Our National Anthem

I received the video of these young girls singing our National Anthem in an email and was so moved that I thought I would share it with you all here.

I found out that they are called the Cactus Cuties and they range in age from 6 to 9 years old (at the time of this recording) and someone that knows music would tell you they have perfect pitch, range, tone, etc. or whatever technical terms. I'll just say, they sing beautifully.

Please enjoy:



The Cactus Cuties are normally 4 girls and here they are on the 700 Club with a short interview after they sing The Star Spangled Banner:



And if you would like a little more, here they are singing Amazing Grace:



If they don't warm your heart, nothing will.

Here's their website http://thecactuscuties.com/index.html

Sarah Palin

I found an interesting commentary on Sarah Palin the other day. I was a little dumbfounded with what happened to her during the election. I couldn’t believe how quickly and ruthlessly she was attacked even by the political opposition but even the Republicans started attacking her too.

I couldn’t figure out why the people didn’t accept her. I knew why the political establishment attacked her. It was because she was just a regular person. She didn’t come from a pedigreed background, she wasn’t rich, a minority or a political insider. She was just a regular, everyday person.

Anyway, this commentary says it much better than I could so give it a read.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/24/navarrette.palin.smalltown/index.html

SOLD!

This guy is unbelievable. Illinois’ insult to the office of governor, Rod Blagojevich effectively gave America and our political system the finger by appointing someone to Obama’s vacated senate seat.

Can you believe the arrogance of this jerk? I can’t believe that he actually thinks he has even an ounce of credibility left. He doesn’t. He’s done. He’s a piece of crap on the bottom of society’s shoe whether he wants to admit it or not. It’s absolutely disgusting that this walking turd is still in office. Too bad we don’t hold to the old tradition and give him what he deserves, to be tarred and feathered and thrown out on his ass.

In reality, what he has done is to further disgrace his office and now bring disgrace to the senate. There is no way that anyone appointed by him would not be subject to doubt. How can anyone not think that there is some sort of backroom deal connected with it? Especially when you see the two of them standing up there with big fat grins on their faces like everything is perfectly fine. I'm surprised Blago didn't just haul out a gavel at the podium, slam it down and yell, "SOLD!". That would have been appropriate I think.

I don’t know anything about this guy he chose, Roland Burris, but in my opinion, it doesn’t say much about his character that he would even accept the tainted appointment from someone that is clearly trying to profit from it. Anyone with any honor and integrity would have refused the appointment as did at least one person that was offered it before Burris.

Mr. Burris however, has stated that "The governor has the constitutional and statutory authority to make the appointment. We are certainly going to make contact with the leadership of the Senate to let them know that the governor of Illinois has made a legal appointment, and that I am currently the junior senator for the state of Illinois."

He impresses me as being totally unconcerned about how he gets to the senate, as long as he gets there. He wants it so badly that he will get it any way he can, even if it brings shame upon him or to the senate. He doesn’t seem to care.

The leaders in the senate have said that they will block any appointment by the soon to be indicted governor so there’s still a chance that they will be able to maintain a shred of integrity in this whole mess. A very small chance.

We’ll see…

Illinois Governor Under Arrest

Well, here’s a surprise. We have yet another corrupt politician exposed (like a cockroach when you turn on the light). Not to sound cynical but, is there any other kind? It makes one wonder…

The governor of President Elect Obama’s home state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (D) and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, solicitation of bribes and basically trying to sell the senate seat vacated by Obama to the highest bidder. He was trying to get cash, campaign contributions, a cabinet position for himself or at least an ambassadorship, a figurehead job where he could be paid a bloated salary for basically doing nothing and a similar cushy, high paying job for his wife that would pay her at least $150,000 annually, plus anything and everything else he could weasel out of anybody I’m sure.

It’s not just this recent activity that has him in hot water though. He was being investigated for his role in trying to assert influence to get members of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board fired. It is also reported he schemed with others, including none other than Tony Rezko to obtain financial benefits for himself, his campaign committee, his family and others.

If that name sounds familiar, Tony Rezko is the shady “real estate developer” that was convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and corrupt solicitation back in 2006. Mr. Rezko and Mr. Blagojevich have a lot in common it seems. Birds of a feather… By the way, Tony Rezko is also the guy who had dealings with another Illinois politician, when he made a sweet deal to one Barack Obama when he sold him his house. Just a point of interest…

It turns out Gov. Blagojevich has been under investigation for some time now with his office bugged and his phones tapped. He knew he was under investigation, yet he arrogantly and blatantly carried out his quest for money and favors in exchange for Obama’s vacated seat, stating that it is a very valuable thing and he’s not going to give it away for free.

He further demonstrated his utter arrogance when during a press conference, he mocked those investigating him, saying they “sneakily” listened in on his phone conversations, insinuating that they somehow violated his privacy. Right… every politician should be free to carry out their corrupt and illegal activities without those pesky old cops catching them.

He thought as governor, he wielded enough power to be untouchable. He considered himself to be above the law. Who would dare touch him? Well, as it turns out, the FBI would and did. He took the ride in handcuffs this very morning.

This guy is the epitome of a corrupt politician. He is the very definition of the term. I can’t begin to explain the level of disgust I feel at having this kind of despicable cull in our government.

The crying shame is, there are a whole lot more…

Can you imagine what they would uncover if they tapped the phones and bugged the offices of the members of congress?

U.S. Tax System Explained

I got this the other day in an email and thought it was such an eloquent explanation of how Mr. Obama's tax philosophy works, I thought I would post it here.

U.S. Tax system explained in terms of beer - to make it more manageable (stick with this and it will make sense):

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. 'Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

More on the Auto Companies

The controversy goes on…

I heard a radio host this morning talking about the auto company execs going to Washington looking for money and the fact that they flew there on their corporate jets. He was on the “Big Three bashing” kick like most everyone it seems, blaming the overpaid company big shots for the problems of the world.

He referred to them going to Washington to “beg” for help as if they were showing up panhandling or looking for handouts. In fact, they are simply asking for LOANS. He also played over and over again Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, asking the CEOs to “raise their hand if they flew here commercial” and then “let the record show, no hands went up.”

The real idiocy came later though when he said, “Second, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up." Right… Only someone as self important and pompous as a politician could ask an idiotic question like that. Did he really think someone would say, “Ok, we’ll just abandon the aircraft at the airport and hang a For Sale sign on it. We don't have to ask the board of directors or anything..."

Guess what friends and neighbors. CEOs of ALL large corporations fly on corporate jets. That’s the way it is like it or not. Why aren’t they upset over the very same thing at the companies that they are already giving money to? Did they try to humiliate the CEOs from AIG and ask them about their company jets that they still operate? Did they call them in and look down their noses at them after they spent a pile of money on lavish parties and corporate retreats for their execs? No.

This is how these politicians work though. Have you ever noticed how they question anybody there? It’s a little like an inquisition. They all sit up above everyone else so they can look down on whoever is before their eminences. It’s a power position and they all play the part of God sitting in judgment of those called before them. It seems like they try to be as sarcastic and condescending as they can while they grill the person. That way, they can inflate their feeling of self worth and feel they are better than everyone else. They disgust me more than the fat cat CEOs.

What really gets me is that a politician is that condescending to a CEO and all the while he would and does take advantage of any and all perks he can get. The same guy asking them about flying on the corporate jet is the guy who flies anywhere he wants at taxpayer’s expense, right? You’re a great one to talk Mr. Congressman…

Believe me; I’m not sticking up for corporate excess. It disgusts me. I just think they are being extremely hypocritical to single out the auto execs for ALL corporate excess. If they want to try and address that issue then do it some other time. Right now, deal with the problem at hand instead of blowing hot air to get your name in the news.

It seems like the sentiment now is that everyone wants to punish the corporate execs but they also want to punish the unions that are responsible for getting the high pay for the auto workers. In fact, the union officials ARE just as bad as the corporate execs and the power mad politicians. They are all of the same ilk.

Everyone wants to punish the guys in charge but you know who will suffer in all this? The workers. The guy on the line trying to make a living. No matter who they intend to punish, the ones that will feel the pain are the little guys. The big shot execs will bail with their golden parachutes. The union officials will find other groups to bring into their fold so they can keep on collecting union dues. The politicians will go on being pompous blowhards, collecting their fat paychecks and perks and millions of workers will lose their jobs and the economy will tank even further which means all the rest of us working stiffs will suffer too.

So why is it that the government jumped to help companies like AIG and the banks but are balking at helping the auto companies? Could it be because AIG and the bankers and all the companies they are handing money to unconditionally are white collar companies? Are they looking out for their own? I mean what happens if the car companies go under? They’re just a bunch of blue collar workers right? Who cares what happens to them?

Don’t get the idea that I’m totally on the side of the auto worker here either. I think they are overpaid compared to other factory jobs and that fact contributes to the Big Three not being as competitive as they could be.

The fact is, I’m arguing on the side of what I think is right for the country and our economy right now.

If it was any other time other than this economic recession, do you think the auto companies would be asking for help? Would they need to? If they were in their present predicament simply for the fact that they were mismanaged and uncompetitive and they were failing in a normal economy, I would be the first screaming to let them stew in their own juice, but the FACT is, it’s simply not the case. Even with their excesses and bloated corporate salaries and bonuses, their companies were doing fine before the economy went south.

So now that the industry is asking for a loan from the government to help them through the bad economy, that the very same government is largely responsible for I might add, the sentiment seems to be that they need to be sent packing.

I don’t agree. No matter what they do or don’t do to address “corporate excess”, they need to find a way to do it without costing jobs. Make no mistake about it; the only thing that is going to bring this economy back is to keep people working. Period. End of story.
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Should We Bail Out GM?

There is a lot of controversy going on now about government help for the auto companies, General Motors specifically, but I don’t really see why it should be such a big deal. For me, it’s cut and dried. The government needs to help the auto companies, period. There shouldn’t be any question about it.

Here’s my reasoning. They have already made the decision to get the government involved with bailing out corporations in trouble. The first bailout package committed 700 billion of our tax dollars to this end with another bailout package in the making. The idea of bailing out these companies is so their failure won’t have a disastrous effect on our economy. This is logical thinking at least and whether it’s the right thing to do is moot at this point because it’s already being done.

I can’t really see an argument NOT to help GM. Experts say that if GM fails, Ford and Chrysler will follow, so it’s not just GM we’re talking about, it’s the entire U.S. auto industry. Think about that and let it sink in; the total elimination of automobile manufacturing in this country. No more American cars. The industry that has been the backbone of our nation during its growth and prosperity; dead... Do we want to let that happen?

There’s also our independence as a nation to consider. Do we want to lose such a huge portion of our manufacturing capability in this country? We’ve made ourselves dependent on others for oil; do we want to make ourselves dependent on others for our cars as well? We’re trying to be independent for energy production; we shouldn’t be so quick to want to lose ground in another important industry.

Some will argue that they won’t completely go out of business if they are allowed to go into bankruptcy but even if they are able to reorganize, they won’t survive in their present form and it will have a monumental effect on our economy. This is THE most important reason for helping GM, as Joe Biden himself so dubiously put it with his “3 letter word”, JOBS. The auto industry employs hundreds of thousands of people who would join the ranks of the unemployed if they fail. But it’s not only the employees of the Big Three; there are thousands of businesses that are suppliers to the auto industry that would be down the drain as well. 3 million jobs is the estimate. How do you think that would impact our economy?

I’ve heard some of the other lame arguments why GM should be left to fail, like they have been mismanaged. Well, if that was a determining factor, why are we helping Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG which have all been grossly mismanaged and still are, but funds are flowing to them.

If GM is somewhat mismanaged, at least they haven’t run the company into the ground to the extent of management at Fannie and Freddie and have not shown the blatant irresponsibility of the morons at the helm of AIG who promptly took their execs on not one, but two lavish junkets after receiving their bailout money. That’s mismanagement to say the least, if not downright despicable, so to help AIG and not GM would just be backward thinking. It wouldn’t make any sense at all.

These companies don’t even produce anything either, they only deal in money. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG; none of them produce anything tangible. Absolutely nothing at all. The auto makers produce a tangible product that the American public uses every day. For those of you who mistakenly think they don’t make a product people want to buy, GM outsells all other manufacturers including Honda and Toyota so don’t think their products aren’t in demand. I would rather see my tax dollars helping a company that actually makes something of quality instead of just the “money changers.”

Don’t think we are just giving them money either. We are just talking about loans here. In normal times, GM would borrow money from commercial sources but the banks aren’t loaning money, even though a big part of the bailout package was intended to loosen up the lending market, the banks seem to be holding onto it for themselves. GM needs loans to get them through the market downturn and it’ll be repaid when things pick back up again. It worked for Chrysler a few years back so there’s no reason to think it won’t work for GM.

To put it simply, helping the auto industry now will help our country in the long run and I for one want them to be a part of America’s future. I proudly buy and drive American and I want to keep doing so.