Category Archives: Liberals

Come On, Bullock! 78,000 Duplicate License Plates?

Posted on by Standard Reply

The Montana Dept. of Justice sure has a beautiful new website.  The first link on the DOJ’s main web page takes the user to a slick advertisement for Steve Bullock, Democrat candidate for governor, paid for by Montana taxpayers.  Beneath a huge photo of the handsome, smiling attorney general are glowing reviews like this:

A native Montanan and father of three, Bullock aspires to make Montana safer, especially for children and families. At the beginning of his term in January of 2009, Bullock identified four priorities and has worked with lawmakers, local law enforcement officers, therapists and others to turn his ideas into results.

His employees sure did a top-quality job on that web page.  And how nice that he cares about the children (see this post).

Wouldn’t it be nice if Bullock’s staff would work as hard at keeping license plate numbers straight?

A year ago at a meeting of the Legislative Audit Committee, the DOJ admitted that even though they were “aware” of numerous data integrity problems in their new (2009)  $28 million Merlin computer system,  they had not yet made an effort to correct the errors.

The performance audit for 2012 included transaction testing and interviews with staff, county employees, and patrons.  The auditors reported that many errors occurred during the conversion process from the old system that were still not fixed at the time of the audit.  Other problems resulted from  a program “sequencing error” in 2011 which was subsequently corrected, but the bad data remains.

The auditors pointed out that the lien information on many vehicle records was faulty – the MVD had failed to remove liens from registrations when they were paid, or when a vehicle registration was transferred to a new owner.  Nice.

But even worse, the audit identified over 78,000 duplicate license plates in the Merlin system.  State Senator Eric Moore found that his gooseneck trailer was identified as a red Chevy truck – stolen, by the way.  One can only imagine the havoc these duplicate plates and numbers have created for vehicle owners, insurance companies, and law enforcement officers.   Still, Bullock’s staff isn’t in any big hurry to get the problem solved.  They hope to have “a substantial part of the project done by November of 2012.”

In his defense, I guess Bullock doesn’t have a lot of spare time to supervise his Dept. of Justice operations.  I mean, there are all of those Democrat fundraisers to attend.

Hey, I know!  Let’s get the state employees who designed the “Bullock for Governor” web page on the DOJ website to work on the Merlin system!  They obviously know what they are doing!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
(thanks to M for the tip on this story)

Jive talkin, you’re telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin’, you wear a disguise
Jive talkin’, so misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin’, you just ain’t no good

Jive Talkin’ – the Bee Gees

Crony Capitalism At Its Ugliest

Posted on by Standard Reply

Eric Clapton with Gibson Les Paul guitar

Is it any wonder American businesses are afraid to open their doors in the reign of King Obama?

Today Gibson Guitar’s CEO Henry Juszkiewicz announced that the company has settled with the Dept. of Justice, who ruled last year that Gibson had violated the Lacey Act by importing unfinished rosewood for guitar fingerboards from India and Madagascar.

It was clearly another case of “picking winners and losers”, the Obama administration’s favorite political tool – used to bludgeon opponents and reward cronies and contributors.

You see, most guitar fretboards are made with imported rosewood.  Guitar manufacturers often buy fretboards which have been manufactured in India, and the Indian government is grateful for the business (memo to Obama – most nations appreciate the chance to employ their citizens).  In fact Martin Guitars imports the very same rosewood for its guitars, from the same suppliers that Gibson does.  If this is a crime (which it has not been proven to be), it certainly is a victimless one.

Gibson plants were raided by armed federal agents, who confiscated $1 million worth of rosewood inventory.  They were shut down for a time, and now the company has been extorted for a $300,000 fine and a $50,000 “contribution” to the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Martin’s use of the same rosewood has never been questioned.

Oh, did I mention that Gibson’s CEO Juszkiewicz is a Republican supporter, while Martin’s CEO, Chris Martin, is a long-time donor to the Democrat party?

We have always been taught that there was a presumption of innocence in this country, and an opportunity for defense and redress if we have been wrongfully charged.  Unfortunately in today’s world where government agencies and czars rule with impunity, that’s no longer the case.  A bureaucrat can be judge, jury and executioner.

“We’re in this really incredible situation. We have been implicated in wrongdoing and we haven’t been charged with anything,” Juszkiewicz said. “Our business has been injured to millions of dollars. And we don’t even have a court we can go to and say, ‘Look, here’s our position.”

Due process be damned, this is politics.

The “picking winners and losers” tactic has worked so well on the national level that our Montana Democrat administration has taken the page from the Obama playbook.  Stay tuned as that story develops.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps – George Harrison
(guitar solo by Eric Clapton on a GIBSON LES PAUL )

How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Posted on by Standard Reply

Last night I got an amusing “push poll” telephone call from the Democrats about the Montana governor’s race.

From Wikipedia: A push poll is an interactive marketing technique, most commonly employed during political campaigning, in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. Little or no effort is made to collect and analyze response data. Instead, the push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll.

The use of push polls as a political tactic has grown tremendously in recent years, as campaigns have realized that direct marketing calls on behalf of their candidates just don’t work.  Depending on the political orientation of the receiver, honest political messages either “preach to the choir” or are summarily rejected.  So the campaigns must rely on deceit to win votes.

I rather enjoy receiving a push poll call, especially from “the other side”, because it gives me insight into how stupid the political organizations think we are.

Would you say this call makes you annoyed, disgusted, or homicidal?

I always ask the telemarketer (usually a young, oh-so-polite female) if she can identify who commissioned the poll, knowing that the answer will be:  “I’m sorry, but I am not allowed to know who is requesting this information – I just work for the XYZ Research Company.”

This call started out with the usual classification queries: do I consider myself a Democrat, Republican, or Independent?  If I had to vote today, would I vote for Hill (the Republican) or Bullock (the Democrat)?   Then came the obligatory effort to feign neutrality by asking a few mildly provocative questions about each party’s candidate.

And then the fun began.  “Please state the level of your concern when you hear the following question:  It has been reported that Rick Hill has supported euthanizing all senior citizens and wants to cut education budgets by eliminating cafeterias and making children eat insects for lunch in the school restrooms.  Would you say you are very concerned, somewhat concerned, concerned, not very concerned, or not at all concerned?”

It’s tempting to “mess with” the caller.  “Well, it depends on how much we have to spend on those insects . . .”   But the girl on the other end of the phone is just a kid making minimum wage, totally oblivious to what she is doing, or why.  I usually try to gently educate, but I can’t claim much success.

The “poll” questions are always multiple-choice.  Just once I wish I could answer fill-in-the-blank.  My answer would be:  “How stupid do you think we are?”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

What kind of fool
(What kind of fool do you think I am)
Do you think I am now
(What kind of fool do you think I am)

What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am) – the Tams

You May Be a Racist . . .

Posted on by Standard 4

Because I frequently disagree with some political adversaries, I have frequently been called a Racist.  There seems to be a direct connection: disagree with me?  You must be a racist.

That causes me to think about what qualifies someone as a racist.  With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, here goes:

You may be a racist IF:

Racism is ugly and intolerable.  So is race-baiting.  When someone from one political persuasion instantly assumes that anyone who disagrees is a Racist, maybe it is the “pot” calling the kettle “black.”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The color of your skin don’t matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why Can’t We Be Friends – War

They Don’t Talk about “The Children” Any More

Posted on by Standard 2

Remember when the favorite justification for every liberal idea was “the children”?  We would hear countless public service announcements on radio and TV, extolling the virtues of this government program or that, in the ubiquitous deep, oh-so-sensitive PBS voice – stretching out that first syllable – “the CHILLLLLdren.”  It didn’t matter if the latest big-government program had anything to do with children – it could be providing free socks for desert toads –  you could still count on hearing that it must be done for “the CHILLLLLdren.”

Something changed.  In recent years you seldom hear “the children” invoked by the left.  Could it be because any rational person knows that a 16 trillion dollar debt is really not so good for the children?

I became a grandpa when my twins grandbabies were born a couple of years ago.  And, while I have known for some time that we are screwing things up pretty royally for future generations, it really hit home when I realized that one of those future generations includes my own precious twins.  Now I see everything in a broader context.  It makes political activism real for me. I feel compelled to do whatever I can for the future of my grandkids.

If you are still reading at this point, you should meet Lydia, the apple of Grandpa’s eye!  I write and record songs for the kids, and here’s one I did for her – along with a video.  By the way, if you remember “the Jetsons”, chances are you have grandkids to worry about too.  We can’t let them down.  Here she is!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On The Right Side

I Wanna Dance With Lydia! – Tom Balek

Red Herring – favorite food of the Left

Posted on by Standard 4

What?  You don’t want to increase taxes on the RICH?  Why are you against teachers and policemen!  You must hate children!  You must not care if women get raped on street corners!   What about the millions of homeless people, the polluted rivers and the poor endangered snail darters!  You want dirty air and dirty water for our children!  Oh, you are so hateful!

The sad thing is the average guy and gal on the street are incapable of thinking deeply enough to see through an obvious RED HERRING (a statement or clue intended to distract from the real issue).  For generations now our schools have taught children to nevRed herringer question authority or cause any kind of conflict.  We must get along with each other, not be judgmental.  If you disagree it could be viewed as (here it comes, the new psycho-babble buzzword du jour) BULLYING!  Break out the ritalin!

If it sounds warm and fuzzy, or green – it must be good for us.

The Red Herring has been a favorite arrow in the quiver of the Left forever, it seems.  Decades ago I lived in a small city that had a mosquito problem.  Whenever the city council wanted more money, they would always say “we will have to cut back on our mosquito spraying this summer if we don’t get more funds”.  They knew that nobody would care if they couldn’t afford that 17th secretary at city hall, or if there was to be one fewer bike trail.  But mosquitos?  We hate them!  Here’s more money, take all you need!

School districts use this tactic religiously.  If you oppose any request for funds, you obviously hate children – even if the money is used to buy another $600,000 cruiser bus with video screens on each seat for the tennis team.  You are not allowed to question where the money goes.  Just keep forking it over, stupid.  A fellow blogger, Barbara Rush, makes a similar observation here.

I wish I had a solution, a way to get through to the can’t-thinkers.  All I can offer is Margaret Thatcher’s overused quote: “The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Tom Balek, Rockin’ On The Right Side

“Tax the rich, feed the poor, ’til there ain’t no rich no more” – I’D LOVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD – Ten Year After