In Memorium

25 Years Ago Today, We Lost The Challenger

Just over a minute into their flight, Commander Francis Scobee was given the go to “throttle up.”

What happened next was just unthinkable to those of us watching on TV or on the ground.  Space travel had become so “ordinary” by then when all of a sudden we were given a horrifying reminder of just how technically intricate man’s foray into space really was, and how quickly the lives of seven brave astronauts could be taken from us.

It was a shock around the world really as millions of people witnessed the loss of the Challenger, STS-51-L over and over again on television sets around the world. 

Today we remember:

Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka

Payload Specialist and Gradeschool Teacher Christa McAuliffe.

Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis

Mission Specialist Judith A. Resnik

Pilot Michael J. Smith

Commander Francis “Dick” Scobee

Mission Specialist Ronald E. McNair

May God bless and keep them, and give their families comfort this day.

30 Years Ago Today …

 

Many people may not remember where they were 30 years ago today as Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn into office, but I do.

I was working on the factory floor of Sweetheart Cup Corporation at 75th and Kostner ave. in Chicago as Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.

What made the day so special was that 444 days prior to Reagan’s swearing in, seventy Americans were taken hostage by Iranian militants on November 4th, 1970.  At the time of the crisis, Jimmy Carter, then the 39th President seemed powerless if not completely inept and impotent to bringing the crisis to an end. 

Believing that patience and negotiations would bring the crisis to an end, Jimmy Carter refused all military solutions to the problem until the summer of 1980 and an ill-fated poorly planned rescue attempt cost nine brave American servicemen their lives during a sandstorm which caused their helicopter to crash.

It was on this day in January of 1981 as Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn into office that the rogue Iranian Government led by the Ayatolla Khomeni released the remaining 52 hostages. 

Some foolishly believe Jimmy Carter’s 444 days of “diplomacy” freed the hostages.  Those of us who don’t have our collective heads up our arses know that the Iranian’s were deathly afraid of Reagan and feared an immediate and unforgiving response by the American military to end the crisis.

As I stood there on the factory floor of Sweetheart Cup Corporation on this day, 30 years ago, I was proud to be an American again after four years of disgrace under the Carter Administration.

Much like the complete disdain I have for the current (illegal) occupant of the White House today, the day will come again that I will be proud of my President and my countrymen for having elected them.

Would Gabby Giffords Vote To Repeal ObamaCare?

Daring To Ask The Question The Lamestream Media Won’t

Let me start by saying I’m glad Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is recovering so quickly after being shot through the head last week by Jared Loughner, the whack-job in Arizona who killed six and injured many others.

As we know, Congress members receive health care that is above and beyond that which is available to us poor ordinary citizens.  They are after all, better than us, more important than us, and dog gone it, they can tell us how to run our lives.

But I do have a question for Congresswoman Giffords that I’d like her to answer as soon as the tracheotomy heals:

Congresswoman Giffords, you've received the best medical care in the world at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to treat a brain injury that perhaps 10% of people recover from to varying degrees. Don't you want every American citizen to have the same access to life saving medical care such as you've received, and if so, are you now prepared to reverse your vote for ObamaCare and support its repeal?

Of course no one in the lamestream media would have the testicular fortitude to ask such a question, and that’s a shame because cases such as Giffords would result in death under ObamaCare.  Of the 10% that manage to survive being shot through the brain such as Giffords was, the overwhelming majority either never recover enough to sustain and care for themselves or become vegetables requiring extensive care the rest of their natural lives.

Had Giffords been under ObamaCare, she wouldn’t be alive today.  Actuaries and death panels would’ve seen to that.

So what do you say, Congresswoman Giffords: Will you give every American the same chance at life you were just given, and vote to repeal ObamaCare?

AZ Shooting Victim Goes Bonkers

Threatens To Kill AZ Republican Representative, Tea Party Leader

Yesterday during an ABC News sponsored “Town Hall” meeting in Arizona,  James Eric Fuller went off the deep end and threatened to kill Republican AZ State Representative Terri Proud and Tuscon Tea Party Spokesman Trent Humphries.  At one point, Fuller snapped a picture of AZ State Rep. Terri Proud and shouted “you’re dead!” before Pima County Deputies escorted him away from the event and placed him under arrest.

Witnesses sitting hear Fuller told police that he was making them feel “very uncomfortable” and was clearly agitated when he arrived at the event.

As Deputies escorted Fuller from the event, Fuller shouted loudly “you’re all whores!”

Fuller, a victim of last weeks shooting rampage by Jared Loughner in which 9 year old Christina Taylor Green was killed and AZ Democrat Gabby Giffords was shot through her brain, was taken into custody by none other than Pima County Sheriff  Clarence Dupnik and involuntarily submitted for a mental health evaluation.

Fuller is a self-described “political operative” who specializes in gathering petitions for Democrat party candidates and ballot initiatives.  Before the program began, he passed out business cards reading:  “J. Eric Fuller, Political Circulator.  Expediting Initiatives since 2006.”

In fact, in Fuller’s online profile on website “hypnothoughts.com” he describes himself as follows:

I use extraordinary persuasive charisma to interest blase, apathetic, oblivious and at times hostile voters to listen to the voice of justice and consanguinity. My experiences encountering public figures and many affluent travelers in person has led me to believe that we all are to blame for George W. Bush.

With a high opinion of his powers of persuasion and a rather unique ability for insinuating himself at public appearances of the rich and famous he apparently believes that his grievances with President Bush are everyone’s fault. I know; it doesn’t make any sense to me either.

This does not bode well for the Democrats at all.  As we reported earlier this week, the number of death threats by left-wing Democrats such as Fuller has escalated dramatically over the last week.  (See Twitter threats against Sarah Palin below.)

This isn’t just Bush Derangement Syndrome or Palin hatred at play with this guy, he’s a prime example of a typical left-wing nutjob who wants the world his way and nothing else. 

More left-wing extremism just like William Ayers IMO.

The Job Killing Taxes In Obama-Care

Finally Exposed By American’s For Tax Reform

Comprehensive List of Tax Hikes 

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on an historic repeal of the Obamacare law.  While there are many reasons to oppose this flawed government health insurance law, it is important to remember that Obamacare is also one of the largest tax increases in American history.  Below is a comprehensive list of the two dozen new or higher taxes that pay for Obamcare’s expansion of government spending and interference between doctors and patients.

Individual Mandate Excise Tax(Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following:

	1 Adult	2 Adults	3+ Adults
2014	1% AGI or $95	1% AGI or $190	1% AGI or $285
2015	2% AGI or $325	2% AGI or $650	2% AGI or $975
2016+	2.5% AGI or $695	2.5% AGI or $1390	2.5% AGI or $2085

Exemptions for religious objectors, (Amish, Muslims, Scientologists) undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS)

Employer Mandate Tax(Jan 2014):  If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees.  This provision applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).  (NoBamanation Note: Companies will raise prices to consumers in order to comply.  This will ultimately drive inflation.)

Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years

Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013):  This increase involves the creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).  This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income:

	Capital Gains	Dividends	Other*
2010-2012	15%	15%	35%
2013+ (Current law)	23.8%	43.4%	43.4%
2013+ (Obama Budget)	23.8%	23.8%	43.4%

*Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations.  It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income.  It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans.  The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens. (NoBamanation Note: An economy and jobs killer, to be sure!)

Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family). For early retirees and high-risk professions exists a higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family).  CPI +1 percentage point indexed.

Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:

 

	First $200,000 ($250,000 Married) Employer/Employee	All Remaining Wages Employer/Employee
Current Law	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed
Obamacare Tax Hike	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed	1.45%/2.35% 3.8% self-employed

Medicine Cabinet Tax($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka“Special Needs Kids Tax”($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap of $2500 (Indexed to inflation after 2013) on FSAs (now unlimited). . There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.  There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.  Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. (NoBamanation Note: Those with chronic illnesses requiring long term medications are also adversely impacted by the FSA cap.)

Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax.  Exemptions include items retailing for less than $100.  (NoBamanation Note: All costs of doing business are passed off to consumers.  Expect these tax hikes to be passed on in higher costs!)

Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI).  The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI; it is waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only.

Tax on Indoor Tanning Services($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons

Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D($4.5 bil/Jan 2013)

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services.  (NoBamanation Note: All costs of doing business are passed off to consumers.  Expect these tax hikes to be passed on in higher costs!)

Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals(Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS.

Tax on Innovator Drug Companies($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year.  (NoBamanation Note: All costs of doing business are passed off to consumers.  Expect these tax hikes to be passed on in higher costs!)

Tax on Health Insurers($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. The stipulation phases in gradually until 2018, and is fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits.  (NoBamanation Note: All costs of doing business are passed off to consumers.  Expect these tax hikes to be passed on in higher costs!)

$500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives($0.6 bil/Jan 2013) 

Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2(Min$/Jan 2011): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns.  (NoBamanation Note: All costs of doing business are passed off to consumers.  Expect these tax hikes to be passed on in higher costs!)

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting($17.1 bil/Jan 2012): Requires businesses to send 1099-MISC information tax forms to corporations (currently limited to individuals), a huge compliance burden for small employers. 

“Black liquor” tax hike(Tax hike of $23.6 billion).  This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel.  (NoBamanation Note: This will surely kill the alternative fuels / green energy industry!)

Codification of the “economic substance doctrine”(Tax hike of $4.5 billion).  This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed.  (NoBamanation note: Talk about giving the IRS unfettered power to make every day American’s criminals!  This is purely subjective, requiring no metric to determine any facts in individual cases!)

Read more: http://www.atr.org/comprehensive-list-tax-hikes-obamacare-a5758##ixzz1BCgbZnj7

Federal Government Suing States Over Union Laws

Obama NLRB Backs Card-Check, Sues To Stop Anonymous Ballots

The right to a secret ballot is a fundamental right of every American since the beginning of this country.  During each election, how we vote is secret, known only to us.

The Obama Administration, the National Labor Relations Board led by extreme socialist Lafe Soloman and the Unions however don’t like secret ballots when it comes to union ballots.

This past November, South Dakota, South Carolina, Arizona and Utah all passed State Constitutional Amendments guaranteeing workers in their states the right to a secret ballot in union elections.

The NLRB with the full support of Barack Hussein Obama and the major unions are suing these states to overturn these states amendments as “unconstitutional” and “to conserve state and federal resources.”

Since when did Democrats/Socialists care about our Constitution or Federal resources for that matter?

Here’s the problem: Unions have long pushed for card-check legislation, disingenuously cloaking it in the language of “worker protection.”

The reality is the major unions are determined to implement card-check by any means necessary, against the wishes of the American people and Congress.  Card check is nothing more than the unions trying to identify those who are against them organizing in companies and then targeting them for bullying.  In short, Card-Check is really intended to restrict how workers determine whether or not they choose a union by forcing them away from an anonymous ballot to a named ballot instead.

What this all means is we now have a Federal Government who’s firmly behind the socialization/unionization of all American’s in order to get a job.

As we said at the time of the automobile industry bailouts, GM and Chrysler were just the start. 

Utah and three other states are already gearing up for a legal fight, time will tell whether or not the privacy of an anonymous ballot is upheld in union elections.  If that right falls, my fear is that our Constitutional right to an anonymous ballot in political elections will follow.

Obama = Chavez after all.

Democrat “Tolerance” On Display

In the wake of the Arizona shooting tragedy last week, here’s how Democrats responded via Twitter.

The tolerance on display is simply frightning.

Memorial Service or Campaign Rally?

AZ Shooting Victims Brushed Aside for Obama Campaign Rally

Friends, I have to tell you that I’m absolutely disgusted.  Once again, the Democrats have sunk to a new low turning a memorial service inot a campaign rally.  Last time it was Paul Wellstone’s memorial.  This time the Democrats and Barack Hussein Obama are hijacking the memorial service for the victims killed by Jared Lee Loughner in Arizona last weekend into a campaign rally for Barack Hussein Obama.

I am literally sick to my stomach that nine year old innocent victim Christina Taylor Green’s name hasn’t even been mentioned.  A beautiful young girl who’s life was tragically cut short by a psychotic gunman is being used by a sitting President to advance his agenda and –check this- sell t-shirts.

Also being ignored are the other five victims fatally shot by Loughner, John Roll, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorwan Stoddard, Phyllis Scheck and Dorothy Morris. All murdered at the hands of someone who should’ve never been given a gun much less walking the streets unchecked.

While Obama and the Democrats turn this “memorial service” into a campaign rally for themselves, I thought it may be appropriate to give you a little background on these six victims who are being ignored at a memorial service by the sitting President of the United States no less.

Source: CafeMom.Com

Gabe Zimmerman was a staffer of Congresswoman Giffords and he was just 30 years old. Today, on my husband's birthday, he is already three years older than Gabe Zimmerman. And so I can't help but see my husband when I look at Zimmerman, a man in love (he was engaged to be married), a man who enjoyed sports.

Then there's John Roll, a federal judge, a man who was just 63 years old when he was shot and killed in that Safeway grocery store. In him I see my father, a man who is in his late 50s. Like Roll, he's a grandfather. Like Roll he's nearing retirement age but still a hard worker -- in fact Roll was said to have stopped by the Safeway on his day off to talk to Giffords about work (the Congresswoman helped line up funding for a courthouse).

Or what of Stoddard, the pensioner who had been widowed and met his childhood sweetheart who had likewise been widowed, who married her and stood on line with her at Safeway on Saturday? When the bullets rang out, Dorwan threw his weight on top of his dear Mavy, saving her life and sacrificing his own. Yes, he was in his mid-70s. But my grandfather is 90 and still kicking. He had plenty of life yet to live.

The same goes for Scheck and Morris, women past their prime to be sure, but still beautifully, wonderfully alive until Saturday when they were taken away by a crazy man with a gun. In all of them I see potential lost, and yet lives lived.

To me, the most tragic loss is that of nine year old Christina Taylor Green.  Parent’s aren’t supposed to outlive their children, much less bury them.  The tragedy is of a life unlived, potential lost, and an childs innocence forever gone.

At the same time, what infuriates me most is the non-stop focus on Gabby Giffords.  Yes, she along with a bunch of others survived but where are their stories as well?

Once again, the lamestream media places the importance of a government official above all others.  We don’t hear how the other survivors are doing on a daily basis do we?  Of course not, we’re not as important as Giffords.  Can you smell the elitism here?  I sure can.  The non-stop media coverage and what Obama’s doing at this moment in turning a memorial service into a campaign rally just reinforces what real American’s think of today’s politicians: they’re all douchebags in it for themselves.

Don’t believe me?  Watch a replay of the “memorial service” on youtube when it’s over and ask yourself these questions:

1. Is selling t-shirts reading “together we thrive” appropriate at this event?

2. Is cheering the First Lady Moocher appropriate at this event? Should she really be smiling, laughing and waving back??

3. Why is the crowd cheering Obama?  Are they there for a memorial service to honor the dead or are they there to see their “Messiah?”

Pardon me, but what’s going on in Arizona at this moment is an absolute disgrace.  Obama and the Democrats have sunk to a new low and I hope good, right-thinking American people see this farce for what it is.

What a tragic way to “remember” the lives of those lost.

Deal Maker Daley: Obama’s Emissary to Boehner?

Michael Barone at TownHall.Com has an interesting and spot-on analysis of Obama’s new Chief of Staff, Bill Daley.

Daley is not an unknown figure here in the Chicago news market.  Daley has always been in positions in the public sector where he’s been an ‘intermediary’ between businesses, unions and Governments.  I can only hope new House Speaker John Boehner isn’t taken in by this guy’s line of bullshit.

Under Daley’s watch at JP Morgan Chase, the bank unloaded hundreds of billions of mortgage backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helping cause the downturn in the housing and mortgage industries.

Daley has also been an advocate of NAFTA, helping Boeing for example export manufacturing jobs to China for example.

In short, Daley doesn’t really have any experience creating jobs in the American economy, simply put: he’s a jobs destroyer in a job creator’s clothing.

Excerpting today’s Town Hall column, please click through the link below to read the rest of Michael Barone’s excellent analysis.

"He possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created  and how to grow our economy." That's what Barack Obama said as he announced the appointment of his new chief of staff, William Daley, before a crowd of admiring White House staffers.

It's not hard to understand Obama's reasons for choosing Daley. Businesses are sitting on $1 trillion in cash and refusing to make job-creating investments. They are spooked by the Obama Democrats' vast expansion of the size and scope of government and the prospects of ever more intrusive and expensive regulations being churned out by various federal agencies every day.

Obama hopes that the fact that Daley has held high-level jobs in the private sector will assure them that their fears are unfounded.

But when you take a look at Daley's resume, what you see are positions not in job-creating departments but at the intersection between private firms and governments. He headed a union-owned bank. He was on the board of Fannie Mae. He was a high honcho at the telecom SBC.

Read the rest at TownHall.Com

ABC News: Jared Loughner Is A Liberal

Interview w/Friend of Loughner Not Getting Coverage

A friend of gunman Jared Loughner who was interviewed by ABC News this morning described him as a “political radical” and “left wing, quite liberal and oddly obsessed with 2012 prophecy.

Here are Caitlin Parker’s “tweets” from Saturday afternoon, after the shootings occurred:

to believe the reason ABC found Parker was because of her tweets on this subject Saturday:

Yet during the interview with ABC News this morning, the interviewer Pierre Thomas failed to ask about Parker’s tweets about Loughner’s political ideology and I for one cannot believe that Parker’s ‘tweets’ didn’t lead him to her.

From the interview:

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Former high school classmates say Loughner never fit in.

(UNKNOWN): He is just off to himself and more of an outcast.

(UNKNOWN): A lonely kid just off to himself.

THOMAS: One friend he did manage to make, Caitlin Parker, said he became more peculiar in recent years. She recalled a strange encounter he once had with a wounded congresswoman.

CAITLIN PARKER: As I knew him more and more after high school, he got a little bit more odd. I mean, he was obsessed with the 2012 prophecy. I mean, he met Gabrielle Giffords once in '07 and told me he asked her some question that made absolutely no sense to me, but he said, "I can't believe she doesn't understand it. Politicians just don't get it."

Think about this for a minute: Caitlin Parker had known that Loughner was a “Tea Party Member”, Fox News watcher or had any hard associations with a right-wing organization, is it reasonable to believe that ABC would’ve ignored this information?

Of course they wouldn’t have, they’d have trumpeted it all over the headlines but the fact is Loughner has no known ties to any Tea Party or Conservative groups. 

As I said before, the LEFT WING WHACKO’s own this nutjob.  He’s of their creation, of that there’s no doubt.

Gabrielle Giffords Shot Because She Wasn’t Left Wing Enough

Lamestream Media’s Attemps To Smear The Political Right = EPIC FAIL.

Despite efforts to portray Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter of Congressman Gabrielle Giffords and Federal Judge John Roll as a right-wing extremist, new facts have come to light that are only now hitting the blogosphere and may never make it into actual “lamestream media” news coverage.

First, Jared Loughner was known to have mental problems which ultimately fueled his rage. 

Loughner also posted several YouTube video’s professing his disbelief in the United States Constitution, and anger that Giffords supported the Second Amendment. 

Loughner also posted in a YouTube video that he was upset that Giffords voted against Pelosi for Speaker of the House, saying “she is now dead to me.”

These are not the rantings of a right-wing whacko, they belong to a left-wing extremist hell bent on implementing change at the end of a gun.

Need proof Loughner is a left-wing whacko?  Watch this, then answer the question: who normally burns an American flag?  Those on the right who cherish it, or those on the left who urinate on it, stomp on it, douse it with gasoline and burn it at the drop of a hat?

Jared Loughner’s YouTube Video Introduction

These are not the rantings of a right-wing whacko, they belong to a left-wing extremist hell bent on implementing change at the end of a gun.

Speaking of those who want to change this country into something it is not, who was it that said his party should “fight its enemies in the streets?”  None other than Barack Hussein Obama.

EAT IT lefties, you own this guy. 

The New GOP

The Death Panel for ObamaCare

Incoming house speaker John Boehner has set January 12th as the date to begin repealing ObamaCare, the greatest threat to our personal freedoms by the Federal Government in our lifetime.

Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid of Nevada and Dick “Turbin” Durbin of Illinois have said they’ll use every Senate procedural trick to stop it from coming to the Senate floor.

Game on.

If Harry Reid and Dick “Turbin” Durbin want to spend the next two years defending passage of the largest federal power grab over our personal lives for the next two years, I say let them.  The result will be even more massive losses for Democrats in 2012 with the potential for a veto-proof Republican led Senate and a Republican in the White House.

Tea Party, anyone?  The next two years will give rise to the biggest political movement this country has seen since the Declaration of Independence if Democrats do as Reid and Durbin are suggesting.

The fact is, ObamaCare is a job killer, deficit buster, debt creator and spends money this country does not have at a time when the focus should be on getting Federal, State, County and Municipal budgets back under control and creating that three letter word Joe Biden likes so much, j-o-b-s.

The response of the lamestream media has been pretty typical, blaming Republican’s for repealing “free healthcare for millions of people.”  Forget the fact that this so-called “free healthcare” isn’t exactly “free” and doesn’t actually start until 2013, after Obama’s first and only term in office.

The fact is, the Republican Party is responding to the clear voice of the American people, not just the Tea Party.  60% of American’s according to a recent Rasmussen poll want ObamaCare repealed.

Not fixed, repealed.

That doesn’t bode well for the tone-deaf democrats who are about to embark on another two years of not listening to the will of the American people.  If 2010 wasn’t enough of a spanking for the Pelosi-Reid led Democrats, 2012 will be an absolute bloodbath.

If the Democrats are lucky, that bloodbath will be contained to the  voting booth.

Europe Starts Confiscating Private Pension Funds

"The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury.”

~ George Washington

Mark Hemingway, WashingtonExaminer.Com:

The U.S. isn't the only place that's facing a major pension fund crisis. The Christian Science Monitor has this alarming report:

People’s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don’t want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends. In recent weeks I have noted five such attempts: Three situations concern private personal savings; two others refer to national funds.

The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.

The article goes on to detail other pension grabs in Bulgaria, Poland, France and Ireland. Obviously, this is a cautionary tale for America. If fiscal austerity becomes a real issue in the U.S. the way that it's been reaching critical mass in Europe -- don't think that U.S. lawmakers regard your either your personal wealth or money they might owe you as sacrosanct. Government has a habit of looking out for itself.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/europe-starts-confiscating-private-pension-funds#ixzz1A29z89gc

Think it can’t happen here?  Think again!

here's part of an article on some Congressional testimony from 2008 (just after the election):

"George Miller (D-California), the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, suggested that 'high-income' earners be no longer allowed to make tax-deferred 401(k) contributions. Miller has since back-pedaled on this notion, and nothing has been put in the form of legislation yet. So the spotlight has now shifted to a proposal by the star witness at the hearing, an econ professor at The New School in New York named Teresa Ghilarducci.

"She’s unveiled the plan in conjunction with the left-wing Economic Policy Institute; it’s available in .pdf form on EPI’s website. The gist of it is this:

"1) Wipe out the tax-deferral feature of 401(k)s because it’s mostly the 'wealthy' who enjoy that feature.

"2) Force everyone to contribute 5% of their income to a 'Guaranteed Retirement Account' (GRA) which invests entirely in government bonds and returns an inflation-adjusted 3% a year. Half of this 'contribution' would come from you, half from your employer. It would be on top of whatever you 'contribute' to Social Security. In exchange for losing the tax advantages of your 401(k) contribution, the government would graciously kick in an extra $600 a year to your GRA. As Mrs. Bakerman said on The Bob Newhart Show, 'Isn’t that nice?'

"As awful as all of this is, confiscating existing 401(k) balances and converting them to GRAs is not part of the plan. Not now. In her prepared testimony to Congress, Ghilarducci said:

"'Short term, I propose that since 401(k) accounts and the like are financial institutions — the bank about where 38% of the workforce can intend to save for their retirement — Congress let workers trade their 401(k) and 401(k) – type plan assets (perhaps valued at mid-August prices) for a Guaranteed Retirement Account.'

"Short-term, then, this is voluntary. But long-term? That’s the problem. Everything about this has a slippery-slope vibe that means you can’t preclude the possibility of a forcible conversion of 401(k)s to GRAs. And yes, if that were to happen, if everyone’s stock and bond holdings were liquidated in one fell swoop and switched into Treasuries, Dan Amoss is absolutely right — that would bring on a government-guaranteed depression."

Folks, if it happens here (and it may well under this Socialist/Marxist Administration) there are a whole bunch of politicians that will literally pay with their heads.