Category Archives: Media Bias

I Didn’t Just Fall Off A Turnip Truck

Posted on by Standard Reply

“No matter what you’ve heard, if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan.  Period.”



“Your premiums will go down.”



“We have four dead Americans . . . What difference does it make?”



“We’re the most transparent administration in history . . .  so long as I’m president, I won’t stop fighting to eliminate waste and abuse in Washington . . .  to eliminate what we don’t need to pay for what we do . . . to rein in exploding deficits . . . and I’m going to keep on fighting for real health insurance reform.”



Here are 65 more lies.



Call me and my conservative friends racists, obstructionists, uneducated “crazies”.  Accuse us of being the new Ku Klux Clan.

At least we know better than to believe much of anything this group has to say.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ on the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Well now I don’t read that daily news
‘Cause it ain’t hard to figure
Where people get the blues
They can’t dig what they can’t use
If they stick to themselves
They’d be much less abused

I Know A Little – Lynyrd Skynyrd

My favorite Skynyrd song!  Too much guitar-power for one band – enjoy!

Surviving the Shut Down

Posted on by Standard Reply

Shut DownWe are in the seventh day of the federal government “Shut Down”.  By now, according to the dire predictions of the Democrats on Capitol Hill and the elite media, we should all be dead.

Actually, things don’t seem so bad.  If there are hardships, they appear to be rare and minimal.

Our federal employees are enjoying their paid vacations.  As I predicted, Congress voted unanimously to provide back pay for all 800,000 furloughed federal workers.  It isn’t enough that they earn double what private-sector employees do for comparable work, or that their benefit packages are far more generous than ours.  Now they are on extended paid leave, with no end in sight.  Children used to dream of being princes and princesses.  Now they aspire to be Assistant to the Undersecretary of Diversity for the Department of Sustainable Green Diaper Recycling.  Have a Corona for me, guys, and don’t forget the sunscreen.

Disappointed that Americans are not feeling enough pain, the Obama administration has worked diligently to manufacture some in the most unexpected places:

Each of these shameless, finger-in-the-eye provocations has been turned back by public outrage, but our shameless imperial leaders offer no apologies.  Many more insulting shutdowns are being revealed by the hour.  When the government spends tax money to shut down services or facilities that did not cost anything to keep open in the first place, their motivation is obvious.  This is nothing more than arrogant, childish bullying, and flat-out disrespect for the citizens.

Obama/Reid defenders claim these spiteful political actions are self-defense against the growing opposition to their train-wreck ObamaCare program.  We Americans are more than justified taking whatever action is necessary to stop this monstrosity – my health insurance premiums have increased by more than double (please check yours).  And we know damn well that a government who can’t even make a website work in three years is not capable of managing the complexities of our entire health care system.

Please, Congress stand your ground.  Our children will pay the price if we allow this insanity to continue.  If our government can no longer operate within a budget and a constitution, if it has nothing but contempt for the very citizens it pretends to serve, if it refuses to reverse its tragic mistakes and prevent more in the future, then now is the time.  Shut her down!  Somehow, I think we will survive.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Shut it off, shut it off,
Buddy, gonna shut you down!

Shut Down – the Beach Boys

Why Do Democrats Hate the Working Class?

Posted on by Standard 4

foodstampFor years the media has claimed that the mean old Conservatives (especially the Tea Party) only care about the rich, and don’t give a damn about anybody else.  Only progressive Democrats care about the poor, the average Joe, the “working class family.”

Huh?

Wasn’t it the Democrats who rammed ObamaCare through against the wishes of the majority of Americans?  This is the program that cuts the work hours of millions of “working class” employees, forces them to buy insurance that they don’t want or can’t afford, raises the cost of their existing insurance, or causes their employers to drop coverage.  Here’s a dirty little secret – most of the working poor who are not already on Medicaid are not going to buy their own insurance whether you threaten to punish them at tax time or not.  They don’t know how, won’t learn how, don’t pay taxes, and frankly aren’t interested.  They will still be getting their medical care at the nearest hospital emergency room – after all, the hospitals have not been relieved of the legal responsibility to care for everybody regardless of ability to pay.  Remind me again now, how does ObamaCare help the poor?

Wasn’t it the Democrats who fought like crazy to stop drilling and fracking and pipelines for oil and gas, and mining for coal – resources that would create millions of jobs, lower the cost of energy for all Americans, and get the economy back on track?  Instead they continue to print fiat money, devaluing the currency so the average Joe can’t even afford to put gas in the family wagon.

Wasn’t it the Democrats who refused to allow working-class families to choose the school that will best meet the needs of their children, and instead herds them into chronically under-performing, high-cost schools, wasting students’ time with ideological nonsense instead of teaching them how to make a living?  Don’t even get me started on Common Core.

Wasn’t it the Democrats who destroyed the manufacturing job base in our country by taxing our corporations at the highest rate in the world, making them move production facilities overseas?  We could straighten out our negative balance of trade and bring those jobs back in a few years with some intelligent management of tax rates and tariffs to level the playing field with China, who continues to eat our lunch and demand dessert.

Wasn’t it the Democrats who demanded amnesty for illegal aliens, and called for open borders so that the few available low-tech jobs open to Americans are even harder to get, and pay third-world wages?

Wasn’t it these same Democrats who destroyed the American family, the traditional work ethic, and the economy by replacing the role of working fathers with a huge and growing  “entitlement” culture?  Fewer than half of our citizens pay income tax, and one in five families is on food stamps.  Illegitimacy is normal now as single mothers no longer need to worry about feeding and housing their children.

The news media has been little more than a propaganda wing of the progressives for a long time.  All of their so-called “compassion” since the onset of LBJ’s Great Society has only resulted in more misery for the poor, the average Joe, the “working class.”  And they didn’t do it alone – some corrupt and self-serving liberal Republicans along the way did not exactly help the situation.

Conservatives do care about the poor, the average Joe, the “working class.”  We know that a functional free-market economy offers the best opportunity for everyone to succeed, and is healthy enough to care for those who deserve help.  History proves that heavy-handed, top-down, corrupt big-government enriches those few in control, and steals freedom, opportunity, and wealth from everyone else.

Next time some phony Beltway progressive politician or MSNBC lacky feigns outrage because “Conservatives don’t care about the poor”, you might hear a loud bang – that would be my head exploding.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

With you by my side
They can’t keep us down
Together we can make it baby
From the poor side of town

The Poor Side of Town – Johnny Rivers


Good Day To Be A Conservative

Posted on by Standard 4

sunshineToday it feels good to be a conservative.  Heck I might even claim the Republicans again for the first time in a long while.

Last week John Boehner finally listened to the people and decided to stand his ground against the intransigent, ideologue Democrats.  Many weak-kneed squishy Republicans spent the last few weeks hiding under their desks, afraid to be “blamed” for fighting a program that they know is harmful to the nation – and even they have now sheepishly joined the fray.

Then Ted Cruz jumped to the front of the battle, his brave filibuster inspiring everyone on the right side to finally stand up.  Well, almost everybody – John McCain showed us why it’s probably a good thing he was defeated in his presidential run.  Cruz was still making perfect sense and a compelling argument against the Train Wreck after a physically grueling 21 hours on his feet at the microphone.

How refreshing to finally see some leadership in the GOP.  It’s about damn time!  Where were the Ted Cruz’s during the last two presidential elections?  Will we ever learn the futility of running milk-toast candidates?

Today the federal government is shut down.  Oh, we know that it’s a charade.  We aren’t really going to stop, or even slow federal spending.  In a few weeks the federal employees who are now furloughed will receive full back-pay – it’s just another paid vacation to them.   The grants will still flow, the cronies will line up at the trough, and we conservatives will still be branded as hard-hearted meanies and racists for even questioning the insanity.

But today there is big-time symbolic significance.   Finally somebody has gathered the fortitude to Just Say No.

It’s a good day to be a conservative in America.  There may be hope after all.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Good day sunshine!
Good day sunshine!
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I’ve got something I can laugh about!

Good Day Sunshine – the Beatles

Got My Free Obama Phone Today!

Posted on by Standard 10

Tom Obama PhoneA couple of weeks ago I reported to you Rockers on the Right Side that I was applying for a free Obama Phone.  It came in the mail yesterday!

I ordered the free cell phone to make a point.  Well, maybe several points.

  • Our Federal Government is out of control.  Somebody please show me where in the Constitution it says the federal government must confiscate money from some people and use it to buy gadgets for other people?
  • What about our $17 trillion debt?  How can we afford $2.4 billion for free cell phones and cellular service?  Even while liberals wail that there are starving children all over the country? (the food stamp kids I see are pretty chunky)
  • Free market, my ass!  I’m sure glad I don’t own a cell phone company, having to compete with my own government giving merchandise away.  Well, unless I could be the one getting the $2.4 billion, I guess.
  • This program has nothing to do with helping the “needy”.  It is just one more example of pandering for votes by elected officials — with our money!
  • The feds can’t get anything right.  Although there are guidelines, I have proved that anybody who asks for a free Obama Phone can get one.  I am not needy, I do not even remotely qualify to receive one, and my application was absolutely truthful.  I didn’t even vote for Obama.  But “hoop, there it is!”  And we are supposed to trust these people to take over operation of the entire health care industry?

If your hair isn’t on fire yet, watch this video by Project Veritas:

Oh well, it’s only $2.4 billion.  Not enough money to get the attention of, say, CNN or MSNBC.   Or apparently our legislators in Washington, DC.

Next time you pay your cell phone bill, and cuss about those mysterious additional charges, maybe you want to give your senator or congressman a call.  Or you can call me, any time.  On my Obama Phone!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Call me!  On the line!
You can call me, call me any time.
Call me!  I’ll arrive
You can call me any day or night.
Call me!

Call Me – Blondie

Old rockers never die!  Blondie wows a huge audience at Rotterdam, 1997.

ps – I don’t intend to use this phone and abuse you taxpayers / cell phone users.  I just ordered it to prove that they are giving them out to anybody who asks without any scrutiny.

Obama and the Big Piggies

Posted on by Standard Reply

pigs_troughYesterday President Obama made a speech denouncing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

“For too long, these companies were allowed to make huge profits buying mortgages,” Obama said Tuesday, “knowing that if their bets went bad, taxpayers would be left holding the bag . . . It was ‘heads we win, tails you lose.’  And it was wrong.”

Yes, Mr. President, you’re damned right it was wrong.

In 2008 you were at the head of the Freddie/Fannie trough, sucking in a cool $165,000 for your campaign.  In ten years Fannie Mae slopped over $100 million into that trough, quickly gobbled up by corrupt Democrats and Republicans alike. Nobody wanted to blow the whistle, for fear of losing their place at the trough.  “Fannie and Freddie had Congress wrapped around their fingers,” said Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance, which publishes trade publications following the mortgage market. “They were untouchable.” (CNN-Money)

The top officials of Freddie / Fannie were caught cooking the books, and to this day the taxpayers are still footing their legal bills.  Meanwhile Fannie’s biggest piggie, James Johnson, took in a cool $100 million in wages over nine years; ridiculous salaries and bonuses flowed throughout both organizations.

Ten years ago the Bush Administration, seeing the looming disaster, tried to step up the oversight and get Freddie and Fannie under control, but failed as Barney Frank and virtually every other pig at the trough circled the wagons to protect their interests.  The Obama administration was sued by Judicial Watch in 2009 for access to records which would prove Congress did nothing for years, even while knowing the extent of the corruption.

The pig sty stench came to a crescendo when the taxpayers were forced to refill the trough with a $200 billion bailout, and that doesn’t begin to contemplate the liabilities still on the Freddie/Fannie books, which the Congressional Research Service estimated at $4 to $5 trillion dollars a couple of years ago.

So, President Obama, and all you other pigs who have gorged at the taxpayer-funded trough for all these years – DON’T YOU DARE act sanctimonious about finally taking baby steps to clean up your stinking pig sty.  You should all be ashamed.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

In their styes with all their backing,
They don’t care what goes on around.
In their eyes there’s something lacking,
What they need’s a damned good whacking!

Piggies – the Beatles

Max Baucus Was Right – ObamaCare CrazyTrain Wreck Will Be Brutal

Posted on by Standard 2

train wreckA few months ago Montana senator Max Baucus committed political suicide by telling the truth.  The finance committee chairman pulled back the ObamaCare curtain when he told Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “I just see a huge train wreck coming down.”  He was immediately thrown under the Obama/Democrat bus and announced his retirement, relieved of the burden of living lie after lie for the benefit of his party.

The ObamaCare train is barreling down the tracks full speed even as we speak, and in a few months the inevitable, explosive wreck will occur when millions of Americans find that their employers have dropped their coverage, leaving them at the mercy of a government bureaucracy that doesn’t know what it’s doing, and the rest take a huge hit to the pocketbook, jolting the already-fragile economy.

Employers have been weighing whether to pay higher benefit costs or take the cheaper route of paying the penalties for dropping health care coverage.  Neither is good for business, employees, or the economy.  Workers who still have employer-provided health care will find their premium cost share much higher.  Those who don’t will begin paying their own premiums to the government exchanges, which are years from being functional (if any government program can actually be functional).   And employees who refuse to sign up will face stiff tax penalties at the end of the year.

Sebelius said, “I don’t know what he [Baucus] is looking at . . . we are on track to fully implement marketplaces in Jan. 2014, and to be open for open enrollment.”  Yeah, right.

Enrollment is supposed to start October 1 – ninety days from now.  Do you see any evidence that the Dept. of Hope and Change is ready to provide health care to millions and millions of new dependents?  Is the health care exchange ready to go in your state?  Have you been informed of your options?

The Obama administration soldiers on in the face of adversity, doing what it has always done when faced with a difficult problem – more campaigning.  Sebelius is trying to enlist the NBA, NFL, and other celebrities to launch a propaganda campaign promoting ObamaCare.  Response has been tepid, at best – not surprising, considering Kobe Bryant’s taxes will go up by a quarter million dollars because of ObamaCare.

Oh yeah, this is going to be ugly.

Conservatives in the House have voted to repeal parts or all of the train wreck, but it’s like putting pennies on the track – not going to even slow the behemoth down.

Of course we will all be watching – you can’t help but look at a train wreck, even though the carnage is gut-wrenching.  Let’s just hope somebody steps forward in the upcoming elections who can clean up the mess from this crazy train.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

I’ve listened to preachers,
I’ve listened to fools,
I’ve watched all the dropouts,
Who make their own rules,
One person conditioned to rule and control,
The media sells it and you live the role.
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train!

Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne


Here’s some fun for all you Headbangers on the Right Side!


Top Priority: Gay Marriage? Get Serious!

Posted on by Standard 2

gay marriage - photo from LA TimesHere we go again – the ruling class and the media avoid all of the big problems our nation faces by staging a mudfight over minutiae.

The bold type all last week was “gay marriage”.  According to the Census Bureau, gay couples constitute less than 1% of American households.  But most people think the number is 20% or greater.  Could it be because the Democrats constantly pound gay/lesbian rights as the most compelling issue of our time?

Among gay couples, how many want to be married?  Most heterosexual couples are not married, why would gays be any different?  If even half of gay couples actually want to be married, now we are talking about less than one half of one percent of US households.

I really don’t care if gays are married or not.  Actually I believe there are churches in every state which will perform the ceremony.  Regardless, THIS IS JUST NOT A BIG TICKET PRIORITY FOR OUR NATION.

The gay marriage issue may directly affect a few thousand people in the US, at most.  In comparison, how many Americans are unemployed or have dropped out of the work force?  How many are working ungodly hours, sacrificing family time to put food on the table and pay their taxes?  How many families struggle financially because the only work available is low-wage service jobs?  How many Americans have little or no savings and just squeak by, paycheck-to-paycheck?  How many families wait for a parent to return home from costly and dangerous military campaigns with no palpable objective?  How many suffer from medical crises, disabilities, substance abuse, and urban violence?

I guess our real unemployment rate of 11.3% is not important.  Our $17 trillion (and growing) debt just doesn’t matter.  Our nation’s declining status and security in an increasingly threatening and unstable international climate – who cares?  Gay Marriage!  That’s what really matters!

Come on.  Let’s get serious.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Let’s get serious
Let’s get serious
Let’s get serious
And fall in love

Let’s Get Serious – Jermaine Jackson

Here’s a cut by the “forgotten” Jackson,  Jermaine.   Damn good musician, and never seemed to have the personal drama that plagued his siblings, although he has had his share of marriages and flings.  He is now a devout Muslim and credits that for his calm demeanor.  Jermaine was nominated for a Grammy for this song.

Brazil’s “Tea Party” – Takin’ It To the Streets

Posted on by Standard 4

Brazil protestThe government has become too big, inefficient, costly and corrupt.  Citizens are oppressed and punished by heavy-handed government officials.  Promises made by the government have not been kept.  Taxes increase, but services diminish.  The health care system is broken.  Scandals arise daily, revealing government corruption in every corner.   The voters elected the nation’s first ____  president without proper vetting, and now regret it.   A land of astonishing natural resources and industrious people languishes in economic misery.

No, it’s not the United States.  It’s Brazil.

This week, frustrated Brazilians took to the streets.  What was the “one more drop” (Brazilian version of the straw that broke the camel’s back) that pushed citizens over the edge, uniting rich, poor and middle-classes in protest in the face of violent police pushback?  It was a twenty-cent increase in bus fare.  One more little spit in the public’s eye by a government class that has taken its power and control for granted.

It wasn’t only the relentless increases in taxes and fees.  It wasn’t just the massive spending on lavish sports facilities while hospitals and roads crumble.  Or the ubiquitous “palm-greasing” for political favors.  It was all the above, and finally “one more drop.”

One protester quoted in The Independent (UK) summed it up: “Our parents fought against the dictatorship, but then we went to sleep,” he admitted.   After an extended period of improving economic conditions and expanding personal freedoms and opportunities, Brazil’s government got too big for its britches.   “Now, finally, we’re waking up.”

Fortunately Brazil enjoys an aggressive and free press, who relish in pointing out the failures of their government.  Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, a Marxist who battled the country’s ruling military junta before being catapulted to its highest elected office, now sees her popularity rating tumble.  After a prolonged silence, she has announced her intention to pursue reforms.

It seems the disrespect Brazil’s government shows its citizens is not so different from our own.  But our only resistance to date has been a small but persistent Tea Party, which is vilified by those who refuse to wake up.  In Brazil, the people are “taking it to the streets.”  Could it happen here?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side
Are you…telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets

Takin’ It To The Streets – Michael McDonald

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back – the Obama Tango

Posted on by Standard 1

DC Celebrates Inauguration With Gala BallsThe relationship between government and citizens is a delicate dance.  In recent years, our federal government has insisted on taking the lead role, forcing citizens to step consistently backward, giving up their personal freedoms and national dignity.  But recently the music has changed, and our president takes us by the hand to do the “Obama Tango” – an intricate,  passionate dance with steps forward and backward and all over the place.

The Obama Tango:

One step back:  Congressional hearings reveal the utter and apparently willful failure of the administration to defend the Libya embassy compound and personnel, and attempt a disgraceful coverup by sending U.N. ambassador Susan Rice to lie about it on all the major TV networks.

One step forward:  Benghazi-gate finally gets some mainstream media coverage as a result of the hearings.

One step back and a slap in the face:  President Obama selects Rice as his next National Security Advisor.  What a slap in the face to the families of those who died representing the USA and defending our embassy and personnel, and to the American people who have always believed the word security implies honesty.

Another step back:  The federal government is caught abusing the privacy of reporters and news agencies including the Associated Press.

One step forward and a turn:  The mainstream media, whose fawning and “thrill-up-the-leg -ing” over the “Unvetted One” was the single biggest factor in Obama’s election and re-election, turn against their former lover.   While defense of the Constitution has not been a priority with the fourth estate for a long time, they are reminded that “freedom of the press” is in there somewhere.  Mainstream America has a good laugh at Mainstream Media’s expense – serves them right.

One step back and a pelvic thrust:  The IRS systematically targets conservative groups and contributors for harsh treatment over the last several years, while throwing lavish parties on the taxpayer’s dime.  The administration pretends it knew nothing about their political adversaries getting screwed.

One step forward, then grab and double-slap:  The media, already upset at Obama and his crew (see above), grabs the momentum and gives him a slap, followed by a back-slap when they learn that the EPA has been setting up hidden “man rooms” in warehouses where its employees relax with couches, TVs, microwaves, etc. instead of laboring at their desks.

Stand still:  It turns out the NSA has been gathering phone, e-mail, credit, web traffic and other information about every US citizen without our knowledge or consent.  Citizens ask why data is collected from everyone instead of just the bad guys.  Obama says, “I believe in the right to privacy, but there are some tradeoffs involved in our need for security.”

One step forward, deep dip, and kiss:  The Obama administration, in a surprising concession to hunters and stockmen, announces that the feds will lift the ridiculous protections for the gray wolf that was “reintroduced” to the lower 48 states, resulting in untold damage to livestock and the decimation of elk herds and moose in Montana and other western states.

After all these years of only stepping back, it’s refreshing to get in a few forward steps.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

I take 2 steps forward, 2 steps back
We come together cuz opposites attract
It ain’t fiction, just a natural fact
We come together cuz opposites attract

Paula Abdul – Opposites Attract

Paula Abdul live in Japan, 1991 – kinda cheesey stage show, but the music is solid with a smokin’ band and backup vocalists.