Shut Up Andy Rooney

I was taking it easy today, Sunday, taking in some afternoon football and enjoying my 1 day off this week and after San Diego beat up on the Miami Dolphins, I got up to get something to eat. I don't normally watch Sixty Minutes but it came on after the game so I just left it on while I fixed my dinner. When I got back to the TV, Andy Rooney was on "complaining" about how hard it is for him to be on vacation.

Now, I'm sure he thought this sarcastic, tongue in cheek bit he did about being on vacation was funny but it just didn't strike me that way. As a matter of fact, while he was whining about how planning his vacation was such a chore and how he didn't like having all that unstructured time off to have fun and do whatever he wants, I was thinking just how ridiculous he really is. He stated that he is on vacation during the off season of the show, basically from sometime in May until September. Somewhere between 4 and 5 months.

So basically, while he's whining about having all that vacation time, I got to thinking, he works about 7 or 8 months out of the year. Then I got to thinking about how much money he makes, so I did a little research and found a news story about his pay being suspended back in 1987 because he was refusing to work in support of writers that were on strike. It stated he got paid about $7700 per week. I figured if he got even a 3 percent raise per year, he should be making over $12,000 per week today. Hmmm...

Now, I know he's not really complaining about it. He's making a joke of complaining about it, which means he's really bragging about it. Either that or he actually thinks that everybody gets 5 months vacation every year. Maybe that's funny stuff to spoiled, rich people but it's kind of an insult to us regular folks that have to work all year and only get two or three weeks vacation every year, maybe 4 if we're lucky.

So basically, here's a guy that works, what, 5 minutes a week for maybe 30 weeks out of the year and makes probably, oh somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 for his really tough, demanding work schedule. His job is to whine and complain about something or other, whatever strikes his fancy. It's not like he has to spend any time researching his topic or do any investigative reporting. This week he's whining and complaining about having too much time off from work for leisure and he got paid $12,000 for this diatribe, bragging about his excessive vacation time.

Good work if you can get it I guess... But I wish he'd just shut up.

Letter to Our Newest Senator

I received a newsletter from our newest Senator, George LeMieux today. In it, he said that he cast his vote against the confirmation of Cass Sunstein for the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and he voted for blocking federal funds to ACORN, the radical activist group that our government has been funding for quite some time. I was glad to see he voted intelligently in these two instances.

Now, I'm sure that the Democrats confirmed Sunstein and his strong anti-constitutional views and I'm sure that the Democrats passed more funding for ACORN so they can keep trying to commit voter fraud and help prostitutes subvert the law and evade taxes, but at least Senator LeMieux voted correctly, the Democrats are another matter. Anyway, I decided to write an email to Senator LeMieux and let him know that I am watching what he does, so I am printing the email here:

Congratulations Senator, I'm glad to see at least one member of congress vote in the best interests of the people, at least in your first two votes anyway. Keep up the good work and always keep the constitution in mind when you're deciding how to vote on an issue. More government control = LESS freedom. Let's make this the country with the MOST freedom again.

And if you want my views on healthcare, I do believe we need to fix a few problems with the system we have. We DO NOT need to revamp the entire system. For example, taking steps to increase competition to help control costs is a first step. Maybe require doctors and clinics to post a pricelist of all routine procedures so people can more easily compare costs would help make it easier for people to shop around for the best price. Same thing for dentists too. The consumer needs more power here, not the government. If it doesn't work, then take stronger measures. I believe we need to TAKE SMALL STEPS when we make changes to ward against unforeseen detrimental consequences.

If the main concern is the people that don't have insurance, make the insurance companies offer low cost or partially subsidized, depending on need, (the taxpayer pays for the uninsured anyway right?) insurance to the poor as a group with group rates. People that leave their jobs or become unemployed do need access to low cost insurance so they should be covered under this also. The main idea is, the government can be involved in an oversight capacity but MINIMALLY. WE DO NOT WANT GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE.

We do not want government run ANYTHING, because the government cannot run anything right! Is there any government program that is actually run well and that doesn't run in the red? Does our government ever show any fiscal responsibility? If our government was a large corporation and had to present their books to a congressional hearing to get a government bailout, what would all the windbags in congress tell them? They would tell them that they don't know how to run a company and their company is run by a bunch of greedy crooks who've run the company into the ground and just want all the perks they can get and to milk the system for everything it's worth and then jump out with a golden parachute. They'd tell them they have to change their ways and do things right. Hell, they'd probably tell them their company is too far gone and their isn't enough money in circulation to save them. Are you starting to get the idea?

Our government sucks wind. If you want to clean something up, if you really want to fix something, then start in your own house. Make government work first before you start trying to run everything else.

Regards,
Marvin J. Miller
U.S. Citizen and Voter

I don't know if he will heed what I say, I'm only one guy, but by if a bunch of people start telling him the same thing, he will have to start listening. It's time we started telling these guys in our government what we want them to do. We need to start pumping emails and letters into our government to let them know that we are watching, we are involved, we care, and we will start holding them responsible for what they do and if they don't do what we want, vote them out of office. It's time we started using the power we have and vote their corrupt asses out at the first chance we get.

Get involved. You can email Senator LeMieux at: info@lemieux.senate.gov or find your Senator at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and your Representative at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Start emailing them regularly. Sign up for their newsletter. Let them know you are watching.

Socialists In Our Government

I don't know if many of you realize that our government is moving more and more toward socialism. I know a lot of you will scoff at that notion and just blow it off, insisting that can't be true. Well, listen up. Listen to what these people are actually saying when they speak. We have socialists in our government and some of them have been there a for years. Now they have a president that is one of them so they are a little more free in speaking out, all you have to do is listen.

Take a look at congresswoman Diane Watson of California. Listen to her as she says what a great leader Fidel Castro is and the great health care plan he put in place down there in communist Cuba.

Just what I want in my government, someone who thinks Fidel Castro is a wonderful guy who does great things.

I wonder what kind of reception she would get if she said that in a speech down in Miami...