THERE ARE NO WINNERS IN THE WIENER CASE

At the end of the day...at the end of the work week, once you have returned home and scraped off the barnacles...you ain't shit unless you can roast a chicken and properly decant a bottle of red. At the end of the day, it is almost entirely about the little things.

The little things.

Funny how a little thing can take you down.

See I have developed a severe case

of cognitive dissonance this week.

He was...well not quite a hero of mine, but I held equal parts respect and awe for the man. In my eyes he was the modern-day Henry Clay. I remember the times he would take control of the Senate well, screaming at his colleagues...imploring them to vote their conscience, demanding that just once they could see fit to, if not completely cast off the shackles of party loyalties, at least loosen them long enough to stand up long enough to vote what they knew in their hearts were right.

I remember the time he fought against bogus information being introduced into the record, with him fighting for a minutes time...long enough to accurately, if not parliamentarily acceptably, call the speakers bluff, and assert them as the lying liars that they were.

Funny how the little things can drag a good man down. We needed him in the Senate. We needed him like a meadow needs the occasional gust of cool, clean air. But he took himself down. And in a moment of sheer stupidity, he snapped the self portrait heard around the world. We are all the losers for it. Because at the end of the day, he was a clarion of truth, a breathe of fresh air in a very polluted atmosphere...and a man who stood up for what he believed. And that was no little thing.

WE NEED A LITTLE WEINER IN CONGRESS

His high school boy prank aside, this is what we need in Congress...someone who will hold them to task....someone who will go into the well and demand that for once in their lives, they simply vote their conscience, instead of being a sheep and voting the party line.....we need a little weiner in Congress...actually we need a little more of this kind of weiner, and less of the present day dicks we currently have in office.....

FLORIDA MANDATES DRUG TESTING

Florida has mandated drug testing for all welfare recipiants, a move I whole heartedly agree with. Strange hearing this from ableeding heart liberal? Maybe....but it is only fair that the taxpayers, who fund welfare, be assured that their taxes are not getting into the hands of criminals.

Food stamps cannot be used for alcohol or cigarettes, and welfare money should not go to drug dealers. I have been calling for this for years now, and I cannot be happier. Florida gets it, and I hope the appeals from the ACLU get squashed. The sooner this movement goes national, the better off we will all be.

Will we save money? Of course not...the savings we may reap will almost certainly be negated by the cost of the drug testing.....personally, I would like to see all drug testing go to local colleges, who could certainly use the revenue, and have the students and resources to perform the testing.

TARGETED TAXATIONS

Personally,when it comes to taxation, I think the government should worry less about those that worry about the number of carats they have, and focus on all those who worry about how many carrots they have......

THERE ARE ACTUALLY PEOPLE WHO WOULD VOTE FOR THIS MORON

130 BILLION REASONS TO VOTE TO RE-ELECT

Just a little something for the neysayers of the economic recovery that has been taking place slowly but surely since President Obama has taken over the Oval. Please note the abysmal trade deficits during the Bush years, then tell me why you still want to vote conservative. Repeat after me....exports just hit a new all time high. Now write it on the blackboard fifty times, then enter your nearest voting booth.

ADVOCATING A GRAND OLD PARTY

It's all starting to make sense....you would have to be on drugs to vote the party of Bush and the Bush doctrines back into power....so let's legalize damn near everything! Marijuana, prostitution, cocaine and even heroin would be legal if these two candidates for President on the GOP ticket got there way....very clever gentlemen.

TEDDY SAID IT BEST...IN 1907

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

ARIZONA FIRES BLANKS YET AGAIN

Congratulations are in order to the Arizona representatives and its legendary Governor, Jan Brewer.....they took a long hard look at the issues of their state, prioritized and came up with priority one....the voting in of an official state gun.....and the winner is..... The Colt single action army revolver......winner of the wild west, and the number one preferred weapon of mass destruction against native Americans, especially ballsy since Arizona is home to many Indian tribes today. You have to love these Arizona Republicans...they have their priorities straight at all times.....chase Mexicans from their state and celebrate the very weapon which is most responsible for the western genocide of native Americans years ago. Kind of makes you want to live there doesn't it?
Nothing surprizes me coming out of Arizona these days......except that they stopped short of naming the Glock 19, 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun their official state gun, the very gun which shot Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the back of her head and very nearly cost her her life........I guess they do have a heart after all....

BIRTHERS: A MOVEMENT BORN OUT OF STUPIDITY

The document above is not new to us......yet the "birther" movement still rages on...including current front runner in the polls for the GOP 2012 presidential nominee, Donald Trump ( I love this fact....last time their VP nominee was a no-nothing press whore from Wasila, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and now, according to early polls, Donald Trump is ahead of career politicians / public servants Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee).

It is clear that President Obama is, indeed a native Hawaiian, so what is the problem? Why do these so called "birthers" hate the current President so much? Is it the inevitable philosophy differences between liberals and the far right? Couldn't be....this has been going on for a century. Each side has distinct opposite philosophical differences, and has since the parties came on the scene. Is it because his political philosophy includes a touch of socialism....a sense of wanting to help out his fellow Americans who need it? No, the liberals have long held this viewpoint. Do they truly believe he is a Marxist....a Muslim....or an enemy of the United States? They can't be that stupid....these beliefs would extend even their huge capacity of ignorance.

So, what's left....seriously, is it because he is black? Is this hatred merely a manifestation of their bigotry? When they goad Arizona Governor Brewer to clean out her state of illegal aliens, achieving the most aggressive sweeps of minorities since the rebel flag flew freely across the south...are they expressing their bigotry? When they say, "we need to take the country back," don't they mean take it back from anyone non Caucasian?

The answer is...who cares? We liberals need these idiots. We need them to hold their candidates hostage; to keep them very far to the right...so far they are unelectable by any moderate. So, go Trump and your inevitable gaffes in the press, and go Birthers! You are about to the best thing you could possibly do for this country.....see to it President Obama is re-elected....to finish the job he was elected to do....reverse the damage his predecessor did in his eight year term...and get this country back to where we were when President Clinton was in office...financially sound and in good standing across the globe.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO BALANCE MORE THAN THE BUDGET

Anyone watching Congress of late knows two painfully obvious things, none of them presents our economic situation without spinning them to their own advantage, and it's election time again. And who gets hurt as they attempt to gain favor of the American electorate first and foremost, and do their sworn duty of taking care of the country who elected them second? Of course it is us.

History has shown over the last few administrations that we have a universal problem that cannot be blamed on any one political party. Needless to say, if you are currently in need of a financial advisor, the last person in the world you would want to put your economic portfolio in the hands of is a member of Congress.

The current platitude of the season is "we are broke....", and if you can sob a little while saying it, you get extra style points. The simple fact is, this is an absolute lie. This country has plenty of revenue, more than ever before. We are an economic behemoth whose business is coveted by every country the world over. Get our business in any economic sector, and you can literally make a fortune, pure and simple. Ask Japan, ask India, ask China. They have gotten rich primarily of us (or U.S. to be more accurate).

The trouble is not so much how much money we have, it's how we spend it. Of course we spend too much, more than we can afford every administration since the Clinton / Gingrich years, the last time we actually had balanced budgets. So why not get their expertise? They did it before, let's put them to work on it again. A Congressional advisory committee. Throw in Greenspan for good measure. Examine the overblown budget...page by mind numbing page. Let them get their highlighters out, and start cutting. It would be a true bi-partisan commission advising Congress on the two things we need to do to get out financial house in order......two simple things......spend less, and make more.

Let them cut ridiculous things we spend our money on...planned parenthood and the National Endowment for the Arts....and I am sure there are thousands of organisations like them on the public payroll. Let them make the unpopular decisions without worrying about what the public thinks, none of the three are going to be running for anything (Gingrich for Pres? now that's ridiculous) and should be capable of making the hard decisions without worrying about getting elected for anything.

Let them report that the reductions in regulations have made corporations preditory and monopolistic (not to mention remove methods of consumer protections); let them report that we need to simplify the tax code so that the IRS can focus on all those who are illegally avoiding paying their fair share. Let them examine our history and report the truth for once....and the truth is, if you made $250k last year, you paid on average $67,398, and in 1981 you would have paid $126,953. In 1940, corporations paid 43% of all federal income taxes, in 1950 it was 39%, and in 1990 they paid 19%. We coddle corporations today, and they slap us in the face by moving their workforce overseas and their money out of the country...this has to stop. We need to make it financial suicide to manufacture products overseas and bring them into the country. We need to make it advantageous to create jobs here if you want to sell your goods here.

When it comes to revenue, we need to simplify the tax code and eliminate all credits, deductions, tax reforms and loopholes that allow everyone to avoid paying their fair share (not to mention the ridiculous notion that we need to incentivize being rich with tax breaks...). We need clarity and transparency in the way everyone pays their taxes. And we need to make it a crime to set up shell headquarters outside of the country in an attempt to hide revenue and shield their companies from taxes. We need to make it a crime to take your personal revenue and wire it off shore to countries such as the Grand Caymans and Switzerland to avoid paying taxes. We need to find out who they are and tax the living shit out of them. We need to setup a month long amnesty to allow everyone to get their money from overseas and get it back into their country where it belongs...safe....and taxable.

We need to reduce our entitlements...and that means Medicare and Medicaid. Actually if we left the money alone, they would be much better off, but Congress can't keep their hands off from it....more voodoo economics. More bait and switch con games of now you see it, now you don't.

And we need to get our heroes out of Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere else....unless we are welcome, and the host country are willing to pay us to protect them. It is mind blowing that we are spending ourselves stupid in oil producing countries, and they do not give us anything for our troubles. We need to shift our country from being the world's watchdog, to being the world's paid mercenaries.

Want to fix our financial problems? Get out of two wars, simplify the tax codes, eliminate all non-essential spending, and establish a non-partisan committee to advise Congress on how best to do what the country desperately needs to do....

Earn more, spend less....or do both.

If we do this, we will find we have plenty of cash...to do what we should have been doing all along...updating and improving our infrastructure, educating our populous and taking better care of each other.

And that is my world...the World According to Kimba.

Thanks for reading.

BTW, your taxes are due on Monday.

KAPUT

Sorry, folks, my laptop has succumb to a virus, and won't even load windows.....I'll be back as the one true clarion of truth in the political world shortly, once I have brought Best Buys and the Geek Squad to their knees! This is war!!!!!!

POSTING IT WITH VALENTINES DAY WISHES

A LITTLE BIRTHDAY CLARITY

One has to wonder when someone becomes bigger than life. Time passes, vision blurs, and all we can see is perspective of a legacy, and become unable to focus on the brutal reality of days gone bye. I am all for a celebration for the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan...he was a very good Governor for the state of California, and deserves to be praised for his service to the country as our President. BUT, before we begin carving his likeness in Mount Rushmore and naming him the principal architect of the conservative political philosophy, let's take a moment to review some salient points of his presidential administration....

1. He aided and abetted one of the most brutal armies...the Nicaraguan Contras by selling arms to Iran (despite an official embargo), and using the money to train the Contras who were attempting to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. The contras engaged in the most violent and brutal forms of warfare.....rape, arson, murder, torture, abduction, and mutilation. And, oh yeah, he lied about it....and his administration destroyed documents in a cover up of the truth by all accounts. Check out these quotes from RR...

"despite the wildly speculative and false stories of arms for hostages and alleged ransom payments, we did not-repeat, did not - trade weapons or anything else for hostages nor will we" November 1986

"a few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tells me it was not" March 1987

2. He was one of our most popular presidents...this may have been true after he was shot, but as unemployment continued to rise over 10%, his approval rating hovered in the low thirties.

3. He was for smaller government....the truth is government grew over 2.5% during his tenure, including establishing the Veterans Affairs department...however this fact failed to reach his speechwriters.....check out these quotes from RR....

"government isn't the solution to our problems, it is the problem" "the nine most terrifying words in the English language.....I'm from the government and I am here to help"

4. He was an economic genius....under Reagan, the national debt exploded from $700 billion to $3 trillion, unemployment hovered around 10%, the number of families living below the poverty line increased by one-third (despite this fact, he made cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, aid to families with dependant children, school lunch programs and declared unemployment insurance as "a pre-paid vacation plan for free loaders"), and many believe his policies paved the way for the Savings & Loan scandal, which cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

5. He was a tax cutter throughout his administration....his 1981 tax cut was a sweeping measure that reduced taxes for our wealthiest Americans from 70% to 50%, including big breaks for corporations and the oil industry. However one year later with the economy tanking towards recession and the federal deficit spiraling out of control, he signed measures that increased taxes every year of his eight year presidency, except the first year and the last.

Please believe me, I take no pleasure in bringing up these points...I voted for the man twice as Governor, and just as all other Americans,grew to love him for his persona and quick wit. However the present day GOP still hold these principles as if they actually worked then, and will work for the country now.....hopefully they will include a visit to the facts in between the speeches by Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney...for the good of the country before we enter into a Reaganesque recession.

NUMBERS TO RIOT OVER

Just in case you are not quite sure what is going on over in Egypt, what would cause such an enormous portion of the population to protest, let me give you some numbers....

5: the maximum number of citizens allowed

to assemble together without an official government permit.

$34: the fine police officers must pay for

"cruel treatment" on a civilian while on duty

300%: increase in malnourished children younger

than 5 for the period of 2000 to 2008

10%: unemployment

20%: live below the poverty line

10%:of the population controls 28%

of the household income

750m: the net worth of Mubarak's son, Gamal

205.8: gallons of oil go through the Suez Canal

and adjacent pipeline (6% of the global supply)

Simply put, the citizens of Egypt see massive, massive amounts of money going through the country, but live in abject poverty, they can't get at it. They have no hope, and they have no chance of ever improving their economic status with the class system they have there. And, well, they live in Egypt. Once you've seen the pyramids, the thrill is gone. It is primarily sand, at least the Egypt the lower class gets to experience. And it gets hot. Unbearably hot. And after 30 years of Mubarak's rule, they want to be heard. They want a spot on the world's center stage, and they've got it. And we're listening.

H.R. 3: AT FIRST GLANCE, I APPROVE...LIBERALLY

If you are a regular, or even occasional reader to this blog, first of all thank you, and secondly, there should be no doubt in your mind where I am politically. I am just barely to the right of Jerry Rubin. But, that does not mean you can anticipate, or predict my views on any particular issue. Mere political affiliation does not, and should not lock in someones viewpoints. No, shed your labels and proclivities, and do a little research, then formulate an opinion. You never know, you might just sit on the other side of the aisle on an issue or two.....and good for you if you do. Your vote should be the result of a little critical thinking, not to mention soul searching. So, having said all of that, let me give you three of my beliefs that just might get me kicked out of a Democratic caucus.

Just being born on American land

should not automatically make you a U.S. citizen,

outstanding teachers should know they don't need tenure

and

it is categorically unfair to force all taxpayers

to pay for abortions.

Yes, it's true.

And so, while just barely skimming over the highlights of H.R. 3 introduced today in the John Boehner House of Representatives, and still meaning to read over the entire piece of legislation before making a firm commitment...I see nothing entirely wrong in the bill. I do want to fully understand their definition of "forcible," but for now, I would tend to vote aye on the bill that guarantees that no federal moneys are allocated towards giving someone an abortion, unless a victim of forcible rape, incest, or if carrying full term would risk death on the birth mother. Let's be clear...it does not, and is not intended to make abortions illegal, or take down Roe v. Wade. It just addresses the allocation of funds...your funds to provide abortions. But, read it yourself and make up your own mind.

LOSING SLEEP OVER CIVIL UNREST

While some cynics will say the world is about to begin spinning out of control, more level heads will acknowledge a very serious situation is taking over the world's landscapes. Civil unrest has raised its ugly head in Tunisia, Ireland, Ecuador, Peru, Italy, Jordan and now Egypt. This could have been predicted....faltering economies, unemployment, rising fuel costs, and sharp increases in the price of food. When these conditions occur in democracies, citizens can vote to change their governments. In more oppressive regimes, they take to the streets to voice their dissatisfactions.

And their voices are being heard around the world at present....and they are toppling governments......the next seemingly being Egypt's Mubarak, a leader, a dictator soon to be looking for a safe haven, a soft landing spot to retire. In fact, Hillary Clinton has publicly called for an "orderly transition."

But in Egypt, more is at stake than a change at the top. For decades now, we have pumped millions and millions of dollars into the Mubarak regime, and much of those resources have resulted in a very well armed Egyptian militia, an entity currently sitting on its hands, unwilling to engage with the protesters,made up of their own countrymen.

Egypt is more than the largest nation in the region. They are a US backed, US ally who has been very valuable in stabling the entire Middle East. And the government is about to topple, for whom we do not know. Normally, we would not give much chance for the radical led Muslim brotherhood to gain power, but in times of civil unrest, extreme voices gain ears. The thirst for change can result in unlikely victors. And should radical Islam elements take power in a country this large, it could set a disastrous example of what can happen in other Islamic countries in the region.

Certainly no one would be shocked if such a rise took place in Iran, one of the most oppressive governments in the world. And such victories in neighboring countries embolden others, and give voice to extremely radical voices within.

Clinton and Obama need to become fully engaged, at least in the backgrounds of the current situations in the region. Like a bad game of dominoes, the entire region is aching for a tilting in the balance of power, and if you are viewed as a U.S. ally, a U.S. sympathiser, you may become a marked man by your citizens.

You think the United States should be very worried? What about Israel? With anti-Jewish sentiment everywhere in the region, and new, more radical elements assuming power, especially in countries like Egypt, who is more than capable, more than adequately armed thanks to us, to do some real damage.... we cannot, cannot afford to become more militarily engaged in the region than we already are. So who will rise up and attempt to stabilize the region? Our friends are extremely nervous, at least as nervous as the more radical anti-U.S. sentiments are empowered, and emboldened. This is their moment. Will it come to fruition? Time will tell.

OLBERMANN OUT: I THINK HE JUST DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE HAD BECOME

Keith Olbermann, MSNBC's most popular and successful personality has abruptly ended his reign over the unapologeticly progressive political show "Countdown," and his association with MSNBC. The terms of and deciding factors around his departure have not been announced, but in my opinion, he quit. He had enough. There is no way that MSNBC gets rid of their singular cash cow.
So why did he leave? Fatigue? Probably a factor. Tired of the bullshit? No doubt. But in my opinion, he had gone from world class reporter and journalist, and slowly but surely become something he could not tolerate....something he could not stomach.....the liberal Bill O'Reilly. A talking head spewing an anti-GOP agenda on a daily basis. A man and a writer capable of brilliance at times (an example of which is below)...but he could also be a caricature, a comic windbag inexplicably foaming at the mouth; a bat shit crazy imitation of Peter Finch in Network.
He is mad as hell, and he is not going to take it anymore. Good luck Keith. I hope you find a better avenue for your journalistic abilities. I hope you find...and bid you peace.

WHAT THE REPEAL ALSO TAKES AWAY FROM YOU

Disguised as a budget / deficit cutting repeal effort, the GOP House members, as expected voted to repeal the Senate Democrats Health Care Bill (anyone calling it Obama-care is an out and out liar trying to take advantage of ignorance--if anything it is Pelosi care, with 40% of it coming from previous conservative measures). What does this mean? Well take a look at what it takes away immediately (the bulk of the bill doesn't start until 2014).....

Coverage for young adults under the age of 26 on their parents policies, free preventative care for 42 million seniors and 40 million other Americans under their private plans, reduced prescription medicine costs for seniors, tax breaks for small businesses and protection for children with pre-existing conditions.

Liberal Communist ideas all, right? No wonder the GOP wants to kill the measure...how many opportunities do you get to screw over literally 100 million people with a stroke of a pen? Fortunately the Senate and the pen of President Obama will save them from the heartless bastards of the GOP.

THIS IS THE GUY I VOTED FOR

If you can't sit through the entire video, at least hear the last 5 or 10 minutes....classic Obama.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: PALIN & GIFFORDS

BLOOD LIBEL: is a false accusation that Jews sacrifice Christian children either to use the blood for various "medicinal" purposes or to prepare Passover matzoh, or for vengeance and mock crucifixions. It is one of the central fables of medieval and modern Christian anti-semitism.

INTO THE CROSS HAIRS

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

You fill up a powder keg and it is bound to explode. Sure, it will more than likely be an unstable person to eventually light the fuse, but it will explode. And explode it did.

Did Palin want someone to actually put Gabrielle Giffords "in the cross hairs?" Of course not. Say what you want about Palin (and us libs generally do), but she is in control of most of her faculties. However, some of her followers are not, and she should have realized this. Realized it when she posts a picture such as below, or says inflammatory, violent rhetoric such as "don't retreat...reload."

Gabrielle Giffords knew the potential, of course. Palin put her in the cross hairs. Giffords replied to the ad in this manner...."we're on Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

Giffords just won re-election by a very close margin, despite the popularity of the tea party, especially in the state of Arizona, where anti-illegal immigration sentiment screams loud and clear. "Take our country back!"

Jesse Kelly knew the sentiment. He tried to jump onto the Tea party bandwagon and take Giffords seat in the House of Representatives. One of his most popular fundraisers was a visit with the candidate to shoot his fully loaded M-16 rifle. The ad states "help remove Giffords from office....shoot a fully automatic M-16 with Jesse Kelly..."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time. She was in the cross hairs.

Yesterday, Giffords held a meet and greet outside of a supermarket in her district. A young, 22 year old man came and asked a volunteer if he could meet her. The volunteer told him he would have to wait in line. Reports are that he left and came back with a gun. He didn't retreat, he reloaded. The death toll now stands at six, including a nine year old girl. Only six, because he was overpowered by two spectators as he was...you guessed it, reloading his gun with a fresh clip.

Was 22 year old Jarod Loughner a tea party follower? Unknown. Was he mentally unstable? Of course. Is this a direct result of the rhetoric from the tea party, or ex-Governor Palin? Probably not. But, as Michael Moore tweeted this morning, "If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web with cross hairs on 20 politicians, and then one got shot, where would he be sitting right now?

If you are looking for examples of the incoherent ramblings of Loughner on his Twitter account and My Space page, don't bother, they have been taken down. If you are looking for the cross hairs picture or rhetoric on Palin's web site, don't bother, they have been taken down.

I can only speculate that she didn't want to be criticized for her contribution to the violent, anti-Democratic rhetoric that is rife in the Tea Party movement. Ms. Palin....it was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time.

CONGRESSIONAL TIPS FROM KIMBA

It isn't a matter of right vs. left. It isn't a matter of who was sitting in the Oval Office at the time. Polling consistently has shown that the American people, the ones who actually research and care....has thought that Congress has sucked for over two decades. Right, left, moderates, independents...they all suck. Spending fools, lying bastards,not to be trusted, do nothing idiots.
So in order to form "that more perfect union," I humbly offer the following words of wisdom to our newest Congressional bodies....
1. Quit running each other down. On the floor, in the press, on your web sites, stop agreeing with the American people and saying what a joke Congress is. What morons are comprising it. Stop creating the perception that the body you work for sucks. The American people are listening...and agreeing with you, and they are taking down incumbents like Paul Bunyan with his mighty axe. If you think say, if you say so, it must be true. And so they vote for people with little to no experience just to fire you. Good move.
2. Stop lying. Stop exaggerating, stop"spinning" the truth, get real. For example...the health care bill was crafted in Congress, not the oval. If you are still calling it "Obama care"... you are a liar. Come out and be truthful. You might get the respect of the voting masses. Stop it, repeal it, I am with you on that, but stop blaming someone who did not write it. BTW...lets tell the American people we still desperately need health care reform....we are not saying not ever...just not now.
3. Work harder. Tuesday through Thursday is not enough. You are lucky to have jobs....FULL TIME jobs. Now days if you want to meet your Congressmen or Senator, all you need to do is hang out at a DC airport on any Thursday afternoon. Keep this up, and we will pay you by the hour.
4. Can anything be left to a straight up or down vote? Hopefully without 20 pieces of pork added on that we do not want, as a compromise to get votes for the measure we do want? Whatever the benefit of the bill is, it is negated by the crap pasted to the back of the measure, having absolutely nothing to do with the bill. And it is usually expensive without merit.
5. Read the damn bills before voting. Do not leave this task to the aides, or heaven forbid, the lobbyists. If each every member of Congress had to read the bill and pass a comprehension test before voting, maybe you would limit the size of the bills to less than 20 pounds each.

T.W.A.K. PERSON OF THE YEAR(s)

2010 was a troubling and challenging year, to be sure. Certainly not the time anyone would want to be in charge of a company, yet alone the most powerful nation on earth. It could be said that few if any Presidents started their terms in office with so much going against them. Two wars, an economic tailspin, two polarized Congressional bodies with majority leaders that were straight out of a stooges movie, and oh yes, you are the first black President in a country that did not even pass a Civil Rights bill before your lifetime.

Yet for all the saber rattling, the do nothing congressional opposition and the intense criticism that questioned your citizenship and compared you to Nazi leaders, you have flourished. In fact the last time a President got so much accomplished, booze was illegal.

Yes, the federal debt has increased, a troubling fact since you inherited a 12.5 trillion dollar deficit as it was. But with your stimulus bill (or more precisely the senate's stimulus bill) you have staved off a second great depression. Unemployment still hovers around 10%, and that fact much be improved, but the country has rebounded, and confidence has been regained.

Militarily you have shifted the focus away from Iraq and are concentrating on the real hotbed of terrorist activity, Afghanistan. You closed secret detention facilities in Europe,and prohibited the use of torture. You eliminated wasteful defense spending, such as the F-22 fighter jet program. You got rid of the arcane "Don't Ask Don't Tell," and reformed protocols with a Weapons System Acquisition Act. You signed a new G.I. bill, and pushed the START treaty through a lame duck senate.

You have spent more on education than any other, including an increase in Pell grants and loans, increasing the SCHIP program, and you reformed student loan predatory practices. You expanded spending for NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Domestically, you have gotten a new food safety bill through, along with landmark legislation allowing the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry. You negotiated a 9/11 relief workers bill which seemed all but dead, you signed the Christopher Reeve paralysis act and stem cell research has begun because of your efforts. You have continued to offer tax cuts, extended unemployment and COBRA rights for the unemployed. You crafted a credit card reform bill that will end abuses from lenders, signed the Ledbetter fair pay act, crafted a Wall Street reforms bill, a fraud enforcement and recovery act, and changed the way lobbyists operate in our government....and you signed hate crimes legislation that will protect victims and prosecute offenders.

You invested more than anyone in clean energy initiatives, increased fuel economy standards, continued the debate on climate change, allocated over 100 billion to improve our infrastructure and signed a sweeping public lands bill.

What am I forgetting? Oh yes, you put two women on the bench, saved the American auto industry and did what others have been trying to do for 65 years...reformed health care for all.

Not bad for half of his first term.

He has been a shining example of a family man, and an educated man. Because of him, when a parent tells their off spring that they can truly be or do anything when they grow up, they will not be lying or exaggerating.

Under enormous pressure, under enormous scrutiny, and some might say under enormous hatred, he has succeeded.

No doubt you will focus next on the DREAM act, energy reform and filibuster reform. You will keep reaching across the aisle despite having your hand slapped back numerous times. And you will continue to achieve and succeed.

For these and many other considerations....and without question or hesitation, the "World According to Kimba" Person of the year, is United States President, Barack Obama.

IN GOOD COMPANY

Only 4 presidents have had their birthplace home declared a national park, can you name them?

Undoubtedly not, but you probably guessed the biggies...

Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

Care to guess the fourth?

If you read the paper (does anyone do that any more besides me?)

you might have read about the creation/approval of the

394th park created in the National Park System.

Give up?

Needless to say this list makes me ecstatic...

George Washington,

Abraham Lincoln,

Teddy Roosevelt and

William Jefferson Clinton

Quite the list

SOCIALISM

"When you are in the service of your fellow human beings,

you are in the service of your God"

EGREGIOUS SPENDING MARKS THE MIDTERM

Now that the midterm elections are over and the dust has cleared, we should look back and take note of the process. Certainly as a liberal, who apparently got "shellac-ed" by all estimation, I may have an axe to grind, but the numbers speak for themselves...and I am talking of the cost of running for statewide and congressional offices, or at least the amount of money some candidates were willing to spend in order to become elected.

John Roberts and the Supreme Court recently declared that campaign contributions are merely "speech" and thus should not be regulated or inhibited in any way. This ruling, as repugnant as I may find it, went into our election process with nary a whimper from the electorate, leaving the rich, and leaving large corporations entirely free to spend at will in order to push their candidates, and their agendas (and yes...the unions as well).

No matter how you may view this ruling, I am sure we can find agreement that election spending is completely out of control; in fact is has reach obscene levels in some cases. Case in point, Carly Fiorina spend over 6 million of her own money in a failed run for the Senate from California. You do not have to be a bleeding heart lib to consider much more palatable alternatives for this money...but this is the tip of the iceberg. Let's look at three other examples.

Florida's Greene spent 23 million of her own cash reserves to mount her campaign. Garnering 284,000 votes, this works out to a whopping $83.55 per vote, hardly a bargain. Wrestling magnate Linda McMahon spent over $41.9 million from her pocket book, or $84 per vote.

Former Goldman Sacs exec and e-Bay head Meg Whitman got out her checkbook and spent over $144 million, and some estimate the total will top $160 million by the time the dust clears. That's a relative bargain at $38.32 per vote, until you realize she LOST her bid for California Governor. With that amount of cash, she could have paid the 2011 tuition of all 23,000 UCLA students, or certainly made some very happy non-profits this year.

This is not to say that in a democracy they should not be allowed to spend their own hard earned cash to mount a campaign, but we have to ask ourselves what affect this will have on who can run for office in the future. Abe Lincoln would not have a chance in today's world...but Larry Flint might breeze into office with his financial advantage. An exaggeration of course, but what happens to the caliber of candidates able to mount a successful campaign when the most important line item on their resume is personal wealth?

For my money, each office should be capped in terms of how much they could spend. A run for Governor? $50 million. A run at the Senate would be capped at 35 million, and so on. Of course the first thing any candidate would have to do is either pay for, or raise the money, but from then on, they would be free to be as innovative as possible when allocating those funds, certainly a consideration of fitness for office.

In the case of Whitman, it would have limited her to spending only $12 per vote, a much more palatable expense, and certainly fair across the board. And if it shortens up the election cycle periods, I couldn't be happier.

And that's the world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks, as always, for reading.

Hamish and Andy interview Hillary Clinton - The 7pm Project (Australia) ...

This should be our President folks....doing an outstanding job as our Secretary of State, garnering great polling numbers, earning the respect of our allies and our enemies alike...classy and tough, she is the best thing Obama has done in his first term.

Ohio McDonald's gives voting advice in paychecks

Ohio McDonald's gives voting advice in paychecks: "A handful of McDonald's employees in northeastern Ohio received handbills in their most recent paychecks suggesting they vote for three Republican candidates.
'If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels,' the insert said. 'If others are elected we will not.'
The fast food chain's corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., distanced itself from the action by Canton franchisee Paul Siegfried, saying it was not reflective of the company's position. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic elections chief, said she was launching an investigation because the action appeared to violate Ohio election laws.
Allen Schulman, an attorney representing one of the employees, said Friday he had forwarded the paycheck insert to Canton's city law director, citing state and federal laws against corporate advocacy in elections.
'It's no surprise to anyone that Ohio is a battleground state in this election, and for a multinational corporation like McDonald's to threaten employees like this is morally and legally wrong,' Schulman said in a statement.
Siegfried issued an apology later Friday, emphasizing the value he places on employees and their freedom of choice in the upcoming election.
'Distributing this communication was an error of judgment on my part,' Siegfried said in a statement. 'Please know, it was never my intention to offend anyone. For those that I have offended, I sincerely apologize.'
The handbill with a simple McDonald's logo at the top recommended votes for Republicans John Kasich for governor, Rob Portman for U.S. Senate, and Jim Renacci for Ohio's 16th congressional district. A Renacci campaign flier was also included."

Portfolio's Worst American CEOs of All Time - CNBC

Portfolio's Worst American CEOs of All Time - CNBC: "A consummate self-promoter, Fiorina was busy pontificating on the lecture circuit and posing for magazine covers while her company floundered. She paid herself handsome bonuses and perks while laying off thousands of employees to cut costs. The merger Fiorina orchestrated with Compaq in 2002 was widely seen as a failure. She was ousted in 2005."

Want to vote for a business train wreck? Someone who outsourced 30,000 American workers in favor of boosting the economies of foreign countries labor force? Someone who brought HP down to their knees? Vote for Carly Fiorina.

GROUND ZERO MARKING A SUSPENSION OF CIVIL RIGHTS?

What do the following cities have in common........Temecula California, Murfreesboro Tennessee, and Sheboygan Wisconsin? Answer....they are all fighting the construction of mosques in their cities. Given that you do not feel these cities are too close to ground zero.....the question has to be asked, why? Why the blatant discrimination towards one religion?

Certainly the threat of terrorism comes with costs....bigotry, paranoia, suspicion and open hostility. But that is not all....the ultimate cost is the suspension of civil rights, and a questioning of the constitution, the very document that not only extends us those rights, but defines (or once defined) our country as a whole.

So it has to be asked....How does a country such as this, a country established as a haven against the blatant and discriminatory practices of a country and King who demanded their homeland worship in one manner only....how does this country....why are its citizens and politicians, in a country founded by individuals who sought religious freedom and enshrined it in their constitution overlooking this value by condemning the Muslim center in Lower Manhattan in a manner that is increasingly demagogic and vitriolic? (paraphrased from Jennifer Merolla)

Not to water down or question the focus of political leaders and political entertainers calling for the relocation of the proposed site for the Cordoba mosque a few blocks away from ground zero (Palin, Gingrich, Beck, et. al.), but maybe they should start slower with their campaign of hatred and bigotry and take on the Halal food carts parked directly across from ground zero.....can you imagine, rubbing their pita bread concoctions into the open wounds of the 9/11 tragedy!!

And that is the world...the "World According to Kimba."

Thanks for reading.

WHO REALLY CREATES JOBS IN AMERICA?

Jobs, jobs, jobs......when is the Obama administration going to create jobs? That's the question being asked, but is this notion a fallacy? Can any administration truly create jobs without out and out creating them and paying the salaries? Of course not.

The creation of jobs (non-governmental positions) happen in the private sector. It is as much a result of economic confidence as much as anything, my friends. As the stock market rebounds back to normal, the auto industry experiences growth, and many other indicators improve, the nation holds onto their cash with a death grip. A record death grip, in fact.

Non-financial corporations in the S & P 500 index reported cash on hand of nearly $837 billion, an increase of 26% over the previous year. Needless to say, they are nervous about our economic futures.....and their reticence to invest and / or hire is having a dramatic effect on any economic recovery. Companies are currently holding, on average, cash on hand equal to 10%+ of their total value, twice as high as in 1999. And as their cash increases, their inventories reduce to extremely low levels.

This lack of confidence is not limited to corporations. Consumers are holding onto their cash in record amounts as well; American households are hoarding their cash whenever they can, rising 6.4% over last year. And if they will not spend, corporations will not spend...in compensation or inventory stocks. No wonder unemployment continues to be stuck at 9.5%.

So is the nation out of financial danger...certainly not. In fact, we may succumb to a looming recession. Growth has been extremely sluggish, albeit positive for the past three quarters.

But for the recovery to continue at a appreciable rate, a sense of economic optimism has to be created, and I do not see this happening at any time soon. Naysayers far outnumber optimists these days, and certainly the GOP is leading the charge, a charge maintained in order to gain Congressional seats in November.

So as they continue to tout the frightful economic times in the nation (and blaming Obama for it), what they fail to admit is they are playing a role in the sluggish recovery as well.

Personally, I continue to be cautiously optimistic for the near future. Yes, historically a deep economic lull turns around in a quick, booming manner, and that certainly has not materialised. But corporate profits are up....way up. Cash on hand is way up, for both corporations and individuals (at least those gainfully employed).

All we need is a little confidence in the numbers, in our ability to fight our way out of it, and a little leadership. I am afraid the character attacks on the Obama administration has taken hold to such an affect that it may delay any real robust recovery for a few years. In my opinion, this is a situation caused, and maintained equally by both parties. For all the talks of the GOP rebounding back, truth is, the American voters are disenchanted with both parties performances over the past ten years. Trouble is, they are our only two choices...at least for now.

9/11 RESCUE WORKERS GET SHAT ON BY NO VOTES

PERSPECTIVE

GROUND ZERO FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS

By now you most certainly heard the debate over the proposed Cordoba Mosque near Ground Zero, the site of the tragic events of 9/11. You have certainly heard the calls to disallow its presence so close to a reminder of the threat of global Islamic radicalism. You most certainly have heard the ignorant blathering of the bonehead from Wasilla, Sarah Palin as she brutalised the English language while calling on peaceful Muslims to please "repudiate" their desire to establish their mosque so close to ground zero.

As understandable as it would be to blame the entire Muslim faith for the attack on the World Trade Center, as understandable as it would be to hate everyone sharing a common religion with the perpetrators; deep in our hearts, we know it was from a small band of animalistic criminals, and not a united effort from their religious leaders and followers. We realize that they no more represented their religion than Timothy McVeigh represented Catholicism.....and we do not stop the building of Catholic churches next to the site of that bloody act of terrorism either.

Am I for the building of the mosque? Absolutely. It goes to the main tenets upon which this country was founded...freedom of religion. For it? I am an ardent supporter of it. We need to insure this mosque is built, we need the world to know that we are a free society, an intelligent society, and not the mindless sheep that largely make up the Muslim world in the middle east. We need to begin to build monuments on ground zero, and monuments around ground zero, and the Cordoba mosque should be one of them......a testament to our freedoms......freedom of religion and religious tolerance.

If we let these blocking efforts succeed, if we let these hatemongers succeed, if we let the vicious act of madmen let us change what we are, and what we believe, then they win. Don't let them win. We need this mosque as much as the Muslims do. We need a mosque, a church, a synagogue and a temple surrounding ground zero. We need to retain the core beliefs this country was founded on. We need to point to this mosque with pride; as much a testament of who we are as it will be yet another defeat of the hatred and bigotry spewed forth by Ms. Palin and her irk. They say they want to take their country back....truth is, they want to change this country in ways that would make the framers of our constitution sickened. Don't let them win.

You may not like every component necessary in order to make this gigantic sausage we call democracy, but it doesn't mean you get to choose the ingredients. It's called freedom.......get over it. Freedoms do not change with what calms you, or upsets you. Freedoms are freedoms. Don't like it? Move to China and see what upsets you.

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

IOWA TEA PARTY BILLBOARD PREYS ON THE NAIVE AND IGNORANT

Billboard bought and paid for by the Northern Iowa

Tea Party placing a picture of our President

between two of the most heinous dictators in the world's history.

Question: when these zealots say they

want their country back, what country are they talking about?

Certainly not the United States of America.

NO CHOICES AGAIN IN CALIFORNIA

The primary season is finished in my state, and once again I am left with no options whatsoever....and for a moderate this is especially disheartening (what.......you don't believe I would vote for Republican? Ask Governor Reagan...twice).

I would, but I can't. You see in California, I have a choice between a former board member of Goldman Saks (bleech), and Jerry Brown; a candidate I will, but don't want to vote for (Gavin was my hope, but he suddenly dropped out and will accept Attorney General in a landslide). His opponent, Ms. Whitman, long on cash and completely devoid of experience, sans running a business selling shit to the masses (EBay) and running a financial institution that brought us to our knees....and I am loathe to buy into her particular load of shit. No brainer...let's re-live the past and re-elect Brown.

On to the senator race where Barbara Boxer (double bleech) the incumbent, is running against one Carly Fiorina, whose only experience is making Hewlett Packard successful by shipping off every fucking job overseas she possibly could....maybe she should run for office in India. This is a candidate so devoid of experience or political savvy, she actually criticized her opponents hair into an open mic (her hair....it's sooooo eighties..."). Gag me with a fucking spoon, somebody. Double no-brainer, Boxer gets my vote.

And so it goes.....

BUSH LEGACY: IRREGULAR BEHAVIORS FROM UNREGULATED INDUSTRIES

Government: bad. Corporations: good. If you had to encapsulate the Bush doctrine, this would have to be at least half of it to be sure, along with regional (Middle Eastern) domination of course. Smaller governments, and corporations given free reign to police themselves; to operate unfettered from government regulations and oversight.

This is the GOP party economic platform. Lower taxes and free markets. Less regulations, more competition. And although this looks good on paper, a mere year after the two Bush administrations we are seeing the aftermath of these doctrines.

Mining accidents with clouds of accusations of unsafe working conditions, as we dig further and further into the earth than ever before. Financial institutions left to operate less with the focus of what is good for the economy and its customers, and more focused on achieving their greedy end game of profit, and we are all experiencing the result of that.

And now we are seeing what happens when the offshore drilling industry is allowed to operate with little to no oversight, without a big government over their shoulder to reign in the profit driven practices of big oil....a gulf saturated with millions of gallons of crude, unfettered from a single shut off valve, which is standard practice allover the world.

So who is to blame...BP? Halliburton or others? Yes and no. Truth is, most of the fault lies in the 2001 energy policy masterminded by newly sworn in VP Cheney. Cheney, former CEO of oil and gas company Halliburton was charged with developing a new energy policy as his first official duty. And he did so with the aid of the leaders of the industry, leaders such as Enron's Ken Lay.

The task force report was based on recommendations sent to Cheney from coal, oil and nuclear companies...many of which were major contributors of the Bush election committee. This report included opening up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and encouraging increases in oil and coal production and output, along with increases in the development of bio-fuels and nuclear power.

A year later, the Bush administration released their first budget, which stripped renewable clean energy efforts drastically, solar and renewable cut by more than a third, nuclear by half, and energy conservation by twenty-five per cent. And as they did, big oil and coal applauded...they had won round one.

In 2003, research and development for biomass, renewable and solar energy were further reduced by the administration and the GOP controlled congress, while they provided multi-billion dollar tax breaks for dirty energy, along with tax breaks ($23.5 billion) and subsidies.

In his energy policy act of 2005, Bush gave $27 billion to coal, oil and gas, while giving only $6.4 billion for renewable energy. Also in that same year, the Interior Departments Minerals Management Service decided that oil companies, rather than big government, were in the best position to determine their operations environment impacts. This meant no requirements for environment impact studies for offshore drilling.

In his 2006 state of the union address, Bush famously stated "America is addicted to oil," and he was correct. What he failed to point out were his administrations continuous efforts to cater to big oil and the special interests efforts to quash all efforts into clean and renewable energy technologies. There can be little doubt of his efforts, as big oil garnered massive, record profits during his administrations.

In 2008, Bush lifted the moratorium on offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic and pacific coasts, reversing the ban placed in 1990 by his father. Only this time, they could do so with little regulation, little to no oversight, and an MME department all but bought and paid for with gifts and graft. No regulations, no oversight, no environmental impact studies, no shut off valves, no safety contingency plans.

And here we are....cleaning oil soaked wildlife, hiring shrimp boats stripped of their ability to make a living fishing to aid in the clean up, and listening to the conservatives bloviating about how this is "Obama's Katrina." All they needed was to foot the cost of an emergency safety shut off valve. But, unlike offshore rigs everywhere else on the face of the earth, they chose not to. And there was no one around to tell them otherwise. What an absolute crock of shit.