for a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off their pajamas, get dressed and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."

Mr. President, I am fully clothed, and I can tell you if you think you will get a blank check of approval from liberal bloggers out of party loyalty, you are sadly mistaken, sir. It isn't difficult for us to go back into our primary and election posts to recall all of those promises you made to get elected.
If you recall, these include force reductions in the Middle East, gay rights, changes to our tax code, improvements to our educational system, and Guantanamo Bay. You have a lot to "change" Mr. President, at least the country "hopes" so. Maybe it is time you stayed home and in your pajamas, forgot about the Olympics bid for Chicago, let Congress do their work, somehow get your comatose and ineffective Vice President to make some modicum of a difference, and chip away on some of the many promises that made up your election platform.

ROOTING FOR AMERICA TO FAIL

the quote as reported (paraphrased) in Religio-Political Talk ,

a superior read and well worth your time

for an opposing view to mine

In an interview with the political blog Politico, DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse stated the following charge...

"The Republicans cheered when America failed to land an Olympics bid for the city of Chicago, and now they are criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he did not seek but that is none the less an honor in which every American can take pride--unless you are a member of the Republican party."

"The 2009 version of the Republican party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder that only 20 percent admit to being Republicans anymore--it's an embarrassing label to claim."

Win at all costs? I believe it, and many others do. They have thrown daggers at the health care efforts, all but guaranteeing its failure, and the continued lack of health care for over 40 million Americans. Some conservatives have jumped onto the bandwagon such as Bill Frist, himself a heart surgeon, however he is no longer in politics. If he were, he would follow the present GOP line and oppose it as well.

GOP reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize? Rush (as usual) says it best. "Obama's head is so big his ears actually fit. Carter, Gore and Obama...all Democratic sell outs. What this is all about is forcing Obama to reject the notion to send additional troops to Afghanistan, to not engage with Iran.....and to ruin America as a super power." "he is emasculating our country....they love a weakened, neutered America, and this prize rewards him for his efforts." "This is a hand grenade that has been lobbed at our domestic and foreign policies...we just got blown up."

Spin it anyway you would like...this prize is for the extraordinary efforts of Obama towards diplomacy and detente as much as it is an indictment against the Bush / Cheney occupational form of foreign affairs. Let's be clear...the Nobel committee and the world itself rejects the combined Bush families aggressive version of foreign affairs and wanted to recognize the efforts of one man away from these doctrines to a foreign affair philosophy towards diplomacy and peace building. Get over it conservatives....your sour grapes make you look petty and only serve to emphasize your continued efforts to ensure Obama, and this country fail until the next elections.

And that is the world...."the World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

A TRUE STIMULUS TO RIGHT THE SHIP

As the nation rapidly approaches 10% unemployment, the President promised yesterday to target JOBS for the remainder of the year. Good thinking, sir. Where you been? Jobs is what will turn this nation around, and your previous discussions in regards to creating green jobs is right on target, but in and of itself, will not create the momentum we need.

My occupational bias aside, this nation feeds on real estate and construction. Yes, health care, medicare and social security is draining our economy, as well as our two wars in the Middle East. But, if you want immediate job creation, immediate growth, construction is where it is at. We as a nation are not huge manufacturers anymore. It is a stain on our nation, but it simply is not happening. We cannot compete with cheaper labor, which even overshadows manufacturing products long distances away and shipping them here. We need to end this.

What I am proposing is a 2 year, short term fix for our economic jump start. It involves an ten step plan; a temporary plan which will kick things into gear. It will be funded largely by the 60% of the economic stimulus package as yet unspent.

1. allow a temporary 10% reduction in the minimum wage for all new jobs created. If the market will bite on these jobs, so be it. They will be better than nothing, and allow for businesses to begin to hire back employees currently on unemployment, especially in the food and retail industries. With this, we double the fines for the employment of any employee who is here in the country illegally.
2. allow any legal American to purchase Medicare who is over the age of 40. Suspend all federal funding for anyone here illegally, and absolve the medical industry of the duty to treat anyone here illegally for free (emergency rooms especially will benefit from this, and lower all other costs on legal citizens). With this, we mandate that in order to be a native born American citizen, at least one parent must be a legal citizen prior to birth.
3. the creation of 10 year, low interest construction loans, new construction or retrofitting of existing properties (including single family homes), subject to green (LEEDS) qualifications.
4. capping gross profits from the insurance and financial sectors to 15% of sales. They do not produce anything other than paper, and should not be able to raise their rates in the astronomical manner the health insurance companies have in the previous ten years. Additional oversight needs to be given the petrochemical industries to insure they do not receive windfall profits, and are reinvesting their profits in re drilling and exploration of domestic potentials, or venturing into more greener energy solutions (wind and solar).
5. demand, and make public the progress payments made by all recipients of the stimulus and TARP funds distributed thus far. We want the money back, we want it as soon as possible, and you will incur the wrath of the American taxpayers until you do so.
6. continue with the cash for clunkers program for non-energy efficient water heaters, HVAC units, and large kitchen appliances. The only stipulation will be that the new units be energy efficient and American made.
7. the immediate suspension of the Bush tax windfall program for our wealthiest 3% of Americans.
8. a two year moratorium on the early withdrawal penalty for the first 25% of any IRA, 401K, Roth, or other ERISA eligible retirement vehicle. There will be no retirement or hardship requirements. The only stipulation is the financial organisation overseeing the funds must immediately deduct 35% as an income tax prior to the investors receiving their funds. The investor will receive their cash and a withholding statement, and the government will receive additional tax revenue to be applied to the deficit only.
9. all government programs and federal and state budgets will be deficit neutral period beginning in fiscal 2011, period. If any state fails to balance the budget, all federal funds will cease until they do.
10. a 2 year suspension of NAFTA.

FIGHT THE FIGHTS YOU CAN WIN

Fight the fights you can win.....advice the President would do well to take. Right out of the blocks, the President implements his stimulus package, the largest package spent since the WPA.

And while the country was reeling with the enormity of the package, and the fear which comes with creating the largest deficit in the history of the country, he runs straight to a health care package of gargantuan proportions. Why the rush? It could have waited a year or two until our economy got back on it's front legs, at least.

The debate which ensued as a result of the health care packages on the table has further polarized the nation, despite his calls pre-election to bring us all together.

As if that were not enough, Obama decides to make a potential Olympics hosting for Chicago in 2016 his responsibility. He invites Oprah (natch), the First Lady and takes Air Force One to Copenhagen for the selection process. We know know this was a dismal failure. And why not? Our economy is absolutely tanking since the previous administration, the country is divided like never before, and the citizens are in an uproar. Add to this Latin America has never hosted one. Slam dunk....we never had a chance.

And Obama notches another public defeat.

And all the while, the President we should have elected gets rave reviews for her work thus far as our Secretary of State. Could you see a Clinton administration making these bonehead mistakes?

Traipsing around the world in an attempt to convince the Olympic selection committee to make Chicago a host city?

Trying to rush a health care program through as fast as possible while the country is reeling from the trillion dollar deficit created from a stimulus package she created?

Getting involved in a local police matter, slamming the police department, then having a public beer party with the participants?

My party loyalty gets thinner and thinner the longer he serves.