Category Archives: Foreign Policy

A Pat On the Butt for the Democrats

Posted on by Standard 2
Jayhawk Perry Ellis dunks

photo by Rich Sugg – Kansas City Star

Point guard Frank Mason of the Kansas Jayhawks took the outlet pass and pounded the ball down the left sideline on the fast break.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw teammate Perry Ellis racing for the basket behind the TCU defender.  Mason lobbed a perfect pass over the rim to Ellis and BOOM!  With one hand Perry caught the ball and hammered it down through the rim, even while being fouled.  “That’s gonna be on Sports Center,” chuckled the TV announcer.  Wide-eyed fans howled as the cameras panned their faux-shock-and-awe faces.

One of the TCU players passed behind Perry at the free throw line and gave him a pat on the butt.  Even though they are mortal enemies, a great play like that has to be recognized.

This morning I have to give the Obama administration a little pat on the butt.

Don’t get me wrong, we are mortal enemies too.  I am furious and frightened by almost everything this administration does.  But I have to admire how well they execute their game plan.  Nothing is left to chance.  No player on the administration’s team makes a free-style move.  Every statement is carefully coordinated.  They all get the memo, and they all follow the script.

Following Obama’s claims last week that poverty is the root of terrorism, the administration sent out State Department’s Marie Harf to explain why young men become terrorists, behead Christians, and burn victims alive in cages.  Harf said, “We need the media to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs … ”  And this: “They are using social media to get converts to their cause and to spread their hatred all over the world.”

Today Jeh Johnson, director of Homeland Security, was the administration’s point guard, running the offense from the same playbook.  He, too, blamed social media – repeatedly – for ISIS’s organizational success, along with poverty and joblessness.  And he threw in, for good measure, the need for Congress to fully fund Homeland Security while disregarding the president’s executive amnesty edicts.

Absurd.  Blaming social media for the ISIS atrocities is like blaming Hitler’s World War II barbarity on the telephone.  And, as George Will pointed out, singling out poverty as the cause of terrorism is “an insult to poor and jobless people all over the world who don’t strap bombs onto their women and children and send them into shopping centers to kill innocent strangers.”  Not to mention, most ISIS terrorists are far from destitute, according to CNN’s national security analyst Peter Bergen.

But here’s why I have to give the “pat on the butt”.

This week Congress will have a hearing and likely a vote on whether to turn control of the Internet over to the FCC by classifying it as a public utility.  The “Net Neutrality” issue has been misrepresented, misreported, and remains totally misunderstood by most Americans, and unfortunately by most of our legislators, who swallow the warm, fuzzy claims that we poor citizens must be protected from the money-hungry huge corporations who want to deny us fair access to the internet.  Government good!  Competitive free internet bad!  In reality, it is yet another federal power-grab that would result in poorer internet access and performance, loss of privacy to government snooping, and huge profits for a select few crony corporations at taxpayer expense.  (Is it any wonder Time Warner / ComCast is a huge supporter of net neutrality?)

Concurrently, the Obama administration is pushing for a new blowout budget with higher spending on social programs, and they want Congress to release its hold on funding Homeland Security and allow Obama’s executive amnesty edicts to continue unfettered.

The administration is using the “ISIS Crisis” to drive home their real domestic agenda:  Pass Net Neutrality and give the government control of the web.  Pass the budget and give the government more taxpayer money for the ‘poor and jobless’ (mainly more government jobs).  Fund HHS without restrictions so we can open the borders and give full rights and benefits to illegal immigrants.

More government control.  More dependence on big government.  More Democrat voters.

I hate it.   I hope to hell enough thoughtful people see through it.   But Democrats, I have to give you a patt on the butt for executing a great play.

Tom Balek, Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideFrom Piston Pete to Doctor J,
Michael Jordan’s fadeaway,
Hip hop is the way I live
And basketball’s the game I play

March Madness is around the corner, and then the NBA playoffs!
Here is the very indiscreet, racist, misogynistic, nasty, politically incorrect and mostly funny original by Cheech and Chong – watch at your own risk, you will be offended, and I am not responsible for content!   1975 was a very different time!

 

Made in the USA – By Mexicans

Posted on by Standard Reply

mexican concrete crewMy wife and I are building a new home.  We are doing some of the work ourselves but the majority of the work is done by subcontractors, mostly hired through our general contractor.  Working on a major project like this brings many current political and economic issues from the big-picture level down to the up-close and personal level.

Today, as our driveway was being installed, I had quite a discussion with the owner/operator of our concrete finishing company.  Alex (not actual name) is a legal Mexican immigrant and has been doing business in the US for almost twenty years.  He went through channels, got a green card, and studied English for two years.  Alex pursued the American dream, and got it.  He has handled several segments of our construction project, and does top quality work at a fair price.  Working in the same space every day we got to know each other and today we spent some time discussing business and politics.

Alex’s business is doing well.  In fact, there is much more demand for his work than he can fulfill.  He would like to hire more employees and expand his business, but he can’t see a way to do it and still maintain quality.  As a retired corporate manager and business owner, I offered some growth strategies and personnel practices that have worked for me.  But his circumstances are quite different than mine were.  You see, all of his employees are (probably) illegal Mexican immigrants.

In fact, almost all of the residential construction work in the Carolinas is being performed by illegal Mexican immigrants.

Why?  Have Mexican immigrants taken all of the construction jobs because they will work for lower wages than American tradesmen?  Are American men now too lazy or pampered to take on the difficult, physical work required in the construction trades?  Have our schools convinced every American student that anyone who doesn’t pursue a college degree and a desk job is a failure?  Did our government over-regulate our traditional construction businesses into extinction, so that only “under-the-radar” groups of illegal immigrants can function at a feasible cost?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

But there’s more to it than that.  I talked with another general contractor today who was interested in hiring Alex and his crew for some of his projects, only to learn they are over-booked.  “It’s a shame,” he said.  “Most of the (American) subcontractors went broke during the housing bust five years ago, and they aren’t coming back.”

Alex and many entrepreneurial Mexicans like him are able to seize the market opportunities because they are connected to the available army of illegal Mexican immigrant workers.  Alex can find them, hire them, manage them, communicate with them, and help them with the considerable personal challenges they face working in the shadows of American life.   Still, his business growth is limited because he employs these men.  “My business can’t grow,” he said.  “None of my workers can advance to be managers because they don’t even try to learn to speak English.”  He would employ English-speaking American construction workers, but there just aren’t any.  It’s a very complex business model.

I had heard that Latinos are being barraged with liberal propaganda, painting conservatives, Republicans and especially Tea Party guys as hateful monsters to be avoided and feared.  So I made it a point to tell my new Mexican friend Alex that I am a conservative.  Tea Party, even.

Alex winced.  “I’m not a monster,” I said.  “I’m not a racist and a hater.  You know me.  You can’t believe the stuff you hear in the media.”

“Well, the conservatives don’t want to allow any immigration,” he said.

“Not true,” I countered.  “We want LEGAL immigration for people who can bring value to our country.  What we don’t want is  dangerous, uncontrolled borders, or slackers coming here to take advantage of taxpayer-funded benefits.   And we DO want our legal immigrants to assimilate – to become patriotic, law-abiding, productive Americans, not Mexicans who just happen to live in the US.”

Like you, Alex.  Without you, and men like you, there would be no new homes under construction in my neighborhood right now.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Save me from this prison, Lord, help me get away
‘Cause only You can save me now from this misery
‘Cause I’ve been lost in my own place
And I’m getting’ weary, how far is Heaven?
And I know I need to change my ways of livin’
How far is Heaven?
How Far Is Heaven – Los Lonely Boys
My favorite Mexican band – Los Lonely Boys! (this song is also on my set list)

They’re Coming to America

Posted on by Standard 1
photo courtesy 21stCenturySchools.com

photo courtesy 21stCenturySchools.com

Standing in the checkout line at Costco, I watched and listened to the family in front of me chattering in a language that I couldn’t identify.  Was it Flemish?  Behind me a mother and her daughter spoke what I think was Hindi.  Another group of Indians near us was speaking English in their distinctive clipped dialect, and then a passel of giggling little Chinese kids ran by, with Mom and Dad sternly attempting discipline in their home language.  Then the pretty young Caribbean woman began checking out our groceries as two young Hispanic men worked the merchandise and carts and shared a joke in Spanish.

And it hit me like a brick.  The United States I had known all my life is no more.

I know, it sounds cliched, but I (conservative, Tea Party, mature white male) am not a racist.  I have no ill will or condescension toward any kind of people.  I have said I am an “economic bigot” – I expect capable people to work, and don’t particularly care for those who won’t, regardless of ethnicity.  But I enjoy the uniqueness of people from different places and cultures, especially the flavors of family interactions that are so universal – devoted parents raising their fun-loving kids.

No, I’m not a racist, but I couldn’t help but notice that American-born, English-speaking whites and blacks were outnumbered on that Saturday afternoon in that Costco store in a relatively affluent Charlotte neighborhood.

I was flooded with questions and emotions.  Do these foreigners also speak English?  Where do they work?  They seem to have plenty of money – were they wealthy in their native countries?  Are there here legally?  How did they get drivers licenses?  Do they vote?  Are their kids in the neighborhood schools, and how the heck do the schools deal with so many languages and customs?

Of course, no broad-brush answers apply.  Some speak English, some don’t.  Some have jobs, others are on government benefits.  Some are legal.  Some have drivers licenses.  Some vote.  One thing is for sure, suddenly there are a lot of them, as both legal and illegal immigration rates are exploding, compared to our earlier history.  Many states are importing more people than are being born to natives.

The United States will never again look and sound like it did during our lifetimes.  It is a done deal.

But we, as a nation, are still at a tipping point:  Will the values, social structure, and laws that made this country the most prosperous and powerful in the world survive?  Will our new immigrants become Americans who share the love of Mom, baseball, apple pie and Chevrolets, like earlier generations of immigrants?  Or will our great nation be split into hundreds of tribes, each clinging to their native habits, and suspicious of all the others?

It is a time in our history when leadership is critical.   Now, more than ever, we need leaders who care about the well-being of the nation, not just their own or their party’s political success.  We need honest men and women with an understanding of the importance of time-tested rules and practices.  America was built on laws that we could all agree upon, and that were proven to work.  And America was once a “melting pot”, where newcomers assimilated into our culture while preserving their own heritages.  Now is not the time to get fuzzy about our American laws, Constitution, or values.  Our immigrants need order and stability, too – in fact that’s what many seek by moving here.

My wife often complained that our home state of Montana changed radically as more and more people moved there from the west coast.  “They move to Montana because it’s better than California, and then they try to change it into California!”

In addition to accelerating legal immigration rates, our government has decided to erase our southern border and pretty much accept all comers.  They claim their motivations are humanitarian; some of us believe they are political.  But even if the border could be sealed like a Tupperware bowl tomorrow, the United States will never be the same as it was.  So now what?

Many of the newcomers don’t really know what made America great.  They and their families weren’t here.  It’s up to us remaining native Americans (by that I mean those of us born here) to stand up for American traditions. values, and laws.  We must make sure that our history is accurately and broadly taught, and expect our leaders to proudly defend our national identity and solidarity.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

On the boats and on the planes
They’re coming to America
Never looking back again
They’re coming to America

Neil Diamond – Coming to America

 

 

 

Hooray! Liberal Democrats Might End Their “War on Children”

Posted on by Standard 2
illegal-immigrant-children-packed-like-sardines

Photo courtesy Breitbart News

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson (D-Texas) handed out lollipops to the hordes of illegal immigrant children squished into detention centers in Texas this week.  Is this an omen?

Could it be that LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT CHILDREN?

5-star liberal Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “If you believe as we do that every child, every person has a spark of divinity in them, and is therefore worthy of respect — what we saw in those rooms was [a] dazzling, sparkling, array of God’s children, worthy of respect.”

What’s that, Nancy?  Year after year, liberal Democrats have waged a WAR ON CHILDREN.

Millions of babies (babies are children, aren’t they?) died as Nancy and the liberal Democrats promoted abortions and fought tooth-and-nail every attempt to save unborn and about-to-be-born American babies.  1,350,000 per year.  One killed every 24 seconds.  War on children.

Graduation rates continued to nosedive as schools failed yet another generation of children by wasting their valuable time on social nonsense and political propaganda pumped into the curriculum by liberal Democrats.  The world-competitive, productive, job-ready curricula of physics, advanced math, history, and grammar has been crowded out of our childrens’ class schedules by gay rights, global warming, and diversity/victimhood.  War on children.

And what could be more damaging to a child than knowing that his mother is not willing to provide him with food?  Liberal Democrats believe schools must provide breakfast, lunch, and in some cases weekend and summer meals to children because otherwise they would go hungry in spite of $400+ per month food stamp subsidies.  Failure to feed one’s child is egregious, criminal negligence.  Liberal Democrats not only tolerate this abuse, they encourage and subsidize it.  War on children.

Our children face a bleak future, because our liberal Democrat leadership does not think our economy matters.  We could be the energy leaders of the world, with full employment, low costs of production and consumer prices and a growing economy.  But the liberal Democrats are willing to forego the prosperity of future generations to preserve their political power.  War on children.

But now, NOW!  Suddenly liberal Democrats love children.  Their immigration / border policies have resulted in a “humanitarian crisis”.   Now we must care for the children.   My God, man, have you no heart!?  They are just children!  You can’t turn them (and their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, drug dealers, gang bangers, terrorists, and lepers) away from our border!  They need our government support!  They depend on us!  And they will VOTE for us!

Isn’t it reassuring that finally, after all these years of WAR ON CHILDREN, the liberal Democrats have had a change of heart?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Some day, yeah
We’ll get it together and we’ll get it all done
Some day, when your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day, when the world is much brighter

 Ooh Child (Things Are Gonna Get Easier) – The Five Stairsteps

 

Thanks to “Soul Train” and Don Cornelius for presenting so many great musical groups!  I have not had cable or satellite for a couple of years and I catch Soul Train on the Bounce channel every once in a while . . .

 

 

The Monster That Will Not Die! Export/Import Bank

Posted on by Standard Reply

godzillaThe Monster That Will Not Die!  Created 80 years ago by the hand of a single misguided man, it grew – and grew – and grew.  And now it can’t be stopped!

No, it’s not Godzilla.  It’s just another federal government program – the Export/Import Bank.  FDR created the thing in 1934 by executive order to make loans to Russia and Cuba.   In its early years it benefited the country by making loans to foreign governments and companies so they could buy exported US goods.

But like almost all federal programs, even if it is obsolete, corrupt and hemorrhaging money,  it seems like it will never die.  It will grow its budget every year, employ an army of faceless bureaucrats, and grease its own skids.  You see, a government agency or program can only do one thing – spend the taxpayers’ money.  Somebody receives or uses that money, and would not enjoy seeing the spigot shut off.  So Congress is “encouraged” by these somebodies to keep re-authorizing the program.

The somebodies who benefit from the continued existence of the Export/Import Bank top the charts in corporate profits – Boeing, GE, Caterpillar, John Deere.  Do these mega-monster companies really need taxpayer-backed loans to their less-than-creditworthy foreign customers?

The Ex/Im marketing department says that the Bank helps US companies make sales to foreign entities who could not get financing in the private market.  (Hmm, I seem to remember something like that a few years ago, when the housing bubble burst, nearly destroying our economy.)  The Bank claims they do not compete with private banks, they merely make loans that the privates can’t or won’t.  (How convenient that the government can create money out of thin air to loan to foreigners and does not have to worry about interest costs or defaults.)

Supporters of the Ex/Im have claimed that it returns profits to the government every year.  But it turns out they have been cooking the books and are not playing by the same rules that private sector banks do.  The Export/Import Bank holds about $140 billion in taxpayer-backed liabilities and is losing money.  It is reportedly rife with corruption and ineptitude.

The Export/Import Bank no longer serves any public purpose.  If your congressman votes to re-authorize this Godzilla in September, you should look at his or her list of campaign contributors.  If Boeing, GE, Caterpillar, and John Deere appear on the list, maybe your congressman should not be re-authorized at election time either.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Oh no, they say he’s got to go
Go go Godzilla!
Oh no, there goes Tokyo
Go go Godzilla!
History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men
Godzilla!

Go Go Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult

 

Tell Me Again – Why Do You Support Amnesty and Illegal Immigration?

Posted on by Standard Reply

ramirez10So tell me again – why do we want to offer amnesty to illegal immigrants and encourage even more legal and (mostly Mexican) illegal immigration?   (statistics from Mark Levin’s outstanding book “Liberty and Tyranny”, comments by me)

  • Mexico only requires school attendance through the eighth grade.  One third of Mexican immigrants to the US have not graduated from high school. Any wonder why our literacy statistics are headed south? Or why the flood of unskilled and uneducated immigrants is pushing down pay rates in the US?
  • One third of immigrant-headed households are on at least one major welfare program.  No problem, we can just print more money, right?
  • One third of immigrants lack health insurance.  These are the uninsured “Americans” that we are compelled to cover under ObamaCare.
  • Over one half of Mexican immigrants are here illegally.  If our federal government and “sanctuary cities” do not enforce immigration laws, we encourage even more illegal immigration.
  • 9 percent of the population of Mexico was living in the US in 2004, and in 2007, 27% of Mexico’s labor force was working in the US and sending home $20 billion per year.  Mexico’s corrupt government and dysfunctional economy cannot sustain its growing population, so they export their labor force to the US, and the proceeds are sent back to Mexico – representing a major proportion of that nation’s income.
  • One out of five students in 2006 was Hispanic, and at current growth rates by 2050 the majority of US students will be Spanish speakers.  The stress put on US schools by immigration is reaching crisis proportions.
  • More than 55 million individuals in the US speak a language other than English at home – 34 million speak Spanish.
  • The current level of assimilation of all recent immigrant groups is lower than at any time in US history, and Mexicans are the least assimilated of any group.  Immigration no longer produces the “melting pot” of grateful and talented immigrants who became patriotic Americans and made our nation great.  Instead, we are rapidly becoming a balkanized, polarized country.
  • Mexican adolescents are imprisoned at rates 80 percent greater than the general immigrant adolescent population.  The US already has by far the greatest incarceration rate in the world.
  • Hispanic women have the highest unmarried birthrate in the country – over three times that of whites and Asians, and nearly 1.5 times that of black women.  We already know how destructive the increased number of unwed mothers is to our economy.

I will be accused of racism for reporting these truths.  Believe me, I have no ill will toward Mexicans or any other ethnic groups.  My only aim in presenting this argument is the economic survival of the United States.  Mexico certainly does not allow illegals to cross their borders.

The percent of US residents actively working is now at an all-time low.  Wage rates continue to decline.  Our competitive edge against other nations is gone due to our relative lack of skills and education.  What could possibly justify encouraging and allowing more unskilled and needy immigrants to move in?  If we stopped the flow of low-wage unskilled workers into our economy, businesses would adjust – they would increase labor rates and/or efficiency.  As long as we tolerate the status quo, businesses will take advantage of the profit opportunity – and the immigrants.

Obviously there is only one justification for amnesty and tolerance of illegal immigration, and it applies only if you are a liberal politician or bureaucrat who cares nothing for the future and security of American families.  You want to accumulate as many bodies as possible to be dependent on you, to vote for you, and to keep you in your permanent political positions of power.

Ugly, isn’t it?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

 

Tell me why you cried
And why you lied to me!

Tell Me Why – the Beatles

 

 

Amazing colorized footage of the Beatles from their first movie “A Hard Day’s Night”

I Need ObamaCare – My Head is Exploding!

Posted on by Standard 1

Exploding headI think I am going to need ObamaCare.  Or some kind of care.  Every time I read the local newspaper, my head wants to explode.

Here’s what I read in the Charlotte Observer today (and what I am thinking in parentheses):

HEADLINE: MATTHEWS EXPLORES CAR-CHARGING STATIONS (Oh, my God, aren’t the Solyndra-type paybacks ever going to end?  Are we ever going to admit that electric cars are a stupid idea in a country with more oil than we could ever use?)

The town of Matthews is exploring a partnership with an Asheville-based company to bring electric-vehicle charging stations to the community. (Partnership.  That means both sides benefit, right?  Let’s follow the money, I have a feeling it will be going in one direction only).

Brightfield Transportation Solutions is offering to install charging stations for free in towns. (Didn’t your dad ever tell you there’s no such thing as a free lunch?)  “We’ve been looking at wanting to do this for the last couple of years, but it’s been cost prohibitive,” said Matthews spokeswoman Annette Privette Keller.  (Ding! Ding! Ding!  Maybe there’s a reason why it’s Cost Prohibitive!  Could it be because NOBODY WANTS IT?  Oh, and anybody who uses three names, one of which is “Privette”, has never ever ever cleaned her own bathroom.) 

Brightfield is working with Nissan, the US Dept. of Energy, Advanced Energy, and Centralina Council of Governments.  (Hmm, let’s see – the money for most of those guys comes exclusively from THE TAXPAYERS.  And I’d be interested to know if Brightfield is an Obama contribution bundler.  If this was a viable deal, wouldn’t they have investors chomping at the bit to get in on the ground floor?).

Matthews has been selected as one of the preferred sites because of its population demographics.  (Let me guess . . . gullible, low-information, high income Obama-Zombies who have no problem taxing the hard-working people and blowing their money on something that nobody wants just because it makes them feel like they are doing something nice for Mother Earth.)

“Matthews has always worked to be PROGRESSIVE . . . and this would be another opportunity for us to be part of a MOVEMENT that we think is going to be SUSTAINABLE in the future,” said Keller.  (There’s three Agenda 21 buzzwords in one sentence.  Let’s just give our credit card info to the United Nations to spend on caviar, blended whiskey and dancing girls for the benevolent dictator of Outer Bendovia.)

The town has two options.  In the first, the town accepts a $50,000 grant (Grant?  Hey, that’s free money!  It just falls out of the sky!  Nobody has to pay for a grant!) and would be responsible for constructing, operating, maintaining and upgrading the station.  (Ummm, wait a minute . . . )  The second option is for the town to enter a 10-year licensing agreement with Brightfield at no cost to the town.  (Kinda sounds like a free lunch again . . .)   The company would collect a fee, expected to be $8 for people to charge their vehicles.  (Boy, my new $40,000 electric car sure is great!  I can drive it for 90 miles, then I just have to take it downtown, plug it in, wait for three hours and pay eight bucks, and then it will run for another 90 miles.  Sounds like fun!)

During the presentation, Keller said that staff recommended the second option.  Once they’ve decided on a location, town staff will complete a GRANT APPLICATION with Brightfield.  (Isn’t it swell of Brightfield to do this wonderful thing for the 262 owners of electric vehicles in Mecklenburg County, population 1 million, maybe two of whom live in Matthews.  And for FREE!   Well, there’s that GRANT thing . . . )

I sure hope they get that ObamaCare website working soon.  My head could explode any minute.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Well, I think I’m going out of my head.
Yes, I think I’m going out of my head.
Over you.
Over you!

Going Out Of My Head – Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66

Okay, there’s no explaining taste.  I have always been a sucker for Sergio Mendez and his corny Brazilian/American samba/bossa/pop music.  Maybe it’s the mini-skirts!  If you get past the schmaltz, there’s some pretty good music in there somewhere – I think . . .

The Political Winds Are Changing

Posted on by Standard 1

newspaperCONSERVATIVE GOOD NEWS HEADLINES TODAY

“SENATORS CHALLENGE KERRY’S SYRIA CLAIMS – (McClatchy Washington Bureau) – Senators from both parties pressed President Barack Obama’s top Cabinet offices Tuesday to provide guarantees that no U.S. troops would be sent to Syria . . . ”   We can’t afford any more lame attempts at nation-building or world-policing.  Let’s build some infrastructure here instead of in the Middle East for a change.

“NC HOUSE VOTES TO OVERRIDE 2 VETOES BY MCCRORY – Charlotte Observer – The (NC) state House on Tuesday took little more than half an hour to override the governor’s vetoes of two bills, on immigration and drug-testing welfare recipients . . . The votes marked the first split between Republican lawmakers, who control the General Assembly with a veto-proof majority, and the new governor of the same party.”  Isn’t it refreshing that Republicans are beginning to self-police?  Those whose main interest is re-election must be replaced or overruled by elected officials who stand on conservative principles.

“CITY’S STREETCAR MISSES GRANT, SUFFERS SETBACK – Charlotte Observer – “. . . the city would use $63 million in reserve funds and also apply for a $63 million federal TIGER grant.”  These federal grants are so out of control – why should taxpayers in Billings pay for a boondoggle streetcar project in Charlotte?  Or vice-versa?  Grant money does not grow on trees – it comes out of family budgets.

Last weekend I attended the “Saving the American Dream Summit” in Orlando, where two potential Republican contenders for the 2016 presidential race learned that the Republican “base” has turned resolutely to the right.  Sen. Marco Rubio was met with a strident chorus of “No Amnesty!” calls throughout his speech, and the large crowd erupted into applause when Gov. Rick Scott was admonished to “Stop Common Core”.

I sense a definite turn in the political winds, as lately we see incumbent liberals deflecting scandals and questions about their motives, and squishy Republicans facing a recharged constituency that demands adherence to true conservative principles.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring
The freedom bell for peace of mind

The Wind of Change – the Scorpions

 

Rep. Pittenger (R-NC) Throws In the ObamaCare Towel

Posted on by Standard 3

pittengerTo his credit, US House Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) is facing his constituents at a half-dozen town hall meetings this month while most of his counterparts in Congress are on vacation, stoking barbecues and fishing.  I attended one of his meetings at the Mathews Town Hall this evening, and understood why most legislators are spending the month out of the public eye.

Pittenger was braced for confrontation even before the event began.  He had prepared a brief two-part introduction: 1) he demanded that the audience be “civil”, and 2) he only wanted to spend a minute or so on any given topic.   Pittenger knew there was one question burning in the minds of most attendees, and he knew his position was not popular with the group, which I would characterize as two-thirds Tea Party and Conservatives, and one-third Democrats and moderate Republicans.

The first volley was predictable, in light of earlier criticism leveled at the Congressman:  “Will you vote for a House bill that funds the entire requested appropriation only if ObamaCare is defunded?”  As the crowd roared its approval, Pittenger dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.  “No,” was the answer.  “The political reality is that such a bill can’t be passed.”

“I voted against funding ObamaCare 15 times,” he repeated several times during the discourse.  Critics noted that it is easy to vote for no-risk bills that clearly will not pass the Senate or be signed by the President, but much harder to take a principled stand that could result in shutting down the government.

He repeatedly called out critics with the line, “Do you really want to stop the paychecks of our soldiers in Afghanistan?”  He did not ask if the group would mind emptying some desks in the nation’s capital, or cutting back on any of the numerous corrupt, obsolete, frivolous and costly federal programs.

Pittenger insisted that there is no chance to get such a bill through the Senate and the President, despite protests from the audience that it would be the Democrats who be risking public condemnation for “shutting down the government.”  Several conservatives in the audience chided Pittenger for lack of courage.  “We weren’t expected to win the Revolutionary War either,” said one. “But we kept fighting.”

Pittenger urged the group to support Republican candidates, instead of “standing around and beating your chests”. He exhorted them to express their frustrations to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, rather than to him.  And he defended his conservative voting record, citing a 100% rating from the Heritage Action Scorecard so far this year.

Congressman Pittenger is opposed to Common Core and insists on securing the borders before considering any amnesty for illegal immigrants.  He smacked all of the conservative fastballs thrown his way out of the park.  Except one.  And that one left conservatives filing out of the Mathews Town Hall shaking their heads.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

So let’s leave it alone,
‘Cause we can’t see eye to eye.
There ain’t no good guys,
There ain’t no bad guys.
There’s only you and me and we just disagree.

We Just Disagree – Dave Mason

Shut Up and Buy Your Own Groceries, Egypt!

Posted on by Standard 1

There comes a time when every spoiled youngster has to suck it up, leave home, go out into the world, and take care of him- or herself.

Despite the fact that Egyptian civilization was pretty advanced 5000 years before the USA became a nation, for the last forty years or so Egypt has been living in our basement, whining about what’s in the refrigerator.

A new video featuring Egyptian singer/dancer Sama Elmasry has gone viral.  It takes President Obama and the United States to task for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and ignoring the voice of the Egyptian people, among other transgressions.

Elmasry complains that President Obama (and his deceased mother and father?) supports terrorists, did away with Mubarak, demands the release of Morsi, favors Israel and Turkey, and threatens to cut off Egypt’s foreign aid “allowance”.   “F**k It, and F**k You!” she wails (without paying royalties to Cee Lo Green, I might add).

“Our Army is very strong!” warns theSama-and-Monica sultry Elmasry.  Well, yeah, those F-16s and F4s we gave you guys are pretty hot, I must admit.  I don’t know how well they will do, though, if we stop supplying training, parts, and logistical support.   Just in case, she also threatens Obama with a knife.

Sama defiantly claims, “Egyptians are not idiots!”, but chooses to model herself after one (Monica Lewinsky).   She concludes her momentous 15-seconds-of-internet-fame with these profound words, “When Egypt talking should be America shut up.”

I am no big supporter of Obama, or our foreign policy.  Just the same I am sick and tired of all these do-nothing countries biting the hand that has been feeding them.  It’s time to just get the hell out of the Middle East.

Egypt, this is America talking – maybe should be you shut up, get out of basement, get job, buy your own damn groceries!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

All the old paintings on the tomb
They do the sand dance, don’cha know?
If they move too quick (Oh-Way-Oh)
They’re falling down like a domino

Foreign types with their hookah pipes sing:
Way-oh-way-oh-way-ooo-aaa-ooo…
Walk like an Egyptian!

Walk Like an Egyptian – the Bangles